The Mount Vernon School Board approved a contract with Krafka Lawn Services to make repairs to the First Street Community Center Field this fall to get the field ready for play this spring. The $7,875 contract does not include the potential costs for watering the field, which are roughly $30,000 annually.

The district had opted not to pay for watering and fertilizing of the field as a cost saving measure last spring. The steady rain this summer helped in that there wasn’t as much need to water the field as years previous. The school is one of four owners of the First Street Community Center Field, the others being Alliant Energy, the City of Mount Vernon and Ed Sauter.

School board president Rick Elliott said that the barrier for selling the field a few years ago was the cost of getting an abstract, which was upwards of $40,000, before even knowing if a buyer could be found for the space.

There has never been an agreement in writing as to who manages the field, and Mount Vernon uses the field for some Mount Vernon Middle School sports as well as a practice field.

School board member Tim Keegan said the district should move this subject to a work session to discuss what need the district has for the field moving forward.

“Why should the school pay for upkeep for the field if we’re not going to use it?” Keegan asked. “I understand it is property we own, and if we don’t do something, it will be in disrepair come spring.”

School board member Lance Schoff said that whomever the school uses as contractor will need to do some crab grass treatment to the field.

“I’m worried also if we don’t do anything and someone is injured, that becomes a liability for us if they’re injured,” Schoff said.

The district does get some rental usage from area sports clubs, but those do not raise to the level needed for ongoing maintenance to the field.