Salem Mayoral candidate Brock Waggoner doesn’t like the location of the proposed soccer field complex at West Main and Selmaville Road and is calling for the city to hold meetings for public input.
Waggoner raised his concerns during the public comment section of Monday night’s city council meeting.
“I really would think this is something City Council should have multiple meetings about to be able to discuss it. Make sure that the ability for the Council to make sure we have the best viable option for the public and get the public input and then also present the case to the public with cost estimates would be a valuable resource and follow in the great tradition that previous council’s have done when major investments for the city’s youth are involved.”
While council members Craig Morton and Jim Koehler said no one had brought any concerns to them and in fact had only expressed excitement for the facility, Waggoner says those he has talked to don’t like the proposed site.
“We don’t understand that because that is a major highway with little kids that are going to be running around and a major trucking depot right there with little kids running around.”
Waggoner claimed those with concerns wouldn’t come to the city council because the council has shown they don’t care by the way they have brushed him off on other issues in the past. He said there was no group yet, but he wouldn’t rule it out for the future.
Mayor Pro-tem Nic Farley rejected the call for the meeting and said the city had given Waggoner time to express his concerns. Morton asked those with concerns to please get in touch with him.
Waggoner was also critical of the city for selling the land in the Westside Industrial Park where two soccer fields were located. Koehler noted those were not regulation fields and only used for practice.
After the meeting, City Manager Rex Barbee says the location was selected because it could hold eight fields to allow for tournaments that would bring people to town. He notes the parking lot would be constructed next to West Main Street well away from the fields and there would be protections to block players from entering Selmaville Road.
Barbee says when the city earlier talked to the President of the Little League Complex they were not in favor of the city building a much smaller complex next to the baseball fields since the seasons overlap and parking would become a bigger issue. He says that the facility would also not be big enough for tournaments.
Barbee says this is not a multi-million dollar project like the Aquatic Center that required passage of a tax to construct. He anticipates the total cost to be under $100,000 for gravel for the parking lot, seeding of the fields, and for construction materials for the bathroom and concession facility. Barbee says a number of groups are planning to volunteer their time to complete the work.
Barbee is currently working on getting costs for the seeding of the fields. Plans are to have the fields ready to play by this fall.
