The City Commission will consider three lease agreement of city owned property with little league associations during their May 5 meeting.

City staff recommends approving the agreements, which are similar to those currently in use and those approved in the past, with:

• the Westside Little League Park for city property in Grande Vista Park with Westside Little League Association;
• Americans Little League for city property located at 38th Street North and 10th Avenue with Americans Little League Association; and
• Riverside Little League Park for city property located in Sacajawea Park and Riverside Little League Park with the Riverside Little League Association.

The commission will conduct public hearings on each of the lease agreements, but the meetings are being conducted mostly virtually due to COVID-19 and members of the public are encouraged to submit written comment in advance, call-in during the meeting or they may attend in person at the Civic Center.

More on how that works is here: City, county testing remote options for public comment during commission meetings

The proposed terms for the Westside agreement are:

• 5-year lease with option to renew for another 5 years at city’s discretion;
• both parties have the option to terminate the lease with 60 days written notice;
• lessee is responsible for an annual $200 fee, utilities, and day-to-day maintenance;
• city is responsible for water costs for irrigation, up to a maximum of $1,500 annually. The Westside Little League Association facility occupies 30 percent of Grande Vista Park and is responsible for 30 percent of the water bill for the park less the $1,500 deduction. This has been accepted policy with other baseball programs, according to Park and Rec.

The Westside association has provided improvements to the park including fencing, backstops, irrigation, turf, parking lots, buildings and restrooms, according to Park and Rec.

The proposed terms for the agreement with the Americans Little League Association include:

• 5-year lease with option to renew for another 5 years at city’s discretion;
• both parties have the option to terminate the lease with 60 days written notice;
• lessee will be responsible for a $200 annual fee, utilities, and day-to-day maintenance;
• City is responsible for water costs for irrigation, up to a maximum of $3,000 annually. The Americans Little League Association will be responsible for total water costs for irrigation of Americans Little League Park less the $3,000 deduction. This has been accepted policy with other baseball programs.

The Americans Little League Association has provided improvements to the city parkland including fencing, backstops, irrigation, turf, parking lots, buildings and restrooms, according to Park and Rec.

The proposed lease terms with the Riverside Little League Association include:

• 5-year agreement with option to renew for another 5 years at city’s discretion;
• both parties have the option to terminate the lease with 60 days written notice;
• lessee will be responsible for a $250 annual fee, utilities, and day-to-day maintenance;
• city is responsible for water costs for irrigation, up to a maximum of $1,500 annually. The Riverside Little League Association will be responsible for 60 percent of total water costs for irrigation of Sacajawea Park and Riverside Little League Park less the $1,500 deduction. This has been accepted policy with other baseball programs. 

The Riverside Little League Association has provided improvements to the city parkland including fencing, backstops, irrigation, turf, parking lots, buildings and restrooms, according to Park and Rec. According to the league, batting cages are currently being constructed.