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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-09-2006 Minutes PP&D Commission o'File>DO. (),[ D COMMUNITY SERVICES DEPARTMENT www.cityoforange.org (714) 744-7272 FAX (714) 744-7251 CITY OF ORANGE COMMUNITY SERVICES DEPARTMENT PARK PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION Minutes of Regular Meeting Held March 09, 2006 300 East Chapman Avenue I. CALL TO ORDER Vice Chair Remland called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 1.1 Pledge of Allegiance Commissioner Hairston led the Pledge of Allegiance. 1.2 Roll Call Present: Vice-Chair, Gary Remland Commissioner, Lisa Blanc Comissioner, Mike Hairston Absent: Chair Gilmer Commissioner Jack Selman 1.3 Adoption of Agenda Motion: Commissioner Hairston Second: Commissioner Blanc Ayes: Remland, Blanc, Hairston, 1.4 Approval of the Minutes for the regular meeting of February 09, 2006 Motion: Commissioner Blanc Second: Commissioner Hairston Ayes: Remland, Blanc, Hairston, 230 EAST CHAPMAN AVENUE . ORANGE, CALIFORNIA 92866-1506 Community Services Department Park Planning and Development Commission Regular Meeting of March 09, 2006 Page 2 of8 II. PUBLIC COMMENTS None. III. REPORTS FROM COMMISSIONERS Commissioner Blanc acknowledged all those people in the Community Services Department who worked on the KaBoom! Project on Saturday, February 25, 2006. . The Community Services Department helped to coordinate the effort to rebuild the play area at Killefer Park. Through grant funding and private funding the materials were supplied to the Community to assist them with this project. On behalf of all those who volunteered their time and skills, thank you. Vice Chair Remland asked Ms. Hagan if the Department had received any comments on the recent Handy Field Renovation. Ms. Hagan reported that the opening day for the use of Handy Field was Saturday, March 04, 2006. There were approximately a thousand people who attended, members of the little leagues and their families. Ms. Hagan noted that the neighbors seemed to be pleased with the walkway that was provided around the fields. IV. ORAL REPORTS FROM STAFF 4.1 Killefer Park Joint-Use Agreement with Orange Unified School District (O.U.S.D.) Ms. Hagan said that staff has been working with the Orange Unified School District (O.U.S.D.) on a joint-use agreement for Killefer Park for awhile. The majority of the property site is school district property but a portion of it has been functioning as a park for many years. The ultimate goal is to enter into an agreement to be able to create a master plan. At this time, OUSD is unable to make a long-term commitment as they are in the process of evaluating the usage of all their properties. The proposed agreement currently outlines the following terms: · The initial term is three years, with three one-year renewals (total six-year agreement). · ISO-day Termination Clause. Upon termination the City would be responsible for removing all improvements furnished by the City. · Improvements and signage will need written permission from OUSD · The City will be responsible for maintenance and utilities for all park amenities. Ms. Hagan said that she recommended to move forward with the proposed agreement that has been presented. This agreement will affIrm the City's dedication to that property and that the City wants to maintain it as a public park. Even with this agreement the City plans to continue discussions with OUSD for a potential long-term agreement that would allow the City to make improvements to the park. Commissioner Blanc asked if OUSD requested the City to leave the park, would the present playground equipment stay. Ms. Hagan reported that the original equipment belonged to OUSD, and it is likely that the play equipment would remain. Community Services Department Park Planning and Development Commission Regular Meeting of March 09, 2006 Page 3 of8 Vice-Chair Remland said that he was grateful that the City was moving forward with an agreement, but hoped that in the future further consideration would be given to Killefer Park improvements. Commissioners agreed that staff should pursue the joint-use agreement as outlined. 4.2 Review of Capital Improvement Project FY 2006-07 in Preparation of the Joint Study Session with City Council in April, 2006. (Commissioners were sent project summary in their packets for review.) Ms. Galera noted that she wanted to take this opportunity to update the Commission on the Capital Improvement Project (C.I.P.) FY 2006-07 in preparation for the City Council Joint-Study Session on April 4, 2006. Ms. Galera reminded the Commission that in October, 2005 staff reviewed the priority of projects for 2006-07, in November the Commission approved the priority of projects for the C.I.P. and in December the Commission recommended that the City Council approve the C.I.P. There have not been any substantial changes to the C.I.P. document since that time. There are nine projects with approximately $5.5 rnillion dollars in expenditures for FY 06- 07 and $10.5 million dollars in expenditures for FY 07-08. Ms. Galera reported that this year is the first year that staff would be annually updating the priority of projects for the C.I.P., and this year there are no unfunded projects listed on the C.I.P. Staff has also hired consultants to help prepare scope of work for projects listed on the priority of projects. Ms. Galera noted that the Commissioners would be contacted to confirm their attendance at the April 4, 2006 Joint-Study Session. Commissioner Blanc noted that Project 0151 - Grijalva Park Extension appeared to be substantially higher than was originally stated. Did this only encompass the capping of the landfill? Ms. Galera reported that this project included the capping of the landfill and the mass grading of the site. The current estimated cost of this phase of the project is $900,000. A portion of the money will be from the Grijalva Park Extension fund and a portion of the money will be taken from the Gymnasium/Sports Center fund. The reason the funds were broken up as such is because of the grant funds. Ms. Galera reported the City has applied for a Brownsfield Clean-up Grant that if awarded, would be added to the 0151 fund. Vice-Chair Remland asked for clarification of funded projects vs. unfunded projects. Ms. Galera said that in the past there were quite a few projects in the c.I.P. under a fund 999 that was unfunded. Ms. Hagan added that on the list of priority of projects all of those items used to be included in the C.I.P. What staffhas done is moved all projects to the priority of projects and only included in the formal C.I.P. document those projects that have identified funding. Community Services Department Park Planning and Development Commission Regular Meeting of March 09, 2006 Page 4 of8 4.3. Status of the Grijalva Park Extension Project Ms. Galera reported that staff is expecting the RFP for the architect to be issued shortly. Plans and specifications for the construction of the Grijalva Park Extension Landfill project will be presented to the City Council for approval on March 28, 2006. It is anticipated that construction of the landfill cover and mass grading will commence this summer. The first shovel celebration for this project will take place in July. Staff will be updating the Commission as more information becomes available. Ms. Hagan announced that the Department had ordered a "Coming Soon" sign announcing the first shovel celebration for the site. It will be installed within the next few weeks. V. DEPARTMENT REPORTS 5.1 Conceptual Master Plan for the Renovation of El Camino Park (Capital Improvement Project #0607) Ms. Galera introduced Margery Morris of MIG formerly Purkiss-Rose RSI. Ms. Galera noted that there had been numerous revisions to the Conceptual Master Plan of El Camino Park. On November 10, 2005 a study session was held with the public. At that time, staff presented an outline for new opportunities for a woman's fastpitch softball complex. Staff met with the Staff Review Committee and staff is complying with their comments. Since the November 10th meeting, there have been two major changes to the plan: 1.) The skate park has been removed from the plan; and 2.) A small restroom has been added near the handball courts. Elements of the plan include: · Four (4) 200' fastpitch softball fields in a cloverleaf configuration · Concession building and restroom in the center of the clover leaf · New activity building near the existing tot-lot. This building will be utilized by: the tot-lot preschool program, and the City after-school program. · Enhanced walking paths and open grass areas for use by the community and neighborhood · Only 15 trees will be removed as opposed to 179 number of trees in the original plan. The same number of trees removed or more will be replaced. The user groups scheduled to utilize the fields will include: · Central Orange Girls Fastpitch · Chapman University Women's Fastpitch · Santiago Canyon College Women's Softball Program · Potential for other youth groups. Community Services Department Park Planning and Development Commission Regular Meeting of March 09,2006 Page 5 of 8 The estimated cost of this renovation is $3.7 million dollars. Staff and consultant are investigating upgrades to existing amenities that will not be directly affected in this renovation and are not included in this cost estimate, such as: ~ lighting ~ resurfacing for tennis courts, basketball courts, volleyball courts, handball courts ~ new irrigation ~ new lighting Once this plan is approved, the City will complete CEQA documentation. A Water Quality Plan is required by the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Act (NPEDS) and staff is planning to complete a Negative Declaration in-house. It is anticipated that this documentation will be completed by fall of 2006, construction will begin in December, 2007 and the field will be available for play in January, 2009 Public Comments: Ms. Lois Barke (Address on file) Ms. Barke brought photos for the Commission to view. Ms. Barke commended staff for eliminating the skate park from the plan. She emphasized the importance of the sidewalks for many of the park participants, and pointed out the proximity of the ball fields to the sidewalks. She expressed concern for those pedestrians who might get hit by an errant ball. She said she understood that these fields would be smaller, but was wondering if there would be enough room so that the pedestrians would not have to worry about getting hit with balls. She also inquired as to how big the community building was going to be and if it would be open to the public for their use. Mr. John Baker 1051 Arbor Way Orange, CA 92868 Mr. Baker said that he knows that the City has acquired funds from the apartments that were built on the west side and he would like to see other amenities added to the plan with the use of funds i.e. paths should be upgraded to two paths instead of one, and more barbeques should be added. Addressed question to Mr. Robertson, Park Superintendent: Why have the lights on the perimeter of El Camino Park not been on for the last few rnonths? Mr. Robertson said that the park is scheduled to have the lights repaired. He inquired about the new playground equipment... what it would look like? Mr. Baker suggested utilizing the open space area located near the handball courts for a soccer field. Community Services Department Park Planning and Development Commission Regular Meeting of March 09, 2006 Page 6 of8 Ms. Amy Nielsen 2000 W. Palmyra Avenue, #19 Orange, CA 92868 Ms. Nielsen said she had questions regarding the tot-lot program. The tot-lot program has been a part of the City for over 30 years. She is grateful for everything the City proposes to do for the park. The children love the new playground equipment that was installed, and she was not aware that the City was considering replacing that equipment, but if they are she would like to see them use more of the rubber tire substance on the ground instead of wood chips. Ms. Nielsen was concerned about the construction time frame, and wanted to know when the existing building would no longer be useable and she wanted to know the timeframe for when the new building would be ready for use. She asked if the City was considering putting in a crosswalk at Willow Street, and she also inquired about storage space and how much storage would the program be allotted. The most overriding concern for the tot-lot staff is whether or not the City planned to let the tot-lot program stay there for the long-term or if the City had other plans for the newly constructed activity building. Ms. Kimberly Bottomley 1005 W. Arbor Way Orange, CA Ms. Bottomley asked if staff had considered having a mural painted on the handball court as she had suggested at the November, 2005 meeting. Commissioner Blanc said that she was happy to hear that only 15 trees were going to be removed, and added that different size trees in the park is good for the parks balance. Commissioner Blanc thought it was a good idea to address all of the parks amenities while in the process of renovating it, i.e. installing security lighting. Commissioner Blanc asked if remuneration had been discussed with Chapman University and Rancho Santiago College for utilization of the fields. Ms. Hagan said that staff has had discussions with Chapman University. As we move forward with the women's fastpitch complex, the City is looking forward to Chapman University paying for some of the capital improvements and maintenance, and that would be formalized in ajoint-use agreement. Rancho Santiago College has approached us. They currently do not have a softball program, but are looking to form one in the spring of 2007. Staff is only in the preliminary stages of these discussions with the College. Commissioner Blanc said she felt the removal of the skate board park was a good decision since that park is so intensely used already. She is a proponent of a skate board park and would love to see one installed at another location that would be more suitable. Community Services Department Park Planning and Development Commission Regular Meeting of March 09, 2006 Page 7 of8 Commissioner Hairston said that he felt that the community and staff had worked well together in creating a plan for the El Camino Park Renovation. He commended the staff for addressing the community's concerns, and said that he was pleased with the Conceptual Master Plan. Vice-Chair Remland concurred with both Commissioners and said that he was pleased that the tennis courts would remain and that the skate park would not be located at El Camino Park. He also felt that with the reduction of the size of the fields and the fact that adult softball will be relocated to other parks, the danger of errant balls hitting- pedestrians would not be a problem. He asked Ms. Galera if staff was planning to install any temporary fencing in relation to tournament softball. Ms. Galera reported that there were plans to have a premier field ( the northeast field) with permanent fencing. At present, there are no plans to put up temporary fencing for the other fields. Vice-Chair Remland said he was concerned about providing adequate lighting. Mr. Robertson agreed that lighting was very important and staff was planning on addressing maintenance issues at EI Camino in the near future. Staff has also discussed possible upgrades to the lighting system and other amenities during the renovation. Vice-Chair Remland asked if the Tot-lot Program would be allowed to continue and if the financial requirements would be changing. Ms. Hagan reported that staff was working on developing a new contract with Tot-lot, and that they were looking towards updating insurance and finger printing requirements. At present, the City was not looking to change the financial arrangements. As the City moves forward on this plan, staff will meet with all of the users and talk about the specifics. The inside of the facility building has not yet been designed. Ms. Hagan addressed Community use of the building in the evenings. She reported that at present the Community does not have use of the activity building, but if it could be incorporated into the layout of the building, that it would be preferable. Commissioner Hairston moved that the Park Planning and Development Commission authorize and direct staff to prepare environmental documentation under the California Environmental Quality Act for the Conceptual master Plan for El Camino Real Park in the form presented at this meeting. Motion: Second: Ayes: Hairston Blanc Remland, Blanc, Hairston VI. NEW BUSINESS None VII. 7.1 ANNOUNCEMENTS Commissioner Remland announced that there will be the Foundation Games on Saturday, April 29, 2006 at Fred Kelly Stadium. The event is held by the Community Foundation of , Community Services Department Park Planning and Development Commission Regular Meeting of March 09, 2006 Page 8 of 8 Orange, the Chamber of Commerce and other businesses. The event represents 40 elementary schools, and the goal is to have 2,000 to 3,000 children participate and learn about track. IX. ADJOURNMENT Motion: Second: Ayes: Commissioner Blanc Commissioner Hairston Remland, Blanc, Hairston The next Regular Meeting will be Thursday, April 13, 2006. Bonni?t;:n ~ ~ Park Planning and Development Commission 6lz~ Gary Re and, VICe-Chairman Attested on Ivm r. .... Reproduction on Recycled Paper