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ELKINS -- Two local baseball organizations gave informational presentations and made funding requests to the Randolph County Commission.
Representatives from the Elkins American Legion baseball squad and Elkins Little League baseball came before the commission.
Anthony Severino spoke first on behalf of Elkins Little League and talked to Commissioners David Kesling and Cris Siler about some projects the league needed help with at the River Bend Park fields.
"We have been working hard this year to try and improve our facilities and maintain the three fields that we have," said Severino. "The biggest project that we are wanting to focus on and complete would be paving the walkway that connects the two main fields.
"The current walkways that we have are made up of pea gravel. The main area of the walkway that connects the two fields has very deep pea gravel. That poses challenges to individuals who use wheelchairs, walkers, canes and kids in strollers. So it's our desire to pave that main section."
Severino said paving the area would not only help the aforementioned people get around the ballpark better, but will also make the facility more attractive for future events.
"We have the opportunity to host the Little League State Tournament in the next two to three years," he said. "If we are able to update our facilities and make it more ADA compliant, we will have the opportunity to host more state and district tournaments, which will bring in hundreds of individuals from all over the state for five-day periods."
Severino told the commission that the cost for the project would carry a price tag of $42,789. That estimate was from just one paving company in the area, and Kesling requested that Severino get more than one quote and then come back to the commission.
"It wouldn't hurt to get other quotes just to see what kind of other prices you get," said Kesling. "I challenge you to go back and get some other quotes, then come back and we will talk about it."
Severino told the commission that the City of Elkins has already contributed $18,000 toward upgrades to the facility.
"We went to the ARPA committee and they granted us $3,000 and the Parks Commission approved us for $15,000," he said. "That money is mostly geared to projects that have safety concerns, though, like the bleachers."
Second on the agenda was a presentation from Phil Wilson, who was requesting money to help with the Elkins American Legion baseball team's upcoming season this summer.
Wilson is the president of Elkins Baseball Association and manager for the Elkins Junior and Senior American Legion squads. He requested $6,500 from the commission in order to help the two teams get through the season.
"The main reason we are requesting this funding is because we are the only Legion team in the state that does not require a player fee," said Wilson. "We provide hats, jerseys, pants and everything else for all of our players on both teams. We have other expenses including baseballs, umpire fees and travel fees. We do a lot of fundraisers to help offset those costs. The amount we have requested will help us get through the season."
Wilson said there will be teams coming to Elkins from all over West Virginia and other states, including Maryland and Florida, this summer.
"The teams from Florida are from the Tampa area and they are bringing five teams to Elkins when they come," said Wilson. "We also have teams coming from the panhandle to help play the Florida teams who are coming in. So all of those teams will be staying here in Elkins when they come."
Kesling and Siler both voted to provide the funding request from American Legion baseball. The money will be taken from the county's hotel/motel tax funding.
"We have the hotel/motel tax and what we can do with that is help recreation activities like this," said Kesling. "And it's because of activities like this that people come to the county and stay in hotels and pay the hotel fee that we use to help fund projects."