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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Parks and Recreation Commission - July 24, 2012X E a. CITY OF PALM DESERT PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM TO: Rachelle D. Klassen, City Clerk FROM: Bertha A. Gonzalez, Senior Office Assistant DATE: September 4, 2012 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, July 24, 2012. Please let me know if you have any questions or need additional information. Thank you. Attachment (as noted) CITY COUNCILACTION APPROVED DENIED RECEIVED 9`� .f�—:)THEIt. MEETING DATE AYES: r NOES: Norte - ABSENT: e ABSTAIN: VERIFIED BY: Original on File with City Clerk's Office CITY OF PALM DESERT MINUTES PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION ADJOURNED MEETING TUESDAY, JULY 24, 2012 — 8:30 a.m. Administrative Conference Room — Palm Desert Civic Center 73-510 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert, California 92260 I. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Dawson convened the meeting at 8:30 a.m. II. ROLL CALL Present: Chairman Jerry Dawson Vice Chair Kim Housken Commissioner Dean Dowty Commissioner Randy Guyer Commissioner Deborah Hall Commissioner Mary Helen Kelly Commissioner Raymond Rodriguez Commissioner Christopher Thomas Ex-Officio Members: Rob Ballew, YMCA of the Desert Jeff Ronci, Desert Recreation District Absent Commissioner Michael Barnard Staff Present: Mark Greenwood, P.E., Director of Public Works Bertha Gonzalez, Recording Secretary H. Spencer Knight, Landscape Manager Ryan Stendell, Senior Management Analyst John M. Wohlmuth, City Manager Guests: Karen Creasy, YMCA of the Desert Laura McGalliard, Desert Recreation District Robert A. Spiegel, Councilman Van Tanner, Planning Commission Liaison Sherry Barkas, The Desert Sun PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION APPROVED MINUTES JULY 24. 2012 III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS NONE IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012 Approve as presented Upon a motion by Chairman Dawson, second by Commissioner Guyer, and 8-0 vote of the Commission Board, the Consent Calendar was approved as presented. V. NEW BUSINESS A. PARKS' LEVEL OF SERVICE Mr. Spencer Knight stated that with the current budget restraints and staff reductions, City staff is considering reducing the frequency of the maintenance provided to the parks. The Landscape Services Division is currently managing the all City's parks and medians with six staff members; therefore, staffs response time has been reduced. That is half the staff from three years ago. This means that some items may take longer to fix and projects may take longer to start and/or be completed. Also, the inspectors no longer have the time to make repairs themselves as they did in the past; therefore, they need to rely more on the maintenance contractor. Mr. Knight added that the contracts for maintenance of the parks during FY11 /12 have been terminated and the new awarded contractor for FY12/13 has recently opted out of the contracts. As a result, staff has hired an interim maintenance contractor and will rebid the contracts within 120 days. He noted that the awarding process will be based on the best services proposed, not the lowest bid. Councilman Spiegel stated that the parks, next to the police and fire departments, are the most important asset the City has; therefore, they should be properly maintained. Mr. Knight noted that staff believes Palm Desert has the best parks in the valley and has every intention to keep them the best. B. AQUATIC CENTER ONGOING CAPITAL PROJECTS Mr. Ryan Stendell reported that the City Council was informed of the following ongoing projects for the Aquatic Center: 2 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION APPROVED MINUTES DULY 24. 201 • Permanent Shade — Staff quickly realized that 25 patio umbrellas were not enough during the summer months; therefore, an additional 13 patio umbrellas have been purchased. In addition, staff is in the process of installing permanent shading at two locations: near the concession stand and along the east side of the recreation pool. The permanent shade will be completed by the end of this summer. • Deck Seating — During the last summer, the Aquatic Center had up to 1,000 guests per day; therefore, staff will be adding 30 armchairs around the pool deck. Also, three folding bleachers will be purchased for additional sitting during the center's events. • Chemical Storage Area — Staff has found that buying dry chemicals in bulk can save a considerable amount of money and time in maintenance activities; therefore, a gate has been installed at the east side of the facility to create a secure storage area. Colorado Timing System — Staff has contacted Colorado Systems to install a competitive timing system at the Aquatic Center. This will allow the center to hold large multi -day tournaments. Colorado Systems has successfully installed timing systems in areas with extremely high temperatures, so they are confident that they can provide a quality system for the Aquatic Center. Mr. Stendell added that a full detail report of the Aquatic Center's expenses and revenues for Fiscal Year 2011-12 will be provided at the regular meeting of September. VI. CONTINUED BUSINESS NONE VII. OLD BUSINESS NONE VIII. PRESENTATIONS AND UPDATES A. PARKS USE REPORT - Civic Center Park (Dawson, Barnard, and Ballew) Chairman Dawson stated that the three Commissioners conducted their inspections as scheduled, including Commissioner Barnard, who has presented his resignation due to work conflicts. He indicated that each Commissioner will mention their inspection items and the Commission will vote to: 1. Refer the item to staff; 2. Place the item for discussion at the next meeting; or 3. Place the item on hold. PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION APPROVED MINUTES JULY 24, 2012 Member Ballew surveyed some visitors on what improvements or events could be done to the park and found the following: The number one request was for the incorporation of an annual fishing contest. Mr. John Wohlmuth stated that he doesn't believe trout will survive the desert's summer high temperatures, but suggested for staff to contact The Lakes Country Club, since they have an annual fishing contest. Member Jeff Ronci added that the DRD holds an annual fishing trip, but it is held at Lake Cahuilla. He also believes fish cannot survive at the Civic Center pond. Due to the concerns, the item was put on hold. 2. Visitors requested additional shaded areas and barbeques; however, since this item has been discussed at a previous meeting, the item was referred to staff. On a separate note, staff will look into adding more barbeques to The Grove. 3. Visitors noted how much the children missed the rainbow water feature; however, the Commission and staff agreed that this was a very expensive commodity and there was no further discussion. Sent via email, Commissioner Barnard's items included: Visitors commented on the dog park's unpleasant odor. The concern was noted and without further discussion, the item was put on hold. 2. There is no signage inside Civic Center Park that directs visitors to the Aquatic Center. The item was referred to staff. 3. Visitors requested shade covering on the basketball and volleyball courts. The Commission agreed that due to the nature of the sports, shading was not practical, so the item was put on hold. 4. The back walls of the YMCA and Desert Recreation buildings are very visible, but plain; therefore, Mr. Barnard asked if some art or signage can be added. The item was referred to the Arts in Public Places Department. Chairman Dawson's items included: 1. The Aquatic Center's retention basin has some standing water by the orange fencing. Staff indicated that the water comes from the Center's filtration system and it is not percolating into the ground. The engineers are trying to design an underground filtration system; however, it is unknown on when it can be implemented. The item was referred to staff. 4 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION APPROVED MINUTES JULY 24, 2012 2. There is no signage that directs visitors to the Aquatic Center's concession stand. Staff agreed that all the Civic Center Park's signage needs to be updated; therefore, the item was referred to staff. 3. The kiosk's glass needs to be repaired and the information on display is outdated. Commissioner Thomas suggested asking the Community Center to keep the information updated. The item was referred to staff. Commissioner Thomas suggested only discussing the top three items of each list and the Commission concurred. Chairman Dawson noted that inspection of Cahuilla Hills Park will be discussed in the meeting of September. B. FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION Mr. Stendell reported that the Fourth of July Celebration was very successful. Because fewer communities are having firework display, the attendance was higher than last year and parking went without incident. The Aquatic Center remained opened, but Magnesia Falls Drive was closed after 4:00 p.m. Staff is considering keeping Magnesia Falls Drive open for a longer period of time next year. In addition, due to a leak in the chlorine pump, the Aquatic Center's emergency plan was implemented on July 4m with great success. C. PALM DESERT AQUATIC CENTER Mrs. Karen Creasy stated that a more detailed end of the year report will be presented in the regular meeting of September. In the meantime, a PowerPoint highlighting the first year of the Aquatic Center was presented. She noted that there were 500 visitors in swim meet of the Palm Desert Swim Club, but it can hold up to 2,000. The swimming lessons, diving boards, school field trips to the center and special events were very popular this past year. There were 41 % residents vs. 59% non-residents visiting the center this summer for recreation swim. D. FAMILY YMCA OF THE DESERT Member Ballew reported that all of the YMCA day camps are full, Cooking Camp was held at California Kitchen Restaurant, and staff is currently getting ready to start the new school year. E. DESERT RECREATION DISTRICT Member Ronci reported that the summer programs have had great attendance; the DRD has increased their use of Aquatic Center from one PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION APPROVED MINUTES JULY 24, 201 to three days; and the Community Center will be closed the week of August 19 for maintenance. He added that they have invited Mr. Glen Miller to the September Meeting to talk about the First Tee and the Senior Games will be moved back from holiday weekend. Member Ronci presented the monthly facilities and programming reports as follows: Program / Activity Residents Non- Residents Total Participation After School Program 23 28 51 Cams 113 35 148 Dance 15 5 21 Health & Fitness 1 2 3 Martial Arts 18 7 25 Music 7 10 17 Sports 8 2 10 Staff Training 2 1 3 Tots 21 11 32 Membership/ Facilities Reservations Attended Civic Center Park Pavilion 5 350 Civic Center Softball Fields 26 104,096 Civic Center Amphitheater 3 750 Freedom Park Softball Fields 26 78,012 Freedom Park Soccer Field 23 1,150 Freedom Park Football Field 13 524 Hovley Soccer Fields 25 525 IX. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS - Commissioner Thomas noted that the new Cahuilla Hills Park restroom is a success and staff noted that regular maintenance has been scheduled. - Commissioner Housken stated that Palm Desert has submitted their Tree USA application and Mr. Knight added the City won't be notified of the results until the end of the year. - Commissioner Kelly was informed that the Community Gardens are run by Special Programs Department, but the maintenance is managed by the Landscape Services Division. The Gardens are successful and currently have a waiting list. Staff is looking into fine tuning the policy, so additional information will be presented at the September meeting. - Member Ballew mentioned that Mrs. Frankie Riddle of the Special Programs Department is looking into holding a Beach Boys' type concert. 2 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION APPROVED MINUTES JULY 24, 2012 - Mr. Stendell stated additional rule signs will be posted in the dog parks. Staff will contact the City of La Quinta to find out if and/or how they enforce their rules. - Chairman Dawson asked the Commission find out who would be interested in joining the Commission. X. ADJOURNMENT With no further business or discussion, and with the Commissioners' unanimous concurrence, the meeting was adjourned at 10:00 a.m. ertha . Gonzal , Recordi Secretary 7