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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - PR - 2007.11.15MEETING MINUTES Regular Meeting of the Burlingame Parks & Recreation Commission Thursday, November 15, 2007 The regular meeting of the Burlingame Parks & Recreation Commission was called to order by Chairman Dittman at 7:05 pm at Burlingame City Hall, 501 Primrose Road, Burlingame. ROLL CALL Commissioners Present: Hesselgren, Shanus, Castner-Paine, Comaroto (arrived at 7:12pm), Carlton, La Mariana, Fisher Commissioners Absent: Staff Present: Parks & Recreation Director Schwartz; MTEP Participant Brewer; Account Clerk III Butler; Recreation Supervisor Mutto; Recreation Coordinator Cheney; Recreation Intern Corr Others Present: Gary C. Reichard — 1604 Devereaux Dr; Debra Bisaillon — 108 Myrtle Rd, #4; Sara O'Connor — 1556 Balboa Ave.; James S. — 724 Crossway Rd; Elizabeth& Kevin Rafaelli-1704 Devereaux Dr.; Eleanor Stephens — 1560 Balboa; Seyem Arslan — 716 Bayswater; Marty Galvin — 1640 Monte Corvino Way; Al & Betty DeLorenzi — 2826 Arguello Dr.; David S-C — 1629 Westmoor MINUTES - The Minutes of the October 18, 2007 regular meeting were approved as submitted. Chairperson Hesselgren welcomed three new Commissioners Carlton, La Mariana and Fisher and invited them to introduce themselves. PUBLIC COMMENTS — None REPORTS/HANDOUTS 1. YAC Presentation — (Youth Advisory Committee presentation was moved up on the agenda by Chairperson Hesselgen) Chairpersons of the Youth Advisory Committee Beth Bruni and Alex Donati reported that the group has hosted or participated in the following activities in 2007: • Teen Night with five bands playing; • Three All -City dances; • Volunteered to be the host city at the BHS YAC Attack event; • Contributed 30 volunteers for the September 30 Community Cleanup Effort; • Pledged $500 for "ASB" New activities and projects the group is currently working on are: • Video Game Tournament for the BIS students; • Laser tag team trip for the BIS students; • Shopping trip for teens into San Francisco; • And the First Annual Day on the Green at BHS Commissioner Colin Fisher inquired as to how many members the Committee has. Bruni & Donati said the group has 20 members total - 15 voting members and 5 non -voting members. Parks & Recreation Commission November 15, 2007 Minutes — page 2 Commissioner Joe La Mariana congratulated the group on the full schedule of activities and functions they are a part of and asked what other cities have similar groups. Bruni & Donati said there were cities all over the Peninsula and in the Sacramento area that have Youth Advisory Committees. Chairperson Laura Hesselgren inquired about the Day on the Green. Donati said the event would be located on the BHS field with a food stand and various other booths. NEW BUSINESS C. Burlingame Girls Softball's Use of Ray Park — (This item was moved up on the agenda by Chairperson Hesselgren) Director Schwartz updated Commission regarding the proposal to add a batting cage at Ray Park. Donna Colson, President of Burlingame Girls Softball, extends thanks to the Parks & Recreation staff for all their help. BGS serves 350 girls 5 to 14 years of age; ninety five percent of which are Burlingame kids. The organization plays games at Ray Park Monday thru Thursday and Saturdays. They also play in other cities. They would like Ray Park available on Sundays for practice and rainout games from other days. They feel it is important to have use of those facilities as they store all of their equipment there for safety and practice game time. They feel it is a convience and access issue to the volunteers who help with the program. The organization would like to install a batting cage about 15ft x 60ft near the tennis courts and bathrooms. The cage would have netting hung inside to mitigate the noise level. Commissioner Castner-Paine asked Colson if the use of the batting cage would be limited in hours. Colson responded that it would be used before games for warm up & practice. Games end about 7:00 pm and start about 4:30 — 5:00pm on weekdays and on weekends games are from 10 am — 6 pm. Castner-Paine asked if the cage would be locked. Colson confirmed that yes, it would be locked and only the league would have a key. Comaroto asked if the batting cage would be specific to softball. Colson said mentioned that BGS is working with BYBA in a cooperative effort with boys and girls. Commissioner La Mariana stated that the unique part is the ball machine projects the balls at a different angle; baseball has smaller balls than that of softball. Colson said that if the balls are coach pitched they use actual softballs. Softballs from the machine are dimpled and therefore do not make as much noise. Commissioner Comaroto asked what feedback you have had from the neighbors. Colson mentioned that the neighbors do not care for the large tournament weekend that is on Fathers Day weekend. The organization has been very careful about the trash and parking during that weekend. Hesselgren asked for confirmation that the Commission had approved Sunday rain out game use for the organization last year at this time. Schwartz confirmed that item and clarified the wording as "Ray Park diamonds 1 & 2 on Sundays for rain out games only that cannot be made up at other Burlingame fields." The organization is now asking for Sunday practice consistently at the Park. Parks & Recreation Commission November 15, 2007 Minutes — page 3 Colson stated that parking on practice days is not an issue as most parents drop the girls off. This means there are only about four cars at the park on those days. The issue of practicing at other fields is transporting of equipment. Schwartz stated that he has spoken to the City Attorney regarding potential conflicts of interests with two of the Commissioners on this issue — La Mariana, a past President of BGS, and Comaroto whose daughter plays in the league. Neither is required to recuse themselves. Commissioner Carlton asked what time on Sundays would the practices take place. Colson responded that 10:00 am and 5:00 pm; the season is March 1 — May 15, then the summer season. Schwartz asked if the league is requesting Sunday practices for all-star teams. Colson said that the Sunday practices would stop at the end of league play. Comaroto asked if this approval would displace other teams. Schwartz said no other teams would be displaced, that no other group has a permit to use Ray Park and the only impact would be the parking in the neighborhood. Comaroto asked where the girls practice now on Sundays. Colson said they do not practice now; they drive and rent indoor areas. Schwartz mentioned that the league has access to the Burlingame High School (BHS) fields on Sundays and the BHS batting cage was over 50% funded by BGS. Schwartz mentioned that BGS has not used the cage for the past two years and that he is currently working with the Principal to determine how to re -instate access for BGS. La Mariana asked if a plaque could be installed on the cage designating its use by BGS & BYBA. This could eliminate any territorial issues. Schwartz said he would mention it to the Principal. Colson said that weekend field use would not be needed during Fall Ball from (mid -September through November) and BGS only hosts one game on Saturdays. Supervisor Mutto asked if the cage would be used for fall ball. Colson stated that they would only use the cage one night each week. Commissioner Shanus asked if the pitching machine would be locked up in the cage. Colson said they would put it in a storage container. Shanus mentioned that the cage at Washington Park is available to be used by various community groups and asked if the batting cage at Ray Park would have a shared use. Schwartz stated that an item mandating use by community groups would be placed in the agreement with BGS for the construction, maintenance and use. Comaroto asked if the baseball batting cages could accommodate softball use and said he was sensing there is no home for girls' softball. Schwartz mentioned that the BHS batting cage was built for softball use and the Washington Park and Bayside batting cages could accommodate softball play. Comaroto asked if BYBA has a designated home field. Schwartz responded that Bayside is their main field, but they also use Washington Park small and main fields and Cuernavaca field. Recreation Supervisor Mutto, responsible for scheduling all of the athletic fields in the City, stated that BGS uses Ray Park, BHS, Franklin and Bayside (for Fall Ball use) fields. Schwartz mentioned that staff is working with both leagues to determine if the Billy Sue tournament (held on Father's Day weekend) can be hosted at Bayside instead of Ray Park. Castner-Paine asked if we could stipulate there is no use of the batting cage after 7 pm. Schwartz responded that the Commission can recommend any restrictions they choose. Parks & Recreation Commission November 15, 2007 Minutes — page 4 Chairman Hesselgren opened the item for public comments. Schwartz relayed some input from a few neighbors that were unable to attend the meeting. A letter from Mrs. Zita Escobosa, 1516 Adeline Drive, expressed concerns regarding parking & noise in the area. An email from Ernie & Maria Ribera at 2614 Hale Drive, whose youngest daughter plays softball, expressed their support for continued Sunday games and the building of a batting cage at the Park. Schwartz also noted that he had received a phone call from Paul Wetzel who was upset with the thought of games and practices on Sundays and a batting cage. Gary Reichard, 1604 Devereaux Drive, has lived in his house for fifty-one years. Last time he received a notice regarding Ray Park and BGS was ten years ago. At the time, the Billy Sue Tournament was the only Sunday they wanted to use the park. Now they are asking for more. Marc Friedman, 748 Walnut Ave, is a Past President of BGS and has been scheduling games. He says that BGS has been playing some home games in Millbrae. Millbrae is the easier solution as they have field space. He handed out copies to the Commission of AB 2404 (see attached). The Assembly Bill says girls should be offered the same benefits as boys from recreational sports and stated that the benefit of youth sports is huge to girls. He states that BGS is not asking for anything special here; just the law as passed. Elizabeth Raffaelli, 1704 Devereaux Drive, says she appreciates the benefits that come from the activities. However, her family dreads when the program starts; they use the program and they understand. She expressed concerns about parking, blocked driveways and the Police Department having to respond to calls. They live across the street from the school and the program extends the noise and congestion in the area. Sundays are the only days that the neighbors can use the park. It is a neighborhood park and we are requesting the one day to have to use the park. The people that come to the games are discourteous and rude. They come early, play loud music, and block driveways. Debbie McKeever, 2133 Poppy Drive, has two girls in the program and they have never had a batting cage space offered during our time with BGS. They do not want to be at the Park after dark. She thought the idea of moving of the pitching machines to another location was crazy as they are heavy. Sarah O'Connor, 1556 Devereaux, agreed with Ms. Raffaelli's comments. Last time this came before up, make-up games were approved. Her problem is with the noise from the backboard. Mitchell Oliver, 1808 Devereaux, disagrees with the neighbors, as he believes that Ray Park is an asset to this community. He said that installing the batting cage would reduce the need for batting practice on the diamonds. David Allen, 1509 Balboa Ave., says that parking is an issue. People double park and it is hard to get out of the driveway. He is a new driver, predicts that it will be come more difficult to get out of the house with more games and feels it will get worse in the residential areas. He refers to the parkers in front of the driveways as "just a sec" parkers because when you finally search the driver down they say, "Oh, I will be there in just a sec", and he has to wait about 10 minutes for them to finally move their car. Parks & Recreation Commission November 15, 2007 Minutes — page 5 Eleanor Stephens, 1560 Balboa Ave., attended the meeting last year. She feels we all pay taxes and here is a beautiful park that the girls should be able to use and have the same opportunity as the boys. Gary Bell, 1016 Drake Ave., says his daughter plays softball. He thinks the proposal of practices does not affect parking as much as the games affect parking. He feels the girls are ambassadors to sports; it is a good place for them to build self-esteem, etc. The noise issues were addressed by padding. Ray Park has three diamonds, a scoreboard and a snack shack so he feels it is a softball park. Brian Forenzi, 1240 Oak Grove, lives near the High School and has been a board member for years. He feels that BGS is an important part of the community. Hesselgren closed the discussion to public comment. Schwartz summarized or refreshed the Commission on the points of the decision before them as whether to approve BGS the following at Ray Park: • Practices on Ray Park fields 1 and 2 on Sundays from 10:00am-6:OOpm from the second Sunday in March to the end of May; • Continue the agreement from last year to allow the use of Ray Park fields 1 and 2 only for makeup games due to rainouts on Sundays, if other fields are not available; and • Install a batting cage between the tennis courts and restroom to be used before games for warm-ups and during practices for the spring season, all-stars and fall ball. Options for the Commission are: 1. Continue the agreement in place from last year regarding Sunday make-up games; 2. Amend the agreement from last year to include Sunday make-up games even if other fields in Burlingame are available; 3. Approve Sunday practices from mid -March through May 4. Approve installation of a batting cage Colson clarified that the installation of the batting cage would not eliminate batting practices on the diamonds. Commission collectively expressed concern about the noise level and asked what had been done to mitigate the level of noise in the neighborhood during practices. La Mariana, having been a Past President of BGS said that a baffle had been installed on the backstops. Fisher asked for clarification on AB 2404 and if there is an instance where the boys are allowed to practice on Sundays. Schwartz explained that Title IX called for gender equity in athletic programs, predominately high school and college programs. AB 2404 is essentially a clarification of Title IX, calling for gender equity in recreation programs. He also said that the baseball program is provided with some fields for practice on Sundays. Parks & Recreation Commission November 15, 2007 Minutes — page 6 Fisher asked if there was an equality issue between the boys & girls. Schwartz responded that he believes that the City is providing equal programs for boys and girls. The girls program is much smaller than the baseball program and is given a higher proportional percentage of field time. The league has never asked the City to help them gain access to the BHS batting cage, nor told the City that there was difficulty in using the cages at Washington Park or Bayside Park. The focus right now should be on working with the league and the neighbors on the practice time and batting cage issues and impacts instead of the fine points of AB 2404 and Title IX. Hesselgren asked if the noise of the batting cage could be simulated before the commission says yes to the installation of one. Schwartz said that could be done, however, it does need to be an agendized item. It would require a date for the study session and then the Commission would agendize a meeting for the decision or make the decision at the field. Hesselgren stated that she would like a noise study done at the Park. La Mariana asked how many homes are within 500 feet of the Park. Schwartz said there are 30- 35 parcel lots with that distance. Castner-Paine would like to see the parking and the fields, she feels it is a community park, to say that the neighborhood would not have access to the park is not ok and she agrees with the noise study idea. Schwartz stated that the parking for Sunday practice would not be an impact; the Sunday use is more of a noise issue. Castner-Paine also asked if we could make sure the current batting cages are made available to the organization as well. Schwartz said that there are three batting cages that are available to BGS at the BHS field, Washington Park and the cage at Bayside Park. (Schwartz has since confirmed with BHS the cage on the BHS softball field can be used by BGS) Commissioner Carlton asked how many teams use the field on Sundays. Schwartz responded that about ten teams or 120 girls use the field on a day. Shanus mentioned that BGS is a victim of its own success and asked if the possibility of putting another diamond at Franklin has been looked into and have other fields been looked at as alternatives. Schwartz said that the City has looked at Franklin Field with BGS and has offered to help build a new diamond there. Comaroto said that another field at Franklin would create more traffic there. He sees Ray as the BGS home field, the girls' need a home place and they need to be given an opportunity to advance. He feels the real issue is equal opportunities, traffic and noise. Comaroto asked what subjective information would be looked at during a noise study. Hesselgren said just walking the neighborhood to see how the noise is affecting the neighbors would suffice. Shanus asked if there were any other parks with Sunday restrictions and has the city attorney reviewed this item. Schwartz said several other parks have restricted usages due to the impacts on the neighbors, such as Cuernavaca, Pershing and Village Parks. The City Attorney has reviewed the issue and that equal quality space needs to be provided not necessarily the same Parks & Recreation Commission November 15, 2007 Minutes — page 7 space. Schwartz used the example of gymnasium allocations under Title IX. He said that you cannot have a boys' gym and a girls' gym; they must be shared and the time must be mixed — boys cannot get priority in time slots. After a short discussion, Hesselgren suggested that a time be set for a noise study at the Park. Schwartz and Colson agreed on December 2, 2007 at 10:00 am. This will be a special meeting of the Commission, the neighbors will be receiving notices of the meeting and announcements will be sent on the City's e-newsletter. OLD BUSINESS A. Arsenic Update — MTEP Brewer reported on the status of the backfield at Burlingame High School. The groundbreaking will be this month. The turf is to be put in by the end of February 2008. The front of the school is on a delay — start time for that area will be early spring. At this time, it appears that the back field project is being 100% funded by a combination of District and State funds. Chairperson Hesselgren asked if there would be lights on the back field. Schwartz reported that according to an agreement with the neighbors there would be no lights and no large bleacher structures. There will also be signage directing cars to be parked near Carolan to minimize the impact on the neighborhood. Commissioner Shanus asked what sports the field is to be striped for. Schwartz said the field will be striped for both soccer and lacrosse. The field will be used by the high school as a practice field for football, soccer and lacrosse and as a game field for youth soccer and lacrosse games. NEW BUSINESS A. Commissioner Rotation — Schwartz reminded the commission that the three new members needed to be added to the Chair rotation. Per the Commission's rotation policy, a drawing was held and the Commissioners were placed in the following order: Carlton, La Mariana and Fisher. Future Roll Calls will reflect the updated Chair rotation order. B. Status of December 2007 Meeting — Motion by Comaroto (seconded by La Mariana): "The regularly scheduled meeting on December 20 will be moved to a special meeting on December 2 at 10:00 am and held at Ray Park". Motion passed unanimously. REPORTS/HANDOUTS A. Staff Reports 1. Monthly Report dated November 15, 2007 — attached 2. 2007-08 Revenue Report — attached 3. Youth Scholarship Hole -in -One Tournament — Intern Corr introduced the Hole -In -One Shoot-out at the Burlingame Golf Center on Saturday, November 17th. The proceeds will be used for the Parks & Recreation Department's Youth Scholarship account. Parks & Recreation Commission November 15, 2007 Minutes — page 8 B. Commissioners - None NEXT MEETING The next meeting of the Parks & Recreation Commission will be held on Sunday, December 2, 2007 at 10:00 a.m. at Ray Park in Burlingame. There being no further business to come before the Commission, the meeting was adjourned at 9:30 pm. Respectfully submitted, Joleen Butler Account Clerk III Parks & Recreation Department