Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 08/12/1999

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Letter to Timothy Burns July 29, 1999 Page 2 of 3 Bases and Baseholders: All bases in the City were purchased by RYAA and are owned by the Association. Frequently, there are some coaches do not put away bases, leaving the subsequent coach to move the bases to their differing footage requirements. Unfortunately the foam and bristle plugs in the base holders are regular targets for pranksters who pull them out allowing for ag lime to enter the base holder. If the coach who installs the bases does not clean out the holder (with the special tool in the base box container) they can become stuck in the base holder. Of the 63 base holders at Central Park, two were pulled out due to the bases being shuck in for the reason stated above. These were reinstalled the following day. July JO, 1999 Tournament: Several days prior to the above tournameflt, staff learned of the Saturday event. The two regular park keepers had family plans for the weekend. Fortunately another seasonal worker volunteered to work Saturday morning to drag and stripe the fields. It is possible the quality of the field maintenance was not at the same level of the those providing the regular service for 1999. Foul Pole/Base Alignment: Upon inquiry (after receipt of your letter) I was informed that one of the 14, 285' base lines at Central is a couple inches out of alignment with the edge of one base. This will be corrected. "Upset Coaches/Mad Parents" For 1999, staff has received more compliments fi~om RYAA participants than concerns. This may be due to the soccer program and basebaI1 program providing alt of their field schedules and requests to staff by facsimile (612-427-2199). (Attached is an example of a field maintenance request.) We will continue to respond to the best of our ability in all cases. However, to remain effective and efficient for the year 2000, the City will be requiring that all requests for service for field maintenance be in writing (faxes are okay) and be initialed by the appropriate RYAA commissioner or its president. City staff is disappointed that our level of service did not meet your expectations. Our commitment will continue to be that of providing the highest quality of park maintenance in relation to all of the other activities and duties expected of residents. In the future it would be most helpful to receive a phone call if there's a disparity in expectation and actual field-maintenance.