Loading...
P&R 08-05-04 APPROVED PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION CITY OF CUPERTINO REGULAR MEETING THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 2004 CALL TO ORDER Chainnan Brown called the regular meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission to order at 7 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLL CALL Commissioners present: Commissioners absent: Staff present: Jeanne Bradford, Rod Brown, Frank Jelinch, Roger Peng, Cary Chien None Therese Ambrosi Smith, Director; Don McCarthy, Recreation Supervisor; Colleen Manning, Recreation Coordinator; Mike Bookspun, Recreation Coordinator 1. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING - Regular adjourned meeting of July 8, 2004. ACTION: A motion was made, seconded and unanimously passed to accept the minutes as written. 2. PRESENTATION - Cupertino Sports Center: Colleen Manning, Recreation Coordinator for the Sports Center presented photographs ofthe recently renovated center's attributes. She outlined the various membership options, tennis and fitness classes, training and fitness orientations, and the child watch program. She reported that due to pass holders' requests, the center has increased weekend operating hours. She described the success of renting the multipurpose room for fitness related activities, such as basketball birthday parties and nonprofit groups wanting to rent the space for multicultural dance programs on Saturdays. Since the grand opening in January, membership has risen from approximately 600 to about 900. Commissioners commended Ms. Manning for the excellent job she has done in managing the center. 3. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - None Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of August 5, 2004 Page 2 of9 4. NEW BUSINESS A. Field Use Policy review - Director Smith reported that there are two parts to this issue - one was the review of the Field Use Policy and the other issue was that the De Anza Youth Soccer League's (DYSL) pennit renewal was temporarily denied; their prior pennit expired July 31. Smith reported that organizations using city fields must be comprised of 51 percent Cupertino residents. Several individuals brought to the department's attention that DYSL might be having problems meeting the residency requirement. Subsequent to that, Council levied a fee for field use of $11 for residents and $22 for non-residents. With this action, it was important for the department to take a closer look at where people live. In review ofDYSL's records, it was revealed that they are comprised of 31 to 32 percent Cupertino residents; therefore, the pennit could not be granted. Only Council can waive the 51 percent requirement. City Council has scheduled a special meeting Monday night to consider waiving the residency requirement for some period of time while this issue is resolved. Director Smith asked the Commission to consider whether they would support a recommendation to temporarily waive the 51 percent residency requirement so that DYSL can continue their fall program and make that recommendation to City Council. Smith outlined other related issues to be considered: · Should the residency requirement be changed; is there value to having a residency requirement? · How do we address those organizations that aren't in compliance? Do we give them a grace period to come into compliance? How do we address that when it happens? Does it go back to the Council on a case-by-case basis, or do we want to put some guidelines in place? · What do we do with people who have new ideas that come into the city with a new sport that hasn't been offered in Cupertino before? It may take them a while to build up residency. · How do we handle exceptions? The most notable one being there is a league for disabled children. If the department were to field a team of disabled children from Cupertino, it might be very difficult to do that, so you need to draw from a broader base. How does the city handle those exceptions? Do they go to the Commission and the Council on a case-by- case basis? · If it is decided that there is some non-resident field use that is good for the community, in what amount is this pennitted? And if the residency requirement for that kind of use is waived, should additional compensation be due the city? Smith showed a calculation, developed by Public Works, of the cost of maintaining the fields for just DYSL's share ofthe field usage, which is about $450,000 annually. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of August 5, 2004 Page 3 of9 Commissioner Comments Commissioner Bradford asked if the algorithm to get to the $450,000 was available. Smith explained that she didn't have the algorithm, but Public Works knows who is using what fields and what is being spent - well over $1 million. There is a budget for the sports fields at school sites and a budget for City's sports fields; this is independent of rest rooms and other things that support for those fields. DYSL's portion to the whole is about one-third. Commissioner Chien asked how this relationship has grown with the City, and as they have grown, how have they essentially compensated the City back? Supervisor McCarthy stated that specifically related to DACA, the agreement started approximately a decade ago and the original arrangement helped them get started because it was a fledging organization. They had a concept for a learn-to-swim program in the small pool at the Sports Center, so it was decided to let them do the program at a very low rent (about $500 per month for the entire pool area, as well as the mechanical room, and cabana). Currently, they pay $41,000 a year for rent. When asked ifDACA had gone out and sought other pools in other communities, McCarthy answered that they had. He reported that DACA had also put a semi-pennanent bubble on the Sports Center's pool, which allows them to operate year round, as well as they have outreached to Saratoga High School with a lease agreement, and have some semblance of an operation in Redwood City. Commissioner Jelinch was interested in knowing when this non-compliance was discovered, how it was discovered, and what process, if any, was in affect for monitoring residency at the time. Director Smith answered that the department hasn't been as diligent as they should have been. She further explained that when a group comes to apply for field use, they are asked to state the percent of residency. If one reviews the pennit applications year after year, the residency amounts have been the same - 50 to 75 percent for DYSL. She reported that they had noticed some regional advertising attracting players to the league - that was sort of the first red flag. At that point, McCarthy had a meeting with them to find out what was going on. We also had some people involved with the organization come forward and say that the organization is changing a lot, that we really need to look at this. That happened about mid May. We then actually requested the records. With the Council shift in wanting to bill nonresidents and residents individually, it became necessary for us to look at all of these organizations with a much more critical eye than we ever had in the past. Commissioner Peng asked how long has DYSL been using the fields? McCarthy answered that it was approximately 25 years. He stated though that the nature of the organization has changed a lot in tenns of the regional outreach; he thought that for most of its existence, it was a Cupertino organization. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of August 5, 2004 Page 4 of9 Chainnan Brown wanted to know if it was correct to say that most of the time, or during prime hours, that we have more people desiring to use these fields than can be accommodated? Coordinator Bookspun stated the he believes requests have hit a point where the fields are on high demand. There are people who request a field pennit, which are more times than not being denied due to the fact that there are nonprofit youth sports organizations who are on tenure and have a nonprofit status. When asked if the residency would be one of the ways in which we would prioritize those requests, Bookspun said yes. He also said that was important to note that for the recreational class-type player, DYSL is meeting the residency requirement. It is when they get the higher skilled players that they have more regional players - there is a distinction between the two. Public Comments Jim Yglesias, Cupertino, board member and recreation director of DYSL, outlined the monies spent by this league. The league will be giving the City approximately $43,000 in the next 12 months. He stated that the City is known for its high quality fields and teams. He spoke in favor of giving DYSL a pennit while Council develops a new policy for field use. Tom Haley, Cupertino, president of Tri-Cities Little League, spoke in favor ofthe residency requirement. Jeff Baicher, Cupertino, coach for DYSL, spoke in favor of monitoring the Cupertino residency requirement by the league. He would like to see a new policy implemented and a grace period to meet requirements. Pedro Cortopassi, Cupertino, board member ofDYSL, reported that the league has been trying to increase the numbers of Cupertino residents. At the higher, competitive levels, meeting the 51 percent is difficult. The league has committed to keeping a closer eye on the residency levels. Laura Watkins, Saratoga, registrar for DYSL, reported that she has responded to all questions posed to her by Parks and Recreation. She has disagreed with the emails stating that she has not been forthcoming with residency numbers. When asked to provide the registration fonns, she has declined and will continue to do so because she is not allowed to turn those over to the City of Cupertino because of confidential infonnation that the state DYSL organization tells them they cannot release, Le., medical infonnation, business infonnation. She has offered to bring the box of fonns, given lists by name of every registered player in DYSL with their address. She feels her ethics have been questioned. She will bring the box of registration fonns and have them ask her for a name and she'll show the registration fonn. She stated that she has been asking what particular infonnation does the City need and she will get them at infonnation. She repeated that she couldn't turn over confidential registration fonns; if she had to do that, she would have to resign as registrar. She asked the Commission to recommend to City Council that the City look at a new way to measure residency. DYSL is mandated to support the needs Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of August 5, 2004 Page 5 of9 of the residents of Cupertino, Saratoga, and West San Jose, and it is hard to meet the 51 percent residency requirements in three different areas. She reported that if one takes a look at all the 95014 players (501 kids), some play in Mountain View, Santa Clara, West Valley, and South San Jose. Debbie Lillo, Saratoga, reported that the Cupertino school boundaries do not match the Cupertino city boundaries, and Cupertino school students invite their Cupertino school friends to join their soccer league and that many ofthe students do not live in Cupertino. She urged the Commission to consider a new definition of Cupertino community that is a little broader than just living in Cupertino. Frank "Myke" Smith, Cupertino, is unhappy with the pennit issue and with the threat that his son may not be able to play soccer. He would like to see different policies for recreational soccer and for more competitive soccer. Glenn Fishier, Cupertino, supports the immediate re-granting ofthe field use pennit. The way the organization is run involves multiple cities. He would like to see a policy that could work with this arrangement. Janice Zdankes, Saratoga, spoke in support of DYSL. When her children are at practice, she is doing her errands in Cupertino, even though she lives in Saratoga. Rob Wells, Cupertino, president of Cupertino National Little League (CNLL), member of the board for A YSO 35, urged the Commission to consider the counting be based on school attendance, zip code, or greater area boundaries. CNLL enforces boundaries of residency - they are 99 percent compliant. Also urged the Commission to allow DYSL teams play in the fall and resolve the issue in a partnership. Luis Nunez, Cupertino, spoke in favor of recommending to City Council to allow the children to play this fall. Eddie Smith, Palo Alto, stated that the Cupertino fields have a great reputation. He stated that out -of-area families spend money in Cupertino in connection to their children practicing and playing soccer in Cupertino. Vivian Gruener, Cupertino, stated that competitive teams have kids from various cities. Also stated that residency requirement seems inconsistently enforced throughout Cupertino. Sharon Lam, Saratoga, was concerned that DYSL will be shut out in Cupertino. Adrianna Siebel, Cupertino, DYSL coach, questioned the 51 percent residency issue with a league that has competitive teams; believes that cricket is allowed with less than 51 percent residents. She supports additional fee for nonresidents. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of August 5, 2004 Page 60f9 Director Smith, to clarify misconceptions by the public, stated that the pennit was not pulled. The pennit expired and she did not have the authority to re-issue it because they did not meet the 51 percent residency requirement. City Council agreed to hold a special meeting on August 2 to consider the re-issuing of the pennit. Also, the City is not talking about excluding nonresidents; the city is talking about a ratio. Christine Smith, Palo Alto, emphasized the excellent reputation DYSL has and that it is an asset to Cupertino. Hennaut Buch, Cupertino, California Cricket Academy, stated that his organization has 70 percent Cupertino residents. He urged the Commission to consider the smaller organizations when making their analysis and recommendations. He also stated that his organization struggles to get a good playing field. Jan Kucera, Jr., Cupertino, asked the Commission to reconsider the 51 percent requirement for the higher-level competitive teams. Bob Joyce, coaches DYSL, reported that prior to 1995, the De Anza league was broken up into segments: Cupertino and San Jose, Saratoga USA, and Cupertino Blue Hills. DYSL oversaw all these clubs and the Cupertino teams did comply with residency requirement. In 1996, these clubs were abandoned. Now the DYSL, overseeing all regions, struggles with the residency requirement. He is in favor of the Commission and the Council looking at an effective solution including the segregation of groups who can apply for pennits. Sarah Feit, Cupertino, and on the Cupertino Housing Commission, extended an invitation to the Commission, Council and staff to come to soccer games. Pinaki Muketji, Cupertino, stated it would be difficult to meet the residency requirement for competitive soccer. Ronnie Lott, Cupertino, spoke against the residency requirements and likened it to segregation. Henry Sang, Cupertino, spoke in support of DYSL and also to extend the pennit for the fall season. Linda Martino, Cupertino, exiting president of Cupertino Softball League, stated her concerns about enforcing the ratio. Kelly Pearson, spoke about the difficulty of fielding competitive soccer teams and against the 51 percent requirement. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of August 5, 2004 Page 7of9 Commission Comments Commissioner Chien stated that the first goal was to get the kids back onto the fields and believes that will be the action of the City Council at the Monday night meeting. He supports a recommendation to provide a temporary pennit to DYSL while the policy is being analyzed. He supports keeping the 51 percent policy. Commissioner Jelinch agreed with retaining the 51 percent policy. He supported the idea of granting a temporary pennit to DYSL and would like to see some recruitment effort to get more Cupertino residents. He was also interested in finding a way to accommodate the interests ofDYSL by changing the definition. He believes this needs more analysis. Commissioner Peng asked if other cities have residency ratios, which was affinnatively answered. He stated that he would support a two-fold recommendation with allowing a grace period for the fall program and to carefully consider all aspects before setting a revised policy. He supports retaining the 51 percent policy and should continue to abide by the current policy until the analysis is completed. Commission Bradford welcomed the public and thanked them for their comments. She stated that the issue was that an organization was not compliant with the agreed-upon policies. She supports giving DYSL some leeway to get the kids back on the field. She also is supportive ofretaining the residency requirement. She believes that policies need to reflect a group larger than just one single organization. Chainnan Brown stated that community feedback was very valuable and thanked the people. He encouraged them to attend Monday night's City Council meeting where Council will decide what action should be taken. He would support the ideas of granting one year to work out the situation with DYSL, include residency as a first priority, find a way to look at considering needs where we cannot accommodate a 51 percent majority, and somehow proportionately accommodate or share the responsibility of resources across communities. ACTION: Commissioner Jelinch made a motion to recommend to Council that a one- year temporary use permit be granted for the use of this organization, and that the matter be reviewed and agendized for further discussion at other meetings after staff has studied this and sat down and worked with the group to come up with other recommendations. Commissioner Bradford seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. (BREAK) Director Smith asked ifthey wanted to giver her any more direction in the areas of exceptions, new offerings, etc. The general consensus ofthe Commission was to deal with each situation that comes up on a case-by-case basis. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of August 5, 2004 Page 8 of9 5. MISCELLANEOUS - NO ACTION REQUIRED A. Staff oral reports: a. Senior Center Case Manager - this position was to be re-instated with support from Council on Aging, the General Fund, and a $20 Senior Center membership parking fee. Many Senior Center members have complained about the fee increase. Due to these complaints, the filling of this position is on hold until the Senior Commission holds another hearing to resolve the issue. Complaint letters are being responded to. b. Water District partnership - this draft agreement is going to the Santa Clara V alley Water District board on August 17. Council did adopt a recommendation at their last meeting, and staff is ready to move forward with consultant contracts as soon as the SCVWD approves the funding arrangement that was discussed at the last meeting. c. 4th of July Neighborhood response - a summary of the 150+ evaluations was reviewed. The next step is for this topic to be reviewed by City Council at the September 7 meeting; they budgeted $66,000 again for 2005, but they wanted to wait to see the community's response before making a final approval to allocate these funds. d. Special Events Policy - there is a Council subcommittee to review the Special Events Policy. One of the issues is residency. e. Blue Pheasant re-roofing - re-roofing project is expected to start in early September and be completed by mid October. Tennites have been discovered, so the first phase of the project will be tenting and fumigating the building. There will also be replacement of all of the HV / AC equipment. B. Commissioner contacts and comments: a. Commissioner Jelinch promoted the brochure from the state organization as it shows a partnering with Game Time, and he thought Cupertino might want to look into it. The idea of having a partnership with vendors and have them financially support a portion of Parks and Recreation's recreation brochure might work out in these financially strapped times. b. Commissioner Bradford reported she had attended the Cali Mill Plaza grand opening. She reported that there were many people, the entertainment was great, and she was impressed that the traffic did not take away from the event. She thanked staff for the good job. Director Smith reported that the event was privately funded. c. Chainnan Brown also reported that he and his family attended the Cali Mill Plaza opening and enjoyed it very much. He asked if there were any plans to add bike racks? Director Smith said she would check on it. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of August 5, 2004 Page 9 of9 6. ADJOURNMENT Chainnan Brown adjourned the meeting. Respectfully submitted, 71(~~ Marie Preston, Administrative Secretary Minutes approved at the October 7, 2004, regular meeting. Televised Council meetings may be viewed live on Cable Channel 26, and may also be viewed live or on demand at www.cupertino.org. Videotapes of the televised meetings are available at the Cupertino Library, or may be purchased fiom the Cupertino City Channel, 777-2364.