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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, October 24, 2011 Page 14 longer afford to keep them maintained. Mr. Ritchie expressed his cluelessness in understanding a proposal where a portion of bond funds would be used for irriga- tion, noting that while the area was currently in an eight year drought, the ballfields were green, and questioned why they needed to be irrigated, and charge taxpayers to do, at the same time charging them an additional 60% for water rates. At a minimum, Mr. Ritchie opined that the City needed to pare down the parks proposal, and questioned who the City Council was listening to in the proposed need for $19 million for its park system in a declining economy with beleaguered taxpayers who couldn't afford it. While recognizing a previous comment that the City Council phase in the park improvements, Mr. Ritchie opined that the pro- posal still needed additional vetting by to make a reasonable decision on this bonding proposal. Ms. Lee Schreurs,3058 N Wilder Ms. Schreurs questioned why the City Council had not budgeted annually for maintenance of its parks and fire stations; or whether they had been included in the budget but not used for those needs. Ms. Schreurs opined that if the City couldn't maintain its existing parks and facilities, or its fire stations, how could it maintain more parks and a new and larger fire station. Ms. Schreurs further opined that this seemed to be a problem in this decision-making process on a bond issue, with taxpayers forced to pay significant interest on bonds when those funds should be available in the budget to maintain parks and fire stations. Harold Ristow, 2356 Tophill Circle (Parks and Recreation Commissioner) Mr. Ristow, as a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission, opined that the reason there was no money for parks maintenance and facilities was due to the Parks and Recreation Department budget being cut year after year; now creating an urgent time when the money is necessary. Mr. Ristow referenced the condition of park shelters, and examples. Mr. Ristow opined that if the City continued to put its collective heads in the sand, it would continue to go backwards instead of moving ahead; and further opined that it could not continue to be deferred or left for the next generation; but required action now through cooperatively working together. Bill Davies,464 Lovell Avenue (Roseville Area Youth Baseball) Mr. Davies, as a volunteer and member of the Roseville Area Youth Baseball or- ganization, spoke on behalf of ballfields and irrigation of them. Mr. Davies re- viewed the heavy use of the fields by Roseville youth and those traveling into Ro- seville for games and tournaments from various communities; and the comments of those visitors on the deteriorating condition of ballfields. Mr. Davies noted that, using Evergreen Park at County Road B and Fairview Avenue that fields may have been built at a different time with different circumstances, and had no irrigation or sufficient drainage systems, and presented real challenges to those using the fields. Mr. Davies opined that the bottom line was that the City needed to serve its youth and do so in a safe manner. Mr. Davies noted that the reason