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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/26/2015 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 MARCH 26, 2015 CALL TO ORDER: Chair/Owens 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 Herndon led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL: Present: Commissioners Lew Herndon, Kim Hsieh, and Chairman Ted Owens Absent: Commissioner Dave Grundy and Vice Chairman Benny Liang were excused. 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 A) PRESENTATION OF 2015 YOUTH BASKETBALL SPORTSMANSHIP AWARDS — RS/McKitrick RECESS: Chair/Owens recessed the meeting at 7:10 p.m. RECONVENE: Chair/Owens reconvened the meeting at 7:23 p.m.. B) SELECTION OF CHAIR AND VICE -CHAIR OF THE PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION: C/Herndon nominated C/Hsieh to serve as Chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission. C/Owens seconded the nomination. There were no other nominations offered. C/Hsieh was elected to serve as Chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission by the following Roll Call vote: C/Herndon Yes C/Owens Yes C/Hsieh Yes C/Grundy Absent C/Liang Absent C/Owens nominated C/Herndon to serve as Vice Chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission. Chair/Hsieh seconded the nomination. There were no other nominations offered. C/Herndon was elected Vice -Chair of the Parks and MARCH 26, 2015 PAGE 2 P&R COMMISSION Recreation Commission by the following Roll Call vote: C/Owens Yes Chair/Hsieh Yes C/Herndon Yes C/Grundy Absent C/Liang Absent MATTERS FROM THE AUDIENCE: None CALENDAR OF EVENTS: As presented by CSD/Rose 1. CONSENT CALENDAR: 1.1 Approval of Minutes for the February 26, 2015 Regular Meeting. 1.2 Transmittal of Thank You Letter to Boy Scout Troop 777 for work at Heritage Park. C/Owens moved, VC/Herndon seconded, to approve the February 26, 2015 Minutes as presented. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS: Owens, VC/Herndon, Chair/Hsieh NOES: COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: Grundy, Liang 2. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS: 2.1 Recreation Program Update — RS/Murphey 2.1.1 Power Point Presentation on Youth Basketball — RS/McKitrick VC/Herndon asked about floor conditions which RS/McKitrick explained. VC/Herndon congratulated RS/McKitrick on an excellent overall program. C/Owens asked if any players were hurt as a result of floor conditions and RS/McKitrick responded "no." No incident reports were filled out this season and he was not made aware of anyone slipping and getting injured. CSD/Rose said that staff would make an overture to the school district to see if the City can help make sure the floor gets resurfaced because the City depends on the facilities to be in the best condition as possible and when the facilities are not in the best condition it reflects negatively on the City. CSD/Rose asked when the next adult basketball program would MARCH 26, 2015 PAGE 3 P&R COMMISSION start at South Point Middle School and RS/McKitrick responded that he hopes to start the program in May; however, the school district is very inconsistent on opening the facility on Sundays. CSD/Rose asked if there was a specific break during the summer months and RS/McKitrick responded that the school tends to lock everyone out during August. It used to be that the school would work on the courts in August but he believes they are no longer doing so but continue with the routine of not allowing anyone in the building during that time. CSD/Rose said he would find out if staff could have access to the courts to help improve the facility. C/Owens asked if South Point had school teams that play basketball and volleyball and RS/McKitrick said yes, he would imagine so. He knows that South Point has a basketball team because there were a few kids in the City league that played on the South Point basketball team. 2.2 Parks Report — PMS/Jordan Chair/Hsieh asked how staff gets the messages about the trash cans. PMS/Jordan explained that the trash cans are solar operated by a solar panel on top. The trash can sends out a communication to a centralized location and staff receives an email about the issue. 2.2.1 Power Point Presentation on the Sycamore Canyon Mesa Trail — PMS/Jordan Chair/Hsieh asked if the rudimentary path people have made could actually be made into a real path and PMS/Jordan responded that it could be done. There has to be a destination, which there is, and it would have to reside on City owned property. Using the slide, he pointed out areas that were private property. Trails could be extended if they are within City property but the City does not want to direct people onto private property. Chair/Hsieh said that because so many people use that path perhaps the City could place a resting bench at the edge of the City's property to prevent individuals from walking onto private property. VC/Herndon asked if staff had information regarding usage of this portion of the trail. PMS/Jordan said he could not quantify numbers but said that he took the photographs yesterday and this area was full of people. Everybody loves the trail and it is heavily used. 2.3 CIP Projects — CSD/Rose 2.3.1 Diamond Canyon Park Design — CSD/Rose stated that Lennar Homes has submitted the construction documents which are continuing through the plan check process. Lennar Homes is working on their permit from LA County Public Works which MARCH 26, 2015 PAGE 4 P&R COMMISSION involves the widening of Diamond Bar Boulevard just north of Brea Canyon Road because it will require acquisition of a portion of the flood control channel for which Lennar must pay a fee. Completion of this permit process includes acquiring an easement agreement approved by the LA County Board of Supervisors and the City Council. The City of Diamond Bar entered into the permit process for the future Crooked Creek Trail which will follow the Brea Canyon channel down to the Schubarum Trail. Until all permits have been obtained construction will not commence on the park. Lennar plans to have the park constructed by the end of the fall season. 2.3.2 Design of Heritage Park Improvements — CSD/Rose explained that the consultant team continues to obtain public input on the project. Members of the consultant team have interviewed all City staff for the Tiny Tots and Day Camp programs as well as, the senior club members. The consultant team continues to conduct onsite interviews with park users. 2.3.3 Pantera Park Trail and Steep Canyon Trail — CSD/Rose gave a Power Point presentation to explain the concept plans for these projects. 2.3.4 Design of Longview Park South & Star Dust Park — CSD/Rose stated that staff just received the plan check comments from the Building and Safety Department. Staff will review the comments and the comments will be sent back to the design team so that they can continue with the plan check process. These construction projects are included in the proposed FY 2015-16 Budget. 2.3.5 Longview Park North Swing Set Project — CSD/Rose reported that staff held the kickoff meeting with the design, team and the design team has surveyed the site and submitted a conceptual plan to staff with estimated costs. Staff is reviewing the concept plan and after completion of the review and recommendations, the design team will begin to work on the construction documents. 2.3.6 Dog Park Improvements — CSD/Rose indicated that the main waterline has been installed to bring the irrigation to the 50 trees that will be planted in the park. Concrete stairs that are part of the trails project will lead from Pantera Drive down to the dog park. Chair/Hsieh asked if other amenities such as a rock climbing apparatus could be added at the Longview Park South at this point. CSD/Rose said that all parks have the opportunity for additional amenities. The limiting factor is the budget. At this time, the City is in the construction document phase for Longview Park South and Star Dust Park so any changes to the construction documents at this time would require a change order with the consultant which would add costs to the design. As the City does other MARCH 26, 2015 PAGE 5 P&R COMMISSION park projects in the future such as Maple Hill Park and Paul C. Grow Park there may be an opportunity to add different amenities. Chair/Hsieh asked if the Longview Park North Swing Set Project was near completion as well and CSD/Rose responded that the City is budgeted for adding swings. If anything else is added it would mean the play space would have to be made bigger which would mean more concrete, sod, irrigation changes, etc. Chair/Hsieh asked if the swing set that incorporated seating for adults to face the children could be used. CSD/Rose said the system that is being installed is a two -bay system and there will be two belts for regular and two belts for tot swings. Staff can look at that space to see if the new concept swings with the adult facing the child could be incorporated. Chair/Hsieh asked if the new concept swings could be placed in other parks and CSD/Rose said the new concept swings might be more appropriate for adding to a more visible park such as Heritage Park where the tot lot is much bigger and would not require a redesign. Chair/Hsieh asked if the view areas on the trails were covered and CSD/Rose said he is not sure that all of them were covered. It appears that there are two shelters as part of the Pantera project. Again, it is a matter of budget. Chair/Hsieh asked if shelters could be added into future budgets and CSD/Rose said absolutely, that could be done. In fact, when the City renovated Silver Tip Park there was a space for a shelter which at the time was not in the budget. Chair/Hsieh asked if there was a possibility that a workout station could be added to Steep Canyon. CSD/Rose said yes. As he previously indicated, there is a little more money in the budget for adding this type of amenity which would be similar to the stations PMS/Jordan was showing at the Mesa. Three or four devices would be sufficient. 2.4 List of Pending Commission Requests — CSD/Rose reported on the following items: a) As previously mentioned, staff is pursuing grants for the Silver Tip Park Trail to the Pantera Park Trail. Last week the state inspected the path where the trail is proposed which is part of the competitive process for determining which projects should be funded. The City should hear about the two grant requests in June and September. b) Public Information staff continues to add videos to YouTube. c) The City currently has nine trailheads and the companies that provide interpretive panels have indicated it would cost about $20,000 for the nine panels. At this time, this project is listed on the multi-year CIP. In addition, staff recommended this project be funded during FY 2015-16 which is yet to be determined. The reason staff added this item is MARCH 26, 2015 PAGE 6 P&R because the Trails Master Plan needs to be updated next year. A new map of each trail can be placed at each trailhead to indicate "you are here." As PMS/Jordan reported, the exhibit in the kiosk at the Sycamore Canyon Trailhead needs to be replaced and this would provide a great opportunity to develop new updated maps. d) There is no additional information on the request for bricks for the Diamond Bar Foundation. e) Staff received an estimate of about $200,000 to construct walkway lights at Peterson Park. This project will include conduit and electrical installation around the walkway. This is an item that could be added when the park is renovated which is second or third on the list behind Heritage Park. Maintenance staff took out the old lenses, inserted new lenses and cleaned out the lights and he does not know if the changes have created sufficient lighting to resolve the issues presented. The lighting is better than when staff originally received the concern about the lighting level. f) Staff submitted a decision package for FY 2015-16 for consideration as a result of the request for redesign of the military banners. g) The doggie bag dispensers for Pantera have been received and will be installed at the entrance and by the proposed stairs. h) There are drainage improvements planned for the Star Dust Park project that will collect water from the toe of the slope and deliver it through a curb cut to the gutter. VC/Herndon said that someone suggested placing light standards at parks to accommodate cell towers and he felt it was an opportunity to explore a lighted field at Sycamore Canyon Park that would provide an opportunity for revenue from cell companies. C/Owens asked what the projected revenue would be from a cell tower and CSD/Rose said that normally, the City receives about $2,000 per month. The contracts are usually written for 20 years and there is an 'but' clause for the cell companies which can jeopardize long-term revenue projections. 3. OLD BUSINESS: None 4. NEW BUSINESS: None 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS: C/Owens said that RS/McKitrick was doing a good job with the basketball program. MARCH 26, 2015 PAGE 7 P&R COMMISSION VC/Herndon said that RS/McKitrick and staff does a great job and all who are represented here do a great job for the City. He attended the State of the City last night and thought that the presentation by M/Tye was very well done and he knows staff was involved with that program. Chair/Hsieh thanked staff members for their wonderful Power Point presentations. She thanked CSD/Rose and AC/Gonzales for their patience during her Chairing this first meeting. ADJOURNMENT: With no one objecting and no further business before the Parks and Recreation Commission, Chair/Hsieh adjourned the meeting at 8:54 p.m. The foregoing minutes are hereby approved this 25 day of Jura , 2015. ISI Attest: KIM HSIEH, CHAIRMAN