OCEAN CITY — The dugouts are gone but the backstop at the old baseball and softball fields at the downtown park at 3rd Street could get a new lease on life after an impassioned plea to save the structure on Tuesday.
During a series of town hall meetings conducted by the Ocean City Recreation and Parks Department in November, public input was taken on a variety of issues with the resort’s public parks from one end of the town to other with the intent on creating a vision for the parks system in the future. During those discussions, it was learned there were concerns about the dugouts at the old baseball and softball fields at the downtown park that runs between 3rd and 4th streets.
“As you all know, there was a former baseball facility there, but during the town meetings on the parks, concerns were raised about the dugouts at 3rd Street,” City Manager Doug Miller told the Mayor and Council on Tuesday. “Since they were not used for baseball anymore, they had increasingly been used for activities not consistent with our recreation and parks facilities.”
To that end, the town’s Public Works Department has since torn down the old dugouts and temporarily filled the gaps in the fencing between the dugouts and the old backstop with inexpensive snow fencing although a longer-term solution is still sought. However, the old backstop at the corner of 3rd Street and Philadelphia Avenue remains in place and Miller on Tuesday sought some direction on whether to remove the backstop completely.
It was also learned during Tuesday’s work session that the backstop at 3rd Street creates a visual impairment for motorists heading east on 3rd Street and attempting to cross or turn right onto southbound Philadelphia Avenue. A portion of the backstop protrudes into the line of sight triangle prescribed for intersections and is technically a slight code violation.
“The sight distance at 3rd Street is slightly impaired by the backstop,” said Miller. “It slightly impairs the ability for motorists to see southbound traffic on Philadelphia Avenue. However, our research shows there have been three accidents there in the last 11 years and none of them have been caused by the impairment.”
While the park for decades hosted Little League baseball and Pony Tail softball leagues and even beer league softball games between various bars and restaurants over the years, it’s use as a baseball and softball facility has long since passed. Instead, the park still hosts a variety of other uses, including pickup soccer games, lacrosse games during tournaments, recreational flag football and kickball games.
Council President Lloyd Martin pointed out the park is increasingly used as a dog park and removing the backstop without a plan to replace the fencing could curtail that activity, so to speak. He said removing the backstop could create a void in the total enclosure of the park.
“That park is well-used for pet walking,” he said. “If we remove the fence, we have to figure out how to replace it and what it would cost.”
Councilman Wayne Hartman focused on the backstop in its current position as a slight code violation and reminded his colleagues the town had recently given some property owners a deadline of sorts to repair or remove visual impairments to traffic in the form of signs and other structures at intersections around town.
“The key in all of this is former baseball facility,” he said. “We’re asking other people to fix these impairments and we should be held to the same standard.”
Hartman also pointed out with a Recreation and Parks Master Plan forthcoming, it could be premature to invest a lot in the 3rd Street park until its future use is determined.
“There is also going to be a master plan for all of our parks,” he said. “It would be foolish to do something when we don’t know what that park will be. I think we need to remove the backstop and replace it with an inexpensive fence that doesn’t impair traffic and practice what we preach.”
However, Mayor Rick Meehan pointed out the other private sector impairment problems around town have been given a lengthy time to make corrections.
“There are a lot of other issues in town with sight line impairments and the property owners have been given substantial time to correct them,” he said. “I don’t know why we feel the need to do something with this today. You really have to go out of your way to notice the impairment and I travel that every day.”
Meehan said he believed the backstop had not outlived its useful life despite the lack of organized baseball and softball activities at the park.
“I see people using that backstop every day including families with young kids,” he said. “We don’t want to diminish any recreational opportunities we already have. Let’s wait until we do the master plan and redevelop that park as a whole.”
However, Hartman made a motion to remove the backstop and replace it with an inexpensive fencing alternative.
“The master plan could be years out before its implemented realistically,” he said. “We’re on notice now that there is a code violation and we’re aware of it. I think we need to remove the backstop, replace it with fencing and correct the code violation.”
Councilman Matt James then made a suggestion that appears on the surface to accomplish all of the goals.
“Is there any way we can move the backstop out into the field a couple of feet to eliminate the impairment and put a new, inexpensive fence along the edge of the park?” he said. “Maybe it can be moved in a couple of feet. The goal we’re trying to achieve with this is to maximize the use of the park while removing the impairment and bringing it under code.”
Public Works Director Hal Adkins said the idea had merit, but there were variables to consider. However, moving the backstop would likely have to be outsourced.
“I think that’s a good idea, but we need to look at its condition,” he said. “It may not be worth moving and it may be rusty to the points it’s not worth saving. In any case, it’s feasible but we don’t have the ability to do it in-house. It would have to be contracted out.”
Recreation and Parks Director Susan Petito said she was uncertain the old backstop could be moved.
“All or our fencing is aging,” she said. “I’m not certain the condition of that particular dugout.”
Councilman John Gehrig suggested tabling the discussion until all of the alternatives were explored.
“It seems like we have more questions than answers,” he said. “Maybe we need to pump the breaks on this one until we get all of the pertinent information.”
Meehan made another impassioned plea to save the backstop, at least temporarily, including pulling up a picture on his phone of his old beer league softball team from 1971.
“There’s a lot of history on those fields going back years and years,” he said. “We still see a lot of families and kids using that backstop. I really think we need to consider keeping it place for now until we see what the master plan has in store for that park. We might be able to alleviate the impairment issue and still save that backstop.”
Hartman rescinded his original motion and the council voted unanimously to have the staff come back with alternatives including removing the backstop, keeping it in place or perhaps moving it to eliminate the traffic impairment along with cost estimates for each.
