Now that a plan to install lights on athletic fields at Skyview Middle School appears to be on hold, Oakdale's Park and Recreation Department has set its sights westward to Tanners Lake Park.
The City Council is expected to revisit the issue at its May 10 meeting, said Bruce Anderson, Oakdale Parks and Recreation director.
Originally, the plan was to install lights on land to the north of Skyview Middle School, on a site owned by the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale School District. But the district said it didn't want lights there, citing complaints from residents who live nearby on 12th Street.
That's when a second plan surfaced, which was to put up lights on five athletic fields on the east side of the school at 1100 Heron Av. N. While that possibility still exists, it is unlikely to happen because the land sits in Lake Elmo and the city's "Friendly Sky" ordinance prohibits light poles higher than 20 feet. Oakdale planned to install poles reaching 60 to 70 feet at a cost of about $200,000 to $480,000.
"The fat lady has not sung," said Anderson. But the council, following discussion at its April 12 meeting, "looks like it's favoring going to Tanners Lake Park."
There are advantages to lighting the Tanners Lake Park site, Anderson said.
For one, it would cost less -- about $180,000. Second, the city refurbished a 90-foot baseball field at the park on N. 5th Street and Glenbrook Avenue two years ago. In making its request, the Oakdale Athletic Association said more baseball fields with lights are among its biggest needs.
In the spring and fall, the baseball field at Tanners could be converted into two smaller soccer, lacrosse and football fields, giving the association's 2,500 athletes more opportunities to play home games and allowing teams to hold later practices. In many cases, teams don't have a lot of practice time in the fall because of early sunsets, said Cory Lynch, an Oakdale Athletic Association board member.
