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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMins 2009 01 Jan_DraftUNAPPROVED MINUTES Board of Recreation and Parks Minutes of January 28, 2009 Meeting Page 1 of 5 BOARD OF RECREATION AND PARKS MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING January 28, 2009 CALL TO ORDER Parks, Recreation and Community Services Administration Building, 2nd floor 888 W. Santa Ana Blvd. Santa Ana, CA 92702 5:35 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE T. Leon ROLL CALL BOARD OF RECREATION AND PARKS MEMBERS/STUDENT REPS PRESENT Frank Acosta, Tish Leon, Ken Nguyen, David Orea, Julie Stroud, Wendy Tobiska STAFF PRESENT: Gerardo Mouet, Executive Director Ron Ono, Administrative Services Manager Mike Lopez, Parks Superintendent Athena Martinez, Board Secretary PRESENTATIONS EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH AWARD – FEBRUARY 2009 Suzanne Merner was present to receive this award. SPECIAL SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY – JANUARY 2009 Lilly Mucarsel from the American Diabetes Association was present to accept this award. CONSENT CALENDAR MOTION: W. Tobiska SECOND: F. Acosta VOTE: AYES: Acosta, Leon, Nguyen, Orea, Stroud, Tobiska (6) NOES: None (0) ABSENT: (at voting) Hills, Madrid (2) 1. MINUTES Approve Minutes of Regular Meeting held on December 17, 2008. 2. ABSENCES Jerry Hills and Max Madrid. ** END OF CONSENT CALENDAR ** UNAPPROVED MINUTES Board of Recreation and Parks Minutes of January 28, 2009 Meeting Page 2 of 5 BUSINESS CALENDAR NEW BUSINESS 1. REQUEST FOR BOARD ACTION – FUTURE USE OF CELL TOWER REVENUE Public Comments Steve McGuigan – Windsor Village Neighborhood Association Windsor Park has a cell tower, and when installation was presented to residents at a neighborhood association meeting, it was on the condition that revenues received would be used for Windsor Park improvements and maintenance. If this motion passes, there will be no funds available to address issues in Windsor Park as they happen due to other budget cuts being made. Distribution of funds would not be equitable as Windsor Park recently had many improvements done and would be low on the list for attention. The wording “temporary” in the sunset clause is very subjective, should be more defined. Rose Vasquez – Madison Park Neighborhood Association Agrees with Mr. McGuigan that an end date needs to be put into motion. The budget needs to be reviewed annually to determine if cell tower monies can be returned. Understands the budget crisis. Has previously asked to see revenues received for cell tower in her neighborhood. Would like an annual review done in an open forum. Lucinda Solorzano – Artesia Pilar Neighborhood Association Of the opinion that the City and County have not managed money very well. Agrees with conducting an annual review of funds as she believes the funds will not revert back to parks if not a condition of the motion. Would like to see an annual clause with the stipulation that the monies must be returned to their respective parks. Motion to recommend to City Council the use of future cell tower revenues as a temporary means to balance the general fund, to be used within the parks system, and to be reviewed on an annual basis to determine feasibility of reverting funds back to their original intent. MOTION: F. Acosta SECOND: K. Nguyen VOTE: AYES: Acosta, Leon, Nguyen, Orea, Stroud, Tobiska (6) NOES: None (0) ABSENT: (at voting) Hills, Madrid (2) UNAPPROVED MINUTES Board of Recreation and Parks Minutes of January 28, 2009 Meeting Page 3 of 5 2. REQUEST FOR BOARD ACTION - ROSITA Item tabled to next regular meeting. 3. STATE PARK BOND PROJECT CONCEPTS Proposed project ideas shared: Willard Intermediate School Synthetic Sports Field and Lighting, Memorial Recreation Center, Century High School Swimming Pool. Projects in partnership with Santa Ana Unified School District will be presented to the Board of Education at their next meeting. Public Comments Gay Olivos – Resident Is a lifetime Santa Ana resident and a homeowner in the Willard Neighborhood. Indicates that Willard is abused by adult soccer players when should be used by youth who surround the field. Kudos to Council and Agency staff for trying to get monies for the Willard project which will help to ensure youth play and hopefully eliminate adult soccer. Is very much in favor of this project. Joziff Lincoln – Resident Resides in Santa Ana, but works for City of Anaheim where use of field is very regulated. Has seen youth pushed aside by adult players at Willard, and youth not allowed to play there. Has two children, ages 12 and 13, with no other local outdoor options. Has been a victim of shootings by rival soccer teams. Board requested to be apprised of all required neighborhood meetings for proposed projects. 4. NOMINATIONS FOR SPECIAL SERVICE AWARD TO THE YOUTH AND COMMUNTIY OF SANTA ANA Motion made to recognize Susan Tory, director of the Sierra Intermediate School Jazz Band, for contributions of the jazz band at Agency events. MOTION: J. Stroud SECOND: W. Tobiska VOTE: AYES: Acosta, Leon, Nguyen, Orea, Stroud, Tobiska (6) NOES: None (0) ABSENT: (at voting) Hills, Madrid (2) UNAPPROVED MINUTES Board of Recreation and Parks Minutes of January 28, 2009 Meeting Page 4 of 5 COMMENTS PUBLIC COMMENTS Lucinda Solorzano – Artesia Pilar Neighborhood Association Speaking as a parent in the Artesia Pilar Neighborhood Association and trying to be proactive vs. reactionary regarding the After School Program at El Salvador Center. Asking that the powers that be do not cut the After School Programs during this budget crisis. This program is a great help to many residents – her son is picked up at Fremont Elementary and is taken to El Salvador. Son made comments to the Board indicating that he likes the staff at El Salvador, gets help with his homework, is learning to play chess and likes drawing. Steve McGuigan – Windsor Village Neighborhood Association As the City bleeds, residents are the ones who feel the pain the most. The Parks Agency is a service organization and cuts made here really affect residents. There needs to be an open dialogue to reinvigorate the Friends of Santa Ana Parks or some other non-profit fundraising group to make City events that have been cut happen. The Agency still needs to prevent quality events. OCTA has reinvigorated the corridor plan. And many residents had previously attended the OCTA meetings on this project. Would like to urge others to attend these meetings. Serves on the Friends of Santa Ana Zoo Board, and would like to invite everyone to visit the newly revised Zoo website, www.santaanazoo.org, and provide any feedback. STAFF/CONSULTANT COMMENTS G. Mouet The California Endowment recently selected fourteen communities to receive grant awards, Santa Ana was one of them. This is a ten year grant running from 2010 to 2020, will receive $5 to $8 Million per year distributed among a coalition of City Agencies, and a segment of the City will be selected where the focus will be gang prevention and to improve resident health. There will not be a Black History Parade this year, there will only be a Cultural Faire. Due to recent staff reductions, the following Agency-sponsored events have been eliminated: Mother’s Day Event, Antique and Classic Car Show, Children’s Winter Holiday Party, and other smaller events. BOARD/STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE COMMENTS J. Stroud New playground equipment is being installed at Portola, Thornton and Sandpointe parks. Bid awards for the Santiago Trailhead project will be on the February 2nd Council Meeting Agenda, as well as the Vista del Verde landscape contract and the increase of zoo admission. UNAPPROVED MINUTES Board of Recreation and Parks Minutes of January 28, 2009 Meeting Page 5 of 5 There will now be ten carnivals in the City, up from eight last year. A tentative ribbon cutting event date has been set, April 16th, for the wheelchair accessible basketball court at Thornton Park. The Board should have been informed about the netz4Life ribbon cutting event. Supervisor Janet Nguyen contributed $9,000 on behalf of the County and even she was not informed. (Staff indicated that was not an Agency event, but a netz4Life event). Continues to receive complaints regarding the sound on CTV3. Feels it is poor planning to increase the zoo’s admission by a dollar, and that construction should be held off instead of raising prices. Some people have newly discovered the zoo and may be turned off by the rate increase. W. Tobiska When assessing part-time layoffs, please advise to see if volunteers can be found to help programs affected. K. Nguyen CoFU issued administrative action (second strike and one month suspension) against Interamerica Soccer League for fighting and for allowing non-registered teams to play. CoFU issued administrative action (first strike and one month probation) against Santa Ana Youth Soccer Association (SAYSA) for allowing non-registered team to play. SAYSA coach Oscar Morales also received a six month suspension from coaching for the verbal abuse of a staff member. T. Leon Attended the Commissioners Seminar in Long Beach and really enjoyed it. As appointed commissioners, it is very important to speak to your appointing Council Member as we have direct access and they really do want to hear from us. Commissioners attending the seminar expressed that it is an honor and a privilege to serve the public. Another topic discussed at the seminar was the difficulty in getting commissioners to attend City and Agency events. NEXT MEETING Wednesday, February 25, 2009 in the second floor conference room of the Parks, Recreation and Community Services administration building, located at 888 W. Santa Ana Blvd., Santa Ana, CA. MEETING ADJOURNED AT 7:30 P.M. _____________________________ Athena Martinez Recording Secretary