Erica Techo
Chelsea City Council July 7
Chelsea City Engineer Frank Spencer (left) discusses plans for the Chelsea Sports Complex with the city council.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Chelsea City Council discussed plans for a future ball park it hopes to have ready to go by next spring.
The meeting served as an opportunity for council members to discuss amenities and other aspects of the future Chelsea Sports Complex off of Highway 11. Located behind Chelsea High School, plans include three baseball fields, a press box and concession stand building, a playground, a lake and a drilled well. Future additions to the sports complex include additional fields for baseball or softball, a football field and multiple tennis courts.
A resolution to pay Shirley Brothers Inc. for the construction of additional parking at the sports complex was approved during the council meeting, bringing the potential number of parking spots close to 200. Mayor Earl Niven said the plan for parking is to include “as many as possible.”
Each baseball field will have a 225-foot fence, netting and irrigation. Possibilities for irrigation included a quick-connect for either a sprinkler or hose behind the pitcher’s mound in order to maintain the dirt infield in-between the games. There will also be sprinklers in the outfield.
Councilman David Ingram recommended block dugouts at the fields rather than a wire fence.
“There’s a lot of distraction with wire fence,” Ingram said.
Further possibilities were discussed, including a dugout that is partially block and partially wire, in order to keep the players cooler. There will also be two batting cages per field.
The distance between fields was not settled on, but installing netting over any walking areas was recommended. This would protect spectators from fly or foul balls.
A structure including a concession stand and restrooms on the first floor and an umpire dressing room and rest area, as well as a press box, on the second floor was also discussed. Approximately $300,000 has been allocated for the budget.
The size of the building will be determined by the number of restrooms included, as well as if restrooms were limited to men’s and women’s or included a family restroom.
“The advantage of a family restroom is if you have a father who has a daughter that needs to go or if you have a mother that has a son who has to go to the restroom, and I like the idea of the family restroom,” said Councilman Juanita J. Champion.
The council decided to leave Chelsea City Engineer Frank Spencer with notes and recommendations on the sports complex and reconvene in a work session following the July 21 meeting.
Erica Techo
Chelsea City Council July 7
Ben Watson, representative of Clayton 47 Investments LLC, presents a rendering of a rezoning on Highway 47.
The council also unanimously approved a rezoning request on more than 140 acres of land at the meeting.
The rezoning request was submitted by Del Clayton with Clayton 47 Investments LLC, a Helena-based company, for the White Oak Manor properties located on Highway 47, which would be rezoned from Agricultural-Residential to Residential. The 140.30 acres will be subdivided into 16 lots, with the average lot size being 8 acres. The neighborhood will be a gated community.
One neighboring resident expressed concern that the area would be further divided into smaller lots if the council approved the rezoning. Mayor Earl Niven said that smaller lots would require submission of a new request.
“The next plan is they will develop their subdivision and come before the city council, and if they come in with 100 lots, they don’t have a subdivision for those lots,” Niven said.
Niven also said he believed many questions, including concerns about property values, were addressed at former meetings.
In other news, the council:
- Approved a resolution to pay $20,000 to Shirley Brothers Excavating Inc. from funds in the contract between the City of Chelsea and Baird Contracting Inc.
- Approved a resolution to pay $24,000 to Shirley Brothers Inc. for the construction of more parking spaces at the Chelsea Sports Complex off of Highway 11.
- Approved for the city’s bills to be paid, including an outstanding architectural bill.
The next Chelsea City Council meeting is July 21 at 6 p.m. A pre-council meeting, which is open to the public, starts at 5:30 p.m.
