Shelton High School’s aging baseball practice field — which has serious drainage problems — will be rejuvenated this spring.
The Board of Aldermen Thursday unanimously voted to waive the usual request for proposal process needed to hire a company to conduct the repairs.
The board voted to extend a contract for Tate & Associates LLC, the company that helped Shelton restore the fields at Long Hill School, to allow Tate & Associates to continue on with the fields at Shelton High School.
The city will cover the cost with a bond issue for $100,000, according to the resolution of the aldermen.
The already-existing Long Hill Baseball Field Building Committee will oversee the process.
“I want to thank you for starting this project,“said Alderman John Papa. “It is long overdue.”
Problems
The restoration is needed because the field is not playable for a week or more after it rains, Papa said. Mayor Mark A. Lauretti said the drainage problem has resulted from the land settling and other factors.
The field had lain fallow for at least 20 years before it was rebuilt in the 1990s, Lauretti said. It is time to repair it again, he said.
The field will be leveled and the infield will be redone.
“The goal is to correct drainage deficiencies,” Lauretti said.
Lauretti said he will approach the Board of Aldermen in the springtime about repairing the track facility at the high school, as well.
“These facilities are 40-some odd years-old,” the mayor said.
