HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-08-28 Parks & Recreation Agenda PacketADA. The City of Palo Alto does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. To request accommodations, auxiliary aids or services to access City facilities, services or programs, to participate at public meetings, or to learn about the City's compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, may contact 650-329-2550 (voice), or e-mail ada@cityofpaloalto.org This agenda is posted in accordance with government code section 54954.2(a) or section 54956. Members of the public are welcome to attend this public meeting.
AGENDA IS POSTED IN ACCORDANCE
WITH GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION
54954.2(a) OR SECTION 54956 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION Special Meeting August 28th, 2018 REVISED AGENDA City Hall Chambers 250 Hamilton
7:05pm
*In accordance with SB 343 materials related to an item on this Agenda submitted to the Commission after distribution of the agenda packet are available for public inspection at the Lucie Stern Community Center at 1305 Middlefield Road during normal business hours. Please call 650-463-4912.
Attention Speakers: If you wish to address the Commission during oral communications or on an item on the agenda,
please complete a speaker’s card and give it to City staff. By submitting the speaker’s card, the Chair will recognize you at
the appropriate time.
I.ROLL CALL
II.AGENDA CHANGES, REQUESTS, DELETIONS
III.ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
Members of the public may address the Commission on any subject not on the agenda. A reasonable time restriction may be imposed at the discretion of the Chair. The Commission reserves the right to limit oral communications period to 3 minutes.
IV.DEPARTMENT REPORT
V.BUSINESS
1.Approval of Draft Minutes from the July 24th, 2018 Parks and Recreation Commission
Meeting – PRC Chair McDougall – Action (5 min) ATTACHMENT
2.Recommend to Council Approval of Revisions to City of Palo Alto Field and Tennis Court
Use Policy to include addition of Pickleball to Policy – Adam Howard – Action (45 min) ATTACHMENT
3.Status Report on Baylands Golf Links Usage – Lam Do – Discussion (30 min)
ATTACHMENT
4.Foothills Park Trail Reroute Project – Daren Anderson – Discussion (30 min)
ATTACHMENT
5.Other Ad Hoc Committee and Liaison Updates – Chair - Discussion (15 min)
5A. Letter to City Council and PAUSD re: Solar Panels at JLS Middle School - Action
(20 min) ATTACHMENT
VI.COMMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
1.Hiking from Palo Alto to the Sea – Commissioner David Moss – (15 min)
VII.TENTATIVE AGENDA FOR SEPTEMBER 25th, 2018 MEETING
VIII.ADJOURNMENT
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MINUTES 5
PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION 6
REGULAR MEETING 7
July 24, 2018 8
CITY HALL 9 250 Hamilton Avenue 10 Palo Alto, California 11 12 Commissioners Present: Anne Cribbs, Jeff Greenfield, Jeff LaMere, Ryan McCauley (arrived 13
late), Don McDougall, David Moss, and Keith Reckdahl 14
Commissioners Absent: 15
Others Present: 16
Staff Present: Daren Anderson, Kristen O'Kane, Natalie Khwaja 17
I. ROLL CALL 18
II. AGENDA CHANGES, REQUESTS, and DELETIONS 19
Chair McDougall: Has everybody had a chance to look at the agenda? Are there any 20
suggested changes or requests or deletions? Do we have any from the Commissioners or 21
from staff? If not, we'll go with Oral Communications. 22
III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS 23
Chair McDougall: I have one card here from Monica Williams. Monica, if you'll come 24
forward. 25
Monica Williams: Good evening, Chair McDougall and Commissioners. 26
Chair McDougall: Good evening. 27
Ms. Williams: I'm Monica Engel Williams, President of the Silicon Valley Pickleball 28
Club, and I'm representing 340 members to request that the policy for reserving tennis 29
courts is updated to include pickleball players. We founded our nonprofit club in 2016 30
primarily to purchase insurance to allow us to reserve the tennis courts. Imagine our 31
dismay when we discovered that this privilege was only for USTA and the Palo Alto 32
Tennis Club. Our first appeal to you was 16 months ago, and to date the policy remains 33
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the same. Please bear in mind that reservations generate revenue for the City. The 1
current policy states tennis courts are available for reservation for Palo Alto Tennis Club 2
and USTA tournament use only. We're requesting an update to the policy that would add 3
only six words and would read tennis courts are available for reservation for Palo Alto 4
Tennis Club, the USTA, and the Silicon Valley Pickleball Club tournament use only. All 5
other guidelines would stay the same. There would be no conflict with tennis 6 reservations because we can be very flexible with the timing of our club tournaments, and 7
forming an ad hoc committee or waiting until we have dedicated pickleball courts for this 8
minor update is totally unnecessary. We're planning to hold a midweek tournament in 9
August, and we'd very much appreciate if the policy can be updated by then because it's 10
very difficult to hold a tournament on a drop-in basis. When the original policy was 11
adopted in 2009, it was on condition that it would be reviewed periodically. It was 12
reviewed and updated in 2012 but only for the field reservations, not for the tennis courts. 13
Pickleball is no longer just for the senior community. Tennis players have joined us and 14
recently a 10-year-old boy, Jacob, who participated in our free youth pickleball clinic is 15
already competing with adults. Besides our City recreation classes that were full last 16
session with 44 in the class and a waiting list, we teach for free anyone who drops by the 17
courts and wants to learn. They do not have to be members of our club. We are all 18
volunteers who want to share the joy of pickleball and improve the health and wellness of 19
our community. Our club includes almost 40 percent of Palo Alto residents, four of 20
whom are on our Board of Directors. We are requesting that you act without any further 21
delay to update the tennis court reservation policy to include the Silicon Valley Pickleball 22
Club. Thank you all for your service to our community and for giving me the 23
opportunity to speak. Thank you. 24
Chair McDougall: Monica, thank you for your presentation. I would personally thank 25 you for your perseverance. If we have no other Oral Communications, I would invite the 26 staff report. 27
IV. DEPARTMENT REPORT 28
Daren Anderson: Good evening. Daren Andersen with Open Space, Parks and Golf. 29
I've got a brief Department Report for you. I'll start with the Baylands Boardwalk Project 30
update. This is good news. As you probably remember, this one was fraught with 31
challenges in obtaining permits because the work is happening directly in the saltmarsh 32
and subject to a number of reviews from environmental regulatory agencies. We've got 33
all the permits. We issued the notice to proceed to Vortex Marine Construction on 34
July 20th. They've since ordered the materials. There's an extended time period before 35
getting the materials. Alaskan yellow cedar is the type of material they'll be using for 36
most of the supports, and there's a delay in getting that. They ordered as soon as they 37
start—they couldn't start anyway until the end of nesting bird season, so they'll start 38
construction in September and complete the project by January 6th is the game plan. No 39
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work can happen after January 31, 2019. That'll be the beginning of next bird nesting 1
season. I met with the contractor; we did the preliminary walk-through. They're 2
confident they can get the project done on time. The Baylands Comprehensive 3
Conservation Plan is moving forward. I recently received some initial concept designs 4
for the ITT area, and I shared that with the ad hoc committee. Soon they'll be coming to 5
the stakeholders and to the full Commission. We'll come back with some updates. 6 Likewise, I got the initial maps that show the different sea level rise effects for the 7
Baylands, and that went out to the ad hoc members who will review that. It'll go to the 8
stakeholders and likewise to the full Commission for some review. It's moving along. 9
The Foothills trail reroute, I'll be presenting more at the next Commission meeting. Just 10
the other day, I was at an inter-departmental review committee. This is comprised of 11
different members of various departments within the City, all with a sort of vested 12
interest in things. They review your proposal, your permit, and point out different things, 13
tree impacts, water concerns. There's one part of the rerouted trail that passes a very 14
shallow drainage. One issue we're going to have to address is in the report we reference 15
an ephemeral drainage. Apparently, that triggered some things we'll have to resolve. All 16
the other concerns have been mitigated. The proximity to trees has been mitigated. 17
We've rerouted around as many as possible and have mitigations in place for those trees 18
that will be affected. We've distanced our rerouted trail from the middens, the woodrat 19
middens. They're along that area. We pushed them out the necessary distance to avoid 20
impacts to those. We're very close. The planner I'm working with is confident that we'll 21
have our permit in time to start construction at the beginning of September, which again 22
coincides with the end of the nesting bird season. 23
Commissioner Reckdahl: For that drainage, would it just be putting in a small culvert or 24
something through there? 25
Mr. Anderson: Hard to say. It's the most shallow drainage you can possibly imagine. 26 We have an existing trail that crosses it without issue. I don't believe it will be one, 27 neither did the planner. It's more semantics and just making sure everyone's comfortable 28
with it. 29
Commissioner Reckdahl: This is not a big deal? 30
Mr. Anderson: I don't think so. I have a conference call tomorrow with the department 31
person who's responsible for that with our consultant. We'll try to work it out. The 32
Foothills Park 7.7-acre area, just an update. We went to Council with an informational 33
report, both on Buckeye Creek and the 7.7-acre area. I want to keep this brief because 34
we've got a full agenda, but I want to let you know I discussed with the ad hoc—firstly, 35
we informed Council that we will be opening that area this summer. That is the game 36
plan. I met with the ad hoc and discussed a game plan for how we're going to strategize 37
how we do this. It's a little bit of a challenge in that having a lot of fanfare for a parcel 38
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where we haven't done any development—there's no amenities on that parcel—feels a 1
little uncomfortable to do a ribbon-cutting to come into a large open area with not much 2
in it. At the same time, we've waited a very long to get access to this parkland. It's not 3
everyday you get to open an area that's been fenced off for so many years. After talking 4
with Kristen and the feedback from the ad hoc, we were thinking a low-key event much 5
like the opening for the dog park, a simple ribbon-cutting, perhaps a tour of the exterior 6 of the native plant nursery from Grassroots Ecology. The Rangers could walk you 7
around the area. We've also completed some cleanup around the entrance. You might 8
remember the maintenance shop is right there at the entrance. We've done a number of 9
cleanups there to make it look good. Now, we're in the finally stages of finding out the 10
schedule for our fence contractor to come out and put in the necessary fencing. We're 11
very close. I'll keep the Commission and the ad hoc advised as we have a date, but it's 12
not yet scheduled. I think I'll leave the Department Report at that. 13
Kristen O'Kane: I'd like to add one thing because I'm not sure if Monica will be staying 14
for the whole meeting, when we get to upcoming agendas. At our August meeting, we'll 15
be talking about pickleball and tennis and hopefully bringing a draft revised policy to that 16
meeting. I just wanted to let everyone know. 17
Commissioner Cribbs: Kristen, I'm really glad you brought that up because I was going 18
to ask you during the Department Report when we could move forward on this whole 19
thing. It's been a while. Thank you. 20
Chair McDougall: If there's no other department reports, on to regular business. David. 21
Commissioner Moss: I wanted to get an update on the Magical Bridge. Do we do that 22
now or do we do that at the end of the meeting? 23
Mr. Anderson: Maybe I can just clarify. Do you mean the Matadero Creek bridge next 24
to Magical Bridge playground? 25
Commissioner Moss: Yes. 26
Mr. Anderson: I can just give you a quick update. Progress is going well. Anticipated 27 completion is August 30. A side note, the old bridge was—we picked it up and brought it 28
to the MSC. We're going to rehabilitate it and perhaps, if it works this way, we could use 29
it to connect the ITT area to Byxbee. 30
Commissioner Moss: One other thing. You were not here at the last meeting, but we did 31
talk briefly about the golf course that opened very recently. How's that going? 32
Mr. Anderson: So far so well. We've gotten good feedback from the users. The greens 33
are playing really well. It's so nice to see that parking lot full. The putting green is the 34
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one that's really obvious as you drive by, a lot of people enjoying the putting green. 1
Revenues are on target. 2
Ms. O'Kane: We will have a more formal update in August on that as well. 3
Vice Chair Greenfield: It looks like we have staff reports available at the meeting now. 4
Based on feedback we got at the last meeting, I just wanted to get clarification. That's 5
something we'll make sure happens and something's changed? 6
Ms. O'Kane: Yes, everything is at the table in the back of the Chambers. 7
Vice Chair Greenfield: Also, I just wanted to make one comment. It probably doesn't 8
really belong in the staff report so much. I was dismayed to see the solar panels that have 9
gone up on the fields at JLS. I know that's PAUSD jurisdiction. I certainly support solar 10
and other alternative energy uses and anything we can do to reduce our footprint. Putting 11
panels on grass fields—granted I have some skin in the game here as part of the soccer 12
community—doesn't seem like the best location. Ideally, I would hope that we could be 13
aiming for rooftops or parking lots where the shade is actually going to do some service 14
that the solar panels throw off. I understand the City has minimal leverage here. 15
Mr. Anderson: I share that concern. We saw the impacts and raised it to our contacts 16
with PAUSD. Our rebuttals or concerns were not met with any change unfortunately. 17
Vice Chair Greenfield: It's a reminder to me of our role here as stewards of parks and 18
open spaces and doing whatever we can to maintain these for our children and our 19
children's children. 20
Commissioner Cribbs: Is there an opportunity to do anything about it now, Daren, at all 21
or is it just a done thing? Does the City not still take care of the fields? 22
Mr. Anderson: We perform maintenance on the fields, yeah. No, I don't believe there's 23
anything we could do to change what's now in the ground for the solar panels. 24
Commissioner Moss: Can you put a fence around the base of them so that we could play 25 soccer all the way up to the very base of them? 26
Mr. Anderson: That's a good question. Our concern is more—I think that's possible. In 27 fact, I think some of them might be tall enough that you could put a goal under them, at 28
least that was what we were originally told. Some of it still is evolving. One concern 29
we've got in addition to it encroaching into the playing area, which is a problem, is the 30
fact that you can't grow grass under a fully shaded area. That's another one we'll have to 31
try to figure out. 32
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Chair McDougall: Could we maybe put this on an agenda maybe as a broader topic, not 1
just that one field and that one solar installation, rather than continue here? I think that 2
would be better, if we came back to it when we had a chance to understand what the 3
issues are and had a presentation or discussion on it. Would that be fair? 4
Mr. Anderson: Sure. With a little time, staff might have more information. Right now, I 5
don't have a lot. 6
Chair McDougall: Thank you for that. 7
Commissioner Cribbs: Can that go to the City/School Committee that we have? 8
Ms. O'Kane: I would work with the City Manager's Office to get that on their agenda. 9
The school is responsible for their capital projects. We're not in control of what capital 10
projects they do or don't do even on their fields because we're just doing maintenance. 11
What I'm saying is the solar panels aren't the City's project. 12
Vice Chair Greenfield: It could be useful for the liaison to the School Board—don't we 13
have a PAUSD liaison role within the Parks and Rec Commission? 14
Commissioner Reckdahl: To the committee, not the School Board. 15
Vice Chair Greenfield: I would support making a statement on behalf of the Parks and 16
Rec Commission. 17
Chair McDougall: I'd like to once again suggest that we hold off the discussion now and 18
then put together all the action plans and properly load our guns before we shoot. 19
Vice Chair Greenfield: Let's get it on the agenda, and we'll get back (crosstalk). 20
Commissioner Moss: If we could include in that discussion the solar panels that we're 21
thinking of doing in the golf course parking lot as well because that's open space too. 22
That's Parks and Rec … 23
Chair McDougall: David, let me suggest that we'll find a way to collect all the things that 24
should be included in that conversation. If there's no other discussion on the staff report? 25
V. BUSINESS 26
1. Approval of Draft Minutes from the June 26, 2018 Parks and Recreation 27 Commission meeting. 28
Approval of the draft June 26, 2018 Minutes was moved by Commissioner Reckdahl and 29
seconded by Commissioner Cribbs. Passed 6-0 McCauley absent 30
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2. Palo Alto Recreation Foundation Goals and Collaboration Opportunities 1
Chair McDougall: The next item on the agenda is a presentation by Jack Morton from 2
the Palo Alto Recreation Foundation. I'd like to welcome Jack. I believe everybody here 3
probably knows Jack. Jack has been very involved in the City for a long time as a 4
Council Member. Jack, would you like to join us up at the desk here or would you like to 5
stand and present? Your choice, wherever you're more comfortable. 6
Jack Morton: I'm fine. I'm okay here. 7
Chair McDougall: Before Jack starts, I would point out that he spent probably a lot more 8
time sitting on this side of the bench than on that side and has a very good reputation for 9
that and involved in the finance. I would also like to point out that this is probably the 10
only time in Palo Alto I'll ever have a chance to introduce somebody who's a fellow 11
graduate of the University of Alberta. 12
Mr. Morton: With these hidden honors … 13
Chair McDougall: We welcome you here. 14
Mr. Morton: My name's Jack Morton. I'm Cochair of the Recreation Foundation. I do 15
have a connection with Alberta, having grown up there and sort of ended up with a 16
fondness for frozen water. You'll understand that connection in just a minute. The Palo 17
Alto Recreation Foundation was established December 15, 1986 by a current member of 18
the Parks and Recreation Commission, who wasn't willing to sit by and let the impact of 19
Prop 13 destroy 80 years of celebrating May Day. That was one of the major concerns. 20
Our sense of who we are is formed by those special things that we do together. A then-21
special events director took heed of the support that the Children's Theatre and the 22
Children's Museum had and saw no reason why recreation and community events should 23
not have a similar nonprofit organization to preserve the recreational and social activities 24
that made us special. I was probably asked to be a founding member because I had 25 helped to ensure that the only outdoor ice skating rink west of the Sierra would not be 26 bulldozed out of existence and had a clear sense of what needed to be done. It didn't take 27 any of us more than a minute to accept Anne's offer to try to stem the elimination of 28
activities and special events that began as soon as Prop 13 passed. We needed a funding 29
source and decided on a community Black and White Ball to provide the funding that 30
would—which would provide the needed funds to complement the reduced funding that 31
the City budget made inevitable. Our goal as the Rec Foundation has been to keep the 32
range of services that the City offered intact. We have spun off some things that we, if 33
you want, incubated and preserved over the years, things like the chess club and the Bay 34
Run, whenever we could get a partner to take over an activity. We thought best for the 35
community to have somebody like the Palo Alto news group take on the Bay Run, then 36
we can concentrate our efforts on what we can do, things like the July 4th Chili Cook-37
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Off, children's Halloween costumes. That's one of the events that we've added in the last 1
five years, the May Fete Parade. Funding is our perennial challenge. We do not have the 2
same level of support that groups like the Children's Theatre or the Junior Museum have. 3
We haven't had a Black and White Ball for more than four years largely because the two 4
previous balls barely made enough money to make the effort worthwhile. We have a 5
challenge with individuals joining us to take part in the many activities and so have taken 6 to partnering with groups like the Kiwanis so that we have enough volunteers for the May 7
Day post-parade, what we call the May Day Fair, and for the Chili Cook-Off. We are 8
currently exploring what we need to do. A big part of the problem is that in the last 30 9
years there's been a significant erosion in what the City is willing to do and what staff is 10
available for us so that we end up running programs solely with volunteers. Unlike the 11
Junior Museum or the Children's Theatre, we do not have necessarily a core support for 12
some of the programs that we would like to preserve. My own sense—this may just be 13
simply be because after 30-plus years I'm beginning to wear a little—is that it's going to 14
be a challenge how we keep this organization going and how we find ways. As the 15
structure of the community changes, we have less people available to volunteer because 16
both parents now work full time. It'll be a challenge. That's where we are now. We've 17
struggled the last couple of years to try to find a new footing that will give us the sense 18
that we can go on and do all of the things that we have done over the last 30 years. I'll 19
stop there. I'm happy to answer questions. I'm not sure how many answers I will have. 20
With things like recreation, you sign up for a particular sport or a particular time. There 21
isn't the connection that you have when you join a production at the Children's Theatre or 22
with the Art Center. We don't have a membership group that provides a base support to 23
us. We're constantly looking at ways we can raise additional funding to continue doing 24
what we have been doing. We have worked with groups, the Magical Bridge, Friends of 25 the Parks, to help them set up so that another segment of the community can continue the 26 sense of volunteerism and the need to supplement what the City provides in terms of hard 27 funding by sweat. We're very proud of being able to do that, but over time it does take a 28
big toll on the people who are the ones expected to produce the actual advance like the 29
Chili Cook-Off or the May Fete Parade and Fair. Let me end there and say thank you for 30
asking us to appear before you. To confess honestly, right now we are struggling with 31
how we devise a way forward that involves raising significant amounts of money. I'll 32
stop there. Happy to answer any questions. 33
Chair McDougall: Thank you very much. Jeff, would you like me to start with you as 34
the liaison and invite you to either question or add to … 35
Commissioner LaMere: I would just like to thank Jack for all of his years of service. In 36
this particular time, the challenges that are faced—continuing the threads that the 37
community has had over the years and keeping some of those things that are familiar is 38
very important. It's great to see the May Fete Parade and Fair every year, for example, 39
and to know how long that has gone on in our community. That is something that is very 40
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special. Just appreciate all the sacrifices that you've made. The key part you hit on is, 1
besides the funding, can we find the people, where is our community now with 2
volunteerism. That's a huge question for everyone. With us on the Commission, that's 3
something we have faced in terms of finding volunteers to do something or being asked 4
to help find volunteers to do things. We do need to do that. It's something for our whole 5
community to really think about. I want to thank you for everything that you've done in 6 all of your years of service. 7
Mr. Morton: Thank you. I concur with you. I think what makes us a community are 8
those little things that we as parents with a 7-year-old or a 4-year old may do once a year 9
for five years until they grow out of it and then they take on soccer. We have a rich 10
variety of things that we do in this community. We send young people away with a sense 11
of themselves and a sense of their community. It's because of the kinds of things that 12
we've been able to do over the years. One thing I shared with Anne is that makes us who 13
we are. It's worth struggling to make sure that we preserve it, that there's another. We've 14
90-some years of May Fete Parades. We'll make it to 100 and then we'll add as many 15
things that we can that involve people. It's the connection between what people do and 16
what they enjoy doing that makes us a community. Thank you. 17
Chair McDougall: It's only fair, Anne, that I give you the opportunity to speak next. 18
Also, feel free to question and/or add. 19
Commissioner Cribbs: First of all, Jack, thank you very much for everything you and the 20
Board have done over the years. The list of Recreation Foundation contributions is quite 21
lengthy. I'm sure that a lot of people in the community don't know about it. We may be 22
the best-kept secret in town. Such wonderful, wonderful opportunities for kids and for 23
the community and all of that from the Chili Cook-Off to the May Fete Parade. I could 24
just go on and on. It's significant tonight that Monica Engel is sitting in the audience 25 because she had a big hand in the original Black and White Ball from Addison School. It 26 was actually one of her and my ideas to start that whole thing. This is a little history 27 lesson for the Commissioners. At any rate, I'm hopeful, Jack, that in thinking about what 28
you had to say—I know how true it is—to find volunteers and to find people who are 29
committed, I'm hopeful that your Board has been able to review the Parks and Recreation 30
Master Plan and take a look at it and see how we could capture the community's 31
imagination to get involved in making some of those things happen. Every good 32
movement needs a cause, a reason to be, a reason to get excited about something. 33
Whether it's getting excited once again about Cubberley or a new field or some of the 34
open space, there's so much for the Recreation Foundation to do. I don't want to see it 35
just wither away. I think we've got a good liaison here. Again, I'm happy to jump in as 36
well. Thank you for everything. Tell the Board thank you for their commitment as well. 37
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Mr. Morton: I certainly will. The challenge is that. Styles of living have changed. We 1
don't have as many free parents that can spend an hour and a half once a month because 2
they work in San Jose or the city. How we make up for that is one of our challenges, how 3
we involve people that have recently joined our community. We have had a large 4
turnover in the last five years. How we get people to reinvest themselves in what we do 5
and in what we do for each other is our ongoing challenge. Thank you for your 6 comments. 7
Chair McDougall: David, do you have any comments? 8
Commissioner Moss: I've been a resident for 40 years, and I never knew how the May 9
Fete Parade and Fair came about nor the Chili Cook-Off. Somehow I thought it was 100 10
percent staff. To find out about this best-kept secret presents two challenges, how do you 11
get the word out and not be the best-kept secret and then how do you get volunteers. Our 12
family with three kids, I've known that especially the May Fete Parade you get so many 13
of the school kids and bands and school groups, and all the parents do is stand on the 14
sidelines and cheer their child for the two minutes that they've walked by. If there was 15
some way that we could not only get the Kiwanis or the Rotary clubs but also the parents 16
of the kids and also the high school kids to help out in these things. As Anne pointed out, 17
there are many programs that we would like to see in the Parks Master Plan that the staff 18
may or may not have time to do and certainly would like a core group of volunteers to 19
help with. Not a core group, I meant volunteers. They don't have to be the same people 20
at all of these events. Anything that we could do to spread the word would be really 21
great. 22
Mr. Morton: We welcome suggestions. We have looked at—we all have done multiple 23
things. It's really easy to identify with some of the things that go on in our community. 24
Any of us who have had a child in the Children's Theatre, we're there. We go to the 25 summertime theatre. Somehow for some reason we haven't been able to get the same 26 kind of connection with swimming even though we've funded swimming. We need 27 lifeguards, equipment. It doesn't matter what activity, there's just enough difference that 28
it's very hard to bring all those parents in. Our challenge is to find a way in which to do 29
it. It's not that those parents wouldn't be happy to participate; it's how do we get them so 30
they're aware of the need. 31
Vice Chair Greenfield: Jack, I want to thank you as everyone has for your service to our 32
community. I know it extends beyond this to other organizations as well, such as 33
Canopy—one of my favorite groups—and many others. There's a lot that goes on behind 34
the scenes, so thank you very much. I just want to briefly echo a couple of things that 35
David said. The plague of being the best-kept secret is I'm not sure people know how to 36
get involved and pitch in and lend a hand. It seems like there's some way to improve the 37
outreach through the schools to the parents and to the high school students. We have a 38
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big community of high school students that are looking to fill volunteer hours. If there 1
were a way to reach out to them, it's like "I love the May Fete Parade, but I'm too old to 2
want to be involved with that. I can help the little kids?" That could really resonate with 3
them. There's some real potential there. I think that would be worth pursuing. Thank 4
you. 5
Commissioner Cribbs: Could I just jump in for one second? I feel like I need to correct 6 something that you said, David. The City staff does do a wonderful job of helping and 7
putting on the May Fete Parade. The City staff does do an awful lot for the Chili Cook-8
Off. The Recreation Foundation at least in the past has provided support and 9
supplemental stuff to these incredible events we have in Palo Alto so they don't go away. 10
Mr. Morton: Thank you. It is the case that it is an active, participating partnership. We 11
could not do what we do without staff. Our question has been, our complaint has been 12
back in the day we had more staff to help us more. We don't have that now. This is the 13
current reality. Staff does what it can with the resources it has. We supplement those as 14
best we can, and we look for ways in which to involve the larger community because our 15
survival depends on people knowing what we've provided to the community. If they 16
don't know that, they're not going to be there to make sure it gets saved over the next 17
decades. Thank you. 18
Commissioner Reckdahl: Thank you again. The programs you put on really change the 19
City from being a City to being a community. That's very important. It really influences 20
the quality of life. I thank you for all your work. I echo Jeff's point about seniors looking 21
for volunteer hours, and that goes on the transcript. That's really big when you're 22
applying for colleges. Outreach to the City would be a very good way to get volunteers. 23
Mr. Morton: We do try to get them for things like World Music Day. We get them 24
involved where we can get them hours. A number of them do help us with the May Fete 25 Fair because it takes a lot of bodies. We're always happy to have them. We do our best 26 to make sure that they understand we have opportunities and we're more than happy to 27 sign off their hours that they need and greatly appreciate their willingness to do so. 28
Commissioner Reckdahl: I've lived here for 20 years. Before I joined the Board, I didn't 29
know anything about either the Friends of Palo Alto Parks or the Recreation Foundation. 30
There really is some lack of publicity. Since you do help the City so much—I've spent 31
many hours at sporting events and watching kids for hours and hours. You're a captive 32
audience there. Putting up signs—they don't have to be large signs—either on the 33
outfield or by the stands that say volunteer or donate to the Recreation Foundation would 34
be very effective just because there are so many people out there that don't know about 35
your Foundation. That's it. Thank you. 36
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Chair McDougall: I would echo an awful lot of things other Commission members said 1
but also echo things that you said, Jack. I'd particularly echo the fact that the things that 2
you're helping with help make this a community. You said that; Keith said that. I think 3
that's an important thought. The thing you said about the style of living, that the style of 4
living has changed, creates the challenge of the style of communication and motivation 5
relative to funding and volunteer change. I doubt we can sit here and solve your 6 problems. If we were sitting at an Environmental Volunteers Board meeting, we would 7
be having the same discussion. If we were sitting at an Audubon Board meeting, we'd be 8
having the same discussion. It's not an uncommon challenge. Frankly, your presentation, 9
your discussion and particularly the word that you used in terms of partnering, partnering 10
with the City, partnering with the Kiwanis. In today's style of living and in today's style 11
of nonprofit world, partnering becomes even more important. You've obviously 12
embraced that for a long time and are acting on it now. I don't want to say anything more 13
or tell you how to do this. I'm certainly energized to do what I can to work with you from 14
a Commission point of view, from a personal point of view to see if we can improve the 15
community funding and participation for what you do. Thank you. 16
Mr. Morton: Thank you. If you wake up in the middle of the night with the most 17
brilliant idea, let us know. We'll try anything. 18
Commissioner Reckdahl: If you had more money and more volunteers, do you know 19
what you would do next? Are there some regrets or some missed opportunities you think 20
you've had, but you didn't have the ability to put things on? 21
Mr. Morton: I think we have preserved those events that impact the community most, 22
whether it's the May Fete celebration or World Music Day or the Chili Cook-Off. Our 23
concern is having more money means you can do more things. How we raise money and 24
preserve it—you want it to be repetitious. The Black and White Ball for 20-plus years 25 served—every couple of years we'd have a major event, took a huge amount of energy 26 and effort. Then, we had funding for a couple of years. Looking at how we do that—27 besides that, the Black and White Ball is a community event. It's an event for as many 28
parents as we can get a way from the house to join us on a Saturday night. We want that 29
to be a part of the many community events that we have. It's something we've really 30
spent a lot of time thinking about, how on a Saturday night at 8:00 do you get 800 or 31
900—we used to be 2,000, 3,000 people. Now it's 800 or 900 that come out to join in a 32
celebration of their community. That's the sort of thing. 33
Commissioner Reckdahl: Are you saying if you had more money you wouldn't 34
necessarily have more events, you'd just increase the scope of the events you have? 35
Mr. Morton: There's all sorts of funding things that staff will point out to us, whether 36
something is needed for the teens at Mitchell Park. Somebody will say "we need some 37
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money," whether it's a sound box or something needed at Rinconada. When they tell us 1
about it, we figure out how we're going to fit it into our budget. 2
Commissioner Cribbs: Keith, very often in the days of the Foundation, we would fund 3
things that were new, that maybe were not in the City budget, didn't have time to get in 4
the City budget. Somebody would come to us with a great idea, and the Foundation 5
would decide to do that event, get it started as a first-year event. When the City would be 6 able to fund it, it would turn over to the City. 7
Mr. Morton: Things like the Bay Run and that sort of thing were perfect examples of 8
that. We'd, again, try to find an outside partner that would be—whether it was the 9
Weekly or whoever—willing to take it on and give it longevity, which was a key thing for 10
how we did it. In truth, when we look back over what we have been able to preserve but 11
to continue through multiple generations of youngsters growing up in a community in 12
which there are things that make them understand this is my community and I got to do 13
that. I'm sure my son never woke up at law school in New York and said, "That May 14
Fete Parade," but I did. I thought of a young kid who understood what it was to be 15
community. In some ways, that has something to do with the fact that he's a public 16
service lawyer. His sense of community got built here. I'm very proud of the fact that 17
this community does do that a lot with a lot of kids. Thank you. Thank you very much 18
for hearing us. Again, we're happy to hear what you would like us to do. We'll look for 19
ways to make it possible. 20
Commissioner Moss: One more comment. You're bringing up a point. There are a 21
number of things that we take for granted, that I've taken for granted, that the staff does. 22
I don't know how it gets done, but things like the bands in the park and movie nights at 23
Foothill, things like that. In the Parks Master Plan we talk about a number of those 24
opportunities and a number of those things we just take for granted. I'm hoping that staff 25 will let us know if they need help for those kinds of things so that we don't take them for 26 granted and we don't lose them. 27
Mr. Morton: Things like music in the park and the movies, we start it, we make it work 28
once, and then we figure out how to make it work 100 times. We ran the twilight 29
concerts for ten years and then we got the Children's Theatre to take it over because they 30
had a lot of parents. We just make it work. When staff tell us we've done it again and 31
again, we say hooray. Sometimes we forget to say thanks to staff. We do one thing. We 32
have a staff golf tournament, which is entirely for them. That's one of the things that we 33
make sure gets funded. Those who are willing to pick up a golf club can actually go out 34
now to the new greens and hopefully understand that we appreciate them, even those we 35
often don't say thank you. Thank you again for hearing us. Thank you for all you do. 36
Ms. O'Kane: Could I just make a statement to Jack? Thank you for those words. The 37
thanks should also go to you and the Foundation. A lot of what we do we couldn't do 38
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without you. Like you said, a lot of the things we do now you started. We're really 1
grateful for all the years and all the contributions. Thank you especially for the golf 2
tournament. I'm excited to participate in that this year. I'd like to explore a little bit 3
maybe with you and Commissioner LaMere and Commissioner McDougall on how we 4
can ramp up our efforts a little bit and start addressing some of these things. Sometimes 5
we get caught in our regular—we have the parade, we have the fair, we have these 6 various different things, but what can we add to that and how can we ramp it up a little 7
bit? I look forward to that and continuing this partnership. 8
3. Cubberley Master Plan Community Co-Design Process 9
Chair McDougall: The next item on the agenda is the Cubberley Master Plan co-design 10
process and the introduction of the consultants. 11
Ms. O'Kane: Thank you. Kristen O'Kane … 12
Chair McDougall: I would allow Kristen to provide the introduction. 13
Ms. O'Kane: Kristen O'Kane, Community Services. I'm happy to introduce our 14
consultant for the Cubberley Master Plan co-design process, Concordia. The Council 15
approved our contract agreement with Concordia last month and also a cost-share 16
agreement with the School District. As you probably recall, the School District and the 17
City are collaborating with the community on this co-design process. The School District 18
and the City are sharing equally in the costs to do this. To my right are Bobbie Hill and 19
Connor McManus from Concordia. They're in town this week, so I thought it was perfect 20
timing for them to introduce themselves, share a little bit about the past project that they 21
worked on in Emeryville and the process for moving forward. It's not going to be your 22
typical community meetings that many of us have experienced in the past. It's going to 23
be a lot more fun and exciting and productive than the days of old. I'm going to turn it 24
over now to Bobbie and Connor. 25
Bobbie Hill: Good evening. So delighted to have a chance to meet with you all tonight. 26 I have to say hearing of pickleball was a first for me tonight. It hasn't reached to New 27 Orleans yet, but maybe it will. It sounds pretty fun. Just to make a comment about this 28
strong sense of community and commitment to community that we heard from the 29
previous presentation, we so believe in that and hope as well to illustrate community-30
building and how we intend to approach the planning for the Cubberley project. Maybe 31
there's a chance in that process to recruit volunteers for some of the work that you spoke 32
of tonight. We are Concordia. We are from New Orleans, Louisiana. Concordia is our 33
one-word mission statement. It is the Latin root of the word concord, which is harmony 34
and agreement among people and things. That is who we are; that's what we're 35
passionate about; and that is our approach to doing planning and design work in projects 36
all over the country. This is who we are. We're not a big firm. We're small in part 37
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because we work closely as a family and as a team. Also, this allows us when we work 1
in other places to work collaboratively. We don't have to have a big organization that's 2
going to do everything. It's very important for us to find local partners. We'll talk a little 3
bit more about that and what we plan to do in Palo Alto. Just to share with you our 4
flexibility and our experience across the country and in some other countries as well. The 5
diagram on the right really explains our approach to doing work. We call this our nexus 6 model, which is a framework for systemic planning and a framework that we will use 7
when we pick up the ball at Cubberley to think about the creation of a holistic community 8
center that serves the whole community, thinking about the physical, cultural, social, 9
organizational, educational, and economic components that make a whole community. 10
We do this through a co-design process. That means we work with local folks, and there 11
is no limit to how many people. We do this in a process that happens under one roof and 12
is iterative. We do not work where we have a meeting with a particular constituency and 13
get their ideas, and then go to another constituency. We believe that needs to happen 14
altogether and people working collaboratively to develop those recommendations. We've 15
done a number of projects much like what we anticipate here at Cubberley. This is some 16
quick slides from some of those, everything from central Wisconsin to—some examples 17
of what our activity sheets look like, what the participation looks like at tables, and how 18
we're actually getting people involved in doing the real work. This is another project in 19
Houston, again a similar process where the community came together and designed this 20
entire campus. The same with the project in Alexandria, Virginia. The one that I'll 21
highlight for you tonight is the Emeryville Center for Community Life just up the road a 22
bit. We think probably sometime after the first meeting we'll see if folks are interested in 23
taking a little trip up to Emeryville. This is an 8-acre piece of property, not nearly as big 24
as what we have at Cubberley. The city and the school came together and jointly funded 25 this project and planned this project. While it does hold the entire school district of 26 Emeryville from TK-8 to 12th grade, it is called the Emeryville Center for Community 27 Life because it is so much more than a school. The way we could do this and do it 28
efficiently on such a small piece of property was to look at understanding utilization and 29
making sure that all the spaces were utilized as much as possible to be efficient and also 30
to look at the cost of operations and maintenance and such. We ended up saving the 31
overall project costs and operations by 20 percent less than what it would have been if 32
everybody had acted independently. This is a site plan of all the different things that are 33
contained on this project. Again, created in a community process where they determined 34
what was most important, what they needed, and most importantly what supported 35
students and families in Emeryville in creating a real there-there for this community. 36
Again, these are just some images of the project, a pool that serves the students and the 37
community, fields, a performing arts center and such. Again, this was completed in 38
Emeryville. Now, I'm going to turn it over to Connor, who's going to share a little bit 39
about the timeline and the process. 40
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Connor McManus: Everybody, thank you for having us. I'm going to walk through 1
essentially what our general plan is for the Cubberley project. What you see right now is 2
the timeline for the next year. We do have our meeting dates pinned down, which will all 3
take place at Cubberley starting October 4th. Actually this is an outdated slide. Our first 4
meeting will be October 4th, one in November, one in January, and then one to cap the 5
whole process in May. Essentially the first two meetings are part of the programming 6 phase, and we'll be working towards getting a final—we're going to work towards three 7
program scenarios that will explore how the new community center and a potential new 8
school site can integrate. Based on the outcome of that, we're going to work towards 9
developing three to six real conceptual, 3-D master plans for the site. That will 10
ultimately be honed down into one preferred recommendation. This project is a little bit 11
unusual in that we essentially have two clients. We're working with the City and 12
PAUSD, so everything we're doing is going to be based on their mutual needs as well as 13
what we hear from the community stakeholders through the engagement process. Just to 14
begin, for the past month we've been digging and reading as much as we can about past 15
efforts for the Cubberley site and for the City at large and what has come out of PAUSD 16
as far as planning for future educational needs, enrollment, and their ideas about 17
Cubberley. Just to pull out one of these I'm sure you have particular interest in. We did 18
look through the Master Plan for parks, trails, and open space. The first thing that 19
jumped out to us is this list on the right of some of the things that, based on everything 20
we read, Cubberley could support. Of course, we haven't made any decisions about it. 21
At least several of these were also mentioned in the CCAC report from the 2013 plan. 22
Right now we're really just looking for synergy across all the existing work that's been 23
done, so that we can hone it down and present it to the community in an understandable, 24
digestible way so that at our first meeting we can base future planning work off what's 25 been done before. Just as an example of some of the GIS mapping that we're doing right 26 now to consolidate a lot of the different information we're finding in different plans, this 27 is essentially the existing bike network overlaid with the future bike plan in the parks and 28
open space plan. In this slide, other community assets are organized in our nexus 29
framework. We're also looking similarly on the site itself, and we're also going to be 30
looking at the scale of walking distance, particularly with Mitchell Park right there, to 31
make sure that what happens at Cubberley is planned in coordination with what's 32
immediately around it. 33
Ms. Hill: We want to check in with you and see if you have any questions so far. 34
Commissioner Moss: I just want to make sure that—this is great that you've looked 35
through all this information, and you're not going to start at square one. You're going to 36
take a tremendous amount of input that we've already gotten and the Parks Master Plan, 37
which we spent 2-3 years working on. Maybe you can explain how you're going to keep 38
it to a manageable timeframe. 39
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Mr. McManus: At the meetings you mean? 1
Ms. Hill: We have four public meetings scheduled over this next year, between 2
September and May. We are very used to having meetings with anywhere from 80 to 3
300 people. Sometimes we've actually had a meeting with 2,500 people. Just as a little 4
aside, we designed and led the post-Katrina recovery planning in New Orleans. You can 5
imagine the tension and the stress and the dismay and everything else. There wasn't a 6 person who attended those meetings who was a very happy camper, and rightfully so. 7
We're very used to working at such a scale. Also, I might add, that plan was started from 8
scratch and completed in 7 months and was approved, first of all, by the people who did 9
the plan and then the city planning commission, the city council, the mayor, and then the 10
governor, and then sent to the Feds. That was the key to having federal funding and 11
beginning to roll. By the way, that plan was the third attempt at conducting a plan. Not 12
only was it challenging post-Katrina, but there had been two failed attempts. We were 13
really up against the wall in that. We are used to a sense of pressure. As Kristen said in 14
the beginning, our approach to doing this work is fun, and a lot of work has been done. 15
Our very first meeting is to honor that, to consolidate it and put it altogether, and 16
understand where everything crosses, and where there's some really significant 17
opportunities. We fully intend to take advantage of all the great work that's been done. 18
Frankly, that will have a lot to with why it shouldn't take as long. We're very committed 19
to having this done in our timeframe. Any other questions? 20
Chair McDougall: Anne, do you have comments? 21
Commissioner Cribbs: First of all, thanks for the time table. Again, I'm pretty excited 22
about having a vision in May. I'm excited that you're going to incorporate the past 23
reports but certainly not be bound by them. That's a really good thing. I'm hopeful that 24
we all come out of this with a really cool vision about what this site is going to be. As we 25 said in the ad hoc committee, people really love Cubberley, and they're very invested in 26 it, and they have a lot of strong feelings about how it should be used. I'm just interested 27 to know how you're going to get the word out that people are welcome to come to any 28
community meetings. It's great that you have 80-200 people and sometimes up to 2,500. 29
We have a community of—what are we now, 60,000? We just want to make sure that all 30
those different groups and all those different voices feel like they have a chance to be 31
heard. I would love to see this move forward quickly. 32
Ms. Hill: Thank you very much. In this last slide or maybe second-to-last slide—I 33
appreciate you bringing that up, Anne, because getting the word out is probably the most 34
important upfront work. We are working with Claudia from the City, the City's 35
communication office, as well as PAUSD. You've given us in the ad hoc committee 36
some good ideas. We'd like to get in front of the news that's out there. Opportunities to 37
be in front of editorial boards or whatever is appropriate to get people excited about this. 38
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Obviously, there will be a lot of social media. We will have some opportunities for 1
people to participate online, but that will never replace the face-to-face. Just to say, we're 2
really committed to that, and we know that's where the real work gets done. Oftentimes, 3
it's very easy for somebody to sit back in the comfort of their easy chair and offer ideas or 4
complain about one thing or another. We expect that to happen, but the real work will 5
happen in the larger community meetings, and that will all be recorded and made 6 available online and available for people to make comments and such, and social media 7
and any other tools that we have. Getting the word out, we'd like to lean on all of you to 8
help do that. We do have a flyer that can be distributed electronically as well as by hand, 9
that really outlines the goals of the project and a timeline. I think it's about two pages 10
that we've collaboratively created with the City and the School District. One other thing 11
to mention is—I think it was mentioned a little bit earlier—we have done this all over the 12
country. We bring on community fellows. In this case, we think it will be six to eight 13
people. I want to be sure to explain that our community fellow program is not the same 14
as what you might typically see, where you have an advisory committee where six or 15
eight people are selected, and they're supposed to be representative of the community's 16
demographics. They have meetings, and then maybe they go to bigger meetings. That's 17
not what this is. This is a team of people who we will identify and select in collaboration 18
with the City and the School District. These are people who are seen as leaders but, if 19
you will, behind-the-scenes leaders, people who don't come with an agenda, people who 20
have networks, people who really care about the community and don't necessarily have 21
super strong opinions. They're here because they care, and they will work side-by-side 22
with us as citizen planners, and they will help us develop culturally appropriate agendas 23
and activities and those kinds of things. We're not asking them to come with any other, if 24
you will, ideas or agendas. They'll work with us to help recruit people to participate. 25 That'll be a significant role that they have. They'll also act as table hosts when we 26 actually conduct the meetings. It's a chance to leave behind another group of people that 27 are invested in a special way. We are now looking for four or so representatives from the 28
community. The School District will also offer up four or so representatives. We will 29
likely have a couple of high school students, which we think would be fabulous. We love 30
having the youth voice in this. We would welcome any recommendations from any of 31
you. Maybe Kristen can send the two-page fellows packet so you can get a stronger 32
sense of what we're looking for there. If you have any recommendations, you can contact 33
me. I'll either meet people in person or pick up the phone. We'll determine that before 34
we have our first meeting. That's another way you could really be helpful to us spread 35
the word. Again, we want to also say that we are reading your Master Plan, and we want 36
to make sure in whatever way the Cubberley plan can support your goals and objectives, 37
we fully intend to do that. If you have any other questions, we welcome them. 38
Chair McDougall: I'd like to give some others—Jeff, you're also on the ad hoc. Maybe 39
you'd like to comment first before random people do. 40
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Commissioner LaMere: Thank you, Don. Certainly very excited. As has been said 1
before, the potential for Cubberley is amazing. The thought of what can be done with it 2
and what we haven't thought of is really incredible. Thank you for participating in this. 3
We're excited to get it going. One quick question. How much did that Emeryville center 4
cost? Do you guys know what that ended up costing? 5
Mr. McManus: $96 million. 6
Commissioner LaMere: Again, to underscore getting that community involvement—I 7
know we've had other projects that go forward. At times, there isn't the participation that 8
we would want for the impact that it's going to have on the community. I also think the 9
more people we have involved—this is something there is going to need to be funding for 10
it. The more critical mass we have going in terms of people being invested in the 11
planning of it or people being invested in giving their ideas—you have a lot of different 12
constituencies that this serves. The more people that we do get involved the better 13
chance we have of pushing this forward. As Anne mentioned previously about how long 14
this project has been going on, to see it have potential to come to fruition would be quite 15
a major accomplishment. It could have such impact upon our community. To take what 16
Jack was talking about and what Keith said, how does your city become a community, 17
this is one of the ways. I appreciate what's happening and excited to see it move forward. 18
We do certainly, all of us, still have our work cut out for us and a long ways to go. I am 19
very, very excited to see this happening. 20
Commissioner Reckdahl: I'm not sure if this is a question for you or Kristen. How are 21
we working the budget for this? Are you giving them a single number for a target or are 22
they giving a range of targets and they can give us trade-offs of for this amount you get 23
this design or this amount you get this design? 24
Ms. O'Kane: Do you mean for Concordia's work? 25
Commissioner Reckdahl: For Concordia. When they're doing the design, do they … 26
Ms. Hill: You mean for the cost of the plan? 27
Commissioner Reckdahl: No, the cost of the design. Not making the design, but 28
building design. 29
Ms. O'Kane: Included in the contract is their scope of work. It's divided by task and the 30
cost associated with each task. 31
Ms. Hill: We will, if we need to, bring in cost estimators. That's certainly a 32
consideration obviously. This is not the moon or an unlimited budget. Once we confirm 33
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the program, we make considerations for that program and cost implications, and use that 1
to develop scenarios. Obviously, that's a very important part. 2
Commissioner Reckdahl: You're giving us multiple scenarios with multiple price points? 3
Ms. Hill: I would say … 4
Commissioner Reckdahl: Potentially? 5
Ms. Hill: Yes, yes. 6
Commissioner Reckdahl: You may find that you don't need (crosstalk). 7
Ms. Hill: Obviously, with the major consideration for cost, yes. 8
Commissioner Reckdahl: One of my big concerns is that we have champagne tastes, but 9
our budget is not champagne. My personal opinion is that one thing that needs to be 10
taken into account is expansion. Right now, maybe we do something that is good 11
enough, and 20 years from now we want to expand it. If that expansion is in the design, 12
that could be a much more elegant expansion than if you have to hack something in that 13
looks like an add-on. 14
Mr. McManus: One element of our scope as it is planned is that we will be looking at the 15
site in terms of phases. There will be some consideration for short term, medium term, 16
long term, and that will play into it. 17
Ms. Hill: Let me also add that in Emeryville there were buildings that were kept and 18
restored and renovated for cost savings as well as new construction. It's not often that we 19
work in a community like Palo Alto that has more resources than most places. Cost 20
considerations with school districts, with other municipalities is always front and center. 21
You can be assured that we're well aware of that. 22
Vice Chair Greenfield: Thank you for your presentation and joining us this evening. 23
This undoubtedly is a challenging project, at least from our perspective. It's good to hear 24
you've certainly dealt with challenges before. I'm wondering if you've ever worked on a 25 project with dual clients as you (crosstalk). 26
Ms. Hill: Yes actually, on a number of occasions. Emeryville in particular was joint; it 27 was the school district and the city. They co-funded it. 28
Vice Chair Greenfield: A similar structure as we have here? 29
Ms. Hill: Yes, yes. 30
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Vice Chair Greenfield: That's great. The approach sounds very encouraging with the 1
public meetings and all. I'm sure you've been to a lot more of these meetings than I have, 2
but the important key is to make the participants feel heard and valued as opposed to 3
managed. I wonder what your tricks are on that. 4
Ms. Hill: You know what our trick is? We don't give anybody the microphone. I will 5
tell you that. It's not that kind of meeting. People are going to be sitting at tables of six 6 to eight people, and they're going to be doing work. This is an iterative process. People 7
can come at any point, and they can find out what happened previously and get caught 8
up. Anybody is invited to come any time; however, we really encourage people to come 9
and come back and see their work. They will see what they've done. They will recognize 10
what they've done. They'll understand the synthesis and then move to the next phase. 11
This is not where somebody gets the microphone for 3 minutes and they get their chance 12
to get mad or get glad. That's just not how we do it. It's very different in that regard. It's 13
team building; it's community building because people have to hash it out together. 14
Again, we say we have scars all over us because we've done this kind of work in some 15
very challenging places. I think I might have said to the ad hoc group that we've worked 16
in Camden, New Jersey, and West Philly, and New Orleans, Louisiana, and places like 17
that. I will also say that oftentimes communities that do have a lot of resources with 18
highly educated people can be even more challenging. We have some of that experience 19
as well. It's not to say that somebody might go off. That could happen, but we've seen it 20
before. What we see over time is that people recognize this is a different way of getting 21
the work done, and they become really engaged and focused on getting the work done. It 22
ends up being a great thing. 23
Vice Chair Greenfield: We're certainly all very interested in resolution to this valuable 24
resource within our community and really looking to make it shine. Just one final 25 comment. As the community garden liaison on the Commission, I was quite happy to see 26 you called out community gardens as a potential for Cubberley. It'd be great to see 27 something carved out in that area, something that isn't there right now. Thank you. 28
Chair McDougall: Thank you for your presentation, and thank you particularly for 29
running through the first part quickly so we could get to the discussion part. I really 30
appreciate that. A couple of things that I would worry about. Number one, I'm glad you 31
think it'll be challenging because that's the only thing we can promise you, that we'll help 32
make it challenging as a City. Also recognizing that we may be a rich community, but 33
we're not a rich community. Funding is always a challenge. When I'm at Mitchell Park 34
or when I'm at Cubberley, the one thing I notice that's different than a lot of other 35
locations you go to in the City is the amount of diversity. There is a much more diverse 36
community in those two locations, and that needs to be an important part of your 37
consideration. Another important part of your consideration needs to be the north/south 38
thing about Palo Alto. There is a north, and there is a south. Cubberley is clearly south, 39
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and that needs to be a consideration. I'm not trying to tell you what kind of consideration, 1
how you deal with that. I think that's important. I'm glad to hear you say phases. What 2
might satisfy Keith is if you fundamentally came up with a basic design and then options 3
as opposed to give us four different designs. Maybe the phases provide that for us. The 4
last thing is as much as we talk about community and involvement, the last time we did 5
some community outreach at Cubberley, it wasn't that big an event because it was just a 6 lighting issue. We set up 30 or 40 chairs; we waited half an hour, and two people came 7
in by accident and were willing to talk to us about it. You do need to really focus. We'll 8
commit that we'll help get people there, but it would be insufficient to rely on us to fill 9
your room. You need to worry about the other kind of media and activity and whatnot 10
that you do. 11
Ms. Hill: Absolutely. I do want to reiterate that probably one of the biggest challenges is 12
making sure that we recruit people to participate. The more people there, the better the 13
product will be and more of an opportunity to get support for funding and 14
implementation. I will say when we were last in town we put an email out or Amy who 15
runs Cubberley put an email out to all of the Cubberley tenants, and we had quite a few 16
people show up. Obviously they would because they're very interested in what's going to 17
happen to them. We had a fantastic meeting with them. No promises. They're there; 18
they're very invested. They have people who come to their programs. They'll be a great 19
source of people who will participate. That job is never done frankly. Even when we 20
have the first meeting, we still need to work hard at getting people to come and continue 21
to come and bring in new people. 22
Chair McDougall: I'm sure you understand that if you mostly listen to current 23
stakeholders as opposed to what it could be, that is dangerous as well. 24
Commissioner McCauley: Forgive me that I missed most of your presentation. The one 25 question I have—if you've already covered this, then I'm perfectly happy to catch up with 26 you after the meeting or at another time. I'm curious about places where the needs or 27 goals of the School District and the City diverge and how you plan to bridge that gap. 28
Ms. Hill: I think a couple of things. We highlighted the Emeryville project, which is 8 29
acres. Here, you have the School District with 27 and the City with 8. We managed to 30
put quite an exciting and diverse program on that 8 acres. As planners and designers, we 31
have ideas and solutions that typically people don't think of around solving these kind of 32
problems. I would say that with that acreage there's plenty of opportunity to come up 33
with design options that will satisfy both of the major partners in this. I really don't think 34
it's a problem. What we understand so far is that the City and, I would say, the Cubberley 35
community who are conducting the programs probably are clearer about what it is they 36
want and need than the School District is because they're still wondering about their 37
demographics and do they have a shrinking population or if there's new housing built are 38
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they going to have more people. Maybe their need is not as immediate and as pressing, 1
but I don't think we'll have a problem figuring that out. When you do have diverging 2
opinions, the best way to solve that is for people to be in the room together and not 3
separately. That's really our goal of how we will approach this. Whenever we have 4
meetings, we have Kristen by our side, and we have Bob Golton or other school 5
representatives. They have to be in it with us from the beginning. Everybody needs to 6 make sure they're there and hearing the same thing, and we're being fair and equitable in 7
all these conversations. It's not to say there won't be some diverging ideas, but we can 8
figure it out. Like I said, we've dealt with some very challenging issues, again post-9
Katrina that would be maybe as challenging or more so than what we might face here in 10
terms of diverging opinions and stuff. We're up for it. 11
Chair McDougall: Do you have any final comments you'd like to make, Kristen? 12
Ms. O'Kane: Thank you. A couple of things I wanted to say. One, we're not just relying 13
on Concordia to get the word out to the community. It's definitely a team effort between 14
the Community Services Department but also the City Manager's Office and the 15
communications office. We've already posted on the City's webpage recruiting 16
community fellows. That also was sent out via Nextdoor. Did anyone see it? No. You 17
did, okay. That sort of thing will continue and also through the neighborhood groups, the 18
existing neighborhood associations. It would be helpful the more people we can get the 19
word out to. If each of you tell whatever groups you're in or organizations or 20
neighborhoods, that just gets the word out more and more. We're going to tap every 21
possible resource we can to get people to come to the meeting. I apologize, Steven. I 22
failed to introduce Steven, who's also a big part of the team. Steven Bingler with 23
Concordia is a founder of Concordia, and he has a lot of wonderful experience just like 24
Bobbie and Connor do. I'm really excited to have them onboard. I wish we would have 25 had more time to have them talk about some of the other projects that they've worked on. 26 If you're interested, the information is in the PowerPoint, and you could research those if 27 you wanted. If you have any questions about anything on those projects, you're more 28
than welcome to let us know as well. I'm really excited and am really hopeful that we'll 29
have a really exciting product come out of this process. Thank you. 30
Chair McDougall: Do you have case studies on your website at all? 31
Ms. Hill: Oh, yes, lots of them. 32
Chair McDougall: I would encourage people to spend some time researching it. I am 33
very confident in Kristen's choice. This is going to be a very, very exciting project. I 34
think you have our support. Let's go do it. 35
Ms. Hill: We're thrilled and honored to be here working in Palo Alto. We look forward 36
to seeing you all. Thank you so much for this opportunity. 37
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Chair McDougall: Thank you very much. 1
4. Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Overview 2
Chair McDougall: Now, for the exciting part of the evening. 3
Ms. O'Kane: As you know, Council recently adopted the budget for fiscal year '19. I 4
thought this would be a good time to bring in Daren and Jazmin to talk about not only the 5
budget but also the CIP budget process, which I believe someone had requested a little bit 6 of information on how we develop the Capital Improvement Program and plan every 7
year. Daren's going to touch on that. We also have some changes to CSD's municipal 8
fees and also our fee reduction program. We've grouped this altogether to try and cover 9
any important and pertinent information about our fiscal year '19 budget. I will turn it 10
over to Daren and Jazmin. 11
Jazmin LeBlanc: Thank you. I'm Jazmin LeBlanc with the Community Services 12
Department. I'm going to start the presentation talking about the operating budget and 13
municipal fees. Daren will take it over and talk about the capital budget. Our operating 14
budget. CSD, the Community Services Department, is one of the largest departments in 15
the City and has an operating budget in fiscal year 2019 of over $29 million. There are 16
78 full-time positions and 298 part-time positions in the City, which equates to about 51 17
full-time positions. 18
Commissioner McCauley: Jazmin, excuse me. I don't mean to interrupt you. Maybe 19
you can give us a little bit more breakout in terms of the full-time positions and the part-20
time folks. Where are the majority of the division's resources being spent? 21
Ms. LeBlanc: Let me come back to that after I look. I've got my folder of Q&A things. 22
I can't say right off the top of my head. I can tell you the part-time hugely is related to 23
seasonal employees. A lot of that is camp staff in the summer. I will get back to you on 24
the full-time. On the major year-over-year adjustments, the biggest change is that the 25 golf course has reopened. Now, we have one golf course operator, so a different contract 26 structure. The different contract structure has resulted in revenue and expense increases 27 that are over $1 million in both areas. We also were asked to make some reductions in 28
the budget this year. We were able to find about $90,000 of cuts in non-personnel 29
expenditures across the department, mainly in program areas that we call recreation and 30
housekeeping and administrative expenses. We've got a $90,000 cut across the 31
department in that area. We also eliminated 11 vacant part-time positions. Those vacant 32
part-time positions totaled $180,000 in savings. One position was related to golf course 33
maintenance. Six were related to building maintenance, and four related to open space 34
and parks maintenance. We do not expect … 35
Chair McDougall: What was the last category? I'm sorry. 36
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Ms. LeBlanc: Parks and open space maintenance. We will be monitoring these cuts very 1
carefully this year, particularly in the parks and open space positions that were cut. We 2
do expect this could have some negative impacts on our ability to respond to non-urgent 3
requests in open space preserves. We'll be tracking that to make sure that it's something 4
we can manage. If we find that it is problematic, we'll request funding again. Before we 5
move on to municipal fees, another thing I wanted to point out is the operating budget 6 was approved as proposed, but the City Council also approved a recommendation to 7
reduce the General Fund budget by $4 million in this fiscal year. This would be across 8
all City departments, not just the Community Services Department. The Council has 9
requested that this budget reduction proposal be brought back to City Council later in this 10
calendar year, 2018. We don't have details on exactly what the direction is from City 11
Hall or City Council yet. We expect we'll get further information on this in the fall. I'm 12
going to move on to municipal fees. The next few slides give a brief summary of how 13
CSD sets fees for service. There's more detail … 14
Chair McDougall: Jazmin, maybe we should divide this up. Before you move on to the 15
fees, maybe I should see if anybody has any particular questions relative to the budget. 16
Ryan asked one question about more detail and granularity. In fact, we shouldn't expect 17
you necessarily to come back here immediately or sit there and find the number for us. 18
Maybe we can make a list of things that we could get an email or some follow-up later. 19
Ms. LeBlanc: Absolutely. Another thing that Kristen just whispered to me. The 20
organization chart in the beginning of the operating budget gives a sense of how our staff 21
is divided. It's relatively even across arts and sciences, parks and open space, and 22
recreation. 23
Commissioner Cribbs: On the major year-over-year adjustments, could you talk a little 24
bit about the elimination of the vacant positions? These positions were not being used, 25 and they didn't get filled, so they got eliminated. There were three categories. One was 26 the parks and open space. What were the other two? 27
Ms. LeBlanc: Building maintenance and golf maintenance. 28
Commissioner Cribbs: Will any of that be contracted out like you do for parks or is it … 29
Mr. Anderson: Maybe I could help answer that. The temporary position that worked at 30
the golf course was really a position associated with the old course. That position was 31
fully focused on addressing mainline breaks. The entire mainline has been replaced with 32
the new project, so it really wasn't necessary. We've built everything into that new 33
contract that we would have gotten out of that employee. Regarding the open space and 34
parks hourly positions, it was really on the parks side. The open space side is interesting. 35
Even though it's comparable salaries for this entry-level, seasonal position, the open 36
space seems to draw folks who have a passion and a long-term interest in being Rangers 37
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and are willing to accept that rather low wage for the kind of work it is. Sometimes their 1
education level is relatively high for that kind of work. Contrasting that with the parks 2
temporary positions, we were not able to draw people. We'd interview and interview, and 3
people didn't want that job. It was a real challenge. We've conducted over the last 4
several years multiple interviews. The candidates weren't qualified enough to hire or 5
weren't interested once they found out the rate. We ended up giving up those salaries in 6 this reduction. We'll be monitoring it. The biggest impact in addition to the obvious one 7
of being able to tackle extra work and get ahead on things is that's what we draw upon 8
when we want to promote people. You get to see them in action and train them and 9
really pick a solid team to promote. We lose that, and it hurts because we will have 10
people leaving in the not-too-distant future. We'll have to strategize on how to fill that in 11
different ways. 12
Ms. LeBlanc: The building maintenance is custodial and janitorial. Similar to what 13
Daren said, we had these part-time positions that were very hard to fill at our community 14
centers and that were consistently being held vacant. We've recently reorganized the 15
structure, so we're using full-time custodians who we have been able to recruit and retain 16
to the community centers. By using the full-time custodians, we feel like we're getting a 17
better quality of service, more consistent staff people showing up every day. We were 18
able to make that cut where we don't think it's going to have a negative impact on the 19
department. The main area that we're concerned with and want to monitor is in the parks 20
positions that were cut. 21
Commissioner Moss: That's a good segue to my question. You made a major change last 22
year in hiring Team Sheeper to take some of those part-time, very difficult to fill 23
positions and contracted them out. Obviously, this budget has taken that into 24
consideration, and the number of part-time employees reflects that. Do you feel in light 25 of the budget issues that we're talking about that you would do more of that in the future, 26 maybe on the maintenance side or in some of the other—camp counselor side, something 27 like that? Are there other organizations that you would be looking at versus full-time 28
employees with pensions and healthcare and all that kind of stuff? 29
Mr. Anderson: Maybe I could address the parks side of that. Can we address it with 30
contracting out? I'd say we have addressed that over the years. An enormous amount of 31
our parks are maintained via contractors, the vast majority in fact. Aside from irrigation 32
and the athletic fields, it's all done via contractor. At some point, the amount of resources 33
it takes to manage that contractor, especially when you're talking about the 180 sites we 34
have, is enormous. With the way the bidding process goes, if you aren't watching like a 35
hawk, you are going to get poor service, I don't care how great your contractor is. In my 36
experience in 20 years with the City, I've dealt with a lot of contractors. They're going to 37
cut corners. Unless someone is watching, you're going to lose out. The other big cost is 38
continuity. Those employees that I've seen are really quick turnovers. There's no 39
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institutional knowledge passed on, which is really dangerous when you're talking about 1
expensive infrastructure that's buried under the ground. It's just not enough to pass 2
someone a map and expect them to fully understand all the intricacies of the irrigation 3
system or the back stories of residents who have concerns and they want you to weed 4
whip at a certain time. These are all nuances that are lost on contractors. We've 5
contracted out intelligently where we could, where it doesn't negatively impact the 6 community and drawn a line to say, "these are the services that you need a more in-depth 7
experience with longevity, better supervision, and better continuity." 8
Ms. LeBlanc: That's a very good answer that Daren gave. Each year I suspect for the 9
short term at least we're going to be asked to make more cuts and be really creative with 10
money. We're constantly reassessing lines of service and if there's a better way to do it. 11
There may be more in the future that could result in more contracts. With regard to the 12
inhouse custodial for example, they also are there as the only City employees onsite when 13
we're holding private events like weddings at Lucie Stern. It's really nice to have 14
someone who has been there for years, understands what is expected, and is a City 15
employee on the ground. That's not something that would make sense to contract out at 16
this point. 17
Chair McDougall: Let's move to the … 18
Commissioner McCauley: I have one last quick question. I think we're all in consensus 19
that Daren had a great response on the contractors. Well done. It seems as though the 20
golf position totally makes sense why you removed that. Same thing on realigning the 21
custodial positions. What about these folks that were in the parks? I appreciate that they 22
haven't been filled for the last several years. Is there a need that's going unaddressed? 23
Mr. Anderson: Yeah. You could legitimately say there is a need. We would like them, 24
but we had to make concessions as a department. Every division offered up something, 25 and it was a reasonable accommodation because we had to meet these cuts. We'll do our 26 best (inaudible), and we'll advocate to get them back, at least I certainly will. At some 27 point, I would like it but when it makes sense for the City to do so. 28
Commissioner McCauley: What's the plan in the nearer term? Are you going to shuffle 29
staff to have full-time people handle these tasks that used to be handled by the seasonal 30
folks? 31
Mr. Anderson: I think that is how it's been. At some point as the seasonal staff gradually 32
dwindled down over time—I think it was more robust before I eventually joined the parks 33
department—the supervisors took on more of a role of a working supervisor with the 34
Rangers too. They're not just supervisors, not just managing; they're definitely holding 35
weed whips and picking up trash and doing all those things. That's one way. Others are 36
through partnerships with volunteers. We've got great relationships with Friends of Parks 37
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and Kiwanis. In my Department Report, which I cut a little brief, we're having the 1
Kiwanis Club right now come out monthly during the summer and redo a fence for us, 2
which is two-fold. One, I don't have enough staff to do it. Two, the CIP that did the 3
construction project to rebuild that park at Bowden was insufficiently funded. There 4
wasn't enough to do that fence, and so we found a different way. We adapted and 5
overcame. 6
Commissioner McCauley: How long do you think you'll need to do without these 7
positions? 8
Mr. Anderson: I don't know. I think it's really difficult to say. You just heard about that 9
$4 million cut. It's something I anticipate we're going to have to deal with for quite some 10
time, but I don't know. 11
Chair McDougall: It sounds to me like you'd already dealt with that flexibility because 12
they were vacant positions. To me, the scarier thing is what part of the $4 million will 13
you have to fund. That's a bigger risk that we would look forward to appealing at 14
Council or whatever else we might have to do to help you. Now, I'm going to invite you 15
to go on to municipal fees. 16
Ms. LeBlanc: The next few slides talk about municipal fees. There's more detail in the 17
memo that's attached to this agenda. I'm just going to quickly talk about the fee setting 18
process. We have several policies and procedures that guide the process. The City has a 19
Cost Recovery Level Policy, which outlines how fees should be set across the City. Our 20
department has a procedure to implement that policy with specific direction for our 21
programs and services. All the fees are approved in the Municipal Fee Schedule every 22
year by City Council. They're maintained in the City's Municipal Fee Schedule. 23
Chair McDougall: Jazmin, can you say that again, and can you move the mic a little 24
closer to you? 25
Ms. LeBlanc: Just the last part? 26
Chair McDougall: Yeah, just the last part. 27
Ms. LeBlanc: All the fees are approved annually by the City Council, and they're 28
adopted and maintained in a City Municipal Fee Schedule. This next slide—I 29
apologize—has very tiny writing. These are the cost recovery level groups that the City 30
policy categorizes all of our programs and services with a fee associated into. We have 31
low, medium, and high cost recovery groups with various policy parameters guiding staff 32
in how to set the assignment. You can see, for example, in the low cost recovery level 33
group you have programs where there may be no intended relationship between the 34
amount paid and the benefit received. Whereas, in the high cost recovery group, you may 35
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see programs or services where the use of that service is specifically discouraged by the 1
City. Those are some of the parameters in the Cost Recovery Policy. The next slide 2
shows you how we typically assign different types of programs and services within the 3
Community Services Department into those low, medium, and high categories. For 4
example, in the lost cost recovery, we've put special events. We see this as a majority 5
community benefit where we're not trying to recover a high level of cost versus in the 6 high category facility rentals for private events, for example. Our programs and services 7
in general are all available for residents and nonresidents. Residents support CSD's 8
programs and facilities through ongoing General Fund contributions, so we prioritize 9
residents above nonresidents whenever possible. What this means to us is that residents 10
are in general paying a lower fee for programs and services and are given access to book 11
programs and services ahead of when they're open to nonresidents. The nonresident 12
premiums that we currently utilize aim to increase cost recovery levels while still 13
maintaining prices that would actually be attractive to nonresidents when there are spaces 14
available. About 20 percent of our class and camp participants are nonresidents. We 15
typically charge about 15 percent more for nonresidents to participate in classes and 16
camps and anywhere from 15 to more than 50 percent more to book facility rentals 17
dependent on the location and day of the week. When we have taken looks at other 18
neighboring communities, we've found that this is pretty typical. A typical nonresident 19
premium is set at 15-25 percent; although, there are some communities that don't have 20
any nonresident premium at all. I wanted to talk to you about the fee reduction program. 21
Since 1996, the City has had a fee reduction program for low-income and disabled 22
residents of Palo Alto to reduce the cost of classes, camps, and community garden fees. 23
There have been several modifications to the program in the years since 1996. The most 24
recent change is that effective this July 1 we were able to add a group into the fee 25 reduction program. It previously was available to low-income youth and seniors and 26 disabled residents of any age. We've been able to expand that to include low-income 27 adults as well. It now is available to any age low-income person residing in Palo Alto 28
and any age disabled resident. There's either a 25 or 50 percent discount off your 29
program registration depending on your income level. For the majority of the 30
participants, there's a $300 subsidy cap per year per qualifying person. This year, as 31
we've just rolled out the low-income adult program access, we have capped the subsidy to 32
$150 to start. This will give us an opportunity to gauge the level of demand before we 33
increase the subsidy up to what it is for the other participants. Finally, these are just a 34
few—this is a little bit about the actual municipal fee changes effective fiscal year '19. 35
Typically, City staff will determine how much salaries and benefits are increasing across 36
the City and give each department guidance to increase fees to correspond to that increase 37
in cost to provide services. This year that was 2.6 percent. The average salary and 38
benefit rate for City employees is going up by 2.6 percent; therefore, in general fees 39
should go up by 2.6 percent. The idea there is that you maintain the cost recovery level 40
by increasing the fee at that rate. That is the increase that we applied to many of the 41
Community Services Department's fees but not all. There were some larger increases 42
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including on community garden plots, across at the golf course, and in the middle school 1
athletics program areas, for example. With the community garden plots, we have not 2
raised the fees in quite some time. It's going up almost 7 percent but that is from 75¢ per 3
square foot to 80¢, so it's relatively hard to do 2.6 percent and still have a whole number. 4 We did that primarily due to increasing potable water costs. The golf fees, as you know 5 we have a whole new operator with new expectations, which is why golf is changing so 6
much. Middle school athletics was also a program area that had not had fees raised in 7
more than 5 years and was starting to see diminishing cost recovery levels. Finally, we 8
have added a new corporate facility rental fee in response to feedback from the public, 9
City Council, and this Commission to make sure largely private-benefit events that are 10
occupying our facilities are paying more for that privilege. We've set up a new fee that 11
would provide a $4,000-$8,000 corporate facility rental fee on top of our normal facility 12
rental fees for users who want to book large amounts of space for extended periods of 13
time at our facilities. That is everything about municipal fees. I was going to say we 14
could … 15
Commissioner Reckdahl: If it's not long term, if some corporation wants to have a 16
Christmas party and rent Lucie Stern, there's no additional fees? 17
Ms. LeBlanc: That would not be something where this fee actually sets in. It is use of at 18
least 10,000 square feet with at least 1,000 people attending and over several days. It's 19
pretty narrow. 20
Commissioner Reckdahl: That makes sense. They're impinging other people's project 21
where, if someone's just renting one room, they're not really impinging on the public. 22
Vice Chair Greenfield: Don's asked me to allow questions from the rest of the 23
Commission. Jeff, do you have questions, comments? Anne. 24
Commissioner Cribbs: I had one about the middle school athletics programs. We have 25
raised the fees for 5 years. Will you be watching the participation numbers to see if they 26
stay the same or go up or down? I'm just concerned about middle school athletics 27
because I believe the City runs that whole program. What about the kids that can't afford 28
to play? 29
Ms. LeBlanc: Hopefully they would take advantage of the fee reduction program, which 30
this would cover. Yes, we're always monitoring for dips in enrollment or increases and 31
taking a look at our total revenue. One thing I didn't mention but is extremely important 32
in our department is we're market-driven, even middle school athletics. We can't do the 33
same type of evaluation of our fees that the Development Center is looking at or the 34
Police Department, where people don't really have a choice but to pay that fee. That's 35
why we don't always follow the guidance that City Hall gives of increasing fees at a 36
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certain percentage without other consideration. We have already started to get the word 1
out in the middle schools. 2
Commissioner McCauley: Where do our fee dollars go? Do they stay with the division? 3
Ms. LeBlanc: No. They go into the City's General Fund. 4
Commissioner McCauley: What general portion of the fees that go into the General Fund 5
are generated by the Community Services division? 6
Ms. LeBlanc: The Community Services Department recovers overall, if you look at our 7
revenues versus total expense, about 30 percent of our costs. That would be around $10 8
million in this upcoming fiscal year. 9
Commissioner McCauley: Do you have a sense for what that is relative to the City more 10
broadly? 11
Ms. LeBlanc: I think I can safely say we have to be a drop in the bucket compared to 12
fees associated with development, for example. 13
Commissioner McCauley: Sure, but that's unique. 14
Ms. LeBlanc: If you're looking at other departments that are General Funded, we're 15
recovering a very high percentage through user fees. 16
Commissioner Moss: I have two questions. I'm pretty sensitive to resident versus 17
nonresident. You have a difficult job in wanting to service the residents, and the people 18
who are giving you budget are expecting you to support residents primarily. In some 19
cases, you wouldn't even have a class if you didn't have a certain number of slots filled, 20
and it's okay to have nonresidents in order to pay the salary of the teacher or camp 21
counselor. You've got this delicate balancing act. How sophisticated is that? Do you 22
have dynamic pricing or things like that? Do you identify classes and camps that are in 23
great demand by residents and some that are marginal and should have nonresidents? 24
Ms. LeBlanc: The most effective way for us to make sure that residents are getting 25 access to these really in-demand programs is by giving them the opportunity to register 26 before nonresidents. We do that right now. When you register for a class or a camp, 27 nonresidents have to wait. Typically the first week of registration is only available for 28
residents. Actually, it's the first month or so for our camp registration. We really try to 29
encourage residents to sign up early so that they can fill up as many slots as are in 30
demand by residents. When we see that we still have five out of 20 slots available for a 31
particular class, nonresidents have the opportunity to fill up those remaining open seats. 32
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Commissioner Moss: If you find that a class is pretty full and you've covered costs, can 1
you get away with charging more to nonresidents because for some classes you really 2
don't need them? If they want to get in, could you charge more than the 15 percent? In 3
my mind, the 15 percent seems pretty low for some classes that are very in-demand. 4
Ms. LeBlanc: That's a good point. We have looked at increasing our nonresident 5
premium to be as high as 25 percent, and that is something we could look at, having a 6 range rather than a flat 15 percent. We could encourage our staff when they're looking at 7
setting prices to see what happens in those programs that have a high demand if we go up 8
to 20 or 25 percent premium. We do have to be careful always that we're not setting the 9
price so high that nonresidents will choose not to sign up at all. That's the hard piece. 10
Commissioner Moss: That was my point. If we don't need them, then we don't really 11
care. You're right that that's bad publicity or it could come back to bite you later. With 12
the rents so high, many people who have a decent income may not—it may go all to rent. 13
Therefore, they will need more help than that same income at another city like south San 14
Jose. How do you deal with that? How many slots do you give—do you have a set 15
number of slots that you give to low-income or not? 16
Ms. LeBlanc: No. Theoretically, we could have a class that's completely filled with low-17
income residents because we're not restricting access. If someone qualifies for the fee 18
reduction program, they just fill out the form and come into a community center to 19
register for a camp just the way that any other resident would. There isn't any kind of 20
limitation on how many low income or disabled residents could participate in a program. 21
Something that's nice about our cost recovery policy is for the most part our camps and 22
classes are not expected to fully recover costs, so we can try to keep our prices relatively 23
low for all of our users. Our goal is to get more people in our programs. 24
Commissioner Moss: I want to make sure when you have your budget cuts and when you 25 have to go before the City Council they understand that we're providing these incredible 26 services to a large low-income population, even residents. 27
Ms. LeBlanc: We will be fighting to keep all of our programs and services intact as 28
much as we possibly can. 29
Vice Chair Greenfield: Thank you for the presentation. I have a couple of questions. In 30
the finer print, there was a reference to different fee schedules for different types of 31
groups. One of the groups highlighted was the friends groups. I'm wondering how many 32
of these friends groups are there. We've heard about one that's not so well known today 33
already. I'm wondering what else we might learn. Is there a dozen friends groups? 34
Ms. LeBlanc: No. I think what you're referring to actually is in the Community Services 35
Department's response to the auditor's report. One of the things the auditor asked us to do 36
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was make sure any exception to the table that you saw, that said here are our target cost 1
recovery levels for different types of things, be called out. What they were talking about 2
specifically was participants in the Children's Theatre shows do not pay any fee to be 3
there as performers. Friends of the Children's Theatre actually pays to cover the costs of 4
the participants. They collect donations that they remit a gift to the City of that donation 5
to cover the costs associated with having those children participate. That's in the fine 6 print because the auditor identified that as being something like a class or camp and 7
pushed that we would charge children to participate. That's one of the things that we 8
called out. If we're going to have a group, like a friends group, donate money in lieu of 9
charging a fee, we think it's acceptable not to charge a fee in that case. 10
Vice Chair Greenfield: Maybe I misunderstood it. I thought it was more talking about 11
nonprofits or friendly type groups that would lower fee rates as opposed to for-profit or 12
out-of-City groups. I was just wondering. What are the friends groups that the City is 13
benefiting from? 14
Chair McDougall: It says in the Community Services Department fee slide that it's a low 15
recovery if friends participate. I would like to maybe not pursue a specific answer right 16
now. What I've just heard is there's a $29 million budget, but we pay $10 million of that 17
ourselves. There's money that may go into the General Fund, but it comes out of the 18
General Fund. It's really a $19 million budget. Of that $19 million, I'd be really 19
interested in understanding, relative to Jeff's questions, how much of that the collective 20
friends provide. What is it that offsets the $19 million or is the budget actually bigger 21
than $19 million because that funding isn't visible? I'd be interested in how much—22
you've got these categories, consistent with what Jeff's asking, of low, medium, and high. 23
How many programs are in the high, medium, and low recovery? I'm disappointed with 24
the policy that there's not a fourth category, which could be the golf course eventually, 25 for 100 percent. The goal ought to be 100 percent, and that ought to be a category that's 26 called out here. That goes to Ryan's question of more detail. In general, we'd like a little 27 bit more granularity. Is that fair from everybody? Maybe I could sit with you, Jazmin, 28
and we could work up some granularity that we bring back. 29
Ms. LeBlanc: That would be great. I do have to give a little nod to Kristen. She and I 30
have a lot of the answers to some of these questions. We've prepped for any question that 31
could possibly come up in front of City Council over the last several months. We 32
certainly can come up with the answers and report back to this group going through all of 33
those. It might be helpful to flesh out exactly what would be the most helpful thing. 34
Chair McDougall: I would vote in favor of a written response with more granularity 35
rather than trying to answer the questions tonight. Is everybody agreeable to that? 36
Kristen, do you have a comment on that? Are we crazy? 37
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Ms. O'Kane: That's fine. For process, you want a written response to your questions 1
tonight? 2
Chair McDougall: Collectively, between what Ryan and Jeff have asked, there's a theme 3
of the kind of question. Maybe I could sit with Jazmin and help collect that theme. 4
Maybe we could come up with a collective answer. She can come up with the answer, 5
and I could help collect the question. 6
Commissioner Moss: How do you disseminate that? Do you disseminate that in the next 7
meeting or do you do it privately outside of the meeting? 8
Chair McDougall: As long as it's from the staff to the Commission, they can do that with 9
a simple … 10
Ms. O'Kane: What we might do is include it in the packet so that anyone who might be 11
watching this meeting or interested in some of those answers would have those answers 12
as well. 13
Chair McDougall: We can disseminate it before, but include it officially in the next 14
meeting so it's publicly available. Is that fair? Is that correct? 15
Ms. O'Kane: That is fair. Just a reminder that no serial conversations on the topic. 16
Chair McDougall: I wasn't proposing that at all. In fact, that's what I was trying to avoid. 17
Vice Chair Greenfield: I'm glad to see that we've added a corporate facility rental fee. 18
Certainly, there was a call for that. I'm curious how the $4,000-$8,000 per day rate was 19
decided upon. 20
Ms. LeBlanc: There was a huge range in what's charged when we looked at other cities, 21
as low as zero or $1,000 or $2,000 and as high as in the millions. In general we try to set 22
a fee relatively low initially and see what the reaction is before raising it. This was 23
towards the middle of the range, a little bit on the lower side, so that we can raise it if 24
necessary. 25
Vice Chair Greenfield: I would encourage and request you in the future to engage with 26 the parks and facility use policy ad hoc. We're here, and we'd like to help when we can. 27
Commissioner McCauley: This is a little bit tangential. Do you perceive the opportunity 28
to increase rental fees at Lucie Stern or other facilities? 29
Ms. LeBlanc: The short answer is yes but not yet mainly because of construction at the 30
Junior Museum. We have a lot of demand for weddings there. Once we have a parking 31
lot again, we'll be able to increase the fees and still maintain a lot of happy customers. 32
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Commissioner McCauley: Do you do any marketing around availability of those spaces? 1
Ms. LeBlanc: We do, and we would like to do more. It's something that I'm hoping we'll 2
be able to build up in the 2 years that the Junior Museum is under construction. 3
Ms. O'Kane: One of the ways that we advertise, especially Lucie Stern because that's our 4
main location for weddings, is through wedding websites. It's listed as a facility, so 5
people hear about it that way. 6
Commissioner Moss: Like Gamble Garden? 7
Ms. O'Kane: That's another one. People who are getting married can go on a website 8
and look at all the possible venues in the Bay Area. Lucie Stern Community Center 9
comes up as one of them. 10
Commissioner Reckdahl: Fees, none of them are controlled by Prop 29? 11
Ms. LeBlanc: No. 12
Commissioner Reckdahl: We can charge whatever we want? 13
Ms. LeBlanc: Yes. 14
Commissioner Reckdahl: Cost recovery isn't mandatory; it's just a tool we use for 15
helping us determine the right price? 16
Ms. LeBlanc: Yes. 17
Commissioner Reckdahl: How do we set the price? Do we look at the market price and 18
say "what will the market bear" or do we look at our costs and say we'll mark up our 19
costs by 10-15 percent? 20
Ms. LeBlanc: It's generally both of those things. If we're going to have a new program, 21
we need to make sure we can recover a reasonable amount of costs if the market is really 22
low. If it's a very expensive program, that might not be something we can afford to fund. 23
We really need to look at both of those things. Our staff that sets fees is generally in tune 24
with what the market will bear. They have specific knowledge and keep that in mind. 25 We're also constantly looking at the total cost to make sure it makes sense to keep doing 26 the program the way we're doing it. 27
Commissioner Reckdahl: Do we also adjust costs based on how well the class filled last 28
year? If it filled up right away, do we consider raising the price? 29
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Ms. LeBlanc: Yes, we do. That does happen. Conversely, if it's not filling up, that's a 1
reason to consider adjusting the price, adjusting the schedule, all kinds of things. 2
Commissioner Reckdahl: In the packet, it talked about direct costs. How do you 3
calculate direct costs? Is that just the labor of the person who's teaching the course? 4
Ms. LeBlanc: Each of our programs has its own cost center in SAP. It has it's own 5
special code, and it includes the salaries and benefits associated with staff that provide 6 the services and any other costs like supplies. We determine the City overhead rate and 7
the department's administrative costs and dole that out as a percentage to apply for the 8
indirect costs. 9
Commissioner Reckdahl: It was 15 percent for the department and 20 percent for the 10
City. How did we come up with that number? 11
Ms. LeBlanc: The City one is what we get billed, these indirect charges that are 12
generally tacked onto the Community Services administration cost center. The City does 13
it. 14
Commissioner Reckdahl: You look at that tax then. How does maintenance come into 15
this? 16
Ms. LeBlanc: Maintenance is generally an indirect cost from Public Works. We can see 17
that line item added to our department. 18
Commissioner Reckdahl: If you have a class that's being held on a grassy field or one 19
that's inside a building or at the aquatics center, those will have vastly different 20
maintenance requirements. Yet, we still charge 15 and 20 percent. 21
Ms. LeBlanc: It's just a matter of practicality to come up with a number without 22
spending too much time figuring out what it should be for aquatics versus the Art Center. 23
Commissioner Reckdahl: Back in the days of Prop 29, it really was important to get all 24
that because you were limited by Prop 29, which meant if you understated your costs, 25 your hands were tied. You definitely didn't want to understate your costs because that 26 overly burdened your flexibility. 27
Ms. LeBlanc: That's true. We're the only department and possibly the Library not 28
subject to Prop 29. The other departments are, and they've paid for consulting studies 29
and things to make sure they get it right. Our department was left out of that to save 30
money because it's not subject to the same restrictions. 31
Commissioner Reckdahl: One of my problems is if we're just going for this target of 100 32
percent or 115 or 135 depending on which category you're in, and we are understating 33
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our costs—we don't pay rent on that; it's just the labor that it costs—should we be raising 1
our rates and trying to make money on some of those to pay for other classes where they 2
may not be as popular, but we still want to hold them because of the community good. 3
We really want to make sure that we get those community good classes in. The ones that 4
are personal good, we should be trying to make a profit on it. Right now, our target is 5
135, and our cost is more than 135. We're still losing on that category where it's personal 6 benefit. 7
Ms. LeBlanc: The City's policy does have in the high cost recovery range a cap at 100 8
percent, but that's not how we do it in our department. Golf course, we aim to more than 9
recover the costs for the golf course. When people book a wedding with us, when they're 10
taking personal local lessons, we're trying to charge as much as we can. Those are 11
dictated by what the market will bear and not based on the cost. We want to know what 12
the cost recovery level is, but those are things we're charging the market rate. 13
Commissioner Reckdahl: You're saying right now the cost recovery is trivial, a piece of 14
… 15
Ms. LeBlanc: In those cases where we're aiming to get beyond 100 percent, the main 16
thing we're looking at is market rate. 17
Commissioner Reckdahl: The last category that had a target of 135, what do we get in 18
that category? Are we getting 135 or are we getting 150? Do you know? 19
Ms. LeBlanc: It would depend on each specific thing that you're talking about in that 20
category. Perhaps I should come back with some specific answers on some of these 21
things such as the golf course. The things that pop into my mind are golf course, facility 22
rentals for private events, singing lessons. We have the private swimming lessons. 23
Those are the main things I can think of. 24
Commissioner Reckdahl: If we're just targeting 135, we are not soaking them. We are 25 still subsidizing them because we're giving them free rent. They're using our facilities. 26 All they are paying for is the labor and the tax on top of that labor. They are still being 27 subsidized. I would encourage us on that last category to try to make more money. 28
Especially with these budget cuts coming up, we're going to lose the ability to have that 29
best category. We really have to protect that, and one way to protect that is to charge 30
more in that higher category. 31
Chair McDougall: Thank you. I'll look forward to a conversation where we can 32
(inaudible) to bring back. (inaudible) 33
Mr. Anderson: I'll briefly provide some background on our capital budget process and 34
mainly focus on our CSD projects. Let's start with what we mean by CIP. It's helpful to 35
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have a little definition. The criteria on this slide lists that the minimum cost has to be 1
$50,000. If it's below that amount, we're typically asked to fund it through our operating 2
budget or perhaps through some of our CIPs that are ongoing and annual. Sometimes 3
those are used to fund smaller one-offs. It also has to have a useful life of at least 5-7 4
years or extend an existing asset to that time frame. I should note the City plans its 5
capital budget in 5-year cycles with only the first year funded. It's done so by Council in 6 June. Our current 5-year cycle—I'm going to explain this over and over because some 7
people get lost with the fiscal year thing, so bear with me. Our current 5-year cycle is 8
now fiscal year 2019 through fiscal year '23, if that makes sense. Only FY '19—the one 9
I'll show you in a minute—projects are the funded ones. Those remaining years are used 10
for forecasting planning, and they can be reshuffled each year as we look at it anew. Just 11
a little bit on the prioritization. Our big funding book, our budget book, is a really cool 12
tool. I encourage you to take a look at it; it's got a lot of information. One bit about it is 13
on the prioritization, and it mentions Council Priorities are a big piece, aligning with the 14
City's infrastructure. Our Blue Ribbon Commission, the IBRC, was a community and 15
staff endeavor in 2013. They looked at every bit of infrastructure within the City and 16
analyzed where it fell into these categories of catch-up, meaning it had been identified 17
before in a previous report as needing attention, and it was not done so in its proper time. 18
That went into this catch-up bucket. There was an enormous number of projects that fell 19
into there, and we're whittling away as we go. I'll come back to that term catch-up, and 20
you'll see it listed in a couple of project descriptions. The next category was keep-up. 21
The intent of that bucket or category of projects was the lifespan's coming due. To keep-22
up, you're going to have to make sure it happens in a given year. Let's say the lifespan of 23
a playground is 15 years, and it went in in a certain year. By 15 years from that date, it's 24
allocated in this IBRC report to be done in that year. If you didn't, it would fall now into 25 catch-up. You'll see that come back and forth a few times. Other priorities that are often 26 used to prioritize things are health and safety implications. Oftentimes, an unforeseen 27 event, neither in our 5-year cycle nor on our list of projects waiting to get into a CIP, 28
might be out there looming that we didn't know about and becomes an issue. The next 29
opportunity, the next year, it can jump right into the front based on sometimes health and 30
safety, historical spending, and certainty over feasibility, scope, and level of resources. 31
That last bit about is there a scope, is there adequate resources, have you figured out the 32
project is a good question. Lots of times we'll have projects, and the Commission or even 33
the Council will say, "I really want you to move on this," but there are certain steps that 34
have to be done before we can make it a project. I think the 10.5 acres is a good example 35
of that, where it's just not ready yet to put forth for a CIP. We don't have a scope of 36
work; we haven't done the public outreach; we don't have the conceptual plan, and we 37
haven't answered the land-use questions associated with it. It's premature to go forward 38
with the CIP yet, but it'll be coming. Here are our FY '19 projects. Some of them aren't 39
specifically for CSD, but it's in this funding cycle. The one I wanted to point out is the 40
Highway 101 pedestrian bridge. It's a large project. It really isn't driven by CSD but 41
certainly connected to us. Once it's done, you'll have a connection to the Baylands that's 42
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vastly improved. We've been involved since the beginning, both in the design, somewhat 1
in the public outreach process. In the end, we'll be maintaining an element of the bridge 2
itself, that is the landscaping and some of the irrigation on either side. The FY '19 3
projects here are approximately $19 million that you see just in that FY '19 category. As 4
I mentioned, some of them are kind of one-offs that are rather exceptional. The $13 5
million for that bridge is not typical and again not exclusively CSD. $19 million for FY 6 '19 doesn't include the recurring projects that I'll show you on my next slide, which 7
account for about $1 million annually. On this slide, I've also included, as you can see, 8
various funding sources. We've got General Fund that you see, Cubberley Fund, and the 9
Park Development Impact Fee Fund. The General Fund is this catch-all for non-10
designated funds, that is, there are no strings attached. There's no specific use. That's 11
funding most of our projects. The Cubberley Fund is obviously for Cubberley ones. We 12
pay into this. Kristen shared with me that the new Cubberley lease includes how much 13
the City should put in, and it's approximately $1.8 million a year connected with that 14
lease that we put to this fund and could be used for improvements at Cubberley. An 15
example of that will be the Cubberley synthetic turf fields and track improvements 16
coming up relatively soon. The parks development impact fees, I know you've heard 17
about that a lot. That also funds projects like the dog park or our park restrooms. That's 18
new amenities, non-maintenance oriented. That's an example of those three funding 19
types. Here are our recurring CIPs. These are really valuable to staff. The first one is a 20
good example, the benches, signs, fencing. It has a really long name because it's 21
intentionally broad. It allows me to use it to supplant other CIPs that maybe are 22
underfunded and don't have enough to pay for benches or maybe fencing. Sometimes, 23
I've got enough funding in that one; I could help that CIP out and make it a little more 24
robust, a little more of a complete project. It's also used everywhere, every park and open 25 space, sometimes even around Stern, community centers. The off-road … 26
Commissioner Reckdahl: That includes both repairs and also new benches, for example? 27
Mr. Anderson: Yes, yes, it does. The off-road pathway is for our paved bike paths. This 28
is often rolled over. Sometimes you'll see, when we get to the individual project page, a 29
given year that's much higher than another. It's kind of confusing why that happens. 30
Oftentimes, it's because we intentionally saved the money and rolled it over to the next 31
year to allow us to do a cost-savings into a bigger project. Sometimes, it's even a couple 32
of years because we try to time it with a Public Works project where they have a big 33
paving contract, and we can tie in to have an economy of scale where we save. The open 34
space, trails, and amenities, some of these seem a little redundant. You'll hear trails 35
maybe a couple of times. They each have their own specialized use. Sometimes there is 36
a little overlap in flexibility, usually to our benefit. That particular one funds our trail 37
contract, where all our open space trails are groomed and maintained through that CIP. It 38
funds the contract. Our parks emergency, open space repairs project is an important one, 39
often underfunded. We requested to have it increased, and it will in future years. It goes 40
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towards obviously the unforeseen emergency work, which is often things like an arson 1
fire that took out a playground at Hoover about 8 years ago. Often, weather related or 2
just unforeseen. What we typically use it for is assets that have prematurely aged like a 3
surfacing for a playground. You'll put in rather expensive, important play rubber around 4
the playground, and the high-use areas fail early, especially at places like Magical Bridge 5
playground, vastly premature aging. No mechanism to fund that, so often that's one I'm 6 heavily reliant on. It's also really important to extend the life of an asset. When we look 7
at certain things—the Boardwalk is a good example at the Baylands. We talked about 8
had we funded repairs more often, would it have gone to complete failure or could we 9
have extended the life. That one's maybe a little more difficult one because the repairs 10
are more onerous. Some of these things, the answer is yes, I can extend the life of a 11
given asset if I can take care of it more frequently. This kind of CIP helps me do so. 12
Lastly, the open space, lakes, and ponds is used primarily at Foothills Park for the cattail 13
and pond weed—it's annually cleared out—and also at the Baylands duck pond where we 14
occasionally do treatments for the aeration down there. Here's a project page in this big 15
capital book. If you went online and looked at it, every single project has a page like this. 16
Aside from the obvious stuff about description and justification and funding schedule, it 17
also has information—if you look on there, it'll tell you it's a keep-up or catch-up project 18
like this particular one is catch-up, which means it was identified by the Infrastructure 19
Blue Ribbon Committee. Some of the project pages, you'll notice the funding is spread 20
out over multiple years. It doesn't always give you all the details or explain why that is. 21
Most frequently, especially if the project is somewhere in that $300,000 or up range, it's a 22
design element in the previous year. It's usually somewhere between 10-20 percent, and 23
then the next year, which is the bulk of the money, is the construction, although not 24
always. When we look at the ongoing one, you'll see every year populated throughout 25 the 5-year cycle. Sometimes, they can be confusing. There's a lot of guidance in the 26 online document for our capital budget. This next slide—I'm sorry. This is the second 27 page of that one, which has a little bit more detail just to give you more guidance on the 28
project itself. Here's our CIP identified needs that are currently not in the capital 5-year 29
plan. Some of them you're familiar with. We talked a little bit about the 10.5 acres being 30
one of them mainly because it's not ready for that. We have a CIP for the outreach and 31
planning process, which will start this year. Then, once we've got a plan, the idea would 32
be to populate that somewhere in that 5-year cycle, certainly a step that the Commission 33
would weigh in on and play a part of. Some of the projects ideally would have been a 34
project. We would have had them happen already. In fact, for my own personal opinion, 35
I would list them as catch-up. A good example of that would be the Foothills Park 36
restrooms. They're in bad shape, and we wrestled—there's only finite funds—and we had 37
to pick and choose. The other piece to that is, even if I had the money, which is often a 38
question I get both from Commission and Council Members, if you had the money would 39
you do it. The answer is probably not. When you look at that FY '19 page and the 40
number of staff I have to implement those projects, we are at capacity to say the least. 41
We're really pushing it to try to accomplish what we already have on the table. If you 42
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gave me another $500,000 and said, "see if you can do these," I could tell you without 1
hesitation I don't think it's possible given our existing resources. We'll be very hard 2
pressed to do what we already have on our agenda for FY '19. The timeline process is 3
important. We typically start this planning process in October or November and ideally 4
meet with the ad hoc and talk about—again, we're looking at the (crosstalk), and you 5
have an opportunity to take things that aren't even on the 5-year cycle or maybe not even 6 on our identified list and say, "what about this need" and wrestle with it and see where it 7
should fit in. Really, everything can be reshuffled at that point. We take that 8
information, and come December and January we're submitting our 5-year budget to the 9
Finance Department. Every year, it seems to be a little different. They're not quite so 10
hard and fast. Sometimes there's some give and take. They'll analyze it and say, "Sorry. 11
Some of these are going to have to go. We'll let you horse trade a little bit." In prior 12
years, we've had opportunities to meet with the ad hoc committee. Because the 13
timeframes are usually short, I'm looking at a couple of weeks to say, "We want to keep 14
that one. We'll trade you, and we'll give up this other one." Sometimes, that's not on the 15
table at all; there's no dialog at least that I was privy to or a part of. Finance just had to 16
make some hard decisions and said these are out and made them categorically. In April, 17
we go to the Planning and Transportation Commission. Their role in this is to make sure 18
the capital plan is consistent with the City's Comprehensive Plan. In the past sometimes, 19
a member of the ad hoc or Parks Commission would come to those meetings. I've been 20
to the last ten. I don't think I've ever gotten the chance to say anything. They've never 21
had a question for me. I don't think it's the most fruitful discussion for our purposes of 22
which park project is important. That's not the nature of that conversation. It's strictly 23
does it comply with the Comprehensive Plan. When we do our submittals, you'll see that 24
they're—in the documents it'll say "this is connected to goal such-and-such and policy 25 such-and-such in the City's Comprehensive Plan." Most of ours fit very well. I've never 26 had a problem with that. That's part of the process. In May, it goes to the Finance 27 Committee where they discuss and ultimately make their recommendation to Council, 28
which makes their decision to fund the capital budget in June. We met with the ad hoc, 29
and I shared this information with them. They may have some additional comments. 30
With that, it ends my presentation. I'm available for questions. 31
Chair McDougall: Jeff, do you have any questions? 32
Commissioner LaMere: No. 33
Chair McDougall: Keith? 34
Commissioner Reckdahl: You made that remark that even if you had more money, you 35
don't have the full-time employees to do more work, which is sobering considering that 36
we just put this Master Plan with a whole bunch of work in it. That means if we have any 37
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illusions of implementing the Master Plan, we need to hire people while our budget is 1
being cut. 2
Mr. Anderson: That's a good question. Kristen and I have talked about this before, as 3
have Public Works who often do the lion's share of capital projects, managing them. 4
They too are at the same level we are. They're constrained and have reached capacity. 5
It's frustrating. We've talked about—oftentimes we'll hire—El Camino Park is a good 6 example. We paid a lot of money to have a project manager run that. Even with that, it 7
required a lot of my personal time. I half wonder if that isn't part of the solution. For 8
some of these projects, even through the public process, even through the outreach 9
process, is there a way we could hire a consultant for the project, build it into the CIP 10
cost. Let's say it's a new restroom, and they do that. The consultant leads those public 11
meetings and comes to the Commission and makes the presentations and writes staff 12
reports and does those kinds of things. I think it is feasible. There was one example 13
where Environmental Volunteers, when they did the Eco Center project, hired someone 14
who was really talented and fairly familiar with the City process. She ran almost all of it 15
herself. It clued me into maybe that being a viable option in the future if there was 16
funding available and you built it into the CIP. 17
Vice Chair Greenfield: I'm curious why PTC does the review of the capital plan to 18
ensure it's compatibility with the Comprehensive Plan. Do you have some understanding 19
why it falls under their purview? 20
Mr. Anderson: I'm sorry I don't. I can look into that and see what the history is. It's a 21
good question. 22
Vice Chair Greenfield: Thank you for your presentation. 23
Commissioner McCauley: Daren, I believe that I read somewhere that it's a City Charter 24
requirement. Does that sound familiar? 25
Mr. Anderson: It may well be. (inaudible) 26
Chair McDougall: After the Comprehensive Plan committee, then the PRC [sic] has to 27 approve the Comprehensive Plan. They're in charge of the Comprehensive Plan. Ryan, 28
do you have questions, comments? 29
Commissioner McCauley: Daren, I'm curious. In the CIP process timeline, would it be 30
beneficial to you if you had the input and perhaps the more formal support of the entire 31
Commission on the prioritized list so that you could actually use that to hopefully 32
advocate for your own capital projects that you want to push forward? If you actually 33
had a resolution from this group? If you started that conversation on the CIP process a 34
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month earlier so that you could then have a resolution from this Commission that said 1
here's what we think should be the budgeted priorities on the CIP side for the next year? 2
Mr. Anderson: I've never pursued a resolution. Maybe it's a good conversation for 3
OMB, to ask our budget office is this appropriate, would it be helpful. It's certainly 4
helpful for staff. One of the challenges I've always had with it is, for some reason—it 5
was always my intent to come to the full Commission and have the robust discussions 6 that Keith and I had for so many years, but for some reason the timing was always such 7
that I could not get it to the full Commission in the timeframe that OMB, our budget 8
department, wanted it. It was really helpful having the flexibility of the ad hoc. 9
Unfortunately, despite my best intents, I didn't get to the full Commission. I would like 10
to do that. I think it makes it just more robust, more eyes on that kind of thing. To guide 11
staff would be helpful. I will try to do that. I think I can do better, so I'll give it my best 12
shot to make sure this next go-around it gets a full Commission discussion. 13
Commissioner McCauley: Totally appreciating that when it comes crunch time, it may 14
not be timely in order to have the entire Commission weigh in, but it might be fruitful or 15
helpful to you. I would encourage you to think about some mechanism by which this 16
Commission could be helpful to drive forward the push for the CIP projects. 17
Mr. Anderson: Sounds good. Thank you. 18
Chair McDougall: Anne, do you have any questions? 19
Commissioner Cribbs: Yeah, just one or two on the fiscal year '19 project criteria. There 20
are two listings for turf management plans, one three lines down and one at the bottom. 21
How are those … 22
Vice Chair Greenfield: That's because it's really important. 23
Commissioner Cribbs: I know it's very important. I thought we were going to get a 24
double shot at it. 25
Mr. Anderson: I think it was an error. Sorry, only one plan. 26
Commissioner Cribbs: How do you decide which park is going to get which restroom 27 and when? 28
Mr. Anderson: Good question. I think we'll be starting that with the ad hoc committee. 29
We'll get the ad hoc who's working on that together, and we'll look at a lot of the samples 30
and make some site visits, have some recommendations. Then, we do public meetings 31
for those communities, starting with our most promising one. If that's the winner and 32
gets support, that's the one we pursue. If the ad hoc or the Commission felt differently, 33
that we should do multiple community meetings, we could. My recommendation is we 34
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get the ad hoc together and brainstorm and think it through and make some site visits, 1
utilizing some of staff's experience. I've got field inspectors that spend a lot of time in 2
parks. They just are constantly hearing from folks that this is an important one. Eleanor 3
Pardee strikes me as one where I've got a park inspector who must have told me 100 4
times how many times he's heard from people saying "we've got to have a restroom here." 5
I know it's a challenging site. That one will bear for lots of discussion both with the ad 6 hoc, the Commission, and the community. It's one good example where I've heard loud 7
and clear from visitors via staff that it's necessary. 8
Commissioner Cribbs: The Baylands Comprehensive Conservation Plan, is that the 9
ongoing study, discussion, outreach or is that a thing? Is it something that's getting built 10
or is it we're still discussing it? That's $94,000. 11
Mr. Anderson: It's carry over. We started that one in FY '18, but it wasn't done in FY 12
'18. The project continues in FY '19. That's the remaining budget. 13
Chair McDougall: David, do you have questions? 14
Commissioner Moss: No. 15
Chair McDougall: Daren, thank you for the presentation. It gets everybody's funding 16
and financial juices going. I have a curiosity. That FY '19 list, as you said, is about $19 17
million. There's about $17.5 million that is in those two major projects, which leaves 18
$2.5 million. There's almost $1.5 million of planning projects in there and about 19
$900,000 in restroom projects and $1 million in the Boardwalk replacement, which is in 20
the maintenance category. It was the undone maintenance category. Everything down 21
below is maintenance. You've got these three buckets of restrooms, planning, and 22
maintenance. That's really what it's all about. Is that a fair characterization? That's the 23
challenge that you're dealing with. 24
Mr. Anderson: I think that is a fair characterization. A lot of the CIPs, especially as we 25 talked about the ongoing ones, are used for maintenance. In fact, at one point I remember 26 we were looking for something similar to benches, signs, and fencing. I forget what the 27 particular thing was. I had proposed to OMB another CIP for this. We don't do that 28
anymore as CIPs. CIPs should be buildings, infrastructure. What you're talking about is 29
routine maintenance that should go in the operating budget. Operating budgets get 30
touched a lot, and these ongoing projects for me have been stable for the last decade, if 31
anything they've gone up. They're really valuable, and I don't want to mess with them. 32
To your point about planning, park visitors get frustrated with how much money goes 33
towards planning projects. They say to me often, "Can't staff just do this? Can't you just 34
put together this plan?" Sometimes, the answer is yes, I think I can. Oftentimes, 35
members of the community really appreciate going through the process of outreach and 36
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having the independent party do it. It's valuable and important. I don't know if I fully 1
answered your question. 2
Chair McDougall: It did. It more than answered the question. Thank you. It also speaks 3
to what Ryan was talking about in terms of could the ad hoc help create and analyze this 4
bucket and then the whole Commission have visibility of some of the variables. When I 5
look at this, I say some of these things aren't really variable. For us to spend a lot of time 6 discussing them, you've got a reason you're having to do it. The amount that's variable, 7
that we can influence, would seem to be much smaller. Rather than the whole thing, if 8
we're looking at the variable part, maybe the whole Commission can get behind what 9
you're trying to do, to speak to Ryan's point. Maybe that helps. Does anybody else have 10
any follow-up questions or whatever? I think this has been very complete. Thank you 11
very much. 12
5. Other Ad Hoc Committee and Liaison Updates 13
Chair McDougall: Are there comments, announcements, follow-ups from the ad hocs 14
that didn't get touched tonight? An awful lot of the ad hocs got touched tonight in one 15
way or another. And from the liaison groups. I'll start with David. 16
Commissioner Moss: A question for Daren. We had a discussion in the last meeting 17
about the Renzel pond, the work that they're doing, and how it will influence the 18
Baylands Comprehensive Plan. I noticed that—there was some discussion about whether 19
or not there should be an environmental impact study. I was noticing that there's almost 20
no work that's been done since our last meeting. I was wondering if our discussion had 21
something to do with that? 22
Mr. Anderson: No. They were on hold until the end of nesting season, I think is their 23
game plan. For the next meeting, I'll come with an updated report or have Karin come, 24
who works in that area of Public Works, and give you a briefing on where they're at. The 25 intent, as I understand it, is to leave the remaining vegetation there until the end of 26 nesting season, and then they'll continue work. 27
Chair McDougall: Are there any other comments or questions or ad hoc or liaison 28
reports? We had the opportunity, by the way, to have David speak about the hike that he 29
took. With the agenda we had tonight, we decided we didn't have time for that. Next 30
meeting, we have more of the Foothills Park on the agenda, and that would be 31
complementary to that. We look forward to that next time, David. Thank you. Anne, do 32
you have anything you want to add? 33
Commissioner Cribbs: Quickly, it was good to have the ad hoc before the meeting today. 34
I think we learned a lot in terms of the Cubberley consultants. That was a really good 35
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thing. Nothing about dog parks right at the moment. I'm anxious to have something 1
about dog parks, but nothing … 2
Commissioner McCauley: We might have something in terms of restrooms to talk 3
(crosstalk). I think that's part of the dog park and park amenities (inaudible). 4
Commissioner Cribbs: That's true. Finally, I'm delighted that we have pickleball in 5
August on the agenda. 6
Chair McDougall: At the next meeting. 7
Ms. O'Kane: We'll need to meet with the ad hoc before that obviously. 8
Commissioner Cribbs: It's not on the agenda? 9
Ms. O'Kane: No, we will. It's on for August. The ad hoc will need to meet with staff 10
before that. 11
Vice Chair Greenfield: Just a quick update on the community gardens. I'll be attending a 12
meeting next week where—previously I mentioned there were a couple of community 13
gardens outreach meetings with the gardeners. This is going to be a summary meeting 14
where we're looking at rule changes that would eventually come to the Commission here. 15
VI. COMMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS 16
Commissioner Reckdahl: I have a question for Daren. I was up at Foothills Park and 17
bumped into some people from Friends of Foothills Park, another friends group. They 18
were taking out hemlock there. I was just chatting with them and asked what we could 19
do to help them. Their big concern was volunteers. They're a small group; they're 20
getting smaller. They don't have the connections to get volunteers anymore. Is that 21
something the City can do or can we coordinate with Grassroots or some other nonprofit? 22
We heard the same thing out of Jack Morton, his desire for volunteers. There seems to be 23
a common thread here. 24
Mr. Anderson: The Friends of Foothills has dwindled as an organization in my time with 25 the City. It was more robust; they were really active. They've aged out and have not 26 recruited very well. Most of staff's endeavors to recruit volunteers—I don't think 27 intentionally—were funneled towards Grassroots, Acterra at the time and now Grassroots 28
Ecology. They offered more programs that were more attractive to more people with 29
more opportunities and a greater organization. The friends, while extremely passionate, 30
were just smaller, less appropriate for your one-off volunteers or maybe slightly less 31
committed volunteers. Those are hardcore, driven folks. It just seemed to be less of 32
them interested in that kind of work. Still valuable, still supported by staff. We were 33
with them recently, working over by Boronda Lake to remove some lily pads. Someone 34
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had dumped an aquarium into the lake a year ago, and some invasive lily pads were 1
coming up. They were helpful along with staff to get it out of there. We still work with 2
them, and that's a valuable organization. Occasionally they get a new person. Sometimes 3
it's a Grassroots Ecology person who really wants to take ownership of an area. They 4
have a lot of autonomy, and they'll cycle over. By and large, Grassroots is our recipient 5
and mover towards volunteerism. 6
Commissioner Reckdahl: Can we try to integrate them so they can help each other? 7
Mr. Anderson: There certainly are on elements, but they have somewhat different 8
philosophies and different perspectives. Again, one group is just hardcore, set in their 9
ways, "this is the way we want to do restoration." Grassroots is just a little different. 10
There's certainly a common denominator. They certainly collaborate on some things with 11
staff as the liaison guiding them. They're definitely two separate entities. 12
Commissioner Reckdahl: Do you think there's a role for the City here or do we think just 13
let them handle themselves? 14
Mr. Anderson: It's a good question. I've talked to the Rangers for many years about this 15
process of fading out. We're 10 years into this slow, steady decline. As much as 16
possible, when we find someone who's interested in that—independent of either group, 17
the Rangers will also occasionally lead volunteer projects. You'll come across someone 18
who's very passionate. Of course, we direct them when possible to the friends but also to 19
Grassroots. We do support that organization. Do I think it's going to make a huge turn-20
around? I don't think so. It'll probably continue on a very small scale is my anticipation. 21
As much as possible, we will support it. In fact, I just got a long-term—this gentleman's 22
name is Bob Roth, a really fantastic volunteer. I've worked with him closely now for 19 23
years. He told me the relationship between staff and the friends has never been better 24
right now. I'm really happy to hear that. Our Ranger staff is supportive. It just hasn't 25 equated to growing the group. 26
Commissioner Reckdahl: One possibility is the Commission goes out and spends a 27 morning with Friends of Foothills Park. That might be an option for … 28
Commissioner Moss: I think I'm supposed to be the liaison, and I need to do that. 29
Commissioner Reckdahl: Our Friends of Foothills Park? 30
Commissioner Moss: Yes. 31
Commissioner Reckdahl: Both of them? 32
Commissioner Moss: No, just Friends of Foothill Park. 33
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Mr. Anderson: If I can be of help, let know. We'll set you up with a meeting or whatever 1
would be helpful. 2
Commissioner LaMere: I was at an event at Magical Playground maybe about 2 weeks 3
ago and received a number of comments about the restrooms there. It came from parents 4
of special needs children. Some of it was about the fact that now we have Magical 5
Playground there are so many more people visiting the park. There were some comments 6 about the maintenance and upkeep and also do we have an appropriate number of 7
restrooms. There was some concern there with the impact that Magical Playground has 8
had on that park and the unique visitors to that park. One question about restrooms is do 9
the Hoover Park restrooms have hours or are they ever open or are those still operational? 10
Mr. Anderson: Yes, Hoover Park restrooms are automated. They open at the beginning 11
of the park hours, 8:00 a.m., and close at 10:30. To your comment on the restroom 12
facilities for Magical Bridge over at Mitchell Park, from the very get-go, it was really 13
obvious that now we're underserved in terms of the nearest restroom, which is across the 14
bridge close to the tennis courts. We've been brainstorming whether to enlarge that one 15
or build a new one next to the Magical Bridge playground. I'm not quite sure. That's 16
probably a great one for our ad hoc to discuss. As we say, we've got this pile of money to 17
use in FY '19. Is it best served there or perhaps a site that has no restroom whatsoever? 18
It's a challenging one. The other consideration is as new universally accessible 19
playgrounds come online—there are a number, as you probably know, both north and 20
south of us. In the near future, it's going to reduce—at least I'm hearing this from 21
Olenka, who's the head of that organization—some of the load that we bear. Will those 22
reduced numbers maybe allow that existing restroom to suffice? I'm not quite sure. It 23
bears thinking through as we ponder where that next restroom should be. 24
Commissioner Moss: Just one comment about Magical Bridge playground. There's no 25 water or facilities on the other side of the bridge today. To put a bathroom over there, 26 you might need to bring water while you're doing the bridge re-do. Otherwise, you have 27 to update the bathrooms on the other side of the bridge. 28
Mr. Anderson: I'll certainly look into that. It's entirely possible to get potable water to 29
the other side and do that. Even if it's post-new bridge in place, I think it's doable. 30
Chair McDougall: I will add one comment on Friends of the Palo Alto Parks. Kristen 31
and I have met with them and had some discussions. I've subsequently taken Roger 32
Smith's daughter, who is also on their board, to meet with Environmental Volunteer 33
people to try to create a triangle that might help us. The result of that is Elliott Wright is 34
actually securing a major portion of the funding that the Friends of Palo Alto Parks 35
committed to. That's not a done deal yet, but it's pretty close to that. We may have that 36
signage funding in a round-about way that worked in terms of creating these partnerships 37
that we've been talking about. It almost makes me think it would be really interesting to 38
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try and get a lot of these friends in a room and have a conversation about who has what 1
strengths and what kind of policies are they using and practices are they using and what 2
kind of funding. The other thing that I didn't say when Morton was here is it's a—the 3
challenge is everybody's competing for the same dollars. When you're talking about EV 4
versus Audubon versus Acterra, everybody's trying to get the same dollar. If there's a 5
way to divide that strategy, that might could make an awful lot of sense. 6
VII. TENTATIVE AGENDA FOR AUGUST 28, 2018 MEETING 7
Chair McDougall: The last thing is the agenda for August. Kristen, do you have 8
comments on that? It's in front of us. 9
Ms. O'Kane: I do. There's a lot on there. I have it up on the screen. We'll do a 10
pickleball/tennis update for sure. The Foothills Park trail reroute project. Amendments 11
to the parks rules and regulations is just cleaning that document up. An update on the 12
golf course. Commissioner Moss was going to give a presentation on his hike from Palo 13
Alto to the sea. If we feel like that's too long, we can move some of it around to 14
September. 15
Chair McDougall: I was thinking of adding to it. 16
Ms. O'Kane: That's fine with me. 17
Chair McDougall: We did raise with Jazmin the question of an update. If we're going to 18
have an update, then we should make it public. Maybe we should have on the agenda the 19
operating budget update. If we could add that as a 10-minute item that could be 20
distributed, maybe that would work. Anything else that people would like to see on 21
there? 22
Commissioner Reckdahl: This isn't for August, but it just seems to me that we're not 23
making the progress with the Master Plan that I would like. Do other people have that 24
same feeling? Would it be appropriate to cancel one of these fall meetings and have a 25 retreat where we can talk about how we can get more traction with the Master Plan? 26
Chair McDougall: We should absolutely discuss that. The September meeting—once 27 you start talking October or November, you're into the timing that Daren was talking 28
about. We may need and want those meetings. The possibility of a September meeting 29
that was somehow a retreat to discuss what's happening, are we spinning wheels, what 30
are we stuck by, maybe we could do something like that. Maybe we could help staff. 31
What I don't want to do is make this another big burden for staff to create a big offsite 32
meeting. Maybe somehow we set up an ad hoc that helps create that or something. 33
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Ms. O'Kane: One thing that I've been working on is providing a report on what has been 1
accomplished in the Master Plan. There's a lot we're doing that is in the Master Plan. It 2
may not be the new big thing, but the dog park was one of them. Maybe if we start there 3
with what we have accomplished and what is set to be accomplished in the next year, that 4
might be a good starting point. 5
Commissioner LaMere: With the results of the polling that came back, what did the 6 Council decide to do? What's happening with any bond measure to the ballot for 7
anything? Has there been any movement on that or decisions in regards to that? 8
Ms. O'Kane: I'd have to go back and look at the last Council meeting where they 9
discussed that. I'm not positive. Council's on break right now, so nothing's happening on 10
that. I do believe it's coming back up, so I'll get back to you for certain on that. 11
Commissioner Moss: The Palo Alto Parks Master Plan—you have $19 million worth of 12
CIP projects for 2019. We really ought to highlight all the things in the Master Plan that 13
are being accomplished by each of those items. To say that we're not doing anything 14
towards the Master Plan would be false. They're providing a tremendous amount of 15
traction for the Master Plan. It would behoove us, when you go before the CIP 16
committee, to specify here are all the things in the Master Plan that this particular line 17
item is accomplishing. Not only that, but there are some that are not being funded. Wait, 18
before I go to that, there's maintenance stuff that's also in the Master Plan. They should 19
be highlighted. There are the things that are not funded, the 7.7 acres, the 10.5 acres, that 20
are mentioned in the Master Plan. We said that they would get done in the next 10-20 21
years. They don't have to be done tomorrow, but it would be nice to highlight, maybe 22
prioritize, those things that are not funded based on the Parks Master Plan items that they 23
refer to. Do you need some help from an ad hoc committee or somebody to go through 24
that effort? 25
Ms. O'Kane: What I plan to do is come back—it might have to be September—with a 26 report on what's been accomplished in the Master Plan. This is parks, this is recreation, 27 both pieces. Parks would include CIPs assuming they're in the Master Plan. Also, 28
provide a report on what we plan to accomplish in fiscal year '19. 29
Commissioner McCauley: Keith, there's certainly always more to be done, but there's 30
been some significant progress. Having that catalog of the process will be helpful. Don, 31
you've worked on this in the past as well. That'd be a great thing. I actually don't know 32
that we would need an entire meeting. It is an agenda item, but I don't think it's 33
necessarily something that may necessitate a retreat. I don't know. Perhaps we see what 34
Kristen comes up with in terms of her work product and go from there. 35
Chair McDougall: That would be my recommendation. In September, let's have Kristen 36
come back. If that causes us to create an ad hoc to pursue or to have a retreat or 37
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something that we can have a different kind of discussion, then we can do that. If we let 1
Kristen come back with that kind of result—as you think about what we've gone through 2
in the last few years, all of a sudden we've got a golf course, a dog park. We've got some 3
things that are done. Last year, we were making a bunch of decisions. We were putting 4
recommendations forward to Council. We haven't done that this year, but we have 5
celebrated completion of some projects. There's some sort of magic cycle that we don't 6 quite understand the movement of the planets around the sun or something that's going on 7
here. Maybe Kristen understands that and can give us an insight into that. That would be 8
great. 9
Vice Chair Greenfield: A concern I have—maybe it's touching on what Keith's feeling. 10
It feels like there isn't so much in the pipeline right now as far as what's coming to the 11
Commission and how we're being used. We are making accomplishments. It's cyclical 12
in nature, and we're getting completion of the golf course and the dog parks. We have 13
some successes to celebrate. It's the process and what's coming up next. Perhaps some 14
of it is communication with what's being expressed to the Commission as well. 15
Chair McDougall: Part of my observation on that is when you look at the CIP list and 16
take out the bridge and the JMZ, I go back to there's $1.5 million worth of planning. 17
We're getting to participate and hear discussions of lots of planning, but the planning isn't 18
resulting in the conclusion and action. Hopefully, we're influencing—even with the 19
questions tonight, I hope we've influenced and made progress on that. Jeff's point is a 20
good one. Are there enough things at the right place in the orbit? I think that's your 21
point. Let's see if we can look at that. 22
Commissioner Moss: Looking at the Baylands Comprehensive Plan and the Cubberley 23
Master Plan, we're at a certain stage, early stage, in projects that will take 5 years to 24
complete. Again, we're at a certain stage in that, but it's not a very exciting—it is an 25 exciting stage. You won't see results for quite a while. 26
Chair McDougall: I don't think there's any reason for anybody to be embarrassed about 27 what we're doing or not doing. The whole range of things that we have exposure to—one 28
of the biggest things we need to worry about right now is the funding and the various 29
friends organizations and their ability to get volunteers. Funding and volunteers, whether 30
the Commission can help with that or not is unclear. We need to be participating in that 31
discussion because that's one of the things holding back what's happening in our 32
community, if we can come back to that expression. Is everybody okay with that? 33
Vice Chair Greenfield: Back to the agenda, I would like to consider having some 34
discussion on placement of solar panels. I don't know if this is going to fit in the August 35
agenda. 36
Chair McDougall: I wrote that down and didn't come back to it. 37
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Vice Chair Greenfield: It is a timely issue right now with it just happening. I'm not sure 1
what else is in progress that we might have an opportunity to influence. If we can't get it 2
in August, let's at least pencil it in for September please. 3
Chair McDougall: That's fair. 4
Commissioner McCauley: I had a couple of questions concerning the August agenda. 5
Daren, do you think it would be possible to discuss the 7.7 acres at the August meeting 6 and what you're planning to do in terms of public outreach? 7
Mr. Anderson: Yeah. I think that's fair. My hunch is it will be the very end of August or 8
most likely early September that we open the site. That's not a reason why we can't 9
discuss our concepts and ideas. 10
Commissioner McCauley: I appreciate that the August agenda is already fairly full. If 11
you think it would dovetail nicely with the other Foothills update you're doing, that might 12
work well. On the amendments to the park rules, you said these are cleanup items. Is 13
there an ad hoc that's working on this or what's the … 14
Mr. Anderson: That's a good question. It's typical that these get updated every 3-5 years. 15
We just go through and say, "This rule has changed." For example, the dog park dog on 16
leash rule. We don't have one that says it can only be 6 feet, something like that. We 17
need it. Every other municipality has something comparable. We want to change that 18
regulation. Enough have accumulated that we have a decent number. If there's an ad hoc 19
or you choose to form one to help review those, we haven't done that in the past. We 20
typically just bring it to the full Commission. I'd welcome an ad hoc to discuss it in 21
advance if that's what the Commission would like. I could just bring the whole thing to 22
the Commission. Whatever your preference is is great with me. 23
Vice Chair Greenfield: Maybe we need more information on what the detail is. Does it 24
fall under the Park and Facility Use Policy ad hoc? If it's rules for dog parks, maybe not 25 so much. I don't know. 26
Mr. Anderson: I'm not sure. I could see it being its own thing. 27
Chair McDougall: At one point, we decided not to have a 7.7-acre ad hoc. Maybe we 28
need to constitute one. 29
Vice Chair Greenfield: We have a Foothills Park … 30
Chair McDougall: We have a Foothills Park one. 31
Vice Chair Greenfield: … and the 7.7 acres is part of that. 32
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Chair McDougall: As long as we're considering it as part of that as opposed to separate. 1
Commissioner McCauley: I was wondering specifically about the park rules 2
amendments, whether it might benefit this group if there were a committee that was 3
willing to work with Daren on those revisions before it comes to the entire group. Daren, 4
tell us if you think the revisions are going to be so minor that that's not helpful. If it 5
would be a waste of time, that's fine too. 6
Mr. Anderson: We haven't done it in so long. Maybe with the exception of one or two, I 7
don't think we've discussed the rules and regs with this Commission at all. In which case, 8
maybe it's worth having an ad hoc to go through it. There might not be a lot of 9
familiarity with the rules themselves, so we could talk through it and see what makes 10
sense. I'd be glad to work with an ad hoc on that even if it meant deferring it a month or 11
so to have time to go through it. 12
Commissioner McCauley: If it's not a time sensitive amendment that you need to make, 13
then I would suggest that we do an ad hoc. 14
Ms. O'Kane: I've received feedback that some Commissioners don't like the meeting to 15
go this late. I feel like we're going to have to split up some of the things on the August 16
agenda anyway. That might be one of them. 17
Chair McDougall: The one thing we could do because it's late is—would there be 18
volunteers for a park rules amendments ad hoc? 19
Mr. Anderson: Chair, may I add? If this is going to be an ongoing one, perhaps we could 20
include the Municipal Code. We have Title 22 in the Code that pertains to parks and 21
open space. That way it's a little broader in case we want to look at that later. 22
Chair McDougall: I'm going to ask if there are volunteers? I'll put Ryan down. 23
Vice Chair Greenfield: I'd be interested. 24
Chair McDougall: I wasn't going to pick the ad hoc right now, just say who would be 25 willing. Maybe we can meet with staff and say "here are the people who have done it." 26 I'm going to leave it at Ryan and Jeff right now. I'm going to, number one, say we've 27 covered everything, unless anybody's got anything burning. 28
Ms. O'Kane: Was it Commissioner Greenfield or Commissioner LaMere? When you 29
said Jeff, which Jeff? 30
Commissioner Reckdahl: Greenfield. 31
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VIII. ADJOURNMENT 1
Meeting adjourned on motion by Commissioner Reckdahl and second by Commissioner 2
Moss at 10: 17 p.m. 3
4
1
CITY OF PALO ALTO
To: City of Palo Alto Parks and Recreation Commission
From: Adam Howard, Recreation Supervisor and Field Usage Ad-Hoc Committee
Date: August 28th, 2018
Re: Revised Palo Alto Field and Tennis Court Use Policy – Recommended Changes
to include Pickleball Use
Action:
Staff recommends that the Parks and Recreation Commission Recommend City Council
Approval of Revisions to the Field and Tennis Court Use Policy to include addition of Pickleball
Background:
The City of Palo Alto has seen an increase in Pickleball players and request for Pickleball space.
The Silicon Valley Pickleball Club has been very active in Palo Alto and is currently using Mitchell
Park Tennis Courts 5,6,7 on a first-come first-serve basis, which is not supported by the City’s
current court policy. The Mitchell Park tennis courts are not heavily reserved for USTA match
play but are used by drop in players and are the only lit courts in South Palo Alto.
The Silicon Valley Pickleball Club recently received a proclamation from City Council recognizing
Pickleball as one of the fastest growing sports with more than 2.5 Million participants. Palo Alto
also hosts the Bay Area Senior Games Pickleball matches.
Discussion:
With increased demand for Pickleball, the Community Services Department and the Parks and
Recreation Commission began looking into available space to provide designated Pickleball
courts. With high demand on Mitchell Park Tennis Courts 5,6,7 by Pickleball, staff proposed
converting those courts to permanent Pickleball courts. The proposal was met with heavy
resistance from the tennis community, specifically around the idea of losing lit courts and
preferring a method that kept the courts available for joint use. As staff continue gathering
information and creating additional proposals for permanent space it’s important that policy
changes are adopted to allow Pickleball use of the courts while also recognizing the value of the
lighted courts to the tennis community. The policy change allows for Pickleball to have
dedicated play time, reserve space for tournaments and provides the opportunity for
evening/night play.
Staff understands that dedicated Pickleball courts are the best solution and are working
towards this resolution by evaluating different alternatives. This policy change will legitimize
the use of court space for Pickleball in the meantime. Staff is committed to assessing this policy
again in six months or less and implementing additional changes as needed.
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Summary of Current Policy and Recommended Changes:
Issue Current Policy New Policy
Recommendations
Comments
Court Usage
Courts are only
available for tennis use.
Change language to
allow more flexibility on the courts rather than only allowing tennis.
Designate priority hours
for tennis and Pickleball on Mitchell Park Courts 5/6/7.
Any hours not listed in
priority hours are available first come first serve
Priority times
• Tennis Priority
Hours
o 4pm-10pm
on Tuesday
and
Thursday
o 2pm-10pm
on Saturday
and Sunday
• Pickleball Priority
Hours
o 4pm-10pm
on Monday
and
Wednesday
o 8am-2pm on
Saturday
and Sunday
Court
reservations/tournaments
Reservations only
made for USTA Match Play and Palo Alto
Tennis Club
weekend/tournament
use.
Allow tournament
reservations for Pickleball with
residency requirements.
Allow department to
allow special events like Senior Games to reserve
more than 50% of courts
Large events have been
allowed to reserve more than 50% of
courts in the past, this
is just updating the
policy to reflect current
practice.
50% policy Only 50% of tennis
courts can be reserved
for USTA Match Play
This policy is not being
changed, however, in
cases where an odd
number of courts exist,
the extra court will be left available for drop in
use.
Example: 9 available
courts, 5 would be
reserved, leaving 4
available. Staff will
now only reserve 4 courts, leaving 5
available.
Next Steps:
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If the PRC approves the staff recommendation, staff will bring the revised policy to City Council
for approval.
Updating the court usage policy is an important step; however, there are still additional steps
that need to be taken to improve the overall use of courts in Palo Alto.
1.Continue to investigate the addition of dedicated Pickleball courts
2.Examining tennis court fees (comparing neighboring cities)
3.Process for USTA rentals (residency requirements)
4.Investigate adding additional lit courts
5.Change small paddle ball court to official Pickleball courts. Staff to confirm current use
of courts.
Attachments:
1.Draft Revisions to Section XII of Field and Tennis Court Use Policy - redlined
2.Draft Revisions to Section XII of Field and Tennis Court Use Policy– clean
3.Current City of Palo Alto Field and Tennis Court Use Policy can be found at
https://cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/61286
TO: PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION
FROM: LAM DO
SUPERINTENDENT OPEN SPACE, PARKS, AND GOLF
DEPARTMENT: COMMUNITY SERVICES
DATE: AUGUST 28, 2018
SUBJECT: GOLF COURSE PERFORMANCE UPDATE
BACKGROUND
In October 2012, Council awarded a contract to Golf Group, Ltd. (Forrest Richardson & Associates)
to design a reconfigured Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course and modified practice facilities. In
accordance with the renovation plan, Forrest Richardson designed an 18-hole course layout to
conform to a Baylands setting. The reconfigured Golf Course design incorporated or modified
existing low-lying areas, raised other areas to provide contours and course views, reduced the area of
managed irrigated turf, and introduced areas for native vegetation and wetland habitat.
The project design was developed to achieve the following objectives:
• Creation of a golf course providing a more interesting layout for golfers of all levels, with
enhanced wildlife habitat, improved wetland areas, and reduced usage of potable water,
pesticides, and maintenance labor for turf and landscaping;
• Integration of a Baylands theme into the Golf Course with a links style course;
• Improvement of Golf Course playing conditions – turf, drainage, and irrigation;
• Mitigation for impacts on the Golf Course resulting from the adjacent San Francisquito
Creek Joint Powers Authority’s flood control expansion project; and
• Expansion of adjacent areas for future recreation needs.
After a number of delays in securing regulatory environmental permits, the Golf Course closed on
July 1, 2016 for a full course renovation. During construction, the driving range, practice facilities,
golf shop, and restaurant remained open for business under three different operators.
Prior to re-opening, the City issued a Request for Proposal to golf management companies and
restaurants. After a review and interview process, OB Sports was selected to operate the course
entirely, inclusive of golf course play, course maintenance, practice facilities, merchandise sales,
and food and beverage services. With construction complete, the golf course re-opened on May
26, 2018 as the Baylands Golf Links.
DISCUSSION
Following City Council approval of operating agreements with OB Sports, they began renovation
projects to the clubhouse facilities: golf shop, restaurant, and patio. The renovations
incorporated the rebranding of the municipal course as the Baylands Golf Links. Changes started
with complete interior and exterior paint in new course theme colors, new flooring throughout,
and new lighting. A full selection of golf shop sales merchandise is branded with versions of the
“B” course logo and the Baylands Café wall décor is themed with images of wildlife
photographed in the Baylands.
Enhanced service at the golf course has been an operational goal of OB Sports and is
demonstrated by their on-site management team and customer service improvements. The course
has an on-site, experienced full-time General Manager, Ed Winiecki, who was named the 2017
Northern California Professional Golfers’ Association Professional of the Year. Supporting Ed
are a Course Superintendent, overseeing course maintenance, and a Food & Beverage Service
manager.
Another key service enhancement is a change at the restaurant, which now offers table wait
service to all patrons. In addition, staff at the golf shop, restaurant, and out in the field are easily
identified by their matching dress attire.
The selection of OB Sports to manage the golf course on the City’s behalf included assessment of
their management operations as well as financial performance projections. The City reviewed
OB Sports’ projections, compared them to pro formas prepared by the National Golf Foundation,
and asked for an assessment by an established industry consultant.
Thus far for the months of June and July 2018, financial performance of the golf course has
exceeded overall budgeted revenue projections. Earned revenue from green fees and the driving
range have exceeded budget projections. Upon re-opening the golf course green fees were
established with a range to accommodate dynamic pricing, where green fees fluctuate based on
time of day, day of week, and demand. Green fees are also tiered with Palo Alto residency, Bay
Area residency, and visitor rates. The combination of dynamic pricing associated with demand
and tiered residency pricing has resulted in strong green fee revenue to support operating costs.
However, revenue from golf cart fees and merchandise sales has underachieved. More players
are opting to walk the course than anticipated and numerous retail vendors competing for golf
related merchandise sales remains an alternative for players. Also, golf rounds played are 13%
below projected rounds. It was anticipated that rounds would be lower than ideal and ramp up
over several years as either golfers return to the course after a two year closure or new players
discover the links style course unique to the region.
During June and July 2018, earned revenue of $799K exceeded a $716K revenue target for the
period. For FY 2019, the golf course has a revenue budget target of $3.6M and a direct
expenditure budget of $2.5M. The golf course will also incur $1.1M in indirect expenses such as
debt service, utilities, staff oversight, and potential contingency. As OB Sports operates the
Baylands Café under a lease, food and beverage sales revenue and expenses are not factored in
the golf course’s operating budget.
For Fiscal Year 2019, 68,450 rounds of golf is projected for the new course. Prior to course
closure, the old golf course hosted a declining 46,527 rounds, 42,048 rounds, and 35,354 rounds
in Fiscal Years 2014, 2015, and 2016 respectively. With the new course, player residency has
consisted of 85% from Santa Clara County and San Mateo County. Palo Alto residents make up
18% of golf rounds played on the new course compared to about 13% on the prior course.
The following two tables reflect golf rounds played, player residency, tee time utilization in
comparison to capacity, and weekday versus weekend play.
`
Information in this report is based on only a two month operating period. It should not be viewed
as a performance baseline until the new course is in operation longer. An initial review reflects
the golf course is on pace to achieve its financial targets. There are opportunities to improve in
terms of increasing rounds played and merchandise sales. From a customer service perspective,
having a single operator (OB Sports) managing all aspects of course play, course maintenance,
and food and beverage has resulted in a consistent player experience and service delivery at
higher levels than before.
RESOURCE IMPACT
Funding for golf operations is budgeted in the Community Services Department’s General Fund
budget.
PREPARED BY:__________________________________________________________
LAM DO
Superintendent Open Space, Parks, and Golf Division
Community Services Department
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TO: PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION
FROM: DAREN ANDERSON
DEPARTMENT: COMMUNITY SERVICES
DATE: AUGUST 28, 2018
SUBJECT: FOOTHILLS PARK TRAIL REROUTING PROJECT
BACKGROUND
Sections of Los Trancos and Costanoan Trails at Foothills Park were irreparably damaged during
the heavy rainfall in the winter of 2017. The damaged sections of trail were closed in February
2017. The average seasonal rainfall at Foothills Park is 26 inches. In January and February 2017,
there was 23.5 inches of rain at Foothills Park. The total rain for the 2017 season was 40.6
inches.
The Costanoan trail experienced a deep seated landslide with a large area soil mass dropping six
feet displacing the trail and trees in one monolithic mass. The Los Trancos trail experienced a
complete loss of approximately 15 linear feet of trail from the walking path straight down to the
creek bed. The geology and topography prevent a lateral shift of the existing trail paths (both Los
Trancos and Costanoan trails). New trail sections are necessary to bypass these damaged areas.
DISCUSSION
In May 2017, staff hired a geologist to evaluate the failed sections of trail. The geologists report
(Attachment A) explained that due to the size of the landslide, remoteness of the trail, and the
potential costs and disturbance of grading operations needed for repair, relocating the trail is the
preferred alternative.
Park Ranger staff worked with a trail builder to identify two new sections of trail to reroute the
damaged sections of trail.
In October 2017, staff contracted with AECOM to conduct a biological resources and cultural
survey of two proposed trail alignments (Attachment B). The trail construction will follow
guidelines described in the Foothills Park Trails Maintenance Plan. This biological resources
study assessed the proposed project for sensitive biological resources, and was completed to
inform final design of the rerouted trail sections to avoid impacts to sensitive biological resources
to the greatest extent feasible.
The cultural resources assessment determined that the project would have no impacts. The
biological survey noted that there are three dusky footed woodrat middens (nests) near the
proposed new section of trail for the Costanoan reroute. Staff and the trail builder realigned the
section of trail to avoid impacts to the woodrat middens.
There was one plant species (Chaparral Ragwort) that wasn’t identifiable at the time of the
AECOM biological assessment. Staff contracted with Grassroots Ecology to do a survey for
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Chaparral Ragwort (Attachment C)
Staff worked with a City arborist to identify and minimize the project’s impacts to trees. The trail
alignment was adjusted to minimize as much tree impact as possible. There will be one tree
removed and three trees impacted (4” of soil cut on the trail within in 10’ of the tree) on the
Costanoan trail reroute; and one tree removed and five trees impacted on the Los Trancos trail
reroute.
Palo Alto Planning Department is reviewing the trail reroute project. Staff anticipates receiving
approval to start the project on September 10, 2018. Staff anticipates that the project will be
completed in approximately 45 days.
RESOURCE IMPACT
Funding for this project is available in the Open Space Trails Capital Improvement Project.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Geological Assessment
Attachment B: Biological Resources and Cultural Resources Assessment
Attachment C: Chaparral Ragwort Survey
PREPARED BY:__________________________________________________________
DAREN ANDERSON
Open Space, Parks, and Golf Division Manager,
Community Services Department