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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-01-28 Parks & Recreation Commission Summary MinutesMINUTES 1 PARKS & RECREATION Commission 2 Regular meeting 3 January 28, 2025 4 In-Person & Virtual Conference 5 Palo Alto, California 6 7 Commissioners Present: Brown, Freeman, Cribbs, Deng, Greenfield, Kleinhaus, Wei (participating 8 remotely) 9 Commissioners Absent: None. 10 Others Present: None. 11 Staff Present: Steve Castile, Sarah Robustelli, Christine Prior 12 13 CALL TO ORDER & ROLL CALL 14 Chair Brown called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. Roll was taken with all present. 15 PUBLIC COMMENT 16 1. Orit voiced concerns that having restrooms at Eleanor Pardee Park would create safety issues. 17 She thought the survey was sent to a lot of people that would not be affected. 18 2. Doria S. (zoom) emphasized the importance of replanting the eucalyptus trees with more 19 naturally resilient native trees. 20 3. GMA (zoom), president of the Palo Alto Pickleball Club, spoke about how the growth of 21 pickleball has put a strain on the capacity of the courts at Mitchell Park. He stated the club 22 looked forward to helping this Commission and the City to achieve the Council's priority 23 objective of health, wellness and belonging including addressing the court capacity issues in a 24 manner that has minimal budgetary impact and maximum benefit for the community. 25 4. Dashiell L (zoom), coordinator for the Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter, echoed Doria S.’s 26 comments that the eucalyptus trees should be replaced with native plants and trees that would 27 not pose the same fire risk. He wondered if there was a plan to do so and if that plan would be 28 made public. 29 30 AGENDA CHANGES, ADDITIONS, AND DELETIONS 31 Chair Brown reported she received one comment about moving the election of chair and vice 32 chair. In order to accommodate staff presentations, it was toward the end of the agenda and it 33 could be moved further in the meeting after the ad hoc committees and liaison updates if there 34 was an interest from fellow commissioners. 35 36 Commissioner Greenfield was in favor of keeping with the original practice but would go along 37 with whatever the Commission deemed most appropriate. 38 39 CITY OFFICIAL REPORTS 40 1. Department Report (20 min) 41 42 Sarah Robustelli, Division Manager, Open Space, Parks & Golf, and Steve Castile, Assistant 43 Director, Community Services Department, provided a slide presentation for the Department 44 Report including upcoming special events, Foothills Nature Preserve Library Pass expansion, 45 Eleanor Pardee Park restroom survey, Fred Eyerly Tower Well Park – second volunteer day, golf 46 course pump maintenance and capital improvement projects progress. He further noted 47 construction on Boulware Park was approximately 85 percent complete with an anticipated 48 completion in March. He indicated they continued to work with the regulatory agencies on the 49 Golf Course mitigation and drafting the term sheet for the long-term partnership with First Tee. 50 51 Vice Chair Freeman inquired if they were getting close to an end date on First Tee. He wanted to 52 know about the response to the Pardee Park survey. He asked if they were working on a grand 53 opening for Boulware Park. 54 55 Assistant Director Castile replied it would most likely continue into fall. Additional items that 56 would come into play would be the Second Deck Study for the driving range and the 57 reconfiguration of that area. He indicated they had established a short-term contract agreement 58 with them for use. He remarked they had pretty good responses on the Pardee Park survey so 59 far. It was being tracked through scans they got through the QR codes and were anticipating 60 more to come. He commented there had been communication with Public Works and he 61 anticipated something was in the works regarding Boulware Park. 62 63 Commissioner Wei wanted information on how they planned to advertise the inclusivity events 64 and what sort of crowd was expected. 65 66 Division Manager Robustelli answered the recreation division would be working with all of the 67 normal channels of outreach, Uplift on the community calendar website, flyers, social media and 68 in the community centers. She offered to send those items directly to the commissioners. 69 70 Commissioner Deng heard some runners had their jackets stolen at the Cubberley Track and 71 Field. She hoped the police could keep the Parks team updated on the investigation and 72 wondered if there were any preventative measures they could be explored. 73 74 Commissioner Greenfield suggested deferring to the dog park liaison to see if the community 75 would be interested in supporting a ribbon cutting for the Mitchell Dog Park expansion. He 76 wanted to know if there was a plan to replant trees at Esther Clark Park. He was surprised to just 77 be hearing about the expanded Foothills Nature Preserve Library Pass and inquired if it was a 78 City Council change or a staff decision. 79 80 Assistant Director Castile indicated they were working with the Urban Forestry Department to 81 source out local native trees that were semi guaranteed to survive in that location. He explained 82 the expanded Foothills Nature Preserve Library Pass was intended to streamline the process, 83 provide continuity across the different library areas and stay with the existing practices within 84 the pass. 85 86 Division Manager Robustelli commented the expanded Foothills Nature Preserve Library Pass 87 would still align with Council’s desires. It made operational efficiencies for the library as well as 88 ranger staff. She reported that there were 75 passes available for checkout at the five libraries. It 89 was based off a two-week period that the library did analysis because City Council directed that 90 10 library passes were able to be used per day. They were split up by higher demand. It was 91 modeled after the state park pass. Their use would be much easier to track. She offered to talk 92 more about the reasoning offline. 93 94 Commissioner Wei requested to join that meeting, also. She also wanted to talk about getting a 95 shuttle reinstated for seniors and teens going to Foothill Park and the rationale behind the 96 number of passes versus how they broadcast that. 97 98 Commissioner Kleinhaus inquired if this was in addition to the day passes or a replacement. She 99 wanted to understand more about how two-week passes would work. She wanted to know 100 when the plan would be available for the new plantings, phases of new planting, species list and 101 map replacing the eucalyptus removal. She stated a public person had been writing to her about 102 it. She asked to have updates for the next few months. She wanted to know where the budget 103 came from for the replacement. She asked if there would be a way that the next time they have 104 a project involving removing a lot of trees that the replacement cost could be included in the 105 budget. She advised that when a project would have impact, the compensation should be folded 106 into the project budget. She queried why they had to have such a high scale, expensive, lengthy 107 process to put a dog park that could just be a fence. 108 109 Division Manager Robustelli replied it would be a replacement of the day passes. There would be 110 no more paper after February 1. They had done training with the library and Open Space staff. 111 112 Commissioner Greenfield suggested covering the expanded Foothills Nature Preserve Library 113 Pass discussion at the next Foothills Nature Preserve stakeholder meeting. 114 115 Assistant Director Castile answered the plan for the eucalyptus replacement was to be 116 determined. They were in the beginning stages of determining how they would go about the 117 process with the Urban Forestry Department. He estimated it would be toward the end of 118 summer or fall. A few trees had already been planted. He agreed to follow up with the public 119 person about the trees. The budget would be taken out of the normal operating budget. He 120 agreed to look into including replacement cost of trees in the budget. He explained how the base 121 rock and decomposed granite was for the safety of the dogs. The grass areas were pre-existing. 122 123 Division Manager Robustelli added some were caged. They partnered with Grassroots Ecology to 124 assist with that. 125 126 Commissioner Greenfield queried if CSD or Urban Forestry was driving the replanting. 127 128 Assistant Director Castile replied it started with the supervising park ranger for Foothills who 129 oversees the area and would branch out from there and make a plan collaboratively. 130 131 Chair Brown added regarding the dog park that grass was a big request from the dog park 132 stakeholders. The idea of having the dog parks in different locations was to try to customize it to 133 the main stakeholders. 134 135 Commissioner Deng thought having a good dog park added a potential for Palo Alto to host 136 some good dog-related events in the future. 137 138 Commissioner Cribbs hoped Canopy would get involved in the eucalyptus situation and 139 replanting of the native trees. She wanted to hear more about the cost for the remediations for 140 the golf course. She was in favor of doing a ribbon cutting for the new dog park at Mitchell. 141 142 Chair Brown questioned what the next steps would be if the restroom at Pardee Park were to 143 proceed. 144 145 Assistant Director Castile replied if the survey outcome deemed they move forward they would 146 work with the Public Works Department to host a series of community meetings to do further 147 outreach to determine if they would move forward. It would go into potential location of the 148 restroom. They would take the feedback on things of amenities and hear all the pros and cons of 149 everything in the process. 150 151 Commissioner Greenfield commented that Canopy typically does not get involved with Open 152 Space plantings. Grassroots Ecology would be involved with that along with staff. 153 154 BUSINESS ITEMS 155 2. Office of Emergency Services Radio Equipment at Fire Station 8 in Foothills Nature Preserve – 156 Andres Orozco – Discussion (45 minutes) 157 158 Andres Orozco, Emergency Services Coordinator, provided a slide presentation about the 159 Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network (AREDN) equipment configuration for Fire Station 8 160 including an agenda, explanation of the AREDN, location of Fire Station 8, existing equipment at 161 FS8 tower, proposed AREDN equipment items, AREDN equipment configuration, diagram of 162 AREDN equipment configuration and radio frequency. 163 164 Commissioner Kleinhaus wanted to see what the tower would look like at the park. She agreed it 165 was important to have redundancy and community emergency systems in an area such as 166 Foothills. She strongly asked that they look at the guidelines for bird friendly towers published by 167 the Department of Fish and Wildlife and either avoid guywires or use something to make them 168 visible to birds and what types of lighting to use. Since the staff report suggested there would be 169 CEQA, she thought it would be good to have the design go back to the Commission, ad hoc or 170 the liaisons to see what it looks like. She wanted an explanation for repositioning the equipment. 171 172 Coordinator Orozco explained if a need to move the equipment ever arose, the Dr. Lannucci 173 would be able to do so immediately. He would maintain the system. The configuration proposed 174 was mainly because it was ideal for the communication platform. He agreed to come back with a 175 visual of the tower and bird safety mitigation information. 176 177 Commissioner Greenfield agreed that adding redundancy and general emergency service 178 support was important. He asked how many systems were deployed and if there were any 179 security concerns. 180 181 Coordinator Orozco answered this would be the only mobile system. Everything else in Palo Alto 182 would be the nodes. He noted AREDN was used all over the Bay Area so it would be a leveraged 183 system. He stated there were no security concerns. 184 185 Vice Chair Freeman queried what systems had been put in place to prevent having unauthorized 186 persons communicating on the system. He wanted to know if an environmental impact 187 assessment had been conducted. He inquired if there were any plans to expand with similar 188 emergency communications infrastructure to other key locations within Palo Alto. 189 190 Coordinator Orozco explained the system was on FCC communication. Training and certification 191 were required in order to get on that net. Authorization to access the net could be confirmed 192 using a call sign. He indicated they would be looking into all of the particulars environmental 193 impacts. He remarked Mitchell Park Library and City Hall had an AREDN and Channing House 194 would have one. There were a few that were considered the backbone that were the main 195 connectivity sites and they would propagate to other surrounding locations. If FCC licensed, 196 people could have a node in their homes. 197 198 Commissioner Wei wondered about a timeline. She suggested looking into how easily it could be 199 accessed from different locations in the City. She wondered if there would be any education 200 done for people qualified to use this and would be part of the emergency response team. 201 202 Coordinator Orozco replied the timeline would be based on approval. It could be sooner than 203 seven months given approval. He indicated people all over Palo Alto would be able to get on this 204 net as long as they obtain a license for ham radio operator. It would be leveraged with the 205 community emergency response teams which are all people that live in the area and want to 206 contribute in the event of a disaster. 207 208 Chief Ken Dueker, Office of Emergency Services Chief, clarified the location of Fire Station 8 has 209 to do more with propagation and coverage. Having a mobile platform was unique. The pro is that 210 it could be relocated but the reason it was being put at Fire Station 8 was more about relay link 211 coverage to other sites in the Bay area. He indicated that the tower was so short it did not have 212 any kind of lighting or FAA obstruction requirements so was not an attractive nuisance to birds. 213 The power output would be lower than any of the other existing equipment. He clarified it was a 214 backup system. He said they have 800 members in their emergency services volunteer program. 215 Having data communication when there was no cell phone was their mission. 216 217 Chair Brown wanted more information as to why this was the optimal location. 218 219 Chief Dueker explained the location had to do with propagation and coverage. There were other 220 places they could look but that would require negotiation with Mid-Peninsula Regional Open 221 Space or another similar location. This would be the easiest route but they could switch to Plan B 222 if the Commission requested it. 223 224 Commissioner Deng queried if there was budget to cover this project. 225 226 Chief Dueker clarified Dr. Lannucci donated it. He would maintain it at his cost and other costs 227 were quite low. 228 229 Commissioner Kleinhaus asked what type of CEQA document they expected to have. She again 230 requested to see further depictions of what it will look like. She opined that guywires were a 231 problem and advised if they were necessary put something on them that birds could see. 232 233 Chief Dueker replied this would go under the practical exemption from CEQA. He did not think 234 the administrative burden of a CEQA process was justified. He offered to provide renderings or 235 photos. 236 237 Assistant Director Castile agreed to work in collaboration to set it up and takes pictures. 238 239 Chair Brown inquired what the other approval processes would be. 240 241 Assistant Director Castile remarked they would take the feedback from the Commission and find 242 out any additional research that would need to be done. They would then return for an action 243 item to report information observed back to the Commission. 244 245 Commissioner Greenfield questioned if there was a park improvement ordinance required for 246 any of these changes. He advised that if it was something City Council would need to approve, 247 they could take an action to recommend approval. If it was a staff decision, it should just be a 248 discussion item. He wanted to know if there would be an air conditioning system or cooling in 249 the ambulance to keep the servers temperate. 250 251 Assistant Director Castile agreed to check on that but did not think there would be. 252 253 Chief Dueker indicated a cooling system would not be required. 254 255 3. Fiscal Year 2026-2030 Capital Improvement Program Plan Updates – Lam Do – Discussion (60 256 minutes) 257 258 Lam Do, Superintendent of Open Space, Parks & Recreation, indicated the purpose of the 259 presentation and discussion was to supplement the staff report and was not intended to replace 260 it. He provided a slide presentation about the Draft Capital Improvement Plan including a 261 preliminary list of CIPs under consideration, CIP timeline, a list of 25 adopted CIPs for FY 2025 – 262 current budget, a list of 23 departmental FU 2026 CIPs – preliminary proposal, a list with 263 explanations and costs of the 9 open space FY 2026 CIPs – preliminary proposals, a list with 264 explanations and costs of 14 Parks/Golf/Recreation FY 2026 CIPs – preliminary proposal, a list of 265 36 FY 2026 – 2030 CIPs – preliminary proposal and CIP needs identified but not currently in CIP 266 plan. 267 268 Item 3 Public Comment 269 1. Sharon E., volunteer at Eleanor Pardee Park, indicated an urgent need for a restroom at that 270 location. She asked the Commission to recommend it be added to the 2025 – 2026 Capital 271 Budget and installed as soon as possible. 272 2. Nancy K. requested the Parks Commission to prioritize the Pardee Park restroom funding for 273 fiscal year 2026. She wanted to know what the next steps would be. She wanted the City to 274 identify the park for 2028 to make sure they get the funding and installation for the 2028 275 restroom identified. 276 277 Commissioner Cribbs wanted clarification on the meaning of dollar amounts. 278 279 Superintendent Do explained there would always be a five-year window of funding. As the 280 funding dropped off, there would be additional funding added. 281 282 Commissioner Wei questioned if there was enough impact data to show the dangers of artificial 283 turf. She felt it necessary to advocate for a safer environment regarding turf. She suggested 284 leveraging data from Santa Clara if they had impact data. She asked about a timeline. 285 286 Assistant Director Castile commented they had been in communications and collaboration with 287 the county who had been conducting a study about the health concerns related to artificial turf. 288 They would be bringing a report back to Council members at a later date to look at that data. 289 290 Commissioner Greenfield asked for further comment on the status of City Council’s study and 291 Santa Clara County’s report. 292 293 Assistant Director Castile indicated Santa Clara County did a very extensive report looking into 294 the different types of synthetic grass. They would be incorporating those items and using some 295 of the data they had gathered over the last year. They would also look at other cities. They would 296 look at information they had in-house on how the fields were currently used. 297 298 Commissioner Wei wondered if there was anything they could do to leverage data. She had 299 observed that England reverted back to grass lawn instead of synthetic. She would be happy to 300 make connections to bring data globally. 301 302 Commissioner Kleinhaus noted number six on the open space for tiered nature preserve 303 improvements did not include Wild Horse Valley and Los Trancos Creek restoration. She opined 304 that would be something they would want to do at the same time. She asked how they prioritize 305 something like that when there was no budget for it. She suggested looking to the Water District 306 for money for it or hiring a consultant to manage the project. 307 308 Assistant Director Castile explained they would have to try to find grant funding or other sources 309 for that. He agreed it was an important item and they would look into it. It would also require 310 staff resources. 311 312 Chair Brown wanted an overview on the approach for things like dog parks and restrooms that 313 are not necessarily specific to a location versus a specific park identified for improvements and 314 how that works in the CIP. 315 316 Superintendent Do explained there was a process that started with something that was 317 exploratory internally. Initial outreach to the community would be done. They would also go 318 through a formal outreach process, such as a survey. Based on those results, they would go back 319 depending on timing. Once a project was deemed appropriate, they would look at the design, 320 engineering, cost and budgeting. From there, it would become a project that would be managed 321 under one of the categories. It then gets project managed and installed. That would allow a 322 regular cadence or schedule without having the specifics identified and being responsive to the 323 needs. It would also allow the time to go through the process to reappropriate the funding so 324 multiple years’ funding could be used for a project. 325 326 Vice Chair Freeman wanted to know what criteria was used to prioritize the capital improvement 327 projects and how the community input factored into them. He noted that there was a lot of 328 community interest in a restroom at Pardee Park and asked why that would not be pushed up 329 the queue. 330 331 Superintendent Do answered in general, a CIP had thresholds it had to meet in order to become 332 a CIP proposal as opposed to being an operating budget repair need. After that threshold, 333 various factors would be looked at in consideration of it becoming a CIP including health and 334 safety needs, regulatory needs and Council priority based on environmental or housing related. 335 Another factor is staff bandwidth. Commission has input. 336 337 Division Manager Robustelli reiterated that should there be interest in adding a restroom at 338 Pardee Park, the City's capital improvement process would require further community 339 engagement and staff would recommend this project specifically for fiscal year 26 budget 340 process with the possibility of design and installation the following year. 341 342 Assistant Director Castile stated it would go community engagement. Once they got the go 343 ahead to move forward, they would work with the Public Works Department on their design 344 engineering. The restroom would have to be designed depending on the needs. Next would be 345 the procurement phase and ordering phase. A time slot would be determined on breaking 346 ground. Then a bid to see who could install the restroom would be obtained and then the 347 process of managing the project. He pointed out that the process is lengthy. 348 349 Commissioner Greenfield requested clarification of the status of the Mitchell Park restroom. 350 351 Assistant Director Castile indicated they had been in discussions with Public Works Engineering 352 and that would be the next one up. Once they get through the staffing limitations, they would 353 engage within the design phase and get it going. 354 355 Commissioner Cribbs opined there had to be a way to figure out how to make the process faster. 356 357 Assistant Director Castile explained they work on a limited staffing model. Losing key members 358 created a domino effect. 359 360 Vice Chair Freeman thought the community needed to know the process in order to understand 361 why it was taking such a long time. He suggested providing a projected timeline. 362 363 Chair Brown advised doing a well-done survey making sure it would not be the only point of 364 contact with the immediate stakeholders involved and that everybody would be allowed the 365 opportunity to be heard. She strongly supported making sure flexibility for things like dog parks 366 and restrooms would be maintained going forward. 367 368 Commissioner Greenfield wanted clarification if they were potentially moving forward with both 369 Mitchell and Pardee Park restrooms on a similar timeline. He asked if the timeline was out of 370 sync for bathrooms and dog parks. He suggested extending the budget amount a little more in 371 the future to include the dollar amount that would apply to the year coming up under review 372 and include any aggregate five-year funding number separately with clarification. He thought it 373 was misleading to show dollar amounts that were already spent. He encouraged them to project 374 further expenditures on the BCCP. He encouraged changing the CIP name regarding Bixby Park to 375 planned improvements rather than completion. He hoped for a potential alternative to 376 demolishing the stone structure at the restroom in Orchard Glen picnic area and suggested 377 updating the wording in the CIP. He asked if the turf restoration work at Mitchell Park was more 378 significant than the typical closure and reseeding that happens annually. He advised adding an 379 additional year projection in that CIP item. 380 381 Assistant Director Castile explained they would do Mitchell first and if Pardee was chosen as the 382 second one they would do it directly afterward in FY26. He indicated the stone structure at the 383 restroom in Orchard Glen picnic area would go through a community review process. 384 385 Superintendent Do indicated in the past bathrooms and dog park projects were every other year 386 and funding was on alternating years between the two projects. The City had undergone some 387 budget constraints the past couple of years and there was a year when they were asked to 388 suspend funding which threw off the syncing of alternating years between the two projects. He 389 explained the funding cycle versus installation and construction cycle did not need to mirror 390 each other. If they were not able to install in the planned timeline, the funds were 391 reappropriated so they stay in place. He stated they would have to take a look at the Mitchell 392 Park field site and when they take a look for the turf restoration, that would be further down the 393 line. Currently they were looking at the splash zone and playgrounds in this phase. If they did a 394 major overhaul with the turf at this point, it would have to include all of the looping of the 395 irrigation. 396 397 Commissioner Kleinhaus added that she would not want to see the buildings at Orchard Glen 398 picnic area replaced with a prefab and encouraged considering preserving them. She queried 399 they checked any specifications about the material used regarding the Mitchell Park 400 improvements and if they were looking at other synthetic materials. 401 402 Assistant Director Castile did not have an answer but agreed to look into that in the future. 403 404 Commissioner Wei requested to have a further offline meeting with Assistant Director Castile 405 about the impacts of synthetic turfs. 406 407 Commissioner Cribbs wanted to know what was dependent upon the partnership with First Tee 408 and the golf course and how the mitigation funding was going to be used, if it would be enough 409 and if they would be done with the golf course mitigation. 410 411 Superintendent Do explained the potential long-term partnership with First Tee would impact 412 the adjacent youth practice area which would share the same netting on one side of the driving 413 range. Their proposal included funding sources in order to prepare the youth practice area. The 414 timing of their project, proposal and the long-term partnership agreement would impact when 415 the timing would be for the City’s replacement of the driving range overall. Regarding the 416 mitigation monitoring, the obligation was for five years. They did not yet know if this amount 417 was enough. They were in discussions with the regulatory board to determine what they would 418 like to see out of the mitigation monitoring. If it was not enough, they planned on funding 419 through a request in future fiscal years. 420 421 Commissioner Freeman questioned if the removal and replacement of the golf course synthetic 422 turf would affect all synthetic fields. 423 424 Assistant Director Castile explained their direction and guidance was to look at City playing fields 425 and that was to be determined. 426 427 Commissioner Greenfield wanted to know if it would be appropriate to add the Wellness Center 428 and the Foothills Nature Preserve Interpretive Trail upgrade to the list of CIPs to consider in the 429 future. 430 431 Assistant Director Castile indicated the Wellness Center was in its own direction at that point. He 432 offered to engage on the Foothills Nature Preserve Interpretive Trail upgrade at the next 433 meeting. 434 435 4. Election of Chair and Vice Chair – Chair Brown – Action (20 minutes) 436 437 Chair Brown read the duties and responsibilities of the chair. She opened the floor for 438 nominations for the position of chair. 439 440 Vice Chair Freeman nominated Chair Brown to continue as the chair for the coming year. 441 442 Chair Brown did not accept nomination for the chair. She nominated Vice Chair Freeman for the 443 chair. 444 445 Vice Chair Freeman accepted the nomination. 446 447 Commissioner Wei echoed the nomination to recommend Vice Chair Freeman for the position of 448 chair. 449 450 MOTION: Chair Brown to nominate Vice Chair Freeman for Chair for 2025. 451 MOTION PASSED: 7-0 452 453 Chair Freeman read the duties and responsibilities of the vice chair. He opened the floor for 454 nominations for the role of vice chair. He nominated Commissioner Wei for the position of vice 455 chair. 456 457 Commissioner Wei accepted the nomination. 458 459 Commissioner Kleinhaus nominated Commissioner Greenfield for vice chair. She mentioned his 460 long-term experience. 461 462 Commissioner Greenfield accepted the nomination. 463 464 Commissioner Cribbs felt the Commission would be better served nominating someone who was 465 not termed out as Commissioner Greenfield would be leaving in November. 466 467 Commissioner Brown nominated herself to offer another alternative for continuity. 468 469 Commissioner Greenfield thought he could still be helpful as vice chair given there was only a 470 two-month period between the end of his term and when the new officers would be appointed 471 at the next organization meeting. 472 473 Chair Freeman pointed out there would be six months before his and Commissioners Greenfield 474 and Cribbs term ended and there would be opportunity to look at things again in the October 475 timeframe. 476 477 MOTION: Chair Freeman nominated Commissioner Wei for Vice Chair for 2025. 478 MOTION: Commissioner Kleinhaus nominated Commissioner Greenfield for Vice Chair for 2025. 479 MOTION: Commissioner Brown nominated herself for Vice Chair for 2025. 480 481 The results are: 482 Commissioner Wei: Deng, Wei 483 Commissioner Greenfield: Freeman, Greenfield, Kleinhaus 484 Commissioner Brown: Cribbs, Brown 485 Commissioner Greenfield was selected for Vice Chair. 486 487 5. Ad Hoc Committees and Liaison Updates – Chair Brown – Discussion (15 minutes) 488 489 Commissioner Cribbs announced that the middle school athletics ad hoc would be meeting the 490 following morning. 491 492 Commissioner Wei talked about the involvement of the Youth Leadership Council in the MLK 493 event. She remarked how the Chinese New Year event was over capacity. She was thinking of 494 going through the process of suggesting moving the venue to California Avenue or Ramona. She 495 described attending the Lunar New Year celebration in Millbrae. She mentioned working with 496 City staff on world cultural events. 497 498 Commissioner Greenfield reported the Draft Tree and Landscape Technical Manual was open for 499 public review and comment through early March. They expected the Urban Forestry Annual 500 Review at Round Table at Parks and Rec Commission agenda the next month as well as Canopy 501 presenting. The Commission would have an opportunity to weigh in on the Tree and Landscape 502 Technical Manual, as well. It was part of the tree ordinance update that happened a year and a 503 half ago. It was an extension of the existing Tree Technical Manual enhanced to cover landscape. 504 He also stated the Nature Preserve Access Policy ad hoc was ready to present when a spot 505 opened up on the agenda potentially in March. He recalled leaving off the previous month with a 506 general plan to move forward with the recommendation to the Commission on a couple of top 507 priorities regarding park dedication. The questions about how to proceed had been cleared up. 508 That could potentially be targeted toward March. 509 510 Vice Chair Freeman agreed to make note of the Nature Preserve Access Policy ad hoc 511 presentation. 512 513 Commissioner Cribbs asked how the Urban Forestry document for public review was available. 514 515 Commissioner Greenfield replied it was available on the City website under Urban Forestry. 516 Community stakeholders, arborists and contractors were included in the outreach regarding the 517 document. 518 519 Commissioner Deng agreed with Commissioner Wei that the community center was too small 520 for the Chinese New Year event and had limited traffic. A lot of the food venders complained of 521 about having a surplus. She suggested moving it out to a street to leverage the local restaurants. 522 523 Vice Chair Freeman reported that information was still being gathered about the USTA usage of 524 the Palo Alto tennis courts and looking at the population which seemed to be a majority of 525 people on the USTA teams in Palo Alto and not necessarily Palo Alto residents. They hoped to 526 provide more information from an ad hoc perspective at the next meeting. 527 528 Commissioner Cribbs remarked that Concordia had been in town meeting with various 529 community groups. They would be back. She thought everyone seemed to be excited about the 530 possibilities at Cubberley. The timeline was aggressive and there would be a lot of things for the 531 public to do. A lot of public input was needed. They had an opportunity to have citizens act as 532 community fellows and thought they may decide that was a role somebody from the PRC should 533 have. 534 535 COMMISSIONER/BOARD MEMBER QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, ANNOUNCEMENTS OR FUTURE AGENDA 536 ITEMS 537 Assistant Director Castile reported the future agenda items for February’s schedule would be the 538 Sewer Rehabilitation project update for the Baylands Nature Preserve, the BPTP update and 539 Urban Forestry Annual update along with the Canopy update. 540 ADJOURNMENT 541 Meeting was adjourned at 10:01pm. 542