By John Pilch

The major action item on the May 20 San Carlos/Lake Murray Recreation Council meeting is the proposed Joint-Use Agreement to install artificial turf on the field at Gage Elementary School on Boulder Lake Avenue in San Carlos. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Rec Center, 6445 Lake Badin Ave., in the larger of the two meeting rooms. This is a joint effort between the San Diego Unified School District and the city’s Park and Recreation Department that will allow the public to use the fields after school and on the weekends. We are interested in hearing from residents and potential field users. Currently, no lights will be installed and the fields will close at dusk. Please plan to attend to place your ideas and thoughts on the record for consideration by the Park and Recreation board at their June 2015 meeting. Due to the expected attendance, speaker slips will be required, with comments limited to two minutes per speaker. The Rec Council will then vote on a recommendation to be sent to the Park and Recreation board for their consideration.

There’s a lot going on at your local Rec Center in San Carlos. The summer basketball program for boys and girls ages 8 to 14 runs from July to September. Registration for this league opens May 16 and runs until full or until the end of May. The draft for basketball teams will be held in early June. The cost to register and other details are still in the works, so watch for more information in our news update in the next Mensajero de Mission Times. Flyers will be available soon at the Rec Center.

Other programs and classes include: ceramics and art enrichment (drawing and painting), with more info at ArtSmarts.net; gymnastics and tumbling; ballet and intro to dance. Find information on these programs sandiego.gov/Park-And-Recreation/Index.SHTML. There’s also a program titled America’s Youth Outreach Karate Program — promoting self-defense only — that meets every Thursday at 5 p.m. More info can be found at ayop.org/contents/en-us/d1html.

One final item deals with the Lake Murray Community Park, especially the area near the playground. A new shade structure on the south side of the playground has been installed over an existing ADA-compliant picnic table. We’re pleased to report that another double ADA-compliant picnic table has been ordered and hopefully delivered by mid-June to join with the existing table under the shade structure. The orange fencing around the pavers in the sidewalk on the west side of the playground has been removed and the replacement pavers have been installed. We’re still working on a permanent solution to the sidewalk issues. We hope you enjoy the playground, which is almost three years old and still looking great. The equipment gets a lot of use, which is terrific. That’s the reason it was installed — for the community and our neighbors.

That’s it. We hope you enjoy visiting the San Carlos Park and Recreation Center and the other parks in our community and take advantage of the available programs. If you have questions or need more information, please contact the Rec Center at 619-527-3443. Kristy and her staff will be happy to assist.

—John Pilch is the chair of the San Carlos/Lake Murray Recreation Council.