Residents of the Spring Hill subdivision in Wright City expressed ongoing anxieties over future construction of a new city park during a town hall meeting on Aug. 2.

Homeowners whose backyards abut the future park property north of Westwoods Road fear that they will be disturbed by sound and light from a cluster of planned baseball fields. Some worry that they will lose a tree barrier between their homes and the park, despite reassurances to the contrary from city leaders. The concerns arise from a July 8 board of aldermen discussion in which leaders were uncertain whether appropriate size baseball fields could be installed without disturbing the tree barrier.

Project engineer Scott Kolkmeyer with Bax Engineering said on Aug. 2 said that the footprint of one already-small baseball field had been shrunk by 25 feet, in order to shift another field away from the neighborhood and preserve a 25-foot tree barrier across most of the eastern edge of the park. The only place that’s not true is right at Westwoods Road, where space needs to be kept clear for a culvert and drainage channel, Kolkmeyer said.

Skeptical residents had several followup questions: Will any part of the tree barrier be disturbed during construction? Will the removal of interior trees worsen water runoff that’s already a nuisance for some homes? What other protections will there be against light and noise disturbances?

Kolkmeyer said part of the park construction will be a large retention basin and drainage pipe that should keep more water out of the neighborhood. 

In order to stay out of the tree barrier, Kolkmeyer said engineers are minimizing the footprint of the ball fields and basin by building them with retaining walls, rather than natural slopes. The retaining walls will be designed so that most of the work to build them is done from the park side, avoiding disturbances to the tree barrier, Kolkmeyer explained.

Despite those assurances, several residents asserted that 25 feet of trees won’t be enough to insulate them from lights on the baseball field and noise from games. City Administrator Jim Schuchmann responded that specific decisions haven’t yet been made for installation of light or sound systems, so there’s time to take those concerns into account.

Mayor Dan Rowden later told The Record that city leaders are doing all they can to insulate Spring Hill homes from disturbance, while also delivering a park that the entire city can be proud of.

“We’re doing the best we can to design the park, and modify it as we can, to make it work for everyone. We want our citizens to be happy, and we want this park to be great for everybody,” Rowden said. “We’re going to do everything we can to make this a beautiful park and a beautiful part of our city.”

Tony Girondo, a longtime Wright City resident and member of the city’s planning and zoning committee, sought to reassure the residents that living next to a baseball field isn’t much of a concern.

“If you know the ball fields at Ruge Park, third base is in my back yard,” Girondo said. “I have one line of trees, I don’t have 25 feet. ... There have been baseball teams and leagues that have gone on there, and I have to walk back there to hear any noise or see any lights. If you put in the proper lighting, there’s no overspray back to my house.”