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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01.19.2021 PR Comm Minutes CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES FROM TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2021 I. CALL TO ORDER: 7:00 p.m. A regular meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission of the City of South San Francisco was held on Tuesday, January 19, 2021, via teleconference due to the COVID-19 pandemic and local Shelter in Place health orders. II. ROLL CALL: Present: Commissioners Aires, Battaglia, Camacho, DeNardi, Firpo, Lock, and Uy Absent: All were present. Staff: Sharon Ranals, ACM/Director of Parks and Recreation Greg Mediati, Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation Angela Duldulao, Recreation Manager Joshua Richardson, Parks Manager Kari Jung, Administrative Assistant Erin O’Brien, Recreation Supervisor Laura Armanino, Childcare Supervisor Kimberly Morrison, Assistant Childcare Supervisor Jacob Gilchrist, Director of Capital Projects Philip Vitale, Deputy Director of Capital Projects III. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Skipped. IV. AGENDA REVIEW: Deputy Mediati asked that the proclamation recognizing Susan Filereto be moved to follow the election of officers. V. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE OCTOBER 20, 2020, MEETING: Approved by motion. Motion: Commissioner Battaglia / Seconded: Commissioner Uy. VI. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION: None. VII. BEAUTIFICATION COMMITTEE Deputy Director Mediati reported that there has not been a Beautification Committee meeting since February of last year and there is nothing new to report. VIII. OLD BUSINESS: A. Election of Parks and Recreation Commission Officers Deputy Mediati advised that the Commission is required to select its officers each year at the first meeting in January. Chair Camacho asked the Commissioners for nominations for Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting of January 19, 2021 Page 2 Commissioner Battaglia nominated Chair Uy for Chair, Commissioner Firpo seconded, and Commission Uy accepted. Commissioner Uy was unanimously elected Chair. Commissioner Camacho congratulated Chair Uy and ceded control of the meeting. She thanked the Commission and Department for the teamwork and effort this year with all the ups and downs starting with the passing of Commissioner Holt just a couple months before the pandemic started. She shared that it’s been a pleasure serving with the Commission and staff, noting their creativity, dedication, professionalism, and flexibility. Chair Uy requested nominations for Vice Chair. Commissioner DeNardi nominated Commissioner Lock, Commissioner Battaglia seconded, and Commissioner Lock accepted. Commissioner Lock was unanimously elected Vice Chair. Chair Uy requested nominations for Secretary. Commissioner Camacho nominated Commissioner Firpo, Commissioner DeNardi seconded, and Commissioner Firpo accepted. Commissioner Firpo was unanimously elected Secretary. Commissioner Aires reminded the Commission that he was a replacement for former Commissioner Holt and his seat expired 12/31/2020 and was awaiting the Clerk’s office for calls to fill the seat. He has enjoyed working with the Commission and the Department over the past year and will be submitting his application for the seat. B. Capital Programs Update Director Gilchrist shared updates on the Community Civic Campus project - LPR phase with a tentative opening date of spring 2023. Council awarded the construction contract in November and due to the bids coming in lower than previously expected, awarded the full scope of the project which includes the enhanced landscape and entire playground. The total project budget with all of the additional alternatives is $101 million. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do a groundbreaking event due to the pandemic but we're considering potentially doing an online event or having some sort of a celebration once the shelter in place order has been lifted. Commissioner Aires inquired about the future of the existing MSB space, and the stained-glass City of South San Francisco seal in the tower. ACM Ranals explained that it's been the city's intention to sell that building as part of the financing strategy for the new building and that that whole block would be redeveloped. However, more comments from the community will impact that decision when it is time for City Council to consider. Director Gilchrist advised that he will ask Facilities staff to look into any iconic elements, including the seal, and determining if they can be saved and repurposed. Commissioner DeNardi inquired who the construction company is and where are they from. Director Gilchrist advised that the project was awarded to Swinerton Builders of San Francisco, CA. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting of January 19, 2021 Page 3 Deputy Vitale then updated the Commission on the public art request for proposals (RFP) for the Caltrain Station project. This art is intended to embody aspects of South San Francisco's identity as it relates to heritage and culture, and that was what was conveyed in the RFP. Close to 200 people viewed the RFP online, 60 individual packet downloads, and received 15 proposals. The selection committee will start reviewing the submittals this month, will interview finalists in March, and then make a recommendation to Council to select a final artist in April. The selection committee is comprised of two members from the Cultural Arts Commission, Mayor Addiego Councilmember Nicolas representing City Council, and the community members announced at the Council meeting last week include Madeline Banfield, Katie DeLeuw, and former Councilmember Karyl Matsumoto. Commissioner DeNardi inquired if there will be cameras inside the tunnel. Deputy Director Vitale was unsure, but advised that he would forward the question to the project management team. Commissioner Firpo inquired if the tunnel was an enclose space and would therefore be dark. Deputy Director Vitale shared that the tunnel opens on the platform on the east side, on the plaza on the west, and is open (not gated at this time). There is lighting integrated into the tunnel design, which is some horizontal bandwidth and the light that sort of picked up this sort of blue banner that moves from the plot that through the tunnel and up to the platform. Commissioner Firpo further inquired about who will be responsible for maintenance on the landscaping. Deputy Director Mediati identified that there's actually two areas there with some overlap. The dining plaza area will be maintained by the owner-operator of 200 Airport, which is a new building adjacent to the site, and then the City will maintain the rest of the landscape there. Commissioner Lock inquired about the width of the tunnel. Director Gilchrist advised that area is approximately 12 feet wide and staff was surprised at how narrow, it is, but there's so much infrastructure and so many utilities that are potential conflicts. ACM Ranals concurred that it is narrower than the City would ideally have wanted, but the sightline is such that from either end of the tunnel, you can see through it. Additional questions about the design were posed. Director Gilchrist apologized for the lack of detail on the design explaining that Capital Projects is not managing the actual overall design of the plaza, but offered to have the project management staff come in and present to the Commission as well. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting of January 19, 2021 Page 4 Commissioner Camacho inquired if any park or recreation space was going to be created. ACM Ranals shared that the developer for the restaurant and retail space on the West Plaza contributed a fair amount of money towards the construction of the plaza in exchange for being able to use that area for their outdoor seating. Commissioner Lock inquired about what’s going to happen to the existing Caltrain parking lot. Deputy Vitale advised that he would forward the inquiry to the project management team to report on at a future meeting. Commissioner Aires requested that the plans depict where the bike storage lockers will be located. Director Gilchrist acknowledged that the project management team hasn’t finalized the location of the bike lockers yet as some of the landscape elements are being moved around a bit, but they're going to have at least as many, if not more than they have now. C. COVID-19 Response and Modified Operations Update Manager Duldulao reported that last October the COVID outlook was improving and the Department was just starting indoor activities like open gym at Terrabay. Unfortunately, over the holidays, COVID numbers worsened and a regional stay at home order was issued limiting all activities to essential services only. Now that we're past the two week mark after the New Year holiday we're starting to consider if we might have opportunities to petition to bring certain types of activities back, namely outdoor fitness classes. Manager Duldulao reviewed the status of each program: Orange Pool is currently closed. The guidelines for aquatics changed in December allowing staff to identify drowning prevention classes and swimming lessons with certified instructors as an essential need, meaning that we could open the indoor pool under the purple tier, which is a shift in our operations. The Childcare team did take a two week break over the holidays and did not to host winter camp this year because of the guidelines currently require established cohorts to be in place for three weeks at a time. Staff is looking to expand at Los Cerritos by one classroom dependent on staffing and SSFUSD coordination. Classes has been most affected by the change in our COVID tier status. Staff credits our recreation instructors for being flexible and adapting to the changing conditions. Cultural Arts held a successful Dia de Muertos art show and are now in the midst of planning a virtual photography show. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting of January 19, 2021 Page 5 The Rentals team continues to support essential City functions. Picnics and most gatherings are still on hold. Seniors programs have been essential and are providing continued services and information and referral and wellness calls to our seniors, keeping them connected to whatever resources and information they need. The food delivery program is one of the activities that carry on during the winter break, and staff really appreciates our driver, Joe Anderson, for continuing that service for seniors in our community. Sports staff is working on starting an e-sports program with middle school age participants. Unfortunately, it looks like bringing back the traditional middle school sports program this school year is unlikely. With regards to special events, a draft calendar of events is attached in your packet just for your reference. Manager Duldulao shared that the City is keeping tabs on the vaccination plans and is hoping that our childcare workers qualify as essential workers. Chair Uy inquired if there is an exception according to the CDC for rentals and classes in regards to physical conditioning, emphasizing the importance of physical activity for youth. Manager Duldulao explained that the closure is citywide policy during the stay at home order, and that as things continue to progress and the order is lifted, staff would advocate for offering more recreational opportunities to the public. Chair Uy requested additional information about which e-sports company are we working with and what games are they looking at providing with consideration being to sports games over violent games. Manager Duldulao shared that we in negotiations with GG Leagues and will review the listing of games that will be offered. Commissioner Lock inquired if we are taking tennis court reservations at Orange Park. Manager Duldulao shared that the tennis court reservation program is on hold for the winter season but staff is planning on bringing it back in the spring. Commissioner Lock inquired why the mechanical systems at the pool are still running. Manager Duldulao explained that staff do have to keep the filters running to keep the systems working properly, however the heater was turned off to save energy. Commissioner Lock shared his impression that the childcare program is running smoothly. Manager Duldulao noted that Supervisor Armanino and Asst. Supervisor Morrison were on the meeting and would share with staff. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting of January 19, 2021 Page 6 D. Sign Hill Remediation update Manager Richardson shared a brief update on Sign Hill repairs after the fire that happened in October. In November, Council approved funding to do fire remediation work on Sign Hill and in December that work began. Davey Tree Company is doing the tree removals, and Acacia Environmental Services is performing erosion control. Work commenced in the area known as the Seubert Grove right off the Ridge Trail. Realistically, staff are expecting to be completing tree work through 2021 and potentially even into 2022. The next the next portion of that work will move up the Ridge Trail towards the Iris Trail and then move down and clear about 50 to 100 feet on either side of the Iris Trail. When that's clear, staff will start opening up trails once they're deemed safe. Commissioner Aires inquired if any space has been allocated for the endangered species that live in San Bruno Mountain and have them protected during this work. Manager Richardson shared that the mission blue butterfly is the most prominent endangered species on the hill and the host plants for its larva is the lupine. Prior to the fire, staff has been establishing pollinator islands on the hill Commissioner Firpo expressed that the work on the hill has been impressive, and he didn't realize there were 1,500 trees total, let alone that many trees damaged. He shared thanks to the City for reaching out to the Seubert family, as it was a lot of work that he put into Sign Hill. He inquired what the water source up there is. Manager Richardson shared there's an old wooden tank that may be held a couple hundred gallons that at one time, however, that has been abandoned for decades. Staff do have some rainwater collection barrels that are used to water newly installed plants. Commissioner DeNardi shared that the pictures of the new vista were just lovely and suggested that a nice bench looking at the vista would be appreciated. IX. New Business: A. CPRS District IV Awards and Statewide Conference Supervisor O'Brien updated the Commission on the nominations submitted for the CPRS District Four Award Program, which will be highlighted on social media throughout the month of February. The Award of Excellence recognizes outstanding projects and programs in categories varying from recreation programming and parks planning. Staff nominated the Gardiner Park Improvement Project for this award. For the volunteer and sponsor citation award, staff nominated Jesus Ruiz who has been volunteering his time as for several years to support the Civic Ballet’s Nutcracker performance. Susan Filereto was nominated for the Professional Merit Award to recognize her for nearly 30 years of service with the Department. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting of January 19, 2021 Page 7 And lastly, a new award for this year was created, titled Key to the Community to highlight innovation demonstrated throughout this challenging year. Staff nominated our full day childcare programs for this award. Chair Uy thanked Supervisor O’Brien for the hard work on this. Commissioner Camacho congratulated each of the award nominees. Deputy Mediati shared that the CPRS statewide conference is coming up March 22 - 26 and if any Commissioners would like to participate in that virtual conference that will all be on Zoom this year, they can email him with their interest. B. Proclamation Honoring Susan Filereto, Retired Administrative Assistant II Chair Uy read the proclamation honoring Susan Filereto. Susan thanked the Commission for its recognition and congratulated her on her retirement. Commissioner Camacho congratulated Susan as well, and still hoped to see her at events in the future. Commissioner DeNardi thanked Susan for her dedicated service. Commissioner Lock expressed his thanks and noted her support to the community was amazing. Commissioner Firpo shared is appreciation and thanked her for being a mentor to his daughters. X. Friends of Parks and Recreation: Manager Duldulao shared that there are no updates at this time. XI. Items from Commission: Commissioner Aires shared that the online experience of registering for special events was a bit difficult and requested that staff look into improvements. As he read through the Year in Review, he was so impressed how, despite COVID, the Department was able to adapt and continue offering wonderful programs for residents. Commissioner Battaglia shared that the trees planted at Gardiner Park look like they're really taking root. She enjoyed the Winter Wonderland and thanked staff for doing a great job. Commissioner DeNardi shared that a lot of the community members had a fantastic time at Winter Wonderland. Also, the wreath kit fundraiser was well attended and she appreciated that participants could take kits home and share this activity with their family members. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting of January 19, 2021 Page 8 Commissioner Firpo visited the Halloween Movie Night setup, which was well done. He participated in the virtual Fun Run and appreciated Austin Navarro helping create sample routes. The Winter Wonderland display was beautiful. The IPP tree planting event was nice, and a safe outdoor event. Commissioner Lock enjoyed the Winter Wonderland and has signed up his granddaughter for her second online yoga class. Kudos to the wonderful staff. Commissioner Camacho mentioned that the Winter Wonderland was wonderful and she has received a lot of requests for the Department to bring it back next year. She congratulated Emma who won the Young Leader Award from Bay Nature Magazine. Chair Uy echoed that staff has done an amazing job. The pandemic has dramatically changed people’s behavior in the community who are spending a lot more time in the parks. The events are just absolutely amazing. The drive in movie was one of the best events. The trails have been kept very well and he’s excited to see what changes are going to be made. XII. Items from Staff: A. Calendar of Events. Deputy Mediati provided a brief update of the Calendar of Events. B. 2020 Year in Review Deputy Mediati noted that the year in review summary was attached to the Commission documenting all the work the Department has done in the past year. C. Administrative Updates Chair Uy inquired if Commissioners had any questions related to the previously shared administrative updates. No questions were posed. XIII. Adjournment: 9:26 p.m. Respectfully submitted by Kari Jung, Administrative Assistant II