OXNARD : Residents Press City for New Snack Bar

Call it the snack bar snafu.

Some residents of Oxnard’s La Colonia barrio say the city promised to build a new snack bar at Colonia Park, home to the Eastside Little League. But city officials say the issue has become muddled by misunderstandings stemming from a developer’s promise that never materialized.

The park’s weathered old snack bar is replete with safety hazards and inadequate equipment, according to the residents.

The snack bar that was promised would not only have been safe, but would have contained a microwave oven, refrigerator and deep-fat fryer, among other amenities, the residents say.

About a dozen La Colonia residents who took their complaints to the City Council on Tuesday maintain that the city reneged on its promise.

City Manager Tom Frutchey, however, said the snack bar issue has become clouded by bad communication. Although Oxnard has a responsibility to maintain the snack bar building, the city never promised to provide a refrigerator and other equipment, and does not plan to do so, he said.

“We’re not in the business of buying people deep-fat fryers,” Frutchey said in an interview.

The confusion stems from a promise by a real estate developer who was later unable to deliver, Frutchey said. The developer had pledged to build a new snack bar and to purchase the deep-fat fryer and other equipment.

Wednesday night, Frutchey and a handful of city parks and recreation officials visited the snack bar during a Little League game. The place could not pass muster, Frutchey agreed. But he said maintenance of the building was the city’s only responsibility.

Frutchey said Oxnard officials were already planning a $267,000 renovation of Colonia Park that included refurbishing the snack bar, fixing the fields and building new bleachers, all in time for next year’s opening season.