As reported

in The Citizen last week, city staff discussed with the

Planning Commission at its Aug. 23 meeting how far behind

the school system had fallen on these issues and what, if

any, action could be taken to speed things up.

A number of

residents of the surrounding residential areas expressed

their concerns about possible safety and erosion control

problems if the work were not completed properly and in a

timely manner.

As of the

Planning Commission meeting, the newly constructed

practice field had not yet been used.

In his

statement, Basinger was very considerate of the timing of

the problem, with school starting all over the county in

the past two weeks.

"We

certainly understand how the work involved in ensuring

that all the school system facilities were ready for the

beginning of classes on Aug. 16 might have priority over

the completion of these practice fields," said

Basinger. "However, a significant amount of work was

actually completed last week prior to my meeting with Dr.

DeCotis."

City

planner David Rast met at the site last Friday with

school facilities director Mike Satterfield to review

issues yet to be completed.

Both agreed

that one remaining steep slope would be regraded to allow

for mulching and planting to stabilize the banks over the

next two weeks. Site cleanup would include the removal of

the remaining mulch and the relocation of a storage

trailer.

The Board

of Education plans to submit a landscape plan for city

staff review this week, although as a separate

governmental entity they are not required to do so,

according to the city statement.

"Due

to the recent rains and careful attention through

watering by the Board of Education, the grass on the

slopes has begun to germinate," said Rast.

Addressing

what he called "misinformation" concerning a

recently published newspaper column, Rast added,

"Despite what people have read, no trees were

removed from the city-owned greenbelt during the

construction. Although clearing occurred in an area that

had been discussed as a tree-save area, the trees were

all located on property owned by the Board of

Education."

DeCotis

described his meeting with Basinger and the site visit by

Rast and Satterfield as "extremely productive."

"The

school board feels that maintaining a good working

relationship with all the local governments is essential

in our continuing efforts to provide the highest

educational services to all Fayette County

students," he said. "I will do everything in my

power to foster such relationships."