Costa Fields lighting

Spoke in favor of the field lighting project.

Supported the project and specifically lighting on field 4.

Presented light-level data showing fields well below standards (field four at 16 foot-candles vs. a 50 target), said ~$70,000 was wasted, reported a third ball-in-lights injury, and invited the council to CYB's March 27 opening day.

Ceres Youth Baseball coach pushed back on the city manager's comments, saying the city — not volunteers — is responsible for picking the right lighting, and blamed mismanaged ARPA funds for the ongoing lighting problems.

Ceres Youth Baseball president addressed the Modesto Bee report, revealed prior lights had 10 years of warranty left, said 20/30 lighting falls below Little League's 50/30 standard, and offered $1,000 toward a professional lighting study.

Youth baseball VP presented foot-candle readings showing infield lighting dropped from ~57 to 18-25 after the upgrade; argued trees don't block infield lights and the strobe effect is the real safety hazard.

Urged the council to listen to the baseball coaches, fix the lights, and not cut down the trees.

Said the new lights at Costa Fields are worse than before — glare in kids' eyes, dark spots, and fields that can't be used for warm-ups — and asked the city to hold the contractor accountable.

The youth baseball VP with 33 years of coaching said the lifted lights now blind players, described a near-miss with his third baseman, and worried about tournament play with high-powered bats.