A subcommittee on who gets the fields — and a new chair

If you read nothing else

• The board voted to form a subcommittee to analyze the best way for the City to use its sports fields for youth, and elected Coppedge to chair it.
• Coppedge cited locked gates, contention between Las Cruces Public Schools and the Parks Department, and a soccer community negatively affected, and listed unanswered questions: who owns the fields, who rents them, who pays, who does not pay, and where GO Bond money is being allocated for bathrooms.
• Granillo said Parks takes care of the space but does not run the leagues' schedules — league directors do — and that Parks has offered to help with scheduling but that offer has not been utilized.
• Bingham asked that the subcommittee include three advisory board members and members of the public, with separation from individual sports organizations so the advice is not self-serving, and suggested soliciting referees or officials.
• Board elections: Fred Raish elected Chair, Laura Haas elected Vice-Chair. Cassie McClure was thanked for six years of service.
• At the Rinconada dog park, a resident reported irrigation pipe issues e-mailed in July and fixed only this week, and small poop bags never refilled since July. Staff said the small dispenser will be removed and only the standard larger bags refilled.
• At High Noon Soccer Complex, fencing and drinking fountains complete December 15th and restroom work by June 30th; the U-10 parking lot is in bad repair with a culvert underneath, probably EBID, that is not City property.

Who was in the room

Public comment

Kept at length on purpose. Every point raised is listed, in the order the minutes record it.

6.1 Board Elections — Chair McClure

A nomination for Laura Haas was presented for Vice-Chair, which was accepted. Board Member Raish moved for Laura Haas as Vice-Chair, seconded by Board Member Coppedge; the motion passed.

A nomination for Fred Raish was presented for Chair, which was accepted. Board Member Haas moved for Fred Raish as Chair, seconded by Vice-Chair Engle; the motion passed.

No other nominations are recorded for either office, and the minutes record no vote tallies beyond "Motion passed."

6.2 Parks / Sports Fields Usage — Board Member Coppedge

Coppedge said that based on conversations with citizens, soccer coaches and baseball coaches, and on C. W. Ward's comments from last month, he would like to make a motion to form a committee or subcommittee to analyze the best way for the City to use the sports fields for youth. Vice-Chair Engle seconded the motion.

Coppedge said he believes the Parks Department is doing the best job to manage the resources it has, but that they might be narrow-minded in scope about how much can be happening on the fields and how things could be used and utilized. He said things are falling through the cracks, gates are locked, and people are going without. He mentioned contention between Las Cruces Public Schools and the Parks Department, and said the soccer community has been negatively affected.

He put the questions the subcommittee would answer: Who owns the fields? Who rents the fields? Who pays for the fields? Who doesn't pay for the fields? Where is the GO Bond money being allocated for bathrooms and the rest?

He said the subcommittee would look at other leagues in other districts and other sports in Las Cruces, and how often they use the fields, noting that often they are not able to use the fields due to being locked out. It would also look at other cities — Carlsbad, Roswell, Socorro, Albuquerque — and how many fields they have available for practices compared to Las Cruces. It would look at the number of tournaments and the times fields are available for practices based on league play or tournament play, versus the number of hours kids spend in practices versus in games, and see if things are being done the best way possible for the youth. He noted Soledad field is small with a lot of use.

Steven Bingham said he has met with Coppedge, and that some information records requests have been made. He said they had a conversation with Steve Armstrong, who did an extensive review of what they are doing, and that this is welcomed for advice and as a sounding board — helpful, but it should also include staff for input on the decisions that were made.

Franco Granillo said staff do take care of the space but do not run the schedules of the leagues; league directors run those schedules. He said Parks has offered to help with scheduling but that offer has not been utilized, and suggested starting the formation of the subcommittee in tandem with the leagues.

The minutes then record: "Motion passed for subcommittee for field usage."

Vice-Chair Engle moved for Board Member Coppedge to chair the subcommittee, seconded by Board Member Haas; the motion passed.

Bingham said he hopes three members of the advisory board would help with the subcommittee, and that he wants to include people from the public. He said staff want to hear from other sports groups, but to get a more fair advisory, to hear from them while creating some separation so it is not the advice of individual sports organizations being self-serving, and to be sure all users, small and large, have a significant say on the committee. A suggestion was made to solicit participation from referees or officials who see some of the problems.

7. Discussion Items

None. The meeting carried action items only.

8. Staff Member Comments

Robert Nunez said the Youth Development and Diversion Program is preparing for the application process through CYFD, State of New Mexico, looking at a three-year period for the application, and will be providing services as they currently do throughout the county. For Keep Las Cruces Beautiful there is an upcoming dumpster day on a Saturday in November, with specifics to be e-mailed; open-topped dumpsters will be placed throughout the City to allow the community a fall cleanup. The Fall Festival takes place next Thursday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at A. Fielder Memorial Safe Haven, with a haunted house, costume contest, and community partners including the Department of Health, State Police, CYFD and others providing information to families.

Judy Barela said the Natatorium is having Friday Fright Splash Nights, with movies shown on the big screen and floats on the water, plus additional games and activities; the next Fridays will be for the entire family. Tomorrow night is Frankenweenie and next Friday is Nightmare Before Christmas; admission is one nonperishable Thanksgiving food item per person. For athletics at Meerscheidt there is the Spooky Spikes Adult Volleyball Tournament the weekend before Halloween, a two-day event. Adult Indoor Volleyball League registration is being taken on November 13th. Indoor Youth Soccer registration starts in November with play starting in January. The Great Pumpkin Candy Drop takes place October 29th, 11:00 to 4:00, at Maag Softball Complex, with free candy, a local radio station providing music, games, activities, and information booths.

Franco Granillo said the Whole Enchilada Softball tournament recently went well, though there were issues with one of the fields where a light pole went down; the tournament got going okay and many City departments pitched in to be sure that was taken care of. Several events last weekend were staffed — Pumpkin Palooza, and a tennis tournament that required staff to keep restrooms clean and up and running due to so many participants — along with the Fall concert and Pachanga.

Granillo said turf is going into dormancy and maintenance is transitioning into winter projects, including resurfacing and re-scalping ball fields in the Hadley area, reviewing different park areas for projects to improve maintenance for next summer, and planting trees and replacing shrubs that struggled through the hot summer.

At the High Noon Soccer Complex there is some chain link repair, added gates for walk-through, and ADA accessibility, which is part of the overall legislative funding received from the State. The press box has been removed for safety. The work also includes improvements at the restroom and concession stand to get the building into better working order and better ADA compliance, plus additional drinking fountains in the soccer fields. Fencing and drinking fountains will be completed December 15th; the restrooms work should be completed by June 30th.

At the High Noon smaller U-10 fields the parking lot is in bad repair. The problem is a culvert underneath it — probably EBID — as it is a water passage and not City property. Staff will reach out to whoever has oversight of that area to see what they can do.

Steven Bingham said they have a great team, thanked Chair McClure for her six years of service, and welcomed the new Chair and Vice-Chair.

Hazel Nevarez said she will be sending Board Member Raish and Board Member Haas an e-mail the Monday of the week before the PRAB meeting for agenda setting, probably 4:00 on Tuesday afternoon.

9. Board Member Comments

Board Member Raish said he appreciated working with Chair McClure.

Board Member Haas also appreciated Chair McClure and wished her luck in further life phases.

Vice-Chair Engle said his almost-7-year-old is in youth basketball and that it all seemed to go well, with kids seeming to have fun. He said he is sad to see Chair McClure go.

Chair McClure thanked the board, said it had been a good six years, and said she appreciated everyone.

Recorded votes

Left open at the gavel