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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/24/2013 PRC MinutesCITY OF DIAMOND BAR DIAMOND BAR CITY HALL - THE WINDMILL ROOM 21810 COPLEY DRIVE, DIAMOND BAR, CA 91765 OCTOBER 24 ,2013 LWTTIUNF•' •.�,� Chairman Dave Grundy called the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. in the City Hall Windmill Room, 21810 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, CA 91765. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Vice Chairman Owens led the Pledge of Allegiance. Present: Commissioners Lew Herndon, Benny Liang, Dave Roberto, Vice, Chairman Ted Owens, Chairman Dave Grundy 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. MATTERS FROM THE AUDIENCE: None Offered. CALENDAR OF EVENTS: As presented by CSD/Rose. 1. CONSENT CALENDAR: C/Herndon moved, VC/Owens seconded, to approve the Consent Calendar as presented. Without objection, the motion was so ordered with C/Liang abstaining. 1.1 Regular Meeting Minutes for September 26, 2013 -- approved as submitted. 2.1 Recreation Program Update — RS/Murphey VC/Owens asked if there are seniors who participate in more than one group and RS/Murphey responded that there are quite a few seniors who participate in more than one group. 2.1.1 Power Point Presentation on Field Attendants — RS/McKitrick Chair/Grundy asked if the City kept a portion of deposits if staff has to clean up after a scheduled park event. RS/Murphey said that staff turns in a form to the staff members who make the OCTOBER 24, 2013 PAGE 2 P&R COMMISSION reservations and a portion or all of the deposit is retained, depending on how much work the Field Attendants have to do. In a recent incident, two Field Attendants spent about three hours cleaning up after a scheduled event, which definitely affected the deposit. VC/Owens asked if groups take advantage of the parks without scheduling. RS/McKitrick responded that it happens periodically; however, the bigger issue is that a regular group of individuals drive around looking for fields. Each time they are caught doing so, they are told they have to submit evidence of insurance and go through the proper channels to have field access. If user groups leave lights on and leave the field, adults will often come onto the fields for pickup soccer games. The lights automatically go off at 10:00 p.m. User groups are requested to let staff know if they intend to leave the field early, however, they do not always do so and staff will then discover that the lights have not been turned off when they conduct their rounds. 2.2 Parks Report — PMS/Jordan VC/Herndon said there was a previous discussion about placing bollards in parks to prevent vehicles from driving up to the picnic tables and wanted to know if staff had completed its investigation. PMS/Jordan responded that Pantera Park has removable bollards. Peterson Park is more open which would likely require something like white vinyl fencing to preclude access. To VC/Owens' question, no further mitigation measures have been investigated or considered. 2.2.1 Power Point Presentation on Dog Park Improvements — PMS/Jordan 2.3 Cl P Projects — CSD/Rose 2.3.2 Dog Park — CSD/Rose reported that Geronimo Concrete started work on October 7 and expects to be finished prior to Thanksgiving. 2.3.3 Grandview Trail and Grandview Trail Link — CSD/Rose stated that the revised plans were submitted by TKE and have been approved by Building and Safety. Plans are now with the Public Works Department for approval of the grading plan and once approved, the project will go out to bid. 2.3.4 Site D Public Park — CSD/Rose reported that the Parks and Recreation Commission reviewed the Conditions of Approval at its last meeting and those conditions were reviewed and approved by the Planning Commission on October 8. The Commission packet contains a memorandum listing the Conditions that were recommended for City Council approval on November 19. OCTOBER 24, 2013 PAGE 3 P&R COMMISSION Chair/Grandy asked if any of the Parks and Recreation Commission's recommended changes were eliminated or changed by the Planning Commission. CSD/Rose responded that the only condition that was tweaked was Condition No. 2, which had to do with the Building Permit and the time frame for completion of the park. 2.3.5 Diamond Bar Center Improvements — CSD/Rose stated that office doors are being installed by the contractor early next week. 2.4 List of Pending Commission Requests — CSD/Rose said that the non- binding MOU with the school districts would be added to the list of Commission requests. 3.1 Pony Baseball Fields — CSD/Rose presented staff's report and stated that participation in the allocation, monitoring or payment for use by community organizations of the Pony Baseball fields presents too much risk to the City of Diamond Bar and recommended that the City pass on the opportunity. C/Roberto asked who conducts the risk assessment for the City and CSD/Rose responded the JPIA and management staff. C/Hemdon read his response to CSD/Rose's email into the record. OCTOBER 24, 2013 PAGE 4 P&R COMMISSION Response to Interoffice Memorandum dated October 17, 2013 From: Bob Rose, Community Services Director Re: Pony Baseball Fields Liability to the City --the question that I ask is why is there more liability to the city on rented property than on city owned property or school district owned property. It appears to me that this is a failed argument. On school property the school district and the city are both deep pockets. On city property the city is the only "deep pocket" involved. So to say that the city is the only deep pocket involved on rented property does not make a sensible argument in that it is already in that situation on its own property when it allows the youth sports programs to use city fields. In addition we have crowded onto one field both softball and soccer at this time. I have a greater fear of a liability problem with the current situation. Insurance— should the city go forth with this plan of renting Pony League fields I am sure that all parties involved would carry appropriate insurance. I would assume that the Pony League carries insurance, I believe that the sports organizations are required to carry insurance as a prerequisite to using the city controlled fields and because the city is so concerned about their deep pockets I am sure the city carries appropriate insurance. Benefits— We are told that 119 hours per field would be made available to the sports organizations through this program. I believe there are four fields at the Pony League complex. That means that 476 additional hours of field use would be made to the youth sports organizations. After sitting in on several Field Allocation Meetings I believe this additional time would be greatly appreciated by the sports groups and the city staff. One year trial — I believe that a three month trial of this arrangement is in order to test the results. The city has no direct costs as the Diamond Bar Community Foundation has agreed to pay the rental fees for the three months involved. If the program is a failure or is sufficiently flawed then it obviously should not be continued. However if the program successfully relieves congested sports fields during the critical months of Aug., Sept. and Oct. it should be renewed if at all possible. Respectf 1 y submitted, Lew Herndon, Parks and Recreation Commissioner He further stated that if there is a concern about whether the Diamond Bar Community Foundation will pay the money he is sure that the Foundation would make the money available to the City's treasury long before the program went into effect. Chair/Grundy said he was uncertain why the money would have to be available to the City because would not the Foundation pay the money directly? C/Herndon said he believed the Foundation would pay at the City's direction. Chair/Grundy said if the City was concerned about OCTOBER 24, 2013 PAGE 5 P&R COMMISSION entering into an agreement, an alternative would be to have the Foundation pay the rental without the City being directly involved and therefore, he believed there would be no liability issue. C/Hemdon said that the problem with that scenario is that the Foundation has very limited personnel. There is no paid staff and everyone participates on a volunteer basis. There are a lot of programs the Foundation is involved in and it makes sense to him that these fields would be allocated through the City. CSD/Rose stated that the maintenance provided at the Pony Baseball fields is provided by Pony League volunteers or independent contractors under the control of Pony Baseball — they are not under the control of the City and the City does not want control over the maintenance because this is an ongoing obligation. One of the liability concerns is that the City has a contractor that is maintaining the parks, and with respect to the fields owned by the school district that the City allocates, the City is in charge of the maintenance. The Pony fields would be maintained under another entity which would present a liability concern. C/Hemdon said that for most of the schools the City does not conduct, any maintenance. CSD/Rose agreed and stated that the City does not allocate any other school fields except Paul C. Grow and Lorbeer Middle School, both of which are maintained by the City. C/Roberto asked if Pony League would agree that the City had no contractual responsibility for maintaining the fields. Pony has already said that it would continue to do the maintenance and the City would not have any responsibility for the maintenance. CSD/Rose explained that without controlling the maintenance, the City does not have control of the condition of the fields and if something were to occur as a result of the City allocating the facility, the City could be held liable and even though other insurance coverage is in force, the City could ultimately be held liable for injuries. C/Hemdon asked how RS/McKitrick would use those fields if he had 476 additional hours to allocate during critical months. RS/McKitrick responded that he would be able to schedule baseball/softball teams to use the Pony fields, as the current situation leaves baseball/softball in a position to where coaches are unable to teach children how to track a fly ball. The possibility of being able to hit into the outfield would likely be greatly appreciated. Sophia Rice Gonzales asked if denial of the Pony League allocation would affect the Commission's endorsement of a new facility. C/Hemdon said that use of the Pony fields during the three month period would not solve the City's field shortage problem. Jill Ferris said it would be great to play with an outfield. She felt the real liability issue was how congested the parks are becoming and thought it Would be worth a try to use the Pony fields. OCTOBER 24, 2013 PAGE 6 P&R COMMISSION Greg Busch, 518 Navajo Springs has 24 years with AYSO and 13 years with Diamond Bar Girls Softball, said the Pony fields afford an opportunity to open other fields for the kids and when someone makes an offer to use an established facility it should be considered. The Commission and staff have always been very supportive of the community organizations and the City needs to continue that posture. Roger Pearce, 652 Blenfield Place, Upper Division Commissioner for AYSO in Diamond Bar, in response to whether or not RS/McKitrick could use another 476 hours for field allocation, suggested that if RS/McKitrick and others were to contact the sports organizations a lot could be accomplished. VC/Owens said he thought Pony League was in the process of scheduling the facility. C/Herndon said he spoke with the President of Pony League this evening before coming to the meeting and he was told they are willing to rent the facilities to the City on weekday afternoons, not on weekends and not on Holidays. However, he understood the big need was for practice fields and not for games. VC/Owens wondered why the City would want to get involved at all. He asked why the Pony League would not just continue to work with the user groups. C/Herndon said that it would be more cumbersome because for this to work, in his opinion, it needs a central control for allocating field time to the various groups. Chair/Grundy said it sounds to him like the heavily congested period of time is actually August through October and that time frame has passed this year. Is there any value to reconsidering this for Spring to position the groups for next year? C/Herndon said he was talking about next August to October (2014) which would give RS/McKitrick time to plan and discuss options with the organizations. This year there is nothing available that would benefit the organizations. Chair/Grundy said that given the time to consider alternatives he would suggest that the Commission ask the City to consider a three month trial for next August through October (2014) to see if there is any liability strategy for the three month period of time and determine how much value is provided. After the three month trial the City could consider whether there was enough value to enter into a more permanent arrangement and work to overcome the potential liability issues. C/Liang asked RS/McKitrick how long it would take for him to work with the user groups to allocate the hours. RS/McKitrick responded that he sends paperwork to the user groups and they have a few weeks to turn in their field requests. A couple of weeks after that staff meet with the user groups which gives him about a month to prepare. With the increase in travel groups, new groups are also requesting field use. It usually takes another two weeks to map out the calendar. OCTOBER 24, 2013 PAGE 7 P&R COMMISSION C/Roberto agreed there was time to consider an arrangement for next year and felt it was important to continue to attempt to work it out. C/Herndon moved to recommend that the City move forward with the project if possible, and that staff and the City Council attempt to mitigate insurance liability concerns. Motion died for lack of a second. Chair/Grundy moved, VC/Owens seconded to recommend that this be sent back to staff for further study to determine whether the City can enter into an agreement and mitigate the liability issue. Motion passed 4-0 with C/Roberto abstaining. CSD/Rose asked what the time period was on the Commission's recommendation. C/Hemdon asked when RS/McKitrick needed the information and RS/McKitrick responded that he would like to have the information available by June 2014. 4. NEW BUSINESS: 4.1 Request to Study Funding Options for Athletic Facility Improvements CSD/Rose presented staff's report and recommended that the Parks and Recreation Commission recommend that the City Council direct staff to examine all available and potential sources of funding for the implementation of the capital improvement plan in the Parks Master Plan including the future funding of construction and maintenance of athletic facility improvements. Chair/Grundy asked for confirmation that staff's recommendation does not contain a specific recommendation for use of the proceeds of the Site D property, which he received from CSD/Rose. C/Herndon read his response to the recommendation for Item 4.1 into the record: OCTOBER 24, 2013 PAGE 8 P&R COMMISSION Response to Interoffice Memorandum dated October 27, 2013 From: Bob Rose, Community Services Director Re: Request to Study Funding Options for Athletic Facility Improvements Background: I agree with all of this information provided by Mr. Rose's mernorandum. I feel that there is additional information that is necessary to consider. The shortage of lighted and unlighted sports fields in Diamond Bar is older than the city itself. The city spent over $170,000 to consultants to provide us with the Parks and Recreation Master' Plan and I think they did an outstanding job. I agree with their acknowledgment that we have a shortage of sports fields. Each and every year thousands of kids are involved in youth sports programs. Each and every year the city holds Field Allocation Meetings to parcel out the available fields to all the sports organizations involved. Each and every year the city fathers turn a blind eye to this problem, or in fairness, they fail to consider to provide funding to alleviate the problem. We need to move this problem way up on the priority list. A recent article in a local newspaper stated that only 1 in 3 of the kids in our schools can pass the minimum requirements of the California Physical Fitness Test. In my estimation this is a great tragedy. At the same time we (the city) are not providing the necessary sports fields to accommodate the needs of the people that are trying to overcome this problem through their sports groups. In fact, it appears that this issue is a lower priority than providing a place for dogs to exercise. I like animals but they do not come before our children on my list of priorities. Discussion — I again agree with Mr. Rose's statement that "the Park and Recreation Commi i ^-)r is asking the City Council to consider the development of additional lighted athletic facilities when establishing priorities for future funding." I believe though that the onetime funds (approx. $1.8 M) being generated by the sale of the city property adjacent to Site D should be devoted solely to the overlooked and decades old problem of sports fields. We need $5 M to solve the sports fields problem so there will be a need for future funding and we should be looking for the source for those funds. Mr. Rose states, "The City Council is certain to consider numerous options for the use of these one-time funds". That is the problem, they have a history of always considering other options for all funds. On -Going Maintenance Costs - Yes the economy has been weak and yes it is improving. In fact, a recent article in the local paper tells us that average property value tax assessment in the are; has increased 4.7% this last year. This should produce additional funds for the city. Certainly far in excess of the $62,000 needed for additional maintenance and operations mentioned at L.orbeer Middle School. I have also made an appeal to the Walnut Valley Unified School Board of Trustees to consider using some of their funds from the sale of Site D to help solve the shortage of fields. They are also concerned about their student's health and availability of after OCTOBER 24, 2013 PAGE 9 P&R COMMISSION school sports programs. I have subsequently had one on one conversations with several of the trustees and they have encouraged me to pursue this issue with the district. Approximately a year ago the Parks and Recreation Commission recommended to the City Council that the city staff negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding with the two school districts in Diamond Bar regarding the possible joint use of district property as suggested in the P & R Master Plan. There has been a change of leadership at WVUSD so that project was delayed. I have spoken to the new superintendent, Dr. Taylor, and I think now is the time to follow through with the City Council's direction to put the MOU in place. Respectfully submitted, �✓—� /�� itis Lew Herndon, Parks and Recreation Commissioner OCTOBER 24, 2013 PAGE 10 P&R COMMISSION C/Herndon further commented that upgrading the. Lorbeer Middle School field would cost $1.5 million and if the City gets $1.8 million from the sale of Site D that leaves $300,000 to cover the maintenance for that property for five years which would give the City time to improve its financial situation. Jill Ferris, Publicity Chair, Diamond Bar Girls Softball, and volunteer advocate for the American Heart Association, talked about the need for more sports facilities in the City and asked the Commission to recommend to the City Council that it set aside $1.8 million frorh the sale of the property adjacent to Site D for that purpose. She presented a petition with 300 plus signatures in support of the proposed recommendation. Tom Balderama, 1502 Strawflower Lane, President, FC Man United, said he agreed with speakers that the biggest challenge to the City is lack of fields. It is very difficult to train on a 15' x 20' piece of grass. He said he supported the request to study funding options for athletic facility improvements. His organization is seeking funding from Cal South Foundation that looks to cities for capital improvement plans on a matching funds basis. He recommended that the Commission consider potential funding from Cal South Foundation. Chair/Grundy asked if the funds would have to be dedicated to soccer or could they be used toward field improvements. Mr. Balderama said he believed the funds could be used toward field improvements; however, The Foundation is obviously looking to develop soccer fields and he felt that strong usage of fields for softball and soccer could be of interest to The Foundation. Mr. Balderama said he would provide staff with a contact name. Mr. Busch said that Walnut Valley Unified School District has taken AYSO for tens of thousands of dollars and he would like to see the funds go to a school district that is supportive of youth athletics such as the Pomona Unified School District which never charges for use of fields for athletics. Mrs. Ferris asked what else the money could be used for in addition to lighting facilities. CSD/Rose responded that the only other project he is aware of at this time is an update of the General Plan which he understands will cost the City $2 million. Mrs. Ferris asked if the main concern about using the money was "maintenance" and CSD/Rose explained that money is always a concern whether it is building or maintaining a facility. Mrs. Ferris thought the user fees paid for ongoing maintenance. CSD/Rose explained that the City of Diamond Bar does not charge for use of its athletic facilities or for the lighting. Staff has asked the City Council to consider charging fees for field use, but the City Council has chosen not to charge user fees for athletic fields. OCTOBER 24, 2013 PAGE 11 P&R COMMISSION C/Hemdon reminded the Commission that over 1,700 people have signed the petition asking the City to use the Site D proceeds for sports fields. He asked CSD/Rose if he was aware of any other item that had received more than 1,700 signatures and CSD/Rose said he was aware of one other time when the City incorporated. Chair/Grundy said he would agree to include a reference to the $1.8 million to the effect that the City use part or all of the $1.8 for future athletic facilities. He acknowledged C/Hemdon's desire to recommend that all of the $1.8 million be used for athletic fields, and his only concern about that was that if the recommendation left no wiggle room and was not palatable to the City Council, it may negate the original intent, as opposed to saying the Commission would like to have it all but that the Commission is willing to settle for at least part of the proceeds, should that be the will of the Council. C/Roberto agreed with Chair/Grundy and believes the City has to be fiscally responsible in determining the best use of funds. If some of the money could be set aside for improvement on some of the sports complexes the City currently uses, it should be done. VC/Owens agreed with C/Roberto that the opportunity to use some of the funds from the sale of Site D for some of the Master Plan items such as Lorbeer would open a lot of opportunities for sports fields, especially if they are lighted fields that can be used during the day, into the evening and on weekends. C/Hemdon said that this issue has not been addressed for a number of years and he is concerned that unless something specific is decided he cannot imagine the City moving forward with athletic fields. $1.8 million would allow everything in the Parks Master Plan to be done for Lorbeer as well as provide five years of maintenance for that facility. C/Liang asked how South Point Middle School fields could be lighted with so many homes adjacent to the school. There was an issue of neighbors concerned with the use of fields at Maple Hill School even during the daylight hours. CSD/Rose said that anytime lights are installed on a ball field there are concerns about potential issues with the residents. The City had the issue with Peterson Park and also at Pantera Park. In fact, Pantera Park is still in the midst of mitigation. Most of the lighted fields are open until 10:00 p.m. and at Pantera, unless there is a game in process that extends beyond that hour, the lights are on only until 9:00 p.m. The outreach process would include working with neighbors to mitigate their concerns, which is always balanced against the benefit to the entire community. The lights do not spill over into the neighborhood;, however, the neighbors can see the lights, which to some is an issue. OCTOBER 24, 2013 PAGE 12 P&R CONIMISSION C/Liang asked what would happen if the $1.8 million was set aside for Lorbeer and during the outreach process the City ran into problems and by the time the issues were resolved, $1.8 million might not be enough. CSD/Rose said it was always a possibility an outreach process might take longer than anticipated and there is never a guarantee that the outcome will be favorable. The last time the City went through the Lorbeer process it was a pretty smooth process with no outcry from the community; however, another field that is located closer to homes could certainly lengthen the public process. Chair/Grundy called for a vote on staff's recommendation which was rejected by a 5-0 vote. Chair/Grundy asked for a vote on a revised recommendation that included the following: "that the proceeds of $1.8 million from the sale of Site D will be used for future funding of athletic fields" which failed by a voice vote of 1 Aye and 4 No votes. Chair/Grundy asked for a vote on a second revision of staff's recommendation to include the following: "that part or all of the $1.8 million proceeds from the sale of Site D should be included in the future funding and construction of athletic fields." C/Herndon asked for a specific minimum amount to be included. Chair/Roberto asked the Commission to comment on what a minimum threshold should be and C/Herndon suggested 50 percent. C/Liang asked if the City Council had to accept the Commission's recommendation and CSD/Rose responded "no." Chair/Grundy asked for a vote on a third revision of staff's recommendation to include the following revision: "that at least half up to all of the $1.8 million proceeds from the sale of Site D will be used for future construction of athletic fields." Without objection, the motion was so ordered. C/Herndon said the school districts have not been approached about a joint use agreement and the districts are in the dark about the Parks Master Plan. The (non-binding) MOU would clear up that issue and ensure their cooperation and agreement when.funding becomes available. If the City Council grants the Commission's request it may not bode well with the school district if the City suddenly told the district what it intended to do with the district's land. The (non-binding) MOU clearly states what the City would like the school district to know and seeks their cooperation when funding becomes available. CSD/Rose explained that when Agenda Item 2.4 was discussed this evening the non-binding MOU was added back onto the list and staff will OCTOBER 24, 2013 PAGE 13 P&R COMMISSION move forward with the item. VC/Owens thought that when the Master Plan was developed the two school districts bought into that plan during the development process. CSD/Rose said that the school boards did not officially vote on whether to support it or approve it. The non-binding MOU is actually a communication between the City Council and school boards. C/Hemdon moved to direct staff to resume activity on the Memorandum of Understanding with Walnut Valley Unified School District and Pomona Unified School District regarding the possible joint use of district property as suggested in the Parks Master Plan. Without objection, the motion was so ordered. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS: C/Roberto thanked staff for the Power Point presentations and the work they do. He asked that a list of the current and future projected expenditures for the Dog Park to be included in the Commission's meeting agenda. C/Herndon thanked his colleagues for their presence and staff for the outstanding job they do. He asked for a report from RS/McKitrick on the field allocation meetings. He does not want staff to feel that any of his comments this evening were directed at them., His motivation is strictly to help the kids in the City and it was not his intention to offend anyone. C/Liang thanked staff for their informative presentations. He appreciated the thoughtful discussion by his colleagues and the ability for each Commissioner to feel free to express his concerns. He thanked the user group participants who spoke this evening. VC/Owens thanked.staff for the Power Point presentations. He advised staff he will attend the Veterans event. He thanked the user group individuals who were present this evening. Chair/Grundy thanked staff for the great reports and for doing such a great job day in and day out as witnessed by how well the City's facilities are maintained. He thought tonight's discussion was great and wished for more public input during Commission meetings. OCTOBER 24, 2013 PAGE 14 P&R COMMISSION AWOURNMENT: C/Hemdon moved, VC/Owens seconded, to adjourn the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting. With no one objecting and no further business before the Parks and Recreation Commission, Chair/Grundy adjourned the meeting at 9:10 p.m. The foregoing minutes are hereby approved this 26 day of NOVEMBER 2013. Res peGffu I IYS'uQ rn itted, RETARY