St. Joseph City Commissioners have approved a 50-year lease of the Dickinson Park baseball and softball fields with St. Joseph Public Schools so the school district can continue using the facilities for its athletics programs while making improvements to them.
At a meeting this past week, commissioners heard from St. Joseph Public Schools Board of Education President Barry Conybeare that because the park isn’t owned by the district, it can’t use its own funds to make improvements there. However, if the district had a long-term lease on the park, the situation would change.
St. Joe City Manager John Hodgson told us upgrades envisioned in the 2018 parks master plan will be more feasible if the school district can use taxpayer dollars to help with the ball fields.
“We’ve got a six year old plan at this point as to what the field should look like, and in addition to the baseball and softball playing areas themselves, there’s also an area where the city has preliminary word that we’ll receive a grant to install restrooms and a parking area over off of Lakeview in the southeast corner,” Hodgson said. “The future plan also calls for putting a playground in there.”
Commissioner Michael Fernandez told us this lease agreement will be a good partnership between the city and school district.
“It’s going to help attract students to the school district, and more students in the school district and living in our city is gong to be good for the future, so I’m excited about it,” Fernandez said.
There was some concern about the length of the lease, but the 50-year term would satisfy the legal requirements for the district to use more than booster or foundation funds to pay for improvements at the park.
City Attorney Laurie Schmidt also noted under the lease terms, if the park isn’t used by the district for its intended purpose for three years, then the deal ends. It also keeps the park open for public use under current rules.
Commissioners approved the lease, which was also approved Monday by the board of education.
