by TaLeiza Calloway
news@thenewsleaders.com
The St. Joseph Saints baseball team is a little closer to getting a new electronic scoreboard after a recent vote by the city council.
St. Joseph City Council members voted 5-0 May 3 to approve a building permit for the project.
“I’m shocked,” team manager Pat Schneider said after the vote. “I’m very pleased.”
Schneider said construction of the new 27-foot by 18-foot scoreboard is a five-week process. The estimated cost to buy and install the scoreboard is about $26,000 when weighing factors that include the type of sign and labor.
Discussion of the scoreboard dates back to last year and has included a debate of funding sources.
In February, Schneider requested about $15,000 to purchase and install an electronic scoreboard at Schneider Field. After that request was made to the St. Joseph Park Board, board members submitted a recommendation that $7,500 come from sales tax and $7,500 come from park-dedication fees.
Elected officials denied the request to use sales-tax funding for the project in March but agreed to allocate $7,500 in park-dedication fees for the project once all private funding for the scoreboard was secured. All of those contributions have now been received.