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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - PR - 2009.01.15MEETING MINUTES Regular Meeting of the Burlingame Parks & Recreation Commission Thursday, January 15, 2009 The regular meeting of the Burlingame Parks & Recreation Commission was called to order by Chairman Shanus at 7:00 pm at Burlingame City Hall, 501 Primrose Road, Burlingame. ROLL CALL Commissioners Present: Shanus, Castner-Paine, Carlton, Fisher, La Mariana, Eaton, Hesselgren Commissioners Absent: None Staff Present: Parks & Recreation Director Schwartz; Recreation Superintendant Mutto; Administrative Secretary Joleen Helley Others Present: Tony O'Connor, 411 Rollins Rd; Terry Horn, 405 Primrose Rd; Cory & Jim Ferrara, 2112 Hillside Dr; Tara Pratt, 2116 Easton Dr. MINUTES The Minutes of the November 20, 2008 regular meeting were approved as submitted. PUBLIC COMMENTS — None. OLD BUSINESS A. Review of Aquatic Center Policies— Commissioner Fisher reported the findings of the committee formed to look into the concerns regarding the policies and procedures at the Aquatic Center brought forth by members of the public at the November 20, 2008 meeting. The committee members conducted interviews of City staff and Club members and attended one of the monthly user meetings of City staff, representatives from the San Mateo Union High School District and the Burlingame Aquatic Club. Fisher noted that the general intent of the report was not to be a listing of past issues, rather however, addressing the issue of fostering on -going communication between the three groups, and determine how issues are addressed in the future and attended to by the responsible parties. Commissioner Eaton reviewed the recommendations in the report (attached). Included was a feedback loop or web/email group for submitting concerns and issues with a service level meter associated which determines the length of time for a reply or solution to be reached. Commissioner Fisher felt that accountability must be determined and each responsible party held to that. Director Schwartz stated that there is a mechanism called Comcate on the City's website to log concerns, comments, etc. This program keeps track of any items (response and completion times) that are received and has a routing mechanism associated with it. Parks & Recreation Commission Minutes January 15, 2009— Page 2 Schwartz also stated that the user manual that is in place for pool policies and procedures was developed and signed by the three user groups. Fisher felt that the Comcate feature may not be widely known and suggested that this feature be posted at the pool for the users to become aware of this option. He also stated that the manual should be reviewed once a year and it should be documented who is responsible for what parts of the process. Commissioner Shanus asked if the committee felt it was clear who was responsible for which parts. Fisher responded that the responsibility was not clear in all cases, there were some gray areas. Commissioner Carlton noted that she saw things in the operations manual that the City is not responsible for but were doing. Lindsy McLeod, the aquatics coordinator, is working on updating the manual by making it more detailed, hence, removing the vagueness from the current wording. Eaton stated the information in the manual needs to be more clearly presented and enforced. Carlton thought an overall update to the manual is needed should be final by April/May. She felt that the BAC has knowledge to contribute and that a Subject Matter Expert (SME) could come in and contribute as well. Shanus felt it is important to look at the manual from several different angels. Fisher felt the BAC has a responsibility as users and a SME could help with compromise. Hesselgren asked who takes on the financial responsibility for the money for the SME. She stated that BAC has no fiscal responsibility and their representatives change over time. Fisher stated that the Parks & Recreation staff can set a date to which the BAC will be invited to send representation and a SME can be solicited as a volunteer or ABAG can be called on as a resource. Eaton felt that BAC's role as a user group was important enough to have a say. A 30-day time frame for completion of the review of the manual was suggested. Carlton stated that the safety issues were to be addressed first and Fisher wanted to acknowledge that while the operations manual is a labor intensive process the lifeguarding duties are the priority. A review of lifeguard dress, shift change, etc should be addressed in this next week. Schwartz stated that the points will be addressed within 30 days as there is a pool users meeting scheduled. Staff will formalize a response to the Commission for the February meeting. B. SMUHSD Fee Structure — Schwartz reported that Council reviewed information and had requested background information on the matter at their January 5th meeting. The final action by Council was a letter being sent to the School Board President requesting a meeting of two board members, two council members and representatives from the field users groups. SMUHSD has informally denied a meeting. City Council now has to decide what action to take. Parks & Recreation Commission Minutes January 15, 2009— Page 3 The City is still discussing what the appropriate fees are for the City to charge the District. Both parties are still using each others facilities. Invoices have been issued to each other but no money has been exchanged. Schwartz stated that all groups should provide insurance for the use of the fields; however, the City has yet to receive insurance from SMUHSD. The District requires that the City collect proper insurance from the groups that use the District fields that we schedule. Commissioner Carlton stated that the City needs to get tough with the District on the insurance issue. Castner-Paine voiced a hope that the groups are in solution mode and asked where City Council was on the issue. Schwartz stated that the cities involved have hired an auditor to review the fee schedule of the District. Hesselgren inquired as to if there was to be a new superintendent at SMUHSD in June. Castner-Paine wondered as to whether the staffing change would alleviate some of the problems. Shanus noted that in the end it is the kids that suffer and that the people have a right to know why the City is increasing fees for programs. Shanus noted that the City should add a disclaimer of direct pass through costs in the Recreation brochure. Castner-Paine suggests that there be wording in the Recreation Brochure explaining the pass through costs due to the SMUHSD fees being imposed on the City. Mutto mentioned that the fees will double as of July 1, 2009 and the summer programs will be moved to the City or Burlingame School District facilities. Schwartz stated that he would consider inquiring of SMUHSD what the City is to include in the brochure and to say to their patrons. NEW BUSINESS A. Review of Validated User Groups — Superintendent Mutto reports that the current validations for user groups are up for renewal. Commissioner Eaton recused himself due to his position as president of the Burlingame Soccer Club. The one year validation for user groups is needed due to the high number of non-resident players involved in the groups. These groups however, offer something is not offered elsewhere in Burlingame. Staff recommends a three year renewal of the Gaelic validation due, pending submittal of their non-profit number, due to their participation being over fifty percent residents and meeting the minimum participation requirements. Motion by Fisher (seconded by La Mariana): "The Commission approves renewal of one year validations to the Burlingame Soccer Club and Coyotes Lacrosse Club. Approval of the validation for three years to the Eire Oe Gaelic Club is contingent upon the club providing the City with a non-profit 501©3 number. " Motion passed unanimously, 6-0-1 (Eaton recused). REPORTS/HANDOUTS A. Staff Reports 1. Monthly Report— attached 2. YAC Special Events Report — attached 3. Revenue Report — Helley stated that the revenue report was in the process of being re -structured to provide more comprehensive information to the Commission. The revised report will be mailed upon completion. Parks & Recreation Commission Minutes January 15, 2009— Page 4 4. In response to questions from Commission, Schwartz said that he has met with Public Works staff regarding improved visuals to the entrance to Bayside Park from Airport Blvd. B. Commissioner Reports 1. Commissioner Castner-Paine reported having met with the Burlingame Arts group and that discussion were around having art represented at the Music in the Park events, including Youth Art or Junior Art at the Art in the Park and having artists come to recreation camps and spend an hour with the kids several times throughout the summer and other vacation camps. 2. Commissioner Hesselgren inquired as to the locked gate that is in center field of the Washington Park baseball diamond. The Parks Division put the gate up temporarily during the field closure months in an effort to keep people and dogs off the field. The gate will be removed once the field is reopened. 3. Commissioner Shanus reported that he and Commissioner Eaton gave a presentation to the Burlingame School District regarding City programs on campuses during the 2008-09 school year. They were very supportive and had great ideas and would like to help with publicity of the programs. They would like more notification on changes in staff and programs. Last year the City gave BSD a check for fifteen thousand for the agreed up on 10% surcharge imposed on the recreation programs held on BDS campus'. There has been a drop off in attendance of programs but it may have been due to the emailed newsletters rather that the 10% surcharge. 4. Shanus also reported on the Field users meeting that took place to discuss a financial arrangement to turf Bayside. The users are pulling together a proposal for the Council's February 2nd meeting. NEXT MEETING The next meeting of the Parks & Recreation Commission is scheduled to be held on Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. at Burlingame City Hall. There being no further business to come before the Commission, the meeting was adjourned at 8:53 pm. Respectfully submitted, Joleen Helley Administrative Secretary Burlingame Parks & Recreation