Anthony Milam, Caneyville's Little League president, told commissioners at Monday's meeting that with the baseball season scheduled to begin next week, “kids haven't had the chance to practice yet due to the conditions of the ball field.”
Milam said he had already approached the Grayson County School Board, Caneyville Principal Ronnie Sarver and the Caneyville Elementary Site-Based Council regarding the possibility of a new field at the school.
“What we want,” said Milam, “is one good field for kids to practice and play on.”
Milam said he believes there is room for a baseball field and a smaller tee-ball field on the land just behind the school and he came to Monday's meeting looking for support from the commission.
Milam said that he had checked on some grants for funding a new ball park and said there was a $75,000 grant for which the city could possibly qualify.
That grant, he said, would be a 50/50 matching grant, which means the city would be responsible for coming up with half of the money.
“And the city would also have to apply for it,” Milam said.
Milam explained that the Caneyville Little League program only has four teams this year.
“Everyone else is going to Leitchfield or Clarkson,” he said.
And that is a concern that seemed to resonate with commissioners.
The commission agreed to check on the grant and then look at all options to see what they could do.
Milam said he believes that if Caneyville could get a new ball field, then many of those who have left to play in Leitchfield or Clarkson would come back.
Commissioner Scott Majors, who is also actively involved with Caneyville's Little League program, said that whether they get the grant or not, there are a few things they can do to get started if such a plan is approved by the school, such as putting up a chain-link fence, grading work and a back-stop.
The most expensive part of building any new ball field--lighting it for evening and night games, could come later, Majors said.
In the meantime, Milam said he still plans on keeping the current fields up and doing everything he can to make sure they're in the best condition possible.
“At this point, I'm just waiting to hear back from the site-based council,” he said.
Caneyville Police/Fire Chief Anthony Clark reported that the city's pumper tanker, after recently having a pump and 1,500 gallon stainless steel tank mounted on it, is now back in service and ready for use.
Mayor James Embry said he wanted to publicly thank Caneyville Builders, who supplied materials; Jeremiah Parrigan, for labor; Otis Bryant & Son (and Paul Bryant), for the work and effort that their employees put in to fixing the tanker; and everyone else who helped out in getting the tanker back in service.
In other action, the commission gave approval to Vernon Shanklin with American Consulting Engineers, PLC, to get quotes from drillers to do some core drilling.
Shanklin said he needed the core drilling authorization so they could obtain some rock samples and determine where the rock is.
The core drilling, work related to the Highway 79 North Sewer Extension Project, “will allow us to see how deep the rock is,” Mayor Embry said, “and could save us money on the project because workers will know where to dig and where not to dig.”
Before any drilling is done, however, Shanklin said they would need permission from local landowners to do the work and drill on their land.
Also, City Clerk Brenda Brown reported that Lincoln Trail Area Development is putting together a grant proposal that would help cities get generators for lighting at their wastewater plants in case of a power outage.
Commissioners approved being one of those cities.
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