The Hamilton County Commission unanimously approved $697,428 to be spent on the installation of a baseball and softball field lighting system at The Howard School, where student-athletes have gone without lights for decades.
“Baseball changed my life. Sports is a reason for kids to come to school,” Jon Johnson, the dean of students and coach at Howard, told commissioners, who he thanked, along with Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp, for the long-needed funding.
“They don’t come to take the ACT,” Johnson said. “If we want them to do well on the ACT, then we better have a reason for them to come to school.”
The funds, which are the proceeds of a previous bond issued by the county, were committed to Howard during the Southside stadium development deal, Wamp told commissioners Wednesday.
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“The arrangement was that we felt like Howard should benefit up front, not in the form of promises down the road. So the county made a $10 million commitment,” Wamp said. “As part of that commitment, the county was taken out of the loan repayment, so our increment long term does not repay the loan from the developers and the team owners, which means the county will benefit much sooner and in a different way than the city, if the development pans out as planned.
“Those of us who were a part of this thing 10 to 15 years from now will look really good because there will be a lot of increment being created that will be going back into the general fund here in county government as opposed to repaying that loan,” Wamp added.
READ MORE: Mayor Wamp: New stadium plan would save Hamilton County $25 million
Wamp said commissioners had been given plans detailing how previous bond proceeds would be spent, but several commissioners said they did not have the plans.
Commissioner Jeff Eversole, R-Ooltewah, asked Lee Brouner, the county finance director, if he could make sure commissioners receive a copy of those plans.
“It’s a moving plan, but yes, we can get you the latest plan of what we are looking at,” Brouner answered.
Any project using bond funding must be approved by the commission, which receives recommendations from the county mayor’s office.
“Without six of us, these things can’t happen,” Commissioner David Sharpe, D-Red Bank, told commissioners Wednesday.
As part of the $10 million commitment to Howard, the commission previously approved $1 million in county funds to go toward upgrading the school’s welding lab equipment.
“We are just getting started,” said Commissioner Joe Graham, R-Lookout Valley, whose district includes Howard. “We have got a lot more to do over there and a lot more coming.”
Wamp told commissioners he anticipates students will be able to play under the new lights by spring.
Contact Joan McClane at jmcclane@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6601.