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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/28/2005 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 JULY 28, 2005 CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Lyons called the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the SCAQMDIGovernment Center Building Hearing Board Room, 21865 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, California 91765. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Commissioner Chang led the Pledge of Allegiance. 1. ROLL CALL: Present: Chairman Nancy Lyons, and Commissioner Ling -Ling Chang and Dave Grundy. Vice Chairman Marty Torres and Benny Liang were excused. Staff Present: Bob Rose, Director of Community Services; Alison Meyers, Community Services Coordinator; Christy Murphey, Recreation Specialist and Marisa Somenzi, Administrative Assistant. MATTERS FROM THE AUDIENCE: None Offered. CALENDAR OF EVENTS: As presented in the agenda and reported by CSDIRose. 1. CONSENT CALENDAR 1.1 Approval of Minutes of June 23, 2005 Regular Meeting. ClGrundy moved, C/Chang seconded, to approve the Consent Calendar as presented. Motion carried by the following Rall Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS: Chang, Grundy, Chair/Lyons NOES: COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: Liang, VC/Torres 2. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 2.1 Recreation Program Report — RS/Murphey ClGrundy said the 4t' of July celebration was a wonderful event and was the premier event for the City. Once again, however, restroom accessibility was an issue and he recommended the City consider upscale of the portable restrooms. JULY 28, 2005 PAGE 2 P&R COMMISSION Chair/Lyons agreed with ClGrundy that the 4" of July event was great. She and other attendees really enjoyed the music and the fireworks were spectacular. She said she was very impressed with staff and the volunteers who were so helpful to attendees. She agreed with ClGrundy that staff should consider doubling the amount of portable restrooms for next year's event. She said she was also in favor of turning all of the regular restrooms into women's restrooms and having the men use the port -a -potties. CSD/Rose responded that that solution had been implemented in past years and the result was less than successful. Chair/Lyons said she attended the summer day camp on Tuesday during which the kids read from the novel Because of Winn-Dixie. The kids mentioned that they would like to have a reading corner with floor cushions next year. RS/Murphey responded to Chair/Lyons that Live Scan is the fingerprint and background check service provided by the Sheriffs Department. All volunteers and recreation staff members must go through the fingerprinting and background checking process because they deal with youth. CSD/Rose stated that Target would be under construction next year and the City was searching for an alternate parking site for the 4"' of July event. A resident suggested holding the event at Heritage Park with the fireworks display set off at Castle Rock Elementary School and using the Country Hills Towne Center for parking. Chair/Lyons said that several people asked why the event was not held at Pantera Park. CSD/Rose said that staff was concerned about the weeds and natural areas as a possible fire hazard surrounding Pantera Park. 2.2 Diamond Bar Community Foundation Oral Report — C/Chang. C/Chang reported that no meeting was held this month. 2.3 Library Task Force Oral Report — ClGrundy. ClGrundy reported that the task force met and discussed whether a bond measure should be recommended to City Council for placement on the November ballot. The task force also looked at possible funding sources for new computers and desks. ClGrundy said that the task force was convened a year ago with the hope that grant funds would be forthcoming. When that did not materialize the task force wanted to continue to find a way to build the new library and it was good news that the City had another shot at getting the library funded. 2.4 C.I.P. Program Report — CSD/Rose a. Trail & Trail Head Development at Sycamore Park — Notice to Proceed 811105. JULY 28, 2005 PAGE 3 P&R COMMISSION CSD/Rose reported that the 90 -day project includes work on Diamond Bar Boulevard that would give the City a lot of visibility for the trail system and the impetus for obtaining additional grant funds. In fact, the City is applying for two additional grants in October that would allow work to continue to connect the entire trail using decomposed granite and installation of rest areas and that the trail would ultimately continue up to the Diamond Bar Center. b. Picnic Shelters at Pantera Park — Notice to Proceed 8/1105 CSD/Rose explained that this 120 -day project was included in median and parkway projects throughout the City. C. Sycamore Canyon Park ADA Retrofit Phase II — CSD/Rose indicated that this project was near completion. d. Starshine Park ADA Retrofit — Water meter by 8131/05 and Grand Opening Ceremony in September. e. Lorbeer Ball Field — Artificial Turf — No word from PUSD. CSD/Rose reported that staff was told that the more people that were on the facility the more work it would be for the school district (additional trash, confrontations, etc.) Middle management is pushing to pay back rent for use of the facility when the lights were first installed. C/Grundy felt the City should consider rescinding its offer and making a similar offer to the Walnut Valley Unified School District. C/Chang said there was discussion about all Pomona schools being equal and whether all schools should have artificial turf. C/Grundy wondered how Diamond Ranch got built since it is a dramatically different facility. The City continues to push the issue because as an example the grading alone for the 40 -acre Lots 1 and 61 parcels is estimated to cost between $18 and 25 million. Staff pursued several options for the lots such as a "field of dreams" area, a water feature, etc. and to date the numbers do not make business sense. f. Park Plan for Larkstone Park — Zero Depth Water Park/Picnic Area/Tot Lot/Grass Play Area/Two Drinking Fountains/ Restrooms/ Storage Area/Soda Machine. CSD/Rose reported that the City was offered a turnkey operation. Lewis is talking with WVUSD about building homes in the area and part of the agreement includes building a park for the City to the City's specifications. He asked if Commissioners had other items they would like to offer for consideration. One option would be to work with the school district to get lighting for the South Point Middle School basketball courts and tennis courts. C/Grundy said he would like to see a proposed layout of the park in JULY 28, 2005 PAGE 4 P&R COMMISSION order to make his recommendations. Chair/Lyons recalled that ACM/DeStefano presented a proposal for Larkstone Park a few months ago. CSD/Rose explained that ACMIDeStefano's presentation was for a different configuration on a single pad. Since the work commenced the contractors had uncovered slope issues and reconfigured the layout. Chair/Lyons felt that it could be low cost and high maintenance with slope issues and the City would have to pay for the maintenance. C/Grundy said that Chair/Lyons statement about ongoing maintenance was a good point and asked if staff could come up with a cost estimate for maintenance. Chair/Lyons felt it would be good to have a lighted basketball court. CSD/Rose said that based on the City's Trails Master Plan a Larkstone Park trailhead would be created. ClGrundy said he hiked the Sycamore Canyon Park trail recently and wondered if the proposed trail would follow the current trail. Part of the trail goes through a drainage culvert and he wondered if anything could be done to work around the culvert. He said he presumed that as part of the development signage would be placed at the top of the trail because there were no good signs to point out the path of the trail. CSD/Rose said that the trail would be made very clear. The upper portion of the trail will have a Kiosk and map and the area from the upper to the lower portion of the park will be very well identified with steps. g. Sycamore Canyon Park ADA Retrofit Phase III — Presentation by Hirsch and Associates. 2.5 Parks Report — CSD/Rose CSD/Rose stated that a couple of years ago the Parks and Recreation Commission pointed out maintenance problems with Pantera and Peterson parks. Valley Crest has done a good job up to this point. However, staff may recommend a change back to TruGreen because TruGreen has a very good supervisor. Valley Crest recently lost two of its top supervisors and the City is not happy with the work at this point. CSD/Rose responded to C/Grundy that the contracts contain a 30 -day notification clause. Ron Kirkpatrick went to TruGreen but he is not working in this area. CSD/Rose said he had not been in touch with Bill Arman because Mr. Arman had a confidentiality clause in his contract that prevented him from contacting prior clients for one year after leaving Valley Crest. CSD/Rose responded to Chair/Lyons that VC/Torres had not yet completed his walkthroughs. Chair/Lyons asked CSD/Rose to carry this item over to next month's agenda. Chair/Lyons said that when she did her walkthrough of Ronald Reagan Park she and PMS/Jordan discussed putting trashcans in the tennis court area. CSD/Rose said he would add the item to the list. JULY 28, 2005 PAGE 5 P&R COMMISSION 2.6 Proposed Teen Programs — CSC/Meyers CSC/Meyers reported that the City Council adopted the Youth Master Plan on June 21. After presenting the plan to WVUSD they asked for additional time to go over the plan in order to have a better understanding of the document. WVUSD seemed very enthusiastic about the plan. She also presented the plan to library personnel and everyone was very excited about the Youth Action Committee. PUSD enthusiastically adopted the Youth Master Plan on July 26 following staffs presentation. Staff hopes to establish the Collaborative by September assuming adoption by WVUSD. She referred the Commissioners to the Proposed Teen Programs report contained in the agenda packet. C/Grundy felt it would benefit the City economically to cater to the youth because they would definitely spend money in the City if they had a place to do so. Chair/Lyons asked when the first activity would take place. CSC/Meyers said she was planning for 2006 because if the action committee were formed in January things should move forward shortly thereafter. Chair/Lyons wondered why the City would not hold a teen dance, for instance. CSD/Rose said the plan was to form the Collaborate to help plan and promote activities in the schools. The reason Chino Hills has had successful dances is because the event is conducted on the school campus with full support of the school. 3. OLD BUSINESS: None 4. NEW BUSINESS: 4.1 Update of Facility Use Document — staff recommends that the Commission review the discussion page, review the facility use document and provide suggested revisions at the August 25 Commission meeting and/or email recommended revisions to AA/Somenzi. 4.2 Update of Commission Handbook — staff recommends that the Commissioners review the handbook and provide suggested revisions at the August 25 Commission meeting and/or email recommended revisions to AA/Somenzi. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS: C/Grundy commented on the letter addressed to Chair/Lyons contained in tonight's agenda packet. The family that came to ask if the skate park policy could be expanded to include razors was very thankful for the Commission's recommendation and the Council's consideration. They said they were very impressed with the process and thoughtful discussions and considerations required to make the change. In addition, the parents felt it was an excellent process for their boys to witness and take part in and it convinced them that the process works and that positive things can be achieved by participating. C/Grundy appreciated the JULY 28, 2005 PAGE 6 P&R COMMISSION participation of the parents and the youth in the process and praised them for having faith that it would result in a positive outcome. ADJOURNMENT: With no further business before the Parks & Recreation Commission, Chair/Lyons adjourned the meeting at 8:38 p.m. Resp tf IJSbmitted, A'lo-b 6se, Secretary