Milwaukie City Council to Discuss Stadium

Wondering what's going on with the City of Milwaukie and it's effort to build a minor league baseball stadium?  Me too.  So I'm glad to report that the Milwaukie City Council will discuss the issue during its meeting on Monday, January 9, 2012.  The meeting is set for 7:00PM at the City Council chambers.  During this meeting, the council will decide whether to shut down the project or move on to the second phase, which would involve the programming, design, cost, and economic impact of the multi-use facility.

The city council chambers are located at 10722 SE Main Street, Milwaukie, OR.

Read more about this in the Clackamas Review.

Clark County Backs Out of Admissions Tax

Clark County Commissioners backed out of a proposed admissions tax that would have funded a baseball stadium in Vancouver.  The stadium was targeted for use by Clark College and a potential short-season Single-A baseball team.

Read more about this in the Oregonian.

The Yakima Bears of the Northwest League had been in discussions with Clark County to move to the new stadium.  Now they will be looking elsewhere, hopefully in Milwaukie, Oregon, where leaders there have held a series of community meetings to gauge interest in building a ballpark.  For many Portland residents, a Milwaukie ballpark, situated right along the new SE MAX line would be a lot more convenient than the Vancouver site.  The SE MAX line is funded and construction (at least, the bridge portion) has already started. A MAX line to Vancouver, along with a new I-5 bridge, seems to be many years away.  So let's hope Milwaukie can get their ducks in a row and jump on the opportunity that Clark County has left them.

Notes From Third Milwaukie Listening Lounge

On Thursday, November 17, I attended the third City of Milwaukie "Listening Lounge," a forum for residents to express their opinions about the possibility of bringing professional baseball to Milwaukie, Oregon.  According to the city, this was the best-attended session, with more than 70 people crowding into the Linwood Elementary School cafeteria.

As usual, people signed up to speak, and were initially limited to about one minute of time, but they could, and many did, raise their hands to speak again later.  I'm probably prejudiced because I favor the stadium, but of the people who spoke, I counted eight who were definitely pro-stadium and three who were definitely anti-stadium.  The rest leaned one way or another but had concerns.

On the pro side, these were the major points:

• A stadium would bring commerce and people to Milwaukie.  We need to create a vibrant economy.
• Milwaukie is dying. We need to do something to get the storefronts back.
• We need to be forward thinking.
• How much worse do you want it to get.  We don't have another choice.
• Milwaukie is a blue-collar town.  We like baseball here, and the population and location are better than Salem-Keiser.

On the anti side, these were the major points:

• We shouldn't be subsidizing baseball when we can't afford to pay teachers.
• We should pay for sidewalks and streets first, the waterfront and the plaza before baseball.
• We'd have to pay more for police, firemen, services.
• Studies show that baseball doesn't bring economic stimulus.

Other concerns were:

• Naturally, how are we going to pay for this?
• Extra noise and light.  Will it be a problem?
• Concerned that we already spent money on a study.
• We should do an economic study first, to see if a stadium makes sense.
• We need the budget committee to be involved.
• If baseball is so great, why did Portland lose it?
• With MAX, people might come to games, then go right back home.

But all in all, despite my listing more items that are anti and concerns, I still felt that the majority of people who attended this event were positive about the possibility of baseball in Milwaukie.  There were two or three people who were "violently" opposed to the idea; one lady closed her eyes and shook her head whenever anyone said anything positive about a stadium (she was shaking for most of the meeting), and clapped whenever something negative was said.  But a large number of people echoed the positive points.  They seemed genuinely concerned about their community and wanted to do something positive to make it a better place to live.  Baseball seems like a lifeline to many of these folks.  They want to grab on and pull themselves up from being just a town of strip bars.  I was impressed.  This thing may actually have a chance.

Milwaukie Hosts Second Listening Lounge

The City of Milwaukie hosted a second "listening lounge" to hear thoughts from residents about building a baseball stadium in the community.  I didn't have the chance to attend this one, nor the architects meeting on Thursday, 11/10.  But the Oregonian reports that opinions are still positive, if reserved.

The final "listening lounge" will be held at 6:00PM, Thursday November 17, at the Linwood Elementary School Cafeteria.  I'll try to attend that one and gauge the opinions.

Milwaukie Residents Sound Off on Baseball

On October 27, the City of Milwaukie hosted the first of three Listening Lounges to solicit opinions of Milwaukie residents about a possible baseball stadium in their community.  Milwaukie mayor Jeremy Ferguson was there, along with all but one of the Milwaukie city council.  Approximately 40 people attended the event, and everyone was allowed a minute or two to voice their opinions.

It seemed to me before the meeting started that pro-baseball supporters were in the majority, simply by the number of baseball caps and jackets being worn.  But opinions pro and con were voiced.

From those who were for a stadium in Milwaukie:

• Milwaukie's current image sucks.  People think of the Acropolis (a strip joint) when they think of Milwaukie.  A baseball stadium could revive the city's image.
• A stadium and a team could build community pride.
• A stadium would spur other economic growth in the area, along with the new Max line coming in.
• We shouldn't be afraid of progress.
• Noise and light levels will affect only a few people.  The stadium will be good for a greater number.
• (Concerning noise and light issues) "Ghost towns don't have airports and ballparks."
• A stadium offers benefits that can't be measured.
• (From the mayor) The stadium site (currently an ODOT facility) would add land to the tax rolls, and perhaps be incentive for other stores to locate to the area and provide more taxes.

From those who had concerns about building a stadium:

• Studies show that bringing in minor league baseball doesn't aid in the economic growth of the area.
• A stadium would add noise and light pollution to the neighborhood.
• Additional infrastructure would be needed (sewer, water, larger fire trucks, etc.)
• Why spend money for this when streets need fixing, education funding is needed, and children are going hungry.
• How is a stadium that hosts only 40 games a year going to be profitable for the city?

One interesting concern was the orientation of the stadium.  As planned, it faces east, into the community, as opposed to west, toward McGloughlin Blvd.  One person asked why it couldn't be switched so the noise would be toward the highway instead of the community.  I pointed out that the rules of baseball strongly suggest that stadiums be laid out generally to the east, so that batters aren't blinded by late afternoon sun.  But another person also noted that most of the noise of a stadium is caused by PA systems, not by crowd noise.  In the current configuration, crowd noise would be aimed at the community, but the PA system, would be aimed back at the crowd, toward McGloughlin.  Thus the current orientation is actually better for noise control.

All in all, a good meeting, and, in my opinion, positive for baseball.

Milwaukie Seeks Input on New Stadium

The city of Milwaukie has scheduled three meetings in which residents can voice their opinions about the possibility of a new baseball stadium in Milwaukie.  The sessions will be approximately one hour in length and will be prefaced by a progress report on the city's efforts.  The sessions will be held at:

• October 27th, 6:00PM at the Ardenwald Elementary School cafeteria
• November 9th, 6:00PM at the Milwaukie Elementary School cafeteria
• November 17th, 6:00PM at eh Linwood Elementary School cafeteria

Read more about this at OregonLive.

Escondido Given More Time to Approve Ballpark

The Portland Beavers eventual move to Escondido was thought to be thwarted when the community decided not to fund a ballpark.  However, the owner has decided to give them until January to change their mind.

Read more here.