R-III baseball field drainage is targeted for project spending

John Rohlf, Staff Writer
Posted 5/23/22

The Warren County R-III School Board is moving to fix drainage problems at Warrenton High School’s baseball field.

The main problem with the field is the water coming off the hillside into …

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R-III baseball field drainage is targeted for project spending

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The Warren County R-III School Board is moving to fix drainage problems at Warrenton High School’s baseball field.

The main problem with the field is the water coming off the hillside into the batting cage area, board member Rodger Tucker said during a public meeting May 12.

“All that water runs into the batting cages and down alongside the field,” Tucker said. “And then 50 or 60 feet from the corner of the baseball field, it runs into the field. And then is currently washing out that ditch along the roadway. And then on top of that, the entire drainage of that left field corner dips down into that as well.”

There are compounding waters from the hillside and baseball field all converging into the corner, Tucker said. The school is also dealing with drainage clogged with sediment.

Tucker’s suggestion is to create a channel to collect water and direct the water to an underground inlet. It would dump the water into the storm sewer.

“That takes all of that water,” Tucker said. “We’re not going to try to funnel that water anywhere else. That just takes a lot of that water from the baseball field and from that hill and just gets rid of it right away.”

The drainage along where the batting cages would need to be reworked to create proper drainage to the corner, Tucker said. He noted getting rid of the water ahead of the cages would allow the cages to stay next to the field in the bullpen. The project would also have to address the left corner of the field that pools in water.

Tucker suggested the district set up a list of criteria for the project.

“We want an inlet here. We want a batting cage pad here. We want this drainage to go up here. We want this fixed,” Tucker said. “And just let (the contractor) design-build that portion. So we’re setting the criteria. It’s up to them to make it happen and send it out to bid that way.”

Board Vice President Franci Schwartz noted the district could save money that the district was planning to allocate toward a survey to help fix the problem.
Board member Jeff Schneider said he appreciated Tucker’s suggestion.

“When I read this the other day, I thought the same thing,” Schneider said. “We can surely save this $15,000 and just figure out how to get rid of the water without spending $15,000 for somebody to tell us how to get rid of the water.”

Superintendent Gregg Klinginsmith said the district will allocate about $50,000 in the budget for the project. Contractor bids will be presented to the board when they reach that point of the project. No action was taken at last week’s meeting.

Warren County School District, Baseball, Field, Project

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