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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-09-01 Parks-Rec Approved Minutes Virtual Meeting CITY OF PALM DESERT �'•'� MINUTES PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION VIRTUAL MEETING TUESDAY, SEPTMEBER 01, 2020 — 8:30 a.m. I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Murphy convened the meeting at 8:30 a.m. II. ROLL CALL Present: Absent Chair Paul Murphy Commissioner Mike Hardin Vice Chair Randy Guyer Commissioner Gerald Dawson Commissioner Kim Housken Commissioner Mary Helen Kelly Commissioner Van Tanner Ex-Officio Members: Paula Simonds, YMCA of the Desert Kevin Kalman, Desert Recreation District Also Present: Lauri Aylaian, City Manager Ryan Stendell, Director of Community Development Jennifer Nelson, Management Analyst Randy Chavez, Landscape Supervisor Sabby Jonathan, Council Liaison Angie Marron, Recording Secretary Guests: David Keyes, YMCA of the Desert / Aquatic Center Brenda Nutcher, Desert Recreation District III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None IV. CONSENT CALENDAR 1 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES SEPTEMBER 01, 2020 A. MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2020 Rec: Approve as presented Upon a motion by Commissioner Kelly, second by Vice Chair Guyer, carried by a 6-0-1 vote of the Commission, (AYES: Guyer, Dawson, Housken, Murphy, Kelly, Tanner; NOES: None; ABSENT: Hardin) the Consent Calendar was approved as presented. V. NEW BUSINESS A. CITYWIDE UPDATE BY THE CITY MANAGER Lauri Aylaian, City Manager, updated the Commission on how the pandemic has affected Palm Desert. Ms. Aylaian gave an update on operations onsite, virtual and remote, Parks and Recreation Facilities, City Hall reopening, and budget impact and supporting partners. City Hall is closed to the public, 30% of staff is working in the offices with the remainder working remotely. Virtual operations: The City is open for business electronically along with new digital submittals for business licenses, plans, and permits. Staff is preparing City Hall to reopen to the public. Employees are keeping their distance and wearing their masks. Once City Hall is reopened, staff and the public will access through directional signage in the Development Services area of the building. Temperature checks are stationed at the entrances, along with hand sanitizer. The reopening date is still uncertain. Staff is also looking to City Council for guidance and re-visit the issue after September. Parks and Recreation Facilities: Aquatic Center has reopened for lap swimming, and they are doing a great job keeping regulations in line. Trails are still very popular for hiking. Objective is to remain healthy and safe, and not worry about potentially catching the pandemic. The marketing outreach will be built around the City's outdoor amenities. The City Manager provided an update on the current budget indicating that the City had expected a large revenue from the previous fiscal year which did not happen but there is a healthy reserve of unobligated funds that will assist during the pandemic. Financial Support: Some money has been coming in from FEMA, Community Development Block Grant Fund, CARES Act Funds, and Grant Applications. Total about $8 million. Palm Desert provides a Coronavirus Response Hub for the community and businesses. It's dedicated to keep everyone informed about the pandemic. 2 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES SEPTEMBER 01, 2020 CODE also provides information on assistance for residents and businesses. Staff spends a lot of time answering phone calls and provides compliance help, informational assistance for businesses, and resources for community associations. Public engagement has gone up 400% for online activity since the pandemic began. There are hotlines and information for personal and family health for testing Supporting our partners: Signing a stack of forgivable loans to 105 businesses from $1,500 to $25,000 dollars. The City is helping with other loan programs that are available. Non-Pandemic Accomplishments Creation of Council District for election in November Completion of Phase 1 of San Pablo Ave Completion of design and bidding for CV Link Selection/approval of art for El Paseo Sculpture Exhibition Completion of Pickleball courts expansion at Freedom Park Completion of HUB next to Palm Desert Campus of Cal State San Bernardino Chair Murphy stated that it was an outstanding presentation and congratulated City Manager on her retirement. VI. CONTINUED BUSINESS NONE VII. OLD BUSINESS NONE VIII. PRESENTATIONS AND UPDATES A. PICKLEBALL UPDATE - Presentation by Randy Chavez Randy Chavez stated that the pickleball courts project has been completed and the grand opening had to be postponed. Jennifer Nelson and Frank Taylor created a video with the final results of the completed project and it looks phenomenal. It was a collaborative effort from staff, Commissioners, and pickleball players. In response to Chair Murphy's questions, staff indicated that there's a total of 11, with 2 at Civic Center, 8 at Freedom and 3 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES SEPTEMBER 01, 2020 1 at Cahuilla Hills. Some tennis courts had angled edges, the lighting was an issue, and pickleball is more of a social sport compared to tennis and people tend to congregate. Staff expanded and created a seating area to accommodate this. Staff took a lot of the comments from the pickleball community to try and incorporate as many of those reasonable comments and requests. The skate park was removed due to it being underutilized so a picnic shelter was added in conjunction with the pickleball expansion so that the players can benefit from that. B. PARK USE REPORT - Update by Jennifer Nelson Ms. Jennifer Nelson has been sending several park updates over the last 6 months to keep everyone informed. Jennifer asked the Commissioners to please take time to fill out the survey regarding commissions and committees, due to possible changes to various committees and commissions within the City. The City Council approved naming the pedestrian bridge at Civic Center after John Marman. Randy and Jennifer are working on collaborative ideas on how they want the signage for the naming and will bring that item back to the next meeting. We had an amazing young man working on an Eagle Scout project for Civic Center backstops, and we are looking to do something for him, possibly a story in the Bright Side. Lastly, parks have been very busy especially in the mornings and thanked Brenda Nutcher, Randy Chavez and their teams for keeping the parks looking great. C. PALM DESERT AQUATIC CENTER David Keyes stated the facility opened on August 20 after a lot of planning. Things have been going well and lap swimmers have been extremely pleasant and following guidelines with 875 participants since opening. It has been well utilized and going great. Currently, they are only open in the mornings, and hopefully youth sports will be coming back in the afternoon. Online reservations only for now, to prevent from people interacting with staff per COVID-19 guidelines Kevin Kalman asked if they are running into a capacity issue - not at the moment. No complaints from swimmers as of yet, everything is limited. Mr. Kalman stated that they are not planning on opening their pools until next spring. Paula Simonds thanked David, Ryan and Jennifer for how they reopened in such a safe manner, and commends them D. FAMILY YMCA OF THE DESERT 4 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES SEPTEMBER 01, 2020 Paula Simonds is proud of staff, who to this date in Palm Desert has not had any positive Covid testing for staff and participants, she is extremely thankful for staff and the precautions that are in place. They are at full capacity at the San Pablo location, it's a cost prohibitive program and working on funding to help support that. Looking to move forward, following guidelines with outdoor basketball skills & drills program, and other activities. On the non-profit fund raising side, Y Be Fit event has been cancelled, so YMCA staff will be launching a virtual Y Be Fit opportunity on October 4 through October 24 .Donations of $20 or more is suggested and participants will be asked to walk and or bike 20 miles to help support the organization. E. DESERT RECREATION DISTRICT Kevin Kalman stated that it has been a difficult five months as his staff of 320 went down to 8. 110 employees have returned at this time, with 66 being part-time. No summer camp this year, we still have 12 weeks of camp they can run under public recreation waivers from the Department of Social Services. New guidelines came out for distance learning programs in conjunction with existing child and day care programs. Department of Social Services did not provide the response they needed. Only in person program running right now at different locations running with reallocated funding. Last Wednesday the Board designated $160,000 to subsidize the program. Online programming has done very well. Beginning ballet was limited to 10-15 in class, with over 200 online in that class. Now moving into the phase of trying to reduce cost recovery. Waiting to see how registration goes. All staff has returned to the office, still not open to the public — only by appointments. They have more than enough plexiglass and PPE. Brenda Nutcher has been trying to reach out to youth sports, able to reconvene only for fitness drills nothing else. Busy planning outdoor activities for the fall, working on moving all activities outdoors. Working on how they can start providing large variety of services in the future. F. FRIENDS OF THE DESERT MOUNTAINS Jennifer Nelson gave an update on trails for Tammy Martin. The trails have been very busy, busier than usual. Friends of the Desert Mountains, CODE, Public Works, and volunteers have helped keep them clean. Also, back in June of 2019 the Commission requested warning heat signs to be installed at the trails. Signs will be installed by staff at Homestead, Gabby Hayes, and Hopalong Cassidy - design attached to packet. The CV Link construction will be starting in a few weeks at the Bump n' Grind area and will affect parking, and signage and the race track customers. There is a meeting later today and we will have more information to share. 5 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES SEPTEMBER 01, 2020 IX. COMMISSIONER, COUNCIL-LIAISON, AND STAFF COMMENTS Sabby Jonathan wants to make sure everyone is aware of the new and improved Palm Desert InTouch app. There are new icons and buttons dedicated for parks and trails. It is very useful for residents and visitors. Councilmember Jonathan requested everyone to spread the word, and hopes everyone gets InTouch. Ryan Stendell wants to let everyone know that one of the important roles that he sees of his function as the Director of Community Development is keeping an eye on our resources. Since the beginning of August, several departments and department heads (during the length of time in this pandemic) have been doing a good job navigating and keeping staff at the table with the same Palm Desert level of enthusiasm. However, Mr. Stendell has noticed a "pandemic burnout" to a certain extent; there's a bit of a fallout with this pandemic. If at any time anyone senses someone is not doing their best effort, please contact him. Please communicate with Ryan for any additional support. Kevin Kalman noted that the renovation meeting for the Community Center kicked off. X. ADJOURNMENT With unanimous consent of the Commission, the meeting was adjourned at 9:32 a.m. Angie Marron, Recording Secretary 6