Park to include two ball fields, playground equipment
By Kellen Olshefski
Editor
The City of Elkhorn Municipal Services Utilities took its first look at plans for Elkhorn’s Tasch Park.
City Engineer Paul Vanhenkelum said the plans include two small baseball fields and a play ground area.
The two ball fields are designed with 60-foot baselines and a 45-foot pitcher’s mound. Vanhenkelum said the backstop standing at the park now would be reused with one of the new ball fields.
The plans call for the ball fields to be situated with home plate on the east side of the park, along Lincoln Street, though this is something Vanhenkelum said could be changed after committee members raised concerns about child safety.
As a result, the backstop would have to be moved, though committee members agreed the backstop needs to be removed and replaced.
City Parks and Recreation Director Wendy Meyer said ideally what she would like to use the ball fields for would be ages 5 to 8, for tee-ball and coach pitch.
Police Chief Joel Christensen said regardless of where the fields are placed, if ball games other than tee-ball are going to be played on the fields he feels there needs to something more than your run of the mill backstop to prevent foul balls from hitting nearby vehicles.
“We could do netting, there’s all sorts of options,” Mayor Brian Olson said.
While committee members posed questions about safety along North Lincoln Street, City Administrator Sam Tapson said congestion where Washington Street dead ends, just off the park, is often worse than on Lincoln Street and might be more of a safety concern than North Lincoln Street.
While plans do not include drain tile in the infields of the two ball fields at this time, Vanhenkelum said they could include this as an option when it comes time to send out for bids.
With the plans presented Monday evening, Vanhenkelum said the basketball courts at the park would be removed and playground equipment would be relocated as directed by the city.
Alderman Scott McClory asked if there was a way the basketball courts could be saved in some form, relocating them on the property as opposed to completely eliminating them.
“Even one basket would be better than no baskets,” he said.
“All I’m saying as the person who’s in that district, I think there’d be a lot of backlash if that basketball court was removed … no tee-ball kid’s going to hit it that far.”
Vanhenkelum said with a 160-foot outfield, measured from home plate, the south field would barely touch the basketball courts. He said the original idea was to create more green space for multi-use at the park, for things such as soccer or football, though he said the park wouldn’t lose the ability to host these types of activities if the court was left in.
In other business
In other business, Vanhenkelum shared updates regarding Elkhorn’s Proctor Drive and plans moving forward.
Vanhenkelum said the survey has been completed and they’re doing pavement coring to determine what’s beneath the road and what they have to work with.
He said the city will have two design options for the road, one to replace as is and another to scale the road down, using the recycled asphalt to build a multi-use trail next to the roadway.
Vanhenkelum said they will likely have the plans for these two alternatives ready for the committee’s next meeting.
