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When the wind whips through Ed Lynn Memorial Field, it has a tendency to buckle the outfield fence. But that’s about to change.
Early next month, as the Powell Pioneers prepare to kick off …
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When the wind whips through Ed Lynn Memorial Field, it has a tendency to buckle the outfield fence. But that’s about to change.
Early next month, as the Powell Pioneers prepare to kick off the 2024 American Legion baseball season, the City of Powell will replace the outfield fence posts.
The city had planned to do the work in the next fiscal year, said City Administrator Zack Thorington. However, that wasn’t soon enough, as the fiscal year begins July 1 and the Pioneers host the Class A state tournament July 27-31.
As a result, the Powell City Council approved an amendment to the current budget that includes $12,600 to install the new posts.
“They need it,” Councilman Floyd Young said at the Feb. 5 meeting.
The trouble with the current posts is that they were originally just 4 feet high — below the Legion standard of 6 feet. When the Pioneers hosted a regional tournament years ago, crews “hurried up and welded some pieces to make it tall enough,” Thorington said, but there wasn’t enough concrete to support the taller posts.
“Through the years, with all the signs [on the fence], everything’s bending,” Thorington said.
City Parks Superintendent Tim Miller said the project should only take a couple of days and they will use the existing chain link fencing.
“Hopefully nobody even notices,” Miller said of the work.
The Pioneers’ home opener is April 14.
New brains for sprinkler system
The council also recently approved another parks-related budget amendment, allocating $22,000 to replace a broken part of the sprinkler system at Homesteader Park.
Miller said a variable frequency drive that serves as “the brains of the irrigation system” around the rest area and the front half of the park died last year. With the city unable to immediately find a new drive, the city tapped into another part of the system to keep the front area “semi-green,” Miller said. However, it was an imperfect, temporary solution.
“Now the part is available, and we’re in dire need of it,” Thorington explained to the council before the March 18 budget amendment.
The new part should be installed soon and ready to go for the summer months, Miller said.
