City Tables Proposed Dewey Street Ballfield Lease Following Community Input

After hearing from members of the Kara's Game organization, donors and community supporters, the Blackwell City Council voted Thursday evening to table a proposed long-term lease agreement involving the Dewey Street Ballfield.

The agenda item would have authorized the city to negotiate and execute a lease and development agreement with Kara's Game Inc., doing business as KG Sports, a Blackwell nonprofit organization.

According to the proposed resolution, KG Sports would rehabilitate, improve, maintain and operate the Dewey Street Ballfield through private fundraising, grants, charitable donations and volunteer labor while the City retained ownership of the property. The proposed lease would have carried an initial term of 20 years with an option for one additional 20-year renewal.

The redevelopment plan envisioned improvements to the ballfield while expanding recreational opportunities for children and adults with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities.

Instead, speakers throughout the evening asked council members to pause the proposal and continue discussions about Kara's Game's long-term vision of constructing a permanent, dedicated ballfield elsewhere in the community.

Rocky Wood, co-founder of Kara's Game, told council members he was speaking as a private citizen after stepping away from the organization's board.

Fighting back emotion, Wood said he believed the lease should be tabled.

"My concern is that Dewey Street is not a safe neighborhood," Wood said. "Crime and vandalism are concerns. I think the kids deserve better."

Wood then read a letter from Colin Zink, one of the original Kara's Game athletes.

"Having a disability can make me feel like a second-class human, like I don't matter as much as other people," the letter read. "Having a Kara's Game ballfield in this kind of area would seem disrespectful. Those athletes deserve a good place to play, and they need to feel like they matter."

Wood encouraged city officials and the Kara's Game Board to continue discussions with the community about providing participants with a permanent home.

Former Kara's Game Vice President Shawnia Atchley echoed those concerns, saying the organization's original vision has always been to build a dedicated facility specifically for Kara's Game athletes.

"The goal is to build these kids their own field," Atchley said. "With this lease, we would be putting money into something that will never truly belong to these kids. We aren't leaving a legacy for them. Legacy is our goal."

While acknowledging the organization has faced setbacks over the years, Atchley expressed confidence the community could still accomplish that vision.

"Kara's Game has had a lot of mishaps and missteps, but we are moving forward. We are getting there," she said. "I know Blackwell is a great community. I know we can do better."

Current Kara's Game board member Steve Oaks said the board also supports tabling the proposal.

"We've been trying to build our own Kara's Game field," Oaks said. "We've been hit with a lot of curveballs."

Oaks said fundraising and development challenges have slowed progress despite the organization's continued commitment to building its own facility.

"We need to have discussions with the City and the community," he said. "The community has stepped up in some ways, but not enough. We have land, but it's difficult. Our goal is still to build our own field."

Resident Karin Clark, who contributed financially toward the project, said many donors originally supported the vision of constructing a new ballfield rather than leasing an existing one.

"As a donor to the ballfield, we didn't donate to lease a field," Clark said. "We donated money to build a field. A lot of us feel that way."

Dan Barriger, who said he has worked alongside Mark Estep on improvements to Morgan Field, said he supported delaying the lease but also saw potential benefits if it served as a temporary solution.

"I don't have any skin in the game here," Barriger said. "The Kara's Game Field Project has been going on for 13 years, and these kids still don't have a place to play."

Barriger encouraged community members to organize volunteer workdays to begin developing a permanent field.

"If this means organizing workdays, I'm more than eager to help and get others to help as well," he said. "Materials, a plan — even if these kids don't get 100 percent of a field on day one, working a bit at a time, we could get this done faster than 13 years."

City Manager Jerry Wieland thanked residents for attending and said city staff also recommended tabling the item.

"First and foremost, everyone that spoke tonight — everyone that came out for this item — thank you for attending," Wieland said.

Wieland explained that the proposal originated after KG Sports approached the City months earlier about purchasing the Dewey Street Ballfield property outright.

However, city officials later discovered the property occupies Lot 66, one of Blackwell's original town squares, creating legal barriers that prevent a simple sale.

"We are here to assist KG Sports," Wieland said. "We did not seek this out. It was brought to us. We are just here to help however we can. I love what you all do with Kara's Game. We are always here to help."

City Attorney Bryce Kennedy said the property's history creates multiple legal complications.

"It was a public park, which constitutes it as a public utility, which would require a vote before we sold it," Kennedy explained.

He added that because the site was originally one of Blackwell's historic town squares — and once housed a school destroyed during the 1955 tornado — the City would likely need district court approval to remove its public-purpose designation before any sale could occur.

"There are easements. Ownership is a bundle of sticks," Kennedy said, describing the complex legal interests attached to the property.

Kennedy also addressed questions about whether municipalities can invest directly in nonprofit organizations.

"The Constitution says the City cannot," he said. "But the City can contract with a third party for a valid public purpose with accountability and safeguards for public and charitable benefit."

While acknowledging the legal path may be complicated, Kennedy said the City could assist Kara's Game in other ways.

"Is there a way that I, as the City Attorney, could direct the group toward grants? Yes," Kennedy said. "I've helped organizations in other communities acquire those grants. There are federal grants available. The City should absolutely help Kara's Game in that aspect."

Following public comment and discussion, the City Council voted to table the proposed lease agreement.

No timetable was announced for when the item might return to the council agenda, but speakers from both the City and Kara's Game expressed a desire to continue working together toward a permanent solution that fulfills the organization's original vision while expanding recreational opportunities for athletes with disabilities in Blackwell.