Emmaus Baseball Stadium Dormant but Not Dead

Several residents at the Emmaus Borough Council meeting Monday spoke about the proposed Community Park Baseball Stadium and the borough is still getting costs on the controversial project. 

Borough engineer Brad Youst of Hanover Engineering estimated recently it would cost about $10,000 to prepare erosion control plans and bid specification for the new ball field, said Borough Manager Craig Neely.

Resident John Donches, a council candidate in the upcoming primary, asked council to “kill” the stadium proposal, claiming the East Penn School District would try to exert control over use of the stadium. Citing recent news about the district’s control over the use of Lower Macungie Township’s best ball field, Donches said the district “probably had the same idea here…We cannot have that kind of restriction on our community park…Please drop it now,” he told council.

Marshall Rau, a longtime baseball coach from Emmaus, told council “I totally disagree.”  He said the district would only have scheduling seniority during the school baseball season. He said the ball field at Community Park should be upgraded. “I really feel there are a lot of people in support of this.”

Philip Weida, a borough resident and former ball player, also told council he supports upgrading the Community Park ball field.

After the meeting, council member Dr. Michael Waddell described the ballfield plans as “dormant.”

But Weida was at the meeting because he was “very upset” with the proposed skatepark across from his property. He said the skatepark would create stormwater and parking problems and noise and there were better places to build it, such as up on Kline’s Lane.

Council member Wesley Barrett, head of the park committee, said there are “no guarantees” the skatepark would be built or where it would be built.

In other business, the Emmaus Main Street Program has changed it name to the Emmaus Main Street Partners and has a new “hip” logo it intends to promote, said executive director Teri Madison. The logo was designed by Nancy and Michael Sayre of Sayre Design of Emmaus, Madison said.  

Also, council accepted “with regret”  the retirement of Diane Wagner, the billing clerk in the water and sewer department,  a 27-year borough employee.