Katie May
Northern News Services
Published Friday, August 01, 2008

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Yellowknife gardeners may have to watch out for flying baseballs now that city council has approved Fritz Theil field as a new garden location.

The Yellowknife Community Garden Collective plans to build a 750 square-metre garden behind the slo-pitch baseball diamond so city gardeners who live in Old Town can grow their own fruits and vegetables on one of 24 potential new plots.

But the Yk Slo-pitch Association plans to appeal the garden development because its executive doesn't want to be blamed if someone gets hurt, said president Trevor Bourque.

"In order for us to protect ourselves and our association from a lawsuit, we're trying to cover our bases. No pun intended," he said, adding the executive is not opposed to the garden itself.

City administration recommended council refuse the field site for garden use because of the danger gardeners could be struck with stray balls during slo-pitch games. But at their regular public meeting on Monday night, councillors ultimately decided against that advice after debating the suitability of two alternate garden areas the planning department had proposed - areas near School Draw Avenue near Tin Can Hill and Lundquist Road.

Councillors Mark Heyck, David McCann and David Wind were opposed to a garden near Fritz Theil, in large part because of liability concerns.

Garden collective co-chair Dwayne Wohlgemuth said the group chose the Fritz Theil site last spring as its first choice for a garden, after discussions with the city's planning department since January. The department told him only last week the location posed problems, which Wohlgemuth said was "kind of upsetting."

"It would've been nice to know about that earlier," he said. "In the end, I think it worked out all right."

At first, he said the collective didn't think the threat of fly away baseballs very serious, but now they're ready to take precautions.

"If we have to put up a net, we'll be able to do it," Wohlgemuth said. "We've got city council support on it already."

Coun. Shelagh Montgomery said the collective shouldn't have had to wait so long for the city to explain those potential risks.

"If these issues were of such severity, it seems to me they would've been put forward some time ago," she said during the council meeting. "With respect to the liability issue, I can in part understand that, but if it is such a serious issue, I would think that Fritz Theil park should be closed every evening when there are baseball games going on."

Coun. Paul Falvo agreed, adding it was "curious that the concern did not extend to the Frisbee players who also use the field. "The gardeners are not saying they're opposed to baseball in any shape or form. We all have to share."

The collective has a budget of about $40,000 for the garden and has received a $20,000 grant from the city, as well as other funding from NWT Power Corporation and Taiga Labs for soil testing.

The city still has yet to finalize a development permit for the garden and arrange a land lease with the garden collective.