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Commissioners to create new wish list for parks projects
By Kara Chalmers
Saratoga parks and recreation commissioners recently revealed their "wish list" of projects they plan to submit to the city council for funding consideration.
Commissioners, polled informally, listed the following projects:
* finding room for the tennis courts that are slated for removal from Congress Springs Park when it is renovated;
* improving the attic at the Warner-Hutton House--the city's teen center;
* creating new play areas in parks;
* developing a trail along the Union Pacific Railroad tracks in the city;
* building a dog run.
Commissioners listed 12 projects they already know have interested community, city council and commission members, and then placed their own separate values on the projects--one being the highest. They then added up the numbers and declared the winner the project with the lowest number.
According to the poll, the commission as a group places a low priority on funding the performing arts center at Saratoga High School and the new gym at Prospect High School. Some projects had a wide range of values, such as the Union Pacific Railroad trail, which some commissioners said should be priority one or two, while other commissioners said should be nine or 10. Commissioners also gave a wide range of values for community gardens, a skatepark and finding practice fields for the Catholic Youth Soccer Association.
Commissioners remarked about the wide ranges, but Commission Chairman Norbert Fronczak stressed that the poll was just a first step in the commission's job of prioritizing parks and recreation projects on which the city council would decide.
"We had to start somewhere," Fronczak said.
While there is some $300,000 left to spend out of the park development fund, Fronczak said the commission is anticipating having more than that to spend on future parks projects. The fund is for purchasing or renovating existing parks, fields and buildings and is allocated by the commission, but the allocation needs to be approved by the council.
Now that the commission has almost attained the goals for the parks projects that it prioritized in October 1999, commissioners decided they needed to brainstorm and come up with a new list.
The commission delayed a vote on any projects at its Feb. 5 meeting, when the wish list was created. The commission decided to revisit the wish list and finalize it at its March 5 meeting. Part of the reason for the postponement was that Commissioner Barbara Olsen was not present to be polled.
But by the time of its annual meeting with the city council on March 27, the commission will have a final wish list composed of about 10 items. Fronczak said the final list could be completely different from that the commissioners came up with on Feb. 5, since the commission has not yet received comments from community members or other city officials.
The commission will consider, when making its list, the priorities that the council has already placed on some specific parks projects. The projects involve replacing parts of Congress Springs Park that will be removed during renovations this year--the most notable being a baseball field for the city's Pony League to use.
The Pony League, composed of some 39 players, ages 13-14, now uses the baseball field closest to Glen Brae Drive at Congress Springs. But the field will be removed to make room for more Little League and soccer fields in the new park.
When it approved the plans for the new Congress Springs Park in September 2000, the council made a commitment to find another place for the Pony League to play, according to Saratoga Mayor John Mehaffey. The city is trying to find a replacement field.
Also, the council has stated a desire to find more practice soccer fields for the Catholic Youth Soccer Association.
At the meeting Feb. 5, Director of Recreation Joan Pisani noted that the city held a well-attended community workshop in 1996 to make a priority list on how to spend the park development fund. However, the commission consensus was that the items on which the community placed the highest importance at the 1996 meeting--such as an expanded and renovated community center, and land acquisition for play fields--are important, but beyond the scope of the commission in terms of funding, Fronczak said. While the commission will mention the importance of these things to the council, it might not include them in the final wish list, Fronczak said.
The commission has either finished work or has transferred the responsibility for the six projects they approved in October 1999 to be financed by the park development fund, which at the time was over $2 million.
The projects that are either completed or are being completed are:
* new playground equipment at Kevin Moran and Gardiner parks;
* improvements to Congress Springs Park's playfields;
* restroom renovations at Wildwood, Congress Springs and El Quito parks, and trail improvements.
On Oct. 26, 1999, the council approved five of the commission's six recommendations, but delayed approving an expanded, renovated or brand new community center. By the following April, the council had taken over the community center project. The center is now part of a much larger master plan for the whole civic center area that the council is exploring. Possible means of funding a new community center would be loans or a general obligation bond measure.
At the meeting Feb. 5, commissioners also noted their desire to fix up some of the city's parks, such as Azule Park, with the park development fund. "I would like to focus on Azule and Kevin Moran Park and other places with dead land we're not using," said Commissioner Sheila Ioannou. She also noted the need for new play equipment at some city parks. "Smaller items make a difference in neighborhoods," she said.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
