By Glenn Rolfe

GEORGETOWN — Homelessness and apparent drug use continue to hit home at the Georgetown Little League facility, stirring safety concerns and precautions after needles and human feces were discovered on the property.

“I would like to bring it to everyone’s attention what we are finding at the ballpark,” said league president Mindi Davis at Monday’s Town Council meeting. “It’s daily. Our kids are out there. I’m scared for them to run around and roll around on the ground because they might get stuck by some drug addict’s needle.

“I’ve got homeless people cutting off my locks to my dugouts, living in my dugouts, in my press boxes, in my equipment sheds.”

Former league president Lance Mears added that the problem is not new.

“Georgetown Little League has had this problem for a long time. Back to when I was president, I know messages went out probably close to four years ago with the same problem. Feces in the dugout, sleeping bags, needles — it’s not a new problem,” Mr. Mears said. “I think that really does need to be addressed.”

Georgetown Police Chief Ralph “Rusty” Holm concurred.

“Those dugouts are shelter, and so, when it’s inclement weather, you’ve got our homeless population who are looking for places where they are protected, at least from some of the elements,” he said. “That is just the nature of the beast with homelessness.”

He added that officers do check on the league’s property periodically and respond to calls there.

“Unfortunately, it’s not like (homeless individuals) set up residency there. We can have officers go out there and do patrol checks and find nothing, and then, two days later, the people who take care of the property go out there and find stuff,” said Chief Holm. “It’s been a hit-or-miss thing. There have been times when we have been called out there when people have still been there, and I think we made contact with them.”

The situation was also addressed during a Town Council meeting April 8, when Councilman Penuel Barrett, a longtime volunteer with the Little League, spoke out.

“We put locks on our dugouts. The homeless are cutting our locks off and putting their own locks on,” he said. “The needles that we are finding in the dugouts — unreal. A coach went in there the other day, there were 11 needles in one dugout. Now, the coaches have to go in and check the dugouts before the kids get there to play ball.”

Councilwoman Angela Townsend has also touched on the problem.

“Little League dugouts, believe it or not, are being used by druggies, to shoot up, getting high and leaving their needles behind,” she said. “Now, the coaches and the managers have to go into the dugouts and clean out prior to practices and games, before the kids are allowed in.”

Chief Holm noted that officers are not called to the park on a daily basis, but “it certainly is concerning, when you’ve got people going out there, and you’ve got kids who are going to be playing out there, and you find paraphernalia.”

He also said the police department will soon be using drones, which may enhance detection of homeless people on the Little League’s property.

For her part, Ms. Davis said she doesn’t know the solution.

“All I want is to be heard. I don’t know the answer. I don’t know what is wrong,” she said. “I don’t care about the nationwide epidemic. What I care about is Georgetown and my ballpark.”