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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/28/2005 PRC MinutesCITY OF DIAMOND BAR MINUTES OF THE PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION HEARING BOARD ROOM OF S.C.A.Q.M.D.ITHE GOVERNMENT CENTER 21865 Copley Drive APRIL 28, 2005 CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Lyons called the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. in the SCAQMD/Government Center Building Hearing Board Room, 21865 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, California 91765. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: VC/Torres led the Pledge of Allegiance. 1. ROLL CALL: Present: Chairman Nancy Lyons, Vice Chairman Marty Torres and Commissioner Benny Liang. Commissioners Ling -Ling Chang and Dave Grundy were excused. Staff Present: Bob Rose, Director of Community Services, Anthony Jordan, Parks and Maintenance Supervisor; Ryan Wright, Recreation Supervisor and Marisa Somenzi, Administrative Assistant. MATTERS FROM THE AUDIENCE: None Offered. CALENDAR OF EVENTS: As presented in the agenda. 1. CONSENT CALENDAR VC/Torres moved, C/Liang seconded, to approve the Consent Calendar as presented. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS: Liang, VC/Torres, Chair/Lyons NOES: COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: Chang, Grundy 1.1 Minutes of the March 24, 2005 Regular Meeting — as presented. 2. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 2.1 Recreation Program Report — RS/Wright APRIL 28, 2005 PAGE 2 P&R CrOMMISSION C/Liang asked if the youth excursions catered to the summer day camp kids only or whether it was available to any resident of D.B. RSIWright responded that the event was included for participants of the day camp. However, Individuals could purchase tickets for the Wednesday excursion only. VCITorres heard a comment that the photographer of the basketball program appeared to be disorganized. RS/Wright said he heard two similar comments. However, considering there were 490 plus kids at two sites and that there was some confusion about the timing it went fairly well. He said he discussed the matter with the photography studio personnel in preparation for the soccer pictures and felt there was no need to.make a provider change at this time. Chair/Lyons asked what kind of reaction staff had upon moving the summer day camp to Heritage Park. CSD/Rose said that staff had very positive responses from attendees who were happy to be out of the portable buildings at Sycamore. Chair/Lyons suggested recording the feedback for Council's benefits to substantiate the long-term goal to make Sycamore Canyon Park more user friendly. CSD/Rose reported that seniors were not happy that they were forced to move their exercise program to another location such as the Hills Club and the Diamond Bar Center. Chair/Lyons asked if everyone noticed the popularity of the rock -climbing feature at the City Birthday Party and wondered if the City should consider providing such a feature for ongoing use. She also liked the color photos of the celebration. RS/Wright responded to Chair/Lyons that South Point had a lot of programs during the week and there were times during use by the basketball program that the scoreboard rrmalf'unctioned and that the bleachers were out rather than in and a backboard down instead of up. The comment was included in the report because staff needed to work with the scheduling of the custodial staff to ensure that when the players arrived on Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. the facility was ready for immediate use. 2.2 Diamond Bar Community Foundation Oral Report VC/Torres reported that the Foundation continues to be in a strategic planning mode attempting to find different ways to evaluate and prioritize donation requests, review its bylaws for efficiency and plan for the annual dinner dance fundraiser. The Foundation sponsored a booth at the City Birthday Party that inspired a lot of community interest. CSD/Rose explained that the new tiles were installed at the flagpole at the Diamond Bar Center. 2.3 Library Task Force Oral Report — no report offered. 2.4 C.I.P. Program Report — CSD/Rose APRIL 28, 2005 PAGE 3 P&R COMMISSION a. Sycamore Canyon Park ADA Retrofit Phase Il -- Work scheduled to being Monday, May 16, 2005 and to be completed the end of June/middle of July. b. Starshine Park ADA Retrofit— Construction scheduled for completion by Saturday, May 28, 2005. Chair/Lyons asked if there would be a ribbon -cutting ceremony to celebrate the event. CSD/Rose said that typically the City had not held an official ceremony for retrofits. Chair/Lyons asked staff to discuss the possibility with the City Council since the park was in such bad condition before the retrofit. C. Sycamore Canyon Park Trail and Trailhead Project — Bid opening scheduled for Tuesday, May 31, 2005. 3. OLD BUSINESS: 3.1 Consideration of Change to Skate Park Rules to allow use of Scooters in the Skate Park. RS/Wright reported that following the last Commission meeting staff posted signs and conducted an email survey of regional agencies. Staff received three telephone calls from skateboarders as a result of the signs with one opposed and two in favor. The email resulted in 19 responses. Only one City — Corona, actively allows razors in a park that was built exclusively for skateboards. Responses from JPIA and CA/Jenkins continue to be consistent with previous discussions and the overall opinion is that allowing razors increases the City's liability risk. However, there were no previous cases by which to determine the level of risk. Staff's recommendation was for the Commission to receive input and forward a recommendation to the City Council. CSD/Rose confirmed to VC/Torres that CA/Jenkins found no benefit in having waivers signed. He explained that the City would not ignore the use and that it would either allow or disallow the use. Chair/Lyons asked if there was a specific park setup for razors versus a setup for skateboards. RS/Wright said he understood that it had to do with the type of metal copings and concrete. CSD/Rose said there were skate parks that allowed skateboards, razors and BMX such as the privately run facility at Lake Perris. However, many of the Lake Perris park elements are wood instead of concrete. Rick Illig, 23568 Prospect Valley Road, reiterated his concern about scooters on the streets and the risk to young people. According to a 2001 consumer report there were 19 deaths by scooter, 12 involving cars. The parents are concerned that if their kids on not in the park they are on the street and at peril. The report indicates that scooters have the lowest injury rate of bikes, skateboards inline skates and scooters. He asked the Commissioners to APRIL 28, 2005 PAGE 4 P&R COMMISSION please forward a recommendation for approval to the City Council. C/Liang asked if this use were approved would kids from outlying areas such as Walnut, Whittier, La Puente, etc. come to D.B. to use the facility. CSD/Rose said that razors were a big fad in years past and were not so prevalent at this time and he would not expect a large influx of users. Chair/Lyons said she was concerned because this was a litigious society. CSD/Rose responded that it was difficult to monitor these kinds of uses. In this instance, D.B. does what state law requires. JPIA says the City should have a staff member on site to monitor the skate park and require waivers of every user. The City must weigh the cost against the risk to determine whether or not the site would be monitored. Currently, the skate park has not cost the City any money over and above the construction and maintenance and has incurred no liability claims. Thus, any money spent monitoring the skate park would have been wasted. Chair/Lyons asked whether it might be feasible to make a recommendation to allow the use for three months during the summer with a review at the end of the three months. VC/Torres felt that a six-month review would be more reasonable. VC/Torres said he gave a lot of weight to the fact that there were individuals in the community that were anxious to use a premier facility and he would rather see them in a facility built by the City for its residents than to have them in school yards or on the streets in harms way. Anita Loree agreed with Rick Illig that in honor of the young people who had attended the monthly meetings for several months and who had waited patiently for the Commission to make a decision she felt that a decision should be forthcoming. She also felt that a six-month probationary period was reasonable. She said she has never seen a scooter rider receive an injury that was any worse than that of a skateboarder or bicyclist and the kids seemed to get along very well within the confines of whatever area they were using. With summer coming she would really appreciate it if her kids and others could use the City's beautiful skate park facility. Further, she did not believe that the few scooter users would burden the skate park and those that ride the scooters are very experienced and wear safety gear. CSD/Rose confirmed for VC/Torres that any user of the skate park was required to comply with the rules and could be cited for failure to wear protective gear, for instance. VC/Torres moved, C/Liang seconded to recommend a policy change to the Skate Park Rules to allow Scooters to use the Skate Park and that the policy be reviewed and evaluated by the Parks & Recreation Commission in six months from the effective date of the policy change. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS: Liang, VC/Torres, Chair/Lyons NOES: COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: Chang, Grundy APRIL 28, 2005 PAGE 5 P&R COMMISSION CSD/Rose said that staff planned to place this matter on the City Council agenda for consideration on May 17. Chair/Lyons encouraged interested parties to attend the City Council meeting to support the recommendation. 4. NEW BUSINESS: None 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Chair/Lyons said she felt the City Birthday Party was fabulous and that the layout was very good. It seemed much more spacious. CSD/Rose felt attendance was down this year. Chair/Lyons asked CSD/Rose to tell RSI [/West that she did a great job on the planning. C/Liang thanked staff for a wonderful job in sponsoring the City Birthday Party. VC/Torres and Chair/Lyons concurred. Chair/Lyons asked for the park walkthrough report to be included in the May agenda. She asked about the status of the federal grant. CSD/Rose responded that the City Council was slated to receive a report and work plan that would ultimately be submitted to the federal authorities. Chair/Lyons thanked her colleagues for electing her Chairperson of the Commission and said she looked forward to the challenge. ADJOURNMENT: Upon motion by VC/Torres, seconded by ClLiang and there being no further business before the Parks & Recreation Commission, Chair/Lyons adjourned the meeting at 8:00 p.m. Res Ily ubmitted, 0 ose, Secretary Attest: I . --, 6- 11, , Nancy Lyo , Chair n