One of the concerns before the Public Property Committee composed of Ald. Rodney Perez and Ald. Becky Mueller is the desire of the Soccer Teams to expand the number and size of the fields located in the Baker Lake Park. I believe that Peru is one of the first locations in which soccer fields were situated locally and I am told up to 500 kids participate. The problem seems to be that they have outgrown their current fields.
One of the promoters of this private organization is Larry Wiede who also happens to be a member of the Peru Recreation Board. He and another person that I don't know the name have requested from the Recreation Board the need to eliminate some trees at the park for the purpose of making more soccer fields and bigger fields.. Two of the trees marked for cutting down are very old oak trees that have been in their location for generations. As far as most of the Recreation Board is concerned it sounds like they have no objection to this tree elimination project. It will have to go before the city council for a vote.
It amazes me that a couple of people who privately have started a number of soccer teams for all ages can tell the city what they want done and up to tonight no objections were raised. There are a number of new soccer fields on the drawing board and I believe that La Salle will build 2 at their new Rotary Park and the LP Sports Complex will also some time in the future put in soccer fields. Peru also plans on building new restrooms in the western part of Baker Lake Park for the teams.
Each sport in the city has their season and that means that the baseball and soccer fields are not used all year round and yet these sports take up so much space and are scattered around the city in our parks. I don't believe children are allowed to use them for fun baseball without being on a approved league team. So we end up with a lot of land used for only approved league play and not for just being a kid. Do we as a city need to get together with La Salle and perhaps Oglesby to find out what plans they have for soccer fields and jointly take on soccer and coordinate the use of the soccer fields.
Does the city need to take a deep breath and take stock of our parks and their use and talk to our neighbors?
Don't forget we still have an ice skating rink in storage and we don't know where that will be placed either.
And the airport will host another concert this Saturday and if there is money to be donated it will go to the Peru Little League.
8 comments:
What's so amazing about a few people who represent hundreds asking what they need done? That sounds like how a PAC would work. This blog would most certainly gain the same respect if it was apart of a PAC.
It appears that both the rec board and the public property committee spend a lot of time on sports rather than on the parks themselves. Much of the equipment needs refinished or replacing. It does not meet safety regulations with regards to the surface beneath it. Garbage cans many times overflow, benches need painting, some parks need more benches, some of the equipment has been broken for years, the grass has been scalped, weed eating is scarce. The idea of a splash pad for the children seems to go over everyone's head and that no one really cares. We seem more concerned and willing to volunteer and work for the "concert for a cause" rather than for the maintenance of our parks and city.
Speaking of the ice skating rink hasn't it been mentioned that one of the possible locations would be the baseball diamond at McKinley Park?
There was a city meeting to discuss soccer fields? Maybe next meeting they will discuss placement of garbage cans within the park. Was this the topic of a city council meeting? Let's hope there are more pressing issues for the city council.
2:44, If you would read the header it says PUBLIC PROPERTY MEETING not City Council Meeting.
Speaking of garbage cans 2:44 does anyone know where the 25 BLUE recycle cans are that were supposed to be placed in all the parks? I know there are some new RED ones at Washington Park but I have seen none elsewhere.
I checked the agenda for the public property meeting and nothing was listed on it. I thought topics were supposed to be listed so interested citizens could attend if that topic interested them.
What interested citizens attend meetings with nothing on the agenda? Why have a meeting with nothing on the agenda? Why duplicate the role of the Park Commission with another committee meeting called Public Property? What is the function of a meeting with nothing on the agenda? Are the meetings tape-delayed or used for skits on Saturday Night Live?
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