Local health enthusiasts are dreaming up a fitness trail for the grassy turf next to San Juan School and they’re imagining a refurbished campus field through community donations.
Trustee Jeff Hancock, an attorney, liked the idea of the project, but expressed concern about having the district held liable for anyone injured on the property and wanted to know the cost of additional insurance.
“It’s open but no one’s invited in,” said Hancock, of the district’s field often used by locals walking dogs or exercising. “I’m not saying there’s not people there. I’m saying we’re not inviting them there.”
Last week, Aromas-San Juan Unified School District trustees voted 5-0 to allow residents to renovate the campus field using donations. They also agreed to maintain the refurbished field.
“We’re hoping the city and the school can come together with a plan, a joint agreement,” said Teresa Lavagnino, a member of the San Juan Aromas Tennis and Fitness group.
She hoped such a partnership would cover the liability of someone getting injured.
The district’s unfenced grassy lot next to the school, which locals call the “San Juan Athletic Fields,” has enough space for the San Juan Soccer Club to mark three fields of different sizes. But if a fitness trail is added, the lot could support only one full-size field.
Local residents are proposing they raise money to refurbish the campus fields and that the district would allow the soccer club to mark two soccer fields on the fixed-up campus lot.
A company quoted the cost of refurbishing the grass at about $70,000. The quote, though, came from “one of the top renovating turf companies” that recently repaired the 49ers field, and Lavagnino hopes to get the work done for much less.
“I’m hoping we can do that for $25,000,” Lavagnino said.
Her childhood friend Vera Alnas-Clark suggested the fitness trail on what she thought was an “underutilized lot,” but learned the district land was used more frequently than she expected.
The San Juan Soccer Club, with about 120 students, uses the San Juan Athletic Fields for about three months of practice in the fall and 10 Saturday games, said Joey Canepa, the club coordinator.
The district has allowed the club and other nonprofits to use the lawn for a small permit fee as long as the group can show proof of insurance. The soccer club has been paying a less than $25 permit each year, the club coordinator said.
“Up to now, we’ve never had any issues,” Canepa said.
The three soccer fields, however, touch a creek bed that fills with water in the wet season and attracts the younger siblings of soccer players to try their hand at blackberry picking and pollywog catching.
“I can see why the district is concerned about brambles and stuff,” she said.
Canepa is also coordinator of the garden at San Juan School and she wants to weed out the non-native plants in the creek bed, add more indigenous species and make it part of the curriculum at the nearby school.
At the meeting last week, trustees voted 5-0 to allow the development of a curriculum that plans for creek bed restoration and allows for potential wetland restoration, provided it doesn’t cost the district money.
For Lavagnino, renovating the grass is a natural step for community members.
“We renovated the tennis courts at the San Juan School and so from there we just want to improve the recreational facilities in this area because there’s not that much,” she said.
Lavagnino was not surprised by Trustee Hancock’s concerns about insurance and liability.
“What’s good about Jeff is he sees things that are practical that need to be taken care of and I appreciate that,” she said. “He points those kinds of things out and we find a solution.”
To learn more about park plans and join group discussions on the topic, email Lavagnino at [email protected].
