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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks & Rec Cmsn - 04-05-2016CITY OF PALM DESERT PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM TO: Rachelle D. Klassen, City Clerk FROM: Angie Marron, Clerical Assistant DATE: June 7, 2016 SUBJECT: Submission of Minutes for the Parks and Recreation Commission Attached for your records are the approved minutes of the Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting of Tuesday, April 05, 2016. Please let me know if you have any questions or need additional information. Thank you. Attachment (as noted) CITY OF PALM DESERT MINUTES PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING TUESDAY, APRIL 05, 2016 — 8:30 a.m. Administrative Conference Room — Palm Desert Civic Center 73-510 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert, California 92260 I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Jerry Dawson convened the meeting at 8:30 a.m. II. ROLL CALL Present: Absent Chair Jerry Dawson Vice Chair Mary Helen Kelly Commissioner Raymond Rodriguez Commissioner Randy Guyer Commissioner Kim Housken Commissioner Lynn B. Jutovsky Commissioner Deborah Hall Commissioner Mike Hardin Commissioner Lindsay Holt, Alternate Ex -Off icio Members: Rob Ballew, YMCA of the Desert Kevin Kalman, Desert Recreation District Also Present: Rudy Acosta, Acting City Manager Mark Greenwood, P.E., Director of Public Works Ryan Stendell, Director of Community Development Kim Warpinski, Management Analyst Randy Chavez, Landscape Supervisor Sabby Jonathan, Council Liaison Van Tanner, Council Alternate Liaison Angie Marron, Recording Secretary Guests: David Keyes, Aquatic Center Brenda Nutcher, Desert Recreation District Deborah McGarrey, Friends of the Desert Mountain John Greenwood, Chair Planning Commission PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES APRIL 05, 2016 III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Ryan Stendell introduced Kim Warpinski, he stated that she is the new successful candidate for the Parks and Recreation Committee. Following the introduction from Mr. Stendell, Chair Dawson asked the commissioners to introduce themselves to Kim, and delightedly welcomed Ms. Warpinski. IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF TUESDAY, JANUARY 05, 2016 Rec: Approve as presented Upon a motion by Vice Chair Kelly, second by Commissioner Guyer, and 9-0 vote of the Commission, (AYES: Kelly, Guyer, Hall, Dawson, Housken, Jutovsky, Hardin, Rodriguez, Holt; NOES: None) the Consent Calendar was approved as presented. V. NEW BUSINESS A. CONCUSSION DISCUSSION Chair Dawson introduced this subject because he feels it reflects on our parks and hiking trails. Kim Warpinski stated that she did some research on the topic and presented the commission with the information she found. Some of the information was a publication from the Institute of Medicine, and the other was from a concussion foundation. Ms. Warpinski also mentioned that she spoke to one of the park inspectors, and all but two parks passed the federal standards that provide the best protocol in the prevention of concussions and injuries. That being said, only small elements were lacking, not the entire parks' infrastructure. The two schools that did not meet federal standards were, Washington Charter and Hovley Soccer Park. Commissioner Hall asked why Washington Charter is not up to standard, and that it should be tended to with urgency because it is located in a school. Randy Chavez stated that they did an audit and conducted a head impact test, with a drop ball and part of the surfacing did not pass, due to kids pulling, tugging and removing it. Those areas have been addressed, and they will be renewed this summer. Hovley Soccer Park will also be redone within a month or so. Some areas do tend to deteriorate faster than others. The whole park playground will also get a new surface. Mark Greenwood mentioned that every park will 2 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES APRIL 05, 2016 fail, within a ten year span. This is expensive material, we try and get max life out of existing material and then renew it. Chair Dawson mentioned the two issues, surface and activities are concussion related. Basketball is the most contact sport as well as football that might relate to the concussion issue. It is too hot out there for synthetic turf, it is all natural turf for the DRD. Rob Ballew stated there is limited amount of activity with flag football and all playgrounds at the schools have their own guidelines as well. Kevin Kalman asked if they reseal, and Mr. Chavez stated that they don't reseal, they follow the manufactures guidelines. Vice Chair Kelly made a great point, the over-all good that our city and parks and recreation department provides to the children is wonderful. However, protecting everyone is not quite possible. Ms. Warpinski made a great statement; educating key personnel on this topic is a great proponent in prevention. B. MONTHLY CIP PROGRESS REPORT Kim Warpinski wanted to make everyone aware that following the next meeting there will be an overview of CIP project status provided. Commissioner Guyer asked about the 20 year plan, and if there was anything moving forward. Ryan Stendell noted that they spoke to BBK, our City Attorney, and he will have Kim do some more research on the topic. Kevin Kalman mentioned that the DRD can house a fund for the City of Palm Desert and expand the number of board members if necessary. VI. CONTINUED BUSINESS NONE VII. OLD BUSINESS NONE VIII. PRESENTATIONS AND UPDATES A. VISION SAN PABLO Ryan Stendell announced that there will be some articles and posters going up in, and around city hall. The first week of May, there will be an event on San Pablo in addition there will also be an informal block party, to introduce the concept of San Pablo to the community. The city will have local vendors, food trucks, and a beer garden, to offer a fun evening. The Italian Deli and El Rodeo restaurant will also participate and have their businesses open during the event. Mr. Stendell is also working with SKAG, on a ten day demonstration project. It will be a great and cool event for everyone to attend. The event space will be from Alessandro to the stop sign, and the demo project will occur up to the first community 3 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES APRIL 05, 2016 garden, Guadalupe. Commissioner Rodriguez asked what the time frame for this event was. May 4th to 11th will be the demo project. Saturday, May 7th, 5:30 to 10 pm will be the informal block party. Sabby Jonathan reminded everyone that this event is in conjunction to the First Weekend Palm Desert, not only envision this, but also experience this vision. Moving forward, after this event, they are looking for City Council approval. Commissioner Guyer asked about Palma Village Park and the conjunction with this Vision San Pablo, and if there is anything that needs to be done to upgrade that park, because it will be impacted with this Vision. The park is not over utilized; it is well used but not over utilized. Commissioner Jutovsky feels it is a great idea and is excited for this event. B. FRIENDS OF THE DESERT MOUNTAINS WILDFLOWER FESTIVAL Deborah McGarrey the Vice Chair for Friends of the Desert Mountains, presented the follow up for the 9th Annual Wildflower Festival event. Ms. McGarrey stated that this was a great event located at the National Monument, and had well over 1200 attendees. Parking was available at St. Margaret's and patrons were shuttled to the event, at no cost. It's a great time for people to hike, enjoy educational vendors, children's activities, and dozens of sponsors, including the City of Palm Desert. The beer garden was a successful vendor, and the wonderful sand sculpture was also a great hit, and is still there. We were also able to accommodate disabled visitors, what was once a dirt path is now a brick path. This event was also tied with the City's First Weekend and there was a lot of advertisement, which brought a lot of first time visitors. One other thing, we had a lot of rack cards distributed to the local hotels, which gave a 70 percent increase on their website of hits. Finally, there was great feedback on how well organized the event was. C. PARK USE REPORT - Palma Village Park Kim Warpinski announced that moving forward, for every park discussion, there will be a brief synopsis of improvements, maintenance, and project status provided for the park in review. Mark Greenwood also mentioned that there will be a new City Sourced App, available for citizens to report any park or city street issues. We are looking into how the parks are getting used, and how they can be used. Commissioner Hall mentioned that the commissioners should take it upon themselves to scope the parks. The park is in good shape with the only issue being, the people that live in the park. They don't seem to be building any permanent structures, but the majority of the time, there are people camped out in the corner away from the play area. Kids tend to sit around and meet, and gather and talk, which makes it a great use for the park. Commissioner Housken went by there on Easter and it was being 4 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES APRIL 05, 2016 well used for the holiday. Commissioner Guyer asked if it is possible to provide some sort of police report with the park use reports if any issues or problems to occur. Mark Greenwood also stated that Palma Village is a frequent heavy drug use park. Sabby Jonathan indicated that the issue of the homeless community is being addressed by the CVAG Homeless Committee. Historically the focus of that committee is the impact of the homeless in our parks. The issues that arise, is their use of our parks, whether it be drinking or drugs that affects the use of other park patrons. Part of the solution is to get mental health works involved, because it is a growing issue. The commission needs to be aware of that, with that being said, he invites the commission to get involved and mentioned that there will be an upcoming workshop with CVAG. Rudy Acosta mentioned if it is possible, next meeting we should invite the new police captain to give a short overview in regards to the issues at the parks. D. PALM DESERT AQUATIC CENTER David Keyes reported for Karen Creasy. He mentioned that the aquatic center managed to get a feature ad in two magazines, The Power of Water and The Parks and Rec Business Magazines. Spring break went very well. There was a great turn out for Easter, well over 700 attendees. Mr. Keyes also noted that they are currently hiring life guards as well. Kicking off on May 21 st will be the first day to sign up for swim lessons for the summer. Commissioner Guyer asked if there is a max number for the Easter event. The max is over 800 so there is still room to grow. TYR did have a photo shoot at the facility and will send it over to Ryan Stendell. Over 80 percent of the shots is our pool, and there is revenue that generated from those shoots, and there is a significant amount. Commissioner Hall would like those articles scanned and provided to the commissioners. E. FAMILY YMCA OF THE DESERT Rob Ballew stated the following: • Basketball — 250 kids • Flag Football — 125 kids • Day Camp — 60 kids • Youth Government — 62 kids • Y Rookies — 47 kids • Easter Egg -hunt — 883 kids, plus families Mr. Ballew also mentioned that there is a Golf Tourney that will take place on May 5th. There is also the upcoming Reverse Mini Triathlon in October. He also took the opportunity to express how beautiful the roses look at 5 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES APRIL 05, 2016 Civic Center Park; he commended city staff for keeping them looking gorgeous. F. DESERT RECREATION DISTRICT Kevin Kalman stated that the First Tee Invitational will be held on April 22nd Second, we are also in the process of reconfiguring the Community Center for a number of reasons. We are looking into redoing the roofs, and replacing the 20 year old air conditioning units. Mr. Kalman also mentioned that they stopped distributing activity guides by mail to cut costs. Last winter however, the activity guides were mailed and it made a difference in activity in the center. Brenda Nutcher stated that the DRD partnered with AAA for the Teen Driving Program, center programming has grown within the last two months. Ms. Nutcher also mentioned The Senior Games were down due to the soccer person taking his entire soccer team to Palm Springs. There will be soccer next year, and the only downfall was that nobody showed up for the wine reception. We did have the highest rating for pickleball, volleyball was the largest sport followed by pickleball. IX. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Commissioner Jutovsky mentioned that she has a lot of volunteers that come down from out of the area to help volunteer at the BNP, and they mentioned how great the facility for pickleball is over at Freedom Park. Kevin Kalman wanted to remind everyone, if they haven't gone out to see the wildflowers, make time to do so. The Art Smith Trail has an abundance of gorgeous wildflowers. Commissioner Hardin commented on the new proposed City Sourced App and on how everyone will have access to reporting incidents, he has his reservations as it can turn into a full time job. He has the opportunity to be at most of these parks and he was recently at two of them and he sees what goes on, and there is four or five landscaping people that take care of one area versus the four to five hundred people that visit the parks. There is a small city crew and a large crowd that visit all the city parks. He feels as a commission we need to find a way to support staff. Commissioner Guyer stated that he tried to find negative comments about the men's and women's volleyball, and there were none. Everyone seemed to be very happy because the venue allows everyone to be together at the same time all day long; get it done and get out of there. He hopes this can continue to have that event in the same venue, rather than get split up. A PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES APRIL 05. 2016 Commissioner Housken just followed up with Ryan Stendell in regards to the Vision San Pablo event, and confirmed when the next meeting date and time is, because this sounds like a really exciting event. Mark Greenwood mentioned that University Dog Park is next on the agenda. Mr. Greenwood wants to ask everyone to bear with him. It is currently not in the best state due to the drought issues, it's also a highly active turf, and it really suffered. Funds have been added to next year's budget to replace some of the turf. Water will also be turned up a bit this summer, only in the highly active areas. Mr. Greenwood reminded everyone to be patient since it takes 6 months or more to see improvements. Sabby Jonathan gave kudos to Mark Greenwood, Randy Chavez and the rest of the staff on the great job they did out on the ball fields, they look great. Just a few weeks prior they were not in the best condition. On opening day, operating under the challenges with the water measures, he could not believe how wonderful they turned out. X. ADJOURNMENT With unanimous consent of the Commission, the meeting was adjourned at 10:00 a.m. ri An gtMarron, Recording Secretary 7