Last year the recreation agency became involved as a mediator of sorts when Girl’s softball and Little League baseball had competing interests for the Howard Park ball filed usage. It was subsequently determined that the city of Ione is under contract with little league for the fields for approximately 10 years at a time. The contract between the City and Amador county Little League West contains a continuation clause which automatically renews itself every five years.

The city discussed a possible short term solution to repair the fields at Ione Jr. High, and a long term solution of creating ball fields with the land adjacent to the tertiary plant. The same land which engineering company Eco-Logic had suggested being the site of pond nine. Given the current circumstances and constraints in the City of Ione, and with the additional need of facilities in the county in general, and the school district’s ownership of most of the playable surfaces in the county a formal agreement would be a natural, if not necessary step. The Joint Use Agreement proposed is between Amador County Unified School District, Amador County Recreation Agency(ACRA), City of Ione and the Amador County Girls Softball Association.  The agreement lists each agencies commitments and responsibilities under the agreement.