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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/23/2006 PRC Minutes1 1 1 CITY 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 FEBRUARY 23, 2006 CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Nancy Lyons called the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. in the SCAQMD/Government 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, Vice Chairman Dave Grundy and Commissioners Lin -Ling Chang, Benny Liang and Ted Owens. Staff Present: Bob Rose, Director of Community Services; Anthony Jordan, Parks and Maintenance Superintendent; Sara West, Recreation Services Manager and Marisa Somenzi, Senior Administrative Assistant. MATTERS FROM THE AUDIENCE: None Offered, CALENDAR OF EVENTS: As Listed in the Agenda and reported by CSD/Rose. 1. CONSENT CALENDAR 1.1 Approval of Minutes of January 26, 2006 Regular Meeting. VC/Grundy moved, C/Owens seconded to approve the minutes of the January 26, 2006 meeting. Without objection, the motion was so ordered with C/Chang and C/Liang abstaining. 2. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 2.1 Recreation Program Report — RSM/West 2.2 Diamond Bar Community Foundation Oral Report — C/Chang reported that the Foundation was meeting quarterly and the next meeting was scheduled for March 9. 2.3 Youth Master Plan Oral Report — CSD/Rose reported that RS/Meyers would attend the March 23 Commission meeting to provide an update on plans for the dance and other upcoming events. CSD/Rose responded to Chair/Lyons that the dance would be open to middle school attendees whether or not they lived outside of D.B. FEBRUARY 23, 2006 PAGE 2 P&R COMMISSION Chair/Lyons asked CSD/Rose to have RS/Meyers let her know when she had scheduled the meeting with Greg Plekto. 2.4 Parks Report— PMS/Jordan presented staff's report for February including a recap of the more significant park projects. PMS/Jordan responded to Chair/Lyons that the painting projects at Sycamore Canyon Park would be completed by Saturday and the graffiti has been eradicated. Chair/Lyons pointed out that the Sycamore Canyon Park and the new trail are already getting heavy use. VC/Grundy asked how the park contracts were progressing. CSD/Rose responded that in his opinion, both Valley Crest and TruGreen were doing a very good job. In fact, staff moved maintenance for Summitridge Mini -Park from Valley Crest back to TruGreen to save dollars and TruGreen is doing quality work. The City has no plans to move any of the other parks away from Valley Crest. PMS/Jordan said that in general the contractors were doing much better. Chair/Lyons encouraged Commissioners to complete the balance of the park walk-throughs. 2.5 CIP Program Report — CSD/Rose a. Trail and Trail Head Development at Sycamore Canyon Park —CSD/Rose reported that the electricity was to have been turned on today and after tonight's meeting he will drive the area to see if the streetlights are on and Edison will fill in the streetlight footings when it fits into theircalendar. b. Sycamore Canyon Park ADA Retrofit — Phase III — CSD/Rose reported that the first plan check was completed and that Hirsch & Associates was making the necessary plan corrections and would be back to the City for final plan check so that the City can go out to bid, select a contractor and commence construction. On February 21 staff indicated to Council that 14 sycamore trees would be removed as part of this project and nine additional sycamore trees would be removed due to health concerns. The trees will be replaced with 25 - 24" box London Plane trees. c. Lorbeer Ball Field — Artificial Turf/Restrooms — CSD/Rose said that it had been about three months since the City wrote to Pomona Unified School District asking to discuss this project. Staff has been talking about a joint use agreement for the facility since 1999 and staff believes it is time to move to Plan B so this matter was scheduled for the March 7 City ---- Council Study Session in order to present project alternatives for consideration. VCIGrundy asked if staff considered asking the Parks & Recreation Commission to join with the City Council for their study session. He was FEBRUARY 23, 2006 PAGE 3 P&R COMMISSION somewhat surprised that the matter would go directly to the Council ' without the Commission first considering possible options. CSD/Rose said that this was an approved budgeted project item and the City Council needed to first be alerted to the issues with Lorbeer and why staff was seeking alternatives. The City Council could ask that the matter be brought back to the Parks & Recreation Commission for study and recommendation. The study session is a public meeting and Commissioners are welcome to participate. CSD/Rose explained to C/Owens that the City has a joint use agreement for the ball field lights and for the overall facilities. Staff has been attempting to get a joint use agreement for the operation of the lighted field at Lorbeer and at this point the City is paying for the electrical without a formal agreement. Chair/Lyons asked for public input. Richard Dixon, President, Diamond Bar Little League, said he was open to a joint use agreement for use of the Little League facility. VC/Grundy said he previously heard this offered as an alternative and went on record to indicate that he was ready to consider alternatives. He appreciate that the Little League was willing to participate in a way that would benefit all parties. Dan Maloney, President, Diamond Bar Pop Warner, said that it was frustrating to parents that kids had to play outside of their community and Lorbeer would be an ideal location. If Lorbeer was not available the City needed a sports complex. This is an active community for the kids and the City needs a quality program to accommodate them. He would prefer not to give up on Lorbeer because it is a prime location. C/Chang suggested that both groups gather a large contingency to attend the PUSD school board meeting because this item was on the agenda. Mr. Maloney indicated to Chair/Lyons that Pop Warner could practice at Lorbeer and that actual games would be played on a real football field. He currently practices at Lorbeer but when he has eight teams and 250 kids Lorbeer does not have the capacity. They also practice at Summitridge but the park is not designed for that type of use. The Diamond Bar Center is very busy and people are vying for parking spots. He has to have all of the teams together for practice in one location. He said he could probably double the number of teams if he had the proper practice location. C/Owens asked Mr. Maloney if he had found it necessary to limit registration due to lack adequate facilities and Mr. Maloney said not to date. However, he expected to double in size this year and may have to limit registration. FEBRUARY 23, 2006 PAGE 4 P&R COMMISSION Mr. Maloney responded to VC/Grundy that he had received 63 calls from parents who intended to leave the D.B. Walnut Junior All American group for the Pop Warner program. C/Owens asked if any of the other groups had to cut registration and CSD/Rose said that he knew only about the City's programs — basketball and soccer. He was not aware of any of the organizations having to scale back or turn people away. Art Sebastian, Head Coach, D.B. Pop Warner said he was also a D.B. Little League manager and had been associated with both groups for about five years. He said he was present to support his colleagues and wanted the Commission to know that he felt sports was a priority for the kids. Anything that could be done to support these groups would be gratefully accepted. d. Paul C. Grow Park ADA Retrofit — CSD/Rose reported that the conceptual plan was forwarded to the LA County CDC for about $98,000 in improvements. There are other items that do not qualify for CDBC funds and those items will be presented to the City Council as part of the FY 2006107 budget process. e. Design of Restroom/Storage Building at Pantera Park— CSD/Rose stated that RJM Design Group provided a conceptual plan and were working on refinements. The project is moving forward. CSD/Rose acknowledged to VC/Grundy that AYSO offered about $7500 toward the cost of the building. f. Design of Trail Access Points — CSD/Rose indicated that staff meets with Group Delta next week to go over the conceptual plan. The new trail head at Sycamore Canyon Park at Diamond Bar Blvd is the connection point for trails that ultimately go up to the Diamond Bar Center. a. OLD BUSINESS: 3.1 Draft Athletic Facilities Use and Allocation Policies and Procedures. RSM/West presented staff's report and requested that the Commission present their questions to staff, comment on the proposed revisions and determine whether additional review time was necessary and whether a study session would be required for further review of the document. VC/Grundy felt the changes were extensive. RSMIWest agreed and said the primary changes had to do with language for the facilities use policy so they would be consistent with those used at the Diamond Bar Center. VC/Grundy felt he needed more time to study the document. C/Owens said that at the last meeting he asked that the document contain a definition of "D.B. resident." RSM/West said that D.B. defines resident as FEBRUARY 23, 2006 PAGE 5 P&R COMMISSION "living in the City." Non-residents or those who work in the City pay a different rental rate. C/Owens reiterated that the classification definition should be clearly stated within the document. Chair/Lyons asked if Page 22, Group C had always read that government agencies are above D.B. based non-profit service organizations and CSD/Rose explained that it was included in the fourth revision of the initial D.B. Center policy. Chair/Lyons said she strongly felt that each resident non-profit organization should be allowed one fundraising event per calendar year where room fees were waived (Page 3 and Page 26) to bolster their organizations. CSD/Rose responded that the provision was eliminated due to lack of use. When Heritage first opened it was a popular item and all organizations conducted an annual fundraiser. Non-profit organizations seem to have no issues with the fee. Chair/Lyons said she understood charging for the D.B. Center but not allowing the groups free use of Heritage or Pantera did not seem appropriate to her. Chair/Lyons asked what year the current facility rental rate was determined. CSD/Rose responded that the resolution covering the fees was Resolution No. 93-67A meaning it had been changed only once since 1993. C/Owens asked if it was the City's goal to recoup 100 percent of the facilities cost. CSD/Rose responded that it depended on the use. For example, there was no effort toward 100 percent recovery from the senior groups. Chair/Lyons felt that with respect to Page 4 "the total number of member participants is not less than 60 percent D.B. residents" that the suggestion from Marty Torres was good in that it would allow the organization to account for the numbers to save additional staff time. Chair/Lyons asked if Tennis Anyone was still operating in D.B. and CSD/Rose responded affirmatively. Tennis Anyone contracts with the City and the City is paid from its revenues. CSD/Rose pointed out that the biggest change was on Page 5, b. Picnic Facilities. Currently there is no rental fee for the use of picnic facilities. Staff is again recommending a $25 fee for residents and a $50 fee for non- residents (currently $25 fee for non-residents). The last time this recommendation was before the Council it rejected the fee for residents. However, staff believes that there should be a fee charged for use to cover maintenance — cleanup and setup for the next user. ' VC/Grundy said he would like time to study the document between now and the next meeting and he could not predict whether he would have very many questions. However he felt a study session was unnecessary. C/Owens said he too did not feel he needed a study session and recommended that all user groups be given a copy of the document for FEBRUARY 23, 2006 PAGE 6 P&R COMMISSION discussion and input. CSD/Rose said that RSIWright's portion had been emailed to the user groups and that they would be invited to the next Parks and Recreation Commission meeting; and that staff had received positive feedback and additional recommendations from the User groups. C/Liang said he needed time to study the document and also feitthat a study session was not necessary. 4. NEW BUSINESS: None 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS: CSD/Rose recognized Chair/Lyons and ClChang fortheir hard work and supportto the community over the years and wished them good luck in their new assignments. VC/Grundy thanked his colleagues for their help, participation, comments and input and that it had been good to work with C/Chang and Chair/Lyons. He wished them good luck in their new ventures. VC/Grundy complimented staff on the trailhead and said staff should feel very proud of their efforts on behalf of the City. He hoped it would be a great opening on Saturday. ClLiang said it was a great pleasure and privilege for him to work with ClChang and Chair/Lyons. He hoped that his colleagues would be able to work toward positive change in their new positions with the school board and water board. He wished ClChang and Chair/Lyons good luck and said he would miss their being on the Commission. ClOwens thanked ClChang and Chair/Lyons for welcoming him to the Commission and for their support. He said they both had his vote of confidence and knew that they would do well in their new positions. ClChang said it had been a lot of fun serving on the Parks and. Recreation Commission with such a great and supportive staff. She thanked everyone for making it a very positive experience for her. It was always a joy for her to be able to brag about the D.B. staff when she visited other cities. She said she would definitely miss serving on the Commission. Chair/Lyons announced that Bob Huff selected ClChang as Woman of the Year for his district. She felt that it was a well-deserved honor. She said that she had truly enjoyed working on the Parks and Recreation Commission and that it was a lot of fun with a lot of good times and a number of accomplishments during recent months. The parks are looking better and the street beautification project is a real step up compared to how things were a few years ago. In addition, staff i stftiiruted the sportsmanship code that was unique to the City and very good participants. As good as the Commissioners are they are aware that od and has most of the real work is done by staff and the D.B. staff led by CSD/Rose is very g stuck by her throughbeen brought hthick and In. She into thesaid she City andhad howalot of respect for the way st staff was able to keep the new programs had b 9 FEBRUARY 23, 2006 PAGE 7 P&R COMMISSION costs in line. She will miss the Commission and she will be back to participate. She felt she had learned a lot in her service as Commissioner and especially as Chairman of the Commission. ADJOURNMENT: Upon motion by C/Chang, seconded by C/Owens and with no further business before the Parks & Recreation Commission, Chair/Lyons adjourned the meeting at 8:20 p.m. Resp If y ubmitted, Ybs Secretary Attest: 1, ancy Lyons-, airman