McNamara Park at center of Merced town hall discussion

Much of the discussion Thursday during the Merced City Council’s first town hall-style meeting of the year circled around McNamara Park, as well as longtime issues seen in the oldest part of the city.

Residents of south Merced aired their concerns to the council at Tenaya Middle School, where the condition of the recently refurbished park was at issue.

Earlier this year, south Merced residents asked the council about the park’s trees, which are mostly gone.

Stan Murdock, director of public works, told the crowd the park has lost 25 trees in the past five years. “Virtually all the trees are gone,” he said.

The trees have been lost to disease and age, he said, and still others were removed while the park underwent a $2.6 million state-funded revitalization. The park project is not complete.

The city has plans to put a dozen trees into the park in the coming weeks at a cost of about $3,500, Murdock said.

Mayor Stan Thurston also announced at the meeting that the park’s artificial turf soccer fields could be open in a few months, as the city is making plans to deal with litigation surrounding them.

Though the park’s fields were expected to open last spring, the city and the contractors who worked on it have been in a legal dispute over who would fix depressions in the field.

Another resident, Kirk Wright, said the city needs to make efforts to open the park’s pool more often and for longer hours.

Beyond the discussion of the park, residents expressed concerns about worn and cracked sidewalks, as well as stray dogs in south Merced – issues that have been voiced at town hall meetings since they began in 2012.

“We have some of the most dreaded sidewalks,” said the Rev. Don Ramsey, who leads weekly crime prevention walks in the area.

Antoine Hubbard Sr. of Merced seconded the sidewalk talk, saying he was injured when he tripped in south Merced last fall. He said he had to be taken by ambulance for treatment of his injuries.

He went on to say that stray dogs continue to be an issue in that part of town.

Hubbard challenged the council to meet with south Merced leaders to walk the streets and get a firsthand look at the problems.

Other residents brought up concerns related to children and traffic making their way to Golden Valley High School and to Rivera Middle School, which will add an elementary campus that could further impact traffic.

The crowd also heard from Capt. Tom Trindad and retired Officer Bob Luna, who discussed Merced Police Explorer and volunteer programs. City staff was also on hand to take questions about the coming upgrade of Stephen Leonard Park.

This story was originally published January 29, 2015 at 9:17 PM with the headline "McNamara Park at center of Merced town hall discussion."