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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/27/2000 PRC MinutesCITY OF DIAMOND BAR MINUTES OF THE PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION HEARING BOARD ROOM OF S.C.A.Q.M.D. 21865 Copley Drive APRIL 27, 2000 CALL TO ORDER: I Chairman Finnerty called the meeting to order at 7:05 p:m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: The audience was led in the Pledge of Allegiance by Commissioner Stone ROLL CALL: _ 1 Present: Chairman Annette Finnerty, Vice Chairman Patty Anis and Commissioners Jeff Hull and Eric Stone. Commissioner Martin Torres arrived at 7:10 p.m. Staff: Bob Rose, Director of Community Services; Gary Olivas, Recreation Superintendent and Debbie Gonzales, Administrative Secretary. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS: The Commission presented plaques to the following individuals and groups In appreciation for their donations to the Citywide Youth Track Meet: Elston Butler, President of Future Trends Marketing Group, _ volunteered to coach youth basketball. The group donated approximately $3,000 for the purchase of T- shirts. Pam Arnold, member of the Lord's Place Church, was active in getting the church to donate 500 bottles of cold water for consumption at the track meet. MATTERS FROM THE AUDIENCE: Tom Pruitt said hello to the veteran Commissioners, a warm hello from Yvonne Pruitt and welcome to the new Commissioners. Pop Warner has enjoyed terrific support from the Commission in the past and he is sure that the support will continue. 1. CONSENT CALENDAR: 1.1 Minutes of March 23, 2000 regular meeting. i APRIL 27, 2000 PAGE 2 PARKS & REC COMMISSION'r Commission in the past and he is sure that the support will continue. 1. CONSENT CALENDAR: Ll Minutes of March 23, 2000 regular meeting. On motion by C/Hull, duly seconded, the minutes of the March 23, 2000 regular meeting were approved as presented by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS: Hull, Stone, Torres, VC/Anis, Chair/Finnerty NOES: COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: None 2. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS: 2.2 Capital Improvement Program (C.I.P.) - Oral Report 1. Skate Park - Peterson Park CSD/Rose reported that construction is proceeding on schedule and the park is 1�t ed to open about the second week in July, 2000. VC/Anis asked if a fence will be installed around the facility during the concrete curing process. CSD/Rose stated that there is already a fence around the area. One option is to fill the base with sand and another option is to plug the drains and fill it with water. The specifications call for sand. However, water seems to be a bigger deterrent for people trying to use the facility before the concrete fully cures. 2. Community/Civic Center CSD/Rose reported that at its May 2 meeting the Council will consider a possible site for this project. A Request for Proposal was forwarded to approximately 60 plus architects. Five or six of the architects appear to be interested in the project because they have called the city with questions. Several architects plan to attend the City Council meeting on Tuesday night. Proposals are due back to the city by May 26. 2.3 Trails Master Plan I APRIL 27, 2000 PAGE 3 PARKS & REC COMMISSION CSD/Rose stated that a joint meeting with the Parks & Recreation and the Traffic & Transportation Commissions will be held on Thursday, May 11, 2000 in Room CC -8 of the SCAQMD Headquarters Building from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The purpose of the joint meeting will be to receive a status report and to discuss the Trails Master Plan. Survey cards were included in the April edition of The Windmill and handed out at the City's Birthday Party. Approximately 30 to 50 survey cards were handed in to consultant Marlene Roth at the celebration. There has been a better public response to this project than there has been to the Community/Civic Center project with respect to completed surveys. He explained that both Commissions are -involved because the Trails Mater Plan includes bike paths on city streets as well as, hiking trails, etc. Chair/Finnerty suggested that the Commissioners consider whether they would like to be directly involved with the Trails Master Plan project. CSD/Rose stated that there will be positions open for two Commissioners on each of the following committees: 1) User Group Committee 2) City Birthday Party 4 3,) Trails Master Plan 2.4 Diamond Bar Community Foundation Report: Chair/Finnerty reported that the Foundation has conducted two meetings since the last Parks & Recreation -Commission meeting. The Foundation is fully formed with 11 Board Members including Chair/Finnerty: J.J. Dinkin, Mangal Gulshan, Mack Kuykendall, Dexter MacBride, Daniel Oaxaca, ! Mayor Debby O'Connor, Council representative, Orien Pagan, Eileen Tillery, Allen Wilson and Andrew Wong. The City is currently providing much needed support. Seven of the 11 Board Members attended a grant writing and appealing for funding seminar presented by the Walnut Valley Unified School District. The foundation intends to raise money to fund community projects. Chair/Finnerty responded to C/Stone that there are no professional members of the board and that there are no funds available to hire professional services such as grant writing and secretarial. Successful grant writers do not work on contingency. Even though staff member Kim Crews has grant writing experience, she has other full time duties and does not have the time available to devote to grant writing. CSD/Rose reported that he and RS/Olivas visited a tennis court this evening. Mr. Hsu was at the location teaching a class. As a result, the Sheriff was contacted. APRIL 27, 2000 PAGE 4 PARKS & REC COMMISSION: s RS/Olivas said he advised an individual that he was in violation of the City's Ordinance and Mr. Hsu left the park under escort. As the first individual was leaving the park, another individual arrived and was also asked to leave the park. Deputy Castro arrived on the scene and RS/Olivas apprized him of the situation. Following a discussion with the second party, Deputy Castro escorted the individual to his vehicle. CSD/Rose stated that the Sheriff's Department. asked city officials to document the problems. If these situations occur on a regular basis the city can seek a restraining order to restrict the individuals from going to the tennis courts. In that case, if the individual goes to the tennis court he is subject to arrest on a misdemeanor violation. 2.1 Recreation Report RS/Olivas presented staff's report for the following events: 1. Citywide Track & Field Meet 2. Youth indoor soccer 3. Youth Baseball 4. Adult Basketball 5. Adult Softball 6. Contract Classes 7. Tiny Tots 8. Day Camp 9. Concerts in the Park 10. Adult Excursions 3. OLD BUSINESS: 3.1 City Birthday Party evaluation CSD/Rose reported that the City Birthday Party was held on Sunday, April 9 at Peterson Park. It is estimated that between 5,000 and 6,000 people attended the event. Over 100 booths were operated by non-profit organizations and about 60 vehicles participated in the car show. Chair/Finnerty said that the celebration was the best ever. The layout for this year was much better than in past years. 4. NEW BUSINESS: None i I � ; !APRIL 27, 2000 PAGE 5 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS: PARKS & REC COMMISSION C/Torres said that his five-year-old child is involved in the city's excellent reading program. Last weekend's Easter Egg hunt was very successful. AYSO registration is occurring the first Wednesday of the month and the first registration was in March during which 170 youth registered. The Spring program supports the most number of registrants that the group has had in some time. C/Hull stated that on April 6 he did his walk through of Pantera Park. Graffiti was found on some of the trash cans. He spoke with two women who were there for their morning walk and they recommended that some of the trees in the back of the gully be trimmed for purposes of safety. There was a significant amount of runoff blocking the drainage track that needed to be removed. Someone had thrown food on the metal doors of the concession stand. Several sprinkler covers were broken or missing., He suggested that city install locks on the covers. i C/Stone said he had lots of very positive feedback on the City Birthday Celebration. He enjoyed the event and said that staff did a fantastic job in helping make it a super event. Many volunteer organizations pulled F^u l together very well. Every year the event seems to be getting better and better. He visited Summitridge Park on April 20 and said he appreciates what a great job the maintenance crew is doing at that location. It appears to be a fantastic location for a city hall and whatever other facilities can be managed in that area. It is close to the center of town and overlooks most of Diamond Bar. He hopes that through the efforts of the Community Foundation and staff that methods for funding will be found so that the project can proceed. He found small problems such as soggy areas of the park. However, it is very difficult to mitigate some of these situations. He said he felt that with the expansion ideas that are in process that Summitridge is in excellent condition. VC/Anis said she visited Sycamore Canyon Park on April 13. Overall, the park was in very good condition. There were a few items that she pointed out to staff. She visited the riparian habitat for the first time. Casino Night was fun, the food was excellent and the gaming was great. She heard that a lot of people enjoyed the event. The lights turned off at precisely 10:00 p.m. However, the lights outside the tent were also turned off and it was difficult for people who were walking to their cars to be able to see. CSD/Rose commented that the lights should have been left on until the participants were able to leave the area. An individual slipped on a slope and broke his/her ankle. In the future lights will be left on as needed. VC/Anis agreed that the City Birthday Party was wonderful. She said she liked the pins. She also received a great deal of positive feedback about the event. RS/Olivas thanked VC/Anis for picking up the cakes from Torrance and two other locations in town. APRIL 27, 2000 PAGE 6 PARKS & REC COMMISSIONS Chair/Finnerty visited Heritage and Paul C. Grow Parks today. She said she has never seen thessy areas look better at Heritage Park. The equipment boxes have been moved back and the walk dir tly behind home plate has been cleared as well. The broken concrete is gone from around the ivy, which makes the area look a lot cleaner and neater. There were a few stray weeds around the building. Other than a depression at one edge of the basketball area she detected no problems. There is still mud on the walkway at Paul C. Grow Park. Ron was instructed to make bushes out of the eucalyptus trees because the neighbors across the wall from the park have complained bitterly about leaves falling into their pools. It has been a long time since the restroom facilities have been painted and the exercise areas have less than more paint. The fields look better than she has ever seen them. After her walk through she drove to Peterson Park to see what was happening with the skate park. Peterson Park looks bad in comparison to Heritage and Paul C. Grow Parks. CSD/Rose responded to Chair/Finnerty that Pantera Park lights should be installed by Fall and then the work at Peterson Park can commence. Peterson needs a great deal of work. The City Council will review the Commission's list of priorities during its Study Session on May 2. N, CSD/Rose stated that Council has asked if the Commission is interested in having a joint meeting with the City Council. Chair/Finnerty asked if there is a set of rules for the new skate park. I CSD/Rose stated that Council will adopt the skate park rules required by the State of Californiiia. CSD/Rose responded to VC/Anis that the skate park will be named the Peterson Park Skate Park. Chair/Finnerty thanked Trinity for following through with their $5,000 donation toward the construction of the skate park. She suggested that Commissioners visit the City's parks prior to the joint meeting with City Council in the event there are recommendations for the park that they wish to impart. Chair/Finnerty pointed out that doggie bags are unavailable at some parks. VC/Anis said she was walking at Pantera Park yesterday and did not see any "Doggie Diamonds" on the sidewalks. She said she noticed very few at Sycamore Park when she visited the park. C/Stone said he saw a large Bobcat at Summitridge Park. ADJOURNMENT: s i f ' APRIL 27, 2000 PAGE 7 PARKS & REC COMMISSION VC/Anis moved, C/Hull seconded, to adjourn the meeting. There being no other business to come before the Commission, Chairman Finnerty adjourned the meeting at 9:07 p.m. to the Joint Meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission and the Traffic and Transportation Commission on May 11, 2000 at 7:30 p.m. in Room CC -8 of the SCAQMD Headquarters Building. Res pectfgl"ly ubmitted, Bob Rose Secretary Attest: i i I Annett Finny i) I 'hairman L. �� ���� �� I1� - I I W! 11 II,I�u, Id, 111,111 11 � !!I!�-��-