Loading...
P&R 12-1-11 APPROVED MINUTES PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION CITY OF CUPERTINO Regular Meeting December 1, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. Community Hall, 10350 Torre Avenue, Cupertino, CA Note: This meeting will be televised 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Darcy Paul 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: Darcy Paul, David Greenstein, Marcia St.Clair, David Fu:lg, David Lee Commissioners absent: None Staff present: Mark Linder, Molly James, Tom Walters, Gail Seeds, Tirnm Borden, Donna Henriques 4. MISCELLANEOUS—NO ACTION REQUIRED A. Staff oral reports Director Mark Linder reported teat the Community Tree Lighting event is this coming Friday, December 2, from 6:00— 7:00 pm at the Quinlan Community Center. The following day, Saturday, is Breakfast with Santa from 8:30— 10:00 am, also at the Quinlan Community Center. Registration is needed for the Breakfast, but anyone may attend the Tree Lighting event. Also, you may sign up for a visit from Santa to your home by registering online or at the Quinlan Community Center. B. Commissioner contacts Commissioner Fung reported that he attended the October Mayor's and Commissioners' meeting. He said that each Commissioner reported on the projects their respective Commissions are working on at this time. Commissioner Greenstein reported that the Parks and Recreation Department and The Friends of Cupertino Library are hosting two weekends of Teen Study Days at Community Hall from 12:00 noon until 1 5:45 p.m., on Saturday and Sunday, December 3, 4, 10 & 11. Middle School and High School age students are invited to come and study for finals. Free food will be provided. Chairperson Paul reported that he attended San Francisco Shakespeare Festival's traveling production of Othello and said it was very impressive. 5. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING A. Regular meeting of October 6, 2011 Action: Commissioner Greenstein made a motion to approve the minutes and Commissioner Fung seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously with one abstention due to Commissioner Lee's absence in October. B. Regular meeting of November 3, 2011 Action: Commissioner Fung asked to have the updated documents provided by Gail Seeds at the November meeting added to the minutes. Commissioner Greenstein made a motion to approve the minutes and Commissioner Lee seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously. 6. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Judy Klinger spoke about the ongoing problem with the violation and enforcement of the City Ordinance for dogs being off-leash in Hoover Park. Mrs. Klinger said there was a recent incident of a resident walking her dog on-leash, who was attacked by two large off-leash dogs. The resident's dog was injured so the resident called the Sheriff and filed a report with Animal Control. To date, they have been unable to locate the owner of the two large black dogs and Ms. Klinger is concerned about the lack of enforcement of the off-leash laws. She said that she also contacted Director Linder and he has informed Code Department of this problem. She wanted to inform the Commission of this on-going off-leash problem and lack of enforcement. 7. OLD BUSINESS Note: Chairperson Paul rearranged the agenda so Project Cornerstone will present first and the Stevens Creek Corridor Phase II update will move to the last item. 2 A. Project Cornerstone update Director Linder introduced Soma McCandless, staff representative from Project Cornerstone, who gave a brief update on their Silicon Valley Youth Survey results. Ms. McCandless said that Project Cornerstone is a non-profit organization which is a part of the YMCA. The mission of Project Cornerstone is to mobilize the adults in the community to support youth and to create a web of support around them so that they can thrive. They try to accomplish this support through a research-based child developmental model called the Developmental Assets. These Developmental Assets are the positive values, relationships, skills and experiences that help young people thrive. In Fall 2010, Project Cornerstone administered Search Institute surveys to 38,000 students in more than 200 elementary, middle and high schools in 26 Santa Clara County school districts. The surveys measure developmental asset levels as well as thriving indicators and risk behaviors. For the statistics and information presented by Soma at tonight's meeting, please go to their website: www.projectcornerstone.com B. Post-season update on Blackberry Farm and Stevens Creek Corridor Trail green policies— Molly James, Recreation Coordinator Molly gave a brief overview of the Trail rules and policies and said that there have been no changes to these policies or the Green policies in the last three years. Since last summer, the City has been operating the Blackberry Café so the materials used for food service are consistent with the Park's Green policies. They are currently working with other City departments so they can "officially" begin composting throughout the Park when opening in May 2012. Due to decreasing the capacity of the Blackberry Farm picnic grounds from 800 to 525 people, there were only two overflow parking days which impacted the Monta Vista neighborhood over the summer. They will continue to monitor the parking going forward. Molly said that 2012 will mark the :50`h Anniversary of the Cupertino Parks and Recreation Department. In honor of this milestone year, staff has decided to celebrate with "50 Days of Fun". There will be events throughout the year at a variety of facilities. Blackberry Farm will be hosting the following celebratory events in 2012: May 5 —Cupertino Day May 5 and 6— 50% off 10-day swim passes 3 June 7 — 50-cent swim after 5:00 pm June 22 — 50-cent ice cream social July 4 —BBQ lunch and concert July 18 — Concert in the Park August 8 —Retro swim prices $1 Residents/$2 Non-residents all day August 17—Back to school movie in the Park In addition to the special events and promotional days, the Parks and Recreation Department will also be selling commemorative shirts, hats, water bottles, and coffee mugs. Molly also reported that on Cupertino Day last year, there were 415 residents that attended and only 9 non-residents. Also, resident usage is up for pool and swim passes. Molly said that after three operating seasons, staff is very pleased with the overall operation of Blackberry Farm. Aside from the aforementioned 50th Anniversary events, there will not be any changes proposed for the 2012 season. C. Stevens Creek Corridor Phase II Park and Trail update—Gail Seeds and Timm Borden from Public Works. Chair Paul said they will not be enforcing a 3-minute time limit of speaking on this subject but asked that public comments be succinct. City staff and the Commission would like to hear public comments on this issue and are interested in receiving public input regarding the backwater footprint, trail alignment at orchard, and gathering areas along the trail. Director Linder said this will be an informational meeting and there will not be any decisions made or action taken at tonight's meeting and he introduced Director of Public Works, Timm Borden to begin the discussion. Director Borden introduced Gail Se,:ds, Park Restoration and Improvement Manager, and Scott Reeves and Steve Sutherland, Landscape Architects with SSA. Gail presented two options for either a narrow backwater or a wider backwater creek location and evaluated the pluses and minuses of both options. She also presented three different options (Options A, B and C) for the trail alignment and several potential gathering/overlook areas along the trail. Chair Paul opened the discussion to the public. Deborah Jamison, Cupertino resident expressed her appreciation to the staff for bringing the project this far and said she prefers the wider backwater 4 location of the creek because backwater is important to the preservation of the steelhead. She also prefers Trail Option A but was concerned about the location of the central gathering/overlook area being too close to the golf course and thought it would be safer to move it to the west side of the trail because of the possibility of errant golf balls. She suggested putting in a "wildlife blind" at the overlook area to make it easier and more educational to observe the wildlife. Shani Kleinhaus, with Santa Clara County Audubon Society, said that she frequently walks around Blackberry Farm and thanked the City's Naturalist, Barbara Banfield and the Park Ranger for working together and doing such a great job on solving Park issues. She said she agrees with Ms. Jamison and also prefers the wider backwater option and really likes the idea of a wildlife blind area for observation of wildlife. Marianne Cali, with Stevens and Permanente Creeks Watershed Council, thanked staff for all their planning and hard work on this project. She also said that backwater is essential for habitat and prefers the wider backwater location and she agrees that the central gathering/overlook area is too close to the golf course. Anne Ng, Board Member with Friends of Stevens Creek Trail, thanked the City and consultants for providing such good options and outstanding evaluations of each design. She also prefers the wider backwater design and likes Trail Option B for the trail alignment. She suggested expanding the riparian area between the bridge and the backwater area to provide a more natural experience along the trail. She also likes the gathering/overlook areas for cyclists and likes the idea of the wildlife blind area. She requested that bike racks be installed near Stevens Creek Boulevard so cyclists can park their bikes and walk the trail. Director Linder asked the Commissioners for their comments and questions. Commissioner Greenstein asked if widening the creek along the golf course will be done using the same kind of"concrete armoring"? Gail said the new creek alignment will be made with natural materials and will not use any traditional concrete or mortar materials. Commissioner Lee asked if the wider backwater area would cause any long- term environmental impact as far as the maintenance. Gail said that the gentler slopes in the wider backwater area in the creek would be easier to maintain. Commissioner Fung said it sounds like most of the feedback is in favor of the wider backwater design and he agrees that it provides more natural space than the narrow backwater option. He also agrees with the idea of moving the 5 central gathering area to the other side of the trail from the creek area because of the risk of being closer to the errant golf balls. He asked if a protective screen or fencing on the golf course side could also be placed there? Commissioner Greenstein said he also agrees with the wider backwater area and he feels that because of their environmental concern, the community will also support this option. He suggested that staff and consultants walk the trail when golf is at its peak so they can see the impact the errant golf balls have on the safety of the walkers. Commissioner Lee said he feels there are four key elements that should be considered for the design: safety of park and trail users, visibility of the creek, environmental impact(that will result in the least amount of environmental impact), and fiscal consideration (after the other three elements are satisfied). Director Borden said the meeting was a huge success because of the good feedback from the interested parties who were in attendance. He was very happy to receive the direction and help with the design details and said they would take all comments into consideration. The Design Architects said they have walked the trail many times and will continue to take the safety of trail users into consideration. They appreciated the feedback and are prepared to address all concerns expressed at tonight's meeting. 8. NEW BUSINESS -None 9. ADJOURNMENT - Chairperson Paul adjourned the meeting at 9:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Donna Henriques, Administrative Assistant Minutes approved at the January 5, 2012 regular meeting 6