Costa Mesa council to discuss improvements — including lighting — at Davis and Kaiser schools

Costa Mesa City Council members will consider Tuesday whether to scrap plans to build two artificial turf fields at the Jack R. Hammett Sports Complex in favor of working with the Newport-Mesa Unified School District to light and improve other fields on district property.

A major reason for the shift, according to Tuesday’s council agenda, is the recent arrival of the Los Angeles Chargers.

The team has agreed to lease two Jack Hammett fields for their annual training camp from mid- to late July until mid- to late August for up to 10 years.

To prepare for this year’s camp, the Chargers made extensive upgrades to the fields to bring them to NFL standards. When training camp isn’t in session, the fields at 2750 Fairview Road are available for public use.

“Since future summer training camps are scheduled at approximately the same time annually, when the fields are historically scheduled for rest and renovation, the installation of artificial turf fields is no longer as beneficial as it was originally envisioned,” states the staff report included in Tuesday’s agenda.

“A higher priority now,” the report continues, “is to light more fields that provide greater long-term benefit to several areas of the community.”

To that end, staff is recommending the city pursue field improvements at Davis Magnet School and Kaiser Elementary School.

Last year, the City Council cut a $45,000 check to the Newport-Mesa district to fund studies to determine whether it would be feasible to install new lights and turf at Davis, Kaiser and a district-owned field next to Waldorf School of Orange County.

That study, from the architecture and planning firm Ruhnau Ruhnau Clarke, “shows that field upgrades and construction of sports field lighting is feasible” at those locations, according to the council agenda.

After discussing the matter with their Newport-Mesa counterparts, city staff decided to prioritize Davis and Kaiser, the agenda states.

Improvements eyed for Davis include an artificial multi-use field and permanent field lighting. The parking lot would also be redesigned to connect with adjacent lots in an effort to aid traffic flow and make parking options more flexible.

At Kaiser, staff also recommends installing permanent lighting and upgrading the parking lot. Installing artificial turf could be an option at some point in the future, but is not currently proposed.

Temporary lighting is already used at both sites.

Jack Hammett wouldn’t be left out entirely. Staff recommends moving forward with other work such as the construction of ADA-compliant walkways, expanding the parking lot and building permanent storage facilities.

The proposed projects at Davis and Kaiser carry a combined estimated $8.3-million price tag.

About $3.5 million previously set aside for the projects at Jack Hammett could be redirected to those efforts, according to information from the city.

Also available to help the cause is another $1.24 million in a general field lighting account.

“Additional funding sources would need to be identified to complete these two projects once the scope of the projects are better defined,” the agenda states.

Council members are scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to eliminate the construction of the two artificial turf fields at Jack Hammett.

They will also discuss whether to authorize City Manager Tom Hatch to negotiate draft agreements with the school district, youth sports groups and nonprofit organizations related to the fields at Davis and Kaiser, the agenda states.

Once written, those agreements would be subject to review by the Parks and Recreation Commission, council and school board.

Tuesday’s council meeting starts at 6 p.m. in City Hall, 77 Fair Drive.

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