Director of the Parks and Recreation Department David Howard stepped up to the podium to discuss ways in which fields near the Jerome Brown Center can and are being used near the end of the Oct. 16 Brooksville City Council meeting. Teams like the Hernando County Hawks practice at the softball fields at the Jerome Brown Center. The Hawks agreed to pay “$20 to $25 an hour” to use the softball outfield, according to Howard, but the major issue discussed during this segment of the conversation was field preservation. Upon the advice offered by the parks’ director, the council agreed that the Hawks and others would be allowed to practice there as long as a pair of conditions are met: conduct no more than one high-intensity practice a week (with cleats) and rotate where they practice on the field.
“I love the rotating idea,” Council Member Bronson said. “Kind of like crops rotating where you’re planting them, so the soil doesn’t get torn up. Yeah, rotating the practice around in a couple different areas. Like every day of the week, do a different little area. [The Parks Department] won’t even notice it if we do that.”
