The Flood Park Reimagine project started 8 years ago. At that time area youth needing additional baseball and large sports fields were a priority. Supervisors and Parks promised area youth that Flood Park would provide these sports fields. That promise now is a risk of years of delays, yet we have the opportunity to implement those elements this year in the Phase 1 plan. (See Broken Promise)
The problem is that the baseball field and large mulit-use sports field (aka soccer, lacrosse, etc) has been excluded from Phase 1. Excluding these means pushing these out 3, 4, or more years to future phases that are unfunded. We are trying to prioritize the Baseball and large multi-use sports field at Flood Park into the the funded Phase 1 so they can be completed this year and thus fulfill the promises made to area youth and youth leaders.
- Funds for a Phase 1 are allocated and available now
- Phase 2, 3 and any future phases are not funded
- Phase 1 will not start until this summer and are now projected to take up to 16 months
- County has identified budget restraints are probable due to inflation, economic downturn – putting at risk subsequent phases due to lack of funding
- Baseball and Multi-use fields are well into planning, being between 30% to 60% complete – so little impact on making them Priority 1 as it is only 90% complete.
- There is a real risk that the youth sports fields (baseball and large multi-use fields) will be delayed 3 or 4 or more years
- The added impact of resent storms and all of the damage done to county parks has placed added burden on budgets and funds.
This is the only time now to make an appeal to the County Supervisors and Parks Department to insure that these sport fields are part of phase 1 and thus deliver the promise to our area youth. We risk the probability that the youth sports fields implementation will be kicked down the road for years to come. It has already been 15 or so years that the baseball field has been in an useable condition.
Why is your voice needed?
One of the key goals of the Flood Park Reimagine project has been the restoration of the baseball field and the addition of multi-use sports fields. All of these are on the sports side of the park. In fact, the one key reason for spending millions on this project, is to establish these very fields for community use.
This is very important due to the uncertainty of the economy. In the December 6th Supervisor’s meeting, the Board was warned that the coming years are expected to have an economic down turn and that the budgets and funding will be impacted. These same warnings were repeated to the County Parks Commission’s March meeting by the Parks Department. That future outlook identifies that all projects are at risk.
So why would we put the baseball field and other multipurpose field at risk? Why tell our youth that all their work and communications with County Supervisors to obtain Supervisor commitment to area youth really didn’t mean much, so wait many more years for the needed youth sports fields.
For example, the current Phase 1 plan calls for replacing picnic tables and redoing picnic areas; however, the current picnic tables are in place and fully functional, and will be for many years to come. It means that the there is no net gain by basically using Phase 1 to replace the picnic tables – all that work and time to give exactly the same number of picnic areas and tables we already have.
We don’t have baseball or the multipurpose field. A better net gain would be to do the these sports fields now, as was promised and in plan for the past 3+ years. Restoring the original Phase 1 plan, provides the baseball restoration and the multi-use fields, in time for next season.
Your voice is needed because this far side of the Park, the Sports side of Flood Park, is being delayed and the park in essence will be closed. Instead, you and the rest of the community can ask that this sports side be developed first, allowing the park to remain open for family and group amenities like picnicking, playground, volley ball, walking, sight seeing, etc. If we don’t raise our voice, the sports will be delayed many more years and the park will potentially be closed through the coming year. See “A Reasonable Alternative for Phase 1” below.
Several people from the community attended the Nov 5th in park presentation by County Parks. It was good discussion. While the phasing of the project is going up for a vote of the Supervisors, community members at the Nov 5th meeting also had concerns and questions pertaining to the new project:
- Noise levels of certain amenities
- Parking issues and bike usage on the park’s walkways
- Protecting the redwood grove where the pump track is proposed – to avoid damage to the grove and insure health of trees
- Over building of the park – to much expansion for such a small park
- A very strong desire to preserve more trees – many are unnecessarily being removed
- Questions on care and planting of new trees (species, location, size, care, etc.)
County Parks Realize Plan – Phase 1
For Phase 1 at Flood Park, Parks department is not prioritizing the sports fields, and excluding the baseball and large multipurpose field. Instead, Parks is prioritizing Phase 1 to be the closure of the picnic areas and volleyball courts as a priority and delaying the baseball field and large multi-use field (for soccer, lacrosse, etc). This basically means that Flood park will be closed. No baseball, no soccer, no field sports, no volleyball, no tennis, no picnics – individual small groups nor large groups. What a tragic loss for our community.
If Phase 1 were instead to focus on restoring the baseball field and building the multi-use fields, we could have those sports amenities earlier, much earlier. The additional benefit of aligning Phase 1 with building of the sports fields and restoring baseball, is that Flood Park can continue to be open with full access to picnic, playground, volleyball, walking paths, etc. All of the features we look to Flood Park providing us would still be available while that sports side of the park was created.
A Community Based Focus – the Original Phase 1 –
Better Phase 1 Plan to Deliver Priorities and Retain Park Access
In the illustration below, the bright colored areas would be developed in Phase 1, leaving the rest of the park (shaded areas) fully open for public use and enjoyment. This delivers the sports fields, a priority of the project, as soon as possible, instead of having to close the park and wait years for sports access.
County Phase 1 Plan for Flood Park – As modified Dec 13
The graphic below shows what the Parks proposal is for Phase 1. Notice that this will delay the baseball and multipurpose field by years. You can see that the bright areas will then be closed — basically closing the park, with no public access.
