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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - PR - 2009.12.17MEETING MINUTES Regular Meeting of the Burlingame Parks & Recreation Commission Thursday, December 17, 2009 The regular meeting of the Burlingame Parks & Recreation Commission was called to order by Chairman Castner-Paine at 7:00 pm at Burlingame City Hall, 501 Primrose Road, Burlingame. ROLL CALL Commissioners Present: Castner-Paine, Carlton, Fisher, La Mariana, Eaton, Hesselgren, Shamus Commissioners Absent: None Staff Present: Director of Parks & Recreation Skeels; Administrative Secretary Joleen Helley Others Present: Alessandra Shanus, 1541 Albemarle Way MINUTES The Minutes of the November 19, 2009 regular meeting were approved as submitted. PUBLIC COMMENTS — Alessandra Shanus, Chair for the Burlingame Youth Advisory Committee, spoke to the Commission regarding events the Committee has been working on such as All -City Dances & Breakfast with Santa. She also reported on future events the group plans on participating in such as the Princess Project for 2010, a program that collects used prom dresses to that are given to girls in need in the Bay Area. She noted that she attended the Peninsula Partnership Leadership Council's Children's Bill of Rights celebration and the Committee is looking to participate in the program further. At the request of Commissioner Shanus, she mentioned that the revenues from the All -City Dances were no longer being deposited into the Youth Advisory Committee's special fund account, but were being deposited into the City's general fund. When asked by the Commission why this was the case, Alessandra stated she did not know, but she thought that the City needed the money. She reported further the participant number for the group was reduced from last year and noted that with the smaller group the members were able to become better acquainted with each other. Commissioner Fisher inquired to how the group creates awareness about the group itself and its activities. Alessandra reported that the group makes use of "locker bombs" (flyers stuck in locker doors) and face book groups to send out information and invitations to events. OLD BUSINESS A. Cuernavaca Park Picnic Area — Commission discussed the parks rule of "no more than fifteen (15) persons or more gather at one time" that applies to Cuernavaca Park and concluded there was no need to change the rule as when read completely, the rule gives the consent needed to gather in groups of more than 15 at one time through "specific written permission from the Director of Parks & Recreation" via the form of a Picnic Permit. Parks & Recreation Commission Minutes December 17, 2009 — Page 2 Commissioner Castner-Paine expressed the preference for a more natural tree canopy instead of a hardscape structure to provide shade for the area. Commissioner Hesselgren believes that the neighborhood has a view ordinance in place via the Beautification Commission and that any trees chosen for the location would need to remain below that height requirement. Commissioner Eaton stated that the park can be quite windy at times and would like to see trees that are hardy enough to withstand possible high wind conditions. NEW BUSINESS A. Review of Field User Policy - Commissioner Eaton requested the Commission consider changing the policy to allow Hillsborough residents to be viewed as `Burlingame Residents" as it relates to the Burlingame Soccer Club. The club consists of one-third Burlingame residents, one-third Hillsborough residents and one-third other non-residents. The club has applied each year to become a validated user group and has never been turned down by the Parks & Recreation Commission. Discussion followed regarding the merit of counting the Hillsborough residents as Burlingame residents for Validated User Group purposes. Hesselgren stated she felt that changing the policy for one group could affect future groups with a majority of Burlingame residents to lose out on priority of field use on Burlingame fields. She stated that the current policy does not affect the soccer club from getting field use, it only affects the club's necessity to fill out the application each year. She feels that if there are other clubs that have a majority of Burlingame residents, she would want the Burlingame kids to get priority of field use. Commissioner Shanus agreed with Hesselgren's viewpoint. No Commission action was taken. REPORTS/HANDOUTS A. Staff Reports 1. Monthly Report— attached 2. Correspondence — None 3. Art in the Park Status — Skeels reported of a meeting with Pacific Fine Arts where he explained that the City would no longer be able to provide staff support for the event. The status of the 2010 Art in the Park is still unknown. Result of the e-survey conducted on the City website reveal that while the majority of the respondents have attended the Art in the Park event, the preferred event to keep going is the Art and Jazz on the Avenue sponsored by the Chamber in the late summer season. The survey showed that most respondents feel the Art in the Park event has become too commercialized and would like to see the event return to its historical roots of local artists. While most would be disappointed if the event was discontinued, favored was the route of finding additional commercial sponsors to underwrite the cost of the event so as to not impact the City budget. 4. Field User Fees Status — Council has directed City staff to generate more income from the user fees. Skeels met with the Elementary School District staff regarding the user fees and discussed options to meet the Council's goal. The next meeting of the field users, school district staff and city officials will take on January 5, 2010 @ 6:30 pm Parks & Recreation Commission Minutes December 17, 2009 — Page 3 5. Bayside Sewer Treatment Plant Update — Skeels reported there has been no new information regarding the work the sewer treatment plant will be conducting that affects the light pole on the Bayside 3 & 4 fields. 6. Bayside 3 & 4 Fence Replacement Status — Skeels will be researching the replacement plan that the previous Director had developed and will bring the information back to the Commission at the January meeting. 7. Seismic Report on Recreation Center — Skeels will contact the Engineering Department and will obtain a hard copy report to give the Commission at the January meeting. 8. Staffing Update — Skeels reported a part-time coordinator for the Recreation Department has gone on a three month leave and the job duties are being distributed among the staff for the time being. B. Commissioner Reports 1. Commissioner Carlton inquired about the status of the part-time Director of Parks & Recreation. Skeels reported that he has met with the City Managers of Burlingame and Brisbane to determine how the arrangement that has been in place for the last eight months has been working. Both City Managers are satisfied with the current arrangement and would like to continue with the current arrangement 2. Commissioner Shanus asked staff if the Golf Center would attend the next meeting of the Commission to report on how the business was doing. Skeels said he would speak with Chris Aliaga from the Golf Center and find out his availability. NEXT MEETING The next meeting of the Parks & Recreation Commission is scheduled to be held on Thursday, January 21, 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 8:30 pm. Respectfully submitted, Joleen Helley Administrative Secretary Burlingame Parks & Recreation