Council Agrees to Continue Volunteer Maintenance at Smith Field

Despite the city's recent of Smith Field, no new changes will be pending anytime soon in the way the sports and recreational facility will be maintained.

The general sentiment expressed at a special Half Moon Bay City Council study session last night attended by two dozen recreational users was that the status quo of volunteer management should continue — while taking a measured approach to exploring community needs and potential new uses of the area.

Since the 1960s, volunteers associated with the facility's recreational groups have maintained and improved the grounds on their own.

Fifteen of the Smith Field area's 29 acres house a , and the playing fields for . The remaining 14 acres are undeveloped which, based on its zoning code, could be developed into residential, office and commercial uses, or kept as open space, according to a city staff report.

Councilmembers and recreational users pushed back against an idea floated by city staff to hire a consultant to conduct a survey to determine what the larger Half Moon Bay community would like to do with the area. The estimated cost of a consultant's services to do the job, according to the staff report, is between $50,000 - $100,000.

"It's a worthwhile investment to have a town hall community forum," said councilmember Rick Kowalczyk. "If it's just finding out the pulse of the community, we don't need a professional now," he said.

Other councilmembers agreed, saying that the city's Parks and Recreation Committee could work on developing a strategy to determine community interests in the Smith Field area.

"The benefit of getting outside help is to get a statistically valid plan," City Manager Laura Snideman said, adding that a town hall approach would not be able to capture the opinions of those who did not attend the session to voice their opinion.

The city has identified that the Smith Field area is currently in need of development and capital investment to come into compliance with city and state code — one of which would be improvements to the baseball fields' snack building and bathrooms, according to the city.

Other improvement projects identified by the city are:

• Removing onsite asbestos
• Installing a new water line
• Establishing a plan for drainage of the area
• Establishing a stormwater plan
• Paving the road leading from Highway 1 to the area
• Establishing a permanent dog park fence
• Lighting for the baseball fields

The total costs of these projects could run as high as $1.5 million, according to Katie Crowder, assistant to Half Moon Bay City Manager Snideman.

Charlie Hall with the Half Moon Bay Horseshoe Club and a representative from the dog park told the council that running water would be welcomed.

A potential idea to generate revenue would be to develop some of the area into facilities which could be rented for weddings or other special occasions. Picnic tables, yoga studios, a swimming pool, another baseball field and a volleyball court as add-ons were also mentioned as possibilities.

Most of the remaining community members who gave their opinion to the council on how the city should proceed in this area were parent volunteers of Half Moon Bay Little League. Many commended the council, San Mateo County and the Peninsula Open Space Trust for the three-way land swap approved in August.

"For years, we talked about making improvements and who owns these fields...whether we should put money into it and what's going to happen," Little League Board member and Half Moon Bay resident Steve Stack said. "And now that uncertainty is gone."

Steve Bacich, also a Little League Board member and Half Moon Bay resident, told the council that the city's estimate of the additional $50,000 needed in excess of its current $31,000 subsidy to maintain the Smith Field property was understated.

"We've spent $125,000 on the materials to maintain the property alone — not to mention all the volunteer hours expended," he said.

Stack estimated that the costs to maintain Smith Field when including materials and volunteer hours amounts to "hundreds of thousands a year," he said.

Despite the number of hours needed to maintain the facility, the overwhelming majority stated that they would rather continue putting in the hours to maintain the field on their own rather than hire a for-profit management company.

"The idea of a professional management company is slightly offensive," said Half Moon Bay resident Brian Ginna, adding that the task would be part of a city recreation department's responsibilities.

"You had a and you got rid of it," Ginna said, who identified himself as affiliated with the Coastside Youth Association. "It's probably not feasible,"  he said of hiring a management company. "There's not going to be enough revenue."

Parks and Recreation committee chair Joe Carlevaris said his group would be happy to take on the task of determining how to move forward with identifying community interests in Smith Field, as well as coordinate communication with the Half Moon Bay Dog Park, the Half Moon Bay Horseshoe Club, Half Moon Bay Little League and the city of San Carlos, which began managing the city's recreation services this year.

"It should have come to us first before it was brought before the council," Carlevaris said after the meeting. "We want to do our job — to do the research and work with the community."

Councilmember Marina Fraser said that if the need did arise to bring in a consultant, she preferred that it be built into the spring budget planning process for the next fiscal year.

"We'll be in trouble if we get out of volunteer mode," Mayor Naomi Patridge said in regards to operations of the Smith Field area, "because we all need money now."

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