A meeting on Oct. 6 was well attended, though—so much so that there was a healthy murmur of noises even when the council members had started speaking.

Most of those present at the theater had come to cheer Nancy Jamello, Elaine Roth and Diana Copeland, teachers at the Saratoga Recreation Department who were to receive commendations from the city council. Jamello teaches hatha yoga, Roth teaches aerobics and Copeland teaches children's gymnastics. They received their commendations from Mayor Ann Waltonsmith to loud claps and whistles.

Some people also turned up to witness the new library commissioners take their oath of office. Ruth Gipstein, Helen Lemmon, Vandana Thirumale and Baksish Sandhu are the new library commissioners.

Two petitions were presented to the council. They were unusual for Saratoga in terms of the number of people who had signed them. One was signed by 500 residents, the other by 300 people.

Sandy Cross, a representative of the Friends of Kevin Moran Park, handed over a petition signed by residents who do not want regulation soccer fields at the park.

As she has reiterated in the past, Cross, who was representing the group, said that local residents wanted the park to be a neighborhood park and not a community park.

Tom Barbaro, a representative of the Friends of Saratoga Dogs, handed over another petition and talked about the need for a facility or a park to exercise dogs. "It is good for the dogs and it is good for the community," said Barbaro.

Thomas Soukup of the parks and recreation commission also spoke to the city council and reported on a meeting that representatives of the Friends of Saratoga Dogs had with the commission. He requested that the issue be on the agenda for a future city council meeting.

One contentious item that came under the consent calendar was the authorization of a new agreement between the Saratoga Area Senior Coordinating Council and the city of Saratoga.

Councilman Stan Bogosian was the first to disagree. "I want to know exactly how much this is costing the city. I want the figures for the last five years," he said.

Mayor Waltonsmith initially said that the discussion about the contract had been going on for a while and she did not think it was prudent to get city staff to spend more time on the issue. But after Councilmen Nick Streit and Norman Kline had weighed in on the issue, she also decided that the signing of the contract could be delayed for a month until after the local election.

The changes in the new contract include allowing the senior center free use of the North Campus for eight hours every week. The proposed contract would also enable the council free use of the community center multipurpose room twice a year.

"I think we need to get a clearer picture on the contract. We need more information," said Bogosian. "I am appalled that this was part of the consent calendar. If we make a decision tonight, a month before the election, it would look political and not very analytical."

In the end, all the five council members voted to postpone signing the contract with the seniors.