3:30 pm.
Due to flooding, the following Columbia Parks and Recreation Department trails were closed:
MKT Trail: MKT Stadium Blvd access to Forum Blvd.
MKT Trail: Bridge #12 to Scott Blvd access. Parking lot at Scott under water.
Bear Creek Trail: Creasy Springs access to Cosmo Park.
Check back for regular updates.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
New Policy on Athletic Field Cancellations
Wednesday, April 29 marks the beginning of an experiment regarding athletic field cancellations. Historically, if one field at a particular complex was too wet to play, all games at that complex were cancelled. So if the Blue and Orange fields were too wet, all games at the Rainbow Softball Center were cancelled.
This policy was largely created due to the problems relating to the player/parent notifications. For many years, the department relied primarily on the "P&R Hotline" a single line phone answering system where all of the department cancellations were verbally listed. Additionally, the local radio stations were called and they notified users over the air. Of course, not all radio stations reported cancellations as accurately as one hoped. There were many times that users heard "All parks and rec leagues are cancelled" when it fact only a specific complex was cancelled or it might have been a radio station based out of Jefferson City and they really meant that all Jeff City P&R leagues were cancelled as Columbia leagues were playing. Anyway, it was too difficult to try to cancel on a field by field basis so cancellations were made on a "complex" basis, ie, Rainbow Softball Center, Antimi, Albert-Oakland, American Legion, Hickman and Atkins.
Now, the department uses a combination of verbal and text methods to notify users. For the past few years, parents and players have been able to sign up for an email listserve which notifies users via an email whenever a game decision is made. Recently, the department added "texting" as an alternate method to receive cancellations notice. If you would like to sign up for one of these two options go to our "cancellations" web page and follow the easy instructions.
The ability of the P&R department to send you detailed information has made it viable for us to cancel games on a field-by-field basis. Wednesday, April 29 was the first time this was tried as the Orange and Blue fields were too wet at Rainbow but the other four fields were playable.
This experiment will continue throughout the 2009 season and will be evaluated to see whether or not to make this policy permanent.
So, as you receive your emails or texts, make sure you read them carefully!
This policy was largely created due to the problems relating to the player/parent notifications. For many years, the department relied primarily on the "P&R Hotline" a single line phone answering system where all of the department cancellations were verbally listed. Additionally, the local radio stations were called and they notified users over the air. Of course, not all radio stations reported cancellations as accurately as one hoped. There were many times that users heard "All parks and rec leagues are cancelled" when it fact only a specific complex was cancelled or it might have been a radio station based out of Jefferson City and they really meant that all Jeff City P&R leagues were cancelled as Columbia leagues were playing. Anyway, it was too difficult to try to cancel on a field by field basis so cancellations were made on a "complex" basis, ie, Rainbow Softball Center, Antimi, Albert-Oakland, American Legion, Hickman and Atkins.
Now, the department uses a combination of verbal and text methods to notify users. For the past few years, parents and players have been able to sign up for an email listserve which notifies users via an email whenever a game decision is made. Recently, the department added "texting" as an alternate method to receive cancellations notice. If you would like to sign up for one of these two options go to our "cancellations" web page and follow the easy instructions.
The ability of the P&R department to send you detailed information has made it viable for us to cancel games on a field-by-field basis. Wednesday, April 29 was the first time this was tried as the Orange and Blue fields were too wet at Rainbow but the other four fields were playable.
This experiment will continue throughout the 2009 season and will be evaluated to see whether or not to make this policy permanent.
So, as you receive your emails or texts, make sure you read them carefully!
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