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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/25/2006 PRC MinutesCITY OF DIAMOND BAR MINUTES OF THE PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION HEARING BOARD ROOM OF S.C.A.Q.M.D./THE GOVERNMENT CENTER 21865 Copley Drive 06 MAY 25, 2006 CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Dave Grundy called the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting to order at 7:06 p.m. in the SCAQMD/Government Center Building Hearing Board Room, 21865 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, California 91765. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Commissioner Herndon led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL: Present: Commissioners Lew Herndon, Ruth Low, and Vice Chairman Ted Owens and Chairman Dave Grundy. Absent: Commissioner Benny Liang was excused. Staff Present: Bob Rose, Director of Community Services; Anthony Jordan, Parks and Maintenance Superintendent; Claude Bradley, Parks and Maintenance Supervisor; 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 for April 11, 2006 Study Session C/Low moved, C/IHerndon seconded to approve the April 11, 2006 Study Session minutes .as presented. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS: Herndon, Low, VC/Owens, Chair/Grundy NOES: COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: Liang ' 1.2 Approval of Minutes for April 27, 2006 Regular Meeting C/Herndon asked for corrections to the minutes to include his requests for a connection from the upper to lower portion of the park and for a connection from the park to the sidewalk. MAY 25, 2006 PAGE 2 P&R COMMISSION C/Herndon moved, C/Owens seconded to approve the minutes as corrected. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS: Herndon, VC/Owens, Chair/Grundy NOES: COMMISSIONERS: None ABSTAIN: COMMISSIONERS: Low ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: Liang 2. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 2.1 Recreation Program Report — RSM/West and RS/Meyers RSM/West stated that RSII/Wright asked her to remind the Commissioners that the Facilities Allocation meeting was scheduled for June 27, 2006 at 6:30 p.m. in the Diamond Bar Center. C/Low asked how this year's City Birthday Party budget compared to previous years. RSM/West responded that it was the same. C/Low asked for an explanation of the book making class and RSM/West said she believed the young people were being instructed on how to make small books. Chair/Grundy hoped that next year the Youth Track Meet could be held at a different venue in the City. RSM/West responded that traditionally, not that many D.B. teams participated in the past and it was not cost-effective forthe City to rent the Walnut High School track to accommodate students from a private West Covina school that were running as a D.B. team. CSD/Rose said that during budget discussions it was decided the City would use the track meeting funds for the local events such as the Winter Snowfest and Halloween event because the track meet was not accommodating D.B. residents. VC/Owens said the elementary track meets used to be very popular and wondered when it changed. CSD/Rose said he believed it might have something to do with a reduction in physical education classes. VC/Owens asked how many kids the Summer Youth Baseball program would accommodate and RSM/West said a fairly large number. There is no limit on the number except that staff attempts to keep the number of participants an equal number. CSD/Rose said the number was in the 200s. 2.2 Diamond Bar Community Foundation Oral Report. CSD/Rose reported that at the last quarterly meeting the Foundation agreed to pay for replacing the "Border Patrol" pads. Currently, the City is borrowing pads from the YMCA to run the indoor soccer program and over time the _ pads that are used around the boarder of the basketball court to prevent the ball from rolling off of the play area have deteriorated. The Foundation plans to sell grow necklaces at the July 4t' Celebration to raise funds. The next Foundation meeting is scheduled for June 1. MAY 25, 2006 PAGE 3 P&R COMMISSION VC/Owens suggested a thank -you letter be sent to the Foundation from the Commission for their contribution. Chair/Grundy thought VC/Owens' suggestion was excellent and the other Commissioners concurred. 2.3 Parks Report — PMS/Jordan presented staff's report. PMS/Jordan introduced the City's newest Parks and Maintenance Supervisor, Claude Bradley. PMS/Jordan said that to date PMS/Bradley has met and exceeded the City's expectations and the City is very fortunate to have him on board. PMS/Jordan reported that during the first week of May the subcontractor for Valley Crest began removing approximately 180 cubic yards of excess soil at Summitridge Park lower field and transported it off-site. The next stage slated for June 2 is the process for rough grading and fine laser grading of the lower field. Once the grading is completed, Valley Crest will install the irrigation system and sod. Work is expected to take one to two weeks. With respect to Sycamore Canyon Park, on May 15 West Coast Arborists removed nine mature Sycamore trees that had been determined to be hazardous on the basis of two previously completed arborist's reports. Although the trees were very large and very mature they are not readily missed because there are so many other trees in the area. However, all nine trees will be replaced. PMS/Jordan responded to items of concern expressed by C/Herndon during the last Commission meeting. The ' plumbing in the men's room at Peterson Park was repaired and staff discovered another problem with the urinal that will be fixed. C/Herndon also suggested obtaining bids for a surveillance system at Maple Hill Park and PMS/Jordan said he had received a request for information from Bi -Tech Surveillance and the company will provide a proposal for on-site security cameras. Regarding the fence at the trail, it is a temporary fence and rather than repair the fence staff believes it would be best to have it removed. Prior to removing the fence staff intends to install signs that indicate individuals should remain on the trails so as not to disturb the habitat for which the fence was originally installed. C/Low asked for a history of why there are no restrooms at Summitridge Park. CSD/Rose responded that the park had restrooms that were taken out when the Diamond Bar Center was built. Staff has a set of plans showing restrooms and play equipment near the slope next to the baseball field and the football field. There is ongoing discussion about the long-term use of Summitridge Park, and as a result the restrooms and tot lots were put on hold until a final decision is made. Whenever a sports organization has an ongoing scheduled use, portable restrooms are brought into the lower parking lot. At this time consideration of a new library is the City's highest priority and other amenities are on hold. SD/Rose 2.4 CIP Program Report — C a. Sycamore Canyon Park ADA Retrofit— Phase III — CSD/Rose reported that the project was just about ready to go out to bid. The goal is to have MAY 25, 2006 PAGE 4 P&R COMMISSION the bidding completed in order to award the contract at the first meeting in August and begin construction immediately following the end of the Concerts in the Park series. 3. OLD BUSINESS 3.1 CONSIDER CHANGING COMMISSION MEETING START TIME FROM 7:00 P.M. TO 6:30 P.M. TO COINCIDE WITH THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING START TIME. Following discussion, Commissioners unanimously concurred to leave the meeting start time at 7:00 p.m. 3.2 SUBCOMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS OF COMMISSIONERS: a. User Group -- VC/Owens/Chair/Grundy b. Trails Master Plan — C/Herndon/C/Low C. Diamond Bar 4 Youth — C/Liang/Chair/Grundy 4. NEW BUSINESS 4.1 Synthetic Turf. CSD/Rose reported that at the request of C/Herndon this item was placed on the agenda to update the Commission on the use of synthetic turf on sports fields in D.B. Tonight's packet includes a copy of the Guide to Synthetic and Natural Turf Grass for Sports Fields, a 10 -month study conducted by the Sports Turf Managers Association. Although there are some benefits to synthetic turf, it requires a great deal of maintenance. After researching the matter, staff believes that only natural turf should be used in City parks and that in the event a sport complex was constructed synthetic turf should be evaluated for use in the facility. C/Herndon said he recently attended a seminar that discussed the use of synthetic turf. One of the benefits was the increased use of the facility, especially for lighted facilities. He said he concurred with staff's determination. Chair/Grundy thanked staff for providing the report. He served on the Sports Complex Task Force and participated in discussions regarding installation of artificial turf at Lorbeer Middle School. The study contained information about which he was not previously aware. Personally, he was in favor of artificial turf until his son told him that there was greater opportunity for skin burn and ankle injury. RSM/West responded to Chair/Grundy that it was more common for individuals to suffer injury on Astro turf. Chair/Grundy said he was more cautious and wanted the City to be aware of what it might be getting itself into if it used artificial turf. C/Herndon said he believed the newer products were greatly improved and he understood that the selection of footwear had a lot to do with whether or MAY 25, 2006 PAGE 5 P&R COMMISSION not individuals suffered injuries. ' VC/Owens said that according to what he read the jury was still out regarding the health and safety of the athletes. He has heard a lot of horror stories about injuries suffered on artificial turf; staff infections from burns, slide tackles, etc. NFL players do not like playing on synthetic turf even with the proper footwear. C/Low believed that the City's parks were there to serve the entire community. Several of the parks are dedicated to youth and although it is important to serve the youth, there are other members of the community that enjoy the use of parks as well. If the City were to change over from natural grass to artificial turf it would discourage other individuals from using the parks for their enjoyment and she would not want to exclude any group including youth that could not afford special footwear to reduce injuries. 4.2 Lot Adjacent to Pantera Park. CSD/Rose referred the Commissioners to their packet information regarding lots adjacent to Pantera Park. The overview shows that the land to the east has a significantly different look. It is a fence line that separates the land owned by the City of Industry and the land owned by the City of D.B. It is a 57 -acre site that has a number of grading issues. In lieu of this site, the task ' force recommended Lots 1 and 61, a 65 -acre site, as the best location for a sports complex in the City. Staff has since learned that grading costs for Lots 1 and 61 could be as much as $25 million and there are also issues regarding an easement for ingress/egress. At this time it is not known what the grading costs would be for the parcels adjacent to Pantera Park. CSD/Rose responded to Chair/Grundy that there would be no cost for a grading bid. Chair/Grundy said he would be in favor of getting a more accurate bid for grading. CSD/Rose indicated that the land adjacent to Pantera Park is very steep. C/Herndon said he walked the property on Saturday and the trail needs assistance because it is almost overgrown with underbrush in certain areas. C/Herndon said he believed that after looking at the "great wall of Target" that almost anything could be accomplished. The view from the top of the ridge on the land adjacent to Pantera Park is spectacular. He encouraged the City to pursue the possibility of a joint effort on the site that would include a sports complex. CSD/Rose responded to C/Herndon that the property is owned by the City of D.B. and the Open Space designation could be changed. 4.3 Offer of Public Art. ilaced in a Cit Staff received an offer of an art piece to be p City park. The art p piece was constructed using Redwood and it has been painted. Staff's recommendation is that the piece would most likely be vandalized and that it would weather and would therefore recommend the Commission respectfully MAY 25, 2006 PAGE 6 P&R COMMISSION decline the offer at this time. Chair/Grundy said he shared staff's concerns. It is an unusual art piece and he would like for the Commission to begin considering where in the City people could display their artwork in an enclosed facility for a specified period of time such as one month. He was concerned that accepting this offer would lead to other offers and result in a burden to the City and felt that the City should study the matter and create a policy that would be fair and equal to all participants. C/Herndon suggested recommending such an area within the new library if it is built. C/Low said that when she served on the Planning Commission she recommended Art in Public Places. The Planning Department prepared a very complete package to address that issue and included copies of program guides from neighboring cities. If the Commissioners were interested in pursuing the matter perhaps staff could be requested to obtain the information from ICDD/Fong for presentation to the Commission. She said she understood that Kurt Nelson, JCC Development was committed to placing an art piece at Larkstone Park. She also spoke with the Target developer about putting an art piece at the Target Center. She felt it would be good for the Commission to consider expanding the program to art in City parks as well. VC/Owens supported staff's recommendation that this request be denied because an untreated painted redwood piece would not stand up to weather and potential vandalism. He referred staff to Brea's Art in Public Places program. C/Herndon moved, C/Low seconded to, respectfully decline the offer of the art piece in accordance with staff's recommendation. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS NOES: COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS Herndon, Low, VC/Owens, Chair/Grundy None Liang CSD/Rose stated that he would contact ICDD/Fong and ask for her participation at a future Commission meeting. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS: C/Low thanked staff for great reports and for making the City's parks look so good. She said she looked forward to participating in the Concerts in the Park series. C/Herndon echoed C/Low's comments about the staff's effectiveness. He felt staff did a great job and encouraged them to keep up the good work. 1 1 MAY 25, 2006 PAGE 7 P&R COMMISSION VC/Owens echoed prior statements. The packages that staff prepares are very detailed and informative and he thanked PMS/Jordan for maintaining the parks and for contributing to the overall good look of the City. Chair/Grundy agreed with prior statements about staff. He said he believed that staff always did a great job and deserved thanks for what they do. The AYSO Cottontail Classic was a huge success due to the look of the fields as well as the City's amenities. D.B. is a pleasant place to be and the City is attractive to those who attend the tournaments. ADJOURNMENT: Upon motion by VC/Owens seconded by C/Herndon and with no further business before the Parks & Recreation Commission, Chair/Grundy adjourned the meeting at 8:34 p.m. Respec IN miffed, Bo ose, 16ecretary