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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-09-2021 Parks & Recreation Commission Packet 1 City of Saratoga Parks and Recreation Commission Regular Meeting Agenda DATE: Tuesday, March 9, 2021 TIME: 6:30 p.m. LOCATION: Via Zoom Teleconference/Public Participation Information to Mitigate the Spread of COVID‐19 This meeting will be entirely by teleconference. All Parks & Recreation Commission members, staff, and public will only participate via the Zoom platform using the process described below. The meeting is being conducted in compliance with the Governor’s Executi ve Order N‐29‐20 suspending certain teleconference rules required by the Ralph M. Brown Act. The purpose of this order was to provide the safest environment for the public, elected officials, and staff while allowing for continued operation of the government and public participation during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Members of the public can observe and participate in the meeting by: 1. Using the Zoom website at 2. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84091857373 or App Webinar ID: 840 9185 7373 and using the tool to raise their hand in the Zoom platform when directed by the Chair to speak on an agenda item; OR 3. Calling 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833, entering the Webinar ID: 840 9185 7373 and pressing *9 to raise their hand to speak on an agenda item when directed by the Chair. The public will not be able to participate in the meeting in person. As always, members of the public can send written comments to the Commission prior to the mee ting by commenting online at www.saratoga.ca.us/prc prior to the start of the meeting. These emails will be provided to the members of the Commission and will become part of the official record of the meeting. During the meeting the Chair will explain the process for members of the public to be recognized to offer public comment. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Governor’s Executive Order, if you need assistance to participate in this meeting due to a disability, please contact the City Clerk at debbieb@saratoga.ca.us or calling 408.868.1216 as soon as possible before the meeting. The City will use its best efforts to provide reasonable accommodations to provide as much accessibility as possible while also maintaining public safety. 2 Call to Order Roll Call: Chair Renee Paquier, Vice Chair Rick Pearce, Commissioner Anna Huang, Commissioner Ping Li, Commissioner Michelle Wang Report on Posting of the Agenda: Pursuant to Government Code Section 54954.2, this meeting was properly posted on March 4, 2021. Oral & Written Communication: Any member of the public may address the Commission about any matter not on the agenda for this meeting for up three minutes. Commissioners may not comment on the matter but may choose to place the topic on a future agenda. Approval of Parks and Recreation Commission Draft Minutes: Agenda: 1. Review Final Park Map Issue: Review Final Park Map Action: Approve final map 2. Pickleball discussion Issue: Discuss progress of the addition of pickleball to an existing tennis court Action: Informational only 3. Update on “Let’s Work” Issue: Update on “Let’s Work” Program Action: Informational only 4. Update on Historical Plaque Program Issue: Update on progress of the Historical Plaque Program Action: Informational only 5. Update City plans for Summer Programs Issue: Report on cities plans for summer activities Action: Informational only 6. Garbage Solutions at Quarry Park Issue: Discuss trash can and sign options for garbage issues at Quarry Park Action: Make recommendation 3 Commissioner and Staff Reports (This includes committee updates and park reports. This section is informational only; no actions will be taken.) Commissioner Park Li Wildwood, Foothill, Quarry Pearce Bell Grove, Congress Springs, Ravenwood, Gardiner Paquier Beauchamp, Brookglen, El Quito Wang Azule, Kevin Moran, Friendship Park Huang (El Quito, Gardiner) – suggested future park assignment for discussion Agenda Items for Next Meeting May 11, 2021 • Adjournment In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you are a disabled person and you need a disability-related modification or accommodation to participate in this meeting, contact Kristin Borel at 408.868.1296 or kborel@saratoga.ca.us. Requests must be made as early as possible and at least one full business day before the start of the meeting. Parks and Recreation Commission Agenda Note: In accordance with the Ralph M. Brown Act, copies of the staff reports and other materials provided to the Parks and Recreation Commission by City staff in connection with this agenda are available at the office of the City Manager at 13777 Fruitvale Avenue, Saratoga, California 95070. Any materials distributed by staff after the posting of the agenda are made available for public review at the office of the City Manager at the time they are distributed to the Parks and Recreation Commission. Certificate of Posting of Agenda: I, Kristin Borel, Public Works Analyst for the City of Saratoga, declare that the foregoi ng agenda for the meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission of the City of Saratoga was posted on March 4, 2021 at the office of the City of Saratoga, 13777 Fruitvale Avenue, Saratoga, CA 95070 and was available for public review at that location. The agenda is also available on the City’s website at www.saratoga.ca.us. 1 City of Saratoga Parks and Recreation Commission Regular Meeting Draft Minutes DATE: Tuesday, January 12, 2021 TIME: 6:30 p.m. LOCATION: Via Zoom Call to Order: Chair Paquier called the virtual Regular Session to order at 6:35 p.m. via teleconferencing through Zoom. Prior to Roll Call, the Chair and Staff Liaison explained that the meeting was conducted pursuant to provisions of the Brown Act and a recent Executive Order issued by the Governor to facilitate teleconferencing to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission at public meetings. Ordinarily the Brown Act sets strict rules for teleconferencing. The Governor’s Executive Order has suspended those rules. The Executive Order does require that public agencies continue to notice meetings in advance and provide members of the public an opportunity to observe the meeting and offer public comment. The Commission met all of the applicable notice requirements and the public is welcome to participate in this meeting. Information on how the public can observe the meeting and provide public comment was also shared. Additionally, the Chair explained that votes would be taken through roll call. Roll Call: Chair Renee Paquier, Vice Chair Rick Pearce, Commissioner Ping Li, Commissioner Michelle Wang. All present. Also in attendance were John Cherbone, Public Works Director, Lauren Pettipiece, Public Information Officer and Kristin Borel, Staff Liaison. (All appearing via Teleconference) Staff Liaison, Kristin Borel confirmed all the Commission members could hear the meeting proceedings and no doubts were expressed regarding the identities of the individuals representing themselves as Parks and Recreation Commissioners. Report on Posting of the Agenda: Kristin Borel reported that the Agenda for this meeting was properly posted on January 7, 2021. Oral & Written Communication None Approval of Parks and Recreation Commission Draft Minutes. Commissioner Pearce/Li moved to Approve the Parks and Recreation Minutes for the Regular Meeting on November 10, 2020. Passed by a verbal roll call: Ayes: Li, Paquier, Pearce and Wang. Noes: None. Abstain: None. Absent: None. 2 Agenda: 1. Discuss the addition of pickleball to existing tennis court in a city park. Commissioners discussed the high level of activity at Kevin Moran Park and recommended staff keep pursuing other parks and report back at the next meeting. Chair Paquier invited any public comments on this item. No one requested to speak 2. Review Draft Park Map Commissioners reviewed draft map presented by Lauren Pettipiece and made corrections. The Commissioners will each review the map for accuracy and have the final Park Map brought back at the next meeting. Chair Paquier invited any public comments on this item. No one requested to speak. 3. Review 2020 Draft ADA Park Study Commissioners discussed the Draft ADA Study and made no new recommendations. Chair Paquier invited any public comments on this item. No one requested to speak. Commissioner Li/Pearce moved to Approved the Draft ADA Parks Assessment Plan. Passed by a verbal roll call: Ayes: Li, Paquier, Pearce and Wang. Noes: None. Abstain: None. Absent: None. 4. Mission Statement Review The Commission reviewed the Draft Mission statement amended by Commissioner Wang and suggested a change of wording in the last sentence. Chair Paquier invited any public comments on this item. No one requested to speak. Commissioner Wang/Pearce moved to Approve the Draft Mission Statement with a change to the last sentence from “preserve the city’s valued natural and historical assets” to “preserve the City’s natural and historic resources”. Passed by a verbal roll call: Ayes: Li, Paquier, Pearce and Wang. Noes: None. Abstain: None. Absent: None. 5. Next Steps and 2021 Workplan Commissioners revised the 2020 workplan t o reflect the changes that have taken place due to Covid 19. Chair Paquier invited any public comments on this item. No one requested to speak. 3 Commissioner Pearce/Li move to Accept the 2021 workplan. Passed by a verbal roll call: Ayes: Li, Paquier, Pearce and Wang. Noes: None. Abstain: None. Absent: None. Commissioner and Staff Reports (This includes committee updates and park reports. This section is informational only; no actions will be taken.) Commissioner Park Li Wildwood, Foothill, Quarry Pearce Bell Grove, Congress Springs, Ravenwood, Gardiner Paquier Beauchamp, Brookglen, El Quito Wang Azule, Kevin Moran, Friendship Park Agenda Items for Next Meeting March 9, 2021 • Report on development of Pickleball court • Report of status of Let’s Work program • Review Final Park Map • Report on progress of Historical Plaque Program Adjournment Commissioners Wang/Pearce move to Adjourn the meeting at 7:40 p.m. Passed by a verbal roll call: Ayes: Li, Paquier, Pearce and Wang. Noes: None. Abstain: None. Absent: None. CITY OF SARATOGA Parks & Recreation Commission To: Parks & Recreation Commissioners From: Kristin Borel, Staff Liaison Date: March 9, 2021 Subject: Agenda Item: 2 These are written communications from the public that were received after the city posted a sign at Azule Park asking for comments about the possible addition of pickleball lines to the existing tennis court. Email #1 The tennis courts at Kevin Moran and Azule have become very busy especially with the reserved lessons. We do not need Pickle Ball added to the Azule tennis court. We DO need another tennis court at Azule. There is space next to the current tennis court. Please consider adding another court which will help with the over loaded tennis court. Then, you would be able to support both tennis and Pickle Ball. Email #2 I object to add the pickle ball to tennis court for following reasons: 1) it’s very hard to get tennis court since it’s already very crowded. 2) Also, many tennis lessons during weekend 3) Very few courts are available. We have only 1 court for each park. It’s not a lot. So, Adding more users on tennis court , it’s a nightmare. Note: by the way, I recommend to install a manual clock a tennis court for indicating reservations time in and out, so that people know the time for waiting Thanks for consideration (I asked this resident when he played tennis and what were the conditions like, the response is below) 1) I usually play in the afternoon during weekend. Often waiting almost 1 hr. 2) On Sunday, it’s worse since there is tennis lessons/camp at both Azule and kevin park 3) During Covid time, Sometimes I went about noontime and sometimes the court was not available and need to go 3 parks. I have sympathy for pickleball players too, but if overcrowded then it benefits no one. I suggest we build more court at the park since we have plenty of room and have only 1 court/park. Also, it would be great that we have a sport center, like the one in Cupertino iSteven Creek , that can serve multiple purposes and Saratoga citizens. Thanks for getting my input. Email #3 We in Saratoga have very limited access to tennis courts already. We should be building more tennis courts in our neighborhood. Congress Spring Park used to have 4 tennis courts but was converted those to soccer fields permanently! I believe currently in Saratoga, there are a total of 3 tennis courts. Did you know that there are always a line waiting to use those 3 tennis courts? If you convert those into Pickle Ball courts, then we will be fighting for the same courts with the Pickle Ball crowd, and this will create more frustration for both the tennis and pickle ball crowd. Please build more tennis courts in Saratoga! We need it, as we are struggling to find open tennis courts especially when the sunset at 5PM in the winter. For example, the city of Cupertino has Memorial Park with 6 courts, with lights, Calabazaz Park has 3 tennis courts with lights, and Murdock has 4 courts with lights. We need more tennis courts in Saratoga. If we have 13 courts like Cupertino, I can see that it is reasonable to convert some for dual usage, but we don't, We only have 3 courts in Saratoga. Please build more tennis courts in Saratoga and even better yet to put in lights on the courts to expand the usage time. Thank you. Email #4 I have played pickleball a few times and I know several people that play. Honestly, for tennis players, the extra lines are annoying. However, pickleball is an extremely popular game and adding lines to one of the three courts is reasonable. Azule is the right choice for the pickleball lines. If you want to see what the added lines look like, there is a tennis court on the corner of Wedgewood Ave. and Granada Way in Los Gatos. I’ll send you a picture. I think the addition is fine. Players just need to keep to the hour limit. This is why reservations are helpful. I routinely reserve the tennis courts at each of the three parks. If you want to be guaranteed a place to play, pay for the reservation. Also, the pickleball nets are portable. All you really need is a parking lot. If any lot is available in Saratoga, you don’t ne ed to use a tennis court. There is a park in San Jose where they dedicated a parking lot to pickleball. They even CEMENTED in the net posts!! There are about 10 courts. If you want some more info, maybe talk to Todd Badger. He organizes pickleball for Los Gatos Recreation. Phone Call I spoke with one resident who played pickleball and support s the idea of adding lines to the existing court. He lives near Kevin Moran Park and was excited about the idea. CITY OF SARATOGA Parks & Recreation Commission To: Parks & Recreation Commissioners From: Kristin Borel, Staff Liaison Date: March 9, 2021 Subject: Agenda Item: 6 Commissioner Ping Li sent the following email to John Cherbone and John recommended that the Parks & Recreation Commission discuss the possible solutions. Hi John and Kristin, I went to the Quarry Park yesterday to check on the areas for restarting Let's Work. Seeing the park so popular now is great. But the amount of gar bages that I saw around the park made me sad (please see attached picture). Since Quarry Park is an open space natural park, I wonder if we can do the same as the Midpen does to their OSP which no garbage bins are placed in the park. There are wild animals around the park when people leave so people should carry their own waste with them to keep the park natural to other life beings. We could place signs at the entrance, near the picnic areas or trailheads to educate the visitors. We should stop trainin g people to leave trash inside the park as early as possible. Hopefully this will also save a lot of work for our city staffs to clean up the garbages. Here are some suggestions of park signs that we can consider to use. Looking forward to discussing at our next PRC meeting. Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time Please pack out what you pack in Please don't litter - Help keep our park natural Please don't litter - Help keep our park clean Please don't litter - Help protect wildlife Please don't litter - Be considerate of other visitors Leave No Trace In addition, we could organize volunteer activities to clean up trash along the trails periodically if necessary. A new task for Let's Work! Hopefully we don't have to come to that point with putting up the no litter signs.