Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/23/2012 PRC MinutesCITY OF DIAMOND BAR MINUTES OF THE PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION DIAMOND BAR CITY HALL - THE WINDMILL ROOM 21810 COPLEY DRIVE, DIAMOND BAR, CA 91765 AUGUST 23, 2012 Chairman Herndon 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 Owens led the Pledge of Allegiance. Present: Commissioners Dave Grundy, Ted Owens, Dave Roberto and Chairman Lew Herndon Absent: Vice Chairman Benny Liang was excused. Staff Present: Bob Rose, Community Services Maintenance Superintendent; Christy Murphey, Knox, Community Services Coordinator; and Coordinator and Phil Williams, Facility Attendant. MATTERS FROM THE AUDIENCE: None Director; Anthony Jordan, Parks and Recreation Superintendent; Crystal Debbie Gonzales, Administrative CALENDAR OF EVENTS: As presented by CSD/Rose who noted that the September 4 City Council meeting was canceled. 1. -CONSENT CALENDAR: 1.1 Approved Minutes for the July 26, 2012 Regular Meeting. C/Grundy moved, C/Owens seconded, to approve the Consent Calendar as presented. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS: NOES: COMMISSIONERS: ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: 2. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS: .Grundy, Owens, Roberto, Chair/Herndon None VC/Liang 2.1 Recreation Program Update — RS/Murphey C/Owens asked for a percentage of residents versus non-residents participation in contract classes. RS/Murphey responded about 60-40 percent and stated that statistics would be provided. There is no AUGUST 23, 2012 PAGE 2 P&R COMMISSION difference in the cost for residents and non-residents. C/Roberto asked if the City Council had a cap on the budget for the 4th of July Celebration. RS/Murphey explained that Proposition A funds covers the cost of the shuffles. Funds from the General Fund were not doubled this year. She said she believes that Council is in favor of spending what needs to be spent to provide the event for the residents. Chair/Herndon asked if the City pays rent for the South Point Middle School Adult Volleyball facility and RS/Murphey responded "yes" and the cost is not completely covered by the fees. RS/Murphey offered to provide more details at a future meeting if the Commission so desired. CSD/Rose explained that when the recreation program was set up the City knew that as a community that it did not have certain types of facilities available for some of the programs. Philosophically, it was determined that gyrn space would be considered to be a "cost of doing business." If the City had its own gymnasium the cost would actually be more to the City for maintenance, utilities, etc. In light of that information, it was determined that for certain programs to be viable certain expenses are recoverable and certain expenses are non-recoverable. The City attempts to recover the actual direct costs for operating the program and a facilities cost will, in many cases, be subsidized. C/Owens asked why the enrollment is declining in the tennis classes and RS/Murphey explained that the advanced students moved to Chino Hills which has a more competitive program. Enrollment overall has dropped a bit as well. C/Owens asked if the City provides individual instructors or has one contractor that provides instructors. RS/Murphey responded that the City contracts with Tennis Anyone for instruction which employs several instructors. C/Owens asked if the revenue earnings were gross earnings and RS/Murphey responded "yes." C/Grundy asked if the "personal" reason for canceling classes was because the instructor backed out and RS/Murphey responded that the dance instructor was ill and was unavailable during class sessions. C/Grundy asked how the number of instructors who backed out this year compared with other years and RS/Murphey confirmed that it was higher this year. It is unusual to have instructors quit in the middle of or right before a session begins. 2.1.1 Power Point Presentation on Contract Classes — CSC/Knox C/Roberto asked about the projected expense for the instructor payout. RS/Murphey responded that CSC/Knox's report included the fees paid to instructors. AUGUST 23, 2012 PAGE 3 P&R COMMISSION C/Grundy asked if the summer number for 2011-12 was the same for last year and if there were any preliminary stats for this year? CSC/Knox explained that there are about two weeks of classes left and the last report that she ran showed a little over 1,000 enrolled participants. As far as revenue, she would have to look into that for C/Grundy. C/Grundy said and with two weeks left there would be no increase expected over the 1,000? CSC/Knox said she ran the report at the beginning of August and there may have been an increase in enrollment. C/Owens asked what means other than the network is used to recruit instructors. CSC/Knox said the City advertises online and in the Recreation Guide and contacts other local area cities for referrals. She also sends emails to returning and past instructors as well as, potential instructors that she is interested in or that the public has requested. C/Owens asked if other cities had experienced a drop in enrollment for their tennis classes who use the same contractor. RS/Murphey said that she has not looked into the matter this year. However, last year she found that other cities had experienced a slight drop as well. Chair/Herndon asked if the cost of insurance has increased over the past few years and how long has the $7 fee been in use. RS/Murphey responded that the City charged $5 for a long time. Two years ago the fee was increased to $7 at which time the City began purchasing insurance for the individual instructors with no increase in the insurance cost. 2.2 Parks Report — PMS/Jordan 2.2.1 Power Point Presentation on Washington Park — PMS/Jordan C/Grundy asked if the cat problem was domestic or feral. PMS/Jordan said he did not know. C/Grundy asked if staff has considered trapping feral cats and taking them to the Humane Society. PMS/Jordan said he would not want to get into a situation where someone's pet cat was taken away. Chair/Herndon said he was thrilled to hear the park was being used as much as it is. 2.3 CIP Projects — CSD/Rose 2.3.1 Trails Free Standing Interpretive Exhibits — CSD/Rose stated that the panels for Sycamore Canyon Mesa Trail and the Summitridge Park Trails are still on order and have not yet been received and will be installed when received. AUGUST 23, 2012 PAGE 4 P&R COMMISSION 2.3.2 Dog Park at Pantera Meadow — CSD/Rose reported that 10 bids were received from potential contractors and were opened on Tuesday, August 14. The low bid is $94,491.25 (about $2,000 less than the prior bid) and the City Council awarded the contract to Torres Construction, Inc.,' Los Angeles, at its August 21 meeting. The contractor has submitted the required bonds and insurance. As soon as the contract is fully executed staff will schedule the pre - construction meeting and set up the construction schedule. Staff's goal is to have the Dog Park completed and open to the public sometime in November. 2.3.3 Design- of Grandview Trail — CSD/Rose indicated that the trail is budgeted in the current fiscal year budget. The RFP was sent out to six landscape architects that have heretofore successfully designed projects in Diamond Bar and those proposals are due back by September 20. The Grandview Trail Link will also be designed to take the trail from the Grandview Trail by the Diarnond Bar Center overflow parking lot to a location on Dare Court, northwest of the parking lot. The public meeting for trails is scheduled for Tuesday, September 11 at 7:00 p.m. at the Diamond Bar Center, the purpose of which is to gain additional input from the public on the trails system and more specifically, the Grandview and the Grandview Trail Link. 2.4 List of pending Commission requests — CSD/Rose. CSD/Rose stated that staff is moving forward with the RFP for the technical improvements at the Diamond Bar Center which would include improving the stage lighting. Staff is also working with LPA Design at the Diamond Bar Center to redesign the Willow Room. The computer room was moved to a location at City Hall and Mt. SAC classes start next Monday. Staff will be seeking technical input for upgrading the DBC and as a result, the RFP is under review by several departments at City Hall. CSD/Rose reported that the Pickle Ball demonstration was scheduled to be held at Pantera Park this weekend. C/Owens reminded CSD/Rose about the request for a report on the anticipated amount of funds to be received by the City from the sale of Site D. CSD/Rose responded that the amount of money reported in the newspaper is the bid amount and the bidder has a set amount of time to conduct their due diligence to determine whether they want to keep that bid in place. The bidder met with the Fish and Game and Army Corps of Engineers this week. There is a blue line stream that flows through the property and how that will be mitigated and what those requirements will be will go a long way in determining what the ultimate value of the property is to the bidder. AUGUST 23, 2012 PAGE 5 P&R COMMISSION 3.1 Discussion of Benefits and Risks of Swings at City Parks — CSD/Rose. CSD/Rose stated that staff is considering installing swings at Longview North Park if grant funding can be obtained. The person who initiated this request told CSD/Rose that she has already raised enough money to pay for the swings ($3,800) and was looking for a place to deposit those funds. In response, staff referred her to the Diamond Bar Community Foundation and the individual will attend the September 10 meeting to seek their support for this process and at the very least to act as a repository for the funds. In the meantime, staff will continue looking for grant funds. Also at the July 28 meeting the Commission requested more information on how appropriate swings are in public playgrounds. Staff consulted numerous resources and has brought forth a researched report that reaches the conclusion that everything the Commission was told at the last meeting by the speakers about the benefits of swings is confirmed. The report was emailed to all of the Commissioners so that they Could click on the link to read the online information. CSD/Rose said he was very impressed by the amount of information that was available and how many concerns are in sync with speaker's concerns that swings are being removed. The reason swings have not been installed in DIB parks is because of the amount of space required. However, the benefits seem fairly extraordinary with respect to the equipment helping with the development of children including autistic children. When comparing the benefits to the risk, the risks of swings are no greater than many other pieces of playground equipment, whether it be climbing apparatus or other types of stationary play equipment. Most injuries involving swings have to do with contact with those that are swinging which has a lot to do with where the swings are placed and whether the swings are connected to other play equipment which places more children within its proximity. However, the new standards have the swings set apart from the rest of the play equipment that provides for space around the swings. As long as the Consumer Safety Product Commission guidelines are met, swings are relatively safe. Some school districts have removed swings due to incorrect usage — standing, throwing the swings at others, jumping out of swings, and pushing kids beyond their capabilities so that kids can fall off of the swings. In talking with the JPIA, the City's Risk Management firm, they have no concerns with swings. The JPIA evaluates the City's playgrounds every three years and have never had an issue with swings or recommended any changes to the swings in Diamond Bar. For that reason, staff is recommending that the Commission recommend that the City include swings as a regular part of the park design when space is available as parks are developed or as playgrounds are renovated. C/Grundy complimented staff on its research paper. AUGUST 23, 2012 PAGE 6 P&R COMMISSION C/Grundy moved, C/Owens seconded, to recommend that the City Council approve the inclusion of swings as a regular part of the park design, when space is available, as parks are developed or as playgrounds are renovated. Without objection, the motion was so ordered with VC/Liang being absent. 4. NEW BUSINESS: None 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS: C/Roberto thanked staff for their reports. He attended the Grand Opening of the new Library and walked through the facility prior to this evening's meeting and saw a lot of people using the library. The City should be very proud of another ger-ri it has added to the venues in the community which are things residents and surrounding communities can enjoy. C/Grundy thanked staff for their ongoing efforts and the PowerPoint Presentations give a great sense of video which he loves. He enjoyed all of the Concerts in the Park events he was able to attend. He asked if any other parks suffered from heat stress as did Washington Park. PMS/Jordan responded "no" and said that the stress was actually induced by the watering cycle being too short. More water would have taken care of the problem which was attributable to a scheduling error more than the heat which made it more apparent. C/Grundy said he did not notice any reports of vandalism in the Parks report tonight and PMS/Jordan responded that there had not been anything remarkable except for small incidents of graffiti here and there. C/Owens thanked staff for a good job on the Concerts in the Park series which were well attended and for the Grand Opening of the Library which was very well attended. The City and the community will appreciate the facility. C/Owens asked if there had been any graffiti at Washington Park and PMS/Jordan said he was not aware of any. There is a graffiti control company that visits the City on Monday and Friday and if there was graffiti it would have been remediated. When he walked through the park yesterday he saw no evidence of graffiti or any graffiti that had been painted over. C/Owens said there are a lot of cats in the area where he walks (white sand) that are owned by folks in the apartments and mobile homes. PMS/Jordan said the cats love that place. However, after the park was completed it allowed the cats to get into that area and make it their own litter box during construction and now they are used to going into that area so staff will have to continue policing the area to keep the sand clean. Chair/Herndon echoed his colleagues. He too was quite surprised by the turnout for the new library which was pretty sensational. He has attended some of the Concerts in the Park and it appears to him that by adding the movies it has added a beneficial element for the City. He attended the summer baseball team's picnic and thought staff did a phenomenal job and it was great to see all of the parents in attendance in support of the kids. AUGUST 23, 2012 PAGE 7 P&IR COMMISSION ADJOURNMENT: With no . further business before the Parks & Recreation Commission, Chair/Herndon adjourned the meeting at 8:14 p.m. The foregoing minutes are hereby approved this 10 day ofoctober2012. Respq,ctJuIIy-,Sccuf mitted, S� SECRETARY Attest:/-,----) i4 LEW HERMON, CHAIRMAN