At the end of the four-hour meeting, which at times became animated as each side argued its case, a final consensus was eventually reached: The task force representatives agreed to disagree.

They decided that holding more meetings would be pointless. Sports user group representatives want a game field at Kevin Moran Park. The neighbors do not want a game field. And that was that.

The task force was supposed to present a single plan for the development of the park to the city council at the council's first meeting of the year on Jan. 4. Instead, two plans will be presented, leaving it to the council to decide where to go from there.

The task force was originally scheduled to meet for six two-hour meetings, but due to time constraints during the holiday season the last two meetings were canceled and rescheduled for a final four-hour meeting the night of Dec. 13. The stated goal of the final meeting was to finalize a plan for the park that all sides could agree on.

The four groups on the task force sat around the conference table, covered with a map of the park, and tried to resolve their differences. More than 30 people, most in support of the park neighbors, observed.

On the task force, Mayor Norman Kline and Vice Mayor Aileen Kao represented the city council ad hoc committee. Elaine Clabeaux, Peter Pranys and Marty Goldberg represented the neighbors to the park. Paul Jacobs and Brigitte Ballingall represented Saratoga citizens-at-large. AYSO regional commissioner Howard Miller and CYSA representative Mary Ann Escobar represented sports user groups.

Early in the meeting, Kline said that he would support the construction of a game field on a parking lot in front of the West Valley College tennis courts. Such a field would cost between $1.3 million and $1.5 million, which could be paid for with money raised by the city's sale of the North Campus property. In return, the neighbors to the park would have to agree on two practice fields, increased parking and a restroom at Kevin Moran Park.

"I promise you I will agendize it and vote on it," Kline said. "It's politically doable."

The audience broke into applause at Kline's proposal, but Miller was not swayed.

"There is nothing new about a West Valley field," Miller said during the meeting break. He said he was pursuing a field at the college in addition to a field at Kevin Moran Park. "Two fields don't solve the problem. They just make it better."

The neighbors and the sports user groups representatives were able to agree that Kevin Moran Park should be developed. They agreed on a picnic area, a meditation garden, a basketball court, a tennis court, bocce ball courts, a restroom, increased parking and a buffer zone between the park and bordering houses. The neighbors were willing to agree on two half-sized practice fields, but were adamant in their opposition to a full-sized contiguous game field. Miller and Escobar were equally unbending in their support for a full-sized playing field.

Ballingall and Jacobs came down in support of a game field at the park. Jacobs said he had lived for years next to Congress Springs Park, which has seven playing fields and is of similar size to Kevin Moran Park. "Part of being in a community is sharing the load," Jacobs said. "I understand your fear, but I really feel your fears are exaggerated. It's not an unreasonable imposition on the neighborhood to have one field at the park."

"The neighborhood has given on everything except the game fields," Pranys said. "What is the consensus? That the neighborhood concede to game fields?"

Goldberg said that when the plans go to the council there is a possibility that the park battle will become mired in litigation for months on end unless a consensus can be reached. Both Goldberg and Miller were willing to hold more meetings. "The alternative is that if we don't we're going to end with one big, fat mess," Goldberg said.

Barbara Stewart was in attendance in support of the neighbors. "Adults and elderly adults use this park," she said. "It's made for them. They use the path to stay active." She said that a game field would break up the path that seniors use for exercise. She said Kevin Moran Park should be for all demographic groups, including toddlers and seniors, and not just for soccer players. She cited increased traffic to the community, preserving the unique nature of the park and the desire to save the park's looped path as reasons for her opposition to a playing field. In public hearings after the meeting, seven people spoke out against a playing field citing similar reasons.

Saratoga resident David Mighdoll was the sole supporter of a playing field. He said that because of changing times, parents are not allowing their children to play outside unsupervised. They are enrolling them in organized sports, which has increased the demand for playing fields. "The overall needs of the community appear to be best served by including soccer game usage at the park, in addition to other non-sports usage, which can all fit in this community," he said.

Neighbors made it known that they are prepared to litigate if the council decides on a full-sized game field, which could cause the battle over Kevin Moran Park to continue through the city's 50th anniversary celebration and into the next election cycle.