Chester Sports makes presentation to City Council

<span>CHESTER -- Mike Heffernan, treasurer of Chester Sports, Inc., made a presentation to the Chester City Council on Monday asking for financial consideration of a proposal that would renovate the infields of four fields at the Gordon "Bud" Cohen Recreational Complex.</span>

<span>Heffernan asked the council to consider the project when the city prepares its budget for the next fiscal year.</span>

<span>"Most of us agree the Cohen Complex is an important asset to the city and Chester Sports," Heffernan said in his presentation.</span>

<span>The complex is the home of the Chester High School baseball and softball teams and is also used by American Legion, grade school and little league teams. More than 200 games are estimated to be played every year on the fields from March through September.</span>

<span>The $67,610 project would be overseen by Agro-Logics, which had two representatives - Athletic Field Specialist James Beever and President and Consulting Agronomist Denis Barron - in attendance at the meeting.</span>

<span>Agro-Logics specializes in engineered soil products for the athletic field industry.</span>

<span>Current donations toward the cost of the project, which would involve fields 1, 2, 3 and 5, have lowered its price to $63,610. The cost, as proposed, would be shared by Chester Sports, the City of Chester, the Chester District 139 Board of Education and donations.</span>

<span>The project would include the installation of specialized infield soil materials, called DuraEdge, and the replacement of pitching mound/home plate clay. Overall, the project would reduce rainouts, increase player safety and extend the life of each field.</span>

<span>"In all the fields we've done, we've not had one complaint with the job we've done," Barron said, who later added that it would take a maximum of three days per field to complete the project.</span>

<span>Alderman Mike Blechle asked why there needed to be so much lead time for what is anticipated to be a fall project. In the proposal, it is stated that Agro-Logics needs a commitment by mid-April.</span>

<span>"We had 47 projects going on last fall," Beever said. "We're not the contractors, we're just recommending who to bring in."</span>

<span>Beever also said there are also issues with the grade of the ground at each field.</span>

<span>Heffernan said Chester Sports has volunteered to do the labor on all five mounds and home plate, as well as the backstop areas.</span>

<span>"Over the past two to three years, there was some question about whether Chester Sports was going to get the annual ($5,000) donation from the city," he said in a prior interview with the Herald Tribune. "So we started doing some fundraisers.</span>

<span>"We're no longer asking for the donation from the city, but they were kind enough to let us run the concession stands down there. In the meantime, we accumulated this money that was supposed to be for our emergency fund and we started discussing what to do with it."</span>

<span>Those discussions led to the the Cohen Complex project.</span>

<span>In a separate agenda item on Monday, the City Council approved renewing its agreement with Chester Sports to operate the concession stands, beginning this spring.</span>

<span>Heffernan and Trevor Kelkhoff, also a member of Chester Sports, previously approached the Board of Education about the project.</span>

<span>Reached by phone on Tuesday, District Superintendent Chris Diddlebock said he was personally supportive of it, but the board has not yet taken action on the proposal.</span>

<span>During Monday's presentation, Heffernan said the Chester Eagles, Knights of Columbus and American Legion have each pledged their support through donations, while Chester Sports has pledged $2,000 toward the cost of the project.</span>

<span>"I know the funds don't seem all that significant to the overall budget, but it is significant to those organizations," Heffernan said during the city council meeting.</span>

<span>Chester Mayor Tom Page said Monday the city's budget will be prepared in May and he would speak with Diddlebock about the proposal.</span>

<span>"I like the community involvement," Page said. "I will talk with Diddlebock then turn to the council and go from there."</span>

<span>Chester Sports has also purchased a $15,000 specialized groomer for the fields from ABI Attachments. The groomer is a zero-turn, self-propelled device that an operator can stand on and it can be fitted with a variety of attachments.</span>

<span>Heffernan said Chester Sports plans to donate the machine to the city, but both sides are working through some insurance issues.</span>