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The Morgan Hill City Council, following an Aug. 16 closed session meeting, narrowed down the field of applicants for the city manager position to four of City Hall’s top staff people.After reviewing input from the community and other city staff on what the elected officials should be looking for in a new city manager—to replace Steve Rymer—the council evaluated all applications they have received for the position, according to Morgan Hill Communications Manager Maureen Tobin.The council selected the following city employees as finalists for the city manager’s job: Community Services Director Chris Ghione, Economic Development Director Edith Ramirez, Police Chief David Swing and Assistant City Manager for Admin Services Christina Turner.The council will interview each candidate at a closed meeting scheduled for Sept. 6.Earlier this month, Rymer accepted a job as city administrator for the City of Rochester, Minn. He worked for the City of Morgan Hill since 2006, starting in recreation and community services. In 2013, the council appointed him as city manager.Rymer’s annual salary for 2016 was about $248,000, after several annual raises approved by the council in line with positive performance evaluations.The city manager is the highest paid staff position in Morgan Hill, to which all City Hall department heads report, including the police and fire chiefs.According to a list of employees’ salaries for 2016 on the city’s website, Swing’s regular annual wages are about $196,000; Ghione’s are about $182,000; and Ramirez’ are about $154,524. The city hired Turner in 2016 for an annual salary of about $189,000.The salary figures do not include benefits and allowances, though these amounts are also listed on the city’s website.Rymer’s last day as Morgan Hill City Manager will be Sept. 30. The council hopes to have a new city manager appointed by the end of September.

The City of Morgan Hill is considering a new operator for the popular Outdoor Sports Center after the facility’s current nonprofit management group has fallen into significant debt.The Morgan Hill Youth Sports Alliance, which has operated the 38-acre soccer and sports field completed located on Condit Road since 2010, was in debt by more than $150,000 as of May, according to city staff.MHYSA's contract is up in 2019, and the city is hoping the next OSC contractor will will meet the ongoing challenge of finding the right balance between ample local access to the sports fields versus upgrading and promoting the facility as a major revenue generator.A centerpiece of this effort will be to send out a Request For Proposals from interested third-party vendors to run the OSC. The Morgan Hill City Council voted unanimously July 19 to begin this RFP process, which will last several months beginning in September.MHYSA is not ruled out from competing for the new contract. But the organization has been slow in making its quarterly payments to the city as spelled out in their contract, and has seen diminishing funds for upkeep of the OSC’s grass soccer fields.The current agreement between the city and MHYSA requires the nonprofit to pay the city $45,000 in 2016-17, $60,000 in 2017-18 and $70,000 in 2018-19. MHYSA has operated the facility since 2010, and their current contract ends in 2019.MHYSA directors have said the root of their financial problems is the loss of several major sports tournaments previously hosted at the tournament to other venues. Jeff Dixon, President of MHYSA, said his board plans to submit a Letter Of Interest to the city, the first step in the competitive RFP process.“I think we are definitely worth consideration” as the continued operator of the OSC, Dixon said. “But the council is concerned about our sustainability, and we’re going to have to answer that in a big way to be a contender. We believe it still needs to be locally controlled and managed so the community gets full benefit.”He added the letter will have more details on how MHYSA can resolve its financial situation. “We have to be thinking about more than annual payments—we’ve got to be thinking about community benefit in terms of all the business it brings to town,” Dixon added.Dixon is on board with the city’s vision of the OSC as a venue that allows Morgan Hill to “compete in the national sports tourism industry.” For the city, successfully making the OSC a cornerstone of its “sports market business strategy”—which is part of the city’s long-term Economic Blueprint—means more revenue from hotel, sales and gas taxes from out-of-town visitors.The city recently created a website, mhsportsandevents.com, to promote Morgan Hill’s public sports facilities throughout the region, state and nation.Morgan Hill Community Services Director Chris Ghione praised MHYSA’s ability to “immediately” improve access to the OSC for local teams as soon as it took over in 2010. Before the MHYSA started running the fields in 2010, the lack of available field times for youth sports teams in town was a frequent complaint among coaches and league organizers.Dixon also noted that MHYSA has brought a wide variety of uses, instead of just youth soccer, to the MHYSA. These include other youth sports, as well as adult flag football, lacrosse, ultimate Frisbee and other team sports. The facility is currently hosting the Flynn Creek Circus. Fourth of July fireworks shows, a national dog agility contest and several non-sports related festivals have brought thousands of visitors to the OSC.From Aug. 10 - 14, the OSC hosted the National Cricket Academy’s National 17U youth tournament, which featured four teams and 60 youth athletes from throughout the nation.$1.4M for new turfUntil the city’s RFP process finds an OSC operator that can afford to make repairs and upgrades, while promoting local use of the fields and increasing revenue, the city itself will pay for the replacement of artificial turf on two fields at the OSC.At the July 19 meeting, the council approved the expense of about $1.4 million to replace the turf, which surfaces a football field and a soccer field. The current artificial surfaces on these fields were installed about 10 years ago, with an expected lifespan of a decade, Ghione said.Ghione called these fields the “flagship” of the OSC, and replacing the deteriorating turf now will make the facility more attractive for any operator interested in running the complex.Funding for the turf replacement will come from the city’s park maintenance fund. The city will begin seeking bids for the artificial turf replacement in September, Ghione said.  

Update: At 4:30 p.m., CalFire personnel said the fire is "basically extinguished" and no structures are threatened, but crews will remain on the scene to watch for flareups. Firefighters are attacking a 100-acre wildfire from the land and air in north Morgan Hill.The vegetation fire started in the early afternoon Aug. 11 near the intersection of Hale and Curry avenues, just northwest of Morgan Hill. As of about 4 p.m., the fire was about 5 percent contained and had grown to about 100 acres, according to CalFire Battalion Chief Jim Crawford.Although the south side of the fire, near the Christeph Drive and Murphy Springs neighborhoods, is lined with homes, Crawford said no structures are in danger and no evacuation orders have been called.“(The flames) are backing down toward the homes in that area, but the smoke is still going over the houses,” Crawford said. “We don’t expect any problems on that side.”Road closures and heavy traffic have been reported in the area.In addition to numerous fire engines and other ground equipment, CalFire planes and helicopters could be seen and heard buzzing the area above the vegetation fire from throughout town. A blanket of smoke began to blow south with the wind down the west side of Morgan Hill from the blaze within minutes after it began.Crawford said he expects crews to remain on the scene overnight cleaning up and extinguishing hot spots.CalFire and other agencies also responded and quickly extinguished another fire earlier the afternoon of Aug. 11. That vegetation fire occurred near Sunnyside and West Edmundson avenues, but was out by 4 p.m., Crawford said.Check back for updates.

John Manning was an influential teacher, coach and trainer for almost 30 years at Live Oak.

Live Oak is back from the mandatory dead period and the goal, as it is every year, to get better in practice and gear up for a push into the new season.