It’ll cost $1.8M to fix the Catawba Park soccer field Helene destroyed. Here’s the plan
It’ll cost Tega Cay $1.8 million to repair soccer fields at Catawba Park that were damaged by Hurricane Helene. It’s just a question of how much the city will pay.
Tega Cay City Council voted 4-1 Monday night to front the field repair cost after they get written confirmation insurance will cover at least some portion of it. The money will come out of the city’s contingency fund.
Adjusters already reviewed the fields and said insurance will cover them, said city manager Charlie Funderburk. The city’s insurance group has 350 claims in review due to the massive storm which takes time, he said.
“This is covered,” Funderburk said. “They are very, very behind with their adjusters. Basically more claims than they have adjusters for.”
That uncertainty, along with big events planned for the fields, creates a problem for the city.
“At this time they cannot give us a time frame on when they will disburse any payments,” said Mayor Chris Gray.
Catawba Park damage
Catawba Park opened two years ago along the Catawba River. Flooding from Helene in September ripped the artificial surface off two of three soccer fields. Flooding didn’t significantly damage the field farthest from the river, the baseball fields or playground areas that have all since reopened.
It takes eight to 12 weeks from a contract date to have fields ready for play, and the city has travel tournaments scheduled for January. A national level Quadball tournament is scheduled for February. City recreation programs, which include contracts with Charlotte Independence soccer, follow in the spring.
City staff recommended the up to $1.8 million deal to use the original turf installer as a way to speed up repairs. Yet, council members had concerns Monday about how the expedited bid process worked and whether new turf should be installed.
“I have to ask the question, if we’re in a flood prone area, is it prudent for us moving forward to spend $1.8 million to re-turf an area that’s already been flooded?” Gray said.
Grass fields may cost less now but result in more expensive maintenance, Funderburk said. It would be difficult to grow grass in time for the coming events and sports seasons, he said, and there’s no telling what that change would mean for partners like Charlotte Independence.
Though mostly above the flood line, grassy areas of Catawba Park, including the large lawn near the playground, fared well during the storm.
Councilwoman Carmen Miller voted against Monday’s decision. She and other council members had concerns about a full and transparent bid process, and with what the economic impacts would be from fixing the fields now or waiting. The city used a similar bidding system the state or other governments use on items like police cars, city management and legal staff said.
“It takes leg work to come up here and ask for almost $2 million,” Miller said. “And I just don’t see the leg work.”
Soccer field repairs at Catawba Park
Though Funderburk has spoken with adjusters who told him the fields are covered, no one at the city knows what level of payment they’ll get. There also are costs for waiting.
The Quadball event brings in a $2,500 rental fee plus whatever money guests spend in area restaurants or hotels while they’re here. That’s similar to what the city gets from travel events that routinely fill weekend schedules at the park. Then there’s Charlotte Independence, contracted through 2027.
That soccer club runs the city’s recreation program. It also runs travel programs and pays the city about $250,000 a year. Without the fields, the soccer club could walk away from that agreement, Funderburk said. In an even more extreme case, the city could lose access to part of the park.
The soccer fields are on property the city leases from Clear Springs. The city and company have a long-term agreement and there’s no reason to think it wouldn’t continue, but not having the fields or some other drastic change in the property’s use could give the company cause to walk from the agreement, Funderburk said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency would only be an option for uninsured claims, Funderburk said. The city made a FEMA claim for extra city staff time used for storm cleanup, he said, at about $12,000. But the city would rely on its typical insurance for the fields.
