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P&R 04-05-2018 CITY OF CUPERTINO PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION Community Hall 10350 Torre Ave, Cupertino, CA Thursday, April 5, 2018 7:00 PM MEETING MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Chair Tambe called the meeting to order at 7:00pm in the Community Hall, at 10350 Torre Ave, Cupertino, CA. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Commissioners present: Meenakshi Biyani, Neesha Tambe, Carol Stanek, Helene Davis, Judy Wilson Commissioners absent: None Staff present: Jeff Milkes, Kevin Khuu, Kim Calame, Alex Acenas APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Special Meeting on February 28, 2018 – Commissioner Davis motioned to approve the special meeting minutes of February 28, 2018. Commissioner Stanek seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 2. Regular Meeting on March 1, 2018 – Commissioner Stanek motioned to approve the minutes of March 1, 2018. Vice Chair Biyani seconded. Motion passed with 3 yes and 2 abstain. CEREMONIAL MATTERS AND PRESENTATIONS 1. Age Friendly Cities Presentation Richard Adler, Cupertino Resident, presented to the Commission about Age Friendly Cities, the history of how Cupertino obtained its designation, and the ongoing commitment from the City to be more age friendly. 2. Healing Garden Presentation Mahesh Pakala, from the Bhubaneswar Sister City Organization, presented the idea about building a healing garden in the City of Cupertino. Reviewed the garden that is currently built in Bhubaneswar, its benefits, and ideas they have for a garden in Cupertino. The Commission suggested adding this idea into the Citywide Parks and Recreation System Master Plan for consideration. Richard Adler, Cupertino Resident, suggested considering the human resources benefits of having the garden as well, such as teachers and docents, for educational purposes. Ahmed Dwidar, Cupertino Resident, suggested integrating other cultures into this idea. POSTPONEMENTS None ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS None OLD BUSINESS 3. 2017-2018 Commission Work Plan The Commission reviewed the work plan. Suggested correcting the date for the May meeting from the 5th to the 3rd and removing the Age Friendly Communities Designation item under items to schedule. NEW BUSINESS 4. McClellan Ranch – Community Garden Improvements – Conceptual Planning & Design Alex Acenas, project manager from Public Works, presented to the Commission the updated design for the Community Gardens. Original designs were revised based on feedback obtained from the gardners and the public. Kim Calame, Recreation Supervisor in charge of the garden, explained how this redesign would affect the current gardeners and answered questions from the Commission. Sharon Hall, Cupertino Resident, felt that the gardens shouldn’t be over developed and kept as rural as possible. Supports the original plot structure and not the revised proposal. Desires a water upgrade and perimeter upgrade and didn’t support the wire underlay. Wants to preserve the soil and is against concrete placing. Pamela Roper, the Advisory Board President for the Master Gardners of Santa Clara, for the University of California, supports the revision of the community gardens. Would utilize the revision to have workshops and teaching programs out at the garden. Believes this design would be an improvement for the entire garden. Ganesan Swaminathan, Cupertino Resident, supports preserving the rural environment of the gardens. Suggested looking more into solving the rodent issue. Ahmed Dwidar, Cupertino Resident, supports the improvement, but asks for more outreach to the current gardeners and ensure that all gardeners have been contacted for their feedback. Bob Austin, Cupertino Resident, suggests implementing the construction in phases. Believes the rodent issues won’t be resolved with the proposed designs. Believes improvements to the current gardens would be more cost efficient than the redesign. The Commission acknowledged the gardeners for coming out and addressed the issue of change and with improvements, there will be some new requirements that must be followed, such as safety and ADA requirements. Kim Calame reviewed the rodent issue and confirmed a plan is now being created to deal with it. Also reviewed things that staff are currently doing to help mitigate the problem. Commissioner Wilson motioned to approve the revised design. Commissioner Davis seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 5. Code of Conduct Jeff Milkes, Director of Recreation and Community Services, reviewed the reasons to create the Code of Conduct. Goal is for compliance from patrons in City buildings. Kim Calame, Recreation Supervisor, reviewed the benefits of having the code displayed in each of the buildings and the draft version with the Commission. Asked for feedback on the code. Commissioner Stanek suggested to reword the “zero tolerance” verbiage at the bottom and to add “threatening” into the “Inflicting harm…” line. Chair Tambe suggested revising the line to say ”For your safety and ours, we will be enforcing these rules strictly.” Staff is looking into an internal monitoring system and creating criteria to submit to City Council for approval. Chair Tambe suggested changing “Being under the influence…” to “Being impaired under…” and asked removing the “Dress appropriately” line. Jeff Milkes confirmed that the item itself won’t be presented to City Council and be posted after Commission approval. Commissioner Stanek suggested adding the code as a hand out to new members of Sports Center or Senior Center or at least referencing it and rewriting the lines to be more consistent. Kim reviewed the suggested changes. Vice Chair Biyani suggested combining the “Respect” lines and reordering the items. The Commission requested seeing this item again next month. STAFF AND COMMISSION REPORTS 6. Director’s Report Jeff Milkes presented on the following: - ActiveNet transition has started and process will most likely be complete by the end of the Fall. Presentation will come next month. - The Fee Schedule will be presented to City Council soon and staff added verbiage to change to just 1 deposit, no matter how many locations reserved. - Marketing plan has started with LERN as the consultant. - Re-evaluated the Creekside Farmer’s Market and permit has been renewed. - Still working with the Public Affairs Department on the dog park survey. - Next month, will host the public workshop for the Citywide Parks and Recreation System Master Plan. Commissioner Davis attended the Senior Center Volunteer Luncheon and the Mayor’s Meeting. Reported from the Mayor’s meeting: Housing Commission processes grants to different organizations, Sustainability is also giving out grants to contribute to the Climate Action Plan and is partnering with the Library on a speaker series, on Thursday, April 12 from 6 to 8 and Earth Day on April 21, Safety Commission is running a disaster preparedness fair on June 23 and a safety forum on October 26, the TICC and Teen Commission Hackathon is on April 14 and, the Fine Arts Commission is also discussing art centers. Vice Chair Biyani attended the YAC Attack Conference with Chair Tambe and Teen Commission will come present to a high school PTA on April 24th. Commissioner Stanek also attended the Volunteer Lunch and the Big Bunny Fun Run. Commissioner Wilson was out on medical leave. Chair Tambe asked to circulate the list of events to decide who attends which event and had attended the previous Mayor’s meeting and voted on the CREST Award winners. ADJOURNMENT – Chair Tambe adjourned the meeting at 9:24 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Kevin Khuu, Administrative Assistant Recreation and Community Services Department Minutes approved at the 05.03.18 regular meeting