FAIRVIEW TWP — Karns City Area School District’s board meeting Monday turned into a summit of board members, Fairview Township supervisors and other school officials as they discussed the possibility of building a baseball field closer to home.

Joshua “Sluggo” Smith, Karns City’s head baseball coach, came armed with three preliminary sets of plans, each a different option for fields in varying locations.

District superintendent Eric Ritzert opened the discussion by assuring the board that, while they weigh potential options, the district has been in contact with those at Michelle Krill Field at Historic Pullman Park in Butler regarding concerns of player safety.

At the April 10 board meeting, Smith told the board that the park has fallen into disrepair, stating that the nets are falling down, the fences are falling apart and dugouts offer little protection to players when foul balls are coming their way.

On Monday, Ritzert said that the district’s fund balances are to be used for projects in the near future, so if a field project were to move forward, the district likely would get a loan for funding. Smith said the current estimated cost of a new baseball field is $1.5 million.

Originally, the plan given most credence was to work with Fairview Township to build a diamond near the township’s municipal building. Other plans involved building a facility on school property behind the high school and renovating the field that exists in Fairview borough, which quickly was deemed unsuitable.

Smith, who worked with outside sources to do surveys of the properties using drones, advised the board that there is no good way of building a facility on high school property, earning agreement due to the time it would take to secure the proper permits and the funds required for excavation.

One of the biggest issues with building the Fairview field is that representatives said the township isn’t currently capable of funding the project by itself, and the district can’t spend money to build on land it doesn’t own.

There was discussion over whether they could secure grants as a township, and board member Tara Hackwelder, who has more than 10 years of grant-writing experience, said she’d be willing to assist them if that’s the route they decided to take.

Another problem they considered was that of the long-term lease conditions the district would have to work out with the township, should the project come to fruition.

“We’re talking a million and a half dollars here,” said school district solicitor Thomas May, “and to go in and renovate or lease a property you don’t own, to me, is a big problem.

“Leases are made to be broken, and if you’re going to spend a million and a half dollars on property that you don’t own, that’s a big consideration. Generally, you would need to own the property to spend that much money.”

May said they could place numerous terms in the lease agreement, but stressed the sum was a problem when faced with the fact that the district wouldn’t own the land the field was built on.

Board member Matt Bishop said a group of parents suggested to him the possibility of demolishing Sugarcreek Elementary School and using that property once the Chicora expansion was completed and the students consolidated, an idea that earned the support of several other directors.

The 12-acre property would be more than enough space to build the field, as well as solving the issue of land ownership. It also would solve issues related to costs of upkeep on an empty school, but it would mean the baseball team would have to wait for the Chicora project to be completed before they break ground on a field.

School Board president Josh Price reinforced the bad timing of the field request in conjunction with the expansion while acknowledging Smith’s frustrations, as he was told the same thing five years ago.

Bishop, who is in his 12th year on the board, elaborated that the Chicora expansion was 10 years in the making.

“You want to move fast because you’re feeling like you’ve already waited five years,” board vice president Brenda Ealy said, acknowledging Smith’s wait time, “but I don’t want to put that speed above what’s really the best long term.

“I want you to keep coaching. I want to still have a good team. I want the students that are here now to benefit from it,” she said, “but at the same time, I think, you have to look at the long term.”

“I’m a 100% with Brenda,” Hackwelder said, “I think this is something that needs to be done. I think a benefit of using the Sugarcreek property is that it would give us time to make sure we have secured the appropriate funding.”

Though no final decision was made, Smith and the board agreed to look at the Sugarcreek property more closely, with Smith receiving permission to do another drone survey of the area.

The board also heard a presentation by Evan McGarvey, director of business affairs, regarding the district’s 2023-24 budget, which Ritzert said does have a deficit but is getting close to being balanced.

Work on the budget will continue until the May 8 meeting, when more accurate and updated figures will be presented. Administration has not made a recommendation on the possibility of tax increases one way or the other.

Pending approval May 8, the budget will be on display for public comment for 30 days and will be accessible on the district’s website or in the district office.

The final general fund budget is set to be approved at the June 19 board meeting.