PORT ANGELES — Baseball umpire Scott Ramsey is tired of sinking down in the waterlogged grass of Civic Field, he told the Port Angeles City Council earlier this week.
“On a wet field, it’s dangerous,” he said at the council’s Tuesday night meeting.
“I’ve lost a shoe on the sideline refereeing,” he said.
“You sink down.”
Ramsey was speaking in favor of a $4 million facility improvement bond that the council is expected to approve for the Aug. 7 election ballot at its work session Tuesday.
Meeting on Tuesday
The meeting is at 5 p.m. in City Council chambers, 321 E. Fifth St.
Tuesday was the first reading of an ordinance to put on a measure for a 20-year bond, which would require 60 percent voter approval, on the Aug. 7 ballot.
Final approval is not scheduled until the second reading.
Ramsey is on a Civic Field user-group committee that has raised $10,000 of the $20,000 it seeks to collect to help pay for the election and for a campaign to convince citizens to approve the bond.
Planned improvements
The bond would provide $3 million for synthetic turf, with remaining improvements to include new light poles, lighting, a new boiler and new handrails for the bleachers.
“All of us have a vested interest in Civic Field and the jewel that it is,” Ramsey said.
He said the turf’s present condition prevents baseball tournaments from being played there and keeps away revenue those events could bring to the city.
“It’s dormant five months a year and not usable,” Ramsey added.
“This bond issue has very strong community support,” echoed Councilman Brad Collins.
“I don’t think the council would be taking on a bond issue without that support,” he said.
“This is a bond issue for the necessities, not the luxuries, of Civic Field.”
If the bond is approved, construction could start next summer and be completed in late 2013 or early 2014, City Manager Kent Myers said.
Property owners’ cost
Acting Finance Director Linda Kheriaty said the bond would cost city property owners $18 cents for every $1,000 of assessed valuation.
If approved, it would cost the owner of a $200,000 home an estimated $36 a year or $720 over the life of the bond.
The annual debt service would be $275,000, Kheriaty said, making the total cost of the $4 million bond $5.5 million.
Current Mayor Cherie Kidd and former Mayor Dan Di Guilio also spoke in favor of the bond, and no council members said they would vote against it.
“Civic Field is a major icon for our community,” Di Guilio said.
“For us to lose that ability — that would be a huge mistake.”
Calling the facility “a centerpiece of activity and economic activity for our town,” Kidd said the cost of the improvements would not equal the total cost of bonds for the city fire hall and senior center, which are being retired.
The City Council also did not impose the 1 percent increase in property taxes for 2012 it could have imposed without a vote of the people, she said.
Mania’s reservations
But while Councilman Max Mania said he was “not prepared” to oppose the measure, he expressed reservations.
“I want to go on the record that I have real concerns about [the city’s] bonded indebtedness,” he said.
“I think our budget is huge.”
Council members also unanimously approved a grant application for $500,000 from the state Wildlife and Recreation Program that would be matched with $250,000 in bond funds.
The first deadline for the grant application is May 1, said Richard Bonine, city recreation services manager.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
