Soccer club wants answers about field
CLAYSVILLE – Highlander Soccer Club board members want to know if McGuffey School District officials plan to take their fields.
Kevin Kler and Justin Crowe addressed board members Thursday in opposition to a survey of district-owned property at 1339 N. Sunset Beach Road, where the soccer club, comprised of youth players ages 4 to 13 years old, practice and play.
The district considered the 12-acre site for baseball, softball and soccer fields.
Crowe, vice president of the club, said the organization was not notified the land was being considered for development.
“We heard rumors,” Crowe said. “We thought it was the perfect time to come up and see what’s going on.”
Although the district owns the land, the soccer club maintains the property and pays for utilities. Crowe and Kler said the middle school team uses the fields for practice and games and the high school teams use the fields for practice.
“We do 100 percent of the maintenance,” Crowe said.
“We’re completely self-sufficient. It’s a significant cost. We ask for nothing and receive nothing from the middle or high school.”
Crowe said the previous owners of the parcel allowed the soccer club to use it. After failing to pay taxes, the owner lost the property.
McGuffey took it by eminent domain in 2004 and continued to allow the soccer club to use the fields.
There are five soccer fields on the site, with about 200 children playing in the spring and fall seasons.
Kler, Crowe and treasurer Eric Burt said games are a community event.
“Drive past here on Sunday and you’ll see parents and grandparents. The sidelines are full,” Burt said. “If we lose these fields, it would be devastating to the community.”
Andreas Dometakis, an architect with HHSDR of Pittsburgh, said the site plan, including one baseball field, one softball field and two soccer fields, would cost the district $2.2 to $2.7 million.
If the district were to develop the land, Kler said the soccer club could not function, even with two soccer fields, because of size restrictions.
Board members did not move the plan forward. The motion to approve the $11,000 survey died for lack of a second.
Board President Carl Group said members are hesitant to “put all this money” into the project, because the parcel is located near a stream.
He said the district will continue to consider its options.
“It’s the start of a long process,” Group said.