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P&R 04-01-10 APPROVED MINUTES PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION CITY OF CUPERTINO Regular Meeting April 1, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. Community Hall Council Chamber 10350 Torre Avenue, Cupertino 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Stauffer called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Hall Council Chamber, 10350 Torre Avenue, Cupertino, CA. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3. ROLL CALL Commissioners present: Debbie Stephens Stauffer, David Lee, Jeanne Bradford, David Greenstein and Darcy Paul Staff present: Mark Linder, Donna Henriques 4. MISCELLANEOUS — NO ACTION REQUIRED A. Staff oral reports Director Linder said the Big Bunny Fun Run is this coming Saturday, April 3 and there are 470 participants that have pre- registered for this event. He said there could be as many as 80 people register the day of the race. Director Linder also said he will be attending a working session in Washington DC on April 8 and 9 related to the Federal government partnering with local community involvement efforts. He also said the Parks and Recreation Summer Program Brochure will be coming out on April 15 and Cupertino resident registration will begin on April 20. In addition, the department will be advertising, with coupon offers in the "C" Magazine, to help promote the Summer Programs. B. Commissioner contacts Commissioner Paul said he attended the Mayor's meeting in March and highlighted the activities and community events of the various Commissions. 1 5. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING A. Regular meeting of March 7, 2010 Action: Commissioner Greenstein made a motion to accept the minutes and Commissioner Lee seconded the motion. The motion carried 4 — 1 with Commissioner Paul abstaining due to his absence at the March meeting. 6. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS — None 7. PRESENTATION A. Proclamation for Helping Hands and Monta Vista Interact Club. Commissioner Greenstein presented a Proclamation from Mayor Kris Wang to Yujia Ding. Yujia organized a group of students from Monta Vista High School Interact Club to help keep our City parks clean. The group named themselves Helping Hands, created their own logo and started their own website: v 'ww.helpinahandscupertino.orQ Commissioner Greenstein, who has worked with Helping Hands, and Yujia, said that anyone who is interested can sign up to work with Helping Hands. You can email Yujia helpinghandscupertino@gmail.com B. Anne Ng, Board member of Friends of Stevens Creek Trail Anne Ng handed out a brochure regarding the Friends of Stevens Creek Trail. She said they are working on a new brochure and map that should be completed this summer. The new map will include Cupertino and Mountain View and the areas in between that will be linked together by the new trail. Anne gave a brief history of the Friends of Stevens Creek Trail, which was founded in 1992. In 2009, the Joint Cities Group was started to incorporate Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Los Altos and Cupertino to complete the trail to Stevens Creek Boulevard. Anne said she feels that there should be uniform sigr..age for the 4 Joint Cities all along the trail. She asked Director Linder to propose the signage at the next Joint Cities meeting in May. Commissioner Bradford thanked Anne for all her years of service to Cupertino and her efforts on completing the trail. Anne introduced the Executive Director, Aaron Grossman, who also thanked Anne for her service. In addition, he thanked the City of Cupertino for their support and for housing their small office at McClellan Ranch. She also 2 introduced Ross Heitkamp, the president of their group. He said he would be happy to come back next year to update the Commission on the progress of the trail. Mr. Grossman said the por_ion of the trail that crosses Highway 85, in Mountain View on the Sunnyvale side, is scheduled for next year. He said for updated information on the trail, people can be added to their "no- spam" email list at: stevenscreektrail.org. Also, their group meets monthly, on the 4 Thursday evening of the month, at the McClellan Ranch House. Their group offered to help organize an annual creek clean- up day for Cupertino. 8. NEW BUSINESS A. Discuss bird and geese issue in Memorial Park Director Linder said the feces problem at Memorial Park has gotten worse and it has become a health issue. Primarily, this problem is due to people who continually feed the ducks and geese at the Park. He offered several recommendations in his staff report to help alleviate this problem. Commissioner Bradford said the time has come to help move the ducks and geese out of Memorial Park so that people can walk on the grass and pathways without having to walk through feces. Many residents have complained about not being able to take their children to the park due to the health risks. She feels the staff recommendations would not be strong enough measures and would like to try using the non -toxic spray on the grass. Commissioner Stauffer agreed and said that using the non -toxic spray may not be as harmful or toxic as the layers of feces on every pathway, bench, play structure, fence and all over the grass. She said there are numerous parent/child groups that won't go to Memorial Park anymore because of the disgusting and harmful Feces. Commissioner Greenstein said he also agrees with using the non -toxic spray but feels that if this process doesn't work, the City may have to try more punitive measures. Director Linder said that the City of San Jose and Campbell have both used "Geese- Busters" which involves dogs chasing and scaring off the water fowl. Commissioner Greenstein asked Director Linder for a comparison of the costs between Geese - Busters, and the use of the non- toxic spray. 3 Action: Commissioner Bradford made a motion to recommend using the non -toxic spray on the grass at Memorial Park. Commissioner Greenstein seconded the ;motion. Commissioner Lee asked Director Linder if the non -toxic spray was permanent and he said no, that the grass would have to be treated on a recurring basis during the season when the ponds are filled with water. Director Linder will ask the Parks Maintenance department to put together a budget proposal, comparing both processes that will be given to the Commission. Action on the previous motion: The motion carried unanimously. Action: Commissioner Greenstein made a motion to approve the five recommendations presenl:ed by Director Linder in the staff report. Commissioner Paul asked if the 5 recommendations would be cost - effective. Commissioner Greenstein said that it's important for the community to receive ongoing education, in addition to proceeding with any other processes that may help alleviate the water fowl problem. Commissioner Paul agrees with the education of the community and to help them understand why they can no longer feed the ducks. Commissioner Stauffer agrees with most of the recommendations, but is not in favor of requesting staff and park maintenance staff to provide the feedback to the community. but she would like to see some basic educational improvement. Action: Commissioner Bradford seconded the motion. The motion carried 4 -1 with Commissioner Stauffer voting no. B. Council Work Plan for FiscJl Year 2010/2011 Director Linder gave the Commission a copy of the updated Council Work Plan for them to review. He would like the Commission's comments on the proposed Parks and Recreation 2010/2011 Capital Improvement Budget at the next meeting on May 6. 4 9. ADJOURNMENT - Chairperson Stauffer adjourned the meeting at 7:59 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Donna Henriques, Administrative A sistant Minutes approved at the May 6, 2010 regular meeting 5