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Home My WebLink About11/10/09MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON PARKS, RECREATION, EDUCATION AND YOUTH November 10, 2009 CALL TO ORDER The meeting convened at 2:13 p.m. in the City Hall, Room 831, 20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, California. ATTENDANCE Council members Present Michele Martinez (Chair); Vincent Sarmiento, Sal Tinajero Councilmember(s) Absent: None Staff Present: David Ream, City Manager; Gerardo Mouet, Executive Director; Cindy Nelson, Deputy City Manager; Ron Ono, Administrative Services Manager; Jenny Rios, Recreation Superintendent; Jose Perez, Recreation Program Coordinator. Public Present Sean Fitzgerald, Julie Stroud, Ismael Solazar, Angel Orea, Alberto Denas, Alfredo Gomez, David Gonzalez, Leonel Perez, Edgar Vasquez, Perdro Magallon. 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES • Minutes of April 3, 2008 accepted as presented 2. UPDATE ON CORNER LOT AT McFADDEN & STANDARD Deputy City Manager Cindy Nelson indicated the lot at McFadden and Standard has been secured for temporary use as a play area. Owner agreed the lot can be used for 2 years as an open play area. CDA is looking into raising monies to install a protective fence. The area will remain a dirt area, but can be used as a craft area with benches. A celebration event will be schedule in early December. Council Committee Member Sarmiento would like to recognize the partners in January 2010. Discussion ensued. 3. TOWNSEND PUBLIC AFFAIR-GRANTS FOR PARKS & RECREATION & JOINT USE • Sean Fitzgerald, Townsend Public Affairs presented the following possible grant opportunities for Parks and Recreation: o Proposition 84 Competitive Parks Program ¦ $5.348 billion dollar measure ¦ $183 million available; Application due March 1, 2010 o Nature Educational Facilities Program ¦ $100 million Grant PREY Regular Meeting - MINUTES 1 November 10, 2009 ¦ Competitive Grant Program ¦ Application in draft form; Due date not identified o Recreational Trails Program o Safe Route to School Program • Joint Use Funding o Funding available in the past o Two bills being proposed by Torlakson ¦ SB 35 • Expanding the definition to include career technical building and physical education or outdoor recreational site. • Expands the types of partnerships allowed • Considering 10% to be allowed for equipment. SIB 1677 • Would have expanded the definition of joint use • Would have included private entities as partners • Would have allowed school districts to include property as a match • Would have lessen the 25% match. o Looking into proposing another educational bond Council Comments: o Need to look into funding that's available for shorter periods of time (5 years) o What projects are staffs currently working with you? o How can we expand Joint Use with the School District? o Need to collaborate with non-profits to program on joint use sites. o Not all kids focus on athletics. Other kids focus on arts, hobbies, etc. that we need to consider. 2:52 pm : Sal Tinajero arrived: • Staff response: o City has 8 Joint Use agreements with the SAUSD o Currently working on Joint Use at Willard Intermediate School o Working with SAUSD in Calif. Endowment Plan that will provide $3 million per year funding stream 4. POP WARNER - NON PROFIT STATUS • David Gonzalez indicated Pop Warner has been here for 35 years and everyone that help with the program are volunteers (no one gets paid). Laura Nunez manages the books for Pop Warner. • Non-profit status was suspended for a short period, but now Memorial Pop Warner is covered under the Pop Warner parent organization. • Per agreement with City, Pop Warner is currently building a storage room adjacent to the concession stand at no cost to the city. • It costs approximate $115 to equip a child to play in Pop Warner. • The initial enrollment fee for a child is $300/child; $275 for the second child; $250 for the third child. • Council Comments: o What parks to Pop Warner Use? PREY Regular Meeting - MINUTES 2 November 10, 2009 o Response: Memorial, Adams and Lillie King Parks o What information does Pop Warner provide? o Response: Insurance, Annual Financial Report, Code of Conduct and Valid City Business License. o Follow up on what City can disclose? 5. UPDATE ON CORNER LOT AT MCFADDEN & STANDARD • Continued. 6. UPDATE ON JOINT USE AGREEMENTS • Report indicated eight joint use agreements are in effect with the Santa Ana Unified School District. Agreements identify some type of improvements were made by city on district property in order to obtain approval. District is resistant, due to the wear and tear on their facilities, but the need for athletic fields after school and on weekends and shortage of open park space require both organizations to continue with joint use agreements. 7. UPDATE ON ATHLETIC FIELD USAGE/AND THE USAGE POLICY • Jenny Rios reported staff is currently updating the athletic field usage and the usage policy. The initial policy started in January 2008 with the formation of the Reservation Team and System. Of all the organized sports, soccer presents the most challenge and staff work. In updating the policy, staff has been meeting with the Santa Ana Soccer Association (SASA), Santa Ana Youth Soccer United (SAYSU) and Committee on Field Usage (CoFU). • The policy requires sports organizations to obtain a permit for field usage for specific fields and specific times. Because of the shortage of fields two youth and three adult have permits, but do not have fields. Other issues include the illegal vending of food/beverages by the sports leagues in parks, without agreements. 3:40pm Sal Tinajero excused himself to attend another meeting. 8. REVIEW OF JOINT DISTRICT/CITY POLICY MEETING FORMAT • Continued 9. GODINEZ HOMERUN FENCE • One of the conditions identified in the Godinez High School Joint Use Agreement indicates no fencing in of the school campus. Due to safety concerns the Santa Ana Unified School District is requesting city approval to install a homerun fence around the outfield of the two ball diamonds. • Councilman Sarmiento' indicated this item was discussed at the Joint City/District meeting and asked where we were on any recommendations? • Staff indicated the homerun fence proposal was presented by the district at two neighborhood association meetings. At both meetings former councilmember's voiced strong opposition to the fence. • Sal Tinajero and Vince Sarmiento' indicated we need to move forward to approve the homerun fence due to safety reasons. The proposed plan does PREY Regular Meeting - MINUTES 3 November 10, 2009 not completely enclose the area and does provide public access to the joint use areas. 10. PUBLIC COMMENTS Ismael Solazr - Continental Soccer League ? Continental has 2000 soccer players waiting to use Santa Ana soccer fields. The league has not used a field under permit, but was able to obtain fields under the lottery system. Angel Orea - Hispanico America The system is not fair. He owns a business in Santa Ana and should have the right to use Santa Ana fields. The system needs to be revised and wants to be part of the system. Edgar Vasquez - IntraAmericana ? Indicated he has been trying to obtain fields in Costa Mesa and Garden Grove, but has been unsuccessful. Alberto Nunez - Orange County Soccer League ? Waiting for more than 4 hours for fields. Other leagues are getting more fields and getting bigger. Leonel Perez - United Soccer League ? Sixteen years ago we were all participating. Those that remain have followed the rules and other have left. The surcharge was initiated and set aside to fix or install new synthetic turf, but was never used. Pedro Magallon-COFU Member/Adult Soccer Rep ? The surcharge funding has not been spent or used to match grant funding. The three leagues already have their blocks, but could not comply with rules. 11. COMMITTEE MEMBERS COMMENTS Vince Sarmiento ? Thanked staff in developing a system that we can all work with. Sal Tinajero ? Thanked staff and indicated we need to have more meetings on this issue. The process is better than before. ? Need to visit the Committee on Field Usage issue. o Mater Dei has one team, but has the same vote as another larger team. o Need to review equal representation for all leagues. Michelle Martinez ? Thanked staff and everyone for speaking on this issue. Youth is our number one priority. Need to have common ground, respect and work things out together. ? Need to move forward and not reflect on the past. PREY Regular Meeting - MINUTES 4 November 10, 2009 12. STAFF COMMENTS - None at this time 13. ITEM FOR NEXT MEETING: Discussion on Committee on Facility Usage (CoFU) ADJOURNED: 4:43 p.m. Gerardo Mouet Executive Director, PRC A PREY Regular Meeting - MINUTES 5 November 10, 2009