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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08.15.2023 PR Comm Minutes - revised CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES FROM TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2023 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, August 15, 2023 in the Council Chambers at the Municipal Service Building. II. ROLL CALL: Present: Commissioners Battaglia, Burgo, Camacho, DeNardi, Firpo and Uy Absent: Commissioner Lock Staff: Greg Mediati, Director of Parks and Recreation Angela Duldulao, Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation Erin O’Brien, Business Manager Laura Armanino, Recreation Manager Joshua Richardson, Parks Manager Kari Jung, Management Analyst I Jeanette Yoshida, Administrative Assistant II III. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Dan DeNardi led the Pledge of Allegiance. IV. AGENDA REVIEW: There are no changes to the agenda. V. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE JUNE 20, 2023, MEETING: Approved by motion. Motion: Vice Chair DeNardi / Seconded: Commissioner Battaglia. Commissioner Burgo abstained due to absence at the June meeting. VI. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION: Armando Leigh VII. Old Business A. 2023/24 Annual Co-Sponsorship Management Analyst Jung gave report on four of the co-sponsored groups recommended for renewal. The groups include the South San Francisco Aquatics Club, South San Francisco Shetland Pinto Mustang/Pee Wee Baseball, South San Francisco United Youth Soccer League, and San Mateo County Athletic Club. Co-sponsored groups approved at the last meeting include the Historical Society, Italian American Citizens Club, and Youth Baseball Manager’s Association. South San Francisco Aquatics Club: Analyst Jung reports that the Aquatics Club is comprised of 100 members with 95% South San Francisco residents. They are a competitive swim team that practices year-round and competes in swim meets twice a year. Membership fee is $165 per month. President Dan Jumanan shares that he may have miscalculated the percentage incorrectly and states that 60% of the club members are residents. On average the Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting of August 15, 2023 Page 2 membership fee is $140. The $165 reported in the application is higher for the advanced swimmers and the introductory rate for beginners is $135. They are looking forward to the new Aquatic Center. The team is going through significant changes with their coaching staff. The Board of Directors are having their annual picnic next Sunday. They are going through a rebrand in terms of appearance. Chair Firpo thanks Dan Jumanan for the clubs’ input on the design of the new pool. South San Francisco Shetland / Pinto Mustang Baseball League: The group is comprised of 173 members with 78% South San Francisco residents. It is a youth baseball league for children in kindergarten through 5th grade. The league meets on the third Thursday of every other month beginning in January. Teams meet twice a week for practice from February to June and play games four times a week from April to June. They host a tournament during Memorial Day weekend. President Dan Ordonez shares that he and Cliff Callero, president of the baseball league for older children, decided that it would be better to operate under one umbrella uniting the two youth baseball leagues. They will be raising the registration price to $175 for the early bird registration and $225 for regular registration to help with purchasing better field equipment, baseballs, to help with hiring umpires for games and a new tractor and drag for Avalon Park. South San Francisco United Youth Soccer League: The group is comprised of 332 members with 85% South San Francisco residents. It is a co-ed recreational and competitive soccer program. Games and practices are hosted at Orange Memorial Park, Hillside Ballfield and the Department plans for the group’s use of school district fields. Membership fees are $140 per year. President Patty Gomez shares that they provide services to children ages 4 to 12 years old. They offer play in four seasons. San Mateo County Athletic Club: The club currently has 21 residents which is 55% of their total membership. The league runs through both the spring and fall seasons and consist of weekly practices and 5-6 games. Club membership is $800 per year. President Brian Mansell shares that he partners with Patty Gomez to offer the kids of the community the competitive component and are looking forward to the new fields so they can expand the competitive level. He shares that they provide low-cost opportunities for all to participate in competitive soccer. Commissioner Uy asks how many competitive teams there are now. President Mansell responds that in South San Francisco there are 7 teams at the younger age group and in the older age groups the kids are traveling down to Redwood City, so they are looking forward to the new fields here so that they don’t have to travel as far. Commissioner Uy then asks what levels they are playing at now. President Mansell responds that the Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting of August 15, 2023 Page 3 youngest are just starting so they are playing at the lower levels and the older teams are playing at NPL level. Commissioner Uy thanks him for providing lower cost access to club soccer as other nearby communities are charging a lot more. Vice Chair DeNardi asks if President Mansell said they had one girls team to which President Mansell responded that they just started that team and at this time it is free. He said that they’ve found in the past that they have a hard time starting girls teams even at the recreation level so they started a 2014/2015 girls team in and did played them in the spring and summer and are looking to move them to competitive this year and are covering all expenses the first year to try to get the girls team going. Vice Chair DeNardi asks what the age group is and President Mansell responded that they are under 10 but there are also under 8’s and 9’s on the team too. Vice Chair DeNardi then asked what the $800 per year membership cover for each participant. President Mansell responds that they’ve dropped the cost from $800 to $450 countywide for the youngest age groups. Total members in the club throughout the County is around 400. Commissioner Camacho asks if transportation is included or are parents responsible for transporting their kids to games. President Mansell responds that parents would for the most part be responsible for transporting their own kids. Approval of co-sponsored groups presented at this meeting: Approved by motion. Motion: Commissioner Camacho / Seconded: Commissioner Uy. B. Library | Parks and Recreation Center Ribbon Cutting Update Manager Armanino gives update on the L|PR opening and ribbon cutting event. The ribbon cutting has been scheduled for October 28 and a group of staff from Recreation and the Library are working together to coordinate the day’s events. The schedule of the day’s events shared here is still tentative. Once the schedule is confirmed they will share the information. C. SSFUSD Joint Use Agreement Update Director Mediati shares that the joint use agreement was approved by the school district last Thursday. He briefly explains that not a lot has changed in the agreement, and it was mostly updating facilities, clarifying areas that were somewhat unclear before and memorializes any fees if there are any that are assessed to any party and clarifies what the fees are. The agreement clarifies what co-sponsored groups are and extends the benefits to them that are enjoyed by the City. The agreement notes that the City and school district will meet on an annual basis to collaborate on any issues that may come up, review facility permits and encourages better communication. Commissioner Uy asks why the ballfield at El Camino is not listed. Director Mediati responds that his understanding is that the school district has made a commitment to the Sunshine Gardens neighborhood to keep the field available for open community use and not for dedicated uses, including issuance of permits for the field. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting of August 15, 2023 Page 4 Commissioner Camacho asks if that is the same reason that Monte Verde, Junipero Serra and Skyline were not included. Director Mediati responds that those weren’t included in the previous agreement, and they are all outside of the City limits. Commissioner Camacho then states that she noticed that the Community Learning Center and Grand Avenue Library were not included. Director Mediati shares that the Community Learning Center has its own separate agreement and libraries have never been listed under this agreement but remain completely accessible to school uses. VIII. New Business A. Pickleball Program Update Director Mediati gives update on the current programming the City offers and that pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports. In recent years the Department has expanded the pickleball program, largely due to the community demand. The City does not currently have any dedicated pickleball courts but there are some sites that are striped for both pickleball and tennis which have signage posted recognizing the dual use of these courts. Director Mediati goes on to say that the Orange Park Master Plan does envision six new pickleball courts, however funding for this does not yet exist to construct these. The City is exploring piloting a temporary project where an existing tennis court could be striped and dedicated as a pickleball only court. With some conditions needing to be considered, staff believes that court #5 at Orange Memorial Park could functionally meet this purpose but also believe that it would be received poorly from the tennis community. Director Mediati says that they would like recommendations and feedback from the Commission regarding this pilot program. Feedback received will be considered by staff and staff will return before the Commission with a more thorough proposal. Public speaker Armando Leigh shares information on the growth of pickleball in South San Francisco. He proposes a location that already exists and is lightly used by the tennis community. His suggestion would be to convert Sellick Park to permanent pickleball courts because it is already in need of resurfacing, the enclosure can fit four pickleball courts and it is located far enough from houses. Chair Firpo asks Armando Leigh how many people that currently go to pickleball on Monday nights are South San Francisco residents. Armando Leigh responds that he believes at least half are South San Francisco residents. Commissioner Camacho asks if the preference is to have multiple pickleball courts as opposed to one court and what is the benefit to that. Armando Leigh responds the benefit of having multiple courts at one location is to accommodate the amount of people that want to play. The duration of a pickleball game is anywhere from 10-12 minutes, you usually have groups that play continuously with one court you may have three groups playing so it normally requires multiple courts in one location to accommodate the number of people who want to play. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting of August 15, 2023 Page 5 Commissioner Uy asks if Stonegate, Brentwood Park or Buri Buri would be an appropriate location and if not, what would be the concerns. Armando Leigh responds that there is no parking at Stonegate and it is really close to homes, which would be an issue with noise. With Buri Buri, in terms of the noise factor, it may or may not be an issue because they are already getting road noise from Westborough Blvd. Chair Firpo asks if Sellick Park is not an option because of the wind. Armando Leigh responds that wind is a factor but is going to be a factor at most locations and is still a good choice. Vice Chair DeNardi asks Armando Leigh if court #5 at Orange Memorial Park is a good option for them. Armando Leigh said that court would be great but is worried that there will be a lot of pushback from the tennis community. Vice Chair DeNardi states that the tennis community has had their time for many years and as a community we need to understand that there is pickleball community and the courts need to be shared. Vice Chair DeNardi shares that she has checked out pickleball programs throughout the peninsula and really thought the program at Leo Ryan Park was amazing and packed with all people of ages and recommends that court #5 at Orange Memorial Park be the location for the pilot program. Commissioner Uy agrees that court #5 is the most ideal place. There may be some pushback but the number of people playing tennis are far exceeded by the number of people playing pickleball at this point. Different locations he has been to with pickleball courts always have a line of people waiting to play. Commissioner Uy shares that he is ok with using Sellick Park but feels like Orange Memorial Park is the better choice to set up something similar to Louis Sutter and Leo Ryan. Commissioner Camacho asks if there will be something similar to the bocce courts where they have a league that invites the community to teach them how to play. Armando Leigh responds that it was one of the ideas he had envisioned to do once they had assigned courts. Commissioner Camacho asks if court #5 at Orange Memorial Park or the court at Sellick Park are currently being used by rec classes for tennis. Director Mediati responds that the tennis classes are currently being held at Terrabay. Commissioner Camacho then ask how much it will cost to do the pilot program. Director Mediati states that it will cost around $3,000 for striping and additional nets and that tennis striping and would not be removed permanently until the 3-4 month pilot is done and a survey of the community members has been done. Manager Richardson adds that the cost will depend on which court is chosen. For a full court rehab, Parks Manager Richardson estimates costs to be approximately $40,000. Commissioner Camacho thinks it would make more sense to go with the lower cost option for the pilot in conjunction with a monthly or weekly how-to clinic to get the community engaged. Commissioner Burgo agrees with Commissioner Camacho and says that if they do get a little pushback regarding the court, it needs to be communicated that pickleball is in higher demand and there are multiple tennis courts still available throughout the city. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting of August 15, 2023 Page 6 Vice Chair DeNardi believes this pilot will do well. Commissioner Camacho asks what the price difference will be between doing a pilot court and a permanent court. Manager Richardson responds that for the pilot program they would just remove the tennis line and stripe for pickleball and then if it was decided to dedicate it fully, they would seal over the top and repaint the line. To paint the lines is roughly $800. Sealing will be about $5,000 or more. Commissioner Uy encourages the pickleball community to be present and engaged at the courts and these meeting to give feedback to the Commissioners. Director Mediati says that seeing courts activated for pickleball only helps the case when the Department goes before Council for funding to build courts in the future. He also adds the striping and sealing the court is also weather dependent and want everyone to keep that in mind and be patient. Chair Firpo thinks the tennis community may pushback but has driven past Orange Park recently and has seen open tennis courts. He suggests possibly exploring the usage of South City High School’s tennis courts in the event that all tennis courts are unavailable. Commissioner Camacho suggests that with the new developments coming up maybe this can be brought to their attention as a community benefit. IX. Friends of Parks and Recreation Manager Armanino shares that Friends of Parks and Recreation will be selling concessions at Movie Night this Friday. X. Beautification Committee No updates at this time. XI. Items from Commission Chair Firpo shares that he was walking the new pathway at Westborough and says it was done well. Commissioner Camacho shares that someone had asked her recently when Sellick Park was due for a refurbishment. Director Mediati reports Sellick is a Parks 11 initiative still. As part of the master plan, we’re hoping to do a deferred maintenance assessment of all parks to better understand need and prioritize projects. Vice Chair DeNardi shares that the last movie night was a success and the Farmer’s Market has a nice variety of vendors every week. She then asks when they will start to put the turf down at the field. Director Mediati responded that they are supposed to start this Thursday. Manager Richardson adds that everyone should try to be patient because it will take about six weeks to install. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting of August 15, 2023 Page 7 Commissioner Uy shares that he had a picnic at Oyster Point and said it was nice, but he had one concern about the amount of litter near the pier. He also shares that he’s met with and spoken to some families who are very happy with the Summer Programs. He thanks the staff for the nets that were put up at Westborough Park and Buri Buri and noticed that before the nets were brought in, a large number of people would bring in their own nets to play pickleball. Director Mediati clarifies and asks where near the pier the litter is; and it is determined to be in an area not maintained by the Parks Department. Manager Richardson adds that they are purchasing additional trashcans for the picnic sites in the improved area because the number of trashcans proposed in the project is not adequate for the number of people that can fit there. Chair Burgo asks about an item she brought up a couple of months ago regarding the tanbark at the dog park being low and if there has been any follow up to on it to add more. Manager Richardson responded that they have not added more yet because they tend to do the dog park later in the year. He explains that the dog park has to be shut down while they add the tanbark and people tend to be upset when the park is shut down during the nicer months. Commissioner Burgo shares that she talked to a resident who plays soccer who had commented that turf soccer fields tend to be harder on the body and she wanted to share that comment with staff to keep in mind with other improvements going on to make sure the city is maintaining some grass fields in the city. She then goes on to share that she and some friends have been playing bocce the last couple of weeks and has been really enjoying it. Commissioner Burgo was able to do the LPR tour today and can’t wait for the ribbon cutting. Vice Chair DeNardi thanks Mike Mulkerrins for the organization with the bocce league and the admin staff for being available and answering questions. She shares that the spring league was a success, summer league is happening now, and a fall league will be offered. The Wednesdays that were offered in July for Parks and Recreation month were well received. XII. Items from Staff: A. Calendar of Events Director Mediati shares about a “ask an arborist” pop-up at Brentwood Park tomorrow. The pop-up is specifically about the tree removal work that is slated to happen at Brentwood Park. This pop-up is not listed on the calendar, but if anyone is interested in coming it will be held from 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. He shares that 40 or so trees will need to be removed but they do have it within budget to replant in that area. Director Mediati then provided a brief update of the Calendar of Events. Vice Chair DeNardi says that she noticed that after the LPR opening on the calendar it shows that Council meetings and Commission meetings are still being held at MSB and wants to know if that is correct. Director Mediati responds that it is an error and after October 28, meetings will be held at LPR. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of the Meeting of August 15, 2023 Page 8 B. Administrative Update Deputy Director Duldulao shares that in regard to LPR, they will be releasing more information in September to the public as far as what they can expect during the move to the new building. Right now, they’re thinking that they may move the office operations two weeks before the opening to make sure everything is set up and ready to go. Manager O’Brien shares that all the Commissions are moving to Legistar for agendas and Commission packets. The format maybe a little different but delivery will be the same. You’ll be able to access it on the city’s website and is similar to the packets for Council. Management Analyst Jung shares that the new agenda will not have New Business and Old Business sections. Instead, it will have Presentations, where we are presenting information, but not asking for a roll call vote and Administrative Business where we will be asking for either recommendations or a roll call vote. Manager Richardson shares that Orange Park received new windscreens and Terrabay, Westborough and Buri Buri will get them soon. He also shares that he is currently working on a contract to get the damaged light pole at Terrabay Ballfield fixed, but the lead time for the replacement pole is 10-12 months. Chair Firpo asks since the whole pole is being replaced, could the pole be moved closer to the foul line. Manager Richardson responds that there is potential to relocate it but is not sure how far it can go based on how the conduits run currently. There might be some cost implications if we move things around too much. Manager Armanino shares that they had another successful year of summer camp bringing back fieldtrips again. After school sites are extremely busy and we’ve partnered with the district to expand our services. The district received money for early learning opportunity programming, and they partnered with the us to try to get all children who meet the qualifications for free and reduced lunch, who want an after-school program would get one at no cost. XIII. Adjournment: 8:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted by Jeanette Yoshida, Administrative Assistant II Next Meeting: September 19, 2023