(Sept. 29, 2015) -- Councilwoman Stacy Mungo has floated a proposal to build two artificial turf (possibly crumb rubber) mini-soccer fields (14,000 sq. ft each vs. 72,000 sq. ft for full size), basically for use by children, west/in front of the El Dorado Park tennis courts, behind the El Dorado Library in the area of a current service road. Addressing a group of [unofficial estimate] roughly three dozen individuals on Sept. 28, invited by her office to the area where the mini-soccer fields would be located, Councilwoman Mungo proposed to use money allocated by a previous Council in 2013 (before she took office) that was to have replaced natural turf soccer fields at Willow/Studebaker with artificial turf to save money and water. Councilwoman Mungo said she inherited the artificial turf issue from the previous Councilmember [Gerrie Schipske], which generated neighborhood opposition (on grounds including lights, fencing, parking) at El Dorado Park and wouldn't save potable water since the El Dorado Park area is already irrigated using reclaimed water. [Scroll down for further.] |
Councilwoman Mungo said using artificial turf for two mini-soccer fields near the El Dorado Park Library parking (nearby maintenance road) would save construction and maintenance money and the savings, and fees from use of the mini soccer field, could be put in a trust account for park purposes including the possible rehabilitation of the Willow/Studebaker full size natural grass soccer fields [without added fencing or lighting that had sparked neighborhood opposition.] [Scroll down for further.]
Councilwoman Mungo said the mini fields, mainly but not exclusively used by children, would be administered/managed for the City by the Los Altos YMCA. She said the arrangement had already been vetted and approved by the group's board...and said 11 such mini soccer fields are currently operating in San Diego under a similar type of arrangement. She said similar arrangements between cities, school districts and non-profits are a tested model that has been proven successful. A speaker from the Los Altos YMCA spoke at the meeting and expressed the organization's willingness to participate in such an arrangement. During her presentation, Councilwoman Mungo said:
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As she has stated on previous occasions, Councilwoman Mungo said the money allocated by the Council in 2013 for artificial soccer turf was "one time money" and had to be used for artificial turf or it would return to the City's General Fund. ...[I]f not used for that use, they go back to the General Fund and it would be very unlikely to get five votes for that in this financial time. If it were two years ago at the original vote, I think it could have been done easily. Quite honestly, I'd actually asked Gary [DeLong] that and he said, 'that is what the prior Councilwoman wanted, it could have been done but that is not what was done' and here's where we sit today... Councilwoman Mungo distributed cards on which attendees were invited to respond to one of three pre-printed questions: [ ] I prefer the original proposal of converting the existing natural grass soccer field at Willow and Studebaker to one with artificial turf -- comprised of a natural fiber infill material -- and fencing.
Among those invited and attending was veteran park protection advocate Ann Cantrell, who was allowed to pose questions to Councilwoman Mungo, but when she sought to speak regarding the proposal itself, the Councilwoman stopped her. Councilwoman Mungo said she'd be "more than happy" to her Ms. Cantrell's opinion privately but "I didn't create a forum for you" and Mungo moved on to the next question. The next question came from a woman who said her daughter played soccer as a goalie for 12 years, and her best friend has played for 14 years and is currently a goalie at Cal State, and they're both opposed to artificial turf. The woman asked Councilwoman Mungo why she'd want to put young kids on the artificial turf? Mungo replied that there are no conclusive studies that there are any health risks with artificial turf, and if crumb rubber is a risk, there are natural infills that we can use that mitigate that. Ms. Cantrell asked if she could address this, noting there are infections from artificial turf, to which Councilwoman Mungo again cut her off...and this time, an office aide approached Ms. Cantrell, asked if she wanted to submit her question card; when Ms. Cantrell replied "no," the aide asked her if she'd like to sit down. When Ms. Cantrell said "no" to that too, the aide replied that she could stand but this wasn't her meeting. Ms. Cantrell replied: "This is a public meeting. This is a community meeting. I am a member of the community." A few minutes later, Councilwoman Mungo finished her presentation...and left. That left attendees free to talk among themselves...and when some did so, Councilwoman Mungo returned and sought to speak with some of them. After the event was over, at least one of the invited attendee (a man) was audibly heard to say, "She needs to be recalled." A few hours later, initial responses to the proposal on social networks varied, ranging from disappointment, to skepticism...to opposition. Exactly four weeks earlier on Sept. 1, during City Council discussion of the FY16 budget for LB's Parks & Rec Dept., Councilwoman Mungo indicated some behind-the-scenes movement toward using some type of grass, not artificial turf at the Studebaker/Willow soccer field. Acknowledging that this El Dorado Park area uses reclaimed water area and thus there wouldn't be water savings if changed to an artificial turf, Councilwoman Mungo asked "neighbors to continue to be patient, we have a few more meetings to go and then hopefully in September we'll be coming forward with an alternative plan that will not utilize the $1.7 million at the Wardlow [sic, means Willow] /Studebaker location, that will not include a fence in that area, that will not include lights in that area, but most importantly in working with the soccer organizations, which I just started reaching out to them today after gaining a lot of neighborhood input, that will go with a type of grass that's less injuries than the clumping grass than we've used in the past and that also aligns with the California standards that we can water appropriately in our parks." A bit later, Councilman Roberto Uranga asked about the possible use of artificial turf at Admiral Kidd Park in his district, noting health concerns raised about some types of artificial turf. Parks & Rec Director Stephen Scott stated: ...The lion's share of the fields out there [elsewhere] use an infill product that is made up of recycled crumb rubber, and there had been some health concerns regarding the use of that infill material...Those are...examples of infill materials that we are not looking at. Our Parks & Recreation Commission has recommended that we pursue an organic infill material and some of those examples are ground-up coconut husks or cork, as infill options. And so we are proceeding down the road of an organic infill material, not a crumb rubber or recycled tire or other plastic rubber infill material. Developing. Further to follow. blog comments powered by Disqus Follow LBReport.com with:
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