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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/22/2003 PRC MinutesCITY OF DIAMOND BAR MINUTES OF THE PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION HEARING BOARD ROOM OF S.C.A.Q.M.D.ITHE GOVERNMENT C NTER 21865E. Copley Drive MAY 22, 2003 CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Hull called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the SCAQMD/ overnm nt Center Building Hearing Board Room, 21865 E. Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, California 91765. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Vice Chairman Grundy led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL: Present: Chairman Hull, Vice President Grundy and Commission rs Lyons and Torres Commissioner Lui was excused. Staff: Bob Rose, Director of Community Services; Ryan Wright, Recreation Supervisor; Arthur Garcia, Day Camp oordina r; and Marisa Somenzi, Administrative Assistant. MATTERS FROM THE AUDIENCE: None Offered. CALENDAR OF EVENTS: As presented in the agenda. 1. CONSENT CALENDAR 1.1 Regular Meeting Minutes for April 24, 2003. CILyons moved, Chair/Hull seconded, to approve the minutes of the April 4, 2003 regular meeting as presented. Without objection, the mo ion was so ordered with VC/Grundy and C/Torres abstaining and C/Lui bei ig absent. 2. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 2.1 Recreation Program Report — by RS/Wright. RS/Wright-introduced Arth Garcia, Day Camp Coordinator for t e summ r program. MAY 22, 2003 PAGE 2 P&R COMMISSION C/Lyons would like to see the Sycamore Canyon Park bathroom steam cleaned before the Concerts in the Park series begins. It is unsanitary. Chair/Hull asked if staff decided on a band for the 4t" of July bash. RS/Wright responded that the Big Band Style of Norm Majors. There is also a secondary band. All of the entertainment is professional. Chair/Hull asked if the City provides classes for three and four year old mini - soccer. RS/Wright said that the City offers a one-week camp depending on gym availability. Presently, the age limit is four and five year olds. If it is safe, the three-year olds can be moved up. 2.2 Diamond Bar Community Foundation Oral Report — Chair/Hull. CSD/Rose asked Chair/Hull to remind the Commission about the June 1 deadline for tile sales. The reason for the deadline is so that people who have purchased tiles by June 1 will have their tiles included in the facility for grand opening. 2.3 14th City Birthday Party Report — Committee Members C/Lyons reported that C/Lui's wife is very ill and hospitalized. C/Lyons felt the birthday party was an enormous success. Staff did an excellent job and the Commissioners were very pleased with the outcome. Today's wrap up meeting dealt with improvements for next year's birthday party. She felt the placement of the business expo booths and the food booths should be reconsidered. Overall, it was an excellent event. CSD/Rose reported that next year's birthday party would be held on Sunday, April 18, 2004, the actual date of the City's incorporation in 1989. The first 15th City Birthday Party committee meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 23 at 8:00 a.m. at City Hall. 2.4 C.I.P. Program Report — Oral Report by'Bob Rose, Community Services Director a. Community/Senior Center CSD/Rose reported that construction is progressing on schedule with a February/March 2004 opening date contemplated. b. Sycamore Canyon ADA Retrofit CSD/Rose- explained-thatAhe City just received the Phase 11 MAY 22, 2003 PAGE 3 P&R OMMIS ION engineering calculations for the picnic shelter. L pon approval by the City's Building and Safety Department, tl ie project will be taken out to bid. Staff met with City Counci on Tuesday evening and presented decision packets and proposed C.I.P. projects for the 2003/04 Fiscal Year. The estim ted pric for Phase III exceeded two million dollars. City Council removed the item from the funding list. Council's primary concern vas regarding the building and that the City would b a using Flark Development funds, a one-time accumulation. Staff is thin ing to split off the building into a Phase IV, move the portable building from its current location or replace it ith a n vNver building. The estimated cost for the balance of Phase I I is about $773,000. By moving other projects, Phase Ill couic be funded without using any of the Park Development Fu ds. Council has not yet approved next year's budget qut instructed staff to include certain projects within the proposd budget in June. CSD/Rose explained to Chair/Hull that the build i g would be a tough sell because Council is being lobbied fo an outd or soccer field, should land be identified and availa le. C/Lyons felt it would have made more se se for the Commission to meet with the City Council prior to sta s proposal. The Commission has done a lot of work only to hE ve things change. She now wonders whether the C mmissio 's input matters. VC/Grundy asked how much the Council k ows about Commission's vision for the proposed Sycamore Canyon Pirk changes? Do they seem to be okay with the major portion of the items? CSD/Rose believed the Council was unawE re of the Commission's vision. This is the first time that Council has r of moved forward with an ADA retrofit project recom ended by staff. Because of other priorities a lot of the CDG monies usually set aside for ADA retrofit projects has been shifted. VC/Grundy wondered if Council was more interested in budc timing than understanding the Commission's visio ? u CSD/Rose explained that the proposed building is an issue conflict for the Council because the Community/Se for Cent is scheduled to open in March. Had the City mov d forwa with the building at Sycamore Canyon Park it Would haN opened in May or June 2004 and there was concern abo why the City would choose to build another buil ing at th time. Staff discussed the day camp program nd othE possible uses for that area of the community, but C uncil we MAY 22, 2003 PAGE 4 P&R COMMISSION still concerned. VC/Grundy asked if the Council Members had been in the portable unit recently? He would be embarrassed to show people that location for day camp use. C/Lyons felt the Commission should present photographs of the inside and outside of the portable unit to the Council. C/Torres suggested the joint meeting be held in the portable unit. Chair/Hull felt the Commission should continue to pursue the possibility of a building even if it did not happen in 2004. VC/Grundy said that the intention of the joint meeting is to have a clear understanding of the Commission's agenda and it sounds like some of the current decisions the Council is making indicate to him that they are not entirely sure where the Commission is coming from. When the joint meeting occurs, it would be prudent to give the Council a good vision of where the Commission would iike to go. Maybe a joint meeting should occur more often so that everyone has a clear understanding of each other's agenda rather than go off in a direction that does not meet with their understanding and intent. CSD/Rose said that CM/Lowry proposed a 10 -year strategic plan for the City so that as the City moves through the list all parties know where the City is heading. Tuesday night's joint meeting gives all parties another opportunity to revisit this matter. If the Council does not want to go forward with the building, that portion would be split off and the rest of the improvements could commence. C/Torres was concerned that this matter would become a production. There is no guarantee that the Commission and Council will agree on all items and it would be more productive to get a sense of the Council's individual priorities. Chair/Hull said he met with M/Herrera and MPT/Huff for about two hours. The one issue that he was not prepared to talk about was Sycamore Canyon Park. He informed M/Herrera and MPT/Huff that that topic would probably consume the most time for discussion. VC/Grundy said that if the Council and Commission are unable to reach consensus, there should be a follow up meeting planned for the near future. The two entities need to keep meeting until they have consensus. MAY 22, 2003 PAGE 5 P&R COMMISSION c. Starshine Park ADA Retrofit CSD/Rose reported that about 12 residents atter ded the ay 13 neighborhood meeting. They are not interested in havirig a covered picnic shelter. They would like additional picnic tat les. They are not interested in barbecues. They ultimately agr ed that a drinking fountain was a good idea. Their goal was to keep it a neighborhood park that would not at ract a to of people from outside of the neighborhood. One of the concE ms was that drinking fountains traditionally get plugged up. They agreed that security lights would be good and & at the tol lot should be significantly expanded. They approved of the rubberized surface. They asked for a walkway to c o behind the houses at the north end of the park — a perimete walk. They wanted tot swings but not elementary age Ewings. The conceptual plans are being revised accordingly and there will be another meeting with the residents before 3taff moves forward on the project. This was, another project of recommended by Council. As a result, this project will be presented at next year's CDBG funding request. Additionally, the City will seek grants in order to get full funding for tis project. The total construction cost wa's $275,000 to build he project as proposed. However, he believed the decrease price wo ild as a result of the reduction of scope of vork. VC/Grundy asked CSD/Rose if he suspected ork ew that t is project would be postponed a year when staff sought inpu ? CSD/Rose said staff didn't know until the res onse w3s provided by the Council on May 20. VC/Grundy said that when you tell people they ill get th it improvements and then push the project off for a y ar it sen s a really bad message. CSD/Rose said the City has the money for the project but it c id not make the list for this year. The money can be used fora y park project. Staff was instructed by Council to pursue socc r field opportunities. d. Pantera Park Picnic Shelters CSD/Rose said the structural calculations were forwarded the City's Building and Safety Department and the project ready to go out to bid. C/Torres asked why there were no neighborhood eetings discuss park improvements. CSD/Rose- said that it has -to-do -with the chars ter of MAY 22, 2003 PAGE 6 P&R COMMISSION parks. Pantera Park is a community park suitable for picnics. Starshine Park is a neighborhood Park. The character of the --- neighborhood is changed when you make improvements to neighborhood parks. Two shelters will be installed for a cost of about $113,000. e. Trail Development at Sycamore Canyon Park CSD/Rose reported that Council approved this CIP project for Fiscal Year 2003104. The City has $118,903 from the Land and Water Conservation grant awarded last fall. There is a grant pending from the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy. The Diamond Bar Community Foundation voted $25,000 toward a grant for the remaining $117,000. VC/Grundy asked what happened to cause the City Council to focus on soccer. CSD/Rose ventured that the realization that AYSO is capable of pulling - together a 166 -team tournament caused them to reflect on the impact to the City. Chair/Hull felt it was a shame that Diamond Bar lost a significant amount of revenue for lack of field availability. 2.5 Parks Report— Introduction of Jim Angel, Manager, TruGreen LandCare CSD/Rose said that he was in the process of drafting a letter of termination to the area manager for TruGreen, Robert Perez. When the letter came back to him for signature, it said Jim Angel was the area manager. It seemed inappropriate to write a letter to someone he had not yet spoken with about terminating a contract. A week ago today he met with Mr. Angel to drive the area and look at the ongoing problems and opportunities. As a result, Mr. Angel has made a commitment to bring the City's parks back up to standard. It makes sense to him that TruGreen be given the opportunity to follow through on the commitment. Staff gave Mr. Angel a list of 12 items that are of the highest priority. The City has given TruGreen until June 5 to correct these items. CSD/Rose said that when he makes his recommendation to City Council for renewal of the TruGreen contract it would likely contain a 90 - day probation period. Jim Angel thanked the Commission for giving him the opportunity to speak this evening. He apologized for the level of service the City has received. He recently assumed the position of area manager with TruGreen. In driving through D.B. he found his company's level of service to be about nil. He quit writing down the bad things because he found it easier to write down the good things. He has been doing this type of work for about 15 years and he is very well versed on controlling weeds and making grass green. His commitment is as follows. Chris Daugherty is no longer allowed in the City. TruGreen has -a- new area= manager that will be taking over. He has added. MAY 22, 2003 PAGE 7 P&R COMMISSION two more people to the contract just to maintain the required level of se ice. In their defense, they are getting a lot done. Last night ChernLawns ray fertilized all of the medians in the City. Because the treatment was not effective, they will be out again tomorrow to re -treat every park in the City. By Wednesday of next week all color will be changed in front of the monument signs. The seed jobs have already begun. Grand Avenue was done today. Sod will be put down in Sycamore Canyon Park early next week, Monday is a holiday for his company. However, 16 workmen and 4 forerr en, including himself and his new area manager will work a full da on Monday. He is trying to do everything possible in a short period of time to let theity know that things should never have been allowed to deteric rate to their present condition. He committed to restoring the area to "better than it ias been." He apologized again for the current situation. VC/Grundy thanked Mr. Angel for coming to the Commission tonight. What was said was impressive in terms of his level of commitment. a asked Mr. Angel whether he was aware of what frustrated the Commiss on over he past year, what the cause was of the frustration, and how it would be addressed so that it did not happen again? Mr. Angel responded that he felt CSD/Rose did a thorough job of convey ng the Commission's frustration. He said he did not want to beat up iis company, but it was providing no service. TruGreen was "mowing and blowing" and that was about it. VC/Grundy said that was true and that is the way the Commis ion felt. e asked why that was happening. Mr. Angel said he believed it happened for two reasons. One, TruGreen had an area manager that committed to anything and did n thing. The Commission won't find that to be true of him. If he can't do the 'ob he'll tell the City. And, he said he would try to keep that to a very minimun i. If he says he will do it, it will happen. He planned to spend as much time s possit le in the loop. When the Commission and the City tells TruGre n there is something that needs to be taken care of, he will commit to it. Tie contract between TruGreen and the City is very tight with respect to money and how much manpower can be committed. He said he was not using t at excuse because the manpower put here to perform did not do their jobs. Tf e contract is extremely tight and down the road, that issue will iave to de addressed. We can only commit so many people for the amour, of money that is paid and TruGreen has to be realistic about that issue. F a believE d he had a good understanding of what the City wanted. And ir the parks department, he could turn that around fairly quickly if he utiderstancs correctly that the Commission is looking for green weed -free bea itiful pari s that are clean. He believed he could accomplish that. VC/Grundy said that City wants that but at the same time, the Commissioners are realists. The thing that frustrated him, and h believe the other Commissioners, was then when they walked the park they sa iv things that were not just from the prior week but that things had remaine MAY 22, 2003 PAGE 8 P&R COMMISSION undone for months. When the Commission and staff addressed these issues with Chris he would say TruGreen would get right on that. That's what x frustrated the Commissioners — they should not have to ask to have these things addressed. Chair/Hull said that TruGreen knew about the walk-throughs two or three weeks in advance. When the walk actually occurs, the park should be in pristine condition. Still, there are huge problems in the parks that should have been addressed and it continues, time and time again. That tells the Commission that the neglect was there even when TruGreen knew the Commissioners were going to be looking at the parks. Mr. Angel said that having never walked with the Commissioners he would not bite off more than he could chew. He said he would be at the next walk through and he would know about the event two or three weeks in advance. C/Lyons reminded Mr. Angel that the Concerts in the Park would begin in June at Sycamore Canyon Park and that park needs special attention. She walked that park last month. It needs major work and she and staff made several pages of notes about what needed to be done. She hoped the park would be in good shape when several thousand residents visited it the last Wednesday in June. She was happy to hear what Mr. Angel had to say and the Commission would like to see him make good on his commitments. CSD/Rose said that TruGreen committed to spraying the turf for weed removal at Pantera and Peterson parks. Mr. Angel said that the parks would be sprayed tomorrow. It takes three to five days to see the effect. If it does not work, he will spray again. CSD/Rose stated that Valley Crest took over maintenance of Pantera and Peterson parks the first of April. Pantera is to about 90 percent and Peterson is in the 60 percent range due to issues of bare spots complicated by irrigation issues. Valley Crest is working on those issues. VC/Grundy understood the economics had to work in TruGreen's favor. He believed that if Mr. Angel could follow through on his commitments and the Commissioners see that he is addressing their concerns he feels comfortable about looking at the economics down the road. Chair/Hull asked what Mr. Angel's crew would be doing on Monday. Mr. Angel responded that his crew would be working on firebreak areas, slopes and removal of weeds along Diamond Bar Boulevard. He said his crew would not be in the parks on a big holiday. Mr. Angel responded to CSD/Rose that TruGreen has laid mulch and seed on Grand Avenue to mitigate the drought stress. If it doesn't take, they will be looking to lay in sod. Chair/Hull asked Mr. Angel to make certain that his -crew boss accompanied MAY 22, 2003 PAGE 9 P&R COMMISSION him on park walk-throughs. Mr. Angel responded to C/Torres that anytime TruGreen sprays in theCity's right-of-way, a notification is sent to the Ag department. Thera is no public notification but it must be flagged. When they spray they put Up flags at the park entrances. The flags state that a treatment was conducted on that date and please stay out until it is dry. Some cities request that the flags be picked up as soon as the chemicals are dry. If there is anyone at the ark TruGreen either will not spray or if the people are willing to leave, the spraying will take place. Mr. Angel thanked the Commissioners and said he looked forward to woi king with everyone. 2.6 Agenda for Joint Meeting with City Council and Parks 8, Recreation Commission CSD/Rose explained that the agenda for the joint meeting ws includ d in tonight's packet as an informational item. 4. NEW BUSINESS 4.2 Coca-Cola Soda Machine Agreement Extension — CSD/Reported the following agreement renewal provision: a. Two-year agreement instead of one-year b. $1.25 per unit instead of $1.00 C. Increase of City's commission to 40% from 35% d. Placement of sports drink vending machine at Paul C. Grow Prk if approved by Walnut Valley Unified School District. Selena Robinson -Kruse, District Sales Manager, Coca-Cola, :)roposec the following for renewal of the annual contract. Coca-Cola propos3s a two- ear contract. Most cities have two to five year agreements. Further, Coca-Cola proposed increasing the price from $1.00 per unit to $1.25 per unit. Coca- Cola would give the City a 40% commission on the $1.25 per unit price. She understood that the Commission preferred a two-year contrac with a $ .00 unit price. Coca-Cola agrees to keep the price at $1.00. Coca-Cola appreciates its relationship with D.B. and wants to keep the r lationshi . Chair/Hull echoed C1Lui's sentiments that the machines were an accommodation to the residents and that for convenience, the price should remain at $1.00. Under a two-year contract, is Coca-Cola willing to incrElase the commission to 40 percent? Ms. Robinson -Kruse said that if the unit price remains $1.00 th co percentage would remain 35 percent. CSD/Rose respondecLto-Worres-that_the City receives about $14,000 in MAY 22, 2003 PAGE 10 P&R COMMISSION commission each year. That amount could be less this year because the machine was removed from Summitridge. C/Torres felt it was more important to have the unit price at $1.00 than to increase the per unit price in order to gain an additional 5 percent commission. He agreed with the two-year contract. The Commissioners concurred. CSD/Rose reported that school officials agreed that a vending machine could be placed at Paul C. Grow Park as long as the sport drink and water were included. Ms. Robinson -Kruse explained to Chair/Hull that security cages are installed only upon request. Chair/Hull asked Ms. Robinson -Kruse to have the driver clean up around the machines. 2. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS - Continued 2.7 Youth Master Plan CSD/Rose said that yesterday staff met with PDG & Associates. The first matter of business will be for the City Council to form a steering committee. The Commission will be asked to select members and then invitations will be sent to' other organizations and individuals asking if they would like to be a part of the steering committee. CSD/Rose responded to VC/Grundy that he believed the reason for M/Herrera's no vote was because she felt the City could copy another city's plan and take this project in house rather than spend the money on an outside consultant. 3. OLD BUSINESS: None 3.1 Subcommittee Appointments — Continued from April 24, 2003. a. User Group Subcommittee C/Torres and VC/Grundy volunteered for the User Group subcommittee. The committee will meet on Tuesday, June 24. b. City Birthday Subcommittee C/Lyons volunteered to again serve on the City Birthday Subcommittee. C/Lui was re -appointed to the committee. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 23. 4. NEW: BUSINESS: MAY 22, 2003 PAGE 11 P&R COMMISSION 4.1 Approval of Proclamation for "Parks and Recreation Month" lor July 2003. VC/Grandy agreed to accept the proclamation on behalf of the Commission at the June 17 City Council meeting. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS; C/Lyons discovered that she reported the email problem to Marisa. Email is important communication tool and she was glad to have the problern fixed. an C/Torres was pleased to be back. He thanked the City Council forsupporting Youth Master Plan. The Council was very gracious in recognizing a the gr volunteers for their participation in the soccer tournament. A lot of volunteers up of A SO very pleased that the Council would take time to acknowledge them. 12 committee members attended the Council were Seven oL t of meeting. .VC/Grundy commended the City and all of the individuals who worked to make the City Birthday party a great success. He felt that if the City had to make the budget, a soccer tradeoff 3 in complex would rate high. He would prefer to have athletic complex rather than a soccer it called an complex because the focus should multi -use facility. As long as the Council agrees with the Commission's be o i a Sycamore Canyon Park he would not have a problem with phasing thE to vision project c for ue budget constraints in order to have an athletic facility more readily available. Chair/Hull returned today from conducting management training for Trinidad and surrounding areas, six miles from the Venezuelan AYSO in coast. opened a new international region for 1500 kids with the potential of having children AYSO 30,010 in the program. He will be unavailable for the June 26 Recreation Commission meeting. He expressed his disappointment t Parks a d had decided on projects prior to discussing these items with the Commi the upcoming joint. meeting. He at Council sion dun ig said he would bring up the matter In evening. Tuesd y 1 ADJOURNMENT: Upon motion of C/Torres, seconded by C/Lyons and no further business to come before the Commission, Chairman Hull adj meeting at 8:38 p.m. Respectfuli bmitted, 1` f b s e retary med