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Commission hears residents' concerns about travel soccer fields and directs staff on field maintenance, fencing and traffic-calming pilot
Summary
Residents and commissioners raised concerns about travel soccer access to Flamingo West Park and condition of other city fields. City staff described maintenance rotations, daily website updates for field closures, plans to replace fences and to limit ATV access behind Countryside Shops, and an upcoming traffic-calming speed-table pilot.
Residents told the Cooper City Commission on Feb. 11 they were concerned about access for travel soccer and the condition and allocation of city fields, in particular Flamingo West Park.
Mister Ortiz, who spoke during public comment as a travel-soccer coach/representative, said travel teams and Olympic Development Program players need reliable access to Flamingo West and other fields and asked why Cooper City residents and travel teams were being moved to lesser fields rather than maintaining Flamingo West for heavy-use programs. Ortiz said some travel players practice five to seven days a week and emphasized a 60% residency rate among roughly 1,100 rec players when teams are formed.
City Manager Carlos (speaking as acting utilities/parks lead) and staff answered in detail. The manager said the city's practice is to rotate travel and recreational uses among Flamingo West, Bill Lips and another park to spread wear and tear and allow maintenance. Staff acknowledged there were problems with field conditions at Bill Lips and Suellen (names in the transcript) earlier in the season and said steps are being taken to improve field maintenance and avoid those problems next year. Staff emphasized the rotation is intended to provide fair access across programs and parks.
Staff also said the parks department will post daily updates on the city website to show what fields are closed for maintenance. "Starting this week, if you have concerns as to what fields are open or not open, we are posting updates on the website," staff said, noting that short, temporary closures sometimes cause residents to think a field is closed long-term when it may be a 24-hour maintenance closure.
Separately, the commission heard a staff site visit report and directed work on fencing the easement behind Countryside Shops to restrict ATV access while maintaining pedestrian passage and retaining South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) access for maintenance. Captain (police) and building-inspections staff walked the site with the mayor and residents and described the area as a habitat suitable for placards, benches and pedestrian improvements. The city manager said staff scheduled a meeting with SFWMD for Feb. 13 to discuss easement access and expects to present a decorative-fencing plan and cost estimates to the commission at the Feb. 25 meeting.
Traffic calming pilot update: Parks and Public Works staff reported on the city's traffic-calming pilot. The commission earlier approved ordering 26 speed tables for nine locations (three per location except one location with two tables). Verbal approval from the county on signage was secured in December and the permit was issued the prior week. The ordered speed-table elements are expected to arrive in the week of Feb. 3 and initial installation of three tables will be performed by the contractor so city staff can observe the process before completing the remaining installations. Staff estimated installation plans mean the project will be staged over several weeks, with total time to install across nine locations spanning multiple weeks; signage procurement and installation timelines will follow.
Park staffing and access hours: The commission reviewed an analysis of park/hall operating hours, Optimist Club use, and available part-time staff hours. Staff reported the city's part-time park attendants and a senior park ranger provide about 12,750 labor hours per year in aggregate, leaving a gap if the commission requires staff presence every hour the fields are open; staff asked for 30 days to bring a refined staffing and hours recommendation to the Feb. 25 meeting. Commissioners asked staff to clarify job duties (enforcement vs. custodial) and consider reducing operating hours in places where demand is low to close the staffing gap.
What happens next: Staff will post daily field-status updates on the city website; the manager will return Feb. 25 with a staffing/hours plan and costed decorative-fence options for the Countryside Shops easement (pending SFWMD input). The traffic-calming pilot will progress to installation and observation of the first set of tables before the remainder are installed.
