The Flomaton Town Council agreed to move forward in developing a policy for the use of ball fields at Hurricane Park following complaints that lights are being turned on when maybe only two or three people are out playing.
Councilman Buster Crapps said he saw two people on a field at night with all the lights on and said the town needed to develop a policy.
Some residents were recently locked out of the big baseball field, but the council learned the high school had just re-seeded the field for the upcoming baseball season.
Mayor Dewey Bondurant Jr., said he and the staff at town hall are reviewing old lease agreements between the town and the board of education.
The council did vote Tuesday night to let the high school use the big baseball field from Dec. 1 until the end of the high school baseball season.
Crapps said in the 1980s when the park was built, it was agreed that the high school could use the fields during baseball season and the same was issued for T-ball and Little League.
“It's a public park, we can't lock it up,” Crapps said.
Crapps has maintained the town needed a standard operating procedure to govern the park. He also said unless the school is using the fields for a game, they should be open to the public.
“Even though it's a public facility, as a governing body we have a right to have it opened and closed,” said Councilman Charlie Reardon.
Crapps said if the high school decides to lock the gates to a field, they need to contact the town.
Mayor Bondurant said the original lease with the high school needs to be redone, noting the lease says the school is responsible for the fields and cleaning the bathrooms, which is not being done.
Reardon agreed the town had an antiquated document that needed to be addressed.
“When we set that up, the school had priority,” Crapps said. “It was not intended for two people to go out there and turn the lights on.”
Mayor Bondurant also said the school board has done some things at the park that it wasn't required to do under the original lease. He said the school board paid half the cost of repaving the parking lot and half of the $50,000 needed to replace the electric generator.
The mayor suggested getting together with the coaches, the school board and attorneys to develop a lease that satisfies both parties.
Mayor Bondurant did note that a timer had been put on the lights at the tennis courts that allows them to stay on for one hour. He said they could be turned back on, but it would prevent the lights from staying on all night after the last players leave.
