Youth Sports Park User Committee

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MINUTES OF THE USER COMMITTEE November 16, 2001, in the Parr Room 10:00 -11:30 a.m. Present: Pat Latimer (replacing Jim Denker), Johnny Medlin (replacing Jeff Lankston), Tim Rhay, Dave Battaglia, Jeff Faust, Mitzi Colbath, Charlie Warren, Paul Staudhammer, Pat Bonney, Bill Hirsh, John Crane, Arnold Hultberg, and visitors Julia Pommert and Lawrence Headley. Minutes from August 27, 2001, were approved. Community Garden at Churchill: Mitzi said there has been vandalism in both the garden and the sports park at Churchill. Food for Lane County handles upkeep of the garden, but the Churchill Community Garden User Committee wants the garden added to security. The garden is not funded by the bonds and not covered in the IGA. The City and 4J agreed to alter the IGA so that the YSP's are operated and managed by the City, but owned by 4J. This allows the City Parks rules to apply and the police may respond accordingly. However, this does not apply to the gardens. There is need to move forward on the IGA addendum. Walk -on use of artificial turf fields: Vandalism happens with walk -on use that is unsupervised. Adults use the artificial turf fields correctly and cooperate when Kidsports comes. Adults generally help keep watch on what happens on fields, too. Problems occur when youth ignore posted rules and bring bikes and skateboard onto fields or inside the fenced area. Charlie suggested a neighborhood watch group to monitor. If a few kids are caught and made examples, it would make a difference. Another suggestion was to change pedestrian gates to turn styles with rolling gates for access during games so the crowd isn't slowed down. Also, Dave suggested school equipment be stored elsewhere at season's end to eliminate its becoming an attractive nuisance. Scheduling for YSP's & skate parks: YSP's are always open. New fields are used by the schools during the day. Call City Parks Maintenance (682 -4800) to schedule skate bowls. As soon as the IGA gets changed, the YSP's will be under City Parks rules. Fall Usage: Pat Latimer said the main problem is we need to do a better job of dealing with litter. It's especially an issue on weekends. Dave B. said if you see a trashed field, call him and he can look up who was scheduled. Sanipac provided 6 rolling carts to use at Sheldon. Pat L. will contact Sanipac and ask for carts for all fields. Often fields get cleaned tut not the stands. It takes a blower to efficiently get trash out from under the stands. Most groups don't have them. Pat L. said we need a better plan. It was suggested the following folks get together to work out a solution: Reps from Kidsports, AD's, City, and Doug Lemley. Arnold's concerns: Arnold offered congratulations to Jeff for his hard work toward addressing neighborhood concerns. Arnold then provided a memo to the Committee regarding Sheldon area concerns not yet sufficiently addressed. In the interest of time, Bill suggested he and Jeff meet with Arnold later to go over his concerns. (Subsequently, Bill, Jeff, and Arnold did meet to address several issues.) AYSO's request for a single game site: Paul reported they are working with Churchill, Bethel, and Sheldon on a game schedule where each site would be used in 1 or 2 week blocks as the "single game site ". It was noted, if artificial turf fields are included in single site usage, this committee has a say. John Crane has concerns about other teams getting to play on their home field and also the wear and tear on natural turf fields. John said spectators cause more wear & tear along the sidelines, than the kids do on the fields. The single game site proposal still needs a lot of discussion. A sub - committee will meet to continue working toward a solution. Dave Battaglia will convene and facilitate the group. Other members of the sub- committee are: John Crane, Charlie Warren, Pat Latimer, and AYSO reps. Next meeting: Friday, February 15, 2002, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Parr Room (confirmed). Meeting adjourned. pb