HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - PR - 2011.02.17MEETING MINUTES
Regular Meeting of the Burlingame Parks & Recreation Commission
Thursday, February 17, 2011
The regular meeting of the Burlingame Parks & Recreation Commission was called to order by Vice -
Chair Hesselgren at 7:03 pm at Burlingame City Hall, 501 Primrose Road, Burlingame.
ROLL CALL
Commissioners Present: Hesselgren, Shanus, Baum, Griffith, Bulotti, Castner-Paine
Commissioners Absent: Eaton
Staff Present: Director Skeels; Administrative Secretary Helley
Others Present: Steve Alms — 1534 Meadow Lane, Peter Callander & Mark Slicker,
Callander's Associates
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Steve Alms voiced concern about user groups being allowed to grow exponentially to the point of
dominating field use over smaller user groups, such as Coyotes Lacrosse. Steve noted he has spoken
with staff regarding the issue. Staff is working on fairness of field time allotment and he hopes the
issue will be resolved to the satisfaction of all involved and affected.
MINUTES
The Minutes of the January 20, 2011 regular meeting were approved.
OLD BUSINESS
Vice -Chairperson Hesselgren requested the order of the agenda be changed to accommodate the
persons present for Item B. Commission agreed to the change in order.
B. Burlingame Golf Center Land Use - Council has directed Commission to discuss options for
recreational use of the Golf Center Land. VB Golf, whose lease on the area expires in 2013 runs the
driving range/pro shop and practice facilities located on the property and has voiced to Council they
could "give back" 50% of the currently used area to the City for recreational use. The current site
plan was originally done by Callander & Associates, Peter Callander and Mark Slichter, who
presented and received ideas at the January meeting from Commission, and were present for more
discussion. Commission is aware there would be a premium associated with developing the area and
there are big obstacles to overcome to put a building onto the site due to the "cap" that is in place to
monitor the methane gas from the landfill below the surface.
Commission noted the area has assets such as no residential neighbors, the area already has lights and
has an existing playing field.
Discussion included the firm intent of creating an all-inclusive family destination feel for the area.
Soccer/baseball/softball/lacrosse or other sports going on while smaller children play at a
playground, enjoying family picnics and older kids can do a batting cage or a skate park.
Commission supports the concept of incorporating a family area such as a playground and picnic
area, while keeping in mind, the goal is to maintain the area for resident use. Spinoff in revenue is a
bonus but main goal is to increase field space for residents. Batting cages/pitching cages are pure
revenue; synthetic fields get more hours of use. Concepts: Multiple fields; facilities for use to offset
operational costs, however, capital costs may never be recovered. Ideas: reduce footprint of city
corporation yard and utilize the space for more recreational use. Suggestions of ensuring an
economic study to be done prior to making decisions regarding the use to help when answering
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public questions regarding what and why of decisions. Callender suggested commission create a
dream list to filter through.
A. Dogs off Leash in Public Parks — Sub -Committee Report: Commissioner Hesselgren reported
that the sub -committee met on February 3. The committee focused on the following areas:
1) Enforcement - Enforcement seems to be happening during the morning hours. On several
occasions, the officers have been sitting in the park at 7:15am to about 7:40am and have been seen
driving through Saturday and Sunday at 7:10am. These hours are during the hours when off leash
is allowed. Enforcement will not work unless it's during the hours that most off leash offenses
take place, which is during the hours of noon and 4pm.
2) Locations - Other locations were discussed, however, the subcommittee feels that Washington
Park and Cuernavaca Park are good locations for the off leash hours. Most of the feedback
received from dog owners is that they would like to be able to walk their dog to the park and be
able to have them fetch a ball or play with other dogs and not have to travel a distance.
a. A suggested location of the fenced area on the corner of Oak Grove and California
would not be a good location. First, it's located between a train track and a major
road and is not a good location for dogs. If a dog happens to get lose coming and
going to the area, the odds of that dog getting hit by a car is great.
b. The current dog park has multiple problems. To begin, the park is long and thin. This
creates problems if there is an aggressive dog and the one being chased is trying to
get away. They have no room to run and turn around without running into the fence.
Also, throwing a ball if there are others within the dog park is difficult without hitting
someone else with the ball. In addition, the materials used are unacceptable for a dog
park. Grass was originally put in and was destroyed with the first rain. Also, wood
chips are used in multiple areas and wood chips are never good in a dog park. Fecal
matter and urine soak into the wood chips and dogs are famous for putting those into
their mouth, thus they get sick. Lastly, there really is nowhere for someone to walk if
they just don't want to stand there. In comparison, the San Mateo dog park has a
walkway for owners to walk in a circle and there is also a large enough area where
dogs can run and get away. Wood chips and grass are not used.
c. Several years ago, it was requested to have the fence line moved so that the dogs
could perhaps run up the hill which would eliminate the issue of dogs getting trapped.
Apparently there is an issue with the fencing posts and the penetration of the clay
barrier.
d. Other parks within the City limits were suggested as good locations to consider for
additional off leash hours but felt it best to get these two parks under control prior to
adding or considering other options.
3) Survey and community meetings — The subcommittee would like to develop a survey and
deliver it to each residence within a range of Washington Park. A public meeting would be held
at the recreation center where the residents could drop off the survey and then stay for a meeting
on the issue. A community meeting for the Cuernavaca Park area would also be held. The
subcommittee thought this process would include all voices and give each resident a chance to
voice their opinion.
4) Further research with other cities — The subcommittee is in the process of contacting the
directors at Foster City and San Mateo Park departments. Both of these Cities have off leash
hours in the morning and the evening. The one year trial period is up and they recently had a
meeting where it was decided to continue with the program. The one difference in San Mateo is
that they are fortunate to have a Park Ranger Department and do not have to depend on the Police
Department for tickets during non off leash hours.
NEW BUSINESS
A. Foundation Formation for Parks & Recreation — Commission discussed inviting
representatives from other local foundations to a future meeting to provide information on forming a
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foundation. Also discussed was the idea of a survey monkey regarding the public's interest in a
Foundation for Parks & Recreation.
B. Mills Canyon — Volunteer Outreach - Council has requested the Commission's help in
mobilizing volunteers to help with clean up Mills Canyon and re -gain access to the eastern side of the
area. The group, Friends of Mills Canyon, is in the process of revitalizing and will be also be helpful
in clean up. Commission suggested the Youth Advisory Committee could be useful in recruiting
volunteers from the high school, Boy Scouts and Trails Forever, a non-profit organization as well.
REPORTSIIIANDOUTS
Staff Reports
1. Monthly Report — Attached
2. Staff Recruitment — Skeels reported the recreation department is recruiting one more full-time
coordinator. The recruitment will handle contract classes and fill the need for an evening
building attendant.
3. Community Garden Update — Skeels reported
4. Bayside Field Sign — Skeels reported that design options will be brought to the commission
5. Mature Adult Healthy Eating Event — Skeels distributed a memo from Supervisor Barry on a
Healthy Eating event that was held on January 5 with fifty-five seniors in attendance. Included
were pictures and a sample menu from the event. Another event will be held on Tuesday,
February 22, 2011.
6. Correspondence — A letter from a grandparent of a participant of the City's recreational programs
was read to the commission. The letter described an enjoyable experience they and their
grandchild had participating in the classes.
Commissioner Reports
None
NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the Parks & Recreation Commission is scheduled to be held on Thursday, March
24, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. at Burlingame City Hall.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:50 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Joleen Helley
Recording Secretary