Recreation and Parks Commission Meeting

CITY OF PLACERVILLE RECREATION & PARKS COMMISSION September 21, 2022, 5:30 p.m. MINUTES PRESENT: Recreation & Parks Commission: Kristin Becker, Andrew Mathews, Kelley Rogers, Mark Sandperl, and Steven Vance. Recreation & Parks Staff: Matt Lishman and Terry Zeller. ABSENT: GUESTS: None ADOPTION OF AGENDA: Mrs. Becker made a motion to adopt the agenda. Mr. Sandperl seconded the motion. Motion approved unanimously. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Mrs. Becker made a motion to approve the minutes of March 16, 2022. Mr. Rogers seconded the motion. Motion approved unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENT: None PRESENTATION: El Dorado Trail Bike Patrol: Mr. Klapinstien who is a member of the American River Bike Patrol gave a presentation. This group started about two years ago and there are approximately 80 members. This group is about two years old and patrols the bike trail. Trail patrol volunteers usually patrol in pairs. They are asking for the City to endorse and authorize them to patrol the City portion of the trail. Mr. Zeller stated the City is excited to have them be a part of the trail. ACTION ITEMS: Request for Waiver, Hwy 50 display, Images of Hope: Mrs. Wendy Goossen, who is the founder of Images of Hope which started 10 years ago. They provide all the pink lights downtown during the month of October to bring awareness to breast cancer. They are asking to allow their pink ribbons to be put up for the entire month of October. Marshall Hospital decorates the Bell Tower and Images of Hope does the rest. The last couple years they were allowed to keep their flags up for 3 weeks and brought them down for Brian Ishmael Day. They asked for the entire month this year but were denied the opportunity for them to be up for longer than a week. They are only asking for one more week then what they have had in the past. Mr. Zeller shared with the Commission that when Caltrans did their widening project, they put the poles up to make the tree program safer and able to light trees. Sometime after the first use there was a movement through the City to offer this area to other things. Mr. Zeller stated the application says it is only allowed to be up for one week according to the rules and regulations, but this was not followed. Mr. Zeller stated with the one week rule it is a good balance of having a display and an opportunity for other displays. If we do set this precedent, it may bring out others who want a month which may limit how many displays can go up. Mrs. Becker shared with the Commission there had been times she had a banner put up on Main Street and since there was no one after her she was able to keep it up for two weeks. She stated Mr. Zappattinis letter asked if no other non-profit asks for the space that they be allowed to keep it up. Mrs. Becker stated she is in favor of allowing them to be up longer. Mr. Mathews suggested we re-evaluate the rules. Mr. Rogers stated he feels a month is good for the pink ribbons. Mr. Mathews suggested if you are going to commit to this you should be required to put them on all the poles. Mrs. Becker made a motion to revise the policy to include a minimum time frame to submit and in the event there is no other organization then one week can be extended up to a month. Mr. Vance 2nd the motion. Motion approved unanimously. STAFF REPORTS: Lions Park Maintenance, Conditions and Turf program update: Mr. Zeller reported that he has brought this forward because of the conditions of the ball fields at the park. Lions Park was dedicated to the City in 1953 by the Lions Club. Mr. Zeller shared that a lot of the infrastructure is failing. There is a supervisor and 3 park employees. Mr. Zeller said he is working on an overall plan that he will bring to the Commission. Mr. Zeller stated that the turf on both fields was renovated many years ago but the irrigation system was not adequate and the soil profile is pretty poor. Mr. Zeller stated that in 2019 the first thing he did was get soil samples and is currently working on the 3rd year of that program. Just today Mr. Zeller met with more consultants who dug a little deeper than the first group did. The folks Mr. Zeller met with today handle the River Cats Stadium and some Universities. In addition, the gophers are causing many disruptions contributing to large bare patches of the ground. This July the City contracted with Hangtown Pest Control. Mr. Zeller shared that watering is only taking place at night. Mr. Zeller also discussed with the consulting group today that the infield lip needs to be cut out by an outside contractor. Mr. Zeller also received some advice on adding some clay to the infield mix which they just did at the River Cats Stadium. The biggest issue is the irrigation system. There have been several breaks with some in the same area over and over. We do not have head-to-head coverage on the sprinklers. Mr. Zeller is working on a plan to replace the irrigation system. Mr. Zeller is also working on replacing the lighting like he did in Chico when he was there and it made a huge difference. Mr. Zeller is taking this on personally as he was a park planner for 10 years. Mr. Mathews asked Mr Zeller how much it would cost to completely re-do the field. Mr. Zeller stated that the group he talked to today suggested not starting over. Mr. Zeller stated top-dressing and overseeding needs to be done to even out the playing area. Completely taking the fields off line could take approximately 18 months. Mrs. Becker asked if there is a time frame and obstacles. Mr. Zeller stated he has money in the budget for turf management. Mr. Zeller is looking at contracting out as much as possible. Mr. Zeller is working on soil amendments. Mr. Zeller stated the sports lighting project can be changed out for free and the cost saving of utility bills get paid overtime. This is not going to be one run through the budget process. Mr. Mathews suggested pulling in service clubs to make things happen. Someone in the audience suggested a turf field be put in. Someone else asked why we would not address irrigation first? Mr. Zeller stated we can have people sign waivers to volunteer. Members of the audience shared many injuries. Mr. Rogers stated maybe an ad hoc Committee be formed for Lions Park such as the County had for the skate park. A representative from the Senior Softball league asked what they can do to help. Mr. Zeller shared that they have started watering at night because the dogs are biting the sprinklers. Mr. Zeller said he will give out his email and everyone can email him. Once play ends in November they will be cutting infield lip down, warning tracks, gophers, etc. Mr. Zeller worked with artificial turf fields in Reno with 11 ball fields that had astroturf. He stated the maintenance was actually harder than grass and it gets very hot. It’s a lot easier to do it in the midwest where Mr. Zeller is from. Rachel Sarette asked if it was clear that none of their funds go to park maintenance. Mr. Zeller confirmed that park maintenance comes out of a separate account. He shared that the City tries to cover the direct costs. The batters boxes need to be fixed with clay. Upper field bleachers 3rd board from the top should be replaced ASAP. Update on projects for Fuel Reduction: Mr. Zeller shared this with the Commission. Recreation for Youth Fund Update: Mr. Lishman reported that since the last report there were 10 requests for funding in the amount of $514.50. There were $525.00 in donations. The projected fund balance is $13,818.77. Meeting adjourned at 7:46 pm