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Home My WebLink About2012-04-02• MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON PARKS, RECREATION, EDUCATION AND YOUTH April 2, 2012 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting convened at 3:45 p.m. in the City Hall, Room 831, 20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, California. ATTENDANCE Council members Present Michele Martinez (Chair); Sal Tinajero Vincent Sarmiento Staff Present: Gerardo Mouet, Executive Director; Laura Sheedy, Assistant City Attorney; Ron Ono, Administrative Services Manager; Jenny Rios, Community Services Manager is Public Present Glen and Julie Stroud, Riverview Neighborhood Assoc. Steve McGuigan, Windsor Village Neighborhood Assoc. Dave Hoen, Gay Neighbors Darren Shippen, Families and Friends Vicky Baxter, Downtown Inc. Don Cribb, Santa Ana ETAC and Council of the Arts Catalina Lopez, Latino Health Access Roman Beltran, Orange County Equality Coalition Agustin Gonzalez, OCEC Veronica Arroyo, Resident Teresa Cuin, Resident Mayra Mejia, Latino Health Access • APPROVAL OF MINUTES o Minutes of November 28, 2011 accepted as presented. • PUBLIC COMMENTS: o Darren Shippen expressed concern about closing 4'h/French Plaza during the summer for construction. Also expressed concerns about the design and • need to accommodate special events. PREY Regular Meeting - MINUTES 1 April 2, 2012 • o Julie Stroud indicated she agreed with Darren Shippen on the summer closure and use. She also expressed concern about the PREY Committee meeting at 3:30pm. The committee should meet at a time convenient for the public. o Steve McGuigan indicated the Friends of the Santa Ana Zoo (FOSAZ) expressed interest in submitting a proposal to run the SA Zoo. He also provided information on the funding ($75,000) FOSAZ obtained to improve the walkways and other improvements required for AZA accreditation. o Dave Hoen expressed concern about the time of the day (3:30pm) for the PREY committee meetings. Dave also voiced concern about the construction schedule and maintenance of Plaza Santa Ana development. o Vicky Baxter indicated the city should make arrangements with Mr. Chase on the use of the restrooms. There are activities every weekend on the plaza and a need to provide restroom facilities. • CENTENNIAL PARK AND FIRE TRAINING FACILITY o Staff indicated the adult soccer surcharge was implemented to provide funding for another synthetic turf soccer field. Due to the cost of a synthetic field, it was difficult to raise sufficient funding for construction. Staff has discussed with Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) staff a proposal to use the funding to develop a synthetic turf field on the Godinez football/soccer field. Sports lighting and a running track currently exist on the Godinez field. • This improvement will add 1990 hours of play time per year on the new field. If this is acceptable, staff will continue discussions between the SAUSD and soccer leagues. o The agreement between the City and SAUSD requires the temporary homerun fence at Godinez High school be removed after school use. The SAUSD is requesting the fence be left in place for use by the Varsity Team. In addition, the SAUSD is requesting permission to install a batting cage, between the school ballfields and a covered awning over the each of the player's bench/dugout. Since this is part of the play experience, the committee approved the district's request. o The Fire Training Facility at Centennial Park is no longer needed by the Fire Department. Since this site has deed conditions for "Educational Use", the PRCSA and the Police Department is proposing to jointly use the facility. The Police Department will use the concrete area for training and the PRCSA will be using the dirt area to the west as a nature center with drought tolerant and riparian planting. The Santa Ana River Vision Plan approved by City Council also identified this area as a potential open space location to enhance the landscaping along the river. o Councilmember Sarmiento indicated in the future staff should schedule a City Council Study Session on Open Space. o Gerardo Mouet mentioned to the committee that Rob Richardson (SAUSD Board of Education) would like to re-establish the quarterly City/District Joint meetings. PREY Regular Meeting - MINUTES 2 April 2, 2012 • PLAZA SANTA ANA o Staff presented a revised concept plan for Plaza Santa Ana that accommodated the use for special events, leisure public use and ADA accessibility to the stage. Staff explained the various concepts and process to provide a plan within the $200,000 CDBG project budget. Because of the excitement and interest in the plaza design, staff shared a model prepared by Architect Geoff Sumich from San Juan Capistrano. The concept reflected a modern design with a colorful overhead shade structure, special pavement and flowing wall design. o Don Cribb indicated Geoff Sumich specializes in Spanish colonial and modern architecture. The concept symbolizes butterflies that are recognized in Mexico. o Councilmember Sarmiento indicated because of the various events planned on the plaza, it is never a good time for construction. Additional funding is not available and time is limited in order to complete by September 14th. This is the right time to move forward and the city is currently preparing plans to install restrooms in the adjacent parking structure. o Councilmember Martinez indicated this is an attempt to beautify the area. Funding is limited and we risk losing the monies if we don't act now. The funding was approved to address the priority for more open space. We need to construct an area for children and residents, not another building. • o Councilmember Sarmiento indicated he was contacted by various people who did not want the area to be used for events and requested more seating for leisure use. This is an attempt to accommodate both uses. o Dave Hoen asked if the CDBG monies have to be spent? The Assistant City Attorney indicated the CDBG funding has to be spent within a reasonable time frame. o Julie Stroud asked what type of trees will be planted. Administrative Services Manager indicated the site is planned for two types of trees: Sycamore trees to carry the 4th street tree planting into the plaza and Crape Myrtle to provide color in the plaza. o Councilmember Tinajero indicated we need to continue the excitement for downtown so everyone has access and the downtown businesses and residents will benefit by the improvements. You need to look at other areas to hold events while the plaza is being constructed. • ROOSEVELT ELEMENTARY OPEN SCHOOL YARD PILOT PROJECT o Mayra Mejia (Latino Health Access/Parents Organized for Recreation Spaces) introduced residents that spoke on the need to continue the pilot program at Roosevelt Elementary School. They indicated how the program benefited the children in the area and thanked the city for applying for the grant to construct a community center on the school. They asked for city support to maintain the program open until 2014. This is a good example and • model to provide open space for areas that don't have park space. PREY Regular Meeting - MINUTES 3 April 2, 2012 • o Councilmember Tinajero asked if the district has given them a deadline to end the program? Have they tried to ask the California Endowment to fund the program until the community center and park is completed? o Latino Health Access indicated the California Endowment only provided funding for 1 year to cover custodial and security costs. They are asking if the city can help the continuation of the program and cover the cost of maintenance and security. o Councilmember Sarmiento excused himself and left at 4:45pm for another meeting. o Gerardo Mouet explained the city was successful in receiving a $5 million grant to construct a 10,000 square foot community center, playground, restrooms, benches, landscaping, basketball court, running track, parking lot and fencing. 400 applications were submitted and the City of Santa Ana was one of 64 applicants that were awarded the Prop 84 grant. This joint use will be similar to Willard Intermediate Park that will be constructed this fall. o Don Cribb indicated the city should have an influence on the type of architecture for the community center. • STAFF COMMENTS o None • • COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS o Councilmember Martinez indicated the City is doing more with less funding. Staff and City Council has moved forward to address the financial issues in the city. We are fortunate this issue is being addressed and will be behind us. She thanked the residents at Roosevelt/Walker for working together with the city to obtain the funding to construct a new park in Santa Ana. ADJOURNED: 4:55 p.m. Gerardo Mouet Executive Direct r, PRCSA 0 PREY Regular Meeting - MINUTES 4 April 2, 2012