Three people are raising objections regarding the construction of baseball fields at Townsend Park, but city officials defend the project and contractors who are performing it as meeting expectations per the terms of contracts.
Alderman Steven Mays said each contractor should be prevented from being chosen to do work in the city of Pine Bluff. Mays said that he has received upward of 200 complaints about their work at Townsend Park baseball fields. He said the scope of work changed and the grass has routinely reached six feet high.
Gerald Prince Construction of Little Rock is the contractor and ETC Engineering is project manager.
“I cannot believe we spent a million dollars,” Mays said. “These fields should have been completed a year ago. These bond projects are disappointing to the city of Pine Bluff. We do not ever need to have any contractor who was involved.”
Mays has also critiqued the splash pad, which was also paid for by the taxpayers approving bonds in 2011. Mays said he would not have spent more than $300,000 to do Townsend Park.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Pine Bluff Department of Economic and Community Development Director Larry Matthews said that each contractor is meeting expectations and performing the appropriate work in accordance with contracts. Contractors are building three new baseball fields, dugouts, bathrooms, a concession stand, light fixtures and underground lighting conduits.
Matthews responded to Mays by noting that the voters approved the bond projects.
“Everything that is being done is according to plan and by professionals,” Matthews said. “I do not know why they are complaining. All these things are being done by professionals. Everything is being done to specification. Alderman Mays could have looked at the specifications before the work began. But he likes to complain after the work is being done.”
Matthews said he had heard directly from Mays. Matthews said that Mays was wrong to complain publicly about projects that are nearly complete, especially because Mays is not a professional contractor.
“I am frustrated with Alderman Mays criticizing Townsend Park and the splash pad,” Matthews said.
The contractors who are building baseball fields at Townsend Park are meeting city leaders expectations, city officials said Thursday. Pine Bluff Parks and Recreation Department director April Layher say that there are no problems apart from the weather.
Layher said she originally expected the athletic fields to be finished by early May but snow and rain caused a delay. Even after the precipitation ended, the ground remains wet, which prevents people from doing electrical or concrete jobs, she said. A particular day may be warm and dry but if the ground is wet, that causes a delay, she said.
“Every time the rain falls, it delays pouring of concrete and Entergy doing electrical work,” Layher said.
Sebastian Stargell is a coach in the Northern Junior Babe Ruth Baseball League and leads players ages 13, 14 and 15. Stargell said his players are currently playing at Regional Park but are supposed to be playing at Townsend Park.
Stargell said he does not expect the Townsend Park baseball fields to be complete this season. Stargell objected to grass being too high in the areas adjacent to the baseball fields and not dense or lush enough on the baseball fields. Layher said the grass will be coming in later and will be the appropriate species, density and height for a baseball field.
Stargell pointed out a dugout has an opening into which a batted ball could enter and hit a player and a net behind a backstop that appears to be ripped. Specifications from the Department of Economic and Community Development Office show that the bench is supposed to measure 15 feet.
“I have been a coach in baseball for 20 years,” Stargell said. “One bench in the dugout was put in the back corner. There is no way 25 kids can fit on one bench. … The rain did not stop you from planting grass or putting up scoreboards.”
Stargell said that the distance from home plate to the outfield fence is too shallow. Layher told The Commercial that the baseball fields are the correct size in accordance with specifications and there is enough distance from home plate to the outfield fences. She said that the dugouts are small because of financial constraints. To accommodate more baseball players, Layher suggested adding extra benches to the dugouts.
“I have 25 kids of my team,” Stargell said. “There is no way 25 kids can fit on this bench.”
Stargell said he can live with movable benches but would rather not.
Stargell said he cannot embrace what he calls a substandard facility.
“I am trying to give people the benefit of the doubt,” Stargell said. “I do not want people to think someone can come into Pine Bluff, do half a job and leave. That is hurting our kids. It is not about me. It is about our kids. That park is like a second home. I do not want our kids to be hoodwinked. Our fields are supposed to look like the fields in Benton and Bryant.”
Layher said that Pine Bluff cannot be compared to other towns and their baseball facilities because other towns have more money. Layher said that other factors do not make for a fair comparison.
“There are other baseball fields in Arkansas cities with larger bank accounts,” Layher said. “We did the best we could with the money we have available.”
Stargell said that light stanchions are not tall enough to provide proper illumination for players to see a high fly ball. Matthews said that the light stanchions are high enough per the specifications.
Layher said the Pine Bluff City Council approved money to pay for a scoreboard, the conduits for electricity, bleachers, canopies over the bleachers to keep people out of the sun and stands for the scorekeepers. Layher could not give a date as to when the fields will be completed because of the weather causing delays.
Albert King Jr. is president of the Pine Bluff Northern Little League. He said he is unhappy with the baseball fields, especially considering the price tag of more than $1 million.
“It started out as a $700,000 project and is now supposed to be $1.2 million,” King said. “Why have they not put up the scoreboard or bleachers? It is not raining today (Wednesday, May 6).”
King said the Northern Little League baseball players are currently playing at a softball complex at Martin Luther King Park. King said he had asked about the scoreboards in December 2014 and was told they had been ordered but was dissatisfied that they had not been installed as of May 6.
“There is nothing to like at Townsend Park,” King said. “The tax got approved in 2011. They needed a year for the dirt to settle. I got friends who build a house in two-and-a-half months.”
Pine Bluff Finance Department Director Steve Miller provided monetary figures on the Townsend Park project. The city has budgeted $1,418,801.38 to build the Townsend Park baseball fields and aforementioned amenities. The city has spent $1,026,870 to date, which leaves a remainder of $391,931.37.
“We have invested a lot of money into this project,” Miller said. “It is a significant portion of the bond projects. This is the largest one being made to date on a parks*** bond project.”
Stargell and Layher independently told The Commercial that they had spoken directly with each other. Layher said she has not received complaints from any other person.
Stargell said the commission charged the baseball league $2,000 to use the Townsend Park baseball fields and $500 to use the concession stands.
“I am not saying this is not livable; it is better than what I had,” Stargell said. “For $1 million, I do not see it. That is a mediocre dugout. There is no way in the world it is worth $1.3 million.
“Pine Bluff has a rich tradition in baseball,” Stargell said. “I feel like we should have top-notch things for our kids. They should have batting cages and a place for pitchers and catchers to warm up. … The person who planned this could not have been a baseball person. It was like the person ran in here, and ran out.”
Contacted for a previous article in March, representatives from Gerald Prince Construction declined to comment on the issue. An ETC representative said in March that the project was progressing in line with the amount of money allocated for the project.
***This article has been edited from its original version to correct a quote. The original quote did not include the word “parks”