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P&R 12-05-02 APPROVED PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION CITY OF CUPERTINO REGULAR MEETING THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2002 CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Peng called the regular meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission to order at 7p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLL CALL Commissioners present: Commissioners absent: Staff present: Jeanne Bradford, Rod Brown Frank Jelinch, Roger Peng Kris Wang Therese Ambrosi Smith, Director; Tom Walters, Recreation Supervisor; Marie Preston, Administrative Secretary MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING 1. Minutes of November 7, 2002, were approved with correction made on page 3, line 13 per Commission Bradford's comments. COMMUNICATIONS NOT ON THE AGENDA · ORAL - Grace and Tony Toy, 10130 Crescent Road, expressed their concern that there are no written policies and no restrictions for team tennis. They believe that team tennis gets preferential treatment for reserving courts. They believe that Mr. Gower overstated the number of Sport Center members on the team tennis organization. They would like team tennis games to be scheduled on weekends. They stated that the courts next to Memorial Park are shady and dirty. The Toys want the majority of the pass holders to get a fair shot at reserving courts during prime time. Grant Gower, 10158 Ridgeway Drive, president-elect Cupertino Tennis Club, shares the Toy's concerns that the proper information is presented to the Commission relating to membership and participation. The Club agrees that all pass holders be treated fairly and have access to all tennis facilities at the Sports Center. They believe the management at the Sports Center is affective. They believe written guidelines would be helpful for all Sports Center participants and are willing to work with the commission and management to make sure that all tennis-playing participants are fairly treated. Ed Hirschfield, 734 Stendhal Lane, has been active with the Sports Center since it was purchased by the city. He commended the commission and the Sports Center management on the way it is run. His experience is that management is fair and Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes of December 5, 2002 Page 2 of 8 evenhanded. He has talked with numerous users and has only found two people (the Toy's) who are unhappy with the way the reservations of the courts are handled. Michael Zimmerman, 879 E. E1 Camino Real #54, Mountain View, pass holder and elected officer in the tennis club, informed the commission that on Wednesday, December 4, at prime tennis playing time, there were 10 people who were begging for courts, while court number one was empty and no one was using it for half an hour; the court was reserved under the Toy's name. · WRITTEN - None UNFINISHED BUSINESS Review and recommendation of changes to current policy on fee waivers for use of city facilities - Tom Walters presented information on fee waivers done for nonprofit groups using the Quinlan Community Center, Memorial Park, and the Senior Center. He also highlighted data about surrounding cities regarding fee waivers for nonprofit groups. He discussed direct and indirect costs. Staff' s recommendation is that they would like to see a continuation of waiving indirect costs and has nonprofit groups pay the direct costs. Tom answered clarifying questions by the commission. Therese further explained that the city manager asked the commission to review this policy because there seems to be increasing numbers of fee waiver requests to the City Council under their Consent agenda. These requests are getting pulled and the question is being asked why are we waiving fees. There are one or two fee waiver requests per council meeting. Public Comments Richard Ruth, 1673 Quail Drive, Milpitas, CA 95035, president of the nonprofit Santa Clara County Chapter of the California Grand Jurors Association. This group meets once a month at the Quinlan Center. With low membership dues, they have limited resources. They hope that the commission will agree that they would be eligible for a fee waiver for the coming year. Sharon Krawetz, representing the Ikebana Society who has 175 members (40 live in Cupertino), reported they hold a co-sponsored flower show every two years at the Quinlan Center. Their next show is March 2003. The show promotes cultural awareness to a diverse community. The flower show is recognized internationally. The show attracts about 4,000 people throughout the Bay Area. The organization bears the entire cost of the show, which is about $15,000, and no admission fee is charged. If the organization had to pay to rent for the space they use, they would need to charge admission and they believe that would drastically reduce attendance. Jody Hansen, 20455 Silverado Avenue, CEO of the nonprofit Cupertino Chamber of Commerce, expressed concern over the possibility of changing the fee waiver policy. The Chamber, in partnership with the city, has put on an art and wine festival for 28 years. This event is viewed as an important citywide tradition, and promotes businesses in Cupertino. Due to the new Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes of December 5, 2002 Page 3 of 8 temporary business license fee for booths, they will be paying approximately $2,250 more this year that was not budgeted. If the fee waiver policy is changed, a phase-in is the preferred method so that their profits are not eroded to the point that they are not able to do the event. Commissioner Bradford commented that the use of the word "partnership" is a great word, and that what staff is asking nonprofit groups to do is to share in the costs, as opposed to the city caring the burden of all of the direct and indirect costs. She asked if it would be reasonable that organizations help offset some of theses costs that the city pays. Ms. Hansen stated that their organization would need to see the full plan to understand the impacts on them. If they had to pick up the full costs in 2003, which is about $6,000, it would be a hardship. They are already picking up some of the direct costs, such as Sheriff, to the approximate annual cost of $3,500 to $4,000. Tom clarified that all special event holders are required to have two Sheriffs work the special events inside the grounds, and the city hires two extra Sheriffs for each of the mornings and afternoons to assist in the loading and unloading on Stevens Creek Blvd., which is blocked during these times. Lucille Honig, 20745 Scofield Drive, associated with the Sister City organization, explained that the next festival will be the 20th Cherry Blossom festival in Cupertino and they will also be celebrating the 25th anniversary with the sister city Toyokawa. An additional $6,000 in costs for 2003 would "break our backs." All money raised goes to the student exchange program, which sends 10 students from Cupertino middle schools and two chaperones to Toyokawa, Japan, every year. Changing the fee waiver would cause a burden on this event and she doesn't know if they would be able to continue the event. Orrin Mahoney, 10940 Miramonte Road, representing the Cupertino Rotary and their annual Oktoberfest, stated that the Oktoberfest is a major family-oriented event in the city and all money raised goes directly back into the community. The Oktoberfest is the major source of funding for local community projects for Cupertino Rotary. Other Rotary money raised through fundraising goes for international projects; this is the one event that they have where it goes directly back into programs in the city. A $6,000 increase in expenses could be half of the net proceeds. Fariba Nejat, 1582 S. Stelling Road, representing the Iranian Federated Women's Club, thanked the commission and the city for all the support they have received over the years. She spoke of the importance and positive influence these cultural events have on the city. Commission Comments Commissioner Jelinch asked if the staff had any recommendations on how the city would phase in increases. Tom stated that he would recommend a phase-in approach starting in 2004--not do a phase-in in 2003 due to negative financiaI impacts to organizations that have their 2003 budget already set. Commissioner Jelinch stated that he is not enthusiastic about event holders paying the direct costs, but if the consensus says that they should, he believes it should be postponed until 2004. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes of December 5, 2002 Page 4 of 8 Commissioner Brown believes that they are being asked for a solution when it is not clear about the necessity of the impact, or even if the impact is sufficient for the financial savings. He would like further clarification. He believes it may be a recommendation that is "floating without any real grounding." Therese stated she thinks the issue is not so much the dollar amount, but the policy. Parks and Recreation gets more and more requests for use of city facilities. The city facilities are aging, and when the original fee structure was put together, there was a built-in discount for nonprofit organizations. On top of that, fees are waived altogether and, then on top of that, the city picks up some of the out-of-pocket costs. Therese believes the initial thought behind the fee structure was that the value of the events is recognized and so significant discounts were given, but it costs money to keep the facilities up. The city has been generous and has waived fees for a number of years. Now at a very bad economic time, the city is investing $25 million in a library and money is not as available as it once was. The question is now being asked what is a fair way to approach cutting back, and if we can't continue to offer the same level of generosity, what is a reasonable policy. Commissioner Bradford commented that this subject is not really a policy issue. She is willing to refine the current policy if that is what needs to be done, but based on what she has heard and regardless of the policy, event holders will continue to go to the City Council and ask for fee waivers. She believes there is a sense of entitlement from each of the speakers that the city picks up these costs on their behalf. She suspects that many event holders do not know how many dollars the city has picked up over the years. She acknowledged that the money pie is getting smaller for everyone, including the city, and that things have to be done differently. She recognized the value of the events to the city. She is uneasy about changing a policy that negatively impacts these important events. Commissioner Bradford would support a policy change, but doesn't believe there will be a material change in how things are funded unless the City Council starts making different decisions. Chairman Peng stated that the special events have become important components of the community and they have done their fair share of bringing this community together. He also asked what was the trigger that implemented this policy review. If it is financial, we need to look at the fair amount, or percentage, that we have to tighten. Therese stated that we have a fee schedule in place; the question is not about how to raise revenue. The written policy states that a group can come in and ask the City Council for a fee waiver, which they do. The department is not collecting fees that would otherwise be charging, and it isn't done in any other aspect of Parks and Recreation's business. Commissioner Bradford stated that she supports the waiving of the indirect costs, and sees the real costs to the city's budget, when the city is experiencing financial stress, as an issue to be addressed. She likes the idea of partnerships with event holders. She believes it is appropriate to start talking to event holders when they put their budgets together. She thinks it increases the level of partnership in how the organizations and the city can work more effectively together by not ignoring real costs that one of the partners in the partnership is incurring. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes of December 5, 2002 Page 5 of 8 Chairman Peng allowed Orrin Mahoney, Cupertino Rotary, to come to the podium for further comment. Orrin supported Commissioner Bradford's comments. He was not aware of the extent the city was waiving fees. He supports a city and event holders meeting to discuss alternatives to actually reduce the costs by reviewing direct costs of Sheriffs, Public Works, and Parks and Recreation staff. He believes this idea is agreeable versus adding huge additional costs and that, conceptually looking at real costs, working together to reduce costs and/or having the organizations chip in more of their fair share would be reasonable things to consider. Commissioner Bradford stated that they are not trying to be punitive in any way, but suspects that the city manager asked the commission to look at this subject because he sees a growing trend in fee waiver requests and he has less money to work with. Commissioner Jelinch believed that it is premature to change the policy. He would like to see the city sponsor a workshop and sit down with event holders and look at their budget to find ways to cut down on direct costs, and ask them to do long-range planning. The commission needs to know more before making policy changes. It also seemed to him that the event holders are surprised by the amount of direct and indirect costs the city is absorbing, so discussions would be helpful. ACTION: Defer any action on this subject at this time until a community workshop is held with the proposed groups who will be the payees of this additional direct cost. Bring the subject back to the commission in six months to decide if the commission wants to change the policy a joint proposal that would be effective starting a year from now. Unanimously approved 4-0. Dog park request - Therese reported that she checked the status of some of the suggested properties as potential dog parks: · The property at the end of Mary Avenue is not available due to its minimal size. · The San Jose Roads and Airports Division has a piece of property just outside the city limits in Rancho Rinconada, right next to the Lawrence Expressway. The city is talking to the city of San Jose about utilizing this property, but it is the only available land in that area that could provide a neighborhood park. Community meetings about what should be in the park will need to be developed when and if this property becomes available for a park. The property is 2.3 acres. · The best opportunity is a joint partnership with the Santa Clara County Parks Department. They have in other areas done joint-use agreements for portions of county parks for cities to install dog parks. This is something we could pursue at Stevens Creek County. This would be initiated via a proposal submitted to the County Parks. In order to do that, City Council would need to approve the project. A management plan would have to be developed for maintenance of this park that is outside the city's normal maintenance boundaries. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes of December 5, 2002 Page 6 of 8 Therese reported that the next logical step is to ask the City Council to add this project to their 2003/2004 work program. City Council is meeting to establish their goals on January 16. If the commission recommends pursuing the dog park and identifies a site for a dog park, then she can proceed. If the project is put in the work plan, a meeting would be developed of the dog park advocates and find out what they would be willing to do as a volunteer group. If we came up with a propOsal that is acceptable to the County of Santa Clara, perhaps something could happen. Commissioner Bradford inquired about Creekside Park and Monta Vista Park, and Therese reported that the Creekside site is small and not ideal and the Monta Vista site is very close to homes. Commissioner Brown stated that the County is going through an extensive strategic planning process right now for their park system. How does a dog park fit into their plan? Therese stated she found out that they are looking at more ways to allow people to have access in county parks with their dogs. They are amenable to have cities come in and use part of their park to develop a dog park site--they have one developed and one being developed. The county told her that the way to start a dialog is to make a proposal. Public comments: Naomi Bloom, 19940 Brenda Court, thanked the commission for condoning and being receptive to the idea of a dog park. She also thanked the staff for the diligent work in researching dog park opportunities. She urged the commission to recommend a dog park project to City Council in January even if we don't have a specific site to recommend. The project would be to identify and assess a site, and then proceed further. She stated that the goal for the dog park advocates is to have a place where our dogs can legally run and play safely off leash. They are not looking to take over an existing park. There may be other solutions such a neighborhood dog hms that would be smaller than a half acre or working with the County for a park. She urged anyone interested in developing a dog park in Cupertino to form an organization with her and Claudia Falk, Friends of a Dog Park, to assist the commission and staff in identifying a staff and perhaps to do fundraising and do volunteer work to monitor a dog site. She would like Wilson Park looked at again. Claudia Falk, 884 Ferngrove Drive, spoke in favor of a dog park. She would like to see it added to the City Council's work plan. She suggested talking with the Cyprus Hotel, who has a pets- are-welcome policy, about partnering in a dog park. ACTION: Make a recommendation to City Council to identify options for identifying a dog park in their work program for the next fiscal year. Unanimously passed 4-0. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes of December 5, 2002 Page 7 of 8 MISCELLANEOUS - NO ACTION REQUIRED 4. Staff Oral Reports: a. Sports Center Open House and closin~ for renovation date: Therese reported that there will be a Sports Center Open House on January 30, 6 to 8 p.m., to show the final drawings for the Sports Center to the pass holders and to advise them as to the benefits pass holders get if they retain their membership through construction. If they wish, pass holders will have the option of asking for a refund of any unused months on their membership. The facility will close for renovations on March 16, 2003, and on March 17, the contractor will begin reconstruction. b. 4th of July: Staff is still pursuing the use of the Cupertino High School site for detonation with the observation area at Vallco. We are waiting for the Fremont Union High School District to approve our permit. The Monta High School site was deemed infeasible for this purpose. Stevens Creek Corridor Master Plan update: On December 2, the City Council approved the draft goals for the Stevens Creek Corridor Master Plan. City Council will be having a workshop to discuss McClellan Ranch Park on December 16, 4 p.m. The City Council's next step after reviewing McClellan Ranch will be to approve a process for the Stevens Creek Corridor Master Plan. Therese talked about giving interested community members kits with scaled aerial drawings, templates of different facilities, information about riparian setbacks, council goals and objectives, and other helpful items they can use to develop their ideas for the parkland. Commissioner Bradford stated it was important how outreach is done for this process. The park is not a neighborhood-only park; it is a community park. It is known, via the Godbe research survey, that it is a huge corridor that most residents don't visit on a regular basis and don't know a lot about. From this standpoint, she believes outreach to get the people engaged in the process will be a challenge. She would like to hear a plan on how this project is going to be marketed and what steps are going to be made to engage the public. She liked the idea of the kits, which she saw as a hands-on tool where people can have the real life constraints that commissioners and councilmembers have when making decisions. She would not like to see user groups pitted against each other. She stated that Council's message is that they want a variety of park users. Commissioner Brown also liked the idea of the kits. He suggested a workshop where people are randomly assigned to tables to work out ideas. Commissioner Bradford suggested that the McClellan Ranch Park Master Plan be added to the kits to help people understand the constraints of the parkland as they develop suggestions. Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes of December 5, 2002 Page 8 of 8 Therese stated that Mike O'Dowd and Barbara Banfield, who were on the McClellan Ranch Task Force, would be meeting with City Council to review the details of the McClellan Ranch Park Master Plan. Therese estimates that possibly in February the commission will begin to take public comment. Commissioner Bradford suggested to the commissioners that they review the December 2 City Council meeting to hear their discussion. ADJOURNMENT Chairperson Peng adjourned the meeting at 9:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted Mdri~ Presto~, Adnqinistrative S7-cretary Televised Council meetings may be viewed live on Cable Channel 26, and may also be viewed live or on demand via the Webcasting Library at http://www, cupertino, org/cit¥ ~government/cit¥ channel~index, asp. Videotapes of the televised meetings are available at the Cupertino Library or may be purchased from the Cupertino City Channel by calling 777-2364. Minutes approved at the February 6, 2003, meeting.