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2004/01/26 Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes ROHNERT PARK PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES January 26, 2004 The Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission met this date at 7:30 p.m. for an adjourned 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 Stevens presiding. ROLL CALL Present: (6) Commissioners Bird, Butler, Carlson, Griffin, Hotaling, and Stevens Absent: (1) Commissioners Rogers Also present for the meeting was Finance Director, Sandy Lipitz and Recreation Services Manager, Guy Miller. APPROVAL OF MINUTES—Upon motion by Commissioner Carlson and second by Commissioner Butler,the minutes for the meeting of December 15th were unanimously approved as submitted. UNSCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCE/PUBLIC COMMENT Bonnie Black, 1065 Hawthorne, Best Friends Canine Club, asked to reserve her comments on the dog park until the item comes up on the agenda. She explained she is also the director of the Rohnert Park Education Foundation, which sponsors two major events each year, the Sharing of the Green and the Chili Cook-off. She reported that the Chili Cook-off is held in October and brings in people from all over the United States and Canada. She advised the event is in danger of being cancelled due to the lack of a suitable venue. The cook-off has been held at the stadium the past several years, and due to the stadium's closing,they are looking for a new venue. She stated the Foundation has looked at several sites including using the space between the Sports and Fitness Center and the Performing Arts Center. Due to the City's proposal to build an indoor swim pool in that area,the Foundation is unable commit to the site and the related expenses unless they know the venue will be available for some time to come. The Education Foundation board requested that Mrs. Black ask the Parks and Recreation Commission if they could help with finding alternative venues before the event has to be cancelled forever. She reported the Foundation will have to make a decision at their next month's meeting. Commissioner Carlson stated even if the indoor pool is built, she did not think it would be built by next fall so they could use that area this year. Mrs. Black stated she had met with Recreation Services Manager Miller and Mr. Brokaw and was told that construction may start by summer. Recreation Services Manager Miller responded that since he had talked to Mrs. Black,the City Council met to discuss this proposal and things have changed. He stated realistically nothing would begin before the end of the summer and will have additional information later in the meeting. He said the City Council could Page 1 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes January 26, 2004 make a decision in the next two months. If they decide not to build a pool,the city may be able to make a long-term commitment to the Education Foundation. Discussion followed on the Community Center complex site. Mrs. Black said the Chili Cook-off was held at the Community Center in 1998,but the event has grown since then. She stated they also have to be careful not to interfere in the Performance Art Center's schedule, which she understands begins in the fall. Commissioner Griffin suggested using the Community Center, Sports and Fitness Center, and the area around the fountain,but Mrs. Black advised a lot of study would have to be done because of fire regulations as well as determining if there is enough electricity. The Commission also discussed using the high school or Sonoma State University,but Mrs. Black reported the Education Foundation had already looked at both sites and neither would work. The Commission also discussed using the Doubletree Hotel. Manager Miller asked Mrs. Black if the Foundation would be interested in reserving the Community Center and Sports and Fitness Center for one year until we know more. Mrs. Black replied it would depend on the cost of renting the Community Center. She explained they have at least 200 volunteers on the day of the cook-off, and it involves very intensive planning. She mentioned that the Sharing of the Green has outgrown the Community Center site although they will continue to have the event there. Manager Miller asked about using the stadium for one more year. Mrs. Black replied since they are familiar with that site, she feels this might be the best solution, although the Foundation might not see a reason to continue holding the event if it is only for one more year. Commissioner Bird suggested using a city park, and Mrs. Black responded that they had looked into that but did not feel it would be feasible due to problems with parking,noise, electricity, and bathrooms. Commissioner Carlson asked what the Education Foundation makes on the cook-off. Mrs. Black replied they make approximately$12,000, and the Sharing of the Green makes $50,000. Commissioner Bird suggested having a street fair venue. Mrs. Black said it may be possible,but it would depend on the cost of renting fencing since in order to get a permit to serve alcohol, it must be done in a fenced area. Lt. Dave Frazier from the Public Safety Department suggested using Agilent since some of the buildings are being closed down. Manager Miller gave Mrs. Black the name of a contact person at Agilent to see if this might be possible. Manager Miller said he will follow through on the stadium to see if it would be available for 2004. SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCE Public Safety Presentation on Park Safety—Lt. John Thompson and Lt. Dave Frazier—Chair Stevens stated the Commission appreciated the report they received last month from Public Safety showing crime statistics for the city parks. --� Page 2 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes January 26, 2004 Lt. Thompson said that Public Safety had some instances of concern this past year and referred to the shooting at Sunrise Park. He advised that Public Safety Director Bullard and City Council Member Nordin met with people who live in the S Park neighborhood, and as a result, the trees and bushes were cut back and the City contracted with a private business to do park patrols. He reported there is a possibility in the future of doing two- person random patrols in the parks using off-road vehicles so that they would be able to monitor alcohol use and other problems in the parks. He reported since the patrols began there were only a couple of incidents in city parks. Lt. Frazier reported he has talked to all the shifts, including the swing shift, and they have had nothing remarkable to report. He stated the major issues occur in Golis Park where they get called almost every night with reports of skaters on the tennis courts. He advised that since the bushes were cut back they have gotten rid of vermin, and they are also able to see into the park better. He said there have been some homeless problems,but since the City Council took action,they have had very few problems in the parks. Lt. Frazier explained he is very active in community sports, and he believes the main things that make people feel uncomfortable in the parks are graffiti and vandalism. Lt. Thompson said just scheduling evening patrols in the parks made a big difference in park safety. If this can be continued whether by city police or a security company, it will make a big difference. He reported the patrols were scheduled from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. in the summer, and they hope to be able to continue them this year. Commissioner Carlson reported after receiving reports from Public Safety and the Recreation Departments, she had gone to the City Council meeting to ask that the City's alcohol ordinance be rescinded. Lt. Frazier said Public Safety understood the ordinance was a problem, and the people who take the time to complete a permit are not the ones causing problems. People who do cause problems do not get permits, and he believes having park patrols will manage the problems. In addition,he explained the Department hopes to be able to get a motorized vehicle to allow them to monitor the city's pathways. Commissioner Carlson said she has heard about these same problems as long as she has lived in Rohnert Park. Lt. Thompson replied that this is a transient problem that moves from community to community. Commissioner Griffin said that he plays softball, and he observed that the private patrols did a very good job. Lt. Frazier said Public Safety wanted to make them very public relations oriented, and they will be whatever the city wants them to be. Lt. Thompson said the Public Safety Department was very pleased with the program. Chair Stevens asked if it would help to have the park neighbors do a watch. Lt. Frazier said they do feel a neighborhood watch program is important, and a park and neighborhood watch combined program would be best. Chair Stevens asked if the Commission schedules a neighborhood meeting should they request that a police officer be there, and Lt. Frazier and Thompson agreed it is important to have an officer there. It .-� would probably be the beat officer who is familiar with the neighborhood. Page 3 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes January 26, 2004 Commissioner Carlson said that one of the surprises from reading the park crime statistic report was the number of calls for Public Works or people trying to find lost items. Lt. Thompson said if that is the worst problem the Department has to deal with, they could handle that. Lt. Frazier explained that there is only one weekend point person for the City and that is the Public Safety dispatcher. The Commission thanked both Lt. Frazier and Lt. Thompson for taking time to come and discuss park safety with them. OLD BUSINESS Establish 2004 Goals and Work Plan—Chair Stevens referred to the Commission's list of proposed 2004 goals and asked which ones the Commission wanted to adopt with a working plan. (A copy of the proposed goals is attached to the original copy of these minutes.)He was confident they could work to set up a park and neighborhood watch program. Commissioner Hotaling volunteered to work on this program and Commissioner Bird offered to assist. The Commission agreed that a park watch program would be similar to the neighborhood watch program. Finance Director Lipitz informed the Commission that Public Safety's proposal for a neighborhood watch program is being presented to the City Council at tomorrow night's meeting and hopefully it will be accepted. Chair Stevens suggested scheduling meetings by the neighborhood, and Recreation Services Manager Miller proposed looking at the crime report they received from Public Safety and begin scheduling the meetings in the neighborhoods near the parks with the most crime activity. Bonnie Black reported that there are people in the Best Friends Canine Club who have expressed an interest in working on a neighborhood watch for Golis Park,which she would be happy to coordinate. Manager Miller pointed out that many of the Commission's goals on the proposed list are staff driven. He suggested that they set goals that they can work on as a commission. Chair Stevens reviewed the goals on the list and noted that at least two of them are projects that Recreation staff will be working on anyway. Chair Stevens suggested that the Commission could look at creative ways to increase revenue and maintain services for all city recreation facilities(proposed goal#3) as well as assist in promoting the construction of an indoor pool. Manager Miller stated that there is a funding issue for the indoor pool project,but Chair Stevens said he feels that the Commission can still help to promote the project with the public and the City Council. The Commission discussed creating a volunteer program and forming an ad hoc committee to establish some ideas for the program. Commissioners Hotaling, Butler and Bird volunteered to be part of the committee and naming Commissioner Rogers as an alternate. Page 4 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes January 26, 2004 In addition, Commissioner Griffin volunteered to be an alternate on the park watch ad hoc committee, and Chair Stevens said he would like to sit on that committee along with Commissioners Hotaling and Bird. Commissioner Griffin suggested forming an adopt-a-park program where a company or business is solicited to take over the maintenance of a park, similar to the adopt-a- freeway program. Manager Miller offered to get more information on the program. Finance Director Lipitz advised she looked back at the Commission's December 1st workshop and read through the list of suggestions that were made by City Manager Carl Leivo. She proposed that the Commission look at those items again. Commissioner Griffin suggested that the commissioners might want to rotate visits to city parks for observation,being the eyes and ears for these facilities. Discussion continued and Commissioner Griffin said if the Commission had first-hand knowledge of these facilities,it would be very helpful. He suggested the Commission could rotate the visits or each commissioner could be responsible for certain parks. Manager Miller encouraged the Commission to set this as a goal, and the park watch ad hoc committee could look at the scope of the parks and report back to the Commission. The Commission agreed to add this as one of their 2004 goals. Ban of Alcohol in City Parks—Commissioner Carlson advised that she had attended the City Council's meeting to report on the Commission's decision to recommend removing the ordinance banning alcohol in city parks. She said she included the reports from Public Safety and Recreation staff,which the Commission had discussed at their December meeting. She stated after some discussion,the Council voted to rescind the ordinance. She reported there had been one comment from the public who did not think that the city should allow alcohol in the parks. The ordinance change will be completed at the Council's next meeting scheduled for tomorrow night. NEW BUSINESS Election of Chair and Vice Chair—Chair Stevens explained that traditionally the Commission has voted each year to move the Vice Chair to Chair. Commissioner Griffin thanked Chair Stevens for his year of service to the community and nominated Vice Chair Carlson as Chair for 2004. Commissioner Bird seconded the nomination. There being no further nominations, Commissioner Carlson was unanimously voted as Chair for 2004. Incoming Chair Carlson also thanked outgoing Chair Stevens for all his work this past year. At this time Chair Carlson assumed running of the meeting and opened nominations for Vice Chair for 2004. Commissioner Griffin nominated Commissioner Bird as Vice Chair, and Commissioner Stevens seconded the motion. With no further nominations,the Commission voted unanimously to name Commissioner Bird as Vice Chair for 2004. CPRS District One Community Service Award—Recreation Manager Miller reported that on February 28th,the California Parks and Recreation Society will be holding its 54th annual Page 5 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes January 26, 2004 Awards and Installation Banquet and referred the Commission to the flier sent with the '1 packets. (A copy of the flier is attached to the original copy of these minutes.) Manager Miller advised that this year's recipients for the community volunteer award from Rohnert Park will be Joe and Betty Tringali who are very active at the Senior Center. He gave a brief recap of their volunteer activities and invited the Commission to attend the banquet. He requested that any commissioners who wished to attend notify the Recreation Department by February 13t. He also reported that Wendy Audiss will be honored as outgoing president. Certificate of Participation Survey Instrument—Manager Miller stated that City Manager Leivo had been going to attend tonight's meeting to discuss this survey,but in his absence he will make the report since he has been active on the committee. He explained one of the city's proposals is to build a recreation facility that can make a profit or break even rather than building a new city hall. The Committee has discussed many proposals, and as a result,the City Manager has put together a survey to be mailed to a sampling of city residents to find out what the response would be from the community. One of the items on the survey is building an indoor pool. He advised the survey would be mailed to a random sampling of between 400-500 residents, and the city plans on including some incentives to encourage people to complete the survey. Some of the items included are improving and Sports and Fitness Center,building a new city hall, developing a community fields park, a skate park, and donating the funds to the construction of the Green Center at Sonoma State University. He advised there are about 20-30 possible facilities included on the survey. One of the suggestions is to return the money so the city does not have to pay the debt service on the money. Chair Carlson asked about donating the money to Sonoma State University for the Green Center. Manager Miller said the money has to be used for a capitol investment,but this would be a joint effort. Finance Direct Lipitz said there may be some questions whether the money could be used for that project. Community Voice City Pages—Manager Miller reported that at the last City Council meeting the city committed to two pages in the Community Voice newspaper which would include city news such as the Performing Arts Center, Public Safety and the Recreation Department monthly calendar. He said it will also include some articles written by city staff.Next Friday will be the first issue that includes these pages. He advised the Recreation Department plans on making extensive use of this opportunity for department activities. STAFF REPORTS Quarterly Program and Facility Reports—Recreation Services Manager Miller asked if there were any questions on the department's quarterly reports. Commissioner Bird asked about the After-School Program, and Manager Miller replied that due to a decline in registration, the department dropped the Community Center site this school year and now -� only offers the program at Ladybug Recreation Building and Burton Avenue Recreation Page 6 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes January 26, 2004 ~ Center, which have also had a drop in attendance. He explained staff has discussed the program,which is essentially a day care service, in depth since the Boys and Girls Club also offers a program near the Burton site. He said staff believes that the economy has had an effect on the program as well. Some discussion followed. Department Highlights—Manager Miller offered to answer any questions the Commission might have on the Highlights report. Commissioner Griffin asked about Vehicle License Fees, and Finance Director Lipitz responded that the City hasn't received any information about these fees from the state yet. COMMISSION COMMITTEE REPORTS Aquatics—Manager Miller reported he had just received the annual financial report for the pools, and he will call the Aquatics Committee members to set up a meeting. Dog Park—Chair Carlson invited Bonnie Black to speak on behalf of the Best Friends Canine Club. Bonnie Black reported the Club has had some heavy challenges at Golis Park, and they have observed that there has been a lot of mud play at the park including mud football and boogie boards. She reported the City decided that the baseball field should be kept locked to discourage other dog owners from using the field during the day when the club isn't meeting so they were given a key for the gate. She explained that the Club moves to the abandoned tennis court when the field is too wet,but out of approximately 20 dogs using the court, there were one or two who barked between 15-45 minutes a day, and some of neighbors had complained. Manager Miller had visited the park and the club is working to minimize this problem. She reported that since the complaints continued, it was decided last week that these dogs would no longer continue coming to the park on the days they have to move to the tennis court. They may meet at the park but will go for a walk. The club members hope this will resolve the problem. Mrs. Black reported that the two owners of the barking dogs have been strong advocates for the park and have even spent time cleaning up after other dogs that visited the park. Mrs. Black stated that the baseball field looks great and because of the fence there hasn't been any vandalism or driving on the lawn. She reported there are a couple of sink holes that they club is going to work on this weekend, and they would like to have a temporary fence for the area that they are working on. She emphasized that the group has met at the park for four years with no problems. She reported she had been notified by the Recreation Department that the Babe Ruth Baseball League will be using the field beginning March 1 5`. The Club is looking at the possibility of using the park at night. Commissioner Griffin asked about field use, and Manager Miller said the fields are closed at this time and will be open when the leagues' uses begin in February and March. Because the Golis Park field can be locked, it has been kept locked. Page 7 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes January 26, 2004 Golf Course—Chair Carlson reported she missed the Golf Course Committee,but Commissioners Bird and Griffin attended. Commissioner Bird reported the main thing that came out of the meeting was regarding the golf cart issue of twelve additional cart owners who are going to be grandfathered in with the other cart owners. Commissioner Griffin said CourseCo gave a run down of what is being done at the golf course, and they agreed to bring a report of the number of rounds of golf being played,banquet facility bookings and tournaments. They reported that they have 25 weddings booked. Senior Center—Chair Carlson reported on the last Senior Advisory Board meeting where she gave a report on Commission activities. Commissioner Bird asked if the Senior Center was going to do the Black and White Ball this year. Manager Miller replied no one volunteered to take it over and it is too time intensive for full time staff since Vicki Wilkerson is the only full-time employee working at the Center. They are trying to concentrate on senior events. MATTERS FROM/FOR COMMISSIONERS Ladybug Recreation Building—Commissioner Stevens asked about the Ladybug building and how long it will be out of service. Manager Miller said the clean-up should be finished by the end of next week. Some of the counters may have to be replaced and the smoke damage assessed so the building may be closed for another month. He reported he had received a proposal from a volunteer who offered to paint a mural on the wall. Commissioner Stevens said that the design and location of this building makes it more vulnerable to vandalism. Donations—Commissioner Stevens asked if the city ever accepts donations of exercise equipment for the Sports and Fitness Center. Manager Miller replied that due to the heavy use,most equipment that isn't commercial grade breaks almost immediately, so they don't usually accept those types of donations. The Commission discussed contracting with companies to repair the equipment, and Manager Miller said he is looking into this now. ADJOURNMENT-There being no further business before the Commission, the meeting was adjourned at 9:12 p.m. "•••••ALII 41 if 40411111611f air Ci son Guy i er Recreation Services Manager Cifv•-a fele . m1., S etary VU Page 8