Parks and Recreation Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Parks and Recreation Commission Wednesday, October 9, 2019 7:00 PM Neighborhood Room - Recreation Center, Sunnyvale Community Center, 550 E. Remington Dr., Sunnyvale, CA 94087 CALL TO ORDER Chair Kenton called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. in the Neighborhood Room at the Community Center, Recreation Building. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chair Kenton led the salute to the flag. ROLL CALL Present: 3 - Chair Ralph Kenton Vice Chair Prakash Giri Commissioner Henry Alexander III Council Liaison Melton (present) ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None CONSENT CALENDAR 1 19-0806 Approve the Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes of September 11, 2019 Vice Chair Giri moved and Commissioner Alexander III seconded, the motion to approve the Parks and Recreation Commission Revised Minutes of September 11, 2019 as submitted. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 3 - Chair Kenton Vice Chair Giri Commissioner Alexander III No: 0 City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes - Final October 9, 2019 Chair Kenton noted that under Commissioner Comments, it stated Tennis Center, when should be Tennis Club. Staff will correct. PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS 2 19-0907 Review and Provide Feedback to the City Manager to Approve the Age Friendly Action Plan Superintendent of Community Services, Damon Sparacino informed the commission that the recommendation should be: Provide feedback to the City Manager prior to approval of the Age Friendly Action Plan. Community Services Manager, Tracy Gott, gave a presentation on Sunnyvale's Age Friendly Action Plan. Highlights included: What is an Age Friendly City, Age Friendly Sunnyvale, Purpose, Assessments Used in Action Plan Development, Goals and Objectives and What's Next. The commission was informed that this would be going to Council on November 12 as an Information Only item. Commissioners inquired: -Where do we currently stand for each goal? - How are you evaluating the success of the plan? - Do you have anything included for Veterans? - Do you plan on doing a more detailed plan with real metrics? - Do you plan on tracking what you do and how things change? Ms. Gott responded: - Once the plan is approved, we will be able to see where we are and use actions in the back of the plan to move us forward. - The back of the plan has an implementation strategy that shows how we will measure our success. - We could, we also have a fairly robust Care Management Program at the Senior Center. I will take note to show how we could include Veterans. - Right now, no, we are not planning to show a more detailed plan. If one of the committees wants to take an item and do additional metrics for it, we could further expand. - Yes, we plan on tracking our actions. Community member, Fabio Rupp commented: - It would be great to see older adults as resource and have them volunteer to assist others. City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes - Final October 9, 2019 Ms Gott responded: - That is a great point. We do plan on working on intergenerational programs. After all questions were addressed, Chair Kenton called for a motion. Commissioner Alexander III moved and Commissioner Giri seconded the motion to Recommend the City Manager approve the Friendly Action Plan. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 3 - Chair Kenton Vice Chair Giri Commissioner Alexander III No: 0 STANDING ITEM: CONSIDERATION OF POTENTIAL STUDY ISSUES Chair Kenton invited the public to speak on 19-1003 as many were in attendance. Eight members of the public spoke regarding dogs in parks: - Cynthia Hayes Rupp - Stan Huang - Caren Rickhoff - Karen Platt - Erin Wessel - Kevin Merritt - Terry Sturtevant - Carol Stanek All wish to have an off leash area in park(s) during certain times of the day. An additional 11 community members were in attendance in support of off leash areas in parks. 19-1001 Discussion and Consideration of Potential Study Issue: Revisit RTC 13-111 and Update Feasibility of a Recreational Park at Sunnyvale Landfill Vice Chair Giri spoke on his potential study issue: Evaluate Feasibility of a Recreational Park at the Sunnyvale Landfill. Commissioners inquired: City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes - Final October 9, 2019 - Would you consider adjusting to including this in City's parks plan? - Based upon the last report which was very detailed, is it feasible to do a park with no structures? - Did you think about getting a partner to assist with cost? Vice Chair Giri or Staff responded: - There were some concerns to adding this location as a park, including the loss of it as a natural resource and cost (Superintendent Stark) - We could look at getting assistance and keep as is, just grade top area. After all questions were answered, Chair Kenton asked for a motion. Commissioner Giri moved to move forth with his potential study issue. The motion failed due to lack of a second. 19-1002 Discussion and Consideration of Potential Study Issue: Evaluate Feasibility of Sunnyvale LCS Hosting Pet Parade Event Annually Vice Chair Giri spoke on his potential study issue: Evaluate Feasibility of Sunnyvale LCS Hosting Pet Parade Event Annually. Commissioner Alexander III and Chair Kenton both expressed their support. Chair Kenton asked for a motion. Vice Chair Giri moved and Commissioner Alexander III seconded the motion to move forth with the Evaluate Feasibility of Sunnyvale LCS Hosting Pet Parade Event Annually study issue. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 3 - Chair Kenton Vice Chair Giri Commissioner Alexander III No: 0 19-1003 Discussion and Consideration of Potential Study Issue: Evaluate Feasibility of Dog Off-Leash Hours in Select Sunnyvale Park(s) Vice Chair Giri spoke on his potential study issue: Evaluate Feasibility of Dog Off-Leash Hours in Select Sunnyvale Park(s). Commissioners inquired: - Is there a certificate or license program that people could apply for related to this? City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes - Final October 9, 2019 - Are infractions part of the plan? - If it is based on self-accountability, how would violations be enforced? Is the City responsible for law suits? - Have we spoke to Cupertino regarding any legal issues? - When did Cupertino start their trial? - Do you (Cupertino) have requirements posted? - If we move forward, will these items be addressed? Staff,Carol Stanek (from Cupertino) or other public responded: - Yes, the Department of Public Safety is looking at licensing and training options as well as ordinance changes. (Superintendent Stark) - I am not aware of any infractions. (Superintendent Stark) - In the past, the City Attorney recommend not moving forward on a similar study due to potential liabilities (Superintendent Stark) - Cupertino has changed some of their laws (Carol Stanek) - The trial started on October 1 (Carol Stanek) - We (Cupertino) do have posted signs (Carol Stanek) - We watch out for one another and inform others if their dog did something (Debbie Merritt) - Yes, these items will be addressed (Superintendent Stark) After all questions were answered, Chair Kenton asked for a motion. Vice Chair Giri moved and Commissioner Alexander III seconded the motion to move forth with the Evaluate Feasibility of Dog Off-Leash Hours in Select Sunnyvale Park(s) study issue. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 3 - Chair Kenton Vice Chair Giri Commissioner Alexander III No: 0 19-1004 Discussion and Consideration of Potential Study Issue: Assessment of Needs for Additional/Expanded Outdoor Racket Sports Programs and Facilities Chair Kenton spoke on his potential study issue: Assessment of Needs for Additional/Expanded Outdoor Racket Sports Programs and Facilities. Commissioners inquired: City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes - Final October 9, 2019 - Is cricket included in the racket sports? - Are things growing with racket sports? - Are the local Pickleball courts in use at the Tennis Center and any other places? - How will this interfere with the Tennis community? - Do we have the usage numbers from the courts at parks? Chair Kenton or Staff responded: - Yes, cricket is included and thinks it should include all racket sports. - Yes it a growing sport, there are 1000+ people in a local Pickleball Association. - Yes, the Pickleball courts are full at the Tennis Center. Ms. Gott, noted that the indoor courts on Monday are full as well. - We have had a lot of discussion on this topic and will need to look into it. Right now, things are working. - Superintendent Stark replied that we do not keep metrics, however, will reach out to Lifetime to see if they have any metrics. After all questions were answered, Chair Kenton asked for a motion. Vice Chair Giri moved and Commissioner Alexander III seconded the motion to move forth with the Assessment of Needs for Additional/Expanded Outdoor Racket Sports Programs and Facilities study issue. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 3 - Chair Kenton Vice Chair Giri Commissioner Alexander III No: 0 19-0697 Review Draft Study Issue Paper: Sunnyvale Parks Waste Initiative Commissioner Alexander II spoke briefly on the paper and study issue. There were no questions of the commissioners. Chair Kenton asked if there was a motion. Commissioner Alexander III moved and Chair Kenton seconded the motion to accept and move forward the Sunnyvale Parks Waste Initiative study issue paper. The motion carried by the following vote: City of Sunnyvale Page 6 Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes - Final October 9, 2019 Yes: 3 - Chair Kenton Vice Chair Giri Commissioner Alexander III No: 0 19-0997 Parks and Recreation Commission Proposed Study Issues, Calendar Year: 2020 Staff informed the commissioners that any items voted to move forward today would be added to this document. 19-0996 Rank Parks and Recreation Commission Proposed 2020 Study Issues Superintendent of Community Services, Damon Sparacino, informed the commissioners that we would be ranking in January. NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments Chair Kenton informed the commissioners that City Council voted last night and that the Parks and Recreation commission will have two new commissioners: Lauren DeCarlo and Mike Michitaka. -Staff Comments Superintendent of Community Services, Damon Sparacino, passed out the Superintendent's Report and briefly covered the items in the report. Superintendent of Parks and Golf, Jim Stark shared that the following: - Council entered into an agreement with the City of Santa Clara. Santa Clara is closing their golf course and Sunnyvale will be an exclusive partner. They will be referring their teams over to us and we will give Santa Clara residents the Sunnyvale resident rate. It is a 5-year agreement. - The cricket study issue is moving forward and should be in Purchasing within the next week to hire a consultant. - We are coming into working on the Plaza del Sol Phase 2 capital project. We will be looking at what amenities we can put at the plaza. Staff will be providing outreach with the first one being at the plaza. He will make sure that the Parks and City of Sunnyvale Page 7 Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes - Final October 9, 2019 Recreation commissioners are aware of the meetings. - Parks will be removing the large eucalyptus tree near the Arts Center (across from the Theatre) as it is in decline and does pose a hazard. Another tree will be planted in its place. - Ornamental ponds, except the Community Center's will be drained the first week in November. The plan is to refill them next summer. ADJOURNMENT Chair Kenton adjourned the meeting at 8:35 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 8