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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - PR - 2024.11.211 Parks & Recreation Commission APPROVED Minutes November 21, 2024 PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION APPROVED Meeting Minutes Regular Meeting on Thursday, November 21, 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, Curtis, Brunello, Holzman, Chang & Wettan COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Yu STAFF PRESENT: Parks & Recreation Director Glomstad, Recreation Manager Acquisti, Parks Superintendent Holtz & Supervisor Barron 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Brunello made a motion to approve the minutes as written. The motion was seconded by Commission Wettan, and the motion was approved. 6-1 (Yu absent) 4. CORRESPONDENCE None 5. PUBLIC COMMENTS None 6. OLD BUSINESS None 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Parks Service Level Prioritization 2 Parks & Recreation Commission APPROVED Minutes November 21, 2024 Superintendent Holtz thanked the Commission for the opportunity to discuss service levels and park service. He stated that all services provided by the Parks Division come at a cost. Most of the services do not have a fee to cover the cost of the service. Some requests or services only benefit a smaller portion of the community, while others reach a broader group. When staff demands exceed the available resources, decisions need to be made about the level of services, how often tasks are completed, or which services will no longer be provided; an example is lining athletic fields for sports organizations. Parks staff completed an exercise prioritizing some common services provided in their daily operations. Parks and Recreation Commissioners completed the same exercise with similar results at the previous meeting. The exercise aimed to identify those services that should be prioritized should available resources decline or current demands increase. The results indicated that safety and related safety items such as inspections and restroom maintenance are the highest priorities. General maintenance areas such as irrigation, trees, landscaping, and turf fall in the middle of the prioritization ranking. Areas that are not major parks, ballfield maintenance, and special projects received the lowest priority rating. Staff have developed a draft service level prioritization schedule utilizing the general assessment of routine service tasks. The service level prioritization schedule is intended to be a working document that helps guide decision-making in times of limited resources. Decision makers would be equipped with this document and recorded data from Parks staff task entries into the GIS asset management system to make prudent decisions and prioritize tasks that benefit the community most. Adjustments will need to be made over time due to the changing legal responsibilities of the City, additional assets gained, such as new parks or areas to maintain, cultural trends, and the shifting demographics of our community. Holtz mentioned other things that affect the amount of staff time available include the use of eco- friendly tools and the increase in water retention landscaped areas. He also noted several new parks that parks staff will now care for. Commissioner Brunello asked if there has ever been a public-private partnership where a local company adopts a garden or a park to help. Holtz responded that it had been done. Those programs are only as good as the person volunteering. Usually, one person gets it mobilized, but after a time, they back off, and then everyone else drops off as well. Staff has seen this with the Rose Garden, tree watering, and Mills Canyon maintenance. Staff is always open to it, but it still requires staff time to set up and monitor. Commissioner Wettan inquired if the Burlingame Parks & Recreation Foundation helped fund any of these activities. Holtz replied that the Foundation has not supported projects with an endowment; however, they have purchased amenities for Parks that our staff install and maintain. 3 Parks & Recreation Commission APPROVED Minutes November 21, 2024 Commission Milne noted the Foundation gets a “wish list” from the department and they will raise a certain amount of money to contribute. These items tend to be one-time payments rather than ongoing funding. Commissioner Wettan noted the art installations are wonderful. He said that staff should consider additional funds from the donor for the ongoing maintenance costs. He suggested charging more fees to cover the costs of the service. Holtz stated fees for service is more applicable to the Recreation Division. Programs that serve the greater good should be subsidized. He also said that an endowment would be good. Wettan inquired about tree maintenance. He asked if some private institutions or volunteers would be interested in taking on things like watering the trees. Holtz noted that passionate groups of people have wanted to help. He didn’t think it could completely replace staff time. Wettan suggested talking to the Burlingame Neighborhood Network to help get volunteers. Commissioner Holzman asked if there is a fee associated with some private/public partnerships, such as Oculus, and if they are contributing in any way. Director Glomstad replied no fees are being paid on an ongoing basis. 8. STAFF AND COMMISSIONER REPORTS a. Parks & Recreation Department Reports Manager Acquisti reported the upcoming annual tree lighting on December 6. The Town Square project will start construction on January 6. Adrian Park is now open to the public with two off leash areas. Laguna Park construction has started. b. Commissioners Reports Commissioner Curtis – No Report Commissioner Holzman – No Report Commissioner Brunello –Reported that BYBA is requesting 90-foot pegs for bases on Bayside Field 2. These pegs are for ages 14U, approximately 70 participants in the current program would benefit from this. Unfortunately, the resources to make this happen are not currently available. Commissioner Wettan reported he and Commissioner Milne attended the opening of the Mobility Hub, which looks fantastic. He also attended the opening of Cuernavaca Park which also looks great. Commissioner Chang – No Report Commissioner Milne – No Report 4 Parks & Recreation Commission APPROVED Minutes November 21, 2024 FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 9. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:02 pm. The next meeting of the Parks & Recreation Commission is scheduled to be held in person on Thursday, December 19, 2024, at 7:00 pm. Respectfully submitted, Joleen Helley Recording Secretary