Within a few months, New Hope may have a new playground, thanks primarily to a stipulation that jeopardized Lowndes County’s ability to secure future grants from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

On Monday, Lowndes County Board of Supervisors President Harry Sanders asked the board to approve advertising a public comment period required before the county could approve a land-swap with the county’s school district.

Sanders mistakenly told the board the New Hope High School girls softball field was built on county-owned land and funded by a MDWF grant. He misspoke, though. The land in question is the site of the New Hope baseball field.

Because the baseball field was funded through the MDWF grant, the facility is required to be open to the public. In subsequent audits, it was apparent that public access to the field was restricted.

“This whole thing was something we didn’t even know about,” Roger Short of the Columbus-Lowndes Recreation Authority told The Dispatch. “We weren’t even aware of this until a few months ago when we asked for a grant to build a playground at the Columbus Soccer Complex. When (MDWF) looked at the grant request, they said everything was in order, that it was a good plan. Then they told us that they couldn’t give us the grant because of the situation at the baseball field.”

Short and Sanders said their first thought was to simply return the grant money used to build the field to the MDWF, but were told that regulations would not allow it.

“At that point, we decided on a plan to swap land, which would solve the problem,” Sanders said.

Sanders said an agreement with the school district was made to allow the county to swap the baseball field with a three-acre parcel owned by the school district located next to the New Hope Community Center.

“Our plan is to turn over the land to the (CLRA) and they’ll build a playground on it,” Sanders said.

Short said the plans for the new park are not elaborate.

“Really, this is something that we have to do,” Short said. “The regulations require us to use the land for a public facility. We have to do that within three years, by law. So what we plan to do is put a small playground on that land, probably something in the $6,000 to $8,000 range.”

Short said the money could come from a grant or from the CLRA budget.

After the county advertises its intent for the land-swap, there will be a 30-day period to allow residents to comment on the proposal. After that, the MDWF will seek federal approval.

“We really don’t expect there will be any objections,” Short said. “Really, this is just a procedural thing that we have to take care of. We have to do this if we are going to be able to apply for future grants. I really can’t see why there would be any objections.”

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].