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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/23/2016 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 JUNE 23, 2016 CALL TO ORDER: Chair/Grundy 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, Vice Chair Manisha Sulakhe and Chair Dave Grundy Absent: Commissioner Benny Liang was excused. Staff Present: Ryan McLean, Assistant City Manager; Anthony Jordan, Parks and Maintenance Superintendent; Christy Murphey, Recreation Superintendent; Alison Meyers, Recreation Coordinator, Michael Luzzi, Recreation Specialist, and Robin Crawford, Administrative Assistant, A. PRESENTATION OF 2016 YOUTH SOCCER SPORTSMANSHIP AWARDS — Presented by Michael Luzzi, Recreation Specialist RECESS: Chair/Grundy recessed the meeting at 7:07 p.m. RECONVENE: Chair/Grundy reconvened the meeting at 7:11 p.m. CALENDAR OF EVENTS: As presented by RS/Murphey 1. CONSENT CALENDAR: 1.1 Approval of Minutes for the May 26, 2016 Regular Meeting. Upon motion by C/Herndon, seconded by VC/Sulakhe, the May 26, 2016 minutes were approved as presented with C/Hsieh abstaining. 1.2 Transmitted thank -you letters to Eagle Scout Dillan Morgan and the Mormon Church. JUNE 23, 2016 2. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS: PAGE2 P&R 2.1 Maintenance/Public Works Transition — ACM/McLean ACM/McLean stated that he was pleased to be present this evening as a part of the Commission and to be working with the maintenance staff. His roots are in Community Services. He began working at the parks in 1997. Under Bob Rose he was a full time Coordinator for a few years before moving on to the City Manager's office where he has been for about 11 years. He has worked with all of the staff over a long period of time and it is good to return to his Diamond Bar roots. He provided a brief overview of the transition that takes place beginning the first of July. The maintenance function will be centralized in the Public Works Department. Streets and hardscape maintenances in Public Works will join forces with parks maintenance. The CIP will be housed in the Public Works Department as well, which will include construction management/project management. The Parks and Recreation staff will be involved in the strategic planning and conceptual planning of projects related to parks and recreation including facilities, parks, trails projects, etc. While they are managed under the CIP arm of the Public Works Department, the recreation staff will remain involved to make sure the plans of the Parks Master Plan are carried out. For now, as the City proceeds through the transition, RS/Murphey will run the day-to-day operations and she will be in charge of scheduling staff. ACM/McLean, RS/Murphey and her staff will work together to get the City through the transition period to make sure that the City continues to offer high-quality programs to its residents. While the City has lost a great amount of institutional knowledge and great leadership in Mr. Rose ACM/McLean is confident that the people Mr. Rose has brought on through the years will continue that quality of leadership to the best of their abilities. RS/Murphey will run the recreation side and PMS/Jordan will remain the Commission's representative on the maintenance side, and the information will continue to flow to the Commission as it has in the past. In the meantime, the Director position will be re-evaluated as the 2016-17 Fiscal Year proceeds and once it has been determined about how the department will function, that information will be communicated to the Commission. Chair/Grundy welcomed ACM/McLean back to the Community Services Department and to the Commission meetings. C/Hsieh asked why the changes and ACM/McLean said this change had been contemplated over time. One of the industry standards for maintenance is that it is housed in a single department with most cities, which is usually the Public Works Department. As Diamond Bar has grown, it has gained more parks and facilities with two new parks coming JUNE 23, 2016 PAGE 3 P&R COMMISSION on line in the next two years. It makes sense to centralize, and through studying the issue and after working through the matter with all Department Heads, the decision was made to transition, which happened to coincide with Mr. Rose's retirement. VC/Sulakhe felt the transition would work out well for the City and she welcomed ACM/McLean taking an interest in the parks and applauded RS/Murphey and PMS/Jordan for taking on their duties and managing more work than normal. C/Herndon echoed VC/Sulakhe's sentiments and asked if there was a conservation of funds by making this move. ACM/McLean said there were a series of reorganizations that happened. There were changes in the City Manager's office, Public Works and Recreation, and the net savings for this coming Fiscal Year amounted to about $80,000. Some of the savings depends on when and how positions are filled and re -filled and the timing will have an ultimate impact on the cost and net results. 2.2 Recreation Program Update — RS/Murphey C/Herndon said he did not believe the Commission had been given information about the cost to keep the Diamond Bar Center going including the amount of the bond payment. ACM/McLean said he believed the bond amounted to about $800,000 per year. With respect to cost of operation, he believed that the Center generated about 65 percent (of the cost) in revenue. He said he would bring back more exact numbers to the Commission at the next meeting or provide the information via email. C/Herndon asked how much time was left on the bond and ACM/McLean said he believed it was about 10 years. He said he would follow up with that information as well. 2.2.1 Trails Grants Update — RC/Meyers C/Hsieh asked if the Pantera trail offered a way to come back around or does it stop. RC/Meyers responded that there is a path connecting to the water tower and it loops around itself. C/Hsieh asked if there was any way it could come back down to the park and RC/Meyers reiterated that it circles up by the water towers. If one takes the long trail that heads up over the hill it comes down behind houses. If there was any future planning there is a slim possibility the trail would go all of the way to Diamond Ranch High School. The kids have already made a trail all of the way to the High School. C/Hsieh asked if there was any way to connect the trail to Silvertip Park and RC/Meyers said that it already meets that trail at the water tower. Silvertip needs a little bit of development JUNE 23, 2016 PAGE 4 P&R COMMISSION but one can take the trail all of the way into Silvertip Park now. VC/Sulakhe said that the Pantera Trail is for walking and not to get one back to the parking lot compared to the trail that starts at the Diamond Bar Center that extends to the parking lot. RC/Meyers explained that the steps that go down to the parking lot are along the street next to Pantera Park and people are parking there to take their dogs down to the dog park. The white line in the photo of the dog park is the parking lot and one can walk from the parking lot directly into the trail and loop all of the way back down into the dog park and out to the parking lot. C/Hsieh asked what needed to be done to loop the trail back into the park because there are a lot of people that walk at the park. RC/Meyers asked where it would loop back into the park because that is a very steep area going back down into the park and it is unlikely that it could be done. C/Hsieh asked who the City could consult with to determine a route back to the park and RC/Meyers said it might take signage to show people where they can walk on the sidewalk into the dog park to get to the trail. Signage is not currently on the radar at this time but she will put it on a list for future consideration. VC/Sulakhe said she liked the idea of posting signs for safety reasons. RC/Meyers said that that signage can be included as a part of the grant process. Chair/Grundy asked if the City was updating the Trails Map as new trails are completed and RC/Meyers responded not recently, but it too is something that will be on her vision list. C/Herndon said that RC/Meyers had done a great job procuring grant funds. He is thrilled with the trails the City has and is developing. He would like to see the City spend a little time trying to get grants for lights for ball fields, to help eliminate some of the congestion in the field system. He understands that for about $250,000 one of the fields could be lighted to assist youth. ACM/McLean said he would make a note of C/Herndon's concerns and determine whether it was feasible to attempt to obtain a grant for field lighting. 2.3 Parks Report — PMS/Jordan C/Hsieh asked which parks are highly used overall and PMS/Jordan responded Sycamore Canyon Park, Peterson Park and Pantera Park, Maple Hill Park and Heritage Park. In fact, all of the City parks are very well used. JUNE 23, 2016 PAGE 5 P&R COMMISSION C/Herndon believed that if the City were to acquire the Pony League fields it would be the City's most -used park. He asked to be signed up for the Washington Street Park walkthrough in October. PMS/Jordan said he would ask AC/Gonzales to coordinate the walkthrough with C/Herndon. 2.3.1 Power Point Presentation on District 39 Mini -Parks — PMS/Jordan. 2.4 CIP Projects — ACM/McLean reported that the CIP list was presented to the City Council at their June 7 meeting as the Parks and Recreation related projects included in the adopted CIP for Fiscal Year 2016-17. Staff attempts to provide a description, photos of the site and estimated project timeline as well as, funding sources for each of the projects listed. With the transition the City is currently undergoing, some of the timeline will probably be amended to allow the Public Works Director and Maintenance staff to get together and work on prioritization and timelines for the coming year. He noted that the Stardust Mini -Park project will be Priority #1 which is moving up the ladder because RC/Meyers was successful in securing a grant for this project. Those funds ($300,000 in grant funds) have a use -or -lose expiration date of December 2016. This project will include ADA and renovations include new play equipment, surfacing, landscape drainage corrections. Longview South will be bundled with Stardust as well as, the Peterson Park play equipment replacement. These projects have completed plans and specs and the bid packets are being put together and will go out shortly. Public Works SCE/Young will be the lead on this project. He foresees all three projects being worked on at the same time and it is likely those three projects will be completed in the December time frame. A. Design of Heritage Park and Community Center Improvements B. Construction of Steep Canyon Trail Connector to Canyon Loop Trail - (funded by grant funds) C. Construct Swing Set at Longview Park North D. Design of Trail Improvements at Pantera Park and Steep Canyon Trail Improvements — (funded with grant funds) E. Construct Improvements at Stardust Park— (grant funded) F. Construct Longview Park South Improvements — (bundled with Stardust) G. Construct Pantera Park Trail H. Design and Construction of Peterson Park Play Equipment and Play Surface - (bundled) ADA Improvements at Sycamore Canyon Bridge/Walkway JUNE 23, 2016 PAGE 6 P&R COMMISSION J. Design of Canyon Loop Trail K. Diamond Bar Center Roof Restoration (sections to be replaced with 20 -year material to extend the life of the building) L. Diamond Bar Center Lighting Remodel —(Lighting improvements in all restrooms in August during the summer maintenance week) ACM/McLean stated that construction of the Willow Heights project's Diamond Canyon Park continues. The City recently received the bridge permit from the County Flood Control District which will move the project forward. Grading has begun on Larkstone Park (Lennar Homes) near the South Point Middle School and the park will likely be built as the homes are constructed in early 2017. Chair/Grundy questioned the amount of time (September to June) for the Heritage Park design. ACM/McLean said that the estimates are lengthy in order to see how the department will prioritize the projects. Staff wants to get the three significant projects done first. He believes the department will be very busy managing three different intense projects (Stardust, Longview South and Peterson). The timeframes will likely be revised after the transition is completed and the Public Works Director and the Maintenance staff have an opportunity to get together to determine when they will move forward. The September -June time frame is a window of time to complete the design and once the project commences it will be a much quicker project working with the architect. C/Hsieh asked why the lighting at the Diamond Bar Center focuses on the restrooms and not on the outside. ACM/McLean said staff received concerns that it was too dark in the restrooms. There were certain sections where the lighting did not provide adequate coverage and it was determined that improvements should be made by lighting a couple of light fixtures to improve the lighting. VC/Sulakhe said that she had mentioned there was no light on the outside of the kitchen area and if it could be added to the project it would be appreciated. She was concerned about safety because people tend to come into the kitchen from the parking lot at the back side where there are no lights. ACM/McLean noted the concerns. PMS/Jordan said that VC/Sulakhe's concern is one of the items on the list of Commissioner Requests, and is one of the items staff will look at right after the start of the fiscal year. Staff installed some lights outside the kitchen on the back side, but it is more closely related to the trash area directly outside of the kitchen toward the JUNE 23, 2016 PAGE? P&R patio area where the generators are located. Staff will be looking at possibly installing additional lights in that area with the start of the new fiscal year which will be separate to this project. C/Hsieh asked if the restrooms could be upgraded to be a bit more elegant because there are so many special events at the Center. RS/Murphey agreed that the restrooms are not as fancy as some other wedding venues. She and Bob have talked about this in the past but she knows that a bathroom remodel can reach upwards of a $100,000 or more. C/Hsieh felt it could be a good investment because the word would spread and there would be more business for the Center. 2.4 List of pending Commission requests — ACM/McLean C/Herndon reiterated his concern about additional fencing between Brea Canyon Road and the play area at Diamond Canyon Park. He attended the public input meetings about the park and there was a lot of concern about the play area being close to one of the busiest streets in. the City. He was under the impression that there would be some kind of fence that would prevent kids from going directly from the playground into the roadway. He believes that CSD/Rose contacted Lennar about the matter but does not know the outcome. PMS/Jordan said that in speaking with Bob Rose he learned that Mr. Rose had posed that situation during a meeting with Lennar and believed that Lennar plans to install a tubular steel fence in the area of concern. He will follow up to verify and get a sense of the timeline, which would have to be prior to opening of the park. Chair/Grundy said he would like to keep track of the effort to procure the Pony League fields. ACM/McLean said that the City continues to work with its consultant who has done polling work in the City. The City Council has yet to make a decision as to what procedure will go forward. The initial polling feedback is not supportive of a 2016 measure. There are other options that might be under Council consideration but as yet, no decision has been made. 3. OLD BUSINESS: None 4. NEW BUSINESS: None 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS: C/Hsieh said that as always staff does an outstanding job and she is proud to be part of this Commission. She announced that she would be out of town for the July meeting. JUNE 23, 2016 PAGE 8 P&R COMMISSION C/Herndon thanked ACM/McLean and staff for their reports and RC/Meyers for her success with grant writing. VC/Sulakhe agreed that RC/Meyers works hard and does an excellent job writing grants for trails which are excellent additions to this community. RC/Meyers does a great job at the Diamond Bar Center as well. She welcomed ACM/McLean to the Commission. She thanked RS/Murphey and PMS/Jordan for their work. Chair/Grundy welcomed ACM/McLean and thanked staff for their fine work, excellent reports and RC/Meyers' grant acquisitions. He said he was looking forward to the 41h of July Blast and hoped to see everyone there. ADJOURNMENT: With no one objecting and no further business before the Parks and Recreation Commission, Chair/Grundy adjourned the meeting at 8:25 p.m. The foregoing minutes are hereby approved this 28 day of JULY 2016. Respectfully .rvu&Nv,xy�n��