Where will Eldred baseball teams play their games next
spring?
That’s the question residents are asking after a court issued an
order saying baseball could not be played at Ron Houben Memorial
Park until a “fence of appropriate height is erected to prevent
baseballs” from going into the property of Corey S. Chase and his
wife Kristie.
The decision effects Babe Ruth, Senior Little League and Legion
teams and the Otto-Eldred High School baseball team.
According to Christian T. Mattie III, the lawyer representing
the Borough of Eldred, a lawsuit was filed in McKean County Court
against the Borough on July 8, 2004, by the Chases.
Following a non-jury trial over the summer of 2005, the McKean
County President Judge John M. Cleland entered an order on Sept. 2
which states: “The defendant is hereby enjoined from using, or
permitting the use of, the baseball field at Houben Park for
baseball games until a fence of appropriate height is erected to
prevent baseballs from being hit or thrown onto the property of the
plaintiffs.”
The Borough has since filed an appeal, according to Mattie.
The order took effect Oct. 2.
“There is nothing in the opinion (of the court) to let the
Borough know what an appropriate fence is,” Mattie said.
Eight years ago the Chases purchased their house and lot. Their
property adjoins the Borough’s Houben Park, which is the site of a
baseball field used for organized baseball for all age levels for
nearly 50 years.
The Chases introduced into evidence a bag of 37 balls collected
on their property in six months, including some they had fished out
of their swimming pool, according to court documents. Another ball
destroyed their power lawn mower and another ball broke the
windshield of Mr. Chase’s father’s car parked in the Chases’
yard.
After the Chases complained to the Borough Council, in 2005 the
Borough spent $1,926.97 to install an eight foot chain link
extension on top of the existing five foot fence that runs from
home plate 99 feet 4 inches to a point beyond the Chases’ property,
according to court documents.
The current 13 foot fence has had no noticeable effect on
protecting the Chases’ property from errant baseballs, the court
documents say.
By the date of the trial July 14, the Chases had collected
another 43 balls from their yard and testified many others had been
retrieved by players who had run onto their property to get them,
the documents read.
Harold B. Fink, attorney for the Chases, was unavailable for
comment.
Otto-Eldred High School athletic director Ed Reitler is
concerned about the situation since the Terrors play their home
baseball games at the field in April and May.
“It’s uneasy not knowing for sure where Otto-Eldred baseball is
going to be played,” Reitler said.
Tom Freer, who coached Little League in Eldred for several
years, is in the process of getting a petition drive to save the
field.
“I have been talking to people in the community,” Freer noted.
“I’ve lived here all my life and helped maintain the field. It’s
kind of our little jewel here in the town. The community is
spitting mad. It comes down to one person. None of the other
neighbors have a problem.”
