March 24, 2005
Meeting Minutes1. Roll Call Not applicable at this time. 2. Welcome and Chair Comments Tom Davids, chair, introduced himself and Mike King both City Council Members. Introductions followed.
Mr. Davids explained that 28 people were appointed to the committee. The committee was approved by City Council at the December 2004 meeting. Neighborhood and parent groups were appointed, then sports and school representatives were appointed by those groups. 3. Committee Operations and Procedures As the official title is long, Fields Committee will be used from here forward as the common name.
The Councils recommended goal is to evaluate athletic field use needs and identify possible solutions if needed; the focus will remain on that area. Field maintenance, new fields, impacts, the relationship fields have to other parts of city, are all areas that will be discussed. Discussion of sand vs. bark in the playground is not the immediate interest.
As the committee will need to remain focused, Mr. Davids will guide the discussion back to the topic if necessary. Although there have been past discussions of similar topics, the committee will start from the beginning.
The first question to be answered is whether there is a need for additional field space. Can fields be managed better to allow use of what is currently there to get more life out of existing fields? Field needs will be identified then the discussion will move forward into solutions.
Additional field space, use of fields, engagement of school districts, etc. will be reviewed as part of solutions. Financing options will also be reviewed. Recommendations of neighborhoods and enhancement of the community will be a focal point.
The time frame for the committee is approximately three six months. City Council will determine what will be done with recommendations made by this group. Question Will there only be one recommendation allowed at the end of committee? Mr. Davids explained the recommendation process is to move forward with one recommendation. Other ideas from a smaller sub-committee group may be possible. Is this a voting group or consensus? 28 votes will be made with the simple majority used. 4. Committee Meeting Ground Rules Meetings will be held from 7:00 9:00 p.m., the first and third Thursday of each month, and minutes will be submitted to Mr. Davids for review and distribution the following Monday.
Roster - If a member does not want their information noted on the roster, please make a note and it will be removed. The list is for committee use only, not for the general public due to the personal contact information.
If a large group is expected please notify Mr. Davids ahead of time so a larger room can be reserved.
Public comment will typically be heard at the end of each meeting, although they will occasionally be allowed throughout the process. Repetition should be kept to a minimum. Each speaker will be allowed three minutes as to keep the meeting in order but to allow for additional information to be heard. Sub-committees will be formed as necessary.
Committee members were asked to make every effort to attend the meetings. Scheduling problems are recognized, but give thought to the alternate filling in for you. If you feel you will have problems making the meeting, notify the Council with the name of an alternate so the Council can review and approve ahead of time. The consistency of alternates is needed for continuity. The alternate should be someone who is kept informed of the meeting progress and issues. Question Can the alternate be a member already on the committee? That would not be appropriate, the preference would be a separate person from existing members.
Quorum 50% of members plus chair or vice chair is needed to hold a meeting.
Question who will stand up in front of the Council from committee when the recommendation is decided? That will be decided at a later date. How will the information and recommendation be relayed to the Council? The committee will inform the Parks and Recreation Commission, then the Parks and Recreation Commission will give their feedback and the committee will take that feedback and recommendation to the Council. The committee is not part of the Parks and Recreation Commission but rather an arm of the City Council. The job of the committee is to report back to City Council. The process will be discussed at the City Council meeting for clarification. Speak one at a time and ask for recognition and raise your hand. Other Rules -
No other rules were documented. 5. Meeting Dates The committee will meet the first and third Thursday of each month from 7:00 9:00 p.m. 6. Committee Goals and Objectives Handout Approved Committee Goals and Objectives Mr. Davids asked members to look through the provided binder of information. Mr. Weiss offered that if additional information is desired, members can ask him and he will make sure it is provided.
Target points will be discussed at the next meeting. The needs of non-sports users will be a subjective analysis to include non-sports use for community. I.e. dog owners throwing Frisbees, children playing, etc. community use.
The time frame of field use will be measured. Question - Groundbreaking efforts are currently underway at Arguello Park is that a separate component? 2008 is when measure G funding will be available.
Question - A great deal of work has already been done on the subject, can that work be reviewed, taken into account and utilized rather than recreated?
Parks and Recreation staff has determined a need and will possibly review that material/research and then move forward on that information. It would be helpful to benefit from cities that already use artificial turf to review their testimonies. Mr. Weiss will provide whatever information the committee requests.
How to increase availability of existing playing fields will be reviewed. School sites need to be included in decisions. The balance of quality of facilities vs. the needs of the community.
Other city observations members also have connections with city information, Mr. Davids asked that members feel free to bring information to meetings that would provide value and information to the members.
Mr. Davids, Mr. Weiss, and Mr. Lewis will review the information and create the agenda for next week.
Format identify need, move forward to resolution. 7. Status of Fields Mr. Weiss gave an overview of the field maps. The maps have certain areas that need to be corrected. Laureola the entire park was renovated 3 ½ yrs ago, with hybrid Bermuda grass used. Being a smaller field, older kids dont play on this field. All parks are closed six weeks out of the year for renovating purposes. This field is in good shape. Crestview this is the only single use field in the city, for soccer only. This field is in fairly good shape, with a drainage problem in the S/W corner. Staff has tried many different methods, but it is still a problem due to excess water. The field is closed between soccer seasons and that helps. Cool weather grass is used, possible Fescue, and this is a sand based field. If allowed to rest and drain the sand works well, but in a field used more it becomes a problem.
A slime layer develops in a sand based grass. Microorganisms are not present in sand based and not enough air gets to the roots creating slime. The park is on a slant, also causing a problem.
Parks properly maintained can continue for many years. Mr. Weiss suggested a review of the acreage and square footage listed under tab 5 in the binder. Mr. Weiss will ask IT to show the approximate size of the baseball and soccer fields and same size of aerial view of the parks.
There is a currently a strong demand for adult soccer and many other sports that cannot be served due to lack of available time on the fields. Crestview closes the 2nd week of June to 3rd week of July.
Burton Park Fescue blue grass renovated 5 yrs ago. The park has ups and downs; this year was a good year for Burton Park. The park is used by several groups, soccer, baseball practices and games, adult softball, summer sports camp, day camp, Hometown Days uses some of the grass although the booths are on asphalt. The stage is set on the grass, but only for three days with traffic primarily on the sidewalk.
Poa grass is mixed in and is invasive and will take over. It is heat sensitive so it dies in August leaving bare spots. Question - What makes a good year on a field? Wear factor determines a good year. This year Burton Park will be left open to try to accommodate community user groups due to other park closures. There is always a risk when this is done but staff feels the field should be able to handle additional use.
Highlands two fields - Stadium field and Highlands. Stadium soccer, little league, a lot of use and holds up well. Tire tracks were found on Highland, Burton and Heather Parks. Highlands is a sand based field. All groups were asked to reduce their use by 40% last year. The field was closed 19 weeks for repair/renovation plus rain closures year before last.
Fields are closed for maintenance to provide safe fields including repairing holes that can cause knee and ankle injuries. Dormant grass causes weak root structure.
Arguello renovation starting next week. Phase one is the infrastructure. Terrible drainage is noted now but will be repaired. The backstop will be moved and a play area added. The main picnic area will be renovated and an ADA parking area and turnaround added. Trail repair and erosion control will be included. Safety gates will be added to deter vandalism and give police better access for assistance. Phase two will include a scoreboard and concession stand, batting cage behind the diamond, upper picnic area and deck renovation. Tennis court improvements will be included. The grass will be hybrid Bermuda.
Heather The city maintains and brokers this field. The school has use during school hours, the city at night. By law no pesticides are used. The City operates under a policy of integrated pest management using the lowest dose possible of pesticide to handle issues. This is the worst field with tremendous drainage problems. The trees are a problem with the shade keeping the field wet longer than normal. Within 5 yrs it is estimated that the field drainage will fail. Weeds and other issues make it dangerous for refereeing.
User groups include little league, 11 yrs olds and under, youth soccer U-10 and practice U-16s, under 8 girls softball, and occasionally day camp.
A walk through of all fields is done before and after field closures by Parks and Recreation staff with all user groups invited to participate.
A law was past to allow equal play time and equal facilities for boys and girls teams. Heather has a full sized baseball field, the only other one in town besides Flanagan. Heather has been renovated for Little League reducing the size of the infield.
Tierra Linda San Carlos youth softball uses the field as their home base. This is a school maintained and operated field. The field slopes downhill towards Belmont. The field is in bad shape with one diamond being closed for safety concerns. Mr. Davids thanked Mr. Weiss and committee members who participated in the review of the overview. 8. Next Meeting April 7th 7:00 p.m. Mr. Weiss will find a meeting room and will notify the committee. Public Comment Good job, very informative to include all fields in the discussion. Meeting Adjournment 9:05 p.m. |
