Dear Editor, It has been an eventful year for the team at Morgan
Hill Youth Sports Alliance, Inc. Dave Payne, Rui Azevedo and I
began the year with our Sports in Life Essay Contest and things
took off from there.
Morgan Hill Youth Sports Alliance is making a difference
Dear Editor,
It has been an eventful year for the team at Morgan Hill Youth Sports Alliance, Inc. Dave Payne, Rui Azevedo and I began the year with our Sports in Life Essay Contest and things took off from there. Obviously winning the contract to manage the Outdoor Sports Center was the high point. Since then we have made progress with Orchard Valley Youth Soccer League and Live Oak Rugby joining MHYSA, increasing our board to seven members and completing our first four months of the tournament season. It is nice to see the changes and improvements we made at the facility appreciated by our users.
Since taking over July 1, we fulfilled on the promises made during the RFP process. Orchard Valley soccer, Pop Warner football and Live Oak Rugby now use the grass fields during the week. The concession stand is reopened, run by local It’s Burger Time! owners Dave and Paula Ross. The fields look better than ever despite the additional usage. Their improved condition has garnered testimonials from every tournament to use the OSC since July. Tournament goers can also now play in the new video arcade, use the new WiFi service or shop at the booths run by JOYA Soccer for soccer equipment and Sports Authority Authenticated for sports memorabilia.
Starting with our very first tournament, Magic Cup III July 31, we have worked closely with organizers to make their tournament a success. The event team coordinates field scheduling, parking, hotels and support services with each organizer. We also promote local businesses and activities such as the Friday Night Music Series, Taste of Morgan Hill, and the Summer Concert and Movie Series’.
Community leaders had the opportunity to see these changes at the recent Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting ceremony. In addition to seeing the new advertising banners for Straw Hat and Box Seat, new goal nets, green grass fields and other facility improvements, attendees met the owners of the local businesses and sports organizations that support the OSC such as Professional Turf Management, Firato Service Co. and Airswift Communications. All while served food and drink from the concession stand and watching Pop Warner and Orchard Valley teams practice on the turf fields.
Community support has been impressive. Volunteers from OVYSL, Pop Warner, Live Oak field hockey and rugby teams have helped with parking lot operations, field lining and facility improvements. We worked with MHUSD to get additional fields for larger tournaments and served as an overflow parking lot for the EL Toro Bowl. Local hotels and restaurants continue to give us feedback and updates on the business they get from OSC users. People remark to us every day how much they love the sense of community at the facility now. That tells me we are doing the right things.
Next year will be even busier for MHYSA board members and OSC staffers. MHYSA is moving to annual scheduling for the OSC which means that regional and local users will be booking their entire 2011 schedule in the coming weeks. Looking a year out enables us to better promote the facility by identifying returning regional and community users’ needs then going out to fill the additional weekdays and weekends. We intend to include the restaurant, hotel, entertainment and activities in our promotion material. It makes us more competitive by showcasing everything Morgan Hill has to offer.
Anyone who wants to help is welcome. MHYSA is always looking for volunteers to augment their team and will be announcing their “Red Tailed Hawk” Volunteer Program by the end of the year. Interested parties can learn more at the OSC web site, www.mhosc.com.
Jeff Dixon, president Morgan Hill Youth Sports Alliance
Southeast Quad development is a waste of money and local resources
Dear Editor,
The city of Morgan Hill continues to peruse development of the adjacent Southeast Quadrant including a proposed county annexation without a viable need. With nearly $500,000 in EIR costs and tens of thousands more in other prior costs, this project is foolish and costly before and especially after it is developed.
It paves over precious farmland, habitant and open space. It will impact traffic, add congestion, increase air pollution, add noise, deplete water resources, impact our water treatment plant and draw upon resources (recreation, parks, police, fire, etc.) that are already needed to maintain just what we have. It adds costs to a budget that is operating in the red. In essence this project by its sheer size will impact our quality of life in every possible way.
The local agency that oversees such projects, LAFCO, has already voiced a strong concern and has indicated that it violates many of its primary and guiding principles. The land in question is not even in the city limits. Once again, we have developers and landowners who overly influence our elected and appointed officials. Their wants and financial interests surely cannot replace our community’s needs but it seems it has.
Building at the peripheral edge and on unincorporated land up to and including our foothills violates our general plan and the principles of smart growth. We should continue to be building at our core and along transit centers and not on existing and productive farm lands. There is enough vacant land within the existing city limits to meet our needs for growth in all areas for the next 30 to 50 years, making such a project unwarranted and truly unnecessary. It will promote urban sprawl.
Please write to our elected and appointed officials and voice your concerns. Ask them to stop this project before any other costs are incurred and our lives impacted. I would be pleased to speak with any group or organization to clarify and answer any questions. This is much too important of a project to remain silent and ignore.
Mark Grzan, Morgan Hill
