TYLERTOWN — Salem baseball players are getting their own field, but not without some rancor among Walthall County School Board members.
The board split 3-2 Thursday on proceeding with the project, starting with a survey, legal procedures and dirtwork.
Superintendent Wade Carney recommended on June 19 that the district begin making some moves toward developing a baseball field for the school on 16th Section land along Rushingtown Road, about half a mile from the school.
He asked the board to approve a survey of the land, a start to legal paperwork to split the proposed field site from a tract of land leased to Nelson McKenzie, and dirtwork when the other processes were completed.
After a 2-2 vote on the 19th failed to authorize starting the project, the board put off action until Thursday, when Salem principal Vanessa Boyd provided a $59,300 estimate to develop a new field at the proposed site, including a backstop and fencing, dirtwork, concrete and concession stand but not lights.
“We have a group of parents, 40 or more, who are willing to work and do fundraisers and pay for whatever they can themselves,” Boyd said.
She said Tylertown’s field, where Salem plays its game, is in use for Tylertown’s practice at the time Salem would want to practice, and the team had to share a field at the water park with Christmas lights during practice there. With no lights planned immediately, Boyd said the team would schedule games before dark.
Board member Jeffre Conerly expressed reservations about the accuracy of the estimate and how much assistance the district might be asked to provide.
“Since I’ve been on the board, we’ve had these projects, and everybody came back and asked for more money. Are we going to let them ask for more?” Conerly asked. “... Are we going to be tight with our budget, or are we going to let them have it?
“I’ve been around long enough to know these are not real numbers.”
Boyd reiterated that the parents group intends to take care of much of the project, but the board “wanted numbers, so I got with a contractor and tried to get some good estimates.”
She said she believes the only number that might be low was $10,500 for fencing the field. She said she would prefer a different type of fencing that would cost $14,500.
Still, she said with what the parents would provide to cover some of the costs, “we could probably get lights with the money left over.”
Boyd said, for example, a team parent would donate the dirtwork needed on the site, and another parent could perform most or all of the concrete work.
“The land there lends itself to being a ballfield,” Carney said. “It’s very flat.”
“The only way it could be better would be if it was on campus,” board president Eldredge Boyd said.
He noted in previous meetings that Salem has for decades played games at Dexter, Holmes Water Park and Tylertown High School.
“Salem has been a nomad team for 50 years,” he said. “It’s time they get a home.”
Board member Linda Metz made the motion Thursday to proceed with the project. Deloris Breland and Boyd joined her in approving it. Metz and Boyd had supported the motion on June 19 that failed. Breland had voted against with Bobbie Lewis on the 19th, due to the lack of estimates.
Lewis and Conerly voted against Thursday’s motion, still with concerns about costs the district might face.
