HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Packet - PR 2022.10.20• City of Burlingame BURLINGAME CITY HALL
501 PRIMROSE ROAD
BURLINGAME BURLINGAME, CA 94010
F,
Meeting Agenda - Final
Parks & Recreation Commission
Thursday, October 20, 2022 7:00 PM Via Zoom Webinar
On September 16, 2021, Governor Newsom signed into law AB 361, which allows a local
agency to meet remotely when:
1. The local agency holds a meeting during a declared state of emergency,
2. State or local health officials have imposed or recommended measures to promote social
distancing; and
3. Legislative bodies declare the need to meet remotely due to present imminent risks to the
health or safety of attendees.
On May 16, 2022 the City Council adopted Resolution Number 054-2022 stating that the City
Council and Commissions will continue to meet remotely for at least thirty days for the
following reasons:
1. The City is still under a local state of emergency,
2. County Health Orders require that all individuals in public spaces maintain social distancing
and wear masks; and
3. The City can't maintain social distancing requirements for the public, staff, Council
members, and Commissioners in their meeting spaces.
Pursuant to Resolution Number 054-2022, the Community Center will not be open to the public
for the October 20, 2022 Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting.
Members of the public may view the meeting by logging on to the Zoom meeting listed below.
Additionally, the meeting will be streamed live on YouTube and uploaded to the City's website
after the meeting.
Members of the public may provide written comments by email to
publiccomment@burlingame.org.
Emailed comments should include the specific agenda item on which you are commenting, or
note that your comment concerns an item that is not on the agenda or is on the consent
agenda. The length of the emailed comment should be commensurate with the three minutes
customarily allowed for verbal comments, which is approximately 250-300 words. To ensure
your comment is received and read to the Parks & Recreation Commission for the appropriate
agenda item, please submit your email no later than 5:00 p.m. on October 20, 2022. The City
will make every effort to read emails received after that time, but cannot guarantee such emails
will read into the record. Any emails received after the 5:00 p.m. deadline which are not read
into the record will be provided to the Parks & Recreation Commission after the meeting.
City of Burlingame Page 1 Printed on 1011312022
Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting Agenda - Final
1. Call to Order
October 20, 2022
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2. Roll Call
3. Approval of Minutes
a. The September 15, 2022 minutes will be ready for approval at the November 17.2022
regular meeting.
4. Correspondence
5. Public Comments
Members of the public may speak on any item not on the agenda. Members of the public wishing to
suggest an item for a future Commission agenda may do so during this public comment period. The
Ralph M. Brown Act (the State -Local Agency Open Meeting Law) prohibits the Commission from
acting on any matter that is not on the agenda. Speakers are limited to three minutes each. The
Commission Chair may adjust the time limit in light of the number of anticipated speakers.
6. Old Business
a. Review of Turfwass Maintenance During Drought Conditions and Annual Field
Renovations
Attachments: Staff Report
7. New Business
a. Welcome Introduction to New Recreation Staff: Kelvin Coggins - Recreation Supervisor;
Molly Kaplan - Recreation Coordinator & Paul Medeiros - Recreation Coordinator
8. Staff and Commissioner Reports
9. Future Agenda Items
City of Burlingame Page 2 Printed on 1011312022
Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting Agenda - Final October 20, 2022
10. Adjournment
Next Meeting: Thursday, November 17, 2022
NOTICE: Any attendees wishing accommodations for disabilities should contact the Parks &
Recreation Department at (650) 558-7323 at least 24 hours before the meeting. The agenda packet is
available on the City's website: www.burlingame.org.
City of Burlingame Page 3 Printed on 1011312022
BURLINGAME STAFF REPORT
To: Parks and Recreation Commission
Date: October 20, 2022
From: Neil Brosnan, Interim Parks Supervisor — (650) 558-7335
Subject: Review of Turfgrass Maintenance During Drought Conditions and Annual
Field Renovations
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Parks and Recreation Commission review the following three items:
1. Current conditions of athletic turf areas in City parks.
2. Use of well water on athletic turf.
3. Overview of planned field renovations during the winter closure.
BACKGROUND
On June 10, 2022, the City Council established a water regulation restricting commercial and
residential landscape irrigation to no more than two days a week. This posed a challenge for staff
to maintain turf health at a high standard. The present water restriction represents a 25%-33%
reduction in available time to irrigate. As a result, staff has had to adjust typical irrigation
scheduling to continue to meet the need to provide safe and healthy turf.
One area that was not of as much concern with newly implemented water restrictions was
Washington Park. Washington turf areas are watered by the use of well water, and no restrictions
were put on that type of irrigating at this time. With no present well water restrictions, the
Washington Park turf areas could still remain to receive the same amount of water as it has in
recent non -drought years. Last year's water usage was approximately 2,305,361 gallons, so not
having that restriction is a great advantage to the City's turf maintenance practices.
In the upcoming months, staff will be implementing our annual winter turf renovations and field
closures. Staff performs these activities for multiple reasons. Safety for park users is the most
important priority. The staff's goal is to have healthy turf to maximize playability for user groups.
Wet season weather can have negative effects on turf areas. This is caused by turf removal from
sliding, and compaction from activity performed when the turf is too saturated. It is for this reason
that staff closes these areas during rainy periods. The closure allows turf areas to recover and
their new growth after renovations are completed.
Burlingame athletic turfgrass receives significant use, being in constant demand from February
Athletic Turf Update and Discussion October 20, 2022
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through November. This leaves Parks staff two months in less than ideal turf growing conditions
to renovate and regrow healthy grass. This renovation process consists of four maintenance
tasks. They are as follows: aeration, leveling, damage repair, re -seeding, fertilizing and watering.
After this process is complete, the turf areas will be closed and reopened for use in March. This
closure period allows for the protection of turf areas during the wet season and recovery from the
previous year's use. In the discussion below, we will go over these tasks in more detail.
DISCUSSION
1. Current Conditions
Washington Park, Ray Park, Cuernavaca Park, Bayside Fields, and Village Park have natural
turf. In order to comply with water restrictions, staff reduced the irrigation to two days a week.
Despite the reduction of irrigation frequency, staff minimized the drought effects by following the
below maintenance practices.
• Training staff on the appropriate use of irrigation systems.
• Daily field checks to ensure irrigation is working properly.
• Ensuring monthly slit aeration of turfgrass fields completed.
• Applying seed and fertilizer regularly for healthy turf conditions.
• Ensuring all users of turf fields are using the fields appropriately.
• Immediately repairing damage to the turf.
• Documenting all completed to account for labor resources.
2. Athletic Turf Irrigated with Well Water
Washington Park is the only turfgrass that is irrigated by well water. The advantages of using
well water are:
• Non -potable water displaces potential potable water use.
• Reduces the cost to the City.
• Promotes healthy turf since well water has minerals such as magnesium and calcium. As
a result, turf stays greener longer and is able to weather drought conditions better.
• Turf roots are deeper as a result of irrigation penetrating lower soil profiles. This leads to
a greater rate of turf survival during drought periods.
• More resilient and healthier turf after field renovation due to faster recovery time and
regular watering.
3. Overview of Upcoming Field Renovations
Over the last several years, staff has engaged in quarterly turfgrass maintenance and annual
renovations. This maintenance practice was implemented to retain healthy and safe playing
surfaces. This process is conducted as listed below.
• Aeration: Aerating helps allow more air into the root zone. This provides access to
nutrients, fertilizers, seed, and water to penetrate deeper soil depths. This also takes
stress off of compacted soil and provides downward and lateral growth of roots. Aeration
Athletic Turf Update and Discussion October 20, 2022
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occurs quarterly.
• Leveling and Damage Repair: City fields are used at a high rate. This causes increased
wear and tear. After aeration is complete, staff level any uneven ground or fill in low spots
with soil. Leveling and damage repair occur weekly on smaller repairs and annually for
large -grade issues.
• Re -seeding: Staff uses a Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass blend on City fields.
Staff maintain detailed records of turf maintenance to evaluate previous plantings. Re-
seeding occurs quarterly for field over -seeding and annually for repairs.
• Fertilize: Fertilizers are composed primarily of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
Records of previous turf maintenance and periodic soils testing are utilized to determine
fertilizer rates. Fertilizing occurs quarterly.
• Irrigation: Irrigation is the most important step in the renovation process. New grass seeds
will not begin to grow without the right amount of water. Too much water could displace
newly applied seed. It is critical during the germination (new growth) process that the
irrigation scheduling be accurate.
FISCAL IMPACT
The average staff labor and materials cost for turf maintenance is noted below. This does not
include other maintenance such as trash pickup, irrigation work, routine landscape tasks, baseball
field maintenance, setting up or breaking down recreational camp activities, lining fields for
different sports groups, or any other general maintenance tasks associated with the parks.
Activity
Staff Hours
Staff Cost
Mowing
1,800 Annually
$144,324
Edging & Weed Control
960 Annually
$76,973
Field Renovations
1,020 Annually
$81,784
Total
3,780
$303,081
Materials
Top Dressing Soil Mix
$5,000
Seed
$6,700
Fertilizer
$4,500
Total
$16,200
$319,281
Athletic Turf Update and Discussion October 20, 2022
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