Concerns over the turf on Doubleday Field may sideline a proposal to bring music legends Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson together for concert on the famed ball diamond in August.

During its meeting Tuesday morning, the village's Doubleday Field committee discussed the concert proposal presented to the board of trustees late last month by Tom Whaley, the executive vice-president for business development for the St. Paul Saints, one of the teams owned by the Goldklang Group. The Goldklang Group is the organizer of the concert tour of 20 to 30 minor league baseball parks and is working with the Jam Productions, the promoter of the tour.

"We're dealing with a national shrine here and I don't want it ruined on my watch," said committee chairman Stuart Taugher.

Committee member Howard Talbot, who said he was in favor of the concert at first, echoed Taugher's concern and said he would not approve the concert proposal if seating was allowed on the outfield grass as was discussed originally.

"I definitely would not allow them on the field," he said. "What's this going to do for Cooperstown. I don't think it means a thing to us."

If there was to be a concert, Taugher said he would have the stage set up behind second base and shortstop with seating only in the stands and on the warning track in the outfield.

Taugher called Vernon Downs where they have music concerts to see what their experience has been and learned that the grass in the racetrack infield is always ruined.

But Doubleday Field head groundskeeper Joe Harris said his wife and kids had been to concerts at Vernon Downs and the reason the grass is ruined is because there is a mosh pit in front of the stage.

"That's the reason the grass is ruined," he said. "I don't personally feel with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson that there would be a mosh pit. That's my opinion."

Harris said he talked with Connie Rudolph, the head groundskeeper at the Goldklang Group's St. Paul stadium where they have held similar concerts. Harris said she explained the program they had developed to prepare and protect the turf on the field before and after a concert. According to Rudolph, he said, they have not had any major damage on their field.

One of the big worries for the grass is if there is significant rain before the concert.

Village police chief Michael Crippen proved the committee with a list of his concerns, including costs related to additional manpower, safety and lighting because the stadium is not equipped with lighting for an evening show, security and trespassing on private property around the field, parking and traffic, and the inability to enforce quality of life issues such as open containers, noise, etc.

"Although we can handle a crowd of 10,00 baseball fans on a sunny Monday afternoon, it will not be as easy for that many or even less Willie Nelson/Bob Dylan fans on a Friday evening," he wrote in his report. "I do not see this as a family event that will attract young couples with their children like our games do and I doubt they will all hop into their minivans at the end of the show and head home."

Sergeant Dave Segit of the New York State Police post in Richfield Springs attended the meeting to discuss their possible involvement.

Segit said there has to be a "high threshold of tolerance" when comes to nuisance issues like smoking, drinking and noise because of the size of the crowd.

The state police, he said, would have to have a formal request from the village before he could specific about the service they would provide. "I'm sure the state police in some fashion would get involved," he said. "We would need to sit down with the chief and see what our role would be."

Lee Malone, trustee representative on the Doubleday Field committee said her main concern is the safety of residents and visitors. Malone lives directly behind the field and said two or two-and-a-half hours of music wouldn't bother her. "Everybody I talked to was very positive," she said.

Mayor Carol Waller also said she had heard positive comments about the concert from residents and asked the committee to keep an open mind.

Waller said she believes the village needs to come up with a complete list of costs it would incur and also an estimate of what the village would get out of the concert monetarily.

Talbot suggested that he would like the village to receive $20,000 to $25,000 for providing the venue for the concert.

During the initial meeting, Goldklang's Whaley said they would expect a crowd of 10,000 to 12,000 persons at a ticket price in the neighborhood of $40.

Typically, the artist and promoters would share in the revenue from ticket and merchandise sales. The village, he said, would receive the revenue from concession sales at the concert which could be expected to average $5 to $6 per person.

Harris said in his conversation with the St. Paul stadium groundskeeper, that she related they had made as much as $100,000 from concession sales.

During the meeting, trustees talked about turning concessions over to a not-for-profit group like the fire department.

The committee is still studying the concert request and did not formulate a recommendation to the village board.

Village clerk Laura Lee said she spoke Tuesday with Don Sullivan of Jam Productions who said they need to know the village's decision about the concert soon, but could wait until after the board meets Monday evening.