Work on Ford Field parking lot Work on Ford Field parking lot (February 26, 2003)

Dips and bumps in the parking lot at Portola Valley's Ford Field on Alpine Road may be getting smoothed over -- and remnants of the dust-controlling substance Dustac removed -- if a $13,665 project goes ahead.

The Town Council will consider bids for the project at its meeting on Wednesday, February 26, which starts at 8 p.m. in the Historic Schoolhouse, 765 Portola Road.

The renovation, scheduled to be completed before the start of the Little League's baseball season this spring, will include grading, installation of a new drainage system, and application of a base rock surface.

But before work can begin, remains from a dust-controlling agent known as Dustac -- applied to the lot by Little League representatives last year without the town's approval -- will have to be scraped off the surface and the dirt carted away.

Dustac on Ford Field's parking lot ran off into nearby San Francisquito Creek last spring,, prompting environmental concerns about its effect on local steelhead trout and other wildlife.

Results from a California Department of Fish and Game investigation are still pending, according to Town Administrator Angela Howard, but the town wanted to remove the substance "to be safe."