Port officials meet with Capitol Little League about ballfield rent. Here’s what happened
A land lease situation between the Port of Olympia and Capitol Little League — which Port Commissioner Joe Downing once described as a “ticking time bomb” — may be moving closer to a resolution.
The Port Commission heard an update on the situation Monday after senior airport manager Warren Hendrickson and communications and marketing senior manager Taber Lee met with about 50 Little League board members, coaches and others for three hours on July 16.
Lee, Hendrickson said, also happens to be a Little League coach.
“The meeting was frank, candid and emotionally charged,” Hendrickson told the commission.
Capitol Little League has occupied port property near Olympia Regional Airport for 24 years, but is now facing a huge increase in its rent that port officials say the Federal Aviation Administration is requiring. The FAA wants the port to charge fair-market rent for the 11 acres the baseball teams use, something the port previously did not require.
Under the new requirement, Capitol Little League’s annual rent of $9,200 would jump nearly tenfold in 2024 and then climb to around $160,000 a year in 2025, according to port data. Little League officials say they can’t afford the increase and are not sure where they would move.
The increase has spurred Little League officials to speak out at port meetings, sometimes emotionally.
Hendrickson said two things emerged from the July 16 meeting:
▪ Port staff will remain flexible on both lease rates and time frame, but the league must develop a committed plan with both specificity and identified benchmarks that create a path to compliance with FAA requirements.
▪ The league will create a strategic plan committee to explore fundraising and land acquisition options to ensure the league’s future and meet the port’s needs.
Hendrickson said he is prepared to have a second meeting if the league so chooses. “That door remains open,” he said.
The Port Commission didn’t ask any questions of Hendrickson, but they did praise his work.
“That’s what’s going to get this done — the communication and cooperation,” Commissioner Bob Iyall said.
“Sounds like it’s a step in the right direction,” Commissioner Joe Downing said.
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Capitol Little League faces huge rent hike from its landlord, the Port of Olympia. Why?
