During the Nov. 24 Lafayette City Council meeting, Recreational Manager John Warshaw provided an update of the synthetic turf feasibility of Buckeye Fields and proposed a one-time rehabilitation package. 

    Previously at its Oct. 27 meeting, the council approved the capital improvements for shared baseball and softball use at Buckeye Fields to be compliant with the California Fair Play Act. Following that action, the Parks, Trails, and Recreation staff worked with engineers and consultants to look into the logistics of installing synthetic infield. 

    “A couple of the key items that we learned is the required engineering, design, and bid process would take six to nine months, with an eight- to 12-week construction timeline,” Warshaw said at the meeting. “In addition, synthetic turf would need to be paired with the Buckeye patio and drainage project that we actually paused design for in 2023 due to lack of funding.”

    After factoring in all aspects of the project, including the patio and drainage upgrades, engineering, design, and project management, the project total is estimated to exceed $1.2 million, Warshaw said. Considering the cost and lack of a dedicated funding source, Buckeye’s synthetic turf remains a longer-term capital project, and will not be ready for the 2026 baseball and softball season, he noted.

    After evaluating the four fields and considering community feedback from all four user groups, staff came up with a one-time rehabilitation package that would benefit baseball and softball for the 2026 season. Staff requested authorization to release $85,680 from the Ballfields Rehabilitation Sinking Fund to support this. The council unanimously approved this item.

    “We met with both [Little League and LMYA],” Warshaw said. “Both groups were supportive of the proposal that we’re setting fourth. Each group does have their facility wish list that will be evaluated between Johnathan [Katayanagi], the commission, and also between the two of them.”