Black Mountain approves fencing for reconstructed baseball fields
Town council allocates $120,000 for Veterans Park youth baseball and softball facility
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
January 15, 2025
The Black Mountain Town Council, on Jan. 13, approved $120,000 to install fencing around three baseball and softball fields at Veterans Park. Photo by Fred McCormick
Less than two months after a team of volunteers coordinated to restore youth baseball and softball fields in Veterans Park, the Town of Black Mountain is investing $120,000 in the infrastructure of the facility.
The town council, in its Jan. 13 regular monthly meeting, voted unanimously to build new fences around three of four fields destroyed during Tropical Storm Helene. Completion of the project would allow the Charles D. Owen Babe Ruth League to compete in its 2025 spring season.
While much of the surrounding town park remains unserviceable, the playing surfaces were restored by Operation Love & Hope, a volunteer initiative in which local residents and businesses partnered with a team of professional groundskeepers to clear debris and construct new ones. The work on fields 2, 3 and 4, which included laser grading, clay and sod, was completed last November.
Fencing, including a 30-foot backstop, chain link around the outfield and along the foul lines for each field, would allow the youth league to resume play in the spring, according to Black Mountain Recreation and Parks Director Josh Henderson.
“I reached out to four companies and received three quotes, which are in front of you,” Henderson told the town council. “Each quote was given the same set of (specifications), so I’m asking you to select a vendor so we can move forward and the league can have their season.”
The lowest bid of $120,774 was submitted by Asheville Fence, which was awarded the contract.
“I have worked with Asheville Fence in the past,” Henderson said. “They did the fencing for the dugouts and a few other projects around town.”
While no deadline for completion was given, the director informed bidders that the Owen Babe Ruth League season would begin in February or March.
“I wasn’t given any guarantees or timeframes,” Henderson said.
The town will be confronted with many “hard decisions” in the coming months, as it rebuilds infrastructure destroyed by the natural disaster, according to councilmember Doug Hay.
The Town of Black Mountain will build fences for three fields in Veterans Park, following a unanimous vote, Jan. 13, by the town council. Photo by Fred McCormick
“We only have so many resources right now, and money will be slow to come in,” he said. “When I think about priorities, there is public safety, sanitation and roads. But, quality of life and supporting our youth are high up there for me. A lot of parks in this county were wiped out, and there are fewer places for kids to play and activities for them to get into.”
He called the funding a relatively small investment.
“That seems like a huge win to me,” Hay said. “I think it’s around 400 kids playing spring ball, so that’s a lot of families in the Valley that will be positively impacted by this.”
The installation of fencing will allow the league to compete, but additional repairs, including the concession stand and restrooms, will need to be addressed in the future, according to Henderson.
“Just for them to practice and host games, they need the fences,” he said. “We will look at port-a-johns and food trucks to fill in those missing pieces, but this is a major piece if they’re going to have a season.”
The funding supports what Vice Mayor Archie Pertiller, Jr. calls a “huge part” of the lives of area children.
“To me, it’s really important that the kids of this community have a safe place to go be kids,” he said. “It was important to me when I was that age, because that’s where I went to see my friends and meet new people. I don’t think any of that has changed.”