Council tables agreement with MUSD on playing fields

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The Maricopa City Council tabled action on an agreement between the city and the Maricopa Unified School District to allow public use of middle school playing fields during non-school hours.

If approved, the agreement will open Maricopa Wells Middle School and Desert Winds Middle School sports fields to public use. The schools have facilities for football, soccer, baseball and softball.

In exchange for use of the fields, the city would agree to maintaining the playing fields to a “proper and safe standard that meets or exceeds current MUSD standards.” An agreement of this sort has been in the works since March 2010 but was rejected in December.

Since the Sept. 6 regular council meeting has been canceled due to the Labor Day holiday, the first opportunity the item could be on the agenda again is Sept. 20.

The intergovernmental agreement was approved by the MUSD Governing Board last week at its regular meeting. Intergovernmental Manager Paul Jepson, who addressed the school board last week, told councilmembers MUSD was ready to move forward, but with two minor changes he had sent to councilmembers by email.

Initially, the district was concerned about potential problems by allowing dogs on the fields. Jepson assured district officials the city would be responsible for care and maintenance after city usage and there would be Monday morning walk-throughs to ensure safe and clean conditions.

The concerns of Councilmembers Alan Marchione and Carl Diedrich, however, had nothing to do with dogs at the fields.
Both were reluctant to approve the agreement last night because they believed the city would be making a commitment without knowing important details, such as the cost.

Marchione likened it to buying a car, but not knowing how much it would cost until after you got home and called the salesman back to ask the price.
 

 

The city council approved an allotment of $150,000 for the agreement when it approved its 2011-12 budget earlier this year.
Jepson said the decision to implement the funding would be discussed at a future meeting, but Marchione reiterated, “What will it cost to maintain the fields at these schools?”

 

Diedrich said he was unclear on what “maintaining to their standards” meant specifically, and felt the council should hold off on a decision.
At a work session prior to the regular meeting, MUSD Superintendent Jeff Kleck had praised city staff for their diligence on the agreement.

“I want to offer from the school district some thank yous,” Kleck said. “Paul Jebson and John Nixon worked hard on this and the current school board voted for approval of the IGA. It’s great to see this IGA finally take root.”