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2005/06/20 Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes ROHNERT PARK PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES June 20, 2005 The Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission met this date at 7:30 p.m. for a regular meeting at the Rohnert Park city offices, 6750 Commerce Boulevard, Rohnert Park. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. with Chair Bird presiding. ROLL CALL Present: (6) Commissioners Bird, Black, Butler, Griffin, Hansen, and Rogers Absent: (1) Stevens Also present for all or part of the meeting Recreation Services Manager Guy Miller. APPROVAL OF MINUTES—Upon motion by Commissioner Hansen and second by Commissioner Black, the minutes for the meeting of May 16th were unanimously approved as submitted. UNSCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCE/PUBLIC COMMENT-None SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCE/PUBLIC COMMENT-None OLD BUSINESS Public Hearing on Playground Equipment Replacement for Cielo, Caterpillar, and Colegio Vista Parks— Recreation Services Manager, Guy Miller,presented the background of the proposed playground renovations. Representatives from Ross Recreation Equipment gave a PowerPoint presentation of the proposed plans for each of the three parks being discussed at tonight's hearing. Various questions were asked by the audience members about the specific designs. General comments were made and are summarized below: Caterpillar Park • Desire to have the two age specific areas combined into one area • Move the playground area closer to Circle Drive • There is a wasp nest in the area that needs to be sprayed • Equipment should not have"hiding areas"where teens can hang out at night. Clear panels should be used whenever possible. • Tables should be removed or at least moved into a more visible area. There are lots of teens using the tables to deal drugs and for sexual activity. • There needs to be something done to prevent people from driving cars into the park and damaging the turf. The use of landscape boulders was suggested • Residents feel that new equipment may revitalize the park and prevent some of the problems now occurring in the park • This park has many problems with teens "hanging out"and needs help. The residents feel that their neighborhood is being neglected and most of the other neighborhoods have nice new parks. • The park could use more shade Page 1 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes June 20, 2005 Colegio Vista Park • Likes the idea of combining older and younger play areas. • Would like to keep a large slide if possible • They love the Spacenet and the Rock and Ridge climbers • Their children like challenges and progress quickly to the older children's structures. Don't invest heavily in 2-5 age group. It will not get used. • Needs more shade near playground area Cielo Park • No one in the audience had ever used it this park. They feel that it just a hang-out for teens. • They feel that the funds dedicated to this park would be better spent on providing equipment at Caterpillar and Colegio Vista Parks • The landscaping needs to be cleared or raised to eliminate hiding areas Specific Public Comments: Rollin Gehring, 7418 Circle Dr. Regarding Caterpillar Park: Lives closest to the park. Complained of numerous problems. The equipment not slated for replacement should also be removed. Would like to see the tables and BBQ's removed because teens use them as a hang-out. Playground is in bad shape and isn't taken care of. Graffiti needs to be removed. Trees are used for climbing and should be replaced. They are too close to his yard. There are mud holes in the soccer field. The park needs to be maintained better. Trash isn't cleaned up. Public Safety has not responded to complaints about criminal acts in the park. Joyce Anderson, 7295 Circle Dr. Regarding Caterpillar Park: Feels that the playground has been neglected. Other neighborhoods have nice equipment and she encouraged us to replace all the equipment. The park could use a group picnic area and more benches. Also needs more small shade trees. Would like Caterpillar Park to look as nice as R-Section Park. Teenagers congregating on tables at night. Wants more RPDPS presence. Fred Bengs, 7288 Calcutta Ct. Regarding Caterpillar Park: Too many cars drive through the park at night. Would like to see barricades along Circle Drive to prevent this. Would like the older and younger play structures to be in one location. Also believes that the existing structure has safety deficiencies and should be replaced. Works for Co. of Sonoma Community Development Block Grant. Suggests that Rohnert Park apply for CDBG Funding for future playground renovations. Public Hearing closed at 8:40pm Comments from Commissioners: Commissioner Rogers stated that it was obvious that there are parks in the city that are being neglected. Commissioner Griffin thanked the audience and ensured them that their comments would be taken into consideration when the specific designs are selected. Stated that the Commission may be able Page 2 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes June 20, 2005 to help on issues related to park maintenance and Public Safety, and it is important for the public to communicate their concerns to the Commission. Wishes we could fix everything,but funds are limited. Commissioner Black also thanked the audience for attending and emphasized that they have a voice and should make their concerns known to the Commission or other appointed and elected officials. Mentioned the Adopt-a-Park program and encouraged the audience to participate in that program when it is implemented. Commissioner Hansen acknowledged that many of the comments made about the condition of the parks are valid. Informed the audience of the PROS Committee and encouraged them to attend the meetings and give input. We need to find a way to include teenagers in the park planning process so they have something to do instead of hanging out. Chair Bird said that many people who come into our city comment on how nice our parks are. Feels that we can raise the quality of the older parks to the level of the newer ones by targeting funding and maintenance. Public Hearing on Playground Equipment Replacement for Sunrise and Ladybug Parks—Recreation Services Manager, Guy Miller,presented the background of the proposed playground renovations. Several members of the Commission attended an L-Section community meeting on May 14, 2005, and the playgrounds were extensively discussed. Ideas from that meeting have been incorporated into the designs presented tonight. It has also been suggested that the tennis backboard at Sunrise Park might be removed to allow space to build a large playground ,and this proposal will also be presented. He also reported that signs were posted on the tennis wall for a period of two weeks to try to get an idea of how much use the wall gets. Several comments were received by Manager Miller concerning the use of the tennis wall which will be presented later in the hearing. Representatives from Ross Recreation Equipment gave a PowerPoint presentation of the proposed plans for each of the three parks being discussed at tonight's hearing. Various questions were asked by the audience members about the specific designs. General comments were made and are summarized below: Ladybug Park • Sees no need to move the playground at L-Section. Likes the current site and does not want to give up playground fixtures if new site cannot accommodate them. • They love the"Spacenet"and"Rock and Ridge" designs. Are concerned that these would not fit in the alternate site. Sunrise Park • Likes the shade structure. • Feels that we should emphasize the older children's structure and spend less on the younger children's structure. Specific Public Comments: Tad Jadkowski, 4882 Fairway Dr. Regarding Sunrise Park: There are lots of people who use the tennis backboard. While the idea of expanding the play area is admirable,he feels that it should not be at the cost of losing the tennis wall. He felt that adding more backboards to existing courts Page 3 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes June 20, 2005 might be a solution but says the location at S-Park is very good. Also installing backboards on existing courts will make those courts unusable if someone is hitting off the backboard. While he supports the expansion of the children's playground, he does not want to lose the tennis wall. Public Hearing Closed at 9:00 p.m. At this time Manager Miller presented to the Commission a list of phone calls he had received in support of retaining the tennis wall at Sunrise Park. Signs were posted for a period of two weeks informing people of the proposal to remove the wall and asked concerned individuals to call the Recreation Department. He received a total of eight calls and in support of retaining the wall during this period. Manager Miller also passed out a letter from Sally Anne Harper-Truscott, 470 Landsdown Circle, requesting that we not move the Ladybug playground, specifically to the proposed location which is directly behind her residence. She supports the creation of a spray park but only as an addition to the pool, not in place of. Comments from Commissioners: Chair Bird asked Mr. Jadkowski if a new tennis wall was constructed at a different park would that satisfy his requirements. Mr. Jadkowski responded that he would use the wall wherever it is located,but others might not feel the same way. --� Chair Bird asked Manager Miller if there were any other tennis walls in town. Manager Miller replied that there used to be one located at Dorotea Park which was removed many years ago because it was in poor condition. Commissioner Black asked Manager Miller if it would be possible to install a wall at another location. Manager Miller explained that tennis walls could be installed in two methods. One would be to install the wall outside the tennis court on an exterior fence or other structure. This would be the most flexible because the courts could all still be used. This would require a concrete or asphalt slab which would make it more costly to build. The second method is to install a wall on an interior tennis court fence which would make that court unusable for regular tennis play if someone is hitting on the wall. Commissioner Black asked if the unused tennis court at G-Park would be suitable to construct a tennis wall. Manager Miller said that might be a good solution,but we would have to consider the noise factor on the neighborhood. General discussion followed concerning tennis backboards. Joint Meeting of City Council, Parks and Recreation Commission and Planning Commission. Manager Miller reminded the Commissioners of the meeting on July 13 and encouraged them to RSVP. Page 4 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes June 20, 2005 NEW BUSINESS None STAFF REPORTS Department Highlights for May—Due to time constraints no staff report was submitted. COMMISSION COMMITTEE REPORTS Park Master Plan (PROS) Committee—Commissioner Hansen reported that progress is being made. Funding mechanisms are being explored and a draft questionnaire has been developed to solicit community input. City Council members were interviewed and their views of the Committee and Parks and Recreation in general were discussed. Commissioner Rogers said that the committee is trying to find ways to get the best sampling of residents and solicit information from the residents concerning the needs of the city. Dog Park Committee—Commissioner Black reported that the committee is looking into ways of getting the community involved in policing the parks. Once the parks are established, we will be doing outreach to try to establish volunteer monitors. Discussion followed concerning the necessity of ,--., limiting the hours of the dog park located at B-Park. It was suggested that the park not be in operation during times when baseball games are being played. Manager Miller pointed out that this would eliminate the park most weeknights and weekends and would not be a good solution. Further discussion followed and it was decided that the park should operate daily from dawn to dusk. MATTERS FROM/FOR COMMISSIONERS Playground Tour- Commissioner Griffin asked if it would be possible to schedule a tour of the parks slated for playground improvements in the next few weeks. The Commission also wanted to see some of the"pocket parks"located throughout the city and voted to schedule a meeting/tour of these parks on June 30 at 5:30 p.m. ADJOURNMENT - There being no further business before the Commission, the meeting was adjourned at 9:45 p.m. -.2:_e____ Chair ird Guy filler J Recreation Services Manager n Page 5