The Athabasca Minor Ball Association (AMBA) feels that the Athabasca Regional Multiplex did not meet their agreements with the newly constructed ball diamonds, and wants to use part of their pledged $100,000 to make the fields safe and ready to use.
During the Athabasca town council meeting last Tuesday, councillor Paula Evans reported on behalf of the Multiplex board.
“We had a delegation from Athabasca Minor Ball that was very difficult,” Evans reported about the Multiplex meeting. “The short and long of it is that the $100,000 that was committed to the fields project by them has been somewhat pulled back because they feel that the fields are not turnkey ready.”
AMBA president Trevor Martin said the diamonds are lacking bases, dugouts, a foul pole and bleachers.
“We want to provide a safe place to play,” Martin said.
The original motion passed at the AMBA’s annual general meeting stated the diamonds must be turnkey ready for their $100,000 contribution.
According to Martin, without the dugouts, players are potentially at risk of being hit by fly balls from other diamonds because of their close proximity to one another.
Evans explained how AMBA would make the diamonds safe for use.
“They want to use $30,000 to make it turnkey ready in order to get dugouts installed and safety nets,” she said.
“We don’t have to make a decision on that right away, I think that is something we will discuss as a council.”
Manager of the Multiplex Rob Balay confirmed AMBA has made the request.
“I don’t think anything final has been decided,” he said. “They brought it forward to us for our consideration, and we’ll have to get back to them on that.”
