Concrete slabs installed at park areas cost taxpayers $11,000
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers New concrete at Wildflower fields

Those passing by a slab that recently appeared off the sidewalk at Wildflower Playfield may wonder why anyone would feel a need to pour concrete there. It just sticks out of the sidewalk into what appears to have always been a grassy area.

Upon further investigation it was revealed the unusual-looking concrete slab was one of four poured recently at the Avenida de Los Arboles playfield to stop the effects of the ongoing erosion of decomposed granite areas at the park, said Tom Hare, park and planning administrator for Conejo Recreation and Park District.

All together, the four concreted areas cost the district about $11,000, he said.

Three of the concreted areas seem to make sense. Two of them are on areas near the softball field where park patrons cut corners, preventing the grass from growing. Another of the slabs was near the restrooms to make the area more handicap-accessible.

The decomposed granite- dirtlike material used in park jogging and horse paths throughout the city- originally in the nowconcreted areas would wash away whenever it rained and leave ruts that were unsafe for those walking by, Hare said.

The granite would eventually end up running into the city's drainage. The muncipality doesn't like sediment in its drainage, according to Hare.

But no one, not even Ruben Rojo, park district employee for 28 years, could explain why decomposed granite rather than grass was put in the fourth spot originally.

But because it was there, the sprinkler system of the park was designed around it, and it was easier and more cost-effective to just fill it in with concrete than to plant grass there, he said.

It happened like this: Wildwood Park across the street was having concrete work done in its bowl area last year. (Those who want to know what a bowl area is will just have to go to the park and look and see that there is, in fact, a bowl-shaped area at that park.)

While the construction crew was working at Wildwood Park, park officials decided to have them cross the street and fill in the decomposed granite sites at the playfields at the same time to save money.

Three of the sites recently concreted have received positive feedback from sports enthusiasts who come to the park to play, Rojo said.

"They thank us for making the park safer for the kids," he said.

As for the fourth site that was out of the way where people do not walk or play, it was just done because of the chain of events that resulted in the rest of the sites getting fixed.

"If it had just been this site, we would have left it alone," Hare said.