With the return of baseball season, Wellesley councillors meeting Tuesday briefly discussed concerns relating to fees for the township’s diamonds.
Municipal ball diamonds have two bookings – early and late. Early bookings with no lights are $50 to rent; late bookings with lights are $55, the higher rate going towards electricity costs. Melanie Martin, recreation service board chair for St. Clements, read an email from a resident who noted that diamonds are regularly lined and bases set in the first game, but not for the second. The resident’s concern is that players in the evening slot take on extra set-up/disassembly duties for a higher fee.
“I think it’s a give and take,” said Coun. Shelley Wagner. “I’ve played ball in Millbank; I’ve played ball in this township; I’ve played ball in Kitchener-Waterloo; and every team I have played for, we set our own diamonds, we remove the bases at the end, and if we were the last team, we turn the lights off. It’s just something in the baseball culture, and it’s the way it’s always been.”
“In all the ball I played, the first game was always prepared,” said Coun. Jim Olender. “After that, the guys lined the stuff themselves, they did all the work themselves the second game – even some of them went and raked it. It’s just part of the game.”
Olender added, “If you’re going to have full-time staff out there two or three hours waiting for a game to be over, it’s pretty costly. You can expect your rates to go up to use the field.”
