By Vanessa Dabovich
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/krwg/local-krwg-927514.mp3
Las Cruces, NM – Members of the youth soccer league have notified members of the City Council regarding the playing conditions at the Field of Dreams.
In 2007, city staff reported that fields were being overused, demand continues to grow and there is not enough money to maintain the fields. There was also an ad hoc board created for a year to work on solution for how to improve the conditions of the fields.
City officials say temporary game fields will be established for the remainder of the season and for any winter play. Fields eight through sixteen will be closed at the Field of Dreams Complex for the City to do intermediate rehabilitation at a cost of around sixty thousand dollars. Total reconstruction of the fields would cost six hundred and fifty-three thousand dollars.
Councillor Nathan Small says implementing the staff's recommendations is a top priority.
Small-"It's good to see the list of recommendations being brought back and us looking at implementing some of those recommendations, obviously the with the whole suite of them it is tough to do everything at once. Clearly the issue is deeper and more fundamental as far as when and where games can be played. Unless, there is the ability to temporarily move play from one field to another and leave that one field rested and fallow you are simply managing a decline all the time."
City staff recommends the city have direct oversight and management control of the fields. They also say working closer with the leagues on scheduling such as splitting the schedule into sessions will help the problem.