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2003/07/21 Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes (3)1-IN ROHNERT PARK PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES July 21, 2003 The Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission met this date at 7:30 p.m. for a regularly scheduled 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: (5) Commissioners Bird, Butler, Hotaling, Rogers and Stevens Late: (1) Commissioners Carlson Absent: (1) Commissioner Griffin Also present for the meeting was Recreation Services Manager, Guy Miller, and City Manager, Carl Leivo. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - Upon motion by Commissioner Butler and second by Commissioner Bird, the minutes of the May 3 1 ' Park Tour and the meeting of June 16 ' were unanimously approved as submitted. UNSCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCE/PUBLIC COMMENT Bonnie Black, 1065 Hawthorne, reported that the Best Friends Canine Club, the group meeting at Golis Park for off -leash dog activities, has 17 more waivers to submit. She reported the club is still doing well, and they have had children and teens come this summer as well as many new puppies. She said she was hoping to hear about the status of the fence at Golis Park tonight. Chair Stevens asked if the club does any training, and Mrs. Black said many of the members have had some training and they do try to help people who stop by. Recreation Services Manager Miller said he will have a report on the status of the fence later in the meeting. SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCE — CITY MANAGER, CARL LEIVO Carl Leivo, City Manager, stated that earlier in the year the City Council had combined the Parks and Recreation Commission with two members from the former Families and Children Commission. He explained that other communities have a Community Services Commission, and he would like to frame such an organization in Rohnert Park. The task would be to formulate an ordinance that would outline some of the duties of this commission and put together a recommendation for the City Council. He had prepared a Power Point presentation for the commission to outline some possible responsibilities of this commission. (A copy of the presentation is attached to the original copy of these minutes.) Some of the suggested purposes would be to research various community issues; address contracts and pricing strategies; oversee parks and facilities policies; give Page 1 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes July 21, 2003 capital project recommendations and program recommendations, not limited to just parks and recreation. CARLSON ARRIVES - Commissioner Carlson arrived for the meeting at 7:40 p.m. City Manager Leivo explained current developments could include the new Alcohol Use Ordinance or the $4.8 million in Community Participation funds originally issued for a new city hall and library. He said he has suggested to the City Council diverting these funds for a recreation project that would generate revenues. He explained the city hall project would be pursued in a different fashion through a private developer. The revenue from the recreation project would offset the lease charges needed for city hall. He reported the city has $1.5 million in CDC bond proceeds left from the library project that could be used in a redevelopment project. Most of the property that would qualify for redevelopment is west of the railroad tracks. He explained this could be a project such as renovating the Benicia Park pool or adding an additional facility at B Park. He reported an Economic Development Study had been done which suggested upgrading or adding to the Sports and Fitness Center or upgrading pools/play structures such as adding some water park features. City Manager Leivo suggested that the outdoor areas at the Community Center complex could be remade so they could be used for more activities, such as art festivals and the Community Showcase. .-N City Manger Leivo reported the city has been in touch with the property owner on the eastern side of the city north of Keiser Road about acquiring his property for a community fields park. The property owner is currently overseas but will be returning shortly. One option would be for the commission to help plan these facilities. City Manager Leivo also discussed the proposal for a temporary skate park near Medical Center Drive for which some funds were allocated. He said he does not believe it makes sense to create a temporary facility that would only be available for a couple of years. Staff is still interested in pursuing a permanent skate park which could be located in the community fields park. He explained there are also funds being raised privately in the community for a skate park, and he has every intention of following up on this project to make it happen. He suggested volunteers are another area the commission could pursue. For example, it could look for ways to recognize community volunteers. He stated that at one time the Sonoma County Volunteer Center had an office in the city, and he would like to suggest that this commission could take the lead in forming a volunteer center to coordinate volunteer efforts. Another volunteer effort would be to form partnerships, i.e., with service organizations to work on community projects. City Manager Leivo gave an example of two projects that the local Rotary Club had approached the city about undertaking. '1 Page 2 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes July 21, 2003 The City Manager also suggested the commission could get involved in helping to get some community events started. He discussed having an events coordinator, which some cities do to plan community events. He explained the coordinator would not have to be a city staff member but could be a contractor. The coordinator could build on existing events such as the Community Showcase or the 24 Hour Relay or could plan new events such as tournaments, races, festivals, markets, wine/beer/food events or exhibits and shows. He also suggested the commission might wish to get involved with fund raising such as the United Way Campaign, the Human Race, Donor Recognition, Naming Rights, Vendors or a Rohnert Park Store. He reported the city recently received a donation for the animal shelter of $200,000 to help expand the shelter and add staff. An example of vendors would be that the city could provide licensing for pushcart vendors or a coffee vendor at a city -owned site. The Rohnert Park store could be a place where people would get Rohnert Park souvenirs. City Manager Leivo asked the commission for feedback to his presentation. Commissioner Hotaling said she thought that his volunteer suggestion was good because many people don't know where to go when they want to volunteer. Commissioner Carlson asked about Rebuilding Together, a program the city manager had mentioned. City Manager Leivo said it was formerly called Christmas In April where community volunteers help residents repair or rebuild homes, which Commissioner Carlson said she was familiar with. Commissioner Carlson asked where these community events would be held since the stadium is closed, and it would be necessary to fence off the area so admission could be charged, similar to the chili cook -off. The City Manager said the Chili Cook -off will be held at the stadium this year, and he believes there are city facilities where events could be held. It may have to be a different kind of event such as a tennis tournament at Magnolia Park. He said the open spaces at the Community Center could be utilized for art shows or flea markets. He said he believes an events coordinator could find many different community facilities for events, for example Robert's Lake. He stated that the city might be adding to or improving existing facilities over the next several years. He suggested they might be able to use some school facilities by forming partnerships with school district. Commissioner Carlson asked about naming rights, and City Manager Leivo explained that this could include the possibility of businesses, etc. purchasing the right to name community facilities. Commissioner Carlson also asked for clarification of the $4.8 million that the City Manager had mentioned. City Manager Leivo restated his suggestion to use the $4.8 million to do a recreation project that could generate revenue, for instance upgrading the Sports & Fitness Center which could generate revenue that could be used to help finance city hall. He said that city hall could be built on city land by a private developer and leased back to the city. Page 3 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes July 21, 2003 Commissioner Carlson requested a copy py of the city manager's Power Point presentation to refer to, and he offered to make copies for the Commission. The City Manager suggested that the Commission set just one or two projects and one of which could be to identify the responsibilities of the commission. Commissioner Rogers said she thinks this is a good start for forming a new commission. She believes there is a need to solidify volunteers and thinks fund raising would also be a good goal for the commission. She suggested that city demographics need to be studied so we know which facilities the population is using. City Manager Leivo said he met with some B Section residents where they discussed the B and M Park pools. One resident was a daycare provider who has a season pass, and she advised that daycare providers prefer B Pool, even though it is an older facility, since it serves their needs better. Commissioner Bird asked if any of the $4.8 million would be used as seed money for the community fields park since it would probably be used year round. City Manager Leivo said the community fields park is most likely a long-term project, and he is looking for something that could be done on a shorter term basis. The Community fields park is tied to land that will be developed on the east side of the city. Commissioner Butler said these are some exciting proposals, and he believes it is important to recognize community volunteers. He said the Community Showcase was a good way for the community to come together to have a good time as well as benefit the community. He thinks the city pools could be used for a community event and suggested that the accordion festival in Cotati is a good example of a community coming together for a large community event. Chair Stevens pointed out the number of committees the Commission has and asked how many more responsibilities will they take on if they become a community services commission. City Manager Leivo said he does not think it is necessary for the Commission to have the standing committees and suggested they pick a couple of projects to concentrate on. If the Commission wants to be truly effective, they need to pick a number of limited specific projects to concentrate on, i.e. volunteers. They could work on that one project and move on after that project is completed. Chair Stevens asked if there is a format that the commission could look at as a reference guide as to how the commission could work. The City Manager said he has worked with community services commissions, and he is suggesting how this could work. He used the Planning Commission structure as an example of concentrating on one or two projects. To increase their effectiveness he is suggesting restructuring the commission. Chair Stevens said it sounds like the Commission should meet and talk about restructuring. The City Manager asked what the Aquatics Committee does, and Commissioner Carlson explained their function and said they meet once a year. The City Manager said this is a good example of a commission project which meets once a year to discuss the aquatics programs that only needs to meet that one time. "1 Page 4 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes July 21, 2003 Commissioner Carlson mentioned the Golf Course Committee and the necessity of ongoing meetings. The City Manager advised there are some golf course issues that are being discussed by the city attorney and CourseCo's attorney, but there are no issues to discuss now. He also mentioned that the city will be receiving CourseCo's finance report next month and the Committee will meet to discuss this once it has been received. Chair Stevens suggested two or three commissioners meet before next month's meeting to discuss the City Manager's proposal. The City Manager stated he hasn't discussed this with the City Council yet, but he is suggesting that the Commission may want to look at restructuring. He said that the technical part would be to set an ad hoc meeting to look at the structuring of the Community Services Commission. Commissioner Rogers offered to chair the committee. Commissioners Hotaling, Butler and Carlson all offered to sit on the committee. Chair Stevens pointed out that to adhere to the Brown Act, only 3 commissioners could sit on the committee. He suggested Commissioner Carlson be on the committee in place of Commissioner Butler since she has the experience of being on the commission for several years. Commissioner Rogers said she thinks having a mixed committee is important since men and women will bring different viewpoints to be discussed. Commissioner Carlson then suggested that Chair Stevens be on the committee so they have someone who has longevity on the Parks and Recreation Commission. The Chair agreed to sit on the committee along with Commissioners Rogers and Hotaling, and City Manager Leivo said he will also meet with the committee. He asked if his presence tonight was worthwhile, and the commissioners all agreed it was. OLD BUSINESS Review of Youth League Financial Reports — Commissioner Carlson reported she has found some problems with each of the youth league financial reports received by the Commission. She pointed out that the soccer league is dealing with a huge amount of money and has revenue of $300,000. The league treasurer has never attended the Commission workshop that she offers each year at the field use meeting, and he has been the treasurer for 17 years. She said the leagues need to do monthly reports with their bank statements being reviewed by the league president. She noted that the soccer league's closing balance of $16,626 for 2001 does not balance with their starting balance of $195,000 for 2002 and pointed out that savings accounts should also be part of the report. She suggested the league should issue a new report. Because the leagues use city facilities, she believes this gives the Commission the right to oversee these organizations. Some discussion followed. City Manager Leivo stated the City has many legacy contracts that they need to get serious about administering. He explained the City could provide a service such as financial oversight over a volunteer board as well as provide board training and management. Commissioner Rogers said she does not believe that the Commission has oversight over this organization, and she doesn't feel comfortable looking at their Page 5 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes July 21, 2003 financial statement when the group is not here to give their input. She stated the Commission doesn't know what kind of internal system the league uses, and without a legal partnership, she doesn't feel they have the right to criticize the group. Chair Stevens asked if the Commission has a legal right to look at the statements, and Recreation Services Manager Miller replied that to his knowledge the City hasn't had this right, but the leagues have been using city facilities. City Manager Leivo advised they may need to examine the City's contracts with these groups, and if the City has a specific contract, the agreement would have specific language to cover these arrangements. He said they could put in writing that the leagues have to do an annual audit as a part of using city facilities and could use a single auditor for all the leagues. Commissioner Rogers said she is not in disagreement with the report, but is questioning whether the commission has a legal right to look at how they do their accounting. The City Manager said he believes this is an area where we as a city need to reexamine the agreements we have with these organizations. Commissioner Carlson said the Commission's goal had been to come up with a standard form for reporting league finances to avoid having funds disappear and to insure that the youth leagues have sound financial practices. She mentioned several discrepancies she found on every report. Chair Stevens asked if Commissioner Carlson could prepare a list of recommended sound financial practices that the leagues should follow. The City Manager suggested that this is a key issue that should be referred to the ad hoc '\ committee that was just formed as to how much financial oversight the Commission should be doing over these volunteer organizations and what the commission's role should be. Chair Stevens said the financial reports will be discussed by the ad hoc committee and asked Commissioner Carlson to hold the reports for now. Commission Goals for 2003 — Chair Stevens read through the proposed Commission Goals for 2003. Commissioner Rogers suggested that the goals should be tabled until the Commission knows what their objectives will be. Commissioner Rogers made a motion to table this item. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Bird and unanimously approved. Off -Leash Dog Area at Golis Park — Recreation Services Manager Miller reported that the fence at Golis Park was put out to bid and the low bid has been awarded. The donated funds, along with the additional donation by the Babe Ruth Baseball League, will be used to pay for the project with the city picking up the balance of approximately $1,200. City Manager Leivo said the bid is on the Council's consent calendar for their next meeting, and the project should be started in the next couple of months. Alcohol Ban in Park and Recreation Facilities — City Manager Leivo advised that the City Council adopted an ordinance banning alcohol in the parks, and the City Manager or his designee can authorize alcohol with a permit. The ordinance will go into effect July 24, ''*N thirty days after it was adopted. He referred to the procedures for obtaining a permit, Page 6 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes July 21, 2003 which will be presented to the Council tomorrow night. Staff is thinking of making other recommendations to the City Council, and he is checking with the Commission for any input. He is proposing that the Commission will monitor the implementation of the permit process and how the policies worked, which could be done after they are in effect for six months. He is checking in with the Commission for their input and invited them to make additional suggestions. Commissioner Rogers asked why no sporting events such as bocce ball and tennis tournaments would be allowed to have alcohol. Recreation Services Manager Miller said the thought was that the City Council wanted to ban alcohol in parks except for planned events. Public Safety representatives said that they have had trouble with sporting types of events and do not believe alcohol should be part of sports. Recreation Services Manager Miller said this is part of a philosophy that has to be determined. Commissioner Carlson asked about alcohol use on the golf course. City Manager Leivo clarified that the ordinance is to prevent an individual from walking on to a park with alcohol. The golf course and other special events would obtain permits to serve or sell alcohol. Commissioner Carlson asked about the availability of having enough police officers to patrol the park, and City Manager Leivo replied that the City Council has authorized hiring five additional officers, which will allow more park patrol. Commissioner Hotaling said she believes it will be difficult to get people to fill out these applications as well as being a lot of additional work. The City Manager responded saying signs will be posted at the parks, and people violating the ordinance will be asked to leave the park. Recreation Services Manager Miller reported that Public Safety Director Bullard has said this will give the police a tool to enforce the ban on alcohol and he is in favor of issuing permits. City Manager Leivo asked if the Commission was in favor of overseeing this policy and making an evaluation in six months. Some discussion followed, and the Commission consensus was that they will oversee the policy. NEW BUSINESS Field Use Fees — City Manager Leivo informed the Commission that the City can't charge more for public facilities than what it costs to deliver the service. He stated the City does a poor job of documenting costs. Because city employees do not fill out time cards, we don't know how much time is allocated to field matters, and we do not have financial data to document utility and/or light cost. He said one of his objectives is to revamp the City's accounting system so that budgets will be related to individual services provided, such as what it costs to maintain tennis courts so we will be able to answer these types of questions. The auditors have told the city that it needs to upgrade its accounting system, and we now have the software where this can be implemented so that we may be able to answer this question in the next year. He advised this is a major step that will take a lot of time to complete, but it will give the Commission the information to do an analysis of recreation facilities. Page 7 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes July 21, 2003 STAFF REPORTS Monthly Reports — There were no questions on the Senior Center monthly report. Department Highlights — Chair Stevens asked about the status of the aquatics program. Recreation Services Miller stated the weather has been warmer this year, but he feels the people who use city pools are the same ones who use the pools each year whether it is warm or cold. The Commission discussed the increase in the number of season swim passes sold this year, and Recreation Services Manager Miller responded that the increase is due to the childcare enrichment voucher program which paid the pass fees for daycare providers. Commissioner Rogers said the feedback that she had gotten from providers is that they are very pleased with the program and have been very happy in how they have been treated. COMMISSION COMITTEE REPORTS Bicycle — Commissioner Butler reported the committee did not meet last month, but he talked to the chair and was invited to a commissioner bike tour. "-N Golf Course - Commissioner Carlson reported she missed last month's meeting, but understood it did take place. City Manager Leivo said that meeting did not happen. He advised that Assistant City Manager Steve Donley took notes at the last meeting, but he is currently out of the office. City Manager Leivo reported that a meeting would not be scheduled until the City Attorney and CourseCo's attorneys meet. Senior Center — Commissioner Butler reported he had attended the last Senior Advisory Meeting, which the mayor also attended. MATTERS FROMIFOR COMMISSIONERS Avenue of the Flags - Commissioner Butler reported that Morgan Bellinger had repainted the red curbs on the Avenue of the Flags at the Community Center as part of his Eagle Scout project. The Chair asked if the City could send a thank you letter. Honeybee Park Softball Field — Commissioner Bird reported there might be a broken water pipe on the first base side of the Honeybee Park softball field. Recreation Services Manager Miller said he will follow up with Public Works. Alicia Park — Commissioner Rogers reported that at Alicia Park this weekend they observed a broken barbecue that could be dangerous. Since there was nothing at the park stating whom to notify, she suggested posting signs to report problems. City Council Liaison — Chair Stevens reported he had spoken to Mayor Flores about naming a Council liaison to the Parks and Recreation Commission, which they had discussed at the Commission's June meeting. The Mayor said he would take care of that at tomorrow's City Council meeting, naming Council Member Mackenzie as the liaison. Page 8 Rohnert Park Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes July 21, 2003 Magnolia Park Pool — Chair Stevens clarified that the Commission's original recommendation for M Pool was to include water features and a zero depth pool when pool was built, but residents had voiced concerns. The Chair said he wanted the City Manager to know that the Commission was on record of supporting special water features as well as building an indoor pool at the Sports and Fitness Center. ADJOURNMENT - There being no further business before the Commission, the meeting was adjourned at 9:45 p.m. Chair Stevens Secretary Guy Miller Recreation Services Manager Page 9