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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/24/2014 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 JULY 24, 2014 WITIIXNF��� Chairman Owens called the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. in the City Hall Windmill Room, 21810 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, CA 91765. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Commissioner Grundy led the Pledge of Allegiance. FOOIIX�� Present: Commissioners Dave Grundy, Lew Herndon, and ,Chairman Ted Owens Absent: Commissioner Kim Hsieh was excused Vice Chairman Benny Liang arrived at 7:08 p.m. 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. RTTAAT�•- •� As presented by CSD/Rose. 1.1 Approval of Minutes for May 22, 2014 Regular Meeting. C/Grundy moved, C/Hemdon seconded, to approve the May 22, 2014 Minutes as presented. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS NOES: COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS Grundy, Herndon, VC/Liang Chair/Owens None Hsieh 2.1 Recreation Program Update — RS/Murphey 2.1.1 PowerPoint Presentation on Youth Baseball -- RS/McKitrick C/Grundy asked about the lower registration this year and RS/McKitrick said there was a decrease in the 4, 5, 6 & 7 divisions. JULY 24, 2014 PAGE 2 P&R C®16'IMISSION Chair/Owens asked to what degree and RS/McKitrick responded that generally, there are eight teams (4 in each division) and about 48 kids per division. This year there were 26 four & five year olds signed up and 24 in the 6 & 7 divisions for a total of 50 rather than 96 in the two age groups. C/Herndon said he asked for information regarding the history of the number of kids involved in the sports fields and was hoping that issue might be covered tonight. CSD/Rose responded that he has the information which will be sent to C/Herndon tomorrow. C/Herndon said that at the field allocation meeting RS/McKitrick indicated that there are more teams involved than in the past. RS/McKitrick said it was his theory he floated to C/Herndon that he believed there were less kids but more teams given that there are more travel programs available than in the past. Therefore, there are more organizations requesting field space and more teams, but the number of individuals are on the downturn. Chair/Owens said he was told the AYSO registrations were up about 20 percent this year. RS/McKitrick said when he went through the five-year history the maximum was 1,400 and this year they claim they will have about 900 enrollees. Last year they estimated 900 to 1,000 and it could be that last year they ended up with about 700 so if they are expecting 900 this year it would be an increase. When the paperwork is turned in this time of year it is based on an estimated number because registration has not yet been completed. Chair/Owens asked if most of the organizations are meeting the resident requirement for the scheduled field use and RS/McKitrick responded that every organization has at least one Diamond Bar resident which meets the requirements. The teams that are not Diamond Bar based teams pay to use the fields. Chair/Owens asked if there was sufficient field space to accommodate everyone and RS/McKitrick responded that there is not as much field space as people want; however, there is sufficient field space to accommodate the user groups. CSD/Rose explained that there is an artificial demand for the use of the fields because the City does not charge fees for the use of unlighted fields and lighted fields, which is rare so obviously, travel teams will gravitate toward Diamond Bar to avoid having to pay for use of the fields. C/Grundy thought he recalled that there needed to be a certain percentage of residents for the team to be able to use the fields and CSD/Rose responded that there is for the highest priority teams such as AYSO, Girls Softball, and Diamond Bar Pony League. JULY 24, 2014 PAGE 3 P&R COMMISSION C/Hemdon said he had attended several of the field allocation meetings and some of the organizations ask for everything. RS/McKitrick chimed in that most of the organizations ask for everything. C/Herndon said it was probably difficult to estimate what the real shortage of fields is because there are still soccer teams on the outfield, softball teams on the infield and an extensive use of Lorbeer which is overused. There are other indications of field shortages as well. He asked RS/McKitrick if he had any feel for how it might help to get the upper field at Lorbeer lighted and lighted fields at South Point Middle School and whether it would make RS/McKitrick's job any easier. RS/McKitrick said it would definitely make his job easier. One of his struggles is trying to get some of the organizations to efficiently utilize and allocate what they have been allocated. For example, the soccer programs have been allocated Monday through Friday and the coaches want Tuesday and Thursday and those organizations do not want to force coaches to practice on nights they do not want to be present so everybody is out there on Tuesday and Thursday and it remains rather sparse on the other days. Obviously, more lighted fields would help them spread out more on Tuesdays and Thursdays and if there were more (lighted fields) it would be more conceivable for baseball and softball to hit into an outfield more frequently which he frequently mentions at the user groups, that it is tough to teach a child to track a fly ball when they are not allowed to hit fly balls. The batting cages are nice for live pitches, but the outfielders do not really get any training so in that sense it would be nice but his real issue is attempting to get groups to be more efficient. For example, there is one soccer program double the size of the smaller program and the bigger program is more efficient at scheduling than is the smaller program. C/Herndon asked when the City lost the use of Chaparral and RS/McKitrick said Chaparral is not a field that he has ever allocated. Chaparral goes through WVUSD. CSD/Rose said his understanding is that when the gymnasium was built was about the time the users were no longer able to use the soccer field. RS/McKitrick said he believed the gym was built about four or five years ago. C/Grundy said it was about five years ago and prior to that time AYSO was using both the upper and lower fields so it does make it more of a stretch for Saturday play. C/Herndon asked if AYSO used Chaparral on the weekends and C/Grundy replied on the weekends predominately and sometimes for practice. Those two fields were mostly scheduled for games from sunup to sundown every Saturday. C/Owens asked if the allocation meeting ran smoothly and if people were flexible and RS/McKitrick responded that everybody gets something. One group applied for field space this year that he JULY 24,, 2014 PAGE 4 P&R COMMISSION could not provide but it was an adult soccer team that wanted to use a lighted field on a weekday and the City will not give a youth sports group the boot to accommodate adults; however, everybody gets a slice of the pie. Over the years there has been less and less wheeling and dealing. When he first started there was a lot of trading after the allocations and as he has had time on the job he has figured out what the larger groups need as opposed to what they ask for and has noticed over the past couple of years there has not been any trading. The larger groups are generally happy with what they are getting and the smaller groups are happy to get anything. It is the middle of the pack groups that are the noisiest. C/Grundy asked which group was almost never happy and RS/McKitrick responded that it was the Diamond Bar Soccer League. C/Herndon reiterated that he has attended many of the field allocation meetings and said that RS/McKitrick and his crew do a phenomenal job given what they have to work with and he wants to get more fields to make their job easier. 2.2 Parks Report — PMS/Jordan Chair/Owens asked how the skate park safety equipment use was being monitored and CSD/Rose explained that the safety equipment is enforced by the Sheriff's Department. It appears that little, if any safety equipment is being used. Chair/Owens said he read about the fatal accident in Chino Hills and said he hated to see that happen. VC/Liang asked if the Water Conservation Bill impacted the parks and CSD/Rose said that staff was evaluating that issue at this time. Walnut Valley Water has not provided the City with any expectations and the district is still working with the voluntary conservation initiated by Governor Brown in January. There is a board meeting on Monday, July 28 after which there may be new direction. Walnut Valley Water has ordinances in place that allow them to declare different stages of urgency. If they follow the state's mandate of two -days of outdoor watering it would be a stage 3 alert and the City would have to comply with the two-day watering mandate which could create a significant impact to the parks. The website declaration is that Metropolitan Water District that provides the majority of water to the district was not intending to cut back their supply this year which prompted voluntary conservation. The state is dealing with a variety of issues. Some areas do not have water for outdoor irrigation and other areas have a sufficient amount of water because the water supply has not been dramatically affected. The reservoirs are having issues and if California has another year of drought the situation will be worse. Staff is monitoring water use and PMS/Jordan has instructed contractors to reduce watering by one day. Most of the park PAGE 5 P&R COMMISSION facilities are watered five days a week and downgrading to four days a week represents a 20 percent cut. Depending on the directive from the water district the City may need to set priorities for cutting back on some areas and continuing the schedule in other areas for the benefit of the community (parks and public use areas). C/Hemdon asked if the beautification project design for the entrance to the eastern part of the City on Grand Avenue would require much water and CSD/Rose explained that the landscaping the length of Grand Avenue will be drought tolerant and as such, the water usage will not increase. 2.2.1 Power Point presentation on Starshine and Ronald Reagan Parks Walkthroughs — PMS/Jordan. C/Grundy asked if the child on the slide was injured and PMS/Jordan responded that when the child grabbed the bar and swung down the bar came down and hit the child on the nose. The report indicated that the child was bleeding but PMS/Jordan said he was not aware of the extent of the injury other than what was reported. As of this date, the City has not received a notice of claim on the incident. C/Grundy asked about the grassy hill and wondered if it was necessary to have it covered in grass or could there be drought resistant plants on the slope in lieu of grass. PMS/Jordan said that there is always an opportunity to change out the grass and did not believe it needed to be grass; however, it is a matter of expense because it would require removal of the grass and reworking of the irrigation system which would represent a significant expense. It may become a necessary direction in the future depending on drought conditions in subsequent years. For example, as the City has been upgrading its medians, turf is removed and replaced by drought tolerant planting and given that the slope is not playable, it may be a direction staff will want to consider. C/Hemdon asked if an easement wall could be constructed so the area could be leveled out for field use and PMS/Jordan responded that it depends on monies available. Chair/Owens acknowledged the presence of Council Member Lyons. 2.3 CIP Projects — CSD/Rose 2.3.1 Construction of Grandview Trail and Grandview Trail Link — CSD/Rose reported that this project has two different names because there are two separate grants funding it and each grant is J U LY 24, 2014 PAGE 6 P&R COMMISSION for a different section of the trail, the Grandview Trail that goes down from the parking lot to the viewpoint and the link that goes from that trail over to the canyon loop. The project is under construction with change orders that have added a couple of weeks to the schedule with completion by mid-October. 2.3.2 Update on Status of Diamond Canyon Park — CSD/Rose said the project is moving forward and the contractor is preparing construction documents for location of amenities in the park for presentation to staff for purposes of obtaining grading permits. 2.3.3 Design of Heritage Park Improvements — CSD/Rose reported that the revised RFP was released on June 5. Staff received responses on July 10 which are currently under review. It is contemplated that staff will take this project to the City Council for award of contract the second meeting of September in order for staff to have adequate time to complete the review process. 2.3.4 Larkstone Park - CSD/Rose stated that there is some action on the housing development adjacent to South Point Middle School. Currently, there is grading taking place within the park site to remediate the landslide and once completed, it will determine whether there is a change in elevations that require revisions to the construction documents. It appears that there may be some serious forward movement on this project in the next year. 2.3.4 Projects for the 201412015 Fiscal Year — CSD/Rose said that staff needs to go back to the City Council for approval of a contract for Star Dust and Longview South on August 5; send out an RFP for the Steep Canyon Trail connector to the Canyon loop; and, work on the installation of the swing set for Longview North. Yesterday, staff learned that the State of California approved the staircase coming down from Pantera Drive to be funded with the grant Money for the Pantera Park Trail Improvements. Staff will be sending out the RFP on this project for bids in the near future. Staff met with West Coast Arborists about the trees for the dog park. The best time to plant trees is around October and the second best time is around March so staff plans to move forward with this project in October. C/Grundy asked if the RFP for the Heritage Park Improvements included the disability access and playground equipment to which CSD/Rose responded affirmatively. C/Grundy asked the status of the ramp/steps from Pantera down to the dog park and CSD/Rose said that staff is doing the stairs. The dog park is officially ADA accessible already. RVUWW�V PAGE 7 P&R COMMISSION Chair/Owens asked what the original budget was for the dog park and CSD/Rose said the first budget discussion was for $131,000 which consisted of using the California Conservation Corp for a lot of the labor and putting in DG walkways which was found to be unacceptable for ADA access so concrete was put in instead. This change increased the budget amount to $234,000 for the first phase. C/Herndon said he was amazed about how much dirt had been moved at the Lennar project. When the City was going through the park approval process he had a bit of difficulty visualizing how it would be done given the initial terrain. Now he can see that where the park will be is a much more usable area than he originally contemplated and was pleased by the outcome. CSD/Rose said that the mass grading should be done sometime in August. CSD/Rose discussed the City of Industry project. 2.4 List of Pending Commission Requests — CSD/Rose reported that the work at Silver Tip Park is nearly complete and the project is budgeted for the CCC to come back and finish the wood steps to the concrete drain, etc. PMS/Jordan said that staff started a new contract and met with the Corp last week. Diamond Bar is on the CCC's calendar but staff does not yet have a definite start date; however, PMS/Jordan said he would anticipate he would have a date within the next month or so to finish the remaining trail work. CSD/Rose stated that staff met with PUSD regarding the MOU on July 8 and PUSD will let staff know when this project can move forward. Heritage Park will not go beyond conceptual plans until the Commission has had an opportunity to view the concept plans with the improvements included. 3. OLD BUSINESS: None 4. NEW BUSINESS: None 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS: C/Grundy said that staff's scheme used this year to open the fence at Lorbeer to provide greater access as well as, closing down Diamond Bar Boulevard significantly increased pedestrian access in spite of the inconvenience to vehicle traffic for the 4t" of July Blast and he encouraged staff to consider the same scheme for next year if Lorbeer is the site of the event. He said he preferred Lorbeer over Diamond Bar High School because after the event was over it was very difficult getting through the school site in order to exit the site. The show was great and the event was very well executed this year. The 25 minutes J U LY 24, 2014 PAGE 8 P&R COMMISSION of fireworks in celebration of 25 years was spectacular. C/Grundy said he was not able to attend any of this year's Concerts in the Park. Unfortunately, he has a physical therapy appointment with a shoulder specialist on Wednesday nights and is hoping to change his appointment night in August. C/Herndon said he appreciated staff's reports this evening. He attended the 4th of July Blast and it was great to see such a large turnout. He has been to sorne of the Concerts in the Park and staff is doing a great job with those events. He appreciates all of the work staff does. Next month he will not be available for the Commission meeting. VC/Liang apologized for not making it to the 4th of July Blast due to a family emergency but as usual, staff did a wonderful job. Chair/Owens said that this is the first 4th of July event he has missed in several years and unfortunately, he missed one of the best. He apologized for not being available on the first of July because he and his wife had plans for their anniversary on that day. He thanked staff for providing informative Power Point presentations. ADJOURNMENT: With no one objecting and no further business before the Parks and Recreation Commission, Chair/Owens adjourned the meeting at 8:08 p.m. The foregoing minutes are hereby approved this 2ndday of September 2014. Respec ul bmitted, A B SECRETARY Attest: TED OWENS, CHAIRMAN