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ent by: 4J RISK MGMT 541 687 3687; 04/06/01 7:46AM;JetFax #631;Page 2/5 <br /> School Pislricl 4J <br /> Eugene Public Schools <br /> 200 North Monroe Street <br /> Eugene, OR 97402-4295 <br /> April 4, 2001 <br /> Myrnie Daut, Risk and Benefits Manager <br /> City of Eugene <br /> 777 Pearl Street, Room 101 <br /> Eugene, OR 97401 <br /> Dear Myrnie, <br /> This is intended to summarize a number of concerns the district has regarding the proposal for the <br /> Youth Sports Parks at Churchill High and Cal Young Middle School as outlined in your March 5, <br /> 2001 letter. <br /> According to Bill Hirsh, 4J Facilities Director, even from the initial planning stages there was <br /> always an assumption on the part of the district that the City would assume responsibility for at <br /> least the skate park component of the Youth Sports Parks, if not the entire youth parks. This <br /> assumption included the belief that the City would exercise almost complete control of the parks, <br /> including associated liability and administrative issues. Further, it appears the City Council may <br /> have had the same belief since it took a fair amount of discussion and negotiation between the <br /> Council and the School Board to include a provision that the District would have limited ability to <br /> close the parks in the event of (safety) concerns to the neighboring schools. The conversation <br /> repeatedly focused on the concept that these were to be City parks, open to the public. <br /> Additionally, representatives from the City and District, including the Mayor, at a meeting on <br /> September 26, 2000 in the Cal Young Middle school library, came to the conclusion that these <br /> facilities should be formally designated as City parks. It also appears that Jim Johnson, City <br /> Manager, endorsed the recommendation in his memo to George Russell, 47 Superintendent, an <br /> the same date (see attached). <br /> I believe that when the original agreement was all put together, the primary focus was on the use <br /> and operation of the synthetic fields. Less attention was placed on the youth sports parks. It was <br /> the District's assumption that the youth parks would become City parks, subject to limited closure <br /> ability by the District. I believe this was also the assumption of City staff and the City Council. <br /> The planning for the parks was almost entirely governed by City staff as if these were to be City <br /> parks. City park maintenance requirements are to prevail. Unfortunately, the actual designation <br /> of the youth sports parks as City Parks was not mentioned in the IGA. I/we believe this was an <br /> oversight. At the meeting on September 26th, and subsequently as confirmed by the City <br /> Manager, key City staff and District staff agreed to such a designation and proposed an <br /> amendment to the IGA to make this happen. It was moving forward smoothly until we came to <br /> 04/06/01 FRI 08:32 [TX /RX NO 9645] <br />