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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/06/2004 - PB&R CommissionAPRIL 6, 2004 APPROVED PB &R COMMISSION MINUTES CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH Parks, Beaches & Recreation Commission Regular Meeting April 6, 2004 - 7pm Convened 7:06pm ROLL CALL Present: Debra Allen Tim Brown Bill Garrett Greg Ruzicka Val Skoro Tom Tobin Absent: Roy Englebrecht Staff: Marie Knight, Recreation & Senior Services Director David Niederhaus, General Services Director Andrea McGuire, Recreation Superintendent Teri Craig, Administrative Assistant DIRECTOR'S COMMENTS Director Knight thanked Chair Allen for participating in the opening of the Special Olympics basketball tournament a couple of weeks ago which had a lot of teams participating and many volunteers helping to make it a great day; she reminded the Commission that April 10 is the Annual Spring Egg Hunt which begins at 10am at Eastbluff Park; and Arbor Day invitations have been placed at each chair which will happen on April 30; and tonight is a special presentation to recognize volunteers from the Tile Mosaic Class that have been participating in a special project at Cliff Drive Park.. Director Knight stated that instructor and City employee Rob Masters approached staff and suggested adding mosaic tiles on the new concrete wave wall at Cliff Drive Park; the City paid for the supplies and they have been volunteering their time. They have been invited tonight for some special recognition by presenting certificates. Director Niederhaus stated that staff will be presenting park encroachment issues to the City Council at their study session on April 13 and staff will be looking for direction from the Council. He noted that on April 23 the Castaways Revegetation Celebration will be taking place and hopes that the Commission can attend; and today was the last day for comments to be made on the negative declaration for the G -1 Policy, which will appear on the City Council Agenda on April 27. Chair Allen asked if all interested parties would be notified and Director Niederhaus stated yes. PUBLIC COMMENTS None CONSENT CALENDAR 1. Minutes of the March 2, 2004 regular meeting. Waive reading of subject minutes, approve as written and order filed. 2. Park & Tree Division Activity Report. Receive and file monthly Activity Report for activities and upcoming projects. Parks, Beaches Et Recreation Commission Regular Meeting April 6, 2004 Page 2 3. Recreation ft Senior Services Activity Report. Receive and file monthly Activity Report for activities and upcoming projects. 4. Bench Donation. Accept bench donation for installation at Bonita Creek Park in the softball facility area by Pacific Voast Girls Softball League. 5. Request from Pony Baseball. Approve installation of electricity for batting cage at Eastbluff Park. Motion by Commissioner Ruzicka to receive and approve Items 1 through 5 of the Consent Calendar. Motion carried by acclamation. NEW BUSINESS 6. Park Patrol - Superintendent McGuire gave the following report: Revenue • Youth Sports Groups - Billed - $7,300 to date; will bill an additional $8,000 this year for a total of $15,300. • Raised fees for park reservations - Revenue increase to date is $13, 621 • Special Event Permits - New Revenue has not been approved yet, however a slight increase was approved in July with an increase of $13,000 to date Total Revenue increase from Oct 1 -to March 15 is $33,921 Projected revenue to June 30 is - 53.921 Projected cost for program to June 30 is 49,299 Park Patrol is an overwhelming success. Youth Sports Groups are very supportive as field use problems and overuse are being sorted out. Park Patrol has: • Documented abuses such as failure to clean up and enabled staff to charge clean up fees after picnics. • Found groups playing on closed fields after rain outs and saved costly field renovations. • Turned off or on lights when groups were given permits for use of fields. • Caught many park users without proper permits for bounce houses and have educated them on the permit system and insurance needs for future compliance. • Have decreased the abuse of teaching private lessons on public tennis courts. This has significantly dropped due to monitoring use of public tennis courts by park patrol for persons utilizing them for commercial purposes. • Spent time on educating park users about park rules especially leash laws and alcohol consumption in parks. • Enforced the rule regarding no public play on basketball on courts after sunset at 38`h Street. • Monitored the use of Community Centers Schedules and staffing of the Park Patrol is • Mondays - Friday 4pm to 9 or 10 pm • Saturday/ Sundays Sam to Dusk Total weekly hours = 53. Parks, Beaches l3 Recreation Commission Regular Meeting April 6, 2004 Page 3 Superintendent McGuire noted that communication to them is through e- mails, photo documentation, nextels, and log notes and reported that both officers have completed PC 832 training, pepper spray training, officer safety training with the police department, citation writing training, fire safety training, CPR and first aid. She stated that the City cars are equipped with magnetic ID signs, spot lights, animal control equipment, first aid, trash bags, and emergency equipment and that they carry radio /phones, flashlights, pepper spray, cameras, business cards (with phone numbers), citations and warnings, log sheets and wear uniforms. She went on to say that records are kept with logs and monthly summaries, which are abridged in the monthly activities reports. Discussion ensued regarding resident complaints of excessive drinking and partying at Lookout Point and Inspiration Point. Director Knight stated that the Park Patrol introduced themselves to the neighbors in the area and handed out cards but one of the major stumbling blocks has been that they have not been provided the authority to write park citations but this will go into effect sometime next month. So they do spend sometime out there educating them and asking them to pour out their alcohol; stopping them from setting up elaborate set ups, however they don't have the ability to write the tickets.; They do contact the Police Department and when they are able to come to the location they help and we will be discussing that later in item number 8 as there is a need for greater enforcement capabilities. She noted that these officers can educate, educate and educate but unless they are given any enforcement authority it won't change. Park Patrol Officer Rodriquez stated that they stop there almost every day and over the last several weeks there has been an increase in use because of the weather and over several weekends they have been asked to stop drinking at the park. He commented that some are regular customers and has noticed that they are now beginning to bring other things such as water and or sodas so the education is helping some but will just take time. He stated that if the residents could call the Park Patrol when they see the abuse. Chair Allen suggested that maybe a neighborhood watch would be a great idea. Director Knight stated that the job first and foremost for the Park Patrol is to educate and that the Police have stated that this is helping. Commissioner Garrett stated that in the beginning they had been concerned with confrontations and asked the Park Patrol to comment on that. Officer Brown stated that everyone has been very receptive to them and have not encountered any problems that in fact once they arrive on scene that their uniformed presence deescalate the problem. 7. Corona del Mar State Beach Improvements - George Berger introduced architects Roberta Jorgensen and Jason Briscoe. He noted that tonight marks the 11 `h public meeting Parks, Beaches 8: Recreation Commission Regular Meeting April 6, 2004 Page 4 and expect at least two more. He noted that the project will go to Coastal Commission on April 14 and to City Council on April 27. Ms. Jorgensen stated that one of the reasons they have not encountered many problems is that the fire pits and the volleyball courts are not being addressed in this project. Dave Kiff stated that half of the funding for the project is in place and that they are awaiting information on grants. He noted that their expectation is that they will receive 80 -85% of the funding and will go to Council for the rest. If they do not receive the grants then the project will have to be completed in phases and staff will look for other grants to apply for. Chair Allen asked if they would be working around the Centennial events. Mr. Briscoe stated that they have been included in many of the meetings and that they will be working around their schedules. Commissioner Skoro asked what is the estimated cost for the overall project. Mr. Briscoe stated that it was $2.2 million. Commissioner Skoro asked if the firepits and volleyball courts were mandated by the Coastal Commission. Director Niederhaus stated that having dealt with the firepit issue for over 17 years, that at best they are difficult to clean and maintain; they are a liability and with that all said, they would be very difficult to remove or to modify. He stated that many proposals have been made over the years to remove or to downsize them to the Coastal Commission and that none of that seems to phase them or to change their mind. He stated that the answer is, not likely, and so they just try to maintain them better, put up better signage and deal with them. Director Niederhaus stated that the Coastal Commission is not going to allow the City to remove them or decrease them in number and that we know better than to ask that question. Director Knight stated that if the firepits or volleyball poles were removed they would need to be replaced somewhere else along the beach and it will be difficult to find an alternate location where there would be no resident opposition. Mr. Berger stated that he has met with many of the volleyball players on site and staff never intended that this would be an issue that would wag the dog so to speak and that was why the decision was made early on to not to address that issue. Mr. Berger stated that when the concrete to sand line finally gets established that is when staff will jump in at the City level to be able to start figuring out what can be moved and or shifted. Parks, Beaches 8 Recreation Commission Regular Meeting April 6, 2004 Page 5 Discussion ensued regarding state and City beaches. Commissioner Brown stated that he believed that having the volleyball courts so near the firepits are a health issue and urged them to look at that issue and asked if there would be more showers installed. Mr. Briscoe stated that it would be the same number and that they would talk to City staff about the possibility of increasing them. Commissioner Garrett congratulated the design team exclaiming how impressed he was with how the buildings look and asked about the roof treatment since it is a view plane. Mr. Briscoe stated that there are two different kinds of roofing, the flat roof is cold tar built up with a gravel ballet and residents will see an earth tone textured look which will blend in nicely with the sand and then the restroom building and the roof over the lifeguard observation will be copper. Commisioner Garrett asked if they were in line with the budget of the project. Mr. Briscoe stated yes. Chair Allen opened the public discussion; hearine no comments the discussion was closed 8. Newport Beach Municipal Code Chapter 11.04 - Director Knight stated that staff has presented the Commission with a draft of proposed revisions to Municipal Code Chapter 11.04 - Conduct in Parks and requests Commission input. As background in April of 2003, the Commission approved the recommendation to the City Council for a Park Patrol program that was based in education and allowed for enforcement of park rules and regulations. She went on to say that at that time citations for Code violations were planned to be taken care of through the Code Enforcement Officers currently on staff. After that recommendation and approval by Commission to forward to City Council for their approval, staff began to work on the details of the program to present a more complete overall program based on their request from a study session report. Director Knight stated that in working with both the Police Department and Code Enforcement in setting up training and policies and procedures both requested that Park Patrol officer be granted Citation authority to free up both the Police and Code Enforcement officers from having to leave their regular assignments or more emergency duties to respond to routine issues. She commented that on July 22, 2003, the City Council approved the Park Patrol program to include the authority to write administrative citations for code violations and at that time staff was directed by Council to review the current code governing both the use of parks and to be sure that the necessary revisions are brought back to Council with respect to the use of parks and the enforcement of code violations and services offered such as permitted exclusive use of parks. On December 9, 2003, the Council amended Chapter 1.12 of the NBMC to authorize the Park Patrol to write administrative citations. In that staff report the Council was informed that staff along with the City Attorney was working on revisions to both current chapters of the Code regulating special events and conduct in parks and that they would be brought back to Council at a future date. Parks, Beaches It Recreation Commission Regular Meeting April 6, 2004 Page 6 Director Knight stated that staff has spent the last several months working with the City Attorney's office on revisions to the current Chapter 11.04 — Conduct in Parks; in addition to looking at the existing Codes that are applicable to conduct in parks, staff has also researched several Orange County cities to see if they had language that was more comprehensive or definitive than in the already existing provisions or how they handled areas that became problematic and yet we had no existing provisions. Staff incorporated policies that are already in existence in current Council policies or in the Administrative Regulations as well. The current Park Patrol staff also gave input as to the most problematic area that they were facing and where they felt the need for greater enforcement. In the draft proposal under the prohibited conduct section there are 27 tenants or provisions and only five of those 27 could be considered new with the rest found in other places in the Code or Council Policies. The proposed draft contains all the provisions that are in the current Ordinance and in addition many of the items added as prohibited conduct in our parks exist elsewhere in the Code or have been added to this Chapter to provide better clarity. One of the more important of the new provisions is the enactment of the City's authority to reserve areas of the parks and facilities for exclusive use such as to our Youth Sports organizations or private individuals for birthday parties. She stated that you may recall that this is a continual problem and that we have residents or groups that pay a fee for this service however we have not been able in the past to protect that service. Finally, since the inception of the Park Patrol, they have been trained that unless there is an immediate health or safety concern or a problem with a refusal to relinquish a permitted area, that they must first write a written warning and that we insist on seeing documentation of several written warnings before any administrative citations is issued. She went on to apologize that if this report was not as conclusive or inclusive as it should have been and might have been confusing to the Commission. Chair Allen stated that it would be helpful if under each prohibitive conduct it were noted where else in the code they are already listed. She stated that one of the things that she was asked by a number of people who looked at this, one of whom is her spouse and has no influence one way or the other but is typically very uninterested, was frankly aghast thinking that all this prohibitive conduct is all new information. She stated that she realized that it was not new language but was not sure where it was already located. Discussion ensued regarding the report and suggested that it go the Recreation Activities Committee for their review and then return to the Commission for there approval before forwarding it on to the City Council. Director Knight restated that most of the prohibitive items listed are already in the code but that staff felt it was important to restate them in one area for the Park Patrol or the Police to cite would be able to cite one area. Commissioner Skoro stated that the local parks were made for the local communities and later on recreation was built up and outsiders came in but the prime reason for the park is the local residents and that is the whole basis for the City and if we let the recreation programs dictate and wag the whole situation that we are going in the wrong direction and going into the commercial aspects and would like staff to remember that this is why Parks, Beaches it Recreation Commission Regular Meeting April 6, 2004 Page 7 we have parks. He also questioned the need for a section prohibiting the play of golf in the parks. Director Knight stated that in the Code it is very clear that it is under the discretion of the officer when looking to write a citation or a warning or to provide education and that some of these things have been around for a long time and we would have to imagine that the golfing was put in there for a very good reason at one point in time and that it is a matter of abuse and the Parks Patrol officers are trained to look for habitual patterns of abuse and we have not had one complaint regarding their conduct since they have been on board. They have been very good about educating and dealing with the public and staff is very confident that under this authority that it will not be abused as they fill out daily logs and they are monitored and if staff even saw it going in that direction it would certainly be stopped as that is not the purpose of the program. However, at the same time if someone is out chipping golf balls in the park and those balls are coming close to a home and we get complaints we need the authority to do something about it. So it is about discretion and it is about common sense. Chair Allen opened the public discussion; hearing no comments the discussion was closed. Motion by Commissioner Skoro to forward this report to the Recreation Activities Committee for their review. Commissioner Garrett noted concerns regarding the City Attorney blessing the revisions. Director Knight stated that the City Attorney's office is the one that wrote the revisions to the ordinance. Commissioner Garrett seconded the motion Chair Allen encouraged the Committee to have a meeting sooner rather than later and to try to encourage the public to give comments as she would like to see how the public feels about this and we do not have this here tonight. Motion carried by acclamation. OLD BUSINESS 10. Committee Reports • Finance - Commissioner Garrett stated that a meeting will be held within the next couple of weeks. • Park Development - Commissioner Skoro stated that there is nothing to report as they are waiting on the Coastal Commission regarding Upper Bayview and next meeting is scheduled for April 20 • Rec ix Open Space Element - Commission Garrett stated that a meeting will be coordinated soon. • Recreation Activities - Superintendent McGuire stated the Committee met on the donation list and that it will be on the May agenda. Parks, Beaches fx Recreation Commission Regular Meeting April 6, 2004 Page 8 • Seniors - Director Knight stated that she and the City Attorney will meet with the Negotiating Committee of the Friends of Oasis later this week and they have been presented with a final draft of the Cooperative Agreement and it is planned that the Ad Hoc Committee will meet soon after. • Beach Activities - Commissioners Garret stated that they had a great presentation from staff on beach clean up and very informative and suggested that it be presented to the entire Commission next month; also will be discussing Anti Smoking on the Beach and Pet Dispensers along the beach. • Ad Hoc - Community Service Award - Nothing to report - Tree Committee - Nothing to report. Youth Sports Liaison - Nothing to report. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS • Limiting of Bench Donations, identify areas where they are needed • Memorial /Gift Tribute Report - To Commission in May or June • Irvine Terrace Park Encroachment - May • Review of Council Policy G -5 possibly requiring approval of HOA where benches will be installed or gage number of benches in parks. • Liability Aspects at Marina Park • Skate Board Parks - April ADJOURNMENT - 8:30pm , Submitted by: Teri Craig, Admi s a