The Lowndes County Sportsplex is largely complete and will likely be handed over to the county by the end of next week, according to County Administrator Jay Fisher.

Fisher, during a brief Lowndes County Board of Supervisors meeting Monday morning, said there were a few issues that needed to be ironed out before the county officially took it over.

“There are a few small details left to do,” Fisher said. “There’s some landscaping they’re still working on. They need to seed some areas with grass, but they didn’t want to put the seed down while there’s no rain in the forecast. There are some areas left to sod, as well.”

Later this week contractors will come out to turn on and set the lights on the complex’s eight ball fields, Fisher said.

Interim Recreation Director Tom Velek said he and the recreation staff will undergo training between now and the time the keys are handed over.

“We have to work through how to use the lights, and the locks still need to be installed so it’s a uniform system out there,” Velek said.

The approximately $12-million-dollar complex, off Highway 82 west of Columbus, features eight baseball/softball fields, as well as concession stands, bathrooms, picnic tables, an entry gate and a playground.

While there is an entry gate, there is no fencing along North Frontage Road, Fisher said. There was fencing in an earlier plan, but it was cut as a cost-saving measure.

Fisher said prices to fence the approximately 1,500 linear feet of frontage ranged from about $52,000 to about $112,000, depending on the material used.

District 4 Supervisor Jeff Smith asked about installing security cameras, due to the complex’s isolated nature.

“Even though we need it, most of these systems are wireless,” Velek said. “Letting 4-County put in their wireless (internet service) in front of us doing this might be advantageous.”

4-County Electric announced in August it would donate wireless internet at the park via its FastNet broadband service.

Fisher said he didn’t have an estimate yet on what the cameras would cost.

Some trees that were installed at the site have already died, and will be replaced, Fisher said. They are warrantied for one year.

Fisher said a one-day 12U and under baseball tournament is being considered for a “soft opening” on Oct. 21.

“(Velek) gave (organizers) a tentative yes,” Fisher said. “… The south fields, which are the ones closest to Highway 82, has had sod in place for two to three weeks longer than on the north fields. A tournament could be played if it were only played on those south fields.”
A small tournament would give the opportunity to see how the system runs, Velek said.

“If we do something, it’s purely to kick the wheels and see what falls off and what needs to be tinkered with so everything’s perfect when we come back in the spring,” Velek said.

Fisher said a decision on the tournament would be made once some questions about its scope were answered.

New parks director

President Trip Hairston told The Dispatch after the meeting the county is going through applications for a permanent recreation director.

Friday was the deadline for applications, and a committee made up of Hairston, Smith and Fisher will meet Wednesday to begin going through the applications, Hairston said.

“I hope we’ll have somebody in place pretty soon, but if we don’t have the right resume or the right candidate we will continue to look.”

Velek has been the interim recreation director since late December. He was appointed after former director Roger Short passed away unexpectedly in October of last year.

Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.

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