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Minutes of a Meeting of the North Olmsted Parks and Recreation Commission September 12, 2005 fence in the absence of any and all signage other than just the distance for the lines and the alleys of dead center field, he did not see that there would be a problem. Mr. Fran McNamara, representing North Olmsted Hot Stove, thought that what needs to be related to Council with Hot Stove and what the High School baseball program has to go through is that what they are trying to do is to make our field somewhat better than it is, and even at that point it will be one of the worst fields that Tim Murphy has to deal with in the Conference. The Schools have been so far behind as far as the fields they have been playing on, starting with the High School because it’s important that they play on a good field. Mr. Kelley asked for any other comments after getting Ms. Jackie Callahan’s name for the record. Mr. Lasko said that his appointment to the Commission is on behalf of the School Board as a new member. He does not have a lot of background in terms of years other than as a resident of North Olmsted. He coached in the Hot Stove program for about ten or twelve years and managed in it for all those years consecutively with his son, so he knew from first-hand experience not only from playing on the fields but, since he’s a card-carrying Ohio High School Umpire, so he knows what it’s like to be on other fields compared to the field in North Olmsted. He did, however, come to the defense of the City from the standpoint that, at least as it pertains to the High School program, we should be looking at the Schools as first and foremost for being responsible for providing athletic facilities for our children to have the use of those facilities. Part of this, as Mr. Carras has said, there is a levy issue coming up wherein the baseball and softball fields are a high priority in terms of providing first class athletic facilities for the North Olmsted children, whether it be at the renovated complex at the High School or the renovations that would be at the property at Pine. He understands the concerns and he understands the comments made about the City but he came to the City’s defense to say that first and foremost it’s the Schools’ responsibility and the City of North Olmsted has been very gracious over the course of many years in terms of trying to make available and recognize the fact that we are all North Olmsted residents and we are all working for the community of North Olmsted. We all want to put our best foot forward to other people as they come to North Olmsted, so when we’re talking about the North Olmsted Park, at the moment the quick fix is the temporary fencing arrangement which, in fact, will allow a “band-aid” approach that would get us by in the short term that would address those immediate needs of our athletic teams from the schools while at the same time making sure that the Park is still available for other groups and organizations that have a long-standing interest in it as well. Mr. Lasko was a Cub Master and Scout Master for many years as well and he knows what All Scouts Weekend means to a lot of children in the community of North Olmsted to be able to utilize that Park for that Weekend. To him, this seemed to be the best fix on a temporary basis, but ultimately the long-term solution is for the schools and there where-with-all in whatever form or fashion to be able to provide for more comprehensive athletic facilities for all of our children. Page 6