On June 20, 2023, the Hawley, Minnesota City Council heard public input regarding the baseball fields. Opinions and comments of the citizens were heard by the Council.

A potential business was interested in land adjacent to the ballfields and initiated conversations with Hawley’s city leaders. Initial conversations were had to explore the future of potential growth and what that might look like for Hawley. During those initial conversations, city leaders communicated with the school and discussed a potential growth idea that was open for discussion as to what that future may look like.

According to city leaders, at no point were any deals made, or were developers directly involved with these conversations. They say there have been no discussions or negotiations for the ballfields located along Highway 10.

At the July 20th meeting, many Hawley citizens were concerned about potentially losing their town ballfields. City leaders said that has never been an option and that they understand the importance of what the ballfields bring, and have no intention of leaving kids and organizations with no place to play baseball.

Regarding the rodeo grounds, city leaders are fully aware of the importance they are to our community. The city council says they fully share the views expressed at the meeting and the positive impact the rodeo and rodeo grounds have on the area. They said at no point has the rodeo grounds been included in any development discussions.