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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - PR - 2024.06.201 Parks & Recreation Commission APPROVED Minutes June 20, 2024 PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION APPROVED Meeting Minutes Regular Meeting on Thursday, June 20, 2024 1. CALL TO ORDER The duly noticed regular meeting of the Burlingame Parks & Recreation Commission was called to order by Chair Milne at 7:00 pm. 2. ROLL CALL COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Milne, Holzman, Brunello, Chang & Wettan COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Yu STAFF PRESENT: Parks & Recreation Director Glomstad, Parks Superintendent Holtz, Parks Supervisor Barron, Recreation Manager Acquisti, Recreation Supervisor Coggins, Recreation Supervisor Crossfield & Recording Secretary Helley OTHERS PRESENT: Jamie Russo, Perry Mizota, Kelly Hicky, Lisa Alms, Shep Maher, Jake Bauer, Ed Lagorg 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The May minutes will be available for approval at the July meeting. 4. CORRESPONDENCE Director Glomstad received an email thanking Kristine Herbert and Margaret Martin, the Department’s front office staff, for their kind, helpful and welcoming attitudes. The email was from a family that lived around the block, attended the drop-in/indoor playground program, and is moving out of the area. The program allowed their child to make friends and have a lot of interaction. They wanted to be sure to express their appreciation and gratitude for the wonderful community feel they received while living here and attending the programs. 5. PUBLIC COMMENTS 2 Parks & Recreation Commission APPROVED Minutes June 20, 2024 Lindsey McKeen – “I am a Burlingame resident for about eleven years. I am here tonight to represent LM Tennis Academy, where I coach, and I have a facility use permit with the City of Burlingame at Washington and Ray for all ages, kids and adults. I am here to let you know about an incident that happened two Fridays ago. I was on the court at Washington, where I have a permit, and there were three men drinking. I let them stay for about an hour and a half and then said to them would they mind not sitting on the court as it is making the child uncomfortable as they don’t want to sit next to you during the lesson, and they refused to leave. It made me feel really, really uncomfortable, also unsafe, concern for my safety because they had a bunch of coolers they were drinking. I reported it to Raphael, and luckily, Ray was there, and Edwin have both made an effort to stop by these last two Fridays to check on me while I am there because I have been really nervous to have that same issue happen again. I wanted to say a big Thank you to Ray, Edwin, and Raphael for coming to check on me. So you are aware, they were outside of the court last week; they were not on the court, but they were drinking again. They didn’t bother this time, but they were quite aggressive and confrontational. It was the same group of guys each time. It really made me feel better that I was able to get support from the security working. A big thank you to them.” 6. OLD BUSINESS None 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Review and Approval of the Tennis Court and Pickleball Court Rules Supervisor Crossfield introduced herself to Commission and briefly summarized the staff report. In summary, Washington Park has eight pickleball courts and three tennis courts. At Ray Park, there are two tennis courts, and one of the courts has two pickleball courts, while the other has just tennis courts. There are two tennis courts at Laguna, each with one pickleball court. Altogether, there are 15 pickleball courts and seven tennis courts. On May 10, staff contacted the tennis and pickleball community, asking for feedback regarding the currently posted rules. We currently have three sets of rules – rules for the tennis courts, rules for the pickleball courts, and rules for the joint tennis and pickleball courts. Comments were due by May 31, with eleven comments being received, one on the tennis rules. In general, the main feedback was to change the current pickleball court practice time of 45 minutes to 20 minutes, to remove the pickleball rule of using an underhand serve with the ball released below the waist (the reason for that is that a bounce serve is allowed as well, to add that pickleball players must fill all of Court one before using joint courts, and to add no strollers allowed on the courts. Additionally, staff recommends two more changes. Add “Private instruction is not permitted without the authorization of the Burlingame Parks and Recreation Department” to the tennis and joint rules. Add “Courts can be reserved for a fee” to the joint rules. The cost of the permanent signs would be approximately $1,100. Chair Milne opened Commission discussion. 3 Parks & Recreation Commission APPROVED Minutes June 20, 2024 Commissioner Holzman asked for clarification on whether the intention was also to put information on the signs about any reservation. Crossfield noted the wording on the signs would be changed to just “Reservation,” where it now says “Reservations for Special Events.” Holzman inquired if the warm-up/change-up time was standard. Crossfield stated the rules are the same as those that have been posted and are standard. Commissioner Wettan inquired what the impetus was for the no-stroller rule. Crossfield stated several comments in the survey, along with emails and phone calls from community members regarding strollers that take up space or have children in them, and concern for their safety. Wettan asked if the QR code on the signs was for all the Burlingame Municipal codes. Glomstad confirmed this to be the case and that any park rules to be enforceable by the Police Department need to be in the municipal code. Commissioner Brunello noted that with the QR code being on the sign, the tennis instructor who spoke earlier could have called the police as there is a municipal code prohibiting alcohol in the parks. Glomstad confirmed this to be correct. Brunello asked if the change of practice time from 45 minutes to 20 minutes when others were waiting on the pickleball court rules sign was to allow for more rapid movement. Crossfield noted that a typical pickleball game is between 11 – 15 minutes. If a group is trying to get in one game and then switch to the next group of people, it would be around 20 minutes, whereas a tennis game is much longer. Chair Milne opened public comment. Perry Mizota – “I live on Ray Drive and have been a Burlingame resident for a long time. I am a self-confessed pickleball addict. I want to thank the Commission for the new courts, the feedback has been just incredibly positive. When you walk by the amount of activity we are seeing is much greater than it used to be at all times of the day. Usually Tuesday and Thursday mornings have been quiet, this morning was very busy. I have played in a lot of places, not just Washington Park, but in 10 or so different places all over the United States, and I just want to express my support for the rules that are being proposed and the changes are consistent with the rules I have seen in other courts.” Unknown Lady – “I have a question about Laguna. There are no nets there. People have been bringing their own. Is that going to change at all? Where you’d have to change those lines on the court? And for Ray, the nets are rolling. Crossfield replied that pickleball players use the tennis nets at Laguna. There is currently no talk as yet about adding additional netting or lines for pickleball at those courts. She confirmed that the nets at Ray are portable nets. Emails received: Allie Nelson – “We love the courts at Washington Park, thank you! One observation for the 6/20 meeting is that the waiting player paddle rack should be moved to the outside of the entrance gate. 4 Parks & Recreation Commission APPROVED Minutes June 20, 2024 Court 1 is overrun with people standing on the sidelines talking and not seemingly not aware that players are playing. Foster City made the simple change of keeping the waiting players off the courts when not playing, and it works great. Thank you!” Armando Leigh – “I would like to offer some suggestions for the upcoming discussion on amending the playing time on the pickleball courts at Washington Park. Before I do, I would like to let you know of my involvement and experience with pickleball on the Peninsula: I have been playing pickleball since 2016. I am currently the South San Francisco Ambassador for USA Pickleball. I assisted in developing the Foster City Pickleball Club, and I am the past Vice President for that club for 4 years. I am a former employee for Bay Club in Burlingame as a Pickleball Instructor and Tournament Director for 2 years. I am currently the in-house Pickleball Instructor for Terrabay Gym in South San Francisco. I am the Pickleball Advisor for South San Francisco Parks and Recreation, working closely with Director Greg Mediati on all things pickleball. In regards to amending the time limit for play on pickleball courts, while players are waiting, I believe that 45 minutes is much too long and should be amended to 15 minutes. An average pickleball game usually lasts about 10-12 minutes, so 15 minutes per game is more than adequate to complete a game. I also recommend that the wording be changed on the signage from “practicing” to “drilling.” There is a difference between the two words. In regards to the rules board for the dual use tennis/pickleball courts, since a tennis set usually takes about 45 minutes to complete, I feel that it would only be fair to offer the same time frame for pickleball players, 45 minutes. I have listed below a sample of the rules board that I created for South San Francisco. You are welcome to use any part of it that you find useful. Thank you for your consideration. SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO PICKLEBALL COURT RULES Courts are for pickleball use only. Hours for open play are 9am to 9pm every day. Special hours for events such as tournaments, clinics, city-approved lessons or court maintenance will be posted at courts and on City’s website. Tournaments, leagues, clinics, paid lessons or any other organized play are not allowed without specific permission from the South San Francisco Parks and Recreation Department. QUEUE GUIDELINES: All courts are public and available to all players on a first come, first serve basis. Courts may not be held for continuous play. Discouraging players from waiting for a specific court is strictly prohibited. When players are waiting, total court time allowed for singles or doubles game play (including warm-up), or drilling is 15 minutes. Games will be played to 11 points, win by 2, first team to 15 points, or to 15 minutes, whichever occurs first. To wait for a court, place your paddle(s) in the corresponding paddle rack. ● If 4 players are waiting, then all players from completed game release court. ● If 3 players are waiting, then 1 player from winning team stays on. ● If 2 players are waiting, then winning team stays on. ● If 1 player is waiting, then 3 players stay on (winning team plus 1 player from losing team). SAFETY GUIDELINES: Do not walk behind adjacent courts while a rally is in play. Wait for the rally to end. If a ball rolls behind an adjacent court, alert the adjacent court immediately to stop the rally, then wait until play has ended to retrieve it. 5 Parks & Recreation Commission APPROVED Minutes June 20, 2024 The following are NOT allowed at any time: • Double stacking of paddles (playing a game while having a second paddle waiting on another court). • More than 2 balls used on the court. • Black sole shoes (only non-marking tennis or court shoes are allowed). • Dogs or other animals (except service dogs), leashed or unleashed. • Smoking of tobacco or E-Cig products. • Spitting on courts. • Profanity or unnecessary yelling. • Food and drink. Water is allowed in a sealed container. • Leaning or sitting on nets, or intentional damage to pickleball facility. • Chairs between courts or at court baselines (chairs safely placed along fences adjacent to court sidelines are allowed). PICKLEBALL CODE OF CONDUCT Pickleball is a social and inclusive sport. Players are expected to conduct themselves in a friendly and courteous manner at all times. All players are reminded that the goal is to provide an environment where all players can play the game to the best of their ability and have fun while doing so. SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO PARKS & RECREATION DEPARTMENT PARKS AND RECREATION CENTER (650) 829-3800 POLICE NON-EMERGENCY (650) 286-3380 FOR EMERGENCIES, CALL 911” Eric Nelson – “My wife and I often play pickleball at the newly surfaced courts at Washington Park. With courts being newly surfaced they are understandably in high demand. The issue now is that for the players who are waiting to play have to put their paddles in a case that hangs right next to court one. At high volume times there are 8-15 people standing by the case, and they are often too close to the court for safe play. Could we move the case to the outside fence so safety improves? With the waiting area being off the courts? This would prevent delays to games, improve safety for all and remove the log jam on the courts. Please let me know if you have any questions or need any help. Currently it is only 2 hooks so moving it should take 5 minutes.” Chair Milne closed Public Comment. Milne opened Commission discussion. Commission discussion included evaluating the size and content of the QR code on the rule signs and adding a QR code for reservation information, along with some reformatting for clearer reading. Commission collectively agreed to add the “No Strollers on Courts” rule to the tennis court sign, change the practice time from 45 minutes to 20 minutes, remove underhand serves, and add the two Lesson guidelines on the pickleball court rules sign. MOTION by Wettan to approve signs with the three additions and one removal as discussed by Commission. Motion seconded by Brunello. Motion approved 5-0-1 (Yu absent). 6 Parks & Recreation Commission APPROVED Minutes June 20, 2024 b. Burlingame Updated Field Use Policy Supervisor Coggins introduced the item and noted that it was to review the proposed updates to the policy, provide direction for the outstanding items, and approve an updated Field Use Policy. The policy was last updated in 2018. As written, it does not address the current usage or provide staff with enough guidance to make fair and equitable allocation decisions. In February of 2024, an Ad Hoc committee was created consisting of two council members, three commissioners, and four staff members. In addition, a review committee was created with two representatives from each field user organization. Staff compiled data from each group, including total participants, percentage of residents, and the requested months of field use for the Ad Hoc committee to review. In March, the Ad Hoc committee met and reviewed the current policy and discussed concerns about the policy and issues that staff encountered. The data provided by the user groups was reviewed, and a survey was sent out to the field users for feedback regarding the current policy. In April, the review committee met and discussed concerns and challenges with the existing policy, including possible solutions and recommendations for improving the policy. The following proposed changes resulted from that meeting and were sent to the Ad Hoc committee in May as a draft policy: 1. Change Validated Organization to Commission Approved Organization (CAO) a. This will remove the need for validation and the tier system and give all field users access to the fields based on the number of residents. 2. After the initial approval, each May thereafter, CAOs will submit: a. Board Member list to confirm board residency percentage b. Number of players from the previous year for each active season c. Insurance 3. Allocation Process a. Changed from 3 seasons to 4, with a Field Allocation Meeting for each season b. BPRD staff will send an email to the CAOs that includes the following: i. Amount of field slots available to select ii. Timeline for selecting field slots iii. Master Matrix c. CAO submits requests (including tournament requests) 4. BPRD staff will finalize field slot assignments a. For conflicts, BPRD would host a meeting to resolve b. Priority would go i. Percentage of residents ii. Volunteer coaches iii. Appropriate type of field 7 Parks & Recreation Commission APPROVED Minutes June 20, 2024 Coggins reported the allocation changes would add double the available time use slots by subdividing the larger fields. For example, Murray Field typically has two slots. Moving forward, Murray would be four slots. This creates more opportunities for organizations to be on the field. Another considered change was the allocation start time. Currently, the start time is 3:30 pm. The proposal was to change the start time to 4:00 pm to allow families and kids time to arrive from school without rushing. Coggins stated the hope that the Commission would make a determination on the following items: Should the percentage of resident board members be a minimum of 60%, or should it stay at the current 75%? Should the traditional primary season be added as a criterion to resolve conflicts with field space? Should the slot start time stay at 3:30 pm or the proposed start time of 4:00 pm? Coggins welcomed questions from Commission. Milne opened Commission discussion. Commissioner Brunello inquired if the rule on the percentage of resident board members is there to protect something that may have happened in the past. Glomstad stated that people who live in Burlingame have more of an interest in the needs of the City than someone who does not. Brunello said he was thinking of Lacrosse, which caters to a broad audience across multiple cities and might limit them from having the most qualified volunteers to serve on their board. Milne asked if the soccer club was the only organization with an issue with the 75% resident board member rule. Glomstad and Coggins confirmed that the soccer club brought the request forward and is the only group with it. Commissioner Chang noted the number of slots had been nearly doubled, but with the proposed changes, and if it was to be assumed that Burlingame Soccer Club was to meet that threshold and become a Commission Approved Organization, what would be the impact to each of the user groups field space. Recreation Coordinator Garcia stated that the staff studied what the historical data looked like and if the historical data was adapted to align with the new policy. The data was converted to provide an equally weighted view of what the allocations would look like under the new policy. Garcia reported the user group’s fall 2023 weekly allocated slots and what that same allocation would look like under the new policy. Allocated slots under the new policy with the additional slots available for BGS, BYBA, and St. Catherine would be less. It would be the same for the spring weekly slots. Commissioner Holzman inquired if groups have given back excess slots. She asked if the analysis looked at what a group “gave back” over and above what they traditionally use. Garcia said it does not. However, not all of the groups use their full allocation. So, theoretically, there is room to accommodate another organization if they run out of slots. 8 Parks & Recreation Commission APPROVED Minutes June 20, 2024 Glomstad noted that the soccer club always had slots even though they were not included in the initial round of allocations. However, they had to wait for everyone to give back slots. The new policy gives everyone something in the beginning. Glomstad noted she does not believe there will be the givebacks seen in the past. Groups would have six slots and have to put six teams out there instead of one field for all teams. Spring is different because the fields are not sub-divided, as the primary sport is baseball. Wettan asked how these numbers would change if groups were prioritized in their primary and secondary seasons. Garcia stated the numbers would remain the same. It would dictate who would receive first under the old policy. Under the new policy, everyone would be treated as equal. All groups would request slots at the same time. The groups would need to work together to find a resolution only if there was a conflict. Milne asked if there was an organization that requested the elimination of the preference for in- season allocation. Coggins stated he could not say it was a particular organization. However, organizations whose primary season may have been spring are now looking to increase what they offer in the fall. Glomstad noted more use requests out of the traditional seasons, which has resulted in this challenge. Milne stated that this is a fundamental question that the Commission has to grapple with now. Does the Commission want to encourage somebody to play the same sport year-round to the exclusion of all others? This policy leads towards this. Or do we want to encourage kids to play multiple sports at this age? Brunello stated that it is always up to the kids what they want to play. If AYSO has the demand to go from focusing on fall exclusively to practically being multiple seasons, he noted they should be allowed to do that. He felt that dissecting the fields in a granular fashion would allow more efficient use of the fields, and based on the numbers, it looked pretty good. Milne inquired who is asking for a fourth season. Glomstad replied that staff put the idea forward. Garcia stated the season that would be added is summer. In the past, summer has been allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis. By adding a summer season, it would keep things more structured. Milne asked why a lack of fields in the summer was added. Garcia responded that the Department ended the spring season this summer right after BYBA’s tournament. The summer season started on June 17, and BYBA sent a new schedule. If summer is allocated, the process will be more structured, as currently, there is no deadline to submit requests. Glomstad noted that if an organization is quick, it could take up all the spots. Holzman asked about the timing of the seasons. Garcia replied it follows the school schedule. Wettan inquired about groups that combine consecutive slots, which could be part of the criteria for tie breakers. Garcia stated that in the former policy, tiebreakers were resolved by Tiers and in/out of season. In the new policy, staff is committed to working with the groups to determine the best way to accommodate each group. Glomstad noted that it could be added to the criteria. 9 Parks & Recreation Commission APPROVED Minutes June 20, 2024 Wettan asked if the start time of 4 pm instead of 3:30 pm would knock out a slot in the evening. Garcia confirmed this to be the case. It was not included in the new format because most organizations do not want late-night slots. By removing the last slot, the main core of what the user groups ask for can be focused on. Wettan asked if a start time of 3:45 was considered – to split the difference. Garcia said it was not explored. Milne noted that 5:30 to 7pm would be useless before daylight savings. Wettan asked what time the kids got out of school. Staff stated they are released at 3 pm most days, with one day at 3:10pm. Wettan noted this gives families 20 minutes to go home, change, and return to the field. He asked if this was enough time to transition. Staff noted that if you live on the other side of town and there is traffic, it could be difficult to make it to the field on time. Milne stated that perhaps a 3:45 start time might be helpful, making it feasible to get across town. Chang noted that even with a 4 pm start, the 3:30 – 4 pm is still open and available. Glomstad noted the situation is complex and didn’t recommend having fields with different start times. She recommended trying the new policy for one full year with the timeslots as they are and then re-evaluating. Milne noted the most coveted slots are earlier. Brunello stated that the later start time impacts the field use. It can be difficult with a 3:30 pm start. However, you change in the car, and you make it happen. Holzman asked for clarification on the total versus the percentage used to determine the resident number. Garcia replied that if there were two groups, one had 50 participants, and the other had 100 participants. If both groups had 100% residents, it would be a 2/3 and 1/3 split. If the group with 100 participants had only 50 resident participants, it would be an even 50/50 split. It depends on how many residents an organization has compared to the total pool of residents across all the organizations. Wettan asked if these calculations are done separately for the fall and spring. Garcia stated yes. Milne opened public comment. Shep Maher – “I was here before the Commission in January. I represent Coyotes Lacrosse, and I would like to start with our asks, which are very simple. In January, I thought we had a rally productive discussion, and I had assumed that the points that we felt we carried in January would be in the field use policy. Number one, we would like to include language that gives adequate and appropriate protection to underserved sports. Girls flag football is becoming a varsity sport at the high school level. If there were a recreational option right now for girl’s flag football, the number of residents would be minimal, and they would get squeezed out for field allocation. Lacrosse falls in the same category. We are underserved, which is demonstrated by data. Simple example, in the San Mateo Unified School District, three high schools that have lacrosse programs: Aragon, 10 Parks & Recreation Commission APPROVED Minutes June 20, 2024 Burlingame, and Hillsdale, and the rest do not. In California, broadly speaking, 1400 schools have soccer programs for both boys and girls, and about 250 have lacrosse programs for boys and girls. Ok, it is demonstrably an underserved sport. That is not a subject of debate. It is empirical database evidence. Second, we would like to include language that gives adequate and appropriate priority to sports in their season. We try to be good partners in the fall and not request a ton of field space. Right now, we are getting squeezed between two giant soccer programs. The result is that you ’re going to end up narrowing the gene pool. Lacrosse provides a high school sport to kids who get cut from soccer, and I think some folks in this room have experienced that personally. The lacrosse teams are big, so you end up with probably about 120 kids who have an opportunity to play a high school sport. So, diversity of sports is critical. I just sent a recent article from UCSF Orthopedic surgeon about the importance of diversifying sports and how it can prevent injuries. We would love to see those two recommendations implemented.” Lisa Alms – “Years ago, I founded Coyotes Lacrosse Club, and we have always had field issues. Fall ball, correct me if I am wrong, as a recruiting opportunity because it’s got a smaller group of people. And a lot of, I don’t know the percentages anymore, but we are pretty much 50/50. Actually, it was probably more Burlingame than Hillsborough, and I understand the challenges of Hillsborough not having a Parks & Rec department, but it impacts greatly the Coyotes if it changes to 60-75% because that takes away a lot of the players. They play at Burlingame High School, that is where they go, and they do not go off to private schools. And the year-round soccer stuff has been squeezing them for a long time. I don’t think it’s healthy for the kids, and I don’t think it’s healthy for Burlingame. So, the year-round soccer thing, I think is a big issue, and I don’t think it’s good, and it’s squeezing the coyote’s ball. Again, it is a recruiting opportunity, so I wouldn’t get so hung up on the field space for the fall. I mean, it is important. I think Shep has indicated he would be willing to give up some slots. But that spring sport, it is a spring sport, and that has got to be protected and its got to matter. It just has to. It’s important. It is a great sport. It’s got a lot of players and we play, we get players, not a lot, but we get players from San Mateo and San Bruno. We had somebody from South City Actually, we had somebody from Pacifica way back when. At any rate, a lot of players, a lot of diversity, most of which are Burlingame and Hillsborough residents. And I understand the politics or whatever it is with Hillsborough. But it’s important, and I believe the Coyotes deserve protection and deserve expansion. If you can, I mean, I understand the slots allotments and everything, having also had to work on field. So, it matters. Thank you.” Meghan Dunne – “I am from Burlingame Girls Softball. I appreciate the dialogue. I think it is really helpful to bring up all the different positions. All three of my kids play, literally, like all of these ports so I have an invested interest in all of it. I appreciate to get to see these slides. I am disappointed to see that BGS is the only user group that is getting less in both fall and spring then what we actually used last year, not what we asked for but what we actually used last year. If the reduction is due to our percentage of residents, then we would argue that if all of OLA and St. Catherine Baseball get considered as residents, then all the BGS players from those two schools should also be considered as residents because they do not have a competing program. So, we are their home, we are their program and we have a ton of players from OLA and St. Catherine that play for BGS. That only seems fair, in my opinion. BGS routinely gives back space when not needed in both spring, fall, and summer. We also routinely get rained out in our primary season from our fields. We used every inch of turf space this past spring to keep up our scheduled games and practices. Unlike other sports hosting cities and traveling to other cities like soccer for example, this year are for our 10U and 12U programs played totally in-house. It is not like we got 11 Parks & Recreation Commission APPROVED Minutes June 20, 2024 rained out in Burlingame, but we got to play in Foster City. We didn’t have that option. We were in-house only, which was amazing, but there was nowhere else for us to play, if not our fields. We also cannot play in small spaces. We also cannot adequately practice in large spaces if we have a 14U and an 8U program going, it is completely unsafe, similar to Lacrosse, it is completely a safety hazard. We also agree with the primary season approach. To answer your question earlier, we do not promote fall. We are not out there rallying people for fall; it tends to be the girls that are most invested in the summer that want to continue playing, and we usually make larger teams that practice less and maybe travel more to include for the fact that they are playing other sports because we want to promote them playing multiple sports. So, it tends to be a larger team, smaller number of teams, less practice time, more kind of travel to different places. So, I guess, given everything, I would probably like to stay with the previous field use policy or at least make accommodations to some of the things I mentioned. Thanks.” Ed Lagore – “I am Ed Lagore from BYBA. I want to also back what you’ve previously heard that we are strongly in support of the primary season. We run our primary season in spring. Of course, we have a small number of teams running in the summer that do tournament ball, but during the fall, the primary sport activity for baseball is in association with BHS. We don’t run any organized seasons for our major league in the fall, so we don’t need a lot of time during that season really just want to make sure that we get the time we need during the spring and that with the fields we need to have the entire field for safety reasons. And so sub-dividing the outfield, for example, in spring would not work for us. Really want to support the primary season being respected and given priority during the allocation process. Thank you.” Erin Kinney – “I am with Coyotes, and I echo all of Shep’s points. I just wanted to note on the primary season, it may be difficult to quantify the underserved element that we are asking for, but with the primary season, there has to be a way to quantify that and figure that out without going back to a tiered system whether there’s a factor that you apply to the slots, something like that – just a suggestion. Thanks.” Jamie Russo – “I am with AYSO. I don’t have a lot of comments, but I thought there is a lack of clarity around what has changed soccer-wise. We have had a lot of demand for a spring program. We have always had a spring program, at least in my history, a spring program for 10U plus. We hosted this year for the first time a 5U to 8U program. Total participation was about 500 kids across the age groups, so we are part of the increase in demand for spring soccer space. I would say, I may be speaking personally, not for the board, supportive of making sure that programs that are heavily resident based are not losing space in a primary season. I am here if anybody has questions about that and providing in the spring an accessible soccer option for kids who cannot afford or aren’t qualified for other soccer options that are available in the spring.” Jake Bauer – “I am not a member of any board of any of the organizations, but I am a volunteer coach for AYSO, BGS and Coyotes. I just want to emphasize a lot of the points we heard, diversity, and how do we get that diversity. I think it is really protecting that primary season, I think that is the only way you will be able to have that. And I am all for secondary seasons for sports, but make that what fills in when the primary season has already had their spots. I think the risk from the current proposal is this crowding out, and we look at the data, it’s crowding out soccer and a lot of other sports. So, I think you got the job, for you guys is, how do you protect those primary seasons. 12 Parks & Recreation Commission APPROVED Minutes June 20, 2024 You have people like me and my kids that have had that diversity of sports and I think that this a great thing and a great thing about Burlingame. Thank you.” Milne closed Public Comment. Milne opened Commission discussion. Milne noted he had heard a lot of public comments about protecting the primary season, which had already been on his mind before the public comment opened. Wettan stated a few points. He was worried about using a straight numeric rule. While it protects staff, it doesn’t leave flexibility to resolve problems. The chart showed the notable impact on BGS, and there were a number of organizations that also had impacts. He also did not like the impacts on sports in their primary season. He agreed with what was said about encouraging multiple sports. He noted that it is important to protect sports in their primary season and emerging sports, such as girl’s flag football. He liked the new CAO structure but wanted to add protections for sports in their primary season and emerging sports floors. He thought the policy needed safeguards and a little discretion to benefit all users. Holzman stated it seems to her that the primary season needs some consideration. She noted a multiplier or a floor could work. The updated policy overall was fine. She thought the division of fields seemed a great improvement for all users. Glomstad noted that subdividing primarily helps soccer as they can practice in a smaller space. Wettan asked if the one-and-a-half-hour slots could be changed. Glomstad stated she has always thought the slots could be shorter but would defer to softball and baseball. When the policy was originally created, that length of the slot was because of baseball and softball and how they play their games. Milne stated his thoughts are similar to those of others. There is a lot to like in the new policy. However, he is reticent not to protect the primary season. Glomstad stated staff will be dividing up the fields for the next year to determine how it works for the process. Glomstad confirmed with the Commission that staff would work on updates to capture the comments made at the meeting and have the Ad Hoc Committee review them before coming back to Commission with the revisions. Staff would come back to Commission in August or September. Commission agreed to this plan. MOTION by Wettan to approve the sub-dividing of the fields. Motion seconded by Brunello. Motion approved 5-0-1 (Yu absent). 8. STAFF AND COMMISSIONER REPORTS a. Parks & Recreation Department Reports 13 Parks & Recreation Commission APPROVED Minutes June 20, 2024 Glomstad reported that the first Music in the Park would be on June 28 with Neon Velvet. b. Commissioners Reports Commissioner Wettan - Participated in the Get in the Game event, found a couple of younger kids looking for volunteer opportunities, and gave them information for the Youth Advisory Committee. Commissioner Holzman – No Report Commissioner Brunello – No Report Commissioner Chang – No Report Commissioner Milne – No Report FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Field Use Policy 9. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:05 pm. The next meeting of the Parks & Recreation Commission is scheduled to be held in person on Thursday, July 18, 2024, at 7:00 pm. Respectfully submitted, Joleen Helley Recording Secretary