Board Renews Ball Field Lease

By Stephanie Mariel Petrellese

Despite protests by some residents who claim that the Cherry Valley Baseball Fields are urgently needed by Garden City teams, the Garden City Board of Trustees voted unanimously at their November 8th meeting to renew the lease until August 31, 2008 with the Town of Hempstead on behalf of the Franklin Square Park District for $16,000. Trustee John Watras arrived after the vote was taken.

After the vote, Mayor Peter Bee said that the Board decided to renew after several discussions with representatives from the Garden City Recreation Department, Town of Hempstead and Garden City Athletic Association. He said they told the Town of Hempstead that Garden City will need the fields when the new lease expires. The TOH has been leasing the fields for more than 50 years, and Trustee Robert Rothschild explained that the trustees respectfully wanted to wait until the teams can find another place to play.