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2007/09/17 Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes ROHNERT PARK PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES September 17, 2007 The Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission met this date at 6:30 p.m. for a regular meeting at the Rohnert Park city offices, 6750 Commerce Boulevard, Rohnert Park. The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. with Chair Black presiding. Roll Call Present: (5) Commissioners Armerding, Aronis, Bird, Black, and Griffin Absent: (0) Also present for all or part of the meeting was Recreation Services Manager Guy Miller. Approval of Minutes—Upon motion by Commissioner Griffin and second by Commissioner Armerding, the minutes for the meeting of August 20th were unanimously approved as submitted. Unscheduled Public Appearances -None Establishment of Ad-hoc Sport& Fitness Center Committee—Manager Miller reported the Recreation Department is in the process of revamping the membership process for the Sports &Fitness Center. The city now has the ability to deduct membership fees directly from checking accounts or credit cards, and staff is reviewing the current fee schedule. He would like to set up a committee to work as a sounding board to give input before moving ahead on bringing this matter to the entire commission. Commissioners Griffin and Bird volunteered. Commissioner Armerding made a motion to form an ad hoc committee with Commissioners Bird and Griffin as members. Commissioner Aronis seconded the motion which was unanimously approved. Revised Skate Park Report—Commissioner Armerding reported the Skate Park Committee has two recommendations regarding their report draft. One is to remove the stadium area as a possible site and replace it with a site on the corner of Country Club and Golf Course Drives. He gave the reasons for eliminating the stadium site and the reasons for adding the site at Country Club and Golf Course. He passed out a schematic of the possible Country Club/Golf Course site showing that it meets many of the criteria outlined in the report, and there is enough room to accommodate a skate park at this site. The committee is recommending that this change be forwarded to the PROS Committee and the company making the recommendation on a park master plan. The Commission discussed the rating system used for possible skate park sites as well as sites mentioned in the report. Commissioner Griffin reported that at the City Council meeting the city manager spoke about tennis courts and how some of them are not in very good shape. Commissioner Page 1 of 4 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes—September 20, 2007 Griffin suggested an old tennis court might be a good site for a skate park even though it .. may not be exactly what kids are looking for, it would be better than not having anything. Commissioner Armerding responded that it would have to be decided if offering something small might cost almost the same as a larger skate park. Commissioner Griffin suggested that it might be 10-15 years before a skate park is built, and converting a tennis court for skating could work in the interim. Commissioner Armerding responded that if they could find a suitable existing park, a skate park could be built in as little as two years. Discussion followed on the pros and cons of pocket skate parks or converting tennis courts to skate parks. Manager Miller reminded the Commission there is only one charge at tonight's meeting and that is whether to accept the committee's amendment to their draft report. No other changes were included on tonight's agenda and so they can't be considered. He agreed with Commissioner Armerding that this report is a snapshot done at a period of time. This is an ongoing process, going first to PROS, then back to the Commission for a recommendation and ultimately to the City Council for a decision. Commissioner Griffin stated he doesn't feel comfortable passing the report on as it is now. Discussion followed. Manager Miller said he believes that the park master plan will be more general. The report may say the city needs a skate park but won't name a specific site. He said he believes that changing the ranking of possible sites or adding tennis courts as possible sites will not change the park master plan recommendation nor will making the changes recommended tonight. Commissioner Bird made a motion to accept the revised report, and Commissioner Aronis seconded the motion. The motion passed 4-1 by the following vote: Ayes—Commissioners Armerding, Aronis, Black and Bird No—Commissioner Griffin Committee Reports: Park Audit Committee—Chair Black reported that she and Commissioner Griffin made a formal report to the City Council regarding the park audit, and it seemed to be well received. Some comments were made, and the Chair said she believes it will be used as a tool for some park areas that need to be addressed. Commissioner Griffin said the Council talked about moving the repairs up on the priority list. Golf Course Committee—Commissioners Griffin and Bird reported that this committee is meeting tomorrow night. Park Sponsorship/Adopt-a-Park Committee—Manager Miller mentioned that the official name of this committee is the Park Sponsorship Committee, and he believes there is a conflict with other committees. Commissioner Aronis referred to the January commission meeting where they agreed to merge the Park Watch and Adopt-a-Park Committees into the Park Sponsorship Committee. Page 2 of 4 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes—September 20, 2007 Commissioner Aronis reported on their recent meeting when ad hoc member Bob Thompson, Manager Miller, Commissioner Bird, and he met with Eydie Tacata from the Engineering Department and discussed forming some type of advisory committee. After their discussion the committee decided to try to reform the adopt-a-park program and look at the Cal Trans program for adopting a freeway as a guideline. The Committee believes they can get support from the city if they focus on city parks and will be meeting again in the near future to formalize some sort of plan. The Committee also discussed including an adopt-a-pool program where a company or individual could help support maintenance of a pool. Commissioner Aronis reported the Committee will come up with a comprehensive plan and return to the commission with their recommendation. They are hoping to focus on the parks and possibly expand to include other areas in the city. Some discussion followed. Commissioner Aronis suggested that if they could concentrate on the parks and get volunteers for them, this may allow True Green to concentrate on other areas of the city such as the medians and other weedy areas. Unscheduled Public Appearances - Suzanne Sanders, 5702 Davis Circle, Rohnert Park,wanted to assure the Commission that there are people in the community who want to see a skate park built, and she had stopped by Bradley Video to pick up some petitions. She has spoken to Manager Miller and recognizes there are some economic problems occurring in the city. She presented an article to the commission and mentioned a grant that Sonoma County gave to the City of Cotati to build a skate park. She stated that the grant is earmarked for Cotati/Rohnert Park so if Cotati doesn't use the grant, the City of Rohnert Park could. She said she is willing to work with the city and referred to other available grants that the city could apply for. Matters from Staff: Update on Playground Renovations—Manager Miller reported he is in the process of creating an RFP for playground renovations. He has been looking for money to use for this purpose and mentioned some funds that might be available. One requires some private funding in order to qualify for use of the grant. He has discussed this with senior city hall staff. The city might be able to use some 2000 park bonds for the senior center expansion, and there may be other funds that could be used for playgrounds. Proposals won't be completed until after the first of the year. Staff will be doing formal requests for proposals at that time and will name specific amounts set aside for each playground. The Commission would pick out some designs and then a public hearing would be held to get public input. Discussion followed. Matters to/from Commissioners: CAPRCBM Training October 20, 2007- Manager Miller referred to an invitation the commissioners had received in their packets for a workshop in Corte Madera. He advised that this is an organization that has been around for a long time and helps commissioners to be better trained. He stated they are all invited to participate and asked that anyone Page 3 of 4 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes—September 20, 2007 able to attend to let him know. Commissioners Griffin and Armerding said they were interested. The other commissioners said they would let him know. Park Plantings—Chair Black thanked Public Works for transplanting some of the foundation plants from the new city hall site in various city parks and mentioned the plants she had seen at Golis Park. The Commission agreed this was a great idea. ADJOURNMENT—There being no further business before the commission, the meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m. or /€5;eZ Chair Black Guy iller, Recreation Services Manager Secretary Page 4 of 4