Palmerton board approves use of new softball field

The long wait is over. Palmerton’s softball team is scheduled to break in its new field next to the junior high school on Saturday with a 10 a.m. game against Lehighton.

A new field, which sees the team move from its current home on Seventh Street, was included as part of an addition/renovation project at the junior high.

While games can start taking place on the field, Greg Haas, with Carbon Engineering, said there are some issues with drainage at the site that will need to be resolved over the long haul.

“The approved plans showed drainage channels along the entire right field foul line and left field foul line,” Haas said on Wednesday.

“Essentially, the district went in on its own and filled in the channels behind home plate and put in a level gravel area. It also regraded an embankment that led to the channels. It could impact the design of stormwater facilities located by the outfield.”

During a board meeting, Earl Paules acknowledged doing the work with a group of volunteers. District administration said the work was not part of the approved plans on record for the site.

Haas, the engineer of record for Lower Towamensing Township, said he is finishing up a site inspection report, but intends to leave the ball in the district’s court moving forward.

“The options are remove the improvements that were installed and get the site back to how it was shown on the approved plans, or there is always the option of submitting a revised land development plan that would have to go through the township and the county for another review. The township also has the ability to force the board to put it back the way the approved plan states if a revised plan isn’t submitted and approved.”

On Tuesday night, the board approved taking down caution tape around the gravel area that was added, with the district willing to assume all liability should anything happen as a result.

The caution tape was put up, according to the board, based on a report from district engineer Barry Isett and Associates that there was no engineering involved in the gravel addition, and the firm did not approve it.

“It’s the same stone as what is at Seventh Street now,” Director Barry Scherer said. “The only difference is we didn’t spend $20,000 with Barry Isett for them to tell us it was OK. It doesn’t mean it’s unsafe. I’m in favor of taking the tape down.”

Six other Palmerton board members joined Scherer in that support, with only Charles Gildner and Kathy Fallow rejecting the motion.

“If we can leave the tape up and still have games there, we are covering our behinds,” Fallow said.

There is a paved walkway from the parking lot to the field, and Haas said, “If the district plans to keep the walkway behind home plate as it is, it should probably be paved also.”

As for the field’s status for a game, Haas said there are no issues.

“The field itself is beautiful,” he said. “The infield mix and the entire outfield are beautiful. It’s a really nice facility.”

Scherer said Barry Isett “dropped the ball on the softball field by not directing the subcontractor to get that field finished.”

“It should have never sat there like that,” he said. “If Earl and the volunteers didn’t do that work, we would be sitting there with a dirt trench full of water.”

In September, Palmerton got an $80,935.64 quote from Penn Builders, the general contractor on the field, to construct two dugouts.

Instead, the district gave Paules approval to assemble a group of volunteers to build the dugouts.

“To help pay for that, we sold 17 signs to be placed at the field,” Paules said. “All together, it probably comes to over $25,000 the district didn’t have to pay. JET Signs made us really nice signs and we have a $4,950 payment left to them to finish the field off up there.”

The board approved paying the remaining sign cost out of the capital reserve fund.

“The really cool thing is the people that donated their work,” Paules said, “are willing to donate at least $50 to $100 to the softball program every year.”