Hi Guys: On March 15, I attended the Field User Forum hosted by
Montgomery Parks, Community Use of Public Facilities and Montgomery County
Public Schools. Here are some of the notes I recorded:
1. Good News. No field fee increases for this season and none
for Fiscal Year 2011 (July 2010 - June 2011).
2. There will be a new application form for Fall field permits.
Permits for Fall fields should be applied for between May 1 and May
15, 2010 for first priority for the fields.
3. Permits issued by Montgomery Parks can be viewed on
www.parkpermits.org.
There is a lot of additional good information on this website.
Application form for field permits can be downloaded from this site. It
was recommended that coaches have copies of the field permits in case of a
challenge by Park Rangers or Park Police. Copies received by email can
be forwarded to the coaches.
4. The Department of Parks budget has been slashed by 13%. This
will result in less personnel to maintain the fields. The southern
district which maintains Olney Manor Park and Wheaton Regional Park is not
able to replace 20 positions. This will result in longer times between
mowing and major field maintenance.
5. Ball fields are not to be used until April 1, 2010.
Permits are needed thereafter including for fields used for practice.
6. Participants are encouraged to remove all trash from bleachers and
fields. Take it home, especially plastic water bottles and anything
that can be recycled.
7. Keep accurate records of field cancellations and request make up
dates. Any dates that cannot be made up will be refunded upon request.
A list of field cancellations for refund must be submitted to the Dept. of
Parks at the end of each season in order to receive payment.
8. The new inclement weather cancellation line for all fields is
301-765-8787. Dial 1, then listen to the menu for each field or area.
Olney Manor Park is #2, Wheaton Regional Park is #9. The Director of the
southern region pledged to have the recording up-to-date as of 7:00 a.m. each
weekday morning.
9. Any problems or suspicious activity on any field at any time is to be
reported to Park Police at 301-949-3010. Assistance for any
non emergency activity in the County should be directed to the
Montgomery County Police at 301-279-8000. For emergencies call 911.
Put these numbers on your cell phone.
10. The Department of Parks and the Rec Dept. are establishing a Field
Advisory Committee which will meet quarterly starting on March 23rd to discuss
field issues. If anyone would like to serve on this committee, let me
know and I will get you in touch with the chairperson.
John Rice
