Oakdale Athletic Association Offers to Cover One-Third of Lighting Cost

The Oakdale Athletic Association is willing to cover one-third of the cost of lighting ball fields at , association parent volunteer Cory Lynch told the Oakdale Parks and Recreation Commission at its meeting Tuesday, Jan. 18.

By adding $5 to the registration fee of each child that participates in youth sports, the Oakdale Athletic Association (OAA) will be able to contribute $11,000 per year for 10 years toward the estimated $225,000 project, Lynch said.

“There’s a lot of people in OAA that think that number’s way too high,” Lynch said. “I believe in putting my best foot forward and saying, ‘Guys, this is that important to us.’”

In addition to installing lighting that would illuminate multiple fields, the athletic association wants to do grading work north of 12^th Street so that it can add fields  north of the existing one.

Parks and Recreation Director Bruce Anderson said he’s meeting with Principal Carol Erickson Wednesday to learn more about the school's prairie restoration efforts in the area of the proposed new fields fields, as well as any other concerns the school might have with the project.

Parks and Recreation Commission member Bill Rasmussen said the lighting portion of the project might face opposition from neighbors.

Lynch said the new lighting would not cascade onto other properties. Field lighting is needed, he said, because the school district doesn’t allow them to use the fields until 6 p.m., and so there’s little time for soccer and football teams to practice before it gets dark.

“We have three lighted fields to support over 900 kids in just our football and soccer programs,” Lynch said.

In addition to providing more practice time, one goal of adding fields and lights is to allow more games to be played at home, which will likely result in an increase in participation, Lynch said.

In exchange for its investment into the lights, Lynch said the OAA wants control over the fields after 6 p.m. on weekdays, and all day on weekends so that it can schedule tournaments to recoup some of its costs. The association also wants to see the lights installed no later than 2012, he said.

Oakdale must keep up with nearby communities like Stillwater and Woodbury when it comes to investment in amenities, or it will attract fewer new residents, Lynch said.

“If the community doesn’t attempt to improve their amenities when their neighbors are, younger families tend to gravitate to those communities that offer these things,” Lynch said. “They might pay slightly more in real-estate taxes, but when you’re living with young kids, it becomes insignificant in my opinion.”

The Parks and Recreation Commission voted to support moving ahead with grading the site north of 12^th Street to add more fields, the cheapest part of the project, and also supported moving ahead with a feasibility report for the lighting.

Anderson said the next steps would be to discuss the project with the District 622 School Board and the Oakdale City Council. The Oakdale City Council and Parks and Recreation Commission are scheduled to discuss the issue at a joint workshop April 12. This workshop was re-scheduled from an earlier date.