NEWS RELEASE

Sonoma County Regional Parks has contracted with Hanford ARC of Sonoma Valley for renovation of the upper sports fields at Maxwell Farms Regional Park in Sonoma. The project was funded by Proposition 12 Per Capita Grant funds from the 2000 Park Bond Act, and Park Mitigation Fees.

Construction is scheduled to start in early May, 2005, and should be completed by the end of October, 2005.  The fields will reopen for public use in May of 2006 to allow adequate time for the root system of the new turf to establish prior to heavy use.

The project will involve several initial applications of herbicide to the existing lawn areas to eradicate the existing grasses, site preparation consisting of rototilling, stockpiling of topsoil, ripping the subgrade and removing the existing irrigation system, placement and amendment of the topsoil, finished grading, installation of a new irrigation system, and planting of a more drought tolerant and resilient type of turf grass. The entire upper field lawn area will be temporarily enclosed with fencing to protect the public from construction activities.