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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/22/2007 PRC MinutesCITY OF DIAMOND BAR MINUTES OF THE PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION S.C.A.Q.M.D./THE GOVERNMENT CENTER AUDITORIUM 21865 Copley Drive Diamond Bar, CA 91765 MARCH 22.2007 CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Grundy called the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. in the SCAQMD/Government Center Building Auditorium, 21865 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, CA 91765. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: C/Herndon led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL: Present: Commissioners Lew Herndon, Benny Liang, Ruth Low, Vice Chairman Ted Owens and Chairman Dave Grundy. Staff Present: Bob Rose, Director of Community Services; Anthony Jordan, Parks and Maintenance Superintendent; Sara Somogyi, Recreation Services Manager; Krista Berentis, Recreation Coordinator, and Marisa Somenzi, Senior Administrative Assistant. PRESENTATION OF 2007 YOUTH BASKETBALL SPORTSMANSHIP AWARDS RECESS: Chair/Grundy recessed the meeting at 7:16 p.m. RECONVENE: Chair/Grundy reconvened the meeting at 7:27 p.m. PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION REORGANIZATION — Selection of Chairman and Vice Chairman. Commissioner Grundy nominated Commissioner Owens to serve as Chairman. There were no other nominations offered. Without objection, Commissioner Owens was unanimously elected to serve as Chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission. Commissioner Herndon nominated Commissioner Low to serve as Vice Chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission. There were no other nominations offered. Without objection, Commissioner Low was unanimously elected to serve as Vice Chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission. MATTERS FROM THE AUDIENCE: None Offered. CALENDAR OF EVENTS: As Listed in the Agenda and reported by CSD/Rose. MARCH 22, 2007 PAGE 2 P&R COMMISSION CONSENT CALENDAR C/Grundy moved, C/Herndon seconded, to approve the Consent Calendar. Without objection, the motion was so ordered. 1.1 Approval of Minutes for the February 22, 2007 Regular Meeting. 1.2 Received and Filed Transmittal of letter to TruGreen employees recognizing efforts to report vehicle that damaged turf at Heritage Park and update on status of driver involved in the matter. VC/Low suggested that staff contact the district attorney's office to request that the judge impose an appropriate amount for restitution. 2. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 2.1 RECREATION PROGRAM REPORT — RSM/Somogyi 2.2 PARKS REPORT — PMS/Jordan. VC/Low asked if the chairs available for use in the multi-purpose room at Pantera Park had been checked because she felt several were in bad condition. PMS/Jordan said that staff was scheduled to change out the bad chairs and he would have to check to determine the progress. 2.3 COMMUNITY FOUNDATION — CSD/Rose reported that the Foundation is meeting next Tuesday and one of the agenda items is discussion of whether the Foundation would be willing to sponsor a Battle of the Bands event at a cost of about $3,000. 2.4 CIP PROGRAM REPORT — CSD/Rose a. Sycamore Canyon Park ADA Retrofit — Phase III — on schedule. b. Paul C. Grow Park ADA Retrofit — on schedule to commence construction during the summer. C/Grundy commented that when he first joined the Commission he became involved in the Sycamore Canyon Park ADA Retrofit project and it was exciting to see it come to fruition. He encouraged his colleagues to take advantage of the opportunity to influence such projects and witness their materialization. He was very pleased with the project. 2.5 TRAILS MASTER PLAN — Trail walk scheduled for Saturday, March 24 at 8:00 a.m. commencing at the lower parking lot, Sycamore Canyon Park. The plan includes walking all four trails with the City's consultant to receive information about potential improvement recommendations. 2.6 REPORT ON CPRS CONFERENCE IN SACRAMENTO — CSD/Rose felt it was a great conference that provided a lot of good information. Staff has initiated contact with some of the vendors and presenters regarding issues MARCH 22, 2007 PAGE 3 P&R COMMISSION that were brought up during the conference. One new product he felt could be helpful was a pre -mixed surface for trails. He saw an update on artificial turf and learned that the manufacturers are finally admitting that there is really no cost savings in maintenance on artificial turf and they're now admitting the turf probably has a life of eight years rather than 10, 12 or 15 years. C/Herndon felt it was a very good conference and came back with information regarding "Art in Public Places" and said he was willing to share his information with the subcommittee. He also gathered information about Q -Star technology, a deterrent for graffiti and other types of vandalism. PMS/Jordan said he met with the company's representative eadierthis week and felt it looked promising. C/Herndon also attended a conference on the value of trees to cities. Some cities are finding it very complex to keep track of the trees and whether the numbers were increasing or decreasing and what value should be placed on trees. He felt it was prudent for the City to replace trees whenever possible. Chair/Owens attended two sessions on Friday, one on Capital Improvement Projects and what cities go through to assess their needs and interests from the community and a second meeting on community involvement. The conference was interesting and he found interesting products in the exhibit hall. He looked forward to attending next year's conference in Long Beach. 3. OLD BUSINESS: None 4. NEW BUSINESS: 4.1 PROPOSED FEE INCREASES FOR EQUIPMENT RENTAL AND INTERNET USE AT THE DIAMOND BAR CENTER — CSD/Rose explained the proposed increase and recommended that the Commission recommend approval of the proposed fee increases to the City Council. CSD/Rose responded to VC/Low that the City is still researching the possibility of WiFi for the Diamond Bar Center. RSM/Somogyi responded to C/Grundy that the ballroom is booked 15 months in advance. The new fees would become effective upon approval of City Council and be effective with new bookings. C/Herndon asked if the $75 increase was sufficient to cover technical costs. CSD/Rose responded that for the users that have booked the facility an hour seems to be sufficient. C/Herndon moved, VC/Low seconded to recommend City Council approval of the proposed fee increases for Equipment Rental and Internet use at the Diamond Bar Center. Without objection, the motion was so ordered. MARCH 22, 2007 PAGE 4 P&R COMMISSION 4.2 DRAFT RESOLUTION OF THE PARKS AND RECREA1 1UN UUMMiaaiUN RECOMMENDING THAT A FUTURE FACILITY IN THE CITY OF DIAMOND BAR BE NAMED IN HONOR OF BOB ZIRBES. C/Herndon felt it was a start but that it fell short. What he proposed at the last meeting was to take the $4 million that was earmarked for the new library and apply it toward a sports park that was named after Bob Zirbes. It appears to him that one of the City's biggest logjams is having enough sports facilities available for the number of potential users. He would like for the City to do something serious about this effort and set down some guidelines and proceed with funding efforts. He felt there was a great deal of interest in the community for such a project. VC/Low felt that the library should be under the jurisdiction of the Parks & Recreation Commission and believed it would be good to honor Bob Zirbes. She felt Bob Zirbes was working hard to better the library as well. Since Bob Zirbes supported the library perhaps the money could go toward the library. C/Grundy suggested a compromise and was anxious to get a facility named for Bob Zirbes. He recommended that the resolution include a time limit for a new facility and otherwise, an existing facility would be renamed in honor of Bob Zirbes. CSD/Rose responded to Chair/Owens that the Sports Complex Task Force developed a $26 million dream facility that would reside on a 75 -acre site. The task force looked at various locations and found land adjacent to Pantera Park and more recently a portion of the Aera Energy property that might be used to develop a sports park as part of the development should it move forward. Chair/Owens felt the City needed to develop a "facilities naming policy' before naming facilities for individuals so that no one is slighted in the process. C/Grundy proposed that the Commission direct staff to amend the resolution to include a timeline (by 2010) or that some existing facility be named for Bob Zirbes. C/Herndon believed that naming a facility for Bob Zirbes was a great idea and he also believed that the City needed to move forward to get additional facilities and do so in Bob's name. He felt there was a lot of support for such a venture at this time and that funds be set aside with the Foundation for example, to build and name a sports park for Bob Zirbes. And to that end, he would like to see the City set aside a relatively significant amount of funds to support such an effort. C/Herndon moved to amend the draft resolution to recommend that City Council set aside a significant amount of funds (such as the $4 million that was tentatively set aside for a new library) for a Bob Zirbes Sports Park. Motion died for lack of a second. MARCH 22, 2007 PAGE 5 P&R COMMISSION C/Grundy moved, C/Liang seconded to amend the draft resolution to state that the Commission would recommend that the City Council build a new sports complex to be named after Bob Zirbes and, if a new sports complex were not built by the end of 2010, the Commission recommends that the City Council consider renaming an existing park for Bob Zirbes. Motion carried 3- 2 by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS: Grundy, Liang, VC/Low, NOES: COMMISSIONERS: Herndon, Chair/Owens ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: None 4.3 DISCUSSION OF METHODS TO BLOCK UNAUTHORIZED VEHICLE ACCESS TO CITY PARKS. CSD/Rose showed examples of types of mitigation measures staff would recommend for use in City parks to keep unauthorized vehicles from entering the parks and damaging the park surfaces. The estimated cost to install initial mitigation measures is about $49,000 and secondary measures about $70,000 for a total of $119,350. CSD/Rose responded to C/Grundy that Pantera Park has suffered the most damage of any City park. Staff would recommend installation at Pantera Park and Peterson Park as the number 1 and 2 priorities. C/Grundy felt a good economical approach would be to provide initial protection on an as needed basis and determine the benefit of return before throwing any more money at the problem and if the return is good, continue to prioritize the full project. Chair/Owens asked if there were funds allocated for this project. CSD/Rose said he believed there was enough to pay for the Peterson Park bollards out of the maintenance fund. Chair/Owens said he would recommend installation at the park with the greatest need. PMS/Jordan responded to C/Liang that the issue with surveillance cameras was that there was a lot of vandalism at Maple Hill Park. SPYTECH Surveillance gave him a proposal for $5,000 at Maple Hill only. He recently spoke with SPYTECH about Sycamore Canyon Park to address the security concerns at the maintenance yard and was quoted $5,000 for that location as well. The company C/Herndon referenced earlier offers their system for $5,000 for each unit and staff needs to determine whether it would be cost effective. C/Herndon understood the units could be moved and PMS/Jordan responded affirmatively and stated that the units were completely portable. C/Herndon suggested that the unit could be moved from one area to another depending on the need. VC/Low agreed. C/Liang suggested that the City advise the community by placing an item in the City Newsletter. MARCH 22, 2007 PAGE 6 P&R COMMISSION C/Herndon moved, VC/Low seconded to direct staff to conduct a thorough evaluation of the feasibility of a surveillance system and how it might be - utilized at various locations throughout the City, and table the balance of the proposed mitigation project for the time being. Without objection, the motion was so ordered. 4.4 SCHEDULE COMMISSIONERS FOR PARK WALKTHROUGHS. C/Herndon asked SSA/Somenzi to email all of the commissioners to remind them to schedule their park walkthroughs. The Commission concurred. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS: C/Liang asked PMS/Jordan how a home in D.B. could produce so much marijuana and have such a large irrigation system. PMS/Jordan said his understanding was that the plants were grown in water with nutrients fed to the plants via the water. In order for the plants to photosynthesize all of the nutrients artificial lighting was used and the resident of the home used filters, timers, etc. It is quite possible to have such an operation go undetected. There were several homes in Chino Hills thought to be running the same type of operation. VC/Low thanked C/Grundy for his stellar service as Chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission. She appreciated that he always looked out for the City and its residents and strived to always make things work better. She truly appreciated his leadership and foresight and the fact that he made it fun to serve on the Commission. VC/Low encouraged everyone to participate in the April 15 fundraising event for the current library to be held at the Diamond Bar Center. C/Grundy invited everyone to attend the Cottontail Classic soccer tournament on the April 15 weekend and enjoy a couple of games before attending the fundraiser. Approximately 160 teams are expected to participate. C/Herndon thanked staff for their great work. He felt that it was very worthwhile for D.B. to be represented at the CPRS Conference. Chair/Owens thanked staff for keeping the Commission informed. He said he planned to attend the Easter Egg Hunt and the City's Birthday party. ADJOURNMENT: On motion by C/Grundy, seconded by C/Herndon and with no further business before the Parks & Recreation Commission, Chair wens adjourned the meeting at 9:05 p.m. Resp ctf41ly ubmitted, ,SECRETARY Attest: TED OWENS, CHAIRMAN