Leagues to pay for lighting Bailey Field
Baseball leagues playing ball at the renovated Bailey Field will be helping to cover expenses there this year.
Uniontown City council adopted a resolution setting a monthly fee of $180 for leagues to use the field.
“This is basically to offset the cost of the lights. It was hard to calculate how much it would cost, since they haven’t been on for so long,” said Councilman Joby Palumbo, who oversees the city’s parks and public property.
Palumbo said he contacted other municipalities with lighted fields and based the fee on what others were charging.
“The league I spoke to said it wasn’t a problem,” Palumbo said.
There is no fee for the Uniontown Area School District to use the field. The district helps with maintenance of the fields at Bailey Park, which are used by the high school baseball and softball teams. The fee would apply whether or not the leagues play night games using the lights.
Council also approved a resolution authorizing Mayor Ed Fike to sign a grant application on behalf of the city for funds for handicapped-accessible playground equipment for the second phase of development at the Miracle League field at Bailey Park.
If approved, the funding would come from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
Council also approved changes to the rules and regulations for the Fire Civil Service Commission, bringing them into compliance with current state regulations.
The proposed changes were presented by attorney Daniel Webster and include eliminating the application fee and changing the minimum age for applicants from 21 to 18.
Applicants must be under the age of 35 unless they were previously employed by the fire department for at least six months.
Another significant change is in the hiring process.
“When you accept an applicant for employment, you will give them conditional approval,” Webster said.
Final approval will come after applicants complete physical and psychological evaluations done at the city’s expense. The evaluations were previously done at the applicant’s expense.