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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMins 2008 06 Jun_FINAL Board of Recreation and Parks Minutes of June 25, 2008 Meeting Page 1 of 6 BOARD OF RECREATION AND PARKS MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING June 25, 2008 CALL TO ORDER Sandpointe Recreation Center 3700 S. Birch Santa Ana, California 5:35 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE M. Madrid 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, Jonathan Espinoza STAFF/CONSULTANTS PRESENT: Gerardo Mouet, Executive Director Ron Ono, Administrative Services Manager Lorraine McCarty, Community Affairs Manager Jose Sandoval, City Attorney Katherine Bowers, Cable Consultant Athena Martinez, Board Secretary PRESENTATIONS EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH – JULY 2008 Editha Santiano was present to accept this award. SPECIAL SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY – JUNE 2008 Members of the Madison SALUD Walking Club were present to accept this award. At this time a special recognition award was presented to outgoing Board Member, Joshua Havlik, for his service to the Board. Brief recess was taken at 6:02 p.m. so that Park Superintendent, Mike Lopez, could lead the Commissioners on a tour of the Sandpointe Paseos. Board reconvened at 6:31 p.m. CONSENT CALENDAR MOTION: F. Acosta SECOND: J. Stroud VOTE: AYES: Acosta, Havlik, Leon, Madrid, Nguyen, Orea, Stroud, Tobiska (8) NOES: None (0) ABSENT: (at voting) None (0) Board of Recreation and Parks Minutes of June 25, 2008 Meeting Page 2 of 6 1. MINUTES Approve Minutes of Regular Meeting held on May 28, 2008. 2. ABSENCES All Board Members were present. ** END OF CONSENT CALENDAR ** BUSINESS CALENDAR NEW BUSINESS 1. PRESENTATION ON ZOO ANIMALS AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS Zoo Education Curator, Kent Yamaguchi, shared a PowerPoint presentation with handouts on the Zoo’s animal collection and programs. Materials on file with Recording Secretary for review. 2. NOMINATIONS FOR SPECIAL SERVICE AWARD TO THE YOUTH AND COMMUNTIY OF SANTA ANA Motion made to recognize Balet Folklorico To-Tlali for their free performance at the Mother’s Day Celebration in May. MOTION: F. Acosta SECOND: J. Havlik VOTE: AYES: Acosta, Havlik, Leon, Madrid, Nguyen, Orea, Stroud, Tobiska (8) NOES: None (0) ABSENT: (at voting) None (0) UPCOMING EVENTS Calendars for July and Augus 2008 were reviewed and discussed. Events of note: Jul 4-7: Carnival at Jerome Park, not at Centennial Park this year. Jul 7: Youth in Local Government participants will be recognized at the Council Meeting. Aug 2: Antique and Classic Car Show at Portola Park. Aug 9: Madison Park Walk-A-Thon and Faire Aug 23: Zoofari STATUS/UPDATES 1. COMMITTEE ON FIELD USE (CoFU) The Committee needs more representation from the Board, Ken Nguyen is the only Commissioner that attends the monthly meetings, other committees have more than two members. Please consider!! Reviewed amendments to Facility Use Policies and Procedures regarding the appeal process on third strike letters. Discussed leagues subletting their fields. Much discussion on the lottery system and who is allowed to participate in the lottery. Discussed the number of leagues allowed to hold an annual field use permit, and there will be no cap on the number of teams on each league. Board of Recreation and Parks Minutes of June 25, 2008 Meeting Page 3 of 6 2. OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE Updates given on the landscape contractors, who are doing a great job. Two pieces of the Twist Basler House have been relocated to Cabrillo Park, the final section is still pending. It will take approximately eight months to restore the structure to “usable” condition. Recognition of Tom Lemere approved at the June 2nd Council Meeting. Sandpointe Tree Trimming approved at the cost of $55,000. Civic Center Skyhawk Project is underway. Fisher Park Mothers working with Floral Park Neighborhood Association to install and pay for a new play set in Flower Park. Reviewed proposal on the redesign of the entrance to the Civic Center area from Santa Ana Boulevard and Civic Center Plaza. Cost of project estimated at $1.3 Million, funding needs to be identified. Proposal has already been presented to City, County and State, will go before Federal next. Received proposal from netz4Life to resurface courts at El Salvador to include the netz4Life logo, need to review this further. SAUSD has received numerous complaints regarding traffic issues around MacArthur School near Lillie King Park. City will develop a proposal to see if there is a way to alleviate the problem. Concession agreements between City and baseball leagues at Thornton Park to go before Council for approval on July 7th. 3. EVENTS AND PROGRAMS COMMITTEE Reviewed Tierra de Las Pampas, Mother’s Day Celebration and Juneteenth events. Shared all available maps for the various walking trails. Catalina Campout will have 80 participants this year, twice the amount of last year, still looking for chaperones. Discussed 33rd Annual Antique and Classic Car Show at Portola Park. Madison Adopt-a-Park scheduled for July 26th. Agency is promoting the Newport Beach Tennis Program, free to all ages 4-16, includes meal. All pools are open. Promoting new Archery Class at Santiago Park. 4. COMMUNITY CONTACT REPORTS AND UPDATES No report. 5. CABLE UPDATES AT&T and SAUSD have installed necessary equipment at City Hall to have access to CTV3. Santa Ana College and Cal State Fullerton are still pending. Time Warner customer service has gone up to 73%. The State of the City Address is complete and now airing on CTV3. The next round of spots for the big video screens are being filmed and will highlight the Agency’s activities. 6. PENDING ITEMS/ACTION ITEMS FOR FUTURE MEETINGS CoFU Policy Update (Future) Presentation by Park Naturalist (August) Santiago Park Projects Update (August) Tat2 B Gone (July) Landscape Contract Presentation (November) Board of Recreation and Parks Minutes of June 25, 2008 Meeting Page 4 of 6 COMMENTS PUBLIC COMMENTS Ray Roman – netz4Life Program occurs at El Salvador park for six weeks from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Saturdays. Program is vital to prevent kids from participating in negative activities. Would plan the court resurfacing to be done for a November 8, 2008 re-opening. The logo being proposed for the court is the same that is on the shirts that the participants wear, to give the kids a feeling of taking a piece of the court with them. F. Acosta left at 8:10 p.m. STAFF/CONSULTANT COMMENTS G. Mouet Will be hearing more about the City’s budgetary challenges in the months to come. Agency did well this budget cycle compared to other City agencies. Major objective is to maintain parks green and clean as most of the Agency’s programs occur in parks and centers. Also, organized sports are a great asset in the fight against obesity, diabetes and are a major cost-savings factor to the Agency as staff not having to organize, only oversee. Still need to keep centers busy but with less money. Zoo is a great asset. Will be working to develop stronger partnerships in the future. Will leverage the fact that our zoo is the only zoo in the county to try and obtain more funding from the County. R. Ono The custodial contract was recently awarded and was handled the same as the landscape contract. Contract also awarded to contractor to repair the big slides at Santiago Park as well as the basketball courts at Cabrillo Park. M. Lopez The custodial contractor has a start-up clause and is doing a good job so far. The maintenance agreement at the Zoo will be expiring soon. The specifications for the new RFP are being written to be more detailed. Seimans Lighting contractor will be changing lamps and ballasts to more energy efficient products. The State has declared a drought so park maintenance is now in conservation mode, adjusting timers on sprinklers and such. Working on rescuing the best succulents at the Zoo for the new Tierra de las Pampas exhibit. Staff is reviewing all flags at all parks for wear to gear up for Independence Day. Portola Park will be closed on July 4th and signs will be posted in advance. Board of Recreation and Parks Minutes of June 25, 2008 Meeting Page 5 of 6 BOARD/STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE COMMENTS J. Espinoza, Student Representative This has been a very interesting first meeting! D. Orea Great tour of Sandpointe Paseos. Good luck, Joshua! J. Havlik Glad that Santa Ana still allows fireworks, a great American tradition. Dismayed to hear that it takes two weeks to clean up though. It has been a wonderful two and a half years serving on the Board. Will be keeping in touch and really appreciated working with everyone. M. Madrid Joshua, thanks for your service, you will be missed. If you are trying to communicate via email, it is down. K. Nguyen Joshua, it was a pleasure working with you and watching your daughters grow. Would like to be excused from the July meeting. Will be traveling to Virginia to celebrate father’s 80th birthday. J. Stroud Joshua, wish you the best! Hope all works out for you in Colorado. Would like to know when the backstop at Riverview Park be taken down. Staff to advise. Very impressed with landscape contractor presentation at the Open Space committee meeting. The Agency has been very involved in overseeing the contractors – thanks to staff. Will need to be excused from July meeting as well, going out of town. The softball tournament fundraiser at Godinez did not go well. Tables were delivered late, could not set up for registration. Was able to raise $7,000 for Pio Pico. Inquired about the possibility of posting signs at Riverview Park regarding loud music. Staff advised that there is a city ordinance in place regarding loud music and the police or park rangers are to be called in those instances. Recently went by the skatepark in Centennial and no one was wearing safety gear. Is there anyone enforcing this? Staff responded that this issue is ongoing and very hard to enforce as kids jump the fence and scatter as soon as they see a patrol unit approaching. Inquired if the sand at Angel Park has been checked yet. Staff advised that not yet but will be soon. Was under the impression that the 2007 Kiwani’s Independence Day concert and dinner was going to be an annual event. Staff advised that due to the budget situation, could not do. Board of Recreation and Parks Minutes of June 25, 2008 Meeting Page 6 of 6 W. Tobiska It has been great working with Joshua – you will love Ft. Collins. Would like to know how joint use agreements are determined. Do they only occur between schools near city parks? Staff advised there are currently four agreements in place. The Agency has been approached by Santa Ana High School regarding the City’s use of their auditorium as there was lots of damage. Staff researching who actually used. May not be able to attend the July meeting as well. Will advise Recording Secretary. T. Leon Zoo annual passes were distributed. The new flags at the Plaza of the Flags look nice. Has observed an increase of homeless sleeping in Birch Park. Bob Ward, founder of the Santa Ana Winds Marching Band, has passed away. There will be a memorial concert in his honor on August 10, 2008 on the grass area of the Reagan Building along 4th street. Sunset at the Zoo Blues Concert coming up. Joshua – you will be missed. NEXT MEETING Wednesday, July 23, 2008 at 5:30 p.m. – location to be determined. Motion to adjourn meeting. MOTION: J. Stroud SECOND: K. Nguyen VOTE: AYES: Havlik, Leon, Madrid, Nguyen, Orea, Stroud, Tobiska (7) NOES: None (0) ABSENT: (at voting) Acosta (1) MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:40 P.M. _____________________________ Athena Martinez Recording Secretary