Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/01/2004 - PB&R CommissionJUNE 1, 2004 APPROVED PB &R COMMISSION MINUTES CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH Parks, Beaches 8t Recreation Commission Regular Meeting June 1, 2004 - 7pm Convened In the absence of Chair Allen, Vice Chair Tobin called the meeting to order at 7:03pm ROLL CALL Present: Tim Brown Roy Englebrecht Bill Garrett Greg Ruzicka Val Skoro Tom Tobin Absent: Debra Allen Staff: Marie Knight, Recreation li Senior Services Director David Niederhaus, General Services Director Teri Craig, Administrative Assistant DIRECTOR'S COMMENTS Director Knight stated that each Commissioner was given a packet with a clipboard tonight that she wanted to share with the Commission. Matt Lohr, Recreation Manager oversees the Contract Class Instructors of which there are 65. She stated that he had put together an extensive training this year for all of the instructors, which was mandatory that they attend one of three meetings (one was during the day, another in the evening and on a Saturday) to accommodate their various schedules. She went on to say that he created the brochure and all the supporting materials to make sure that all the contract instructors know the City policies as they are an extension of the City, an arm of the Department and wanted to make sure that they are giving the best quality services to our customers as possible. Director Knight stated that the training was well received by the instructors and we all were so impressed with the packet and wanted to share that with you and the clipboard is a token of our appreciation to you. She reminded the Commission that this weekend is the CdM 5K Run and would confirm with the Chair if she is available to start the women's race if not she stated that she would let Commissioner Brown know to be there at 8:30am. She also commented that all should have received the invitation to the Grand Re- Opening of Cliff Drive Park on Wednesday, June 9 at 3:30pm and urged them all to be there and if not to visit the park as much has been done including new playground equipment, building has been painted, basketball court has been resurfaced along with a new pole and backboard donated by some residents and the extensive mosaic tile work that was done on the retaining wall and is just gorgeous and really sets off the park. Director Knight also stated that they would be receiving letters very shortly reminding you of the annual 4`" of July festivities at Mariners Park to ascertain your attendance, and if you know tonight if you will be attending she asked that they let staff know. And lastly she asked if any of them would not be in attendance at the July or August meetings to see if they should be scheduled dark. Director Niederhaus stated that the Adopt -a -Beach program was very successful on May 22 with Mayor Ridgeway, Council Member Rosansky and Commissioner Tobin in attendance and 33 sign -ups. He stated that all the buckets and clean up kits were taken the first day. He stated that Earth Resources has been asked by the City to squire that program and sign up volunteers. Stephanie Barger, Earth Resources has already rounded up 10 more volunteers and Parks, Beaches Et Recreation Commission Regular Meeting June 1, 2004 Page 2 that they have stated that they do not need to clean monthly that they will do it on a weekly basis. Staff is beginning to see improvement on litter abatement. He noted that on June 10 the groundbreaking of Mariners Library would take place and invited the Commission to attend at fpm. He also noted that on June 9 at 6:30am is a "Bee Prepared" event with an outside speaker that will brief employees on the African Bee threat as staff is beginning to see more swarms and are responding to this if they appear on public property, but noted that by law if they are not on public property they are unable to disturb the bees. Director Niederhaus stated that no changes were made on the G -1 tree policy by City Council during reconsideration and staff has committed that all tree removals will be replaced on a one for one replacement program and probably even more as staff has done in past years. Commissioner Skoro asked if the trees that are removed would be replaced in the same location or an adjacent location. Director Niederhaus stated that it would be in the same location whenever possible unless there are circumstances where one of the Council policies such as G -6 prohibits it and in which case the rule is that the tree will be replaced in the same neighborhood. Commissioner Skoro asked if it would be a 24" box. Director Niederhaus stated that at a minimum it would be a 24" box and in some cases it would be a 36" box tree, but staff does run into circumstances where that tree cannot be planted at the home and staff collects a tree replacement fee of $700 and a tree is bought for the adjacent park and that happens on a monthly basis. He stated that heavy equipment have been moved onto Bayview Park as The Irvine Company has begun the grading on the lower and the upper portions of the park. He stated that fencing was put up today and the grading will continue through July. At the June 15 Park Development meeting landscaping issues will be presented and believed that City Planner Mr. Trimble we will be presenting the perimeter landscaping plan, and stated that as you know the inner landscaping is all set by the Coastal Commission as native plantings and so the Committee will only be discussing the fringe area and what could be done there. Possibly the architect, Mr. Lomeli and Mr. Trimble will be presenting that at the meeting. Commissioner Skoro stated that there is a fair amount of choices for native plants that can be put in to the park and so he stated that it is important that staff try to get copies of the proposed plan or suggested plan to the committee members a day or so early if at all possible to review them and then a more productive meeting can be held. Director Knight stated that Mr. Trimble has committed to doing just that and will have a set of plans sent to all of the Commission in advance so that if anyone wants to review them before the June 15`h meetings they will have them. Director Niederhaus stated that it would be a really tight timeframe and staff will do their best. PUBLIC COMMENTS Jan Vandersloot, Newport Heights residents, commented on the Brown Act as the apparent practice of the Commission to send a -mails back and forth as stated and that since he also sits Parks, Beaches £t Recreation Commission Regular Meeting June 1, 2004 Page 3 on the GPAC Committee as well, he asked Assistant City Manager Wood to look into this because they were told not to do that and so Sharon did some investigating and cannot seem to find where the City Attorney has said that it is ok to for the PBFtR to do that but she stated that she opposed his doing that even though based on the Commission's representation at the last meeting that he had gone ahead and sent a -mails to all the GPAC members and stated that he believes that it is questionable, and that the Commission should be looking to the City Attorney again to see if that represents a serial meeting as they are communicating to each other without benefit of the public being in the loop. Mr. Vandersloot stated that he does not approve of the new G -1 policy and believes that too many trees will be removed and looked forward to the Commission making sure that an excessive number of trees are not removed and that a one -to -one replacement of the right kind of tree at the same property when at all possible be done and that they will continue to attend meetings to protect the mature trees of the City. Larry Porter, Newport Heights residents stated that the Commission should see the remaining Ficus tree over in Balboa and that it is incredible and wanted to share with them that the tree is very much alive. CONSENT CALENDAR 1. Minutes of the May 4, 2004 regular meeting. Waive reading of subject minutes, approve as written and order filed. 2. Item pulled by a member of the public. 3. Recreation £t Senior Services Activity Report. Receive and file monthly Activity Report for activities and upcoming projects. 4. Bench Donation. Accept donation from Mary Kilfoy of one bench to be installed at the Newport Pier. 2. Park £t Tree Division Activity Report. Jan Vandersloot commented on page 2 of the Urban Forester report of the possible removal of some trees in conjunction with some upcoming City Council beautification projects at Mariners Park Library and at Corona del Mar Centennial project and wondered if there is some way for the public such as himself could be brought into that process. Director Niederhaus stated that he would refer Mr. Vandersloot to item 5 on the agenda as far as the Corona del Mar Centennial project and the other issue at Mariners Parks he stated that staff was not to that point yet and that there is not even a firm landscaping plan yet and it would be too early to discuss tree removals. Mr. Vandersloot stated that it would be great to get in on the ground floor of that. Director Niederhaus stated that there would be an announcement made to the Commission about what the Public Works library plan would be and then that would be the appropriate time for Mr. Vandersloot and the public to speak on that issue will be when it goes to the Council. Mr. Vandersloot asked if it would be possible to get in on that earlier than that so that they are part of the planning process rather than reacting to a plan. Parks, Beaches £t Recreation Commission Regular Meeting June 1, 2004 Page 4 Director Niederhaus stated that staff would try to keep him informed as an interested party of the process. Motion by Commissioner Ruzicka to receive and approve Items 1 through 4 of the Consent Calendar. Motion carried by acclamation. CONTINUING BUSINESS 5. CdM Centennial Vision 2004 - Director Niederhaus stated City Planner George Berger, works with the CdM BID and is in attendance tonight. He stated that the General Services Department report has no recommendation as that this item is for information only. He stated that he had passed out a design handout and that this project is still in the early planning and that the volunteer architect Ron Yeo is on vacation this week and apologizes for not being here tonight. Director Niederhaus stated that this proposed plan will be developed and paid for by private contributions, but because the construction is occurring in the public right -of -way it will be up for Council plan review and approval. He stated that the only issue tonight really is just to inform you that there is a possibility, a strong possibility that 3 to 4 of the City trees that are in the right -of -way at that location may be removed. He asked the Commission to look at the sketch and notice the highlighted areas that are identified by species and stated that of course the adjacent property just for perspective is the northwest corner of Marguerite and East Coast Highway in Corona del Mar. He stated that this was the area chosen for the Centennial Celebration monument. He stated that the adjacent property is owned by Bandera Restaurant and that would be in their parking lot in the upper right corner and on the left is the City Bayside Drive parking lot. He went on to say that there is the sidewalk with a large Palm Tree off to the left and then a series of three parkway Ficus trees. He stated that the Ficus tree on the left probably will not need to be removed but that it is still a possibility. He stated that there is a possibility that 3 Ficus trees and possibly the Melaluca tree, which is a part of the landscaping that goes on up that page where there is a series of Melaluca trees and some shrubs that were planted by the previous developers of this property before Bandera. Director Niederhaus stated that the only issue the Commission tonight is information only and that there is a little bit of a time crunch with getting approval from the City Council, regarding the bid process and doing the work on the public right -of -way. He again stated that Mr. Berger has been the staff liaison with the Corona del Mar BID group. Director Niederhaus stated that he could answer any questions about the tree removals and announced that the Clock Tower area is also associated with the project but noted that it is not up for review by the Commission as it is not in a park and stated that it would go to the Arts Commission on June 10 at 5pm. He invited the Commissioners to attend if they have comments and or questions about the tower and that the architect and representatives of the Committee would be in attendance. He restated that this evening the only thing that the Commission can talk about is basically the three Ficus trees. He stated that with the G -1 that there would be a one -for one replacement but at this time the group has not decided which of the three or four species of ornamental trees that they would like to put back there but because of the wall and the masonry work and the tiles that are in the third photograph there it is necessary to remove the Ficus trees and it is also prudent due to the fact that these will be pavers and it will be a very busy area Parks, Beaches Et Recreation Commission Regular Meeting June 1, 2004 Page 5 and could cause damage in the future and so they will be relandscaping the area and probably by next month he would have more information about this project. He stated that this is just a heads up so to speak on the tree removal and replacements. Commissioner Ruzicka asked if it would be an operational clock or is it just for looks. Director Niederhaus stated that it would be an operational clock and asked the Commission to review the four objectives that the Committee has developed to draw attention to the site for time immortal so to speak. Vice Chair Tobin opened the public discussion Jan Vandersloot stated that the City experience with Ficus trees has shown that they can be pretty severely pruned and asked Director Niederhaus if that were true, that the roots of the Ficus tree and that even the branches of a Ficus tree can be pruned and that the Ficus tree can recover and survive? Director Niederhaus stated that that would be a fair statement. Mr. Vandersloot stated that you can take a Ficus tree and put it into a 11 foot box and move it and have it grow nicely and because the City is also spending more money on root pruning of the Ficus trees that it should be considered from an aesthetic standpoint keeping as many Ficus as we can and doing some radical root pruning of it and he stated that he did not understand why that would not be considered and that because it's a Ficus that it is automatically assumed that it is going to cause damage and believes that Ficus can be root pruned and trimmed so that they do not cause damage and stated that he would like the City take that because there are over 6,000 Ficus trees in the City and if they are considering getting rid of all the Ficus trees in the City then he stated that is not the right way to go and that he would much rather see the City accommodate what it has because they are beautiful trees and that is why they were planted in the first place. He stated that the fact that they may cause infrastructure damage has to be addressed but that can be done with root barriers and that Ficus trees should be looked at to see if they can be pruned to fit in the place that will fit in with the beautification project. Director Niederhaus stated that staff would pass Mr. Vandersloot's comments on to the CdM Committee to see if they might consider retention of the trees, but at this point it would be too early to tell. Vice Chair Tobin closed the public discussion OLD BUSINESS 6. Committee Reports • Finance - Commissioner Garrett stated that he and Commissioner Skoro would meet with Director Knight on June 8 at 8:30am • Park Development - Commissioner Skoro stated that the next meeting would be June 15 at 8:30am in the Fire Conference Room. • Rec Et Open Space Element - Nothing to report. Parks, Beaches Et Recreation Commission Regular Meeting June 1, 2004 Page 6 • Recreation Activities - Nothing to report. • Seniors - Director Knight stated that a meeting had been scheduled for June 10 in the Council Conference Room. • Beach Activities - Commissioners Garret asked staff to include Beach Maintenance as part of the monthly Parks £t Tree Activity Report. • Ad Hoc Community Service Award - A meeting will be scheduled in July. Youth Sports Liaison - A meeting will be held in June. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS • Commissioner Skoro asked for Smoking on the Beach. Director Niederhaus stated that it was an item for discussion with the City Council and that it was expected to be sent to back to the Commission for their discussion. Limiting of Bench Donations, identify areas where they are needed • Donation Brochure- July • Irvine Terrace Park Encroachment • 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 • Ordinance 11.04 — Conduct in Parks ADJOURNMENT - 8:02pm Submitted by: Teri Craig, Admin Assi nt