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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978-06-26 PRC Regular Meeting Agenda Packet • Noe AGENDA PALM DESERT PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MONDAY - JUNE 26, 1978 7:00 PM - CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I. CALL TO ORDER II. ROLL CALL III . CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES A. Minutes of Commission Meeting of May 22, 1978. Action: IV. SELECTION OF NEW CHAIRMAN (To fill unexpired term of Steve Fleshman to September 1 , 1978). V. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - 1 Any person wishing to discuss any item not otherwise on the Agenda may address the Commission at this point by stepping to the podium and giving their name and address for the record. VI. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS - None VII . OLD BUSINESS A. Report on Planning Commission action on the Parks and Recreation Element of the Palm Desert General Plan. (See revised Parks and Recreation Element attached) . B. Report on Riverside County Park Advisory Commission action regarding ORV Park. (See attached minutes) . C. Report on Council action regarding: Youth Center funding; and, usage of Community Park expansion area. (See attached memorandum) . VIII . NEW BUSINESS A. Discuss possible usage of park sites after acquired. B. Discuss the procedure by which a park is developed and establish priorities for park development. C. Discuss proposal to use State Bond Act money to acquire the Catalina Way and San Pasqual park site. IX. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - 2 Any persons wishing to discuss any item not otherwise on the Agenda may address the Commission at this point by stepping to the podium and giving their name and address for the record. A lower Nee Agenda Palm Desert Parks and Recreation Commission June 26, 1978 Page Two X. COMMENTS A. City Staff B. Parks and Recreation Commissioners XI. ADJOURNMENT 4+01101 RIVERSIDE COUNTY *aro r� PARK ADVISORY COMMISSION May 24, 1978 Parks Headquarters - 11:00 a.m. MINUTES Members Present: Dick Dale, Sunnymead Bill Gerhardt, Perris Alyene O'Brien, Jurupa " ;,t ,t Paul Oertel, Corona Lucille Wade, Banning Doug York, Indio `' Members Absent: Martha McLean, Riverside ENVIRONMENTAL/ OFPA SERVICES cm/ C1, PALN! DESERT John Sanborn, Palm Springs Dave Shepardson, Blythe Jerry Decker, Hemet John Wilkie, Lake Elsinore Others Present: Dick Simons, Acting Parks Director Vince Mason (Guest) Administrative Office Paul Williams (Guest) Palm Desert Avelina Crom, Secretary, Parks Department 1. Call to Order: After lunch, the meeting was called to order at 12: 40 p.m. 2. Approval of Minutes: Dick Dale moved, seconded by Bill Gerhardt, and carried That the minutes of meeting of April 19 , 1978 be approved as distributed. 3. New Business: A. Review of Resolution Commending Pete Dangermond - A rough copy of a suggested resolution was reviewed by all the Commissioners, and after several changes, Dick Dale moved, seconded by Bill Gerhardt, and carried That the Park Advisory Commission adopt the resolution, with the changes, as presented. 4. Reports of Commissioners : A. The Equestrian and Hiking Trails Subcommittee met recently. They have added some new names for the subcommittee, but they don' t want to submit them to the Commission for approval until they have a chance to meet again and add more names. (Bill Gerhardt) .411,1e Nome PAC Mtg. 5/24/78 -5- "closed" sign was put up. Recently the staff had a work day at the park which went very well, and now we are using some funds which had been earmarked for improving the park. Work will include a 2-acre turf area, parking lot, shade shelters, plantings , and irrigation system. A dedication is planned for July 6, and work is on schedule. The grass will be in but probably not up. A pancake breakfast will be in the morning and dedication afterwards. D. Cleanup Day at Gilman Ranch - Lucille Wade reported that some of the community citizens are willing to go out on a Saturday and clean up the rubble left over from the fire at Gilman, but someone such as John Brumgardt and George Leja should be on hand so nothing of historical value will be destroyed. Lucille would like a date set for the cleanup day. She also reported that an old trailer (no one seems to know who it belongs to) on the premises was broken into. Dick will look into these matters. 6. New Business (continued from Item 3) B. Stewart Ranch Foundation - The Department was going to look into this source of funds for Gilman Ranch development, and wrote to them. Edith Hensell wrote back that they had received our request, and the Board would look into the matter next time they met and will let us know their decision. C. City of Palm Desert's Request for Assistance on ORV Park - A representative from the City of Palm Desert (Paul Williams - Secretary of the Parks and Recreation Commission for the City of Palm Desert) was then introduced. He said their City Council is faced with the prob- lem of what to do with 12-14 year old youths who want to ride motor- cycles in the desert. On March 9 there was a meeting of the City Council and those in favor of letting the youth ride about equalled those against such action. Many citizens are up in arms because the youths (who probably are too young to obtain operators ' license) ride over private property and vacant lots with motorcycles making lots of noise with unmuffled exhausts. Other citizens said there just was no place for them to ride anymore and felt motorbikes can be a very constructive form of entertainment for young people if used properly. Mr. Williams said unfortunately there isn' t any place east of Riverside where it is legal for them to ride. The City Council of Palm Desert turned the matter over to the City Parks and Recreation Commission. Because of the confines of the City of Palm Desert and most potential open areas are controlled by Bureau of Land Management, the Commission is convinced that there is no place in Palm Desert for such a facility. They would like to find a canyon for them some place where kids could ride and still not disturb anyone in the area. All the canyons in their area are either UCR or BLM managed, or are the habitat of the Bighorn Sheep, Desert Salamander, and other endangered species, so they concluded that the County Park Advisory Commission was the body to do something about this problem, perhaps reconsider the County Dumpsite near Edom Hill in the Thousand Palms area. Mr. Doug York reviewed the outcome of the public meeting held in PAC Mtg. 5/24/78 Noe -6- Thousand Palms -- 50 or more people against and only 4 people in favor of the idea, so the matter was dropped. Mr. York asked him the possibility of two or three places and Mr. Williams said there is opposition to motorbike riding on all of them. Mr. York feels since the riders seem fairly young, he wondered if a place like Edom Hill would answer the problem since the parents would have to drive them there because of the distance and because the youths do not have drivers licenses. Mr. Simons reported that since there was so much objection to the Edom Hill proposed project, the grant funds proposed for that area were divered to our DeAnza Cycle Park in Sunnymead area (in the Badlands where there are no homes or wildlife to speak of) . Plans are to purchase 125 more acres to the north of the DeAnza Cycle Park for parking so they can hold special events; day use area, campground, and fishing lakes. DeAnza will almost double in size after the pro- ject is completed. A grant has been approved for purchase of the land. The same opposition was demonstrated when the State was working on the idea of making a cycle park at the Lockheed property in Massacre Canyon area. There isn't any easy solution, so the Commission could only suggest that Palm Desert parents recommend the youth ride in the Whitewater Wash (from Westward Ho Golfcourse all way down to Salton Sea it is undeveloped) where the police don't bother them unless they are riding on the road without a license. D. Report of Grand Jury on Target Zero They liked the idea very much but feel the only way is to go to the citizens themselves for a vote. They preferred not to have the Board of Supervisors raise the tax 10 on their own. Supervisor Abraham sent a memo to our office asking what our recommendation might be to th.e Supervisors on this subject. If Jarvis passes, it may change the whole picture of Target Zero, also the budget hearings are in July this year, so the Commission wanted to shelve the matter until next meeting. E. Fees - Dick Simons mentioned that on May 30 at 11 a.m. there will be a public hearing on proposed increases in fees throughout the County in every department charging fees. This prompted Martha McLean to write a letter to the Board of Supervisors, and also wanted the Park Advisory Commission to receive a copy of it, requesting them not to adopt the proposed fee schedule except as a contingency measure in the event Jarvis initiative passes . She wants the Commission to review all fees again before recommendation is made on changes . This is the action taken by the Commission at the meeting of April 19th. It might be well for some of the Commissioners to be present at the meeting of May 30th if possible. Our office also received a letter from KAcor Realty regarding the ways our fees are set for overnight camping. (This is Rancho California, or Vail Lake, sometimes referred to as Butterfield Country) . They are in financial trouble and seem to be blaming us for it since our fees are so much lower than theirs. They seem to resent the fact that we can get grants , since we are a public agency. They are mostly referring to Lake Skinner and the fact INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM City of Palm Desert TO: Parks and Recreation Commissioners and The City Council FROM: Secretary to the Parks and Recreation Commission SUBJECT: Joint Study Session of June 13, 1978 DATE: June 14, 1978 The joint study session of the Park and Recreation Commission and City Council was called to order at 5:00 p.m. The study session was requested by the City Council to consider: the relationship of the recreational needs of the Community versus the facilities and services provided by the Coachella Valley Recreation and Park District; and possible sites for the Christina Sinatra Youth Center. The ideas expressed at this meeting, following an initial presentation by Mr. Paul Williams, Environmental Services Director, and Mr. Gary Doty, Coachella Valley Recreation and Park District Director, are summarized below: It should be noted from the outset that: this meeting was scheduled prior to the June 6 election; and that as a result of the passage of proposition 13 funds for the Coachella Valley Recreation and Park District could be cut by approximately two thirds and thus it appears questionable at this time whether sufficient funds will be available for the continued operation of the District. DISCUSSION - Ways of generating additional income to help support recreational activities in the community. 1. Establish user fee. 2. Work with volunteers to maintain consistentlevel of service. 3. Establish user fee for adult activities only to provide programs for youth. 4. Establish fund-raising program. 5. Sell memberships to users. 6. Study feasibility of establishing a City Recreation Tax and creation of a separate district. 7. Consolidate all existing recreational activities and create city- wide recreational association. 8. Study feasibility of increasing the present Coachella Valley Recreation and Park District tax rate with income generated used only for recreational purposes. 9. Become affiliated with Boy's Club or YMCA to partake of their funds. 10. Find out why other communities are successful and why Palm Desert is not. DISCUSSION - Joint Powers Agreement. 1. It was the concensus of those present that a Joint Powers Agreement would not work but consideration should be given to the creation of an advisory board composed of members of participating communities. + r Page Two 2. Park and Recreation Commissioners could serve as advisory board. DISCUSSION - Palm Desert Youth Center 1. City residents now pay tax which pays in part for youth center. These funds are funnelled through Coachella Valley Recreation and Park District. Accordingly, it is the City Council 's rationale to go to Coachella Valley Recreation and Park District for addition- al money. Such additional monies are not, however, available. 2. Teen Center should work with Park and Recreation Commission to look for solutions to problems and establish priorities. 3. Consider ways of generating additional income as listed previously. The joint study session was adjourned at 7:10 p.m. PAUL A. WILLIAMS paw/rn/tb