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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMins 2007 05 May_FINAL Board of Recreation and Parks Minutes of May 23, 2007 Meeting Page 1 of 6 BOARD OF RECREATION AND PARKS MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING May 23, 2007 CALL TO ORDER Administration Building of Parks, Recreation and Community Services 888 W. Santa Ana Blvd. Second Floor Santa Ana, California 5:31 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE K. Nguyen ROLL CALL BOARD OF RECREATION AND PARKS MEMBERS/STUDENT REPS PRESENT: Frank Acosta, Joshua Havlik, Tish Leon, Max Madrid, Ken Nguyen, David Orea, Julie Stroud, Wendy Tobiska, Juan Guadarrama STAFF/CONSULTANTS PRESENT: Gerardo Mouet, Executive Director Ron Ono, Administrative Services Manager Mike Lopez, Parks Superintendent Jenny Rios, Recreation Superintendent Joseph Straka, Assistant City Attorney Katherine Bowers, Cable Consultant Athena Martinez, Board Secretary PRESENTATIONS EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH PRESENTATION – June, 2007 Jose Perez was present to accept this award. SPECIAL SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY PRESENTATION – May, 2007 Ray Roman and participants of netz4Life were present to receive this award. CONSENT CALENDAR MOTION: J. Havlik SECOND: M. Madrid VOTE: AYES: Acosta, Havlik, Leon, Madrid, Nguyen, Orea, Stroud, Tobiska (8) NOES: None (0) ABSENT: (at voting) (0) 1. MINUTES Approve Minutes of Regular Meeting held on April 25, 2007. Board of Recreation and Parks Minutes of May 23, 2007 Meeting Page 2 of 6 2. RECORDING SECRETARY’S REPORT The May 23, 2007 agenda was posted on the doors of the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Agency Headquarters office and the doors of Council Chambers on May 18, 2007. 3. ABSENCES All members were present. ** END OF CONSENT CALENDAR ** BUSINESS CALENDAR NEW BUSINESS 1. FISCAL YEAR 2007-2008 AGENCY BUDGET UPDATE Executive Director Gerardo Mouet provided a PowerPoint presentation with handouts on the Agency’s proposed FY07-08 budget. Handouts on file with Recording Secretary for review. Appropriations for the City are $226,777,920. The Agency’s portion is $14,816,020, with additional funds from grant awards. In 2003, the Agency’s budget was reduced by $600,000, the biggest cut to any Agency that year. This year, no reductions to the Agency were made, and the Agency’s base was increased by $500,000, to be utilized in the following areas: o One full-time Recreation Supervisor o More quality of service in the parks landscape maintenance contract o New Gang Prevention Initiative o Return of the Catalina Excursion o Increase in recreation staff for the newly renovated El Salvador Center o Additional resources for the senior centers o Additional resources for the aquatics program o Intramural Intermediate Sports o Youth Master Plan o Other items Q & A Q: Is the $500,000 a one-time give? A: No, it was added to the annual base. Q: Is there no Youth Master Plan currently in existence? How much will it take to create one? How long? A: $25,000 will be identified for this task. There currently is not a Master Plan in existence as the Agency has not been directed to create one in the past. Staff is looking at a timeline for this project, however it could take a while to complete the entire master plan in order to do it correctly. Board of Recreation and Parks Minutes of May 23, 2007 Meeting Page 3 of 6 Q: Are there model Youth Master Plans being used as reference? A: Many samples have been gathered from other cities that have established master plans. Q: Is there a committee for the Youth Master Plan? A: Discussions have begun at the Youth Commission meetings. Q: Will a member of the Board of Recreation and Parks be on the committee? A: The Board as a whole will be very much involved in the process. Q: In past years, how many youth have participated in the Catalina Excursion? A: In the past, 150 to 200 persons had participated. This year approximately 40 individuals, including staff, will participate in the excursion. Q: What does “intramural program expansion” mean? A: The Agency will be partnering with Santa Ana Unified School District to improve sports programs for intermediate-aged youth. Last year, the District approached the Agency with the tennis programs which were very successful. This year we hope to expand the concept to other sports. Q: Why not use the additional resources being given on existing programs instead of creating other programs? A: These are at the direction of the City Manager’s office. PUBLIC COMMENTS (Taken out of order to accommodate schedules) Laura Morfin, Shadow Run and Santiago Springs Neighborhood Associations Bike trails through both neighborhoods have a very big graffiti and vandalism problem. There is very poor lighting in this area conducive to negative activity. Cannot understand why improvements are being made to fountains in the civic center area when these bike trails need a lot of attention. Is aware that the property belongs to the County. Urged Commissioners to visit the site to see first hand the needs. 2. PARK/FACILITY/FIELD MODIFICATION PROCESS As a means to properly analyze requests received for modifications to parks, facilities and fields, a process was developed by the Committee on Field Use, the Open Space Committee and City staff. The process routes the request through the city for review to ensure the improvements meet all city codes and proper permit requirements. It also ensures the public a voice on any improvements proposed in parks, facilities and fields prior to implementation and construction. This will be an administrative document and is already in use. 3. REPLACEMENT OF COUNTY TREES IN CREEK BED The initial concern was that the trees in the creek bed had been removed by the County. The Public Works Agency advised that the vegetation was removed to improve the flow of water. Board of Recreation and Parks Minutes of May 23, 2007 Meeting Page 4 of 6 J. Stroud requested that the Board as a body write a letter to the County requesting that the trees be replanted. As this area is under the jurisdiction of the Public Works Agency and the Environmental and Transportation Advisory Committee (ETAC), G. Mouet suggested that a report from Agency staff be sent to the Public Works Agency so that ETAC may take action if they choose to do so. Motion to have Agency staff write a memo to Public Works Agency regarding the concerns of the tree removal in the area and to request that the Board of Recreation and Parks be kept informed as to actions taken made by J. Havlik, seconded by T. Leon and approved unanimously. 4. NOMINATIONS FOR SPECIAL SERVICE AWARD TO THE YOUTH AND COMMUNITY OF SANTA ANA Wendy Tobiska as Orange County High School of the Arts teacher, and her efforts toward the very successful Animal Serenade fundraiser at the Santa Ana Zoo to raise funds for the Kiwanis Barrier Free Basketball Court. Nomination made by M. Madrid, seconded by K. Nguyen and approved unanimously (W. Tobiska abstained from vote). UPCOMING EVENTS Event calendars for June and July 2007 were reviewed and discussed, of special note: June 10 and July 8: Sunset at the Zoo concerts. June 30: Ribbon Cutting event for El Salvador Center June 30: Independence Day concert and Spaghetti Dinner at Hector Godinez High School Gym in Centennial Park. July 21: Adopt-a-Park at Madison along Edinger and McFadden trails to declare as a Graffiti Free Zone. STATUS/UPDATES 1. COMMITTEE ON FIELD USE (CoFU) – Reviewed the form for Park/Facility/Field Modification requests and discussed what the process should be. Discussed the warning letter to Santiago Little League and the first strike letter issued to Valley Little League. Reviewed the proposal from SASA to have the Stadium designated as their home field. Reviewed the “Dos and Don’ts” rules for the new synthetic turf at the Stadium. Discussed rental fee schedule for the Stadium. Reviewed tournament letters. Discussed the Santa Anita Soccer program. Discussed the termination of the Toros agreement. CoFU meetings will now begin at 3:00 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday of each month in the large conference room of the Agency’s administration building. 2. OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE – The renaming of Logan Park to Chepa’s Park was approved by the Planning Commission and will go before Council on June 4, 2007 for approval. Madison Park has requested the addition of another basketball court. Cell towers my be added to El Salvador and Thornton parks. 3. SANTA ANA HEALTH AND FITNESS TASK FORCE – No report. Board of Recreation and Parks Minutes of May 23, 2007 Meeting Page 5 of 6 4. FUNDRAISING/PARTNERSHIPS SUBCOMMITTEE – Working on the June 30th Kiwaniis Dinner to raise funds for the Barrier Free Basketball Court. 5. GRAFFITI/VANDALISM RESTITUTION – Council approved the agreement with Orange County Probation effective July 1, 2007. It was suggested that parks hosting large community events be cleaned of graffiti prior to the event. 6. CABLE UPDATES Time Warner has responded to the City’s non-compliance letter and is currently being reviewed by the City Attorney’s office. Time Warner has a new team on board, should see some improvements. Time Warner is changing it’s strategy to focus more on core of business. Time Warner has been given a full quarter to implement the things they promised. 7. COMMUNITY CONTACT REPORTS AND UPDATES – No forms in packet to discuss this month. 8. PENDING ITEMS/ACTION ITEMS FOR FUTURE MEETINGS Health issues stemming from cell towers = ATS Representative was present to address these concerns. COMMENTS STAFF/CONSULTANT COMMENTS G. Mouet Thank you to J. Stroud for pointing out inaccuracies regarding City Charter information as presented at last month’s meeting. The corrected version was emailed to all commissioners. Invitation to all from former Mayor Dan Griset to tour Northern California water facilities from June 8-10. M. Lopez Memorial Park Pool opens May 26th, remainder of pools will open in June. J. Rios Memorial Pool opens May 26th, remaining four pools will open June 19th for recreation swim. Swim Team registrations begin on June 4th at all pools. R. Ono Will be working with commissioners to identify a date for a tour of the Santa Ana River. BOARD COMMENTS J. Stroud Requested confirmation that the issue of the sand in the playground at Riverview Park was addressed. Staff indicated that it had been. Would like to revisit the issue of the Concord/Cambridge Reservoir Site. Board of Recreation and Parks Minutes of May 23, 2007 Meeting Page 6 of 6 T. Leon Relay for Life was great! Exceeded their goal by $3,000 and are still taking donations. Attended the Stadium Ribbon Cutting – the turf is beautiful. NEXT MEETING Wednesday, June 27, 2007 at 5:30 p.m. at the El Salvador Community Center, located at 1825 W. Civic Center Drive in Santa Ana, California. Motion to adjourn meeting. MOTION: W. Tobiska SECOND: T. Leon VOTE: AYES: Acosta, Havlik, Leon, Madrid, Nguyen, Orea, Stroud, Tobiska (8) NOES: None (0) ABSENT: (at voting) (0) MEETING ADJOURNED AT 7:48 P.M. _____________________________ Athena Martinez Recording Secretary