No movement yet on field closure

Town Administrator Liz Dionne

 MILTON - SAU #64 Superintendent Jay McIntire said he expects to hear from town officials today whether they intend to move forward quickly with plans to fix the netting and fencing around the Town Beach baseball field or have developed contingency plans so that Nute high school and junior high teams can finish their home schedule at an alternate site.

Selectmen at a Tuesday meeting abruptly closed the field due to liability concerns over foul balls that had landed on White Mountain Highway and could potentially cause an accident or injury to passing motorists.

Nute High baseball coach Paul Chiasson and several players congregated around the Emma Ramsey Center on Thursday hoping for some movement by town officials, but no timeline for fence improvements was forthcoming.

Channel 9 featured a story on the baseball team’s plight on its evening news.

Chiasson and rightfielder Tyler Bedgood, a junior, were featured in the piece.

McIntire expressed frustration with town officials who scheduled a meeting for Monday about the field’s closure without consulting him. When he told them he had a prior commitment they scheduled another time, again without seeking his input.

“I can’t make that one either,” McIntire said today.

Like many other Nute baseball players and parents, he said the timing and the abruptness of the closure is what rankles most.

“This (balls going out on the road) has been going on for years,” he said.

He added the most important thing is to get the baseball team back on a field so they can continue to practice and finish their home schedule.

“I’m looking to solve the problem and looking for a good faith effort to get the kids back playing baseball,” he said, adding one option would be for the town to pay to bus the athletes to an alternate field.

 Town Administrator Elizabeth Dionne said on Thursday the town is working very hard trying to come up with an option and a solution.