Patterson City Council approved an agreement to lease its football, baseball and softball fields to the Pierce County Recreation Department and Board of Commissioners for $2,000 per year.
The tentative deal was approved during the city council’s regular meeting Thursday afternoon, May11. The deal will still need to be approved by the county and the recreation board in June.
The agreement represents at least two months of negotiations between the city and the recreation board, headed up by incoming Recreation Director Maureen Brown and Recreation Board Member Anna Saucedo.
While the council approved the agreement unanimously, there were some last minute tweaks to the proposal. On a recommendation by Mayor Dedi Thomas, the council struck a provision on new lighting and removed wording on weed control.
Mayor Thomas said he believes the city will be able to install new lighting at the fields, but he did not want to commit the city to do so. He also asked for the removal of a provision saying the city would provide weed control at the fields.
“The county can maintain the fields and pull weeds if they need to,” he said.
The fields in Patterson have largely been unused since the Patterson Recreation Department disbanded in 2015.
The county commission and the recreation board may take up the agreement at their June meeting. Both boards will meet Tuesday, June 6. The recreation board meets at 8 a.m. and the county commission meets at 6 p.m.
