ROCHELLE — Rochelle Little League leaders got some good news on Monday night after Flagg-Rochelle Community Park District board members committed $150,000 of capital funds for improvements on several of the baseball fields.

In a 5-0 vote on Monday night, the park commissioners gave the nod for a plan to add new fencing and scoreboards at several diamonds at the Little League complex and at the larger baseball field at the Helms Athletic Complex.

The proposal calls for new backstop fencing and additional protective fencing down the baselines of the Major League, Minor League and Girls Softball diamonds, as well as at the May School diamonds and the Helms diamond.

In addition, Little League officials plan to also purchase three new scoreboards and reside the press/storage box at all three Little League fields and paint all of the dugouts.

Little League volunteers plan to do some of the work themselves, and removal of the fences and residing work on the press boxes could begin this fall.

Park district commissioner Tim Hayden, who also heads up the board’s new Capital Committee, said he and fellow commissioner Dale Wells recently met with Little League officials to review the baseball/softball facilities and identified several areas that need improvements.

“A lot of the facilities need attention and it’s time sensitive because since Little League volunteers do a lot of the work themselves, they need to get started on it this fall while many of them have a window before winter and spring,” Hayden explained. “This money will help them put up new fencing, purchase scoreboards, improve the press boxes, dugouts and diamonds.”

Little League representative Joey Tourdot explained Monday night that the majority of the money would be used for fencing and scoreboards and gave an idea of where the fencing will be installed.

“The fencing we are looking to replace and add is mostly backstops and along the base lines at the main fields at the Little League complex, including Major League, Minor League and Girls Softball fields, and also at the May School fields and the new field at Helms,” he stated. “A lot of the posts we have are still good, but the mesh is pretty bad in a lot of areas.”

Tourdot added that fencing along the base lines would be raised in many areas to help protect the bullpens and also cars parked next to the diamonds. He also said that siding and labor for the press boxes will be donated by league volunteers, but the league is asking the park district to professionally paint the dugouts in the spring.

“As for the May School fields, we want to put in new backstops and add fencing down the lines, so we can protect the fans better and possibly hold games for older age groups down there,” he continued. “At Helms we want to move the backstop up closer and also more protective surround fencing, as well as add a scoreboard too.”

Park board commissioners asked about improvements to the Senior League field, which sits in the far south of the Little League complex, but Tourdot said no upgrades are planned for that diamond at this point.

“Frankly, for whatever reason, the numbers are dropping for kids who continue playing Little League baseball after their Major League season,” he explained. “Most of the kids at that age just play travel baseball. We only had two teams last season, and with the development of the Helms diamond, we are looking at making that our Senior League age facility and converting the one at the Little League complex to more of a practice diamond and possibly looking at improvements to that field in the future but not now.”

Tourdot added that while the $150,000 may only cover the fencing and scoreboards, the contribution will enable Little League volunteers to focus their efforts on improving the playing fields.

“We need to address the quality of the diamonds and add more of a product called Turface into the soil that greatly improves drainage,” he stated. “Getting this funding is going to really help us improve things and allow us to use our money on improving the diamonds themselves.”

Following the vote, park board president Brent Carmichael told the Little League representatives the district appreciates their ongoing commitment to the baseball facilities.

“I just want to tell you guys thank you for taking care of the baseball fields and for all the work that you put in down there,” he said.

“We want to thank you for working with us,” responded Little League board member Jim Gensler. “It’s very much appreciated.”