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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11.19.19 CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES FROM TUESDAY, November 19, 2019 I. CALL TO ORDER: 7:01 pm A regular meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission of the City of South San Francisco was held on Tuesday, November 19, 2019, at the Municipal Services Building, 33 Arroyo Drive, South San Francisco, California. II. ROLL CALL: Present: Commissioners Battaglia, Camacho, DeNardi, Firpo, Lock and Uy Absent: Commissioner Holt Staff: Sharon Ranals, Parks and Recreation Director Greg Mediati, Deputy Director Angela Duldulao, Recreation Manager Morena Gallagher, Administrative Assistant III. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Complete IV. AGENDA REVIEW: No changes. V. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE October 15, 2019, MEETING: No changes and approved by motion as written. Motion: Commissioner Firpo / Second: Commissioner Camacho VI. Citizen Participation: None VII. Beatification Committee: None VIII. OLD BUSINESS: None IX. New Business: A. Civic Campus Fundraising – Adam Elsholz, Library Assistant Director, updated the Community Civic Campus project fundraiser. Erin O’Brien, Classes has joined Adam as co- lead for the fundraising endeavor. They have submitted applications to potential donors. They have printed booklets and brochures to hand out and have launched a website, www.ssfgives.org. The goal is to raise ten million dollars from the community for the building and would like to raise more funds in addition to the ten million dollars for the park. There was Fundraising Kickoff at the steps of the City hall on Tuesday, November 12. Adam shared the presentation that will be shown to the potential donors. The goal is to provide the community with the program’s needs and of their hopes and dreams. The Civic Campus needs to be a statement of value. It needs to have a quiet place for reading and study. It needs a space for early literacy, to support preschool and kindergarten readiness. The Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting of November 19, 2019 Page 2 fundraising committee would like to have spaces for preparing the community in careers in technology, science and math. The building will have spaces for multipurpose use and activities. Adam opened for questions from the commission. Commissioner Firpo inquired about if a community donor could sponsor a certain program or room. Adam said that they are working with the idea of naming rights for donations and that it will be displayed in some way. Donations of one thousand dollars and above will be featured on a donor wall in the building. For donations under one thousand dollars, it is still under discussion on how to display it. Commissioner Camacho attended the kick off events and was wondering if there are plans for larger events. Adam responded that there are plans for more fundraising events are being discussed. Commissioner Camacho asked ACM Ranals about whether Magical Bridges would be able to assist in fund raising for the playground portion of the project. ACM Ranals reported that the project does not have enough park square footage for them to participate. Commissioner Camacho asked if Kaiser is willing to participate in assisting. ACM Ranals responded that they are working with Kaiser but nothing has not been finalized. Commissioner Uy asked if the presentations could be shown with more scalability, as in how much more these programs would benefit and serve the community in comparison to current offerings. By giving actual numbers it would give the donors a better view on how it would impact the people. Adam appreciated his input and will have the team consider this idea for their presentation. They are planning to use video presentation of community members that have participated in the programs and tell their stories. Commissioner Camacho had shared the printed materials with some people in the community and received a lot of good feedback. There were a few suggestion of changing some terms that are use, such as Homework Center is now being referred to as Youth Learning Center and the term Hispanic should be replaced with the more inclusive term Latinx. Adam appreciated the feedback. Commissioner Lock congratulated Adam to a great start. He feels that the idea of hearing people’s stories will have great impact on the fundraising. As an example the children who had participated in Ballet classes are now coming back as Ballet instructors. Commissioner DeNardi also express that the personal touch of stories from the people would have a great impact. She shared that her son had taken a cooking class at four years old and thinks that sparked the interest for him to open his own business today. ACM Ranals mentioned that they are applying for grants as other ways to raise funds that are needed. The city had a consultant that verified that the ten million dollar needed for these program goals is achievable. Commissioner Camacho suggested having benefit fundraisers and utilizing performers from our programs and community to participate. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting of November 19, 2019 Page 3 B. Recreation Manager Angels Duldulao presented a draft of the 2020 Special Events Calendar highlighting some changes being made. The first change is Streets Alive/Parks Alive in May has been cancelled due to the One Hundred Year Anniversary for the City Hall. The City is looking into hosting a Fourth of July Fireworks Show in lieu of the Concert in the Park event which is usually held in September. Movie in the Park dates are tentative at this time. Commissioner DeNardi asked if the City Hall celebration will be held at the end of September or early October. ACM Ranals replied that it will possibly be in the middle of September but it is not definite at this time. ACM Ranals then discussed the Fourth of July Celebration. This event has been requested by Mayor Matsumoto. The Mayor would like to have an all-day event besides just the fireworks in the evening. There is a large construction project in the area at this time that could propose a problem. ACM Ranals did speak to a fireworks vendor and there is a possibility they are available to hire them for the event. The budget would be transferred from Concert in the Park to the Fourth of July event. Commissioner Lock commented that since there are other big Fourth of July events nearby on the peninsula that we should consider real good marketing and transportation logistics. He also asked if the airport had been contacted to allow us to come close to the flight paths. ACM Ranals responded that all permitting, including with the airport, is part of the firework vendor’s scope. Commissioner Camacho mentioned that the Concert in the Park would not have been possible in 2020 since the park will be in construction for the Stormwater Capture Project. She is concerned with the location and logistics for the Fourth of July event. Commissioner Uy expressed that he is disappointed that we will hold a Fourth of July event which will cost more than then the two events we are cancelling. Ranals mentioned that on the 2020 Calendar the Recreation Administrative offices will be closed the week of December 21-25. C. Deputy Director Mediati provided an update on the stormwater capture project at Orange Memorial Park and the athletic field replacement. The purpose of the stormwater capture project is to help the City comply with the Regional Water Quality Control Board’s Municipal Regional Permit which stipulates regulatory limit requirements for 100% trash reduction by July 1, 2022. Caltrans is supporting this project which they pledge $9,500,000 and more recently they pledged an additional $6 million dollars to expand the size of the project. The 2017-18 City Council authorized the Orange Memorial Park Sports Field Renovation Project to improve the existing baseball and softball fields. The City Staff and consulting engineers studied several locations for the stormwater capture devise. It was determined that the baseball field at Orange Memorial Park was the ideal location due to its proximity to Colma Creek. Lotus Water’s design for the stormwater improvements is 90% complete. Construction for this project is planned to begin in May 2020, with completion in October 2021, when the ball field improvements will begin. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting of November 19, 2019 Page 4 During construction, the South San Francisco High School’s baseball team will relocate for their practices and games. The adult softball and youth baseball will be displaced to alternate sites. Verde Design Landscape Architects was asked to design the replacement athletic fields. On November 4, they hosted its first community meeting to solicit feedback on the design of the field. They discussed potential layouts of the field, which can accommodate softball, baseball and soccer for all ages, the application of synthetic turf in lieu of natural turf. The residents and sport league representative were unanimously in favor of synthetic turf. Commissioner DeNardi has visited the Minnie & Lovie Ward Recreational Center in San Francisco and was very impressed with the condition of the fields even after five years of them being utilized. She asked what the plans are for the maintenance for our fields. She expressed that she likes the design proposed for our fields. DDPR Mediati responded that they will be reviewing maintenance contract options to maintain the fields. Commissioner Uy commented that he does not like synthetic turf. He feels that there are more injuries on the turf. He is concerned with the warm temperatures the synthetic turf would be too hot to play on. Most of the turf that other fields have used is made of old rubber tire. And the life span is not very long. DD Mediati responded that the newer materials are more organic and do not use old rubber tires. The life span is eight to twelve years and it is being considered in the capital cost for replacements. Commissioner Camacho would like to make sure that we have the funds to buy quality products. Ranals acknowledged that there are substantial funds in the budget to purchase quality products. Commissioner Firpo attended the community meeting on November 4 and was impressed on the attendance and the positive feedback that he heard from everyone. He has concerns with the fields being open all the time and the fields being abused. Commissioner Lock is looking forward to this project and feels that it is much needed for this community. D. Parks Supervisor Richardson presented the Urban Forest Master Plan Update. The 2017-18 City Council approved the funding for the Citywide Urban Forest Master Plan. The Purpose is to develop a set goals and policies that will provide direction for the development, improvement and enhancement of the City’s parks, neighborhoods and streets. The plan will serve as a tool to guide tree care on an immediate as well as long-term basis. The vision for the Urban Forest Master plan includes goals for sustainability, species diversity and greater canopy coverage. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting of November 19, 2019 Page 5 The staff along with Davey Resources Group, one of the leaders of creating Urban Forest Master Plans, had identified that South San Francisco has potential for 25% canopy coverage; we are currently at 8.7%. Over the past year, staff has worked closely with the consulting arborists. During the planning process, the consultant reviewed the city’s tree inventory, forestry practices and met with city stakeholders, including Commissioner Camacho and former Commissioner Garrone, who were selected as the Commission’s representative for the planning process. A public workshop was held to obtain resident feedback. Richardson is asking for the commission’s feedback on the draft copy of the plan which is about ninety percent complete. Comments received will be shared with consultant and included in the next iteration of the plan, which will be shared with City Council for formal adoption. Commissioner Lock congratulated Supervisor Richardson on the great report. He reviewed the report and asked if on the executive summary if the nineteen goals listed are in priority order. Richardson responded that they are not prioritized, that it is not in any specific order. Commissioner lock suggested that it should be in priority order for the City Council. He also commented on the geographic map that includes property owned by other entities such as PG & E. he would like to have them also to be part of the plan. Richardson said that he would like to see that they are responsible for their properties and they are working on that. DDPR Mediati mentioned that the City would like the school district to no longer be exempt of the plan. Commissioner Firpo inquired about the public survey. There were 71 respondents which seems low but he was impressed with the different concerns and comments. Commissioner Camacho had looked into the Urban Forrest Master Plan for other local cities such as Palo Alto and found some items that interest her. She would like to see the native trees listed for our area. Richardson explained that they are working more on the non-invasive species of trees for the different areas due to the micro climates in the city. She also liked Palo Alto Master Urban Plan defined the role of Parks Staff on review of development projects and urban redevelopment. She asked if there are plans for an app such as the SF tree finder app. Richardson is working on that for the future. She then asked about the potential of adding staff to the tree crew. Supervisor Richardson and Deputy Director Mediati said that it will be considered in the future since there will be more maintenance and care as the canopy grows. X. Friends of Parks and Recreation: None XI. Items from Commission: Commissioner Lock attended the Halloween Extravaganza with his granddaughter and was pleased with the Haunted House and that it was not too scary. California Park & Recreation Board Commission’s Executive Director, Jim Simpson had to resign and the Board has appointed Paul Romero for the interim. Commissioner DeNardi attended the Halloween Extravaganza with her grandson and was impressed with the event. She thanked everyone for a great job with the event. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting of November 19, 2019 Page 6 Chair Battaglia congratulated Commissioner Lock on his new grandson. She attended the Senior Holiday Boutique. She attended the Fun Run. XII. Items from Staff: A. ACM Ranals reminded the commission that the IPP Wreath Workshop is on December 1, Council Re-Organization is December 3, Santa Comes to Town is December 7, and the Nutcracker on December 20-21. The Commissioners were offered two complimentary tickets to see the Nutcracker. Manager Duldulao mentioned the Senior Thanksgiving Luncheon at the Magnolia Senior Center on November 21. Bimbo Bakery has donated $5,000 for the purchase of tables and chairs and will provide volunteers to help serve lunch. Chair Battaglia asked about the food drive at the Fernekes Building on Thursday and Friday of this week. ACM Ranals confirmed that if anyone would like to volunteer to call the office to make arrangements. B. The new activity guide has been published and will be mailed out this week. Manager Duldulao highlighted that a few staff members, including Austin Navarro and Devin Stenhouse were in the top three of their age category of the Fun Run along with Mayor Matsamoto and former Parks and Recreation Commissioner Eddie Flores. Manager Duldulao is grateful to Erin for representing the Recreation Staff on the Community Civic Campus project fundraising committee. Adjustments to the staffing starting December 2 include Devin Stenhouse will temporarily take over as Supervisor of the classes program and Brian Noce will be Acting Supervisor of aquatics. Supervisor Richardson announced that the Departments’ Naturalist is drafting program events on Sign Hill. They will be seeking for volunteers to participate with these events; dates will be announced later. XIII. Adjournment: 9:23 by Chair Battaglia Respectfully submitted by Morena Gallagher, Administrative Assistant I