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HomeMy WebLinkAbout8.2 Letter of Intent Regarding the Allocation of Fallon Sports Park to Emerald High School Baseball and Softballr DUBLIN CALIFORNIA STAFF REPORT CITY COUNCIL Agenda Item 8.2 DATE: TO: FROM: SUBJECT: November 5, 2024 Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers Colleen Tribby, City Manager Letter of Intent Regarding the Allocation of Fallon Sports Park to Emerald High School Baseball and Softball Prepared by: Colleen Tribby, City Manager EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The City Council will consider a Letter of Intent between the City and the Dublin Unified School District (DUSD) to accommodate Emerald High School's baseball and softball teams for priority use of certain fields at Fallon Sports Park during the high school season. The arrangement will also require modifications to other City fields to provide sufficient facilities for other user groups. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Direct Staff to issue a Letter of Intent to Dublin Unified School District (DUSD), committing to Emerald High School's priority use of the field space and affirming DUSD's role in making field modifications at Emerald Glen Park. FINANCIAL IMPACT: The cost of any modifications to City sports fields, including the addition of related storage containers, will be covered by Dublin Unified School District. The District will also pay the adopted user fees for the rental of Fallon Sports Park under the Public Agency user category. While this is lower than the fees paid by other user types that currently have some allocation of Fallon Sports Park, Staff expects the difference in total revenue to be negligible (an estimated decrease of $2,500). DESCRIPTION: Background Emerald High School (EHS) opened its doors in fall 2024 for its first freshman and sophomore classes. In the prior year, EHS students shared the Dublin High School site, including sports facilities for its freshmen teams. The new EHS site has a gymnasium, football field, and track, but no baseball or softball fields. Staff has been in discussions with Dublin Unified School District Page 1 of 4 1 (DUSD) on the potential for EHS ball teams to utilize City fields during the high school season (March - May) while still allowing for adequate use of fields by other long-standing community groups, such as Dublin Little League. Proposal After evaluating several options and discussing them with DUSD, Dublin Little League, and internally, Staff determined that the most sensible option is to allow EHS to utilize one location, Fallon Sports Park (FSP), for all their ball teams during the high school season, and modify other City fields to satisfy the needs of user groups that would be moved out of FSP during that time. During the season (March - May), EHS Baseball would have priority use of FSP Field G on a 90- foot diamond, and EHS Softball would have priority use of FSP Fields A and B on 60-foot diamonds (see Diagram 1 below). The infrastructure at FSP already conforms to standards set by the California Interscholastic Federation for high school play. Moreover, the lights at FSP will allow for evening and night play. Diagram 1- Fallon Sports Park Layout BMX Area Fire Station #18 II Fiel (60'd aB Ball Fiel F (ot' dm mfiel� eki) • Picnic Area Playgroun Bocce Courts Sports Field r=Mdhax rurn Sports Field (sYnahetx turn Ball ,ield G LOWER PARKING LOT Sports Field 3 (synNenc turf) Sports Field 4 (synahaa a turf) Cricket :Reid Ileybel 4 21 Playgro and %,J II Field 60' damond Crass,niel Batting Cages A-E II Fiel A ed UPPER PARKING LOT Basked) II _ 4 Ell 0 LOCKHART STREET N+S Currently, the primary user of FSP Fields A, B, and G from March through May is Dublin Little League for its baseball teams and rapidly growing softball program. The baseball fields are also utilized by outside groups (primarily youth travel teams), and the softball fields are also allocated to adult softball teams. With EHS housed at the three FSP fields, the other user groups would need to be moved. Accordingly, Staff evaluated City fields best suited for a 90-foot baseball diamond and two 60-foot softball fields. The other parks in the community that have multiple sports fields are Dublin Sports Grounds and Emerald Glen Park. Dublin Sports Grounds has a lighted, 70-foot baseball diamond in addition to six other baseball diamonds, all heavily utilized by Dublin Little League. Modifying these fields is not ideal, as their layouts are not conducive to change without reducing the number of fields in the Page 2 of 4 2 same footprint. Emerald Glen has three softball -size (60-foot) diamonds, none of which are currently set up for regulation softball play as they have grass infields and baseball mounds, among other things (Fields A, B, and C in Diagram 2 below). Fields A and C are currently used primarily by Dublin Little League, while Field B is typically allocated to other groups but is underutilized compared to others. Moving the user groups to Emerald Glen is the preferred option, as the layout allows for field changes, there are already softball -size diamonds there, and there is capacity to allocate more users to Field B if converted to a larger diamond dedicated to baseball. Diagram 2 - Emerald Glen Park Layout Cricket Cages 0 Playground v Bocce Courts • Picnic Area Ball Field A CO' diamond, grass inpdd) Sports Feld 4 PARKING LOT Basketball m 1 2 GLEASON DRIVE Tennis 1 2 3 4 © Playground; ce•i mP,0ARKWAY BallField (60' diamo• nd: grass Weid) Sports Field 2 Ball Field C gross Wield) avoa vavfvssvl W-+E Specifically, the changes needed at Emerald Glen would include, but not be limited to, the following: • Modify Fields A and C to true softball fields, including removing the grass infield and mound, installing a dome backstop if needed, providing storage, providing a portable mound, and providing an adequate mechanism at Field C for scoring. Baseball teams can also continue to use these fields as well, but they will primarily allow for regulation softball games. • Modify Field B to a 90-foot baseball diamond, including realigning the baseline, providing back netting as necessary, providing storage, and providing an adequate mechanism for scoring. Staff's desire is that in addition to funding the field modifications, DUSD manage the project, including bidding and construction, while the City would issue an encroachment permit and perform inspections of the work. Page 3 of 4 3 Letter of Intent and Timing The attached Letter of Intent summarizes the City's commitment and expectations for this arrangement, which allows DUSD to begin planning for the work. The parties have agreed that the work would be done prior to the start of the 2025-26 high school ball season and without significant disruption to other community groups' use of Emerald Glen. As for the upcoming ball season, the City can accommodate EHS baseball and softball teams (one team for each sport) without any modifications. This has also been agreed to by Dublin Little League, who will redistribute their teams to other facilities this season. Next Steps If the City Council approves the Letter of Intent, Staff will work with DUSD on a definitive agreement that preserves EHS's use of Fallon Sports Park and describes in detail the work to be done at Emerald Glen. In the meantime, Staff will continue working collaboratively with all user groups to allocate field space according to our rental policies and procedures. Finally, Staff also intends to re -open the long-standing joint -use agreements in place between the City and DUSD, to ensure that both agencies have full access to each other's facilities for recreational and enrichment purposes. This includes revisiting the City's needs for programs like Afterschool Recreation and Junior Warriors. STRATEGIC PLAN INITIATIVE: None. NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH: The City Council Agenda was posted. ATTACHMENTS: 1) Letter of Intent Page 4 of 4 4 Attachment I l DUBLIN CALIFORNIA THE NEW AMERICAN BACKYARD City Council 925.833.6650 City Manager 925.833.6650 Community Development 925.833.6610 Economic Development 925.833.6650 Finance/IT 925.833.6640 Fire Prevention 925.833.6606 Human Resources 925.833.6605 Parks & Community Services 925.833.6645 Police 925.833.6670 Public Works 925.833.6630 100 Civic Plaza Dublin, CA 94568 P 925.833.6650 F 925.833.6651 www.dublin.ca.gov November 5, 2024 Chris Funk Superintendent Dublin Unified School District 7471 Larkdale Ave Dublin, CA 94568 Re: Field Usage for Emerald High School Dear Chris, This Letter of Intent ("LOI") is provided to Dublin Unified School District ("DUSD") as the commitment of the City of Dublin ("City") to allow priority use of certain fields at Fallon Sports Park by Emerald High School's baseball and softball teams, beginning with the 2025-26 high school season. This LOI represents the current understanding of the parties, and the parties will work in good faith to negotiate and present to their respective legislative bodies a definitive agreement incorporating the terms and conditions outlined in this LOI. The City understands that any such arrangement needs to be long-term in nature as part of building and maintaining a successful athletic program at Emerald High School, and the City agrees to prioritize, on an annual basis, DUSD's needs of Fallon Sports Park during the high school baseball and softball seasons to achieve that. The City expects that DUSD will make field reservations through the normal process followed by all user groups, including paying field usage fees set forth in the City's Master Fee Schedule. The allocation of field space to Emerald High School requires modifications to other City fields at Emerald Glen Park ("EGP") to allow for community user groups to move out of Fallon Sports Park. The City's commitment is based on DUSD's intention to pay for those modifications. The required changes include, but are not limited to: • Modifying EGP Fields A and C to regulation softball fields. • Modifying EGP Field B to a regulation 90-foot baseball diamond. Furthermore, the parties agree that they will in conjunction with the definitive agreement review and update all joint -use agreements between the parties to update each agency's facilities inventory and ensure that all facilities are made appropriately available and prioritized for use by either agency. If the terms and conditions described above are acceptable, please indicate your agreement by signing below and returning a copy of this LOI. 5 We look forward to working with you in enhancing the recreational and enrichment opportunities for DUSD families as well as the entire community. Sincerely, Colleen Tribby City Manager AGREED AND ACCEPTED: DUBLIN UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT Chris Funk, Superintendent 6