CCMIN021704 - Laserfiche WebLink

Other Speakers Jerry Wagner, 6344 Alisal Court, addressed Council regarding an article that was featured in the Pleasanton Weekly. Tom Hayhurst, 2649 Calle Alegre, addressed Council regarding the Bernal sports park and the lack of fields for nearly 9,000 adolescents in Pleasanton who are trying to find a place to play all of the different sports. He asked Council to reconsider looking at hiring consultants to design the fields. He expressed the need for lighted sports fields in the City of Pleasanton and believed the Bemal sports park would be the ideal location for these fields. Bob Maas, 7942 Raccoon Hollow Court, introduced himself as the Chair for the "Save our Community Park Committee." The Committee would be circulating a petition to gather signatures to have an initiative placed on the November ballot. In the Bernal Property Specific Plan, the residents of the community were promised a community park with lighted sports fields on the Bemal property. To plan this park, Council formed Task Forces comprised of Pleasanton residents. After many meetings, two designs were drafted, one of which was unanimously supported by the Parks and Recreation Commission. These approved plans and this design have not been approved by Council. Instead, a Council majority has hired a consultant to oversee a design competition that has and will waste time and City money, not to mention all of the work and recommendations that the Task Force and the Parks and Recreation Commission made. By Council's actions, the community park with lighted sports fields is in jeopardy. February 18th will be the first soccer registration and at that time, the Committee will actively register voters as well as soccer players who are interested in the future of the park on the Bemal property. By obtaining the needed signatures and placing the initiative on the November ballot, the Committee hopes to prove to Council that the residents want, need and deserve the community park with lighted sports fields. Bruce Torquemada, 3072 Albumi Court, addressed Council with regard to the sports fields on the Bemal property. Selfishly, he would like to see the sports fields built as soon as possible on the Bemal property. He believed there were some misconceptions regarding the sports fields and asked if it was possible to hold a Question and Answer session to help educate the community that is not involved in the process to understand why the City Council has decided to hire a consultant to nm the design competition. Bill Howell, 6651 Alisal Street, thanked Council for letting nonresidents speak and thanked Council for approving staff's recommendations to continue working with Mr. Spotomo regarding the bypass road. He believed the annexation of the Happy Valley area was defeated not because of opposition to the golf course, but because the City was not able to provide a guarantee of when the bypass road would be built. Pleasanton City Council 6 02/17/04 Minutes