LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors this week got an update on the progress of the development of Westside Community Park.
Westside Community Park Committee Chair Dennis Rollins went before the board to make the presentation.
He asked that the board consider making another donation toward the development of the park, noting that the county previously had donated to the park some time ago.
The park is located at 1401 Westside Park Road.
Members of the board would acknowledge during the meeting that the park has become a showpiece for the county, with Rollins reporting that it draws people from around the county and the region.
Rollins said the committee has a lease agreement with the city for the park. “We do development, maintenance and operations of that facility.”
He said the committee had started out as an organization that was strictly developing the park, but it is now running it while it moves forward with the next phases of development.
Rollins gave the board a brief orientation of the park as it has been developed to date.
The park's phase one is now called the Rotary Field, while phase two is the Jane Barnes Field, which includes 4.5 acres of turf that encompasses a regulation baseball field – one of only two in Lakeport – and a softball field, he said.
The city of Lakeport built a paved walking and jogging trail around the two phases at a cost of about $98,000. Rollins said that trail is just over a mile in length.
At the back of the park are horseshoe pits constructed by the Early Lake Lions, and a parking lot has been paved with Highway 29 grindings donated a few years ago by Granite Construction. Rollins said there is still a big pile of those grindings left over for use in other parts of the park.
The committee recently added four sets of bleachers to the baseball fields paid for with income from last year's “Grillin' on the Green,” the annual fundraiser that benefits the park, he said.
The Lakeport Rotary Club has extended 600 feet of water line and planted 30 trees along a bank in the park, Rollins said. Four concrete benches – two donated by Rotary – were installed at the west side of the field.
A memorial grove that so far includes 12 trees has been developed near the Jane Barnes Field sign, Rollins said. On the back of the Barnes Field sign local artist Chris King placed the names of those memorialized in the grove.
Rollins said the committee also has purchased three pieces of outdoor exercise equipment with a donation from Sutter Lakeside Hospital for last year's Grillin' on the Green event. Kiwanis will install the equipment along the walking trail in July.
Rollins said the dog park developed at the park has a lot of use from dogs and their owners from Lakeport and other parts of the county. That part of the facility was developed through a partnership of the committee and the city.
He said all of these accomplishments came through the financial support of the Keeling-Barnes Family Foundation, the Henry Anderson Family Trust, a Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council grant, help from the county of Lake, and the city of Lakeport's donation of 60 acres for the park, as well the city's financial and staff support.
By far the largest group of contributions has come from the community in the form of individual donations – small, medium and large – as well as heavily discounted materials and services and the donation of hundreds of volunteer hours, Rollins said.
“Our current goals are to finish developing the southern portion of phase two,” he said.
That includes beach sand courts, a bicycle pump track and a skate park, he said.
Originally, there had been a plan to do a BMX bike track, but Rollins said there really wasn't enough room. So working with Jeff Kramer, owner of Main Street Bikes, the committee came up with the plan to do a pump track – a smaller kind of track for bicycle riders – at the extreme southern end of Jane Barnes Field.
Rollins said the committee hopes to complete the parking lot as it's starting the planning for an equestrian center that will be located at the back southwest corner of the undeveloped portion of the park. He said they have the first draft of a site plan donated by Ruzicka Associates.
The park committee is now leasing the Witt homestead property portion of the park from the city and has a caretaker couple living there. In exchange for rent, they are mowing and emptying the trash. “It's been very helpful,” Rollins said.
Reviewing the organizations that make regular use of the park, Rollins said the park is home to the Konocti Youth Soccer League, which serves about 700 children, and the Westshore Little League, which serves more than 500 children. The children who participate in those organizations' activities primarily come from outside of the city of Lakeport.
In addition, three local teams from the Ukiah Men's Soccer League – totaling about 60 men from Lakeport, Kelseyville and Finley – use the Jane Barnes Field on Sundays, Rollins said.
He said teams now are coming from around the region to use the park.
Part of the original goal was to make it a facility that would draw people from out of the county. “We're beginning to see some of that,” he said.
Rollins explained that he had reached out to both Board Chair Rob Brown and Supervisor Anthony Farrington to ask for financial support for the goal of completing the pump track and skate park.
Rollins had sent a letter to Brown asking about money that he had heard was left over for the development of the Kelseyville Skate Park, but Brown told him those funds already were allocated elsewhere. He said Farrington invited him to come and give the board a presentation.
He estimated that it will cost about $100,000 to complete the skate park and pump track, and assist with sand court development.
Another $350,000 is needed to complete the parking lot. Rollins said the city and park committee, with the assistance of Richard Knoll, the city's retired Community Development Department director, submitted a grant application to cover that project to the California State Parks Department, but the request wasn't funded.
“We're still looking around for that,” Rollins said.
While the park is in the city of Lakeport, “It really is a regional park, serving many members of Lake County,” said Rollins, asking the board to consider setting aside funding as part of its annual budget planning.
The board, however, indicated it couldn't commit to offering any funding.
“Without a doubt, this is the toughest year we've ever experienced as far as money goes,” said Brown, adding that had the skate park in Kelseyville not already been ready to start, it wouldn't have happened.
Noting that his daughter lives near Westside Community Park and his grandchildren use the facility, Brown said, “What you guys have done over there, with the resources that you have, is unbelievable.”
Brown also told Rollins that while he's quick to give credit to others, he's slow to give credit to himself for all the work he's done. “I don't know what they would do without you over there.”
Rollins has been working on the project since the beginning and is seeing it through, Brown said.
“It is really a showpiece for the county,” he said.
Supervisor Jim Comstock asked about the equestrian project.
Rollins said the initial plan has an arena measuring about 400 feet by 150 feet, although he said the size isn't yet finalized. “We're trying to meet everybody's needs, which is a challenge.”
Comstock asked if they were looking at a regulation arena for gymkhana events. Rollins said yes. However, they're also considering a suggestion to make the arena slightly smaller in order to expand the size of the parking lot so horse trailers can be accommodated.
“The need for an arena is huge,” said Comstock.
Other amenities proposed for the equestrian center site include a round pen, horse camp sites and access to nearby Bureau of Land Management lands at Cow Mountain, Rollins said.
Farrington called the park “a community treasure,” pointing out that Rollins has carried the torch forward from Charlie Jolin, the park's founder.
Farrington recalled that it was during his first term on the board, more than a decade ago, that the county gave the park a $20,000 donation, noting there hasn't been a donation since. He said he wanted the county to be able to make a donation again.
Rollins said Jolin, now 94, is still interested in the park's development. Rollins also credited former committee chair Ron Raetz for his efforts to lead the project.
Supervisor Jeff Smith thanked Rollins for what he's done at the park, adding he wishes that kind of involvement in park development would take place in Clearlake, in his district.
Supervisor Jim Steele suggested that there may a duplication of effort in creating the arena, as there already is a facility at Highland Springs offering an arena and camping, and that he could connect Rollins with the people involved with that facility.
Rollins, who noted that three people from the Lake County Horse Council are on the park committee, explained that members of the equestrian community have indicated they want a public area, but he said he was happy to speak to anyone Steele suggested.
For more information about the park, including the development plan and how to donate, visit http://www.westsidecommunitypark.org/ and follow the park on Facebook.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Supervisors hear update on Westside Community Park progress
- Elizabeth Larson
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