City votes to play ball with Butler school district over Pullman Park
Butler Area School District is on deck to approve an agreement with the City of Butler for the management of Michelle Krill Field at Historic Pullman Park.
City council, at a meeting Thursday, May 29, voted unanimously to approve the agreement with the district, for a start date of July 1, contingent upon review by city solicitor Tom Breth. Members also approved continuing payment for operating expenses, repairs and renovations to the park.
The city began to help manage the field over the past few months and quickly became aware of concerns with operations under the City of Butler Parks, Recreation, Grounds and Facilities Authority.
Mayor Bob Dandoy approached the school district with the idea of operating the park last fall. District superintendent Brian White said at a May school board meeting that an amicable agreement had been drafted, but the city needed to approve it first.
Now that the city has approved the agreement, it falls to the Butler school board to approve it as well.
While the agreement finalizes, the city has been working on resolving the authority’s debts. The authority is slated to dissolve as part of the agreement.
“We’re at a point now with the bills and getting finances straightened out, we’re not getting too many surprises,” Dandoy said. “It’s just the electricity and things like that. We are hoping to get everything squared away, rather than come back periodically.”
Dandoy said Breth will review the agreement before finalization, as he expects minor tweaks to be made. Once the document is finalized, he said it will be made public.
A full list of repairs and renovations for the park is under development. Dandoy toured the facility earlier this month to finalize that list.
“We’ll come up with a plan so that we can continue with the repairs and the plan after the school district takes over. We’re not going to get it all done in a month,” Dandoy said.
Previously, repair costs for the stadium, primarily the field, were estimated to be around $400,000. However, Breth said at the May 15 city forum meeting that the city may be able to receive reduced costs on repairs, thanks to the district’s vendors.
The Butler Area School District’s first opportunity to vote on the agreement would be at the school board meeting June 9.
