Public Forum Regarding the Maintenance & Operation Agreement with AYSO for the Dennis Keat Soccer Park
The Cathedral City Soccer Park Complex was completed and became operational in 2006. Prior to the Construction and as part of the process of entitlement, the City held several neighborhood meetings to discuss the value that the park brings to the community, the challenges of having a public park adjacent to a residential area and how the park should be designed to best enhance the area and address residential concerns. At that time, the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO), under the leadership of local residents Dennis and Dianne Keat, now deceased, was instrumental in the promotion of the project, the concept of the complex and the associated long term field management and ongoing maintenance and operations.
As such, upon the completion of the Soccer Park the City and AYSO entered into a 10-Year Maintenance and Operations (M & O) Agreement and during that period the agreement has worked reasonably well for both parties, the current agreement expires in August 2016.
The City Council and AYSO are drafting a new M & O agreement and desire broader public input into the process. The City Council instructed the City staff to work with an Ad-Hoc committee made up of Mayor Pro Tem Gregg Pettis and Councilman Mark Carnevale, Parks Commissioners Diane Hines, Johnny Huynh-Simmonds and Jerrid Seeba, AYSO Representatives Jim Engle and Orlando Lomeli. The Ad Hoc committee met on Tuesday July 19th and discussed the several items including the Term of the Agreement, the Weekly Schedule, the Field Lighting, parking and other related issues. Most importantly the Ad-Hoc committee decided that a neighborhood meeting would be helpful to more accurately gauge the residential support for the facility and to hear the concerns related to the park.
The City invites you to attend the Neighborhood meeting in the James Workman Middle School multi-purpose room, 69300 30th Ave., on Tuesday, August 16, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. Come show your support for the Soccer Park, voice any concerns, and be involved in the future operations of your park.
