SR 05:145 - Laserfiche WebLink

Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council: BACKGROUND The Donlon Elementary School campus includes a 9-acre field area that has been traditionally used for school related physical education classes and recess/lunch periods. In addition, the site has been used for practices/games, first by youth soccer, and in recent years by PONY Baseball. Given its large size, the fields can accommodate a number of teams at one time; however, an inadequate irrigation system and heavy clay soil has led to a deteriorated condition of the fields and use has been minimized in the past several years. In anticipation of planned modernization improvements for Donlon School in summer 2004, the City/School District Liaison Committee initiated discussions about upgrading the athletic fields. The Committee, comprised of two (2) members each from the City Council and School District Board of Trustees, requested that several schematic designs be developed for possibly addressing the growing lack of athletic fields for youth and adult sports. The City Landscape Architect's office prepared four (4) initial schematic plans outlining potential configurations for the site. In addition to the Liaison Committee, School District staff and the City's Sports Council also reviewed the plans and provided input. It was the consensus of all parties that a configuration which included two (2) youth baseball fields and three (3) soccer/lacrosse fields was the most efficient use of the space, and would minimize impacts to adjacent neighbors. In April 2004, the Council authorized the expenditure of up to $30,000 for detailed design drawings and cost estimates for the preferred option. RRM Design Group, the same firm that assisted with initial master plan design schemes for Bernal Community Park, was retained to provide the desired services. In addition, the Donlon School Field Improvements was added to the Council's list of "Highest Priority Projects" for 2004/05. For the next eight (8) months, RRM Design Group worked with City and PUSD staff, and facilitated meetings with Val Vista tract neighbors, Pleasanton Sports Council representatives, and the Parks and Recreation Commission on the preferred design option. The renovation plan was presented to the Council in December 2004, with the Parks and Recreation Commission's recommendation that "Basic Improvements" of two (2) dedicated baseball fields and turf area sufficient for three (3) soccer/lacrosse fields be approved at a cost of approximately $2.246 million. Specific improvements would include the baseball facilities, storage sheds, an upgraded irrigation system, some imported soil, reseeding the 9-acre site, and associated design fees and construction management. During the Council's discussion, concerns were raised about the cost of the improvements and whether they were more elaborate than was necessary. There was also reluctance to approve such a large expenditure outside the normal Capital Improvement Program (CIP) review, and SR 05:145 Page 2