Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/23/2009 PRC MinutesCITY OF DIAMOND BAR Agenda No. 6.2 MINUTES OF THE PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION S.C.A.Q.M.D./THE GOVERNMENT CENTER 21865 Copley Drive Diamond Bar, CA 91765 APRIL 23, 2009 CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Low called the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the SCAQMD/Government Center Hearing Board Room, 21865 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, CA 91765. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Commissioner Owens led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL: Present: Commissioners Benny Liang, Dave Grundy, Ted Owens, Vice Chairman Lew Herndon, Chairman Ruth Low Absent: None Staff Present: Bob Rose, Community Services Director; Anthony Jordan, Parks and Maintenance Supervisor; Christy Murphey, Recreation Supervisor; Mickey McKitrick, Recreation Specialist, and Alison Meyers, Community Services Coordinator. RECOGNITION OF DB 4YOUTH "IN ACTION" OUTGOING BOARD — CSC/Meyers RERGANIZATION: SELECTION OF PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION CHAIR AND VICE -CHAIR — continued from the meeting of March 26, 2009. C/Owens nominated C/Herndon to serve as Chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission. C/Liang seconded the nomination. Without objection, C/Herndon was elected to serve as Chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission. C/Low nominated C/Grundy to serve as Vice Chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission. C/Liang seconded the nomination. Without objection, C/Grundy was 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. 1. CONSENT CALENDAR 1.1 Approval of Minutes for the March 26, 2009 Regular Meeting. C/Owens moved, VC/Grundy seconded to approve the minutes as April 23, 2009 PAGE 2 P&R COMMISSION corrected. Without objection, the motion was so ordered. 2. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 2.1 RECREATION PROGRAM REPORT —RS/Murphey C/Owens asked if officials were paid by voucher or by cash before each game. RS/McKitrick responded that they were paid by cash. RS/Murphey responded to C/Owens that the fees for the Day Camp are $105 for regular and $125 for extended. C/Low asked if there was an increase in particular programs for particular groups. RS/Murphey responded that the numbers of classes are the same. There was no cost for the taxpayer preparation class participants. C/Owens congratulated staff on the planning and organization of the Easter Egg Hunt. RS/Murphey responded to C/Liang that staff received 65 applications for Volunteens and staff will interview to fill 40 positions. 2.2 PARKS REPORT — PMS/Jordan C/Owens asked if there was any progress on recovering the stolen benches to which PMS/Jordan responded negatively. CSD/Rose indicated to C/Owens that the pitching machines were donated to the City. PMS/Jordan responded to VC/Grundy that not all of the electrical vaults have been completed. Some vaults that were below grade were buried and others that were in walkways and too high were secured with epoxy and bolts. CSD/Rose responded to C/Owens that staff is aware of the complaint about lack of lighting in the batting cages and he is researching the issue. 2.3 CIP PROGRAM AND SPECIAL PROJECTS REPORT— CSD/Rose a. Sycamore Canyon Park Trail Phase III — Plan Check completed and ready to go out to bid. b. Sycamore Canyon Park Trail Phase IV — submitted for plan check. C. Sycamore Canyon Park ADA Phase IV — ready for plan check d. Washington Street Mini Park — design phase interviews should be completed in time for staff's recommendation to Council on May 5. 3. OLD BUSINESS: 3.1 FEES FOR ATHLETIC FACILITY USE CSD/Rose reported that at the last Commission meeting staff did not have information about the City of Industry settlement which was announced April 23, 2009 PAGE 3 P&R COMMISSION the next day. While the City has an opportunity to obtain a substantial amount of funds those funds are not available now and will not be available unless and until the stadium is constructed and in use which could be several years in the future. With respect to the budget, this program is in a deficit situation with higher expenses than revenues generated. VC/Grundy asked what items would be cut to balance the budget. CSD/Rose responded that no staff cuts are planned at this time. There will be some considerations with respect to replacing equipment, turf, etc. Staff is also looking at ways to reduce the landscape contracts. Other budget items were reduced including budgets for the Diamond Bar Center and two full time positions remain vacant. These budget considerations are subject to Council review and approval. Staff expects the revenue from the Diamond Bar Center to remain steady for the current fiscal year and increase by about $30,000 next year. CSD/Rose explained the budget expenditures and the Joint Use agreement with Pomona Unified School District for the use of Lorbeer Middle School fields to C/Low. C/Low asked how much of the $160,000 would be recouped based on staff's projected fees. CSD/Rose referred to staffs report item indicating $77,880 (less than half) would be recovered if the fees were implemented and the use of the facilities remained at their current level. C/Low asked what percentage of the entire parks budget is allocated for Lorbeer. CSD/Rose responded that the City's entire budget is approximately $19-20 million. The Parks budget is approximately $1 million including Lorbeer. C/Low asked if there were proposals to raise fees for other facilities and CSD/Rose responded that all fees were evaluated and all other fees have been adjusted within the past few years. There are approximately 125 other citywide fees, many of which have not been adjusted since 1991 that are being reconsidered at this time including the user fees. VC/Grundy asked if in the event the Council decided to approve a fee increase the fees could be re-evaluated each year and CSD/Rose responded affirmatively. It is up to the Commission to recommend when the fee increases should go into effect since registration for some organizations has already begun. RS/McKitrick responded to C/Owens that one individual who represents the Diamond Bar Destroyers and spoke at the last meeting said he was not overly concerned. Representatives for Pony Baseball, Pop Warner, Diamond Bar Soccer League and the Friday Night Pickup League for adults are all very concerned. C/Owens asked if any of the user groups have asked for help from the City and CSD/Rose responded that some of the organizations have contributed and that the City has from time to time contributed on a case by case basis. CSD/Rose stated that the City's intent is to maintain a balanced budget for ongoing maintenance and operations costs for its facilities. April 23, 2009 PAGE 4 P&R COMMISSION CSD/Rose explained to VC/Grundy that although the increase would take effect July 1 collection of the new fees could be delayed until the January 1, 2010 allocation period. Chair/Herndon asked if Mrs. Martinez's recommendation for a citywide fundraiser was something that other cities were doing to raise money to supplement their user groups. CSD/Rose said he was not aware of such fundraisers. Typically, fundraisers are supplemented with a great deal of staff time and effort so they generally do not result in that much profit. VC/Grundy asked if there were grant funds available for athletic purposes. CSD/Rose responded that there are grants for one-time costs, not for ongoing maintenance and operation costs. C/Low said it seemed to her that the user groups were short of funds and the City is also short of funds. She believed the Commissioners were loath to raise the fees because she and her colleagues understand everyone is short of funds. At some point, however, there has to be a reality check that if there are going to be services it will cost money. States with low taxes do not have services so therein is the tradeoff — if a community wants services they have to be paid for. The City has policy to be fiscally prudent, a good thing. On the other hand there is a sizeable reserve and the reserve is there for tough economic times as we are experiencing at this time. On the other hand, in terms of everyone pitching in, the user groups are being asked to pay considerably less than one-half of the actual maintenance costs. Therefore, she did not believe that staff's requested increase was all that unreasonable. VC/Grundy said that in economic challenging times it is appropriate to tighten discretionary spending because non -discretionary spending continues. It is difficult to say how much reserve is enough for a rainy day. His point is not whether it is enough or too little — it is that the City would want to remember that the reserve is there for hardships and as much as everyone would like to have an abundance of programs for the kids, these are the types of things that are considered discretionary and not something that has to be provided. Therefore, the City must be prudent about what it wants as opposed to what it needs and he would prefer that the City not consider dipping into what would be considered the "savings" account and rather consider what the general populace can do to balance lives and budgets in order to provide activities for the youth while remaining fiscally responsible. Chair/Herndon said that one of his pet peeves is taxes and fees and at this time the City is faced with a short-term problem. If the City were not facing economic considerations there would likely be no call for an increase in fees. He suggested that these fees be put in place until such time as the funds from the NFL Stadium project are made available or until the economy turns around because he would prefer these fees not be increased on a permanent basis. April 23, 2009 PAGES P&R John Rivera, 24335 Rimford Place, has three kids in Soccer and participates in Friday night adult soccer open play. He said he would not have a problem with a reasonable increase and felt all of the proposed fees should be fair. For example, Group B has an 81 percent usage of fields but they are only pulling in 64 percent of the proposed revenue increase and to him that is not fair. Group C has an 11 percent usage with a 32 percent fee increase. He was a firm believer that more programs would keep more kids off of the street and he wanted to be fair. He does not mind that his group pays more but it should be on an equal basis for the percentage of use. Chair/Herndon asked Mr. Rivera what he felt was a fair fee for his user group. Mr. Rivera said he could handle double the fee but not triple the fee. VC/Grundy said there have been complaints about encroachment on user allocations and asking these groups to pay even more would be very difficult. Has staff given any consideration to how this subject might be dealt with because if users are paying for a field they believe they have a right to during a specific period of time they should have full use of that field. CSD/Rose said that staff believes this situation is much better controlled now than it was in the past. Staff feels confident that what is written and backed up by permit is enforceable. C/Low moved to implement the proposed low -demand fees with actual implementation of fees effective January 1, 2010 and recommend that staff re-evaluate fees on an annual basis. The motion died for lack of a second. Commission discussion ensued. VC/Grundy moved to vote on the proposed fee as amended to eliminate CS 7 through 10 and charge the athletic field use without regard to demand based on the recommended fees shown for CS 1 through 4 and 16; that the fees be implemented on January 1, 2010 and the fees be reviewed annually. C/Low seconded the motion. The vote on the motion was 3-2 in favor, with VC/Grundy, C/Low and C/Liang voting yes and C/Owens and Chair/Herndon voting no. CSD/Rose stated that this item would most likely be presented to the City Council at its May 19 meeting. 4. NEW BUSINESS: 4.1 COMMISSION VIEWING OF PLANS — Sycamore Canyon Park Trail — Phase III; Sycamore Canyon Park Trail — Phase IV and Sycamore Canyon Park ADA Retrofit — Phase IV. April 23, 2009 PAGE 6 P&R COMMISSION 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS: C/Owens congratulated staff on the Birthday Party and Easter Egg Hunt. He was pleased that the City was able to work out an agreement with City of Industry to mitigate the effects of the stadium. VC/Grundy said the City Birthday Party was sensational and seemed to be the best -attended City Birthday Party to date. CSD/Rose reported that about $14,000 was collected from the carnival rides this year as opposed to $11,000 last year. The City keeps a portion to help recover some of the costs and the majority of the money goes to the operators of the games and carnival ride booths for their non-profit organization use. VC/Grundy said it was very exciting to him to see so many people in attendance. The local AYSO group's Cottontail Tournament will be held this weekend. C/Liang thanked staff for a great job on the City Birthday Party. C/Low also thanked staff for the City Birthday Party, a great event. She congratulated new Chairman Herndon. VC/Grundy thanked C/Low for her service as Chairman of the Commission. Chair/Herndon said he was thrilled to see all of the volunteers that this City enjoys. He would like to have the City of Industry and/or the NFL define in writing the promises that they have made to the D.B. youth sports groups. April 23, 2009 PAGE 7 P&R COMMISSION ADJOURNMENT: C/Owens moved, C/Liang seconded, to adjourn the meeting. With no further business before the Parks & Recreation Commission, Chair/Herndon adjourned the meeting at 9:04 p.m. ,SECRETARY CHAIRMAN LEW HERNDON