By Eliza Ridgeway

The Los Altos Hills City Council plans for a town park and soccer field changed direction last week when Councilman Breene Kerr presented an alternative, less expensive plan to develop a soccer field at the Bullis-Purissima Elementary School site.

Kerr, a member of the Los Altos School District’s development committee for the site, reported that the town might negotiate development of a full-sized field for as little as $500,000. A full-size soccer field with artificial turf could cost approximately $1 million more than the initial site plan. The Mountain View-Los Altos Soccer Club has tentatively offered to contribute $500,000 toward the project in exchange for some usage rights.

“There’s a lot to like,” Kerr said.

“From an economic standpoint, this is the best deal we’re going to get,” Councilman Mike O’Malley added.

Negotiations with LASD to define a usage plan for the field and settle on a formal price would take place before any final

agreement is reached. The council had estimated that acquiring the 2-plus acres needed for an independent town soccer field would cost several million dollars.

In other Los Altos Hills news:

• The city council and staff said that the town would not sign the sewer agreement prepared by Los Altos, based on objections to the proposed amount of overflow penalty fees. The two cities are negotiating a new contract.

“Is Los Altos trying to balance (its) budget using the sewer agreement?” Kerr asked.

“(The fees) could be up to $4,000 per day,” Councilman Jean Mordo said.

Los Altos Mayor Ron Packard said he thought it would be reasonable to modify the deal to tie overflow fines to the cost incurred to Los Altos, but still provide “motivation for them (Los Altos Hills) to solve their problem and not just rely on Los Altos to take care of it.”

The town’s potential to exceed flow limits, which could damage Los Altos’ pipe system, cannot be calculated until flow meters are installed as part of the new agreement.

• The city council has scheduled a special townwide meeting 7 p.m. tonight at town hall to discuss school redistricting and the town’s petition to the Santa Clara County Board of Education. A panel of Councilman Dean Warshawsky, Councilman Craig Jones and reorganization committee members Bart Carey, Kathy Evans and John Radford is scheduled to lead audience discussion following a Powerpoint presentation by Radford, which will outline the upcoming petition process.