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44 °F Forecast | Road Cams Wednesday, February 25, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend February 5, 2004 Brian and Karen Sheadel of the Central Point Little League take a look at the dugout at the league�s ballfields on Hanley Road. Though 500 children use the fields each year, the league has no water or sewer services and little money for improvements. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Ballfields need an assist Central Point Little Leaguers have been doing without running water for two generations By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune While most little sluggers worry about hitting home runs, the 500 players in the Central Point Little League are more likely to worry about runs home — to use the bathroom. For the two generations of ballplayers who’ve used the Hanley Road field, there has never been water or sewer services. With this year’s tryouts just around the corner, board members are planning yet another year of hauling water to the site and paying nearly $1,000 or more each month for a fleet of blue Port-O-Potties which have been not-so-lovingly dubbed "little blue dugouts." Because the field is just outside the city’s urban growth boundary, the area is not eligible for water service through the Medford Water Commission and would face a lengthy process to be considered for inclusion in the Rogue Valley Sewer Services district. In addition, said Central Point Little League board president Karen Sheadel, other improvements are quickly making their way up the priority list. Advertisement Playing fields are uneven, drain poorly and are frequently under water, she said. A decades-old "snack shack" is "near death." And lack of shade at the 13-acre site results in overheated players and foul-smelling little blue dugouts during hot and sticky summer months. "This is something that’s been going on for like 30 years," said Sheadel. "We’ve got parents who bring their kids out to play that remember things being exactly the way they are now." Sheadel and her husband, Brian Sheadel, field coaching coordinator, said the league is so strapped by the expenses of providing water and sewer that there’s no money left for improvements. Almost a quarter of operational costs go to providing the dozen Port-O-Potties at $120 each per month. Until water service was donated this year, hauling water to the site cost hundreds each season. "We need all these improvements, yet we’re paying a thousand bucks a month so folks can go to the bathroom," said Brian Sheadel. "The little blue dugouts are all over the place. You come in and it’s like a Port-O-Potty colony. We did the district and state tournaments here. That was real pleasant. We had people coming from nice fields that are beautifully manicured. We did our best, but come on." Central Point resident Kevin Whitten, whose 7-year-old son Chase will soon begin his second year at the fields, can sympathize on more than one level. "I played there when I was younger (in the early 1970s) and the facilities haven’t changed a whole lot," Whitten said. "They’re in the same state of repair as when I played. "They didn’t have bathrooms then either. We had the outhouses like we have now. I think a lot of it is that we’ve played that way for long enough we just don’t know any different." Board members said options to supply water include continuing to haul it to the site, which can be costly to maintain, or digging a well and hoping to reach water in an area where wells commonly dry out during summer months. Another possibility could be for the city to take jurisdiction of the field for the purpose of providing water. It is currently owned by National Little League Inc. Laura Hodnett, Medford Water Commission public information officer, said the commission has a strict policy of not supplying water to sites outside urban growth boundaries. In some instances, however, water has been provided to publicly owned land in those areas, she said. "This is actually a policy that’s been in effect for many, many years," she said. "We go back clear to the 1950s when we first limited service to areas outside the city of Medford. "The commission basically decided that it did not want to be in a position of constantly having to decide which exceptions to make." For sewer service, though, the site is zoned exclusive farm use and prohibited from certain development under the statewide Planning Goal 11, the field could possibly be granted exclusion, according to county planner Raul Woerner. Exclusions, Woerner explained, are considered on a case-by-case basis and service through a local district is considered second to an on-site system, which "unfortunately would cost as much as connecting to the district." Technicalities aside, Karen Sheadel said the quality of facilities was embarrassing for the nearly 500 players and their families. "Deep down inside we feel bad about it," she said. "We felt horrible during the state tournament. There were a lot of parents upset there were no bathrooms. There were other (visiting) coaches going on about how they would be embarrassed to have a tournament out here. "We enjoy the fact that we’ve got so many kids out there, but with Central Point growing so much, more and more kids are going to be coming out each year. It’s just going to become more and more obvious that we need to make some major improvements." Signups are being held this week, with tryouts in the next two weeks. For information on signups or donations, call the Sheadels at 664-7630. Buffy Pollock is a free-lance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected]. Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! 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