By Brian Butler
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Residents of the Baltimore County Council’s 3rd District stated their case Tuesday evening for the consideration of athletic fields and facilities in the county’s budget during a Town Hall meeting.
As County Executive Johnny Olszewski, Jr. and 3rd District Councilman Wade Kach listened and took notes, residents gave their ideas.
“We have 5% of the school age population and we have 5% of the adult population, but we have zero county facilities,” said Bill Patterson, a resident from Hereford County. “We want to give these children an opportunity to play.”
Patrick Mahoney, the president of the Dulaney High School sports boosters, said, “Unless government officials can tell us – if and when the state money is approved – that you’re going to start work on our new facility – including athletic facilities – immediately, it is unfair for these 1,200 student athletes to wait for a safe, playable field in their own home stadium.”
A junior student-athlete at Dulaney High School also spoke about the condition of the practice field. He noted that there have been “numerous accounts of students being hurt on the uneven terrain of the field” and “times where it’s been almost impossible to practice.”
Both Olszewski and Kach stated their intentions to take each idea into consideration and pointed each person to the best staff member to speak with after the meeting.
A few years ago artificial turf fields were installed in the stadiums at Towson High School and the Carver Center for Arts and Technology. County officials used donations from the Baltimore Ravens and a prominent local developer to pay the $4.6 million expense. The action came after residents gathered before county officials to complain.
Olszewski is hosting a series of Town Hall meetings
across the state.