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HomeMy WebLinkAbout13C - COUNCIL CMT RPT - PREY MINUTESMINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON PARKS, RECREATION, EDUCATION AND YOUTH October 28, 2013 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting convened at 5:30 p.m. at Centennial Park Reservations Administration Meeting Room; 3006 Centennial Road, Santa Ana, California 92704. ATTENDANCE Council members Present Mayor Pro Tem, Sal Tinajero (Chair) Angelica Amezcua Roman Reyna Staff Present: David Cavazos, City Manager, Gerardo Mouet, PRCSA Executive Director Ron Ono, Administrative Services Manager Jeannie Jurado, Interim Community Services Manager Jose Perez, Community Services Supervisor Enrique Marban, Recreation Leader Kent Yamaguchi, SA Zoo Manager Hiram Uribe, Graphic Designer Public Speakers Rubin Smith, AlvaradoSmith Attorney James Kennedy, Interim Vice President School of Continuing Education Sandra "Pocha" Pena, Sarmiento Sandra Sarmiento, UASA Moses Camacho, SA Community Artist Coalition Elizabeth Cardenas, SA Community Artist Coalition Alicia Rojas, SA Community Artist Coalition Francisco Saucedo, Resident Steve McGuigan, FOSAZ and Riverview West Lara Montagne, The Grain Project Debra Russell, WCA Victor Payan, Film Fiesta Yvonne Gonzales Duncan, LULAC Carlos Aguilar, Resident Estela Jimenez, CEC Rick Niedermeyer. AYSO Juan Carlos Macedo, Resident Julie Stroud, Resident PREY Regular Meeting Page 1 October 28, 2013 13C -1 Anita Aguirre, CEC Michel Chavez, CEC Martin Mendez, CEC Alona Perez, Resident Angel Romero, CEC Josefina Herrera, CEC Barbara Lamere, Windsor Village Duice Gregorio, Resident Sarai Lopez, Resident Margarita Flores, Resident Gabriel Martinez, CEC Victoria Rivera, CEC Genovera Garcia, CEC ® PUBLIC COMMENTS: o Sandra "Pocha" Pena Sarmiento indicated he supported public art in Santa Ana. The city needs to develop a public art process for all artwork in public areas. o Angel Romero indicated he supported the students that want the college to rernain in Centennial Park. o Josefina Herrera indicated she is a resident and student of SAC. She indicated she feels safe at the college and requested the city renew their lease. o Barbara Lamere indicated the city covers 27 square miles and is very crowded. There is no parking available in the park for public use. We need more open space and the college needs to move to provide park space for residents. o Duice Gregorio indicated he is a student at Centennial Education Center for over a year. Students want the American Dream and higher education. He realizes the importance of education, so please allow Centennial Education Center to remain. o Gabriel Martinez indicated he is President of Student Government at Centennial Education Center. The college has helped him in life, so please renew the lease for the college. o Jim Kennedy indicated he is the Interim Vice President at Centennial Education Center. 48% over the age of 25 do not have a high school diploma. $13.5 million is spent in Adult Education. 211 high school students graduated from Centennial Education Center. The college is committed to work with the City. Chairman Tinajero introduced David Cavazos, Santa Ana's new City Manager from Phoenix Arizona. o Maria Flores indicated she has been in California for 10 years and attends Centennial Education Center. She is a home worker. If Centennial Education Center closes it would be difficult for her to find a new school. PREY Regular Meeting Page 2 October 28, 2013 13C -2 • Etival Wila indicated she went to Centennial Education Center to obtain a high school diploma. Centennial Education Center is secure. If the college is not here who will attend the park. • Alma Perez indicated she is a student at Centennial Education Center. The college is in the right location and needs signage on what classes are available. Needs more parenting classes. Students need to be part of the solution. • Genovera Garcia indicated she is a representative from Centennial Education Center. She indicated she is receiving excellent education from Centennial Education Center. The college benefits all the community. Requested the lease be extended another 5 years. • Martin Mendez indicated he is a student of Centennial Education Center. The college has 600 to 1500 students. Suggested the lake be filled to create space for the school and park. • Michel Chavez indicated he is a student of Centennial Education Center. He indicated education is important for future growth. • Anita Aguirre indicated she s'a`student of Centennial Education Center and a member of Student Government. To remove the school building to build a park will require more monies. It would be better to build a park in another location. Funding is also needed to maintain the park. It would be best to grant the college a 5 year extension. • Steve McGuigan, member of 'Riverview West Neighborhood Association expressed concern on extending the college lease. The 2 -story building will increase parking needs. Off -site improvements will be needed'to' accommodate the' increase'tr'affid. "The site needs to be retained for recreational use. • Julie Stroud, member`of Riverview West Neighborhood Association indicated this is park land. Centennial Education Center has been here for 34-years. We need parkland in the cify.'The City needs to take the land back'td(a park. • Juan Carlos, volunteer with SACRAD,'indicated SACRAD support`s the' Centennial Education Center.` He is working with SA Healthy Community for more open space and education; • Rubin Smith, lawyer with AIVera'doSmith represents the SA College, indicated it would cost more °funding to'fea`r down the college. Better to add park space somewhere else. The college is paying the city to provide the necessary documents and research to'tocate additional park space. There' ar'e no plans to double the classroom spape at Centennial Education Center: A 1370 signature petition was sighed i`n support of the college to remain at Centennial. • Rick Neidermeyer, President of AYSO indicated 5000 soccer players use Dan Young Soccer Complex. 3,500 adult players use the fields at 6:00pm and no parking is available for this reservation. DYSC was dedicated in 1975 for youth soccer and the land was deeded for public recreation use. • Carlos Aguliar, an independent artist indicated art and education goes together. PREY Regular Meeting Page 3 October 28, 2013 13C -3 • Yvonne Gonzales Duncan, District Director for LULAC volunteers in Santa Ana. Indicated Santa Ana is 78% Latino. It is important to extend the lease. Centennial Education Center has a child care center and is planning on spending $600,000 to expand the center. • Sandra "Pocha" Pena Sarmiento, member of United Artist of Santa Ana spoke on the need for a public art policy. She indicated a presentation was made to the city for a mural on French and 4th Street. The wall is the largest wall mural in the city. Need to raise money for the mural. • Francisco Saucedo, musician and independent artist indicated the city needs a formal process to select a mural for French and 4th street. • Alicia Rojas, SA Community Art Coalition indicated the city needs to create a strategic plan for the Arts Council. Need community input on the mural. Need to raise money for the Art Coalition. • Lara Montana, member of the Grain Project indicated they have joined with the SA Art Coalition and Business Owners. Members include a number of SA dignitaries. - • Debra Russell, former employee'of SAUSD requested the city move forward on the Plaza Santa Ana mural with the Art Coalition. This is the first time business owners and the art community has worked together. The downtown area is changing fast and the mural is a community vision. • Elizabeth Cardenas indicated the SA Art Coalition is the best organization to paint the mural at Plaza Santa Ana. • Moses Camacho indicated he attended Art School in Vermont and opened an Art Studio and Gallery in Santa Ana. He is able to gather individuals interested in painting the - mural, APPROVAL OF MINUTES o Minutes of August 19 2013=:accepted as presented MEMORIAL PARK AMENITIES; PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE o Gerardo Mouet presented a brief history of improvements at Memorial Park. He indicated the park was built in 1966. Various improvements were made at the park. One of the proposals was to build a gymnasium, but funding was not available. Recent proposals include a multi - purpose room, classrooms, technology cent& and skate park. Donnie Sabreros was introduced to present his proposal for an exercise weight lifting area in the park that is supported by well known athletics. Another suggestion is to install exercise equipment similar to Birch Park Fitness Zone. • REVIEW STATUS OF ADULT EDUCATION CENTER AT CENTENNIAL PARK o Gerardo Mouet presented the history of Centennial Park Property. The property was formally an FCC communication site that broke enemy code. It was acquired from the Federal Government for recreational purposes. He indicated the SA College lease a portion of the park and their lease has expired. To extend their lease the city is required to find equal property for a PREY Regular Meeting Page 4 October 28, 2013 13C -4 land conversion to allow the college to remain on Centennial Park. The conversion property submitted to the National Park Service did not meet the requirement for an equal exchange and the city needs to find additional property. In the mean time, the City is waiting for a letter from the National Park Service approving the city's request for a 5 -year lease extension, to allow additional time to complete the land conversion. Mr. Mouet explained the next steps to complete this process. • Councilmember Reyna asked if staff can confirm if the article is true that the FCC site broke enemy code. • Councilmember Tinajero gave direction for staff to wait for the NPS letter before moving forward. He also indicated the need to analyze the parking issues created by the college. Additional signage is needed to direct the public to the joint use parking structure with information on when it is open. • Councilmember Reyna summarized the land swap requirement and Mr. Mouet explained the college is reimbursing the city for the land conversion work. • Councilmember Tinajero indicated we need to look at opportunities as we proceed on the land conversion. • PUBLIC ART PROPOSAL POLICY • Gerardo Mouet presented the draft Public Art Policy, its purpose and goals. He indicated the policy identifies the Park, Recreation, Education and Youth (PREY) Council to provide guidelines for the Public Art. The Public Art requests will be presented to PREY by Public Works, Planning or Parks and Recreation. A recent proposal is a sculpture planned for the Flower Street Bike Trail at Flower and Sunflower. • Mr. Mouet indicated the next steps are to conduct a public outreach to solicit feedback on the draft policy. • Councilmember Tinajero asked if an Art Council or Commission can be established. • Mr. Mouet indicated it can be established by charter or ordinance. • David Cavazos indicated the commission on arts is an advisory to staff and he will work with the various departments on the art proposal. • Councilmember Tinajero indicated there is a vision for art in downtown and he would like to move forward with an arts commission, whereby each council member appoints a member on the commission. • Councilmember Amezcua indicated she is in favor of establishing an art commission. • PUBLIC ART SCULPTURE PROJECT FOR FLOWER STREET BIKE TRAILHEAD o Gerardo Mouet indicated the city received a $1.5 million grant to construct Phase II of the Flower Street Bike Trail from MacArthur to Sunflower that will connect to the City of Costa Mesa Bike Trail. He explained the farming history of the surrounding property along the bike trail and presented a concept to PREY Regular Meeting Page 5 October 28, 2013 13C -5 recognize the Japanese /American Farmer in a sculpture at the head of the trail. The Art of OC will volunteer to handle the process to solicit the artist. • RFP PROCESS FOR PLAZA SANTA ANA PUBLIC WALL MURAL o Gerardo Mouet explained that City Council requested the process for a mural on Plaza Santa Ana be presented to the Parks, Recreation, Education and Youth (PREY) Council. A proposed process was presented to PREY indicating staff will develop a Request for Proposal (RFP) to ensure transparency and equal access to all interested parties. The RFP will be brought back to PREY along with timelines. PREY will forward its recommendation to release the RFP to the whole City Council. o Councilmember Amezcua asked if the mural will go on the entire wall and Mr. Mouet indicated it will cover the entire wall. ASSOCIATION OF ZOOS AND AQUARIUMS PROGRESS REPORT • Gerardo Mouet indicated the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) is a globally recognized organization that has high standards for the management, maintenance and conservation of exotic animals. Belonging to AZA allows zoos to breed and loan out animal to other AZA approved zoos. The SA Zoo is scheduled to submit their next progress report to AZA in February 2014. • A status report on the privatization of the zoo will be sent to the City Manager and PREY. • Councilmember Reyna indicated Santa Ana is the onlv citv in Oranae Countv that has a zoo. o Councilmember Amezcua indicated a baby monkey was recently born in the zoo. STAFF UPDATE & COMMENTS • Staff reported on the successful ribbon cutting event held on Oct. 21St at Willard Joint Use Park site and announced the next ribbon cutting event scheduled for November 18th on the new Garfield Community Center. • A groundbreaking event is also scheduled on December 7th; 10:00am at the new Garfield Exercise Park. o Staff is working with MX Live on the production of the 2014 Cinco de Mayo and Fiestas Patrias Event. o A feasibility study is underway to designate the front of the Library as a Library Park. o The next PREY meeting is scheduled for January 27, 2014. COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS o Councilmember Amezcua thanked the public for attending the Willard ribbon cutting event and indicated she will be working with the City Manager on the Art Policy. o Councilmember Reyna indicated he is glad the public is taking ownership of the process. On the Centennial Land Conversion for the SA College, it is the PREY Regular Meeting Page 6 October 28, 2013 13C -6 college decision if they wish to close the Centennial Education Center. He expressed interest to ensure that the land exchange be equitable. He thanked the community for coming out to express their concerns to the PREY Council. o Councilmember Tinajero indicated we have anew City Council that invites the community to speak out on issues. He indicated Art brings in Vision and Revenue to the city and he will support the creation of an Arts Commission. He indicated the SA College needs to help find land for the Land Conversion. ADJOURNED: 7:22 p.m. op Gerardo Mouet Executive Director, PRCSA PREY Regular Meeting Page 7 October 28, 2013 13C -7 13C -8