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1999/01/25 Parks and Recreation Commission Minutesno ROHNERT PARK PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES January 25, 1999 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. ROLL CALL Present: (4) Commissioners Carlson, Griffin, Stevens, and Tatman Absent: (0) APPROVAL Also present for the meeting was Recreation Director, Tim Barry. OF MINUTES Upon motion by Commissioner Griffin and second by Commissioner Tatman, the minutes of the regular meeting of December 14, 1998, were unanimously approved as submitted. OLD BUSINESS Department Fees & Charges Director Barry advised that additional information had been handed out at tonight's meeting regarding the proposed increases in department fees and charges indicating what the youth sports leagues have been paying and a memo he had written regarding the increase in fees. (A copy of the memo is attached to the original copy of these minutes.) The Commission discussed the youth league increases and the fees paid by adult softball and soccer teams to reserve fields. Commissioner Griffin said he feels the youth league fees should be standardized and should only be increased by half the first year and the balance the following year. The Commission discussed the hours of use for the different leagues. Director Barry suggested a player fee is a fair way to assess fees since some leagues have more players and more field usage. The Director offered to take more time with this and come up with some figures. Commissioner Tatman said he would like to see the youth leagues paying a field usage fee and a light fee, and the other commissioners agreed. Director Barry said it is important to be fair and reasonable. Page - 1 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes January 25, 1999 Commissioner Griffin made a motion to approve the proposed fee increases as proposed. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Carlson. Discussion followed with Commissioner Stevens stating he felt the motion should be clarified regarding proposed fees. After further discussion, Commissioner Carlson made a motion to amend the original motion to postpone approval of the "Youth Sports League" fees on page 5 of the Proposed Fee Changes so that they could be studied further (copy attached to the original copy of these minutes). The motion was seconded by Commissioner Stevens and unanimously approved. The original motion was unanimously approved with the change noted above. C.P.R.S. Conference Recreation Director Barry reminded the Commission of the upcoming C.P.R.S. Conference being held in Santa Clara February 18-21. Commissioner Griffin asked if a city van is being taken to the conference. The Director said vans are being taken for staff and Commissioner Griffin would be welcome to ride along. The Director advised that hotels will be paid in advance and per diem checks will be given to each commissioner. NEW BUSINESS '� Election of Chair and Vice -Chair Chair Stevens opened nominations for Commission Chair for 1999. Commissioner Griffin nominated Commissioner Tatman for Chair. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Carlson and unanimously approved. At this point in the meeting, Commissioner Tatman assumed the role as Chair and began presiding over the meeting. Chair Tatman opened nominations for Vice Chair for 1999. Commissioner Griffin nominated Commissioner Carlson as Vice Chair which was seconded by Commissioner Stevens and unanimously approved. Commission Goals Director Barry advised he put this on the agenda to see what the aim of the commission will be for this year. He reported he is working with staff on goals and would like to see some strategic planning. Commissioner Stevens said he would like to see a better relationship with the school district regarding facility usage's. Some discussion followed regarding fencing which has been placed around school playgrounds. Director Barry suggested it may be valuable to have a district staff person come to a commission meeting to discuss the reasons for the fences. '1 Page - 2 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes January 25, 1999 Commissioner Stevens said another goal is to schedule a meeting with the City Council this year. Commissioner Stevens said he would like the Commission to be kept abreast of what the aquatics consultant is recommending. Director Barry suggested the Commission's goal would be to guide the aquatic facilities. Commissioner Carlson said she has a problem with the ongoing treasuries of the various youth leagues. She said she would like to see a situation where there are rules each league must follow since they are being subsidized or underwritten by the city through use of city fields. She said she would like to see some basic accounting procedures followed by the leagues to avoid the problems that have occurred. Director Barry said while the city cannot tell leagues how to run their organizations, they can give the leagues some type of training on how to run a non-profit organization. An expert could be brought in to give the training. The Commission discussed whether leagues could be required to come to the training, and Commissioner Tatman suggested inviting someone to come to the annual field use meeting to provide the training. Commissioner Carlson also said leagues could be required to fill out a financial report. The Commission discussed the existing financial report that youth leagues complete each year for the Commission and if changes should be made. Commissioner Stevens also suggested looking at the Commission's recommended list of recreation facility priorities. Commissioner Stevens asked if there will be a dedication of the new tennis courts at M Park. C.P.R.S. Awards and Installation Banquet The Director reminded the commissioners of the annual C.P.R. S. District I Awards and Installation Banquet which will be held at the Petaluma Community Center on February 6th where former Commissioner Jim Plaisted will be honored. 1999 Aquatics Program Schedule The Director referred the Commission to the memo from Recreation Supervisor, Guy Miller, accompanying the proposed aquatics schedule for 1999. (A copy of the memo and proposed schedule is attached to the original copy of these minutes. ) After some discussion, Commissioner Stevens made a motion to approve the 1999 aquatics schedule. Commissioner Griffin seconded the motion which was unanimously approved. Page - 3 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes January 25, 1999 Dog Feces Problems in Parks Director Barry reported the City Manager has asked the Commission to address the problem of dog feces in the parks. The Director reviewed the information sent to the commissioners (see copy attached to the original copy of these minutes). He reported he has talked to Public Works Director, Bill Stephens, about the problems in M Park, and Director Stephens told him he had met with Monte Vista Elementary School staff and worked with them to come up with ways educate the public. Some signs were posted at the park. Commissioner Griffin said at last year's C.P.R.S. Conference there was an exhibit of a bag dispenser that could be placed at the entrances of parks encouraging people to use the bags to help alleviate this problem. Director Barry said there could be problems with vandalism or theft of the bags, but Commission Griffin said the dispensers were made so that a limited number of bags can be taken. He said he feels that if an effort is made to provide the bags at least some of the public may use them. The Director wondered if there is an area at each park that could be filled with wood chips which dogs could use, and the bag dispensers could be placed at the entrance to this area. Commissioner Carlson said that perhaps installing some brighter signs in the parks on the pathways encouraging people to clean up after their dogs as well as providing educational materials to school children to take home to their families could be tried as well. Commissioner Tatman said he would like to see a dog exercise areas included in several city parks. STAFF REPORTS Capital Projects Update Director Barry referred the Commission to the January 14th edition of the 1998-99 Capital Projects Plan Parks and Recreation Facilities Status Report which was included in their packet. (A copy of the report is attached to the original copy of these minutes.) The Director reported it has been revised to indicate the city is not going to re-rooff Ladybug Recreation Building because of the solar panels. He advised that money will be deferred until next year. He also advised the high dive at Benicia Pool is being replaced by a slide and one of the pools is being resurfaced because the damage was too widespread to patch. The Director updated the Commission on the status of the new tennis courts at M Park and the new soccer field. Aquatics Master --r Plan Update Director Barry said he has contacted the consultant hired by the city to update the aquatic master plan and the goal is to have the report completed at the end of February. He stated the entire report should now be done by February 15 and it Page - 4 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes January 25, 1999 will be included in the Commission's next packet, and he will be asking the consultant to attend the Commission's February meeting to answer any questions they might have. Department Monthly Highlights The Director asked if there were any questions regarding the department's highlight report for December. No one had any questions. Monthly Program/ Facility Reports All reports were accepted without comment. Budget Review Director Barry said he had met with Public Works staff to discuss capital projects for next year. He reported there are not too many projects being proposed. The Director said he is recommending an expansion of the office space at the Community Center. He briefly outlined the proposed expansion. Commissioner Tatman asked if any decision has been made for the fountain area at the Community Center complex. The Director said the consultants are planning to get some input on that area from staff, the Commission, City Council, and the public. He reported the new sculpture is going to be placed in the middle of the fountain. Commissioner Tatman said he would like to see some improvement to the Alicia Park barbecue area. He stated it has not changed in thirty years and could use some modernization and sprucing up. The Director also talked about playground areas at A and B Parks. He said he is meeting with Public Works Director Stephens and the Finance Department and learned there is some money set aside for play equipment. He advised he would like to get the neighbors involved in planning the equipment they would like to see there. He said he has proposed getting C.D.B.G. funds to supplement city money to improve the playground at A Park. He presented a timeline of how this could work. In addition, he stated he would like to get the neighborhood involved in installing the playground equipment. Some discussion was held on the funds for the new sculpture being installed at the Community Center complex. Director Barry advised there is still time for the Commission to suggest capital budget items at their February meeting. Page - 5 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes January 25, 1999 Field Scheduling Meetings Update Director Barry said the first field use meeting was held last week and everything went very smoothly. Another meeting is scheduled for this week. He stated a field use schedule will be compiled after the meetings. COMMISSION COMMITTEE REPORTS Senior Center Director Barry informed the Commission that the Senior Center is entering the art project in a C.P.R.S competition. Bicycle Commissioner Griffin advised he cannot attend the Bicycle Committee meetings because they are scheduled during his work hours. He asked if anyone else could attend, but everyone else also had a work conflict. Chair Tatman said he would like to add committee assignments to the Commission's February agenda. Aquatics Commissioner Stevens said he had nothing else except the items discussed earlier in the meeting. Director Barry said that if another pool is built that staff will be recommending adding an aquatics coordinator position to oversee all the city's pools. COMMISSIONER COMMITTEE REPORTS Status of Magnolia Park Improvements This item was discussed earlier in the meeting. Community Funds Commissioner Carlson referred to two letters received from two recipients of community funds and said she thought it was great to get the follow-up reports. The Commission requested that Celeste Guzman be invited to the next Commission meeting to show the video referred to in her letter. Director Barry advised the City Council had approved giving $500 in community funds to the Rancho Cotate Pop Warner cheer squad as recommended by the Commission. 1998 Chair Director Barry and the Commission thanked Commissioner Stevens for his work as Chair in 1998. Page - 6 �1 M "1 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes January 25, 1999 ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m. to an adjourned meeting on February 22, 1999 at 7:30 p.m. in the city council chambers at City Hall, 6750 Commerce Boulevard. Chairman Q - Secretary Page - 7