Safety Harbor 'failure' under the lights

SAFETY HARBOR — A city commissioner apologized to the Little League community for the city's "failure" to replace an aging baseball field lighting system that has deteriorated to where it is unsafe for nighttime play.

The commission voted July 20 to spend about $50,000 on a temporary repair expected to keep the lights operating for another year or two while officials search for funding for a nearly $1 million replacement project.

"I personally apologize for not having this solved and for the uncertainty over whether you're going to have a baseball season," Commissioner Kevin Shanks told parents, coaches and young players who packed the city hall chambers.

"I consider it a city failure," he said. "Hopefully, we do a better job of not getting to this point in the future."

Little League coach Cole Morgan thanked commissioners for approving the temporary repair, but urged them to develop a "Plan B" if a proposed constitutional amendment limiting property tax revenues passes this fall. Morgan, the father of three boys, said the uncertainty has resulted in some youngsters being placed on waiting lists.

Vice Mayor Nancy Besore said she initially wanted the city to move forward immediately with replacing the lights at the five Safety Harbor City Park ballfields — where up to 400 children play 300 days per year — but ultimately supported the interim repair.

"Thank God for the relamping option," Besore said. "I wanted those lights, and I wanted them now."

Public Works Director Renee Cooper said the city began budgeting for the project in 2018, after manufacturers announced they were discontinuing the high-pressure sodium lighting technology installed at city park in 1999.

The project was repeatedly delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, competing capital projects and rising construction costs.

By the time the city sought bids last December, replacing the system with modern LED lights carried a price tag of $941,850 — nearly $300,000 more than the city had budgeted, despite years of setting money aside for the project.

Cooper warned that rebidding the project today would likely push costs even higher.

The city had set aside about $650,000 for the project over several budget cycles. But City Manger Josh Stefancic said "overestimated" revenue projections and annual audits left only about $350,000 available to carry into next year's capital improvement budget, with the remaining funds already committed to other public works projects.

“We allocated a lot of money specifically to this,” Commissioner Jacob Burnett said. "And we've kind of just spent it on other necessities as we go and whittled it down to basically nothing now."

Burnett favored spending about $175,000 to relamp four fields and completely replace the lighting at a fifth, but did not gain support from the rest of the commission.

Commissioners also weighed whether to move ahead before November's statewide vote on the proposed constitutional amendment, which could significantly reduce local governments' property tax revenues and affect future capital spending.

"If the measure doesn't pass, I would imagine the city commission is going to come up with money and get those lights changed quick," Commissioner Andy Steingold said.

The commission's vote for the stopgap solution followed a June evaluation by lighting manufacturer Musco that found the aging system no longer met standards for nighttime play, with nearly half the lights across the city's five ballfields inoperable.

City staff determined that relamping the existing fixtures could extend their life by up to two years. That will give officials time to pursue grants, legislative appropriations, public-private partnerships and other funding sources for a replacement system expected to last at least 30 years.

The discussion drew emotional testimony from residents, some of whom questioned why a problem the city had anticipated for years had reached the point of threatening youth baseball.

"You're not really giving us enough information about where that money went," Shannon Pridon, the mother of a Little League player, told commissioners. "It would mean a lot if you guys were to take accountability."

As the adults discussed what Besore called a "crisis," some uniformed Little Leaguers fidgeted in their seats while others listened intently to the debate over how to keep the upcoming season on track.

Joel Morgan, who played on the same fields as a child and now coaches his son there, urged commissioners not to view the project as just another capital expense but as "an investment in youth recreation, public safety, and the economic growth of our beloved community."

“As a coach, I've seen firsthand how difficult it is for players to safely practice and play on weeknights because these lighting issues have gone unresolved for nearly a decade,” he said. “Every child deserves the opportunity to play baseball under the lights, under safe, reliable lights. Kids dream about playing sports under the lights, especially baseball.”

The relamping work is expected to begin in late July or early August, after replacement materials arrived at the city's public works facility earlier in the day.