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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/29/2012 PRC MinutesCITY OF DIAMOND BAR 14INUTES OF THE PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSIOP DIAMOND BAR CITY HALL - THE WINDMILL ROOM 21810 COPLEY DRIVE, DIAMOND BAR, CA 91765 MARCH 29, 2012 1 Chairman Roberto called the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the City Hall Windmill Room, 21810 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, CA 91765. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Commissioner Liang led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL: Present: Commissioners Dave Grundy, Benny Liang, Ted Owens, Vice Chairman Lew Herndon and Chairman Dave Roberto Staff Present: Bob Rose, Community Services Director; Anthony Jordan, Parks and Maintenance Superintendent; Christy Murphey, Recreation Superintendent; Mickey McKitrick, Recreation Specialist; and Debbie Gonzales, Administrative Coordinator. SWEARING IN OF COMMISSIONERS: Tommye Cribbins, City Clerk PRESENTATION OF 2012 YOUTH BASKETBALL SPORTSMANSHIP AWARDS: RS/McKitrick. RECESS: Chair/Roberto recessed the meeting at 7:15 p.m. RECONVENE: Chair/Roberto reconvened the meeting at 7:27 p.m. SELECTION OF CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIRMAN OF THE PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION: C/Owens nominated C/Hemdon to serve as Chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission. C/Grundy seconded the nomination. Without objection, C/Herndon was unanimously elected to serve as Chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission. Chair/Herndon nominated C/Liang to serve as Vice Chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission. C/Roberto seconded the nomination. Without objection, C/Liang was unanimously elected to serve as Vice Chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission. MATTERS FROM THE AUDIENCE: None CALENDAR OF EVENTS: As presented by CSD/Rose. MARCH 29, 2012 PAGE 2 P&R COMMISSION • C/Roberto suggested that a notation be made that there was no recording of the February 23 meeting and that votes be recorded. C/Owens moved, C/Robe-rto seconded, to approve the Consent Calendar as corrected. 1.1 Approval of Minutes for the February 23, 2012 Regular Meeting. 1.2 Received and Filed Parks and Recreation Commission Handbook. Chair/Herndon asked if the Commission would be (Point 7) asked to "assist in the preparation of the annual budget and the long-range recreation Parks Capital Improvement budget" as indicated in Point 7 of the handbook. CSD/Rose explained how Commission input is included in the budget. This is the first year that the City is putting together a five-year CIP budget. The first year of the five- year CIP is FY2012-13 and staff will bring this matter to the next Commission meeting for discussion. Included in the list of projects will be the recommendations from the Parks Master Plan. Prior to Chair/Herndon coming on board this matter was a regular matter of business for the Parks and Recreation Commission, especially prior to completing the original Parks Master Plan in 1998 which gave the City a list of priorities for CIP projects and ongoing input from the Commission was provided by the park walk-throughs rather than direct input to the budget. 2. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 2.1 Recreation Program Update- RS/Murphey C/Owens suggested that the Recreation Report include previous year's number of participants as well as current year number. He asked if the Commissioners were to be present at 11:00 a.m. for the 23rd City Birthday Celebration introductions and RS/Murphey responded that Commissioners are asked to be at the stage by 2:45 p.m. C/Roberto asked the difference between the participant's fees for the Concert share and RS/Murphey responded that the $15 fee covered lunch and the $5 fee was for a walk through. C/Roberto asked how the game booth split was determined for the Snowfest and RS/Murphey responded that staff takes the amount of revenue received from wrist band sales and deducts the amount spent on the game prizes which is the net divided between the groups. C/Owens asked if any other schools were interested in Arbor Day other than Pantera and RS/Murphey explained that the formal celebration is held at Pantera but Diamond Point will have tree planting ceremonies as well. CSD/Rose explained that each year staff adds another elementary MARCH 29, 2012 PAGE 3 P&R COMMISSION school for tree pla-nting. Chair/Herndon asked if any -of the other schools had commented about the Arbor Day event and RS/Murphey responded that she had not heard from any other schools. 2.1.1 Power Point Presentation on Youth Basketball Season— RS/McKitrick CJRoberto asked what other programs start up competitive leagues in the area to which RS/McKitrick responded NJB is the only other option during DB's season. When the DB season ends Walnut has a program that starts up and can accommodate year-round leagues because they have a gym. Generally, there is no year-round program for DB_ 2.2 Parks Report — PMS/Jordan 2.2.1 Power Point Presentation on Lorbeer Middle School — PMS/Jordan C/Grundy said that one can easily turn an ankle if the surface is of an uneven height and he appreciates the effort toward curing the unevenness. He asked if there was a different way of having different types of grass to try and avoid the clumpiness in the future and PMS/Jordan responded yes. Using perennial rye with Bermuda grass has been the City's standard. Looking in areas that are not high traffic areas one can see it is a good blend to use. However, in the high traffic areas during the winter months the Bermuda grass erodes and creates problems because the Bermuda grass goes away and leaves the perennial rye. So the City has moved to a sports field mix that still has the Bermuda and has more bent grasses, the grasses that grow more prostrate and mimic the growth of the Bermuda grass. Beginning this summer there will be no new perennial rye and while some perennial rye persists as it heats up and the warm season grasses start to take hold and the mower height continues at one inch it should serve to out compete the perennial rye. Chair/Herndon asked how many organizations were using the field and RS/McKitrick responded AYSO, DBSL and other portions of the year Pop Warner. Chair/Herndon asked what sport caused the biggest problems with the field and PMS/Jordan responded that it does not matter which sport because if it is concentrated in a certain area it will cause damage and this is not considering school use and their PE activities. Chair/Herndon asked if staff felt the mitigation would solve or minimize the issue. PMS/Jordan said he felt very comfortable that the adjustments will resolve the texture issues. In terms of getting the turf to grow in the middle of the field, there is really no turf that will stand Up to the amount of use it endures. Staff needs to keep a closer eye on the elevation of the sprinkler heads and as the soil begins to wear out more soil will have to be brought in or adjust the sprinkler heads down to keep a level surface. MARCH 29, 2012 PAGE 4 P&R COMMISSION Already the field is much improved -and he believes that by keeping the current practices in place the field will remain in good shape. Chair/Herndon asked PMS/Jordan's take on artificial turf and PMS/Jordan said it is not the magic bullet everyone thought it would be. It will stand up to much more than natural turf but there are other issues that come along with that in terms of maintenance, staph infections, field temperatures, etc, and he felt the City would be swapping one set of problems for another. Personally, he is partial to the natural turf. 2.3 CIP Projects — CSD/Rose 2.3.1 Washington Park -- CSD/Rose reported that the final walkthrough is scheduled for next Wednesday. The project is nearly completed and the 90 -day maintenance period began this week. The only issue with the project is the Edison meter. Staff submitted paperwork and paid all fees last November and was told that the meter would be installed by March 1. CSD/Rose met with the Edison representative today and the rep told him this was his first project and that there had been several issues that have delayed the installation. CSD/Rose was told that the meter would be installed within the next 30 days. The contractor is on schedule but has to come out to manually turn on the water valves, which puts further financial burden on the City. Dedication ceremonies are scheduled for Saturday, June 2, hours to be announced. 2.3.2 Sycamore Canyon Park Trail — Phase IV — CSD/Rose stated that this project is close to completion. There will be some delay regarding the installation of the free-standing interpretive panels due to design and order process. When the panels are completed in the Spring the contractor will install them. This project has a one-year maintenance period. Chair/Herndon said he walked the area and noticed damage to some of the installed signs. In addition, some of the signs that are near the exercise areas do not seem to relate with the devices. Chair/Herndon also mentioned that all of the mounts for the free- standing signs appear to be facing the inside of the park rather than being directed toward the horizon, for example. CSD/Rose said that one of the mounts was incorrectly installed and will be turned around. 2.3.3 Silver Tip Mini -Park — CSD/Rose indicated that this park is close to completion. Some of the irrigation system was left off in a planting area due to incorrect plan drawings. Staff put in a change order that was approved on Monday to get the rest of the system installed. After installation and planting the 90 -day maintenance period will commence. Staff plans to have a ribbon -cutting or MARCH 29, 2012 PAGE 5 P&R COMMISSION dedication ceremony at the park toward _tFie end of June. Supervisor Don Knabe wishes -to be a part of this ceremony since he was able to provide $150,000 toward the budget through the "Safe Parks Acts" -fund. 2.3.4 Design of Sycamore Canyon Creek Repair — CSD/Rose reported that David Evans & Associates was selected as the consultant on this project and will work on the design to repair the erosion area and look at the area adjacent to the Tot Lot for a more permanent fix. When the concept designs are available, staff will bring them to the Commission for review. 2.3.5 Trails Free Standing Interpretive Exhibits — CSD/Rose explained that all 11 of the panels and one directional sign have been designed and are in production. CSD/Rose said he would email photos of the three additional panels to the Commissioners. 2.3.6 Dog Park at Pantera Meadow — CSD/Rose gave a Power Point presentation showing the location of the dog park. The only portion of the construction that will be done by a contractor is the ADA walkway that begins near the basketball courts in Pantera Park and extends to the parking lot of Pantera Park which includes Handicapped parking stalls and meets the City's requirements for parking and access. At each transition there will be a round landing for wheelchairs to rest and providing room for people or other wheelchairs to pass. The portion of the Walkway that does not require handrails is five feet wide and the areas that require handrails are eight feet wide to allow for maintenance cart services. The plan is to have construction completed and the park open by the end of August 2012. C/Grundy said he predicted that people will park along Pantera and folks will walk down the hill creating a pathway and wondered if the City had discussed creating a walkway. CSD/Rose responded yes. The shortest path would have been from Pantera Drive straight down the hill. Unfortunately, such a path would have required a 2:1 slope and it is Currently closer to a 1.5 slope. Staff will monitor the issue and perhaps create steps down to a path in a future phase of the project, if warranted. 3. OLD BUSINESS: None 4. NEW BUSINESS: None 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS: VC/Liang commented on the State of the City event during which M/Chang spoke about Washington Park and the Dog Park. He attended the CPRS Conference in Long Beach and found it to be very interesting and informative. MARCH 29, 2012 PAGE 6 P&R COMMISSION C/Grundy thanked staff for the presentation and response from the City in addressing, the Lorbeer Middle School field situation which averted serious concerns. C/Roberto thanked staff for the great presentations this evening and RS/McKitrick for another good basketball season. He too attended the conference in Long Beach and garnered a lot of useful information, especially the programs related to Community Services and Parks and Recreation being offered by various schools. C/Owens asked if staff notified residents that Washington Park has tiles that were done by the kids. RS/Murphey responded that staff plans to send out letters closer to the dedication ceremonies. Chair/Herndon thanked staff for an excellent job and echoed C/Grundy's comments regarding quick action on Lorbeer and continued monitoring of the situation by staff. He thanked outgoing Chairman Roberto for his service to the Commission and said he would strive to do a good job during his term in office. ADJOURNMENT: C/Roberto moved, C/Owens seconded, to adjourn the meeting. With no further business before the Parks & Recreation Commission, Chair/Herndon adjourned the meeting at 8:59 p.m. The foregoing minutes are hereby approved this 29thday of March --7 2012. Ily.Submitted, Attest: Lf C- L—EW HERN CHAIRMAN