To help negate drainage issues at the Robert E. Russell Sportsplex and Brad Pickett Memorial Baseball Fields on Hillcrest Loop, the Petal Board of Aldermen has voted to replace the artificial infield turf at the complex’s four baseball fields.
That decision was made at the August 15 board meeting, where aldermen accepted a bid for approximately $1.2 million from Sports Contractors Unlimited of Hattiesburg.
“We’ve had constant drainage issues down there from the time (the fields) were built,” Mayor Tony Ducker said. “This (project) will put us on par with what you see at other facilities, where rain won’t be such a factor, and it’ll allow us to host more tournaments.
“Primarily, I’ve always stood by the idea that we something we can afford, and we do it within budget, and you do it for our kids. I’m more concerned about how the folks in the 39465 ZIP code will be able to access and use these facilities, and then the cherry on top would be getting some tournaments from the outside coming in as well.”
Officials expect to sign the contracts for the work in the very near future, and the project should start some time this winter.
“I would hope we would be able to play ball on these fields come spring time,” Ducker said.
The bid from Sports Contractors Unlimited was the only one received by the board.
“I was actually a little nervous from the get-go (because of that),” Ducker said. “Typically, if you rebid something, a lot of folks will tell you the (costs) usually don’t go down.
“But this is a company that is experts in their field as far as doing this, so you feel real comfortable about getting somebody that’s qualified to do that work.”
For the last few weeks, aldermen had discussed whether to replace the turf on two fields or all four, as a cost-saving measure. At one point, officials also debated replacing the sidelines, which would have costed an additional $367,000.
“Sometime in June, I had pitched them the idea of doing two fields, because we easily had the money for it,” Ducker said. “It’s going to be a little bit tighter, budgetarily-speaking, but I think we’ll be okay to do the four fields.
“I really don’t think you would have gained much by doing that additional (work) – in our current constraints financially, that just wouldn’t have made much since to go that route.”
The turf replacement is being funded with the help of the additional 3 percent sales tax increase at Petal restaurants that was implemented after being approved by 74 percent of voters in an August 2021 special election. Records from Petal City Hall showed that 457 residents voted in the election; of that number, 344 voted for the measure and 113 voted against it.
The tax required a 60 percent voter approval to pass. The funds raised from the tax are going toward the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, which allows the city to maintain that department at its current level.
That, in turn, frees up money in the city’s fund for other endeavors and projects, such as pay raises for the police and fire departments, as well as improvements in the Parks and Recreation Department. The tax began to be collected in October 2021.
In April 2022, the board of aldermen approved – among other financial measures – the transfer of $1.2 million into a capital project fund. Those funds will be used for measures such as new soccer fields and a splash pad at the complex, and the city will “pay itself back” over time with the money collected from the 3 percent tax increase.
