Pearl River Little League has relied on cooperation with Verizon Wireless for approximately 20 years.



Verizon's parking lot sits next to the Anderson Field Complex in Orangeburg, Pearl River Little League's home. Until last week, Verizon had allowed Pearl River Little League parents, volunteers and officials to park there.



Then came the notice that Verizon Wireless would only allow its employees to use the parking lot. Pearl River Little League first sent out a notice to parents and posted it on their Facebook page June 5, with the league working to arrange alternate parking and changing the schedule to stagger games as much as possible. Some games were also cancelled.



The issue began when the Verizon Wireless building had a security breach, which led to the change in policy, tough discussions are underway between the company and Pearl River Little league.



"Verizon has partnered for years with the Pearl River Little League Team," Esmerelda Diaz Cameron, a spokesperson for Verizon Wireless, said Friday. We are currently working with the town on a solution that will satisfactorily address the needs of the community."



"The Verizon folks need some reassurance that access to the site is under control and well managed," Orangetown Supervisor Andy Stewart said. "The town can help provide that reassurance by supporting special events they have over the next few weeks."



Stewart, other town officials and Orangetown Police have been involved in discussions along with Verizon Wireless and Pearl River Little League trying to work out an agreement to allow for use of the parking lots again. The Orangetown Council voted Tuesday to allow the Orangetown Highway Department to provide barricades to mark off parts of Verizon's lot for little league parking if an agreement can be reached.



"With the barricades and heightened police presence, we can help to assure them that the town is doing all it can to support the little league," Stewart said. "Access to that parking lot is up to the Verizon people. They are saying they need more security.



"Essentially, we are pressuring Verizon to be at the table and to be reasonable. At this point, it looks like they are."



Stewart said the goal is to get a short-term solution in place to deal with this year, then go back to discuss plans for future seasons. Pearl River Little League was providing Verizon with its upcoming schedule of events this week an waiting on a response.



"Pearl River Little League needs to have continued access to Verizon," Stewart said. "It is certainly a priority for the town to do everything we can.

"The next step is supporting Little League having safe access to the fields. That's what I'm working on and what the police are working on."



American Legion Post 1119, which allows Pearl River Little League use of the fields, is also sharing some of its parking as a temporary measure and there are some spaces by the Art Hopper Clubhouse. Once the lots by the field are full, people are being directed to Veteran's Park. From there, they must cross Hunt Road and walk up to the fields, but that brings in safety concerns that are not an issue with the previous arrangement. The league has also asked parents to carpool as much as possible.



Pearl River Little League President Joanie Bourke said league board members have been helping out every night with traffic control.



"Everybody is being very cooperative," Bourke said. "The board has been phenomenal. Everybody is stepping up to help on traffic control."



Even with that, some games have been cancelled and the league has gone to staggering schedules so as few as possible are being played at a time. This could become a bigger issue with tournaments such as the Kayser-Brady Memorial coming up.