WHEELING – Ohio County Board of Education members are grateful to the community that has paid to construct exceptional athletic facilities for the school district, but they also know the public hasn’t always taken the best care with them when they have been permitted to use them.

The board is considering a policy that would establish open facility times and permit members of the public to use the track and fields. The policy also might take in insurance liability concerns and make certain the user is reliable for paying for any damage.

The need for a policy came into focus at a meeting earlier this month when the board was asked why the track was locked to community members wanting to come in to run.

“All the money we put into these turf fields and facilities comes from the community,” board member Molly Aderholt said. “We have a very generous community. We’ve passed bonds and excess levies for millions of dollars… We are so much better off than other communities because our communities support us….

“In my mind, the fact the community is funding all these things means that we should grant them latitude in use of the facilities. We should make them open for use by the community as much as possible.”

She suggested people could perhaps reserve time for the facilities, such as Wheeling Central Catholic High School does with its 16th Street Field.

“I’m not saying just leave it wide open all the time,” Aderholt added. “I have concerns with that. Lets just make it more available.”

Member Ann Hercules before her retirement served as the coordinator of custodians at Wheeling Park High School.

“I worked for Ohio County Schools for 41 years. There’s a fence around the fields for a reason,” she said. “I’m sorry, but the public didn’t take care of them.

“We did allow them (to use the facilities). They did use it. They use to drive their golf balls on the baseball field. They rode their vehicles on it. I’ve seen a lot of things happening.”

There were also times people would go to run on the track, and the custodians wouldn’t know they were there, Hercules continued. Occasionally, people got locked in the track area.

There also were other situations when the facilities building and concession stand were broken into, she said.

“And who’s going to be in charge of doing all of this? There isn’t somebody there all the time,” Hercules added. “It’s going to cause more of a problem than not.

“It’s a wonderful facility we’ve created up there. But it is a turf field and the more and more you use it the worse it’s going to get. Who’s is going to be there to monitor the use of this?”

Member Andy Garber said when he was a principal users of facilities had to sign a $1 million user liability waiver before going on the field or track.

“If someone gets injured, how liable would we be?” he asked. “That concerns me.”

Assistant Superintendent Rick Jones indicated he and WPHS Athletic Director Chris Daughterty have been discussing a policy for use of facilities.

“Doc and I have some pretty good ideas on how to work on this,” Jones told board members.

This includes providing athletes with an entry code for practice in the off hours, then changing it after the season, he continued.

Member Bernie Albertini said he also wonders who is going to monitor the facilities if they are opened to the public.

“Obviously, we would have to have a policy in place,” he said. “How are we going to monitor for safety? And who has priority to use the field?

“I like the idea of being able to change the codes and give access – especially students who want to come in and kick goals or something.”

When somebody does mistreat the facilities, “we get the bill,” added board president David Croft.

“It’s our folks cleaning it up, and it impacts use by our students,” he continued. “Maybe the answer is (an insurance) waiver idea coupled with identification. If you use it, you’re not going to hold us liable (for injury). If you do damage, you are going to indemnify us for any damage or anything we have to fix…

“I really like the idea of making the facilities available to those who pay for it. But Ann makes a good point. All you need is a couple of folks in a side-by-side, and they tear up turf that costs $1 million.”

Croft termed it a “great discussion,” and said there will be more talk in upcoming meetings.