Loading...
1998/04/20 Parks and Recreation Commission MinutesROHNERT PARK PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES April 20, 1998 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 Stevens presiding and leading the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL Present: (5) Commissioners Allred, Carlson, Griffin, and Stevens Absent: (1) Commissioner Carlson Also present for the entire meeting was Interim Director of Recreation, Ron Mikalis, and Recreation Supervisor, Guy Miller. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Upon motion by Commissioner Griffin and second by Commissioner Allred, the minutes of the regular meeting of March 19, 1998, were unanimously approved as submitted. YOUTH SPORTS Chairman Stevens asked the Director if there was an update on the financial status of the Pee Wee Baseball League. The Director said he had nothing new to report. The Commission also discussed the financial reports that are submitted by the youth sports leagues and asked why the Rohnert Park Youth Soccer League does not submit a report. Discussion followed. Chairman Stevens asked if it is the city's policy that all leagues require two signatures to write check. Commissioner Tatman responded that the Commission recommends that two signatures be required, but it is each league's decision. Director Mikalis reported that the Babe Ruth League had worked at the Mountain Shadows Middle School baseball field this past weekend and made several improvements. REPORTS FROM THE DIRECTOR OF RECREATION Monthly Reports Interim Director Mikalis said he had nothing to add to the monthly reports for the Community Center, Sports Center, or Senior Center. Recreation Supervisor Miller reviewed the corporate membership fliers that each Commissioner received and have been mailed to Rohnert Park businesses. He Page - 1 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes April 20, 1998 woo advised the City Council had approved the new corporate membership and reviewed the requirements. Director Mikalis pointed out the increase in Sports Center memberships reflected on the monthly report for March. Discussion followed. Art in the Community Center Lobby Director Mikalis advised that the City Council had approved the proposal to display art in the Community Center. June 18th will be the first date that art will be hung on all four walls of the Community Center lobby with AFTA picking up all costs. Recruitment for Recreation Director Director Mikalis reported that 79 applicants had applied for the Recreation Director opening and interviews should start the first part of May. Recreation Department Update The Director advised that the update of Recreation Department activities will be ready this week and copies will be sent to the commission. M-Park Update The Director stated that this project has been delayed due to the wet weather. Organizational Review The Director referred the Commission to the report prepared Dynamic Leadership -**N Associates (DLA) which had been sent to them. He said some recommendations were made, but the department is healthy and the cost recovery on their programs is fairly high with a good recovery ratio. Some discussion followed. Honeybee Pool Director Mikalis advised that after the Commission had voted in March to close H- Pool October 1 st through February 15th, he learned that the pool at Sonoma State University is only open in the evening to the public and not during the day. He wanted to bring this to the Commission's attention in case it affects their vote and since this could be a controversial decision. Recreation Supervisor Miller gave the following estimates on the number of people who attend lap swimming: 6-8 people from 6:00-7:30 a.m., 12-14 people during 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 6-8 people at evening lap swim. Chair Stevens reviewed the Commission's recommendation. Recreation Supervisor Miller stated that during the months the Commission is recommending that the pool be closed, there are probably 6-12 people swimming during the lunch-time lap swim. He said this is the only program that would be affected during those months. No Page - 2 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes April 20, 1998 Commissioner Griffin asked what the cost of keeping the pool open during this time. Supervisor Miller said the costs for the period of October 1-February 15 are about $17,000 of which $3,000 would occur whether or not the pool is open. The Commission discussed the possibility of talking to Sonoma State representatives to see if something could be worked out to allow residents use of their pool for noon -time lap swimming. Commissioner Allred suggested that this be done so the people using the people for lap swimming from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. could be given an alternative if the Honeybee Pool were closed. Chair Stevens requested that the Director contact Sonoma State University regarding use of their pool and report back to the Commission next month for further discussion. MATTERS FROM OR FOR COMMISSIONERS Family Aquatics Center Recreation Supervisor Miller reported he had at a seminar at the recent California Parks and Recreation Society Conference regarding family aquatics centers. He said he had just completed a report for the city manager regarding a swim center at Magnolia Park which he had requested as a result of some inquiries made by residents in the area. Supervisor Miller passed around information on types of family aquatics centers and reviewed the information sheet he provided on swim centers, copy of which is attached to the original copy of these minutes. He advised that the new style family aquatics center gives patrons more for their money and more activities than just swimming. He stated that in traditional pools, 80% of the swimmers are in the shallow end of the pool with only 20% in the deep end. In a family style aquatics center there are interactive play areas which can also be added to traditional type pools. He stated that newer aquatics centers are open for a shorter season, open during warm weather and closed during the colder weather. Supervisor Miller stated that since Rohnert Park has four pools now, he feels the city needs to have a master plan before building a fifth pool. He advised a consultant could be hired or staff could be used to formulate a plan. Commissioner Griffin asked about the neighborhood concept and the difficulty of the neighborhood of accepting something new, similar to the skateboard areas that were recently rejected. Supervisor Miller said this could be promoted as a family activity and feels it would be accepted more readily than a skate park. Page - 3 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes April 20, 1998 "'\ The Commission asked if this type of facility could be developed for M Park, and Supervisor Miller said he was not sure if the area is big enough. He said he would like to explore the possibility of building a shallow pool that could be left open without a life guard. Chair Stevens said this had been tried at Marine World, but kids started chasing each other and the pool had to be closed. Chair Stevens asked if the area by the stadium was large enough for a family aquatics center. Supervisor Miller said there are about 17 acres by the stadium and there would be plenty of room. The Commission also discussed the possibility of retrofitting current city pools. Director Mikalis advised that four pools for a city of 40,000 people is too many pools for that number of people and results in the pools being under utilized. He asked if the Commission agreed that a master study should be done prior to building another pool. Commissioner Allred said she thinks since a consultant would just tell them that the city already has enough pools, it would be a waste of money. Director Mikalis stated there are many different options which need to be determined and a consultant could be helpful in making that decision. Discussion followed. Commissioner Tatman said he thinks the city should do some type of master plan before building any type of pool. Commissioner Griffin made a motion that it would be prudent for the City Council to develop an aquatics master plan before any new aquatics facilities are planned. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Allred and unanimously approved. Magnolia Park Tennis Courts Neba Matthiessen, president of the Rohnert Park Tennis Club, stated she was attending the meeting to request that the new tennis complex at Magnolia Park be named after former Recreation Director, James Pekkain. The club would like to honor his many years as the city's first recreation director and for his contributions he made towards tennis. The club would help with the cost of the plaque. Discussion followed. Commissioner Griffin made a motion that the Commission recommend the tennis courts at Magnolia Park be named in honor of former Recreation Director James Pekkain. Commissioner Allred seconded the motion. Commissioner Tatman said he did not think the city would agree to placing plaques on rocks in the parks, and this was one of the reasons the brick memorial was developed at Roberts Lake. Ms. Matthiessen said that she was sure the tennis Page - 4 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes April 20, 1998 club members would be happy to work with a commissioner and/or recreation staff on what type of plaque would be recommended. The motion was unanimously approved. Director Mikalis said this matter will go before the City Council and he will let the Tennis Club and the Commission know when the request in on the Council agenda. Tennis Courts Ms. Matthiessen said she had read in the previous month's minutes stating the tennis courts at Rancho Cotate High School are being removed. She said there are six courts at the Creekside Middle School that cannot be used. Recreation Supervisor Miller said the Environmental Impact Report for Creekside prohibits outside use of their facilities after school is out. Ms. Matthiessen said that the courts are not usable because the ground where they were built is unstable and students cannot use them either. Commission Goals Commissioner Griffin suggested requesting that the Sonoma County Volunteer Center be invited to a Commission meeting to review the rules of order for meetings and to make sure their meetings are run correctly and smoothly. The commissioners agreed this would be beneficial and Commissioner Griffin said he will follow up with the Volunteer Center. Director Mikalis asked if the Commission wished to delay their May tour of the city parks until the new director comes on board which would probably be before their June meeting. The Commission agreed they would like to wait until the June meeting for the tour. Commissioner Tatman said he is working with a new group called America's Promise that has had two or three meetings and is trying to organize the combining the efforts of a number of local agencies including the city. He said he would like to see the Commission work on developing a teen center and getting community cooperation to develop some of the programs that the commission has talked about such as a skate park. This would include cooperation of the school district to work jointly on some of these projects. Chair Stevens asked about scheduling a yearly meeting with the City Council and asked when it should be scheduled. The Commission agreed they would like to meet with the City Council prior to the November elections. Facility Priority List The Director referred the Commission to the list of Recommended Recreation Facilities Priorities that was last revised in May 1997. Page - 5 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes April 20, 1998 The Commission discussed numbers 5 and 7 (install two day use tennis courts @ M-Park) which are under construction at this time. Number 1, completing M-Park turf, is also under construction now. Some discussion was held on Number 2, M-Park restroom and storage, is being discussed but is not being built at this time. The Chair asked Director Mikalis to find out if play equipment is being installed at M-Park along with the other improvements now being built. Numbers 9 (outdoor swim center at M Park), 11 (indoor lap/recreation pool at the Sports Center) and 13 (outdoor 50 meter swimming pool) would be part of the aquatics master plan study if that is implemented. Director Mikalis said that $600,000 in the current budget has been allocated for the M-Park pool. Some discussion was held on #6, developing a skateboard park, and the status of this issue. Director Mikalis said that the City Council is willing to consider the project if anyone comes forward who is still interested in developing a skate park. The Commission discussed the location at the northern end of Roberts Lake that has been discussed. Commissioner Griffin suggested that #3, constructing two sand volleyball courts, could be included in the aquatics master plan study since they could be incorporated in or near a family aquatics center. DOGGIE POTS Commissioner Griffin asked the Director about the information he had brought back from the CPRS conference regarding dog waste. Director Mikalis said he had given the information to the Public Works Director, Bill Stevens. He said Mr. Stevens is trying to first educate the public about cleaning up after their dogs and will see how effective this is. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9 p.m. to a regular meeting to be held on Monday, May 18, 1998, at 7:30 p.m. in the City Hall council chambers, 6750 Commerce Boulevard. Chairman Secretary „moo d 44 Interim Director of Recreation Page - 6 ''1