Ball diamond will go ahead

Photo: Jason Bartsch, Osoyoos Minor Baseball Association

Osoyoos council approved plans to repurpose the local dog park into a baseball diamond for the community's minor baseball association.

A baseball field used to occupy the space adjacent to Osoyoos Secondary School, before it was converted to a dog park, and Mayor Sue McKortoff said it has been well-used by the public.

But council and town staff are throwing a bone to dog owners, as the ballpark plans involve two new dog parks for the community.

One dog park would be next to the current one, where an overgrown BMX track currently sits.

Dog owners would be able to use the area around the ball diamonds until the BMX site is reconfigured into a new dog park.

"We're hoping to maybe have a committee of people that are interested in helping us clean up the old area so we can turn it into a dog park. That was suggested by councillor Rhodes yesterday and I thought it was a great idea," McKortoff said.

The other dog park would be across town at Kinsmen Park, and would be a simpler process as town staff would only need to enclose the field with fencing.

Council also found that some dog owners in town have already been using the space at Kinsmen Park, which has a playground and washrooms in place.

The request for a dedicated ballpark was submitted by the Osoyoos Minor Baseball Association in July, citing a need with "incredible growth" to the program, as well as a positive economic spinoff if the town is able to host minor baseball tournaments.

"It seems to me that this is a win-win, because the dog people can use the present dog park at the moment, while we try and repurpose the area outside of that," McKortoff said.

There has been criticism from users about the current space for dogs being taken away, enough for a petition to generate more than 350 signatures.

"We're not trying to take away anything, we're trying to add things to our community," McKortoff said. "I think what we've done is come up with a very good plan."

This option was recommended by town staff, and was one of seven options that was drawn up by Gerald Davis, the town's director of community services.

McKortoff said budget deliberations for the plans are going on presently.

"We'd like to have things started very quickly so that we can have the baseball diamonds ready for April when (baseball teams) start, and we can have the dog park ready as well."

According to a report from town staff, the plans will cost between $20,000 to $40,000 altogether.

The most costly process would be laying the red shale infield for the ballparks, quoted at $17,136.