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Council agrees to lease extension for Muckdogs to play at Dwyer

Submitted by Howard Owens on January 11, 2011 - 10:50am

In an item added at the least minute to the city council agenda Monday night, the council approved an extension to the Dwyer Stadium lease agreement for the Batavia Muckdogs.

Formalizing the lease agreement extension in a hurry-up fashion was necessary, said City Manager Jason Molino, because it's only been recently that another year of professional baseball in Batavia was "set in stone." 

Once that was in place, Molino said, the New York-Penn League demanded a lease agreement be in place well before the start of the season.

The NY-Penn League has been pretty demanding during the off season, Molino said, and the city has, in response, made improvements to the field and locker rooms.

"You talk about unfunded state mandates," Molino said. "Minor league baseball has mandates of its own."

Near the end of the 2010 season, league president Ben Hayes spoke harshly about the condition of the Dwyer playing field. Molino said the field wasn't in the horrid shape Hayes made it out to be, but the league did have some (valid) concerns.

"We addressed those concerns in the fall and the league is satisfied with the changes that we've made," Molino said.

The renewed lease makes few changes to prior agreements and does not increase the funding burden on taxpayers, Molino said.

The primary change is memorializing a capital expense fund balance with a minimum balance of $20,000, though the city has a $60,000 balance currently, Molino said.

January 11, 2011 - 12:56pm
#2
DON ROCK
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First of all, I would like to thank the City Council for approving the lease aggreement extension for Dwyer Stadium. This was a big step in the right direction. Secondly, I would also like to say that the infield dirt was lazor leveled by a group of professionals, whose specific job is to level playing fields, and it was pleasure working with them. New sod was put down around the inside and outside edges of the infield, 4 feet in all the way around to be exact, and also around homeplate and around the mound. It was a lot of hard physical work done by myself, Travis Sick and the Rochester Redwings grounds crew. They all deserve a big THANK YOU also. CY Farms, with the help of their representitive, Kate Houseknecht, provided the sod and were there to see how the progress was going. There are also going to be improvements done to the warning track in the spring, such as, widening it along the outfield wall to meet the MLB specifications, and more improvements done in other areas of the stadium. I look forward to another great season of baseball at Dwyer Stadium. I also look forward to seeing all the fans come to the game and support their local team. Without you, all this would not be possible. So come on down to the stadium, bring a friend, and enjoy an exciting game of professional baseball. Your comments to me about how nice the field looks, and your support of the team are greatly appreciated. GOOOOOOOOOO MUCKDOGSSSSSSSSS !!!!!!
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January 11, 2011 - 1:03pm
#3
Howard Owens
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Thanks for the update, Don. Very good information to have. I wish I could have been there for the laser leveling. That would have been a site to see (and get pictures of). That's pretty extensive work. It's good to know the effort was put forth.
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January 11, 2011 - 3:50pm
(Reply to #3) #4
DON ROCK
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I am sorry. At the time I did not think of anyone taking pictures. Yes it was truely a site to see and a learning experience for me. Next time there is something going on I will let you know. Again I am sorry Howard
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