Good evening and welcome everyone to the September 9th, 2004 Provost Commission Special Meeting.
The Provost Commission is conducting this meeting from City Council Chamber and staff are complying with the current regulations of the California Department of Health and Cal OSHA for safe indoor meetings.
Secretary Vickers, would you please call the roll?
Yes, Commissioner Pinkstaff?
Here.
Commissioner Oler?
Here.
Commissioner Meyer?
Here.
Commissioner Garland?
Here vice chair cook
Here and chair Marin here
Under California law public comments at special meetings are limited to subjects on the agenda only therefore a public comment will be received during the Commission's
consideration of the item as
Some attendees may be participating in their first pros Commission meeting. I want to welcome everybody and talk briefly about the public comment process
Consistent with city policies related to public comments each speaker will have two minutes to make your remarks during the consideration item
And with that we are moving on to the consent calendar.
Take it away.
Sorry, consent calendar.
We just want to approve them.
Oh, I'm sorry, we didn't approve the minutes.
You got too fast.
We're gonna approve the minutes of the pros regular meeting
of June 3rd, 2024.
May I have a motion?
Can I make a comment before I make a motion?
Yes, please.
the in the minutes election of chair and vice chair was noted but not the
results would it be appropriate to add the results to that before we approve it
we'll go back and revisit and make note of it as a follow-up okay for the next
meeting okay thank you thank you mr. secretary you can you can have the
Commission approve the minutes with that addition if you'd like okay can I get a
motion to approve the minutes with the addition of the results of the
Commission and Vice Chair. I move to approve the amended minutes. Any second?
I'll second the motion. Secretary Vickers? Yeah, roll call. Commissioner Pinkstaff?
Here. Aye. Aye. Commissioner Oler? Yes. Commissioner Meyer? Yes. Commissioner
Garland? Yes. Vice Chair Cook? Yes. And Chair Moran? Yes. Thank you. Okay, thank you
for standing there very patiently. We are now going to move on the agenda for the
Commission consideration, the Commission staff report. Mr. Safin. Thank you Chair,
members of the Commission, for the record, Kevin Safin, Director of Arts and
Recreation. With me tonight I have some members of our design team, Jocelyn
Lawrence Barish, from Nolan Tam Architects, Gina Chavez from RRM Landscape Design, and
some of the Arts and Recreation staff and Public Works staff to answer any questions
that you might have.
Headline, this is an exciting time for us at the Heather Farm Community Center Aquatic
Center Project.
For 50 years, 50 years, these facilities have served the community well, and it's past time
to be doing something about this.
the past 15, one five years, this has been a priority for the Council, for the community,
to do something new for the community at Heather Farm.
Only for the past five years with the start of the Year Parks, Year Future project did
momentum really start.
And then two years ago with the past of measure, oh, we really had the money to do something
in this realm.
And so this is an important time for all of us.
And so your input tonight is going to be critical as we move forward in this process.
So that's the headline.
Why are we here tonight?
Meeting purpose.
If you recall, back in January and February,
the Commission talked broadly about this project.
You talked about the site plan.
You talked about the building.
You talked about the pool.
You talked about landscaping.
You gave us some good feedback.
I'll share that in a little bit.
And we took that and we made some changes
and improvements to the design.
We're now at the design development stage,
and you're gonna be focused tonight on a few things.
This was in your staff report.
You'll hear about the project site plan
that's been updated.
You'll hear about the landscaping plan
and the planting palette,
the recreational pool play structure,
and then the exterior building materials palette.
And so we don't know everything we need to know
about this project.
You live here, you recreate here,
you are involved in these facilities.
And so your input tonight is gonna be very helpful to us
as we move forward to the city council.
And so we're really looking forward to hearing
what you have to say.
So what's happening tonight?
Staff will present and the design team will present
on the design and development presentation package.
We'll take your questions after each section.
So there'll be a little slide that says questions.
And then we'll take public comment
after our presentation is over.
And I'll come back to you for your comments
and feedback for us.
So I'm gonna give the overview and some backgrounds.
And not all of you were here in January and February.
And so I'll give a little bit more background there.
The project design team will talk about
the design development package,
which will describe the things that I talked about
that we're looking for from you.
And then we'll talk about next steps
and we'll come back to you for questions and feedback.
So with that, what's the purpose of this project
at Heather Farm Park?
Three, this was approved by the city council.
Replacing the aging aquatic facility in the community center
with a combined new facility at Heather Farm Park.
One, two, replacing the three pools
that are currently at the Clark Swim Center
with two pools, a 50 meter pool
and a family recreational pool at the new site.
And then location is identified by the council
as the site of the existing community center.
So that's all direction we got
several years ago from the council.
We entered into principles for the building,
into principles for the pools.
And so I won't read all these,
but essentially create a visual asset for Heather Farm Park.
Support our existing programs and provide opportunities
for potential future growth in our programs.
preserve the views into the park from the facility.
So both view of the facility
and views from the facility into the park.
So those are things related to the building.
Aquatics, a balance, a balance of competitive
and recreational programming that take place in the pools.
Similarly to the building,
provide opportunities to satisfy the existing programs
and potentially provide space for new programs,
maximize that pool deck space
to support the big activities that take place there
a couple times a year, three times a year,
and then right size our support spaces,
which are inadequate at this time.
Time limit.
We started Your Park's Your Future,
I said five years ago, six years ago, 2018,
with a very comprehensive program analysis.
Some of you were involved in that intimately.
We then, in 2021, started the conceptual planning
for the facilities, focusing on Heather Farm Park.
We looked at the potential for doing things,
improvements at Shadelands, potentially at Civic Park,
but we focus on Heather Farm Park.
And so the combined facility was termed by counts
to be the number one priority.
So the design process started in 2023,
running through April of next year.
And then construction is slated to start in the summer,
roughly, of next year through 2027.
So that's a timeline of where we've been, where we're going.
So when we last saw you,
we were involved in the schematic design process.
Began with a number of outreach activities,
community open house, pop-up events, online survey,
commission meetings, yours, and design review,
and then meetings with our stakeholders.
So the specific meetings that we had with you,
it should say we met with you in January and February.
So we met with design review commission in January
with you in January and February,
and then we had three meetings with the council
to talk about this project.
So what did we learn from you in those two meetings?
And I won't read all this, but what was important to you?
Storage, shade.
Flag poles, bike racks, geese, well, mitigating geese.
Geese are important to many people.
I think we heard from you
that we'd like to minimize their impact.
Deeper water for the swim teams.
Moving potentially the aquatic changing room
to be more accessible.
And then continue our partnership
with the Aquatic Foundation
to reach an agreement on the design.
So that's what we heard from you.
And since those meetings, here's what we have done.
We listened to you, we heard your feedback.
And so in the design that's in front of you,
and then we'll talk about this evening,
we've added storage. We've added shade.
We have a location for the flagpole,
a location for bike racks.
There's proposed to be new fencing
around the manmade pond there to hopefully somewhat diminish
the impact of geese on the facility.
And then three things related to aquatics.
The recreational pool has been expanded, the design,
so it's deeper and it's longer and wider
to accommodate the needs of a couple of the swim teams, the Masters and the Aquanauts.
To do that, we removed the bulkhead. If you recall, we had an option to put a bulkhead
in the Fifth Meter Pool. We took that out of the project with the Council's approval
to provide the funding for those changes to the rec pool. We moved the changing rooms
to be closer to the front, so people see them when they first enter the building. And then
we worked closely with the Aquatic Foundation to reach an agreement on that schematic design,
which is ultimately approved by Council in April. So a lot has happened since we last
saw you. I mean, a lot of good things. So, like I said, that feedback was incorporated
into the presentation we made to Council. Council gave us direction in April to move
forward to what we're doing today, which is the design developments, which is much more
intricate work that will be presented to you in much more fleshed-out form than you saw
back in January, which is schematic. So, what have we done since April? We've
had stakeholder meetings, which I'll summarize in a second, and we've had one public meeting
with the Design and Review Commission. We just had that last week. We're meeting with
Then we go to council in October. So stakeholder groups. The first was with the environmental groups
Which is the gardens at Heather Farm the Mount Diablo bird Alliance formerly known as Audubon society
The open space foundation in the Prince of the Creek
We also had a meeting with the aquatic groups, which is the aquatic foundation
Which is the nonprofit group that supports the swim teams and community
aquatic users and then the four swim teams that use Clark the aqua nuts the masters the aqua bears and the swim club who
use it for the all-city meet.
So the results of those meetings,
we got feedback again from those groups about trees,
about bird safe glass,
about how to mitigate potential noise
from the pool deck to other facilities such as the gardens,
power, wifi is important at the pool deck,
and how do we create seating and spectator areas
for the major events that take place at the swim center.
In sum, the stakeholders were satisfied
design materials, and had a few additional comments that you may hear this evening.
So the next step was to take a design review commission.
We did that last week.
What we heard from them was general support for the design.
They looked much more closely at materials and had concerns about cost and sustainability.
But overall, they express, and you'll see this, the preference for the first pallet
that you'll see, which is Pallet A. They like the changes to the aquatic areas in terms
There's a connection between the building and the public spaces, and they like the integration
between the exterior, the path, the pond, and the building.
So positive support we got from DRC.
So with that, I'll pause before I turn over to our design team and see if there are any
questions about how we got to where we are tonight, or if there's any questions about
process.
Okay.
We'll turn over to Jocelyn Lawrence-Barrish from Nolentam, who will take it from here.
Jocelyn.
Good evening, commissioners.
Good evening, commissioners.
To reiterate, I'm Jocelyn Lawrence-Brisch.
I'm the project manager for the project with Noll and Tim
Architects.
And I'm going to give you a brief overview of where
the building sits within the park at first.
So here's the larger park site plan.
And you can see that the new facility hugs the pond,
and it's a reshaped pond.
We're infilling one lobe of the pond.
And then the pools are nestled to the south of that,
right up against the existing all abilities playground.
It's a little bit of a bounded site.
So this idea where we're gonna try to connect
to all the amenities within the park, very important.
We've tried to do that as successfully as we can.
There are some constraints in the sense that we're limited.
We're limited by the pond, we're limited by the playground,
we're limited by North San Carlos Drive,
and we're limited by, to the north,
that's a natural creek corridor.
So we have done a lot of thinking about
how flexible we can be within these four bounding lines
that we've got and tried to connect
all of these various amenities as thoughtfully as possible
and preserve them as well as possible.
Let pedestrians have clearer wayfinding
between the three and four of them
and the new facility itself.
As Kevin mentioned, the views of the facility
are important from around the park
and also from the facility to the various park amenities.
You'll see when we look at some perspectives later,
this is a building that's viewed from almost every side
within the park.
There's not really a back face to this building.
And part of what we've done in order to help separate
the fact that we've got kind of two distinct functions,
the community center types of functions
and the aquatic center type of functions by noise
and by activity is we've had the noisier,
more lively pools down at that south part of the site,
which has a more affinity to the all-abilities playground
and the quieter, more withdrawn activities
towards the north, which is a little bit more in keeping
with the kinds of activities that happen
at that natural corridor.
Not of 100% synergy, but as close as we can manage.
To briefly let you know what's going on inside the building,
although that's not the main focus
of our presentation this evening,
the building is separated into three main bands
and to the north, the upper two bands
are largely focused on community center functions
and the one to the south aquatic center functions.
So that top volume is the large assembly space.
It will replace the current lakeside room.
It has support services in a bar to the north of that.
And there's additional multi-purpose rooms,
both in that bar and in the bar just below,
both of them facing the pond.
There are some community center administrative spaces.
And then separating that from the aquatics wing
is a large atrium that's meant to act as a thoroughfare,
another part of the path experience,
especially when you might wanna get out of the heat
and take a little rest.
There'll be informal seating arrangements there
so it can act a little bit like a public living room.
And then the Aquatic Spring to the South
has its own multipurpose classroom,
aquatics offices and storage spaces.
And thank you, Commissioner Aller,
we've moved the changing rooms to be across from the entry.
It was a great suggestion.
There were already folks within our camp
who thought we should do that
and you gave us permission to say,
no, that that has to happen.
So that there's a clear entry sequence
where you can check in, get to your changing rooms
and then move on to the pool decks.
I'm going to pass things over actually to my colleague.
I might add that it looks like by doing that,
you've helped create a sound barrier
between the aquatic side,
extend the sound barrier between the aquatic side
and the north side.
Agreed, it was a great suggestion for many reasons.
We appreciated it.
I'm going to pass things over to my colleague at RRM
to explain the site to you further.
Good evening commissioners, I'm Gina Chavez.
I'm with RRM Design Group
and we're the landscape architects on the project.
Quite a bit shorter than Jocelyn.
All right.
So this is the illustrative site plan,
and as you can see, there are many features
packed into the bounds of the site
that Jocelyn was describing.
So I'm just going to highlight a few of the elements
that helped shape the design for the site.
So one of the drives for our project
was to create significant outdoor meeting and event space.
So we did that, we included outdoor terraces
and the event garden adjacent to the lakeside room,
and then we also created a terrace
outside of the multipurpose room,
which is just south of the lakeside room.
And then on the east side of the building
closer to the arrival,
we have a private enclosed patio there.
And all of those spaces are programmable,
and they have the ability to generate revenue.
So we designed them in a way that maximized those views
that Kevin and Jocelyn were talking about,
and also in a way that created some degree
of privacy. So it's understood that people are going to be in a public park. But the
way we could design the space and the planting was to create a little bit of enclosure, so
some low barriers. And then there was one more thing for that. Oh, the shade. Yes. So
as you all know, this site is very hot. So our goal was really to maximize shade especially
on that west side of the building. And then another important area in the site plan is
the new arrival. So that entry and drop-off space at the front of the building was designed
to really create a beautiful sense of arrival, a place for people to gather, but also with
safety and efficiency in mind. So we worked with the city traffic engineers and our civil
engineering team to create a space that was safe for pedestrians, bicyclists, and cars
when they get dropped off at the site or when they're coming into the site from different
areas of the park.
Can I ask you a question on that?
Sure.
OK.
So you see where it says emergency vehicle access
with bollards?
If that's at that location, how do cars get in and out?
Does there, like, going to be a turnaround
and they go back the same way they came in?
Or does that need to be further down?
So that is only for the emergency vehicles.
If you go north of that entry, I have a pointer here.
But that's where the public comes in.
But where's the drop off?
The drop-off is actually at the plaza area?
Correct.
And then how do those cars get out?
They came in their car.
They dropped someone off.
And now they want to leave.
Is there going to be a turnaround for them or?
Thank you.
This one right here.
Sorry, Commissioner.
OK, can you all see on your screen
or would you have to turn around?
OK, sorry about that.
I know this isn't comfortable for the neck.
OK, so you come in entry here.
You come down.
There's accessible parking on this side.
and then you follow the driveway to this drop-off area here.
And then you leave and you turn right.
If you need to come back into the facility,
you turn left and you either go find parking
or go through the drop-off again.
Does that answer your question?
Yeah, just, it looked to me like that was to entry
to a parking lot.
The one you're saying is actually the entrance.
The top one.
Yeah, looked like I assumed it was just going
to the parking lot.
I see what you mean.
And then people can walk the path goes down into the you know back into the entry area
So we did do numerous studies to see if we could utilize the existing entrance for two-way traffic
But it just didn't work from a safety perspective
So it had to be one-way traffic and we're going to have to use really clever signage to make sure people
Understand the way to get into the facility from a vehicle and there will be more opportunity to comment on this
Thank you
Sure, no problem and
Then one other another element that we had to consider due to the size of this facility
we had to have two emergency vehicle driveways, so the one that was just pointed out on the north end and
that comes all the way through to the north side of the building and
then there's also one on the south end of the park and both of them are designed to
Provide very clear directional paths but also to be integrated into the landscape and the park so they don't look like
huge 20-foot paved
emergency vehicle access ways in
addition to the emergency vehicle access drives
We also needed to incorporate service and emergency access onto the pool deck
So you'll see a number of gates around the aquatics facility and that's due to code
So we have it on all four sides of the pool area
So moving on to the planting palette the plant palette was chosen based on a few different factors
One was we really wanted to maintain and enhance the character of Heather a farm park
So there are a lot of landscape styles within the park
I would say the most prominent is that it's this very picturesque
Setting park like setting with the rolling lawns and the large shade canopy trees
But that's also balanced by the natural vegetation of the reservoir to the north as well as the riparian Creek corridor that Josslyn pointed out
And the surrounding hillsides so we wanted to bring all of that into this facility and create a balance of landscape character
We also needed to consider the uses on the site
So the type of uses really dictate the plant palette the plants at the event garden for example will be very different from the plants
At the aquatic center I'm going to go into more detail on those
So trees, like we said, very important for the shade of the park.
So we worked with the public works department to carefully pick these species that you see
up on the screen.
We chose the Coast Live Oak, which is what you see on the surrounding hillsides.
And it's an evergreen tree with a very large shade canopy.
So we have that throughout the park on the north and south side.
But in the pool area, we had to choose a very particular tree due to the leaf litter.
So we had to have larger leaves that are less likely to drop, unlike the redwood trees and
the problems that they have at Clark Swim Center now because of those needles.
So we chose a tree with large leaves that don't fall a lot but have also a shade canopy
year-round.
And then interspersed within those shade trees, we also have these accent trees for pops of
color during the spring and fall.
Do you want questions now or all saved to the end?
Let's wait until she's done and then we'll save them.
So, as a part of this project, due to either poor health or spatial conflicts, we are removing
120 trees, and we are replacing a total of 200 trees, so 60 within this project envelope
and an additional 140 trees throughout Heather Farm Park, and that's happening before the
project even starts, so that those trees have a chance to establish.
So that will be a net increase of 80 trees from what we have today.
The way we arrange the plant palette are in three different categories and that's what
these sort of green, blue and orange blobs signify.
The green one signifies the upland character of the surrounding hillsides.
The blue is more of like a riparian corridor planting palette and then the orange is more
of an urban, durable, sturdy plant palette.
So the first area we're going to look at is the arrival area, and that includes the east
patio area as well as the event garden up in the upper left-hand corner.
So these plants were really drawing from that mixed upland community.
So we have the oak trees again, we have some western red buds, and then we have some native
grasses and pops of color from your perennials and your natives as well.
And then in the event guard and that's for the arrival zone as well as that entry patio.
The entry patio might have a slightly more curated pallet just because it's a more of
a pedestrian space and that's where you're probably going to have some photo opportunities
for events.
And then in the outdoor event garden we have a little bit more of a dark green lush pallet.
So we're looking at our dark greens to softer grays.
And then we really focused on white flowering plants so that we don't have any clashes with
color themes of a particular event.
And then again, we tried to create a bit of enclosure with our plant pallet here in this
space.
Not too tall, but something to create some degree of privacy.
And then the next area we're looking at is that blue area.
So this is the edge along the pond, the walking path, as well as these sort of little seating
areas that we have terraced along the hillside that leads up to the facility
and those also overlook the pond. So in this area we're really imagining a more
spreading native ground cover pallet interspersed with grasses and landscape
boulders and again we have our oak trees. We also have introduced the ginkgo tree
which is meant to signify something more like along the lines of a poplar tree
which you would find along a creek corridor but due to its invasive roots
we couldn't have that tree here or so we have a bit of a look alike.
And then in our final area, which is the aquatic center, this is really our functional palate.
So we need these plants to be bulletproof.
So we have a hardy turf that we're working with the Public Works staff on really specifying
that species.
We also chose the tree here, and that's the tree that I was talking about has limited
leaf litter.
That's called the Tristania conferta.
and then we have our bullet proof shrubs and grasses.
All right, we'll pause there for some questions
about the landscape and site plan.
Okay, is it, it's western red, but not eastern?
Yes, we modified that due to some of the comments we heard.
Because I was gonna comment on it.
Yeah. Okay, good.
I'm glad, that's a good choice.
And then-
Can I just, for the people that don't know the difference,
can you, did someone just enlighten myself
and therefore everybody else?
Just curious.
You guys were just talking about yes, so the Western native is a native, California redbud and the Eastern is from the East Coast
so there's different properties for each
sometimes we use like the Eastern redbud like the forest pansy because it's it's easier to
I'd say like contain in an ornament Alton garden and
The native redbud you'll see like on the hillsides or in a more sprawling area
So you just have to be careful which ones we specify so we'll want to make sure that they're not like big shrubs rather
That they're trees that go upright
So the height of these trees seems pretty high in almost all of the
major trees so for example in the pool those trees are I don't know 60 to 70 feet high is that I
Don't think I've seen the trust in you get that tall
I think they probably have the potential in urban settings. They generally don't reach that you know that extent
But they do take a very long trees in general take a very long time to get to their mature
So we're really trying to maximize the shade canopy
In the early years as much as possible, but really like 10 15 years down the road
okay, and
This is a specific question about one of the areas that has the oaks
It's the part by the drop-off area that has the seven oaks in it.
Okay, I'll go back there to the arrival area.
Yeah.
Okay.
It's that plot in the middle there.
My comment there was and then there was a rendering you had and it had, you know, the
whole thing is filled with plants, like, you know, low-level plants plus the oak trees.
And I'm just wondering whether how big is that site and if it wouldn't be nicer to have
it be something that's actually accessible and not something you just look at.
you talking about the area where like right where you drive in that big round
roundish oval ish okay so where the redwood trees are today I don't know
okay but there's seven oak trees okay right now yeah this is it so that's where
the that's where the redwood trees are today that are in decline so the plan is
to remove those redwood trees and create the put the oak trees there but also we
need landscape area to do our stormwater treatment so we were thinking that this
This would be an excellent location for that because we don't really want people hanging
out here, right?
Because like you said, we don't want people crossing that street.
So it's meant to be more of a visual asset than a functional one.
Okay.
And an engineering asset.
I think it'd be nice if it could maybe be an extension in a way of like the garden at
Heather Farm where they have, it's more of a, you know, where it's labeled botanical
garden and this looks like the drawing you have later, the rendering.
you can't even, you wouldn't even be able to walk in this
other than the paved path.
Yeah, it also is on a slope.
So it's, and really, we're really trying to maximize
the crosswalk area as the place for people to circulate
because as you've probably seen drop-offs with parents,
it can get pretty crazy and we don't want to encourage
people crossing anywhere but the crosswalk.
But we are planting a number of trees up north of the area.
I noticed that a lot of people hang out
in these areas right up there.
So that people lay out blankets and hang out there.
And there's a lot of native trees being planted
as part of this pre-project.
But we could do like little plaques,
saying what the trees are.
So people have an educational.
They can't go in there and it's seven of the same thing.
Probably not all that important, but okay.
that's fine I understand what you're saying might be nice to show it have the
maps and the drawings actually say that it's gonna be swales or whatever for
purposes of stormwater yeah that would be helpful yeah we're working on that
right now with the civil engineering team so we're trying to figure out how
how much of that space we can use for it and how the slopes will work with it
okay that's it for now thank you sure I'd also encourage my fellow
commissioners to ask questions about the site plan as well because I think we
we're on our second of four right so we were doing the site plan and now the
trees and moving forward so if anyone has questions about that too now's the
time. I can go back to that slide. So I wanted to ask a question about the
aquatic trees. Bow trees I guess in the short vernacular is that correct? I'm
I'm sorry, can you repeat?
Bow trees.
Bow trees?
Bow trees?
I haven't heard, you know, there are many common names for trees though.
I've heard of the Brisbane.
Yeah, Brisbane box.
Excuse me.
Okay.
Yes.
Close.
Anyway.
Um, so you made a comment about them not dropping their leaves.
Well, I mean, all trees drop leaves.
It's just about minimizing that.
So we're trying to find the tree that drops the least amount of leaves.
right and I think you've correctly figured out that it's very important not
to be dropping a lot of leaves especially small leaves into a pool
environment because those trees are planted a lot of them are planted inside
the fence right so they can easily blow into the pool and so to the extent that
that is an optimal tree to avoid that I think that's that would be admirable I
I don't know if this tree is such a thing,
but I would certainly hope it is,
because once you plant those,
you don't have a second chance.
Right, yes.
And the other thing is,
I was curious about the nature of the bloom
and whether there are any associated seed pods
and things that could fall in the pool area from that tree.
Yeah, so we did talk to Public Works,
and they're willing to, like, they're
going to have to do some maintenance
in the aquatic area.
So blowing the leaves when they're bigger is much easier.
And with the droppings, yeah, this tree
is chosen because of the minimal droppings.
But there's always little things that come off of trees.
It's just hard to avoid.
So it's balancing the need for shade
and also minimizing the maintenance.
So, one other question about the trees.
You have, it looks like about six of them planted
on the south end of the 50 meter pool.
Oh, yes.
And in addition, there are ones planted
lapping the corner of the recreational pool.
Right.
The views of Mount Diablo from the pool,
when you're swimming, you are at ground level.
And so anything of any height at all
could be potentially blocking the view.
And I'm just wondering whether there is some amount
of clear shot from the pool at the pool level,
the water level I should say,
of Mount Diablo in both cases.
So you're really talking about those trees on the eastern edge here.
Yeah. So we will study that.
I think that's a very good comment.
The mountains are sort of way up.
You'll see in a perspective rendering.
Yeah, it's a little bit exaggerated.
But yeah.
So maybe there's a way that we can spread them out a little bit to create gaps,
to maintain that view,
but we can study that by looking at the grades.
In terms of I do have another site related issue. I don't know if it's appropriate at this time or not. I
Thought so. I mean yeah, I might as well there. I'm getting head nods and it concerns the
the elevation between the
50 meter and the
recreational pool there are stairs
So when you come out of the that the bath house
so to speak
To go up to to go to the 50 meter pool their stairs and there's also a ramp. I see as well, right?
Is that driven by the site and the grading or?
Is it possible to be the same surface same level?
Yes, so it is driven by the natural grade of the site currently
North Sound Carlos Drive is considerably higher than the path that goes along the pond
So what we're doing is we're cutting a bit of the earth off of the top area where you see the 50 meter pool
And then we're filling a bit of the area where you have the rec pool
So we're trying to balance out the grade as much as possible essentially creating two terraces so right now
It's going like this, and we're gonna make it like this and that's and then that also
Minimizes the retaining wall heights
So if you were to come in and just cut the whole thing down to grade of the pond
you would have very large retaining walls on that east side it can you can
you tell us what that difference is what the height difference between the pool
levels are yes it's approximately four feet and another thing it helps us with
or is the use requirements that are dictated by code so it allows us to
fence off the areas when they're not in use a little bit easier I mean you could
fence them if they're the same level too but it does create that natural
separation. Okay, I mean, we know our current facility does does not have
steps between all three pools. There are it's it's one flat surface nets. That's
very accessible. Um, this creates, um, some boundaries, so to speak, or, um,
which are less desirable. But I just I just wanted to point it out that we're
doing that and we're doing it knowingly. Yes and we do have an accessible ramp
there. When one enters the pool deck from the changing room there are steps
that go down right and so to access the pools there is a there is a great change
from the locker room down to so there is a ramp right and I'm talking about the
current pool by Clark pool right so I'm to access yes you can access that flat
that if you go ramp on the left side.
But there's still that grade change.
And so what we're hoping here
is that when one leaves the change room,
it is flat all the way out to the pool,
whichever pool they choose.
But yes, if we can do it all on one flat surface,
absolutely we would for environmental reasons,
cost reasons, engineering reasons, it's difficult.
So we hear you, we agree.
Right, right.
I just want it to be very obvious to everybody
that what we're doing is deliberate
And it will be different whether you come out
of the bath house and go to the rec pool, no change, right?
Flat, but it won't be if you go to the 50 meter.
Right, and then typically what we see is most of the users
who use the 50 know the pool.
It doesn't make it easier, necessarily,
that they know the pool.
The new folks that are coming to the facility
for the first time will be using the rec pool.
And so that's one advantage of those, but yeah.
For us, as we were designing the pool decks,
There was an early request for current code and best practice
for two very different pool uses like this.
The competitive deeper water and the recreation pool
is to truly separate them, not just for events by a fence,
but to keep them permanently fenced
so that it's easier to watch children who are running around
make sure they're not getting nearer to deeper water.
And so as soon as we understood
that there was going to have to be a permanent fence
between these two pools regardless,
integrating a grade change into it
actually increased that safety factor.
So it helped weight the offset of what Jean is talking about.
We could have flattened it all out and dug more out
and had that higher cost, but what we would be gaining
would be sort of lost in the gesture
of having to fence them off anyway.
OK.
And one other related thing about the sites of the two
pools.
In terms of a very specific event,
which is the events
that the Aqua Nuts artistic swimmers put on.
Is it their intent in the future with the new pools
to use the 50-meter deep end
or the recreational pool for their big events?
So for the shows, they will use the 50-meter pool,
but for warmup and practice,
they will also use the rec pool.
Okay.
The reason I was asking that question
is the tightness of the deck around the rec pool
can compare to the deep end
where there's adequate space for grandstands
and things like that.
Right, all the stages.
Okay, just want to make sure that
bleachers. Right.
Yes, we are considering all of those accessories.
Thank you.
I had a couple of questions,
but I guess I'll start with a question
regarding the bleachers.
will those be permanently stored at the facility
and rolled out when needed for events?
And if so, where will they be stored near the pool deck?
No, they will be brought in from offsite just for events.
Is that an offsite location owned by the city
or will they have to be rented every time there is an event?
Thank you for the question.
So when events are put on by the swim teams like this,
just like today, they rent bleachers
and they bring them in for their event.
So they get them from a grandstand company
who installs them at the time.
So yeah, we would expect the same thing
for their event in 2027 beyond.
Thank you.
And then I also had a question regarding
the aquatic area planting palette.
Obviously it's certainly a strong consideration
that all the plants and trees need to be bulletproof,
but I was curious,
is there gonna be any additional fencing structures
around these lawns or are they gonna be open
between the concrete pool deck and the lawn area?
Or will there be some kind of protective planter boxes
around the trees and how will you also prevent contamination
from the dirt and grass of the lawn spreading
across the deck and ultimately into the pool?
Yeah, very good questions.
So there will be some raised planters in that center spine.
You'll see some little green areas
between the ramps and the stairs.
Those will be raised, but for the most part,
the planters are just flush with the lawn areas.
So creating, there will be a fence
around the entire pool area, obviously,
but inside that fence will be the tree lines
and then probably a low screening shrub
at that same fence line, and then mostly lawn area.
And the lawn is selected to be very durable
to really hold in the dirt so that you don't have
that issue of dirt spreading all over the pool deck.
So that's what we're working on right now.
selecting that perfect species.
Could the lawn areas be replaced
with artificial turf, for example, instead of real grass?
That's always an option.
It gets really hot.
The natural lawn actually is cooling,
so it's a better choice for a hangout area where you might
lay down your blanket and hang out.
And then just for cost reasons also,
synthetic can be very expensive.
Thank you.
And then so just to clarify, there is no fence along the black outline around, for example,
where you see the green spaces comparatively to the grid concrete area.
There is no fence there.
That's correct.
That's all open.
That's all meant to be hangout space.
So that's one thing we did hear from the aquatic groups that they really wanted to maximize
the green space where they can spread out and use it for more flexible uses, like whether
that's putting up pop-ups or laying out blankets and then it's just nice for the
rec pool area as well to create flexibility. Thank you. Sure. Yeah,
obviously a large financial commitment for vegetation and your planting thing
when you're planting brand new and you know things haven't you know gotten
larger how do you are you know is there plans for temporary fencing to prevent
people from trampling on them or taking them? Yeah, those are great questions that
we have to consider in all of our public projects. So we are upsizing some of the
plant containers at key locations to create, give them a head start on
establishment, but there also is always a maintenance period where the contractor
is responsible for taking care of the plants for like an extended amount of
of time to keep them alive until they get established.
And then it's all about how you design the planter areas.
You don't want them in places where people are naturally
going to walk through anyway.
So that's why you can see we really
have them concentrated around the edges against the fencing,
especially in the pool area.
But also at the arrival area, go back a couple slides,
we really wanted to create large, generous walkways
between the planters so that people aren't
tempted to walk through the planters, and then we can also do little strategic
things like placing groups of boulders at corners, which also helps people from,
you know, prevents them from cutting the corners, little shortcuts, so there's
little things we'll do as we're in the design refinement stage that will
help reduce that. And just curious, is there any sort of assessment done in
terms of the amount of water required to care for all of this on an annual basis
so we can plan for that in the budgets?
Yes, so as part of the design,
we have to do water calculations to make sure
that we're meeting the state requirements,
and we are removing quite a bit of high water use lawn area
and replacing it with drought-tolerant planting.
So we are going to be using less water
than is being used today,
but we also have to meet that state threshold.
So we'll be using water-efficient planting and irrigation.
just because I'm curious, I know these are all native plants, but are there any of these native
plants that are no longer, you know, our summers are a lot hotter, you know, like with the weather
changes that have, there are things that don't work as well as they used to. Does some of that
come into the calculation as far as what you're going to use and plant? Yes, definitely. And just
Just to clarify, not all the plants are native.
So we're selecting the plants, we're using native as much as possible wherever it makes
sense, but we really have refined our pallet based on just durability due to the things
that you're talking about, the heat and use and all of those things that we design all
public spaces.
So we see how those are used and what plants work the best.
So that's what we're basing our selections on.
So I have a question about the trees.
So 120 trees in the vicinity will be removed, is that right?
So you're offsetting it with planting, yes, 140 trees or trees or plants?
And where are the locations of the offset, the mitigation piece?
Yeah, so the 140 are trees and those are throughout Heather Farm Park.
So actually, Mike knows the exact locations, but I was just out there on Friday and saw
a lot of the large areas north of the site where they're going to be planting them.
And they're also planting native trees.
So it's kind of throughout the park, correct?
Yeah, the vast majority, Mike Vickers, Public Works Manager, the vast majority of the trees,
140 that are going to be planted outside of the project are going the majority of them are going to be either east of the
Nature Lake or west of the Nature Lake and
Then there's going to be about 30 or 40 that are planted up closer to YVR
between
YVR and the ball field one parking lot
So if you can envision the Nature Lake and there's
Basically open area or open space is what a lot of people refer to it as on either side of that
other side of that pond. And in those areas we'll be planting oaks, buck eyes,
willows, all native that will be likely sourcing from native nurseries, local
native nurseries. If you get an opportunity to get out there here
sooner than later you'll actually see that we're putting some of the
infrastructure in just so we can start planting those trees which we'll be
doing for community service day. I have two relatively quick site plan
questions. Could you just give us the 30,000 foot view of why the pond is
being extended again just for maybe people watching at home and can give us
the quick history of that? Sure. Part of the northern portion of the building is
actually sitting over where the pond currently exists. There would not be enough
room for a facility of this size if we did not partially infill the pond. And in
In addition, we're taking the opportunity to redesign how the pond water hydrology works.
That's not the main goal of the project, but to help the water quality within the pond
itself be improved.
The lobe that we're filling in is one that tends to collect a lot of trash and stagnate
because it's a little too shallow, so the redesign should help the pond be more vibrant
and healthier.
And especially in that corner, the northeast corner, I guess if you're looking at this
map it's not the exact Northeast but you know where the current right work that
right the bilge hangs out yes and then my other question is there's a fence now
at the north end of the playground right right here I guess that'd be yeah
right but what what's it gonna look like when it's all done you know right so we
We are currently planning on extending that fence all the way around the pond as a part
of this project, mostly for safety reasons.
Even with the fence at that strategic location, there have still been incidents apparently
where folks have accidentally made it into the pond.
And we've thoughtfully interwoven that fence with the fences that are for the rest of the
facility so that it doesn't turn into a fence corridor.
The fence at the pond is obviously a specific height.
It's not so tall that you couldn't climb over it,
but it's at a height where most people will find it,
therefore, difficult to accidentally make their way
into the pond.
And then the associated fences,
the pool fence has to be six feet high.
And then the event terraces also require fencing
in order to allow the use of alcohol
on those event terraces.
So there has been a lot of studies
of what exactly that section looks like
to make sure that the planting really buffers
that experience so you really feel like
you're walking through a natural environment
not through an urban fenced-in environment.
And then the, I know you don't have the exact,
this is what the fence will be,
but in terms of what it might look between the playground
and the people hanging out on the deck,
are they gonna wave to each other
or will they just hear each other?
You know, is it, we're talking about?
There's enough of a grade change
that it will be just hearing each other.
Well, they get to hear the kids in the playground then too.
Yes.
There'd probably be a little bit of a viewing
of the top of the play structure from the playground amenities.
So the kids who are climbing on the playground might say,
hey, can we go over and play on this flight?
There's a big tower in there, too.
Yeah, exactly.
So you just don't understand.
So the playground is higher than the got.
OK.
Mr. Garland, did you have some?
I do have a couple more questions.
So you just mentioned the event terraces,
and they're going to be fenced.
But are the green areas along the path around the pond,
those are accessible to people on the path?
Those are publicly accessible.
OK, so there'll be some sort of fence,
maybe is it that brown line that goes up on the terrace?
Yeah, so the event terrace's fence
starts at where right here curves around up
and closes the event garden.
OK, so that whole area would be one, sort of a fence.
It might be a little bit of internal fencing.
And then the middle section right here at the building
is not fenced.
And then the pool fence starts there and continues down.
So that middle portion is unfenced.
It's publicly accessible.
And then the area that you've labeled, I don't know.
I think it's the big grassy area that looks like it's a swale.
It's a swale.
Yeah.
It's a swale.
Is that contoured to the point where people
aren't going to go into it?
That's right.
It'll also have boulders at the edge that discourage folks,
and it will have, you can talk about what it'll look like.
Sure.
Yeah, so it won't be like a deep pit.
It's going to have gradual side slopes.
So if kids do end up getting in there, it's not dangerous.
They don't tend to hold a lot of water,
maybe in a severe winter storm,
it might have some water for a little while,
but it'll have an overflow drain in it
to take that water away.
but it's meant to be like a natural creek riparian area.
So we're trying to design it
so it doesn't look like an engineering element.
It looks more like a landscape feature.
Great.
And then on the other side over by the pool.
So there's this area on your,
on your the drawing that says event spillover area.
And I remember some of the aquatic interest groups wanting,
you know, when they have a big, big event, you know,
So is that, that's existing grassy area
that the fence there will have a gate?
Yes, so there's a large gate there.
There's a sliding gate and some swing gates
to meet that code.
But also it provides that spillover that you're talking about.
So the tents can be set up in that open grassy area,
just south of the pond.
Okay, and then.
And also, I'm sorry, on this side as well
to the right of the playground.
So we have this area for spillover and this area.
Either side of the playground and and the sign for that being a gate is the line with the squiggles. Yeah. Yeah
So the one up on near San Carlos, is that the same thing?
Up here. Yeah, no, that's actually just for service and emergency vehicles
But it's a gate of some kind but it's not a pedestrian gate, right?
Okay
Okay, unless it's an emergency, right then they're they go out all gates. Okay
I actually think that's all okay. Okay. Does anybody want to talk about materials? Ready? Yeah, okay
Get you to the right place. Oh
pool plants
Right. Hang on with that Mike. Hold up for a second. Thank you. Alright, so
we're gonna take a closer look at the design of the pool deck and
So this was redesigned with the help of the Walnut Creek aquatics foundation since you've last seen it
Specifically, what's different is this lower end.
Whoa, that's not what I wanted.
The lower end of the recreational pool is both wider.
There are more lanes and longer.
It's instead of 25 yards to 25 meters and deeper.
So the 25 meters allows the masters to use it
for events that they host.
And the deeper water allows it to be useful to the aqua nuts.
It does make the deck area around that particular portion
a little bit more constrained.
but since it's deeper water, you might wanna live
in activity towards that end anyway.
Still allows you to have the other features
that are in that wreck pool for those if you were not here.
There's a zero entry beach area towards the front
on the north side of that pool.
And then shallow water that transitions gently down
past play structures that I'll be going over briefly.
And then a current channel, what makes that different
from a lazy river is it's not as deep.
And it allows for folks to exercise walking
against the current, and is a little bit less regulated
and dangerous than a lazy river.
Otherwise, it does look like those structures.
And then connects down to a lap pool that's,
as I described, 25 meters.
And I think it's eight lanes at this point.
So that leaves the 50-meter pool relatively similar to how
you saw it last time, and does manage
to help us accommodate all the various uses
of the existing teams who use the Clark Swim Center.
A closer look at the recreational play structures.
This is one possible option.
We're still studying all the possible designs,
but the constraints that we're working with
is we're looking for interactive spray and bubbler features,
both on the main structure and then separate from it,
maybe some that are away for smaller children
to have a little more protected play.
And a dump bucket, these are apparently so popular
children will get in long lines to be there under the bucket when it lets its load go.
And not in close slides, they're a little less dangerous and regulated than the taller,
more enclosed ones.
And we're trying to incorporate the themes of the park itself, so obviously abundant
nature and farms staying away from some of the more, you know, simply neon glowing underwater
kinds of themes some of these structures can have and have it be as integrated into the
existing aesthetic of the park as possible
questions on those two
portions of our presentation
Do you know the depth changes on the
Not lazy River, but the the current channel
Yeah, the current I don't think that it goes much deeper than than three feet because meant to be chest-tight on an average adult
Okay, I'm just curious because you mentioned people walking against you know like
What I'm walking for exercise. I was just curious how high it would be not too high, okay?
and I
Know this is a conceptual drawing, but you know I guess it's more of a barnyard influence than a
Yes, I think the second one we're asking for from the companies working with is the more aquatic life features, and not you know underwater
but like a
Frogs and lily pads Creek Lake kinds of look I think that's next one that's coming
I would vote more towards the aquatic creatures. Okay, good to know in the barnyard view with that roosters and chickens
It might be an odd thing to have in the water. Yes
Or over your head. Yes. Yes. I was gonna make the same point Commissioner alerted. Does anyone else have anything to
chime in with the
recreation pool or anything
Okay. Thank you. Wonderful. So then let's go to building materials and
Secretary Vickers will pass you physical versions of what we're showing on this slide
As you might know from ever having to choose finishes for perhaps your homes
Nothing looks the same on the computer screen as it does in the physical reality. So we'll pass that slowly down
You're welcome to look at them. We have two palettes developed that are very similar to each other mostly just to sort of
discuss what variations we might have. The overall tone of the palette was set by community input, which asked overwhelmingly for
natural material palettes,
which can be a little bit cost-challenging for a public project, and so we've we've emphasized the use of wood, especially
exposed wood at the structure, which is a great way to use wood and have it last a long time.
We've got quite a bit of exposed metal, especially at the pool deck, where metal of the three main
materials that we could use has one of the longer lifespans if it's maintained
properly. And then in the in lieu of natural stone that can be quite
expensive we've got both ground-faced masonry units that can have a very
natural stone appeal with that larger aggregate like we're showing here and
also a natural looking finish on a porcelain tile. And so the difference
between the two pallets is essentially that palette A has a darker stone to it,
darker stone tile to it and Palette B has a lighter one. There could be use of
cement plaster, which you may know also as the name of Stucco, in places where we
can't afford to continue to have the tile. It is a fairly expensive material
so we'll have to be judicious in the use of it. Also Palette B has a greater
contrast between some of the wood elements and so we'll be toggling back
and forth between the two as I show you some perspective views that show you
where these materials would be used.
We're still studying the extensive, the roofs,
whether they can all be a metal panel roof
or whether we might need to incorporate some use
of asphalt shingle due to cost.
There'll be other smaller accent pieces,
the use of corten judiciously
where it won't interact with the water.
There won't be any, for instance,
at the face of the building that's on the pool deck.
It could be some pieces in the landscape
and at some of the window surrounds
on the community center side.
So I'll walk through the perspectives
that you were able to look at in your packets.
This is a view, as if you were a bird,
looking towards the east, towards the Heather Farm Gardens,
and across the pond.
I'll toggle just between the two pallets.
You can see the real difference that you can see here
is the tile and cement plaster
that would be lighter or darker.
From this view, you can see that entry sequence
that Gina was discussing.
You can also see the pools off to your left
and how they relate to the pond,
trying to give them some separation.
You can also see even that north fire lane
has a pedestrian path right next to it.
So really all four sides of this building are visible.
So finding a place to put less expensive materials
is challenging.
This is the view from looking towards the east
and we've tried to preserve some of what was commented on
during schematic design,
how the plains of the gable roofs
might echo the profile of Mount Diablo.
The little ghost of it is still in there
while trying to stay away from flat roofs
that would be super visible from the farms across the way
and still remaining economical.
There's a few areas where flat roofs will be required
in order to house the mechanical units,
but they'll be largely recessed and not as visible
unless you are flying quite high as a bird.
There you can see there's this nice buffer.
It's a little bit of a grade change
that has those plantings in between the pond fences
we discussed and the fences for the facility
that let you have a green buffer to walk next to.
Again, here's the difference between the two pallets
where the wood is getting a little bit more contrasting
and the tile is getting darker in the two specific schemes.
The view from the entry is you would be exiting
from your car if you're being dropped off
or as you're walking close to the facility as a pedestrian,
We're trying to draw people into the openness,
the transparency of that taller atrium structure,
and then still using welcoming warm natural materials
on the faces of the volumes to the right and left of it.
Having those informal seating arrangements
with plantings next to them to provide shade
and relief from the heat.
This face has probably the subtlest difference
between the two palettes.
We're actually reducing some of the wood elements
at this face since it's much of the wood
that we're using at the pond side
is to help reduce glare and screen the windows,
and that's less required on this side
because of solar orientation.
You get less solar heat gain from a rising sun
than from a setting sun.
And then this is how the building would look
from the pool deck.
Here you can actually see the starkest difference
between the two pallets.
We did work quite closely with the aquatic staff
to talk about how this face of the building
can be able to robustly withstand water exposure,
but also still feel integrated
with the rest of the structure
and not feel like a wholly separate,
different looking kind of building
so that it does feel like an extension
of the community center.
And then here's that pond face.
You can see that pond fence to the right,
and you can also then see the facility fence
off to the left on the other side of the planting area
so that there's still quite a lot of openness
and transparency.
Views out are important to maintain
as our views in, but it is also clear
where you belong as a pedestrian
and where you're separated.
Here you actually can start to see that wood contrast
a little bit more strongly,
which works best when the tile is lighter.
We did receive pretty clear feedback from the DRC
that that lighter tile is probably gonna be
a little bit blinding in the kind of environment
we have down in Heather Farm.
This would be the interior of the lakeside room.
It's a similar to a view we showed you before.
we've developed those interiors a little bit more.
The idea is to have that exposed wood structure
the same on the interior as it is on the exterior,
to sort of walk that fine line.
A lot of the community input asked for something
in between contemporary and traditional,
where there's a more traditional form in the roof shape.
Gables were identified as a preferable shape,
but that the detailing, the use of wide open glazing,
Window systems where you can have a huge,
pull back all of the large glass panels
to have a large opening out to the exterior
has that more modern function and feel,
so that there's really kind of a blend
between contemporary and traditional.
This is what that atrium space would look like.
A similar echo, a little bit taller.
The walls wouldn't peel back quite so much
since this is supposed to be a little bit of a respite
from the hotter areas of the park.
If you're walking around the pond
and you wanna get a little cool from your exertions,
this could be a great place to stop.
You could also be waiting for your kid
while they're in a swim class
or in an arts and rec class in one of the classrooms.
And then this is one of those classrooms.
Looks like this is specifically the aquatics classroom.
The pool would be visible in those rooms beyond.
We'll have a lot of acoustical materials
and display surfaces, movable furniture, storage,
and counter areas to provide a really flexible format
for all different kinds of activities
that could be hosted in here from rentals
to specifically programmed classes offered by the city.
And I'll pause for questions there.
Looks like you all got through the tray.
Great views there.
A few questions.
I think this is maybe the first time
we're seeing kind of aerial views
that now we can see the sighting of solar panels.
Yes, that's right.
So I see them on the rooftops of the aquatic area
and the big room in the community center.
Are they also between the two pools, the cover,
the shade cover?
That's a place that we're probably going to allow
for future PV installation, have the electrical infrastructure
allowed for that.
We're currently targeting a photovoltaic system
that covers roughly 60% to 75% depending
on building use of the building electrical demand based
on budget.
And then allowing for future expansion
of that PV system that could eventually
zero out the building electrical demand.
But what about the aquatic electrical demand?
Aquatic electrical demand at this day and age
is not a cost-effective way to heat pools.
The PV field you'd need to heat those pools
with electrical power would vastly outstrip
the size of this site.
Okay.
So you put them on the bathhouse and the...
All the good south-facing roofs.
Yeah, yeah, okay, south-facing,
but not the alternate bathhouse on the southern part.
because the roofs took the wrong direction.
Okay, all right.
The large community room,
you showed an interior view of that,
and that's a correct sunset direction,
which also means there's a lot of sun in there
coming through, and the shade is gonna be provided by the-
There's three layers of shade.
So you can see from the exterior view,
there's a trellis that extends out from the structure itself,
which has been studied too.
That's specifically to try to help glare from the pond
and then also shade that event terrace.
And then, glare's further reduced by,
you can see those are actually fixed wooden sunscreens
on the window system above.
The gable shape is actually infilled by windows,
which from here might just look like siding,
but then you can see from the interior view,
it's actually windows.
And the specific angle that those wood slats will be at
is geared towards reflecting or shutting out
as much evening light as possible to remove that.
And then there are also operable shades
at all of these windows.
So that should the sun become simply too fierce,
you can also add that level of shade.
Okay, all right, very helpful.
Yeah, thank you.
On the palette, you show an accent tile.
I didn't really see that anywhere, was that?
Yeah, it's on the aquatic space.
And it looks like maybe a little washed out in this view,
but it's meant to be primarily at the places
where we have exterior showers.
Do you see this off all the way to the right?
Yeah, OK.
It would be a little bit darker blue.
And that could be picked up in a few other areas.
There's a niche where you might not see it on this side.
There's also a portion that's not visible in this view
on the small satellite building
to the south of the pool site
that's also got some restrooms.
It will have showers in the face of that building as well.
Okay.
And then what the windows,
court and steel windows surround
and that's the little rusty piece of little rusty strip.
So where is that and what is the purpose of it?
So we're using a rain screen system
for the building exterior walls
and the way that a rain screen works,
it means that you end up having a wall that's so thick
that the windows are much skinnier in comparison.
And you usually end up having a funny sort of extruded space
you're not used to looking to, looking at the sills and jams
and heads of the windows, especially at the exterior.
And so you have to line them with something.
Now that I've told you that, you'll see on modern buildings,
oh, that's why the windows look so deep.
And they've got those funny little fins
sticking out on the sides.
It's to provide protection for all those extra layers
of the building's exterior walls.
And so we'll have to be aligned with something.
At the moment we're leaning towards core 10,
cost may have something to do with that.
Maintenance might have things to say about that.
But it will probably be a metal fin of some kind
to keep all of the insulation
and other building layers protected.
At the aquatic space, we will definitely switch
to a painted metal fin so that there is not
a rusty metal element at the aquatics pool deck side.
And so the choice of a metal like that
that would rust is for aesthetic?
It is and it also slightly helps with maintenance, where it can be allowed to weather naturally
and doesn't cause staining and other kinds of cleaning problems.
It's actually far, once it gets that patina, it doesn't require any further work, whereas
a painted metal has to be repainted over time.
And then a final question, which is kind of more general, but you touched on it a little
bit with the solar question.
So there's a need for this to be LEED-certified silver, I guess.
Equivalent, yes.
Yeah, equivalent.
So can you just talk a little bit more about those features other than the solar?
Absolutely.
So the main two moves that we're using to achieve the LEED points that would be required
to achieve the silver level is the fact that the building is an all-electric facility and
that it is offset by anywhere from 60 to 75 percent of a PV array.
And that's been modeled in a computer model of the building rather than just guesstimated.
That actually, the work to engineer and calculate that is a large chunk of some of the qualifying
lead points that are required to meet that level.
Some of the other things that we're doing to help that is to have, as we've talked about,
low water use landscapes, actually views in working areas as part of a lead checklist.
So we've got great views of a park here.
We're definitely making sure most of the workstations
have views to the outside and are using natural daylight
as much as possible.
So you see that's one of the reasons why we've got
such tall, large open window expanses
that we're mitigating a little bit with the sunscreen,
but it does allow, instead of use of electric light,
you can have natural daylight as much as possible.
We've got, you can see in the view of the atrium,
it's got these high clear story windows up at the top
to take advantage of that natural light.
And at the lakeside room,
I don't think you can see it from the interior.
Oh, just slightly, you can see it.
There are also these small roof monitors
that also let in additional north-facing light
that's nice and even
and reduce the need to turn the lights on.
Those are the big main moves,
some smaller ones as well,
to achieve that lead level.
The roof, is there an issue with the roof
or like insulation or?
The, so when you do a model of the building
to establish its energetic performance,
it actually determines the target
of how well-insulating the walls and the roofs have to be.
So that's all part and parcel of having actually engineered
the energy performance of the building itself.
Actually checked to see whether or not
there's sufficient insulation
instead of just using rules of thumb to establish that.
Thank you.
Just one more follow up.
You started to talk about maintenance on the metal.
Could you talk a little bit about maintenance on the wood?
because there's a lot of wood out there.
So the strategy for the maintenance on the wood
is to try to use pieces that are large enough
that can weather naturally and not require resurfacing.
Even what looks like really thin wood sunscreens,
I think this is the best view over here at the pond.
Those are actually, I think at least two by sixes,
is that right, Elaine?
Which is large enough that the plan is to stain them
and clear coat them and that will get you a very long way
to not having to touch them again for quite some time.
All the other wood that we have exposed at the exterior
is larger than that, larger members than that,
that don't get as worn away over time by exposure
to the elements.
Thank you.
Yeah.
On the pool deck, our strategy was to, here we go,
keep the wood as high up as possible away
from where there will be water.
We still have a little wood threaded through.
As we said, we wanted to make sure this still
looked like it was part and parcel of the rest
building but then all of that exposed wood is at the eaves or higher. I had a
question about some of the information surrounding the LEED certification so I
noticed that the certification was switched to a LEED Silver equivalent
instead of the LEED USGBC certification so I was just wondering if you could
walk us through the reasoning behind that. So depending on how seriously you
take your LEED equivalency process it actually gets you the same building
product in the end. And because many of the portions of the USGBC's rubric for the various
lead levels have been incorporated into California code, most of the cutting-edge sustainable
moves that a building can accomplish actually have to do with achieving net zero energy
or carbon footprints. And so it's become less of a, less of a common thing for buildings
to need to get all the way to the certification level of the LEED process, where you get a
plaque.
It actually costs a fair amount of time and money to go through the certification process
with USGBC themselves.
Some of its plaques themselves are actually several thousand dollars.
And since we are on a cost-conscious project, we thought that the budget would best be spent
on the building itself and not on a very expensive plaque, if you're going to get the same performance
out of the building itself.
We do take the equivalency process very seriously.
So we will make sure that all of the areas on the checklist have the same level of conformance
to the checklist goals as they would be required if we had uploaded the information to the
governing body.
Thank you for the information on that.
I had two more questions.
One of them is regarding the roofing design.
Could you go back to the roofing slide, please?
Like the aerials?
Yes.
This is good.
Thank you.
I believe you mentioned that the flat roofs
have to be kept to some degree,
and I know it's been previously discussed
that it's not cost effective
to have this be a multi-story facility.
However, I was wondering if those flat areas
could be purposed for additional green space,
or whether it's a roof terrace or a restricted garden
to improve the sustainability of the building?
That's a great question.
The absolutely flat roofs,
There's no truly flat roof.
The water has to shed somewhere.
But the flat roofs are currently fully taken up
by mechanical equipment.
So I wouldn't want to torture some plants
by putting them underneath a big fan coil unit.
And then the rest of the lower slope roofs
are at a slope where it's actually,
it's really a question of cost at this point.
Where we are right at the edge of where we need to be
with our cost and the green roofs are,
there's quite a bit more structure required
to hold them up.
we did study the changing room as to a volume
that we thought might be able to handle having a green roof,
but it did ultimately come down to cost
and the need for putting photovoltaics there.
There's a little bit of a territory fight
between photovoltaics and green roofs
since they want pretty much the same conditions.
We preference the photovoltaics in this case.
Okay, thank you.
And then could you please return to the slide
with the common area slash lobby area?
So with regards to this,
I noticed there are some communal sitting spaces,
but I was wondering if there are any more restricted
and private areas in case somebody needs to make a call
between classes or parents need to do any sort of work
while they're waiting for their children.
So there's, besides just the chairs that you see pictured
here, there are a couple of banquettes
that have slightly raised backs that are meant to allow
that one step up in privacy, if someone's, for instance,
wanting a small study group to be able to have
a quiet conversation between folks.
And then in addition, there are two rentable spaces,
this is in higher level of security,
that you would have to plan ahead by renting those spaces.
But the two conference rooms that are also meant to serve
the administrative staff of each wing,
one is at this side, it's at the aquatics conference room,
and one is at this side,
it's the community center conference room.
And both of those would meant to be that swing space,
let's say you've got a book club,
and you want to be able to speak out loud
and not worry that you could reserve those rooms ahead
of time and hold your functions there.
Thank you.
I have a quick question, maybe Dr. Safin, maybe Chairman.
I saw that Pellet A was recommended by city staff,
and I'm just wondering as to why, generally.
What they said specifically was that the darker,
earthier tones would help ground the building
into a more natural park-like presence,
that the lighter tile is a little bit more civic in tone.
And as I mentioned as I was going through the views,
they felt that that lighter material
could offer too much glare at surface level as well.
It would be a little bit too bright.
And they also felt it might be a little bit dated.
They felt like the darker earthier tones
were a little bit more in keeping
with current design trends.
Well, it's a good thing the building
won't be around in 50 years, right?
So what's cool today might be cool.
Is there a difference in cost?
No.
Good answer.
OK.
Anybody else?
Materials.
OK.
Thank you.
OK.
So in wrapping up, I will talk about, there we go.
Next steps, we're going to take your feedback,
consolidate that with what we heard from the DRC last week,
present that to Council on October 15th.
If the Council still wants more opportunity to discuss,
we can come back to them in November.
But our goal is to certainly bring that to them
on the 15th, and then pending their direction,
we will diligently, or architects will,
get to work on the construction drawings,
which the detailed drawings will go out to bid with,
bidding in 2025, and then construction
starting in 25 through 27.
So, we strongly appreciate your questions.
We'll now see if there are any more questions that you have,
and if not, public comment.
And then we'll come back to your comments.
Okay, so yeah, we'll follow the playbook.
Does anyone have any questions following up to kind
of a general sense before we take public comment?
And we'll have a chance to ask questions after that as well,
depending on what gets asked.
No? Okay. Now, we'll do public comment.
I have one speaker identification card.
Does anyone want to, I see someone standing up,
I saw, okay Jill, Leslie's got, no, okay.
Well, I'm gonna call then in order of
who gave me the card first, Rochelle,
would you like to say some words?
As a reminder everyone, it's two minutes,
unless you're representing a larger group,
in which case it's longer.
Rochelle, are you speaking on your own behalf?
I'm just speaking for myself.
I'm a member of a group, not representing the group.
Thanks for being here.
Dear pros, commissioners.
My name is Rochelle Fortier, a Walnut Creek resident.
I'm a member of Mount Diablo Bird Alliance,
but I'm representing myself.
Regarding birds, thank you for putting the wood louvers.
You also call them the sunscreen and the upper windows
of the community center building.
That reduces interior glare,
But it should protect against birds flying into the windows.
But if it becomes a problem, the windows could be covered
with a special thin film that is see-through,
but as small dots that the birds can see
and thus avoid collision.
The May 2025 construction date is a concern.
Could be in the nesting season,
which is about February through June.
The plan proposes about 120 trees will be removed.
Will these trees be removed from February through June 2025?
If so, will there be a biologist on site
monitoring the trees during the removal
so that an active nest is protected?
Regarding trees, please do not plant
the nine Princeton-Centric-Inco trees.
This tree has little to no wildlife value
since it is a seedless male cultivar
with no flowers or berries.
And it's also kind of yellow leafed very short time
for the leaves fall off. In the aquatic rug zone the tree plan shows 23 Brisbane
box trees but this tree attracts a lot of bees. It has perfused flowers that
bloom in June and July. I think it might be a bad idea to have a tree that attracts
so many bees around a swimming pool area. The tree plan shows the trees planted in
the lawn areas where people will be. Perhaps the landscaping design team
could find appropriate California native trees instead of the ones that of these.
Thank you for your consideration.
Thank you.
Next speaker, Leslie Jill, you guys can dress Ross Leslie try bending it from the top.
There you go.
Okay, so close enough to my mouth now you're good.
Leslie, are you are you speaking on your own behalf or speaking for the Open Space Foundation?
and Friends of the Creeks.
Sounds good, thanks.
So how long have I got?
Mike's giving you the full 10 minutes.
Oh, OK.
That should do.
50 years ago, the citizens of Walnut Creek
passed a bond issue to buy open space.
We're celebrating that 50th anniversary this year.
The tradition has held up well.
We still love our open space, and we still
love our environment.
We still have a reputation for it.
One of the things that we got out of that purchase
that we didn't so much expect was
that there was a wildlife corridor created
from the summit of Mount Diablo down to South Susun Bay.
And it came down the hill, through Shell Ridge,
across Ignacio, across that nine-haul golf course,
across the land that seven hills ranch to the creek,
and from the creek down to the bay.
It was a wonderful thing to have.
There were a lot of animals that used seven hills ranch
before it was fenced and developed.
But when we fought to preserve at least some part of Seven
Hills Ranch and its environment, we lost.
So here we are today.
The animals are blocked.
They will probably find their way into Heather Farm.
And that just means that our responsibility
to take care of them has increased.
When we looked at where they were likely to go,
we realized that they would probably come into Heather Farm
because we haven't fenced it, it's a public space.
We, of course, took the animals' welfare
into consideration strongly
when we began looking at this plan.
The animals that we're most concerned about
are mostly small.
They mostly eat plants.
And therefore, it's important what kind of plants are there.
There are varying degrees of native here,
but it is fair to say that any small animal eating plants
is likely to prefer natives because that's
what it's eaten for millennia past,
and they don't change their habits that easily.
So it matters whether things are local and how local.
The pallet that we looked at, I'm
not going to bore you with all the plant nerd stuff
about this species and that subspecies,
but the species on the plant pallet
roughly equally divided between native and non-native. The definition of native
is broad, it includes the whole state. And this doesn't fit so well with what
creatures are actually going to eat. So we're a bit concerned. We have picked out
some plants that we are really not too happy with. Like Rochelle, I'm going to
pick on the ginkgos. Not only do they not contribute anything to the environment,
they don't grow well in this environment. They're dying. They're not growing. And I
think that we could do considerably better. We have a number of suggestions.
There are some other considerations like that. The box trees are an expense 20 years ago
when I sat in your chair, one of you. The Design Review Commission said that they had
seen that the box trees above 24 inches tended to be detrimental to the plants that were
in them and the plant's welfare, and they didn't do as well. So they passed a rule and
said, I'm not approving anything. It has more than a 24-inch box in it. There are 12, 47
box plants in this plant altogether, 12 of them in boxes larger than 24 inches. It may
be a place to save some money, and maybe improve results as well.
The last thing, well, let me see. I guess I have time for one more point here. The—well,
let me just go on. Part of the casting pool is being removed as part of this project.
And that means that it has to be mitigated for.
I went down a couple of days ago, had a look at it.
It's all laid out for a lot of oak trees.
Oak trees are wonderful, the single best thing you can plant for the greatest variety of
animals.
But like man, animals don't live by bread alone.
So they need some variety to support other species, and we look forward to discussing
that with staff. I think that things have come together well. I congratulate everybody
who has worked on this for getting us as far as we have gotten. I think we will get the
rest of the way and I hope we will be pleased with the result. In closing, I would like
to say that I hope that our concern from the environment and our taking care of it will
go on as it has for the last 50 years, and I will be shameless and plug the fact that
we are having a 50th anniversary celebration. We'll be posting anecdotes and activities
for the next six months or so on our website. We invite you to join us and learn more about
it. Thank you.
Does anyone else have some comments? Good evening commissioners.
Leslie Hunt is a tough act to follow. I should have gone before she went. My
name is Jill Dresser and I live in Walnut Creek. I'm a garden and arts
volunteer in the city. I'd like to share my thoughts on the planting palette. The
proposed tree schedule currently list 47 trees of which 35 are non-native. That is
74% of the proposed trees are non-native. There are 20 Brisbane box which is a
landscape architect calls Tristania. They're native of Australia for the
pool area. I understand they're chosen for their leaf size and how those leaves
would affect the pool filters. Well, I personally don't know of any substitute
native for the Brisbane box. Some with more native plant experience than I
have may know of one. I urge landscape architect to consult with colleagues and
bury native tree experts before settling on the Brisbane box. Thank you
for changing out the eastern redbud to western redbud
in the last four days.
I hate ginkgo.
Please get rid of the ginkgo.
They're horrible.
They are everywhere in Walnut Creek.
There's 50 plus of them that just got planted
in the Veterans Plaza out here a year ago.
Crate Myrtle is a gorgeous plant.
I don't know what else you can plant beside the crate
because they are so pretty right now,
but I'd like the landscape architects
to see if there is something that can be planted.
There is likely a good native species to use
instead of these non-natives.
While I find the proposed trees scheduled
to be in need of the most improvement,
there are also many listed shrubs, grasses, and vines
that can be substituted out for natives.
As you know, we're in the midst of the climate crisis.
The trees that are planted around this new complex
are gonna be around for generations to come.
What is planted does matter.
I urge the Prose Commission to take bold action
that asks both the city and landscape architects
to go back to the drawing board to dig deep,
Do research, talk to other city and landscape architect
professionals to find suitable native plants
so that the new Walnut Creek Aquatic and Community Center
planning pilot is as close to 100% native as it can be.
Thank you.
Hi, thank you for the last minute appearance here.
My name is Matthew Tarlac.
I'm with Mount Diablo Bird Alliance,
but my comments here are my own.
Well, looking at the pictures, this is really coming together
a pretty impressive and attractive facility. I agree with the
other people who have spoken that native plantings should be a
priority, and if the landscape plant could be tweaked to have
more native and appropriate plants, I think that would be
great. Overall, I think it is a pretty impressive thing.
And as a member of the bird alliance, my primary concern is
actually with the mitigations for this project and how it is
going to affect the impact on the adjacent natural area and
the natural lake there.
And let me take the opportunity to thank the design team for
their receptiveness to our concerns throughout the process
and some of the changes they have made to help buffer the
native area, the natural area, excuse me, from the impact of
the new pool center.
And also, I would like to thank Mike and Public Works for
working with us on the mitigation measures in the native natural area with the tree plantings
we will be doing there.
I want to call the committee the attention to some of those mitigation measures are going
to have a very substantial impact on the natural lake. For example, the natural lake is going
to be expanded and dredged. There are going to be plants, exposed, plantings made around
there, and we want to make sure that that is all done in a timely way where it minimizes
the impact on nesting birds and other wildlife, because that is a natural area and we do have
plant animals that have been living there for a long time, a lot longer than we were
here, and I think we should respect that. It is a real treasure we have in our community
here, and I hope the Commission and Public Works continue to keep that in mind. Thank
you.
Thank you. Does anybody else have any public comment? Seeing none we'll bring it back to
the commission and would anyone like to follow up with a question comment based on what we heard
just now on public comment. Beyond public comment as well just general comments or what? I don't
think there's a rule you know the idea was you hear from the public and what they had to say and
if anyone was to germinate any questions then please do but don't hold back if you've got
So, Chair, with your indulgence, so I put on the screen the topics that we'd like your
comments on.
If you're not going to follow up anymore on the public comment, totally fine.
And so just in order here, we're happy to receive your input feedback on each of these
different categories, if you'd like, or however you'd like to proceed, just making it a little
bit easier for you.
Sure.
Thank you.
I have a question in regards to the public comment that we heard.
And I'm wondering, and I'll need to put it in the spot, but if there's any general thoughts,
more curious as to the reasoning behind Native versus non-Native and without,
again, I hope I'm not throwing anybody into the deep end of the pool so to
speak, but if there's any thoughts about ginkgoes, I mean just maybe
enlighten us a little bit about in regards to the public comment that we
just heard. Does it make sense? Yes, it does make sense. So we are continuing to
refine our plant palette based on the comments we've heard and they
provided us a plant list recently so we're looking at all of that to see how
we can incorporate more of those plants. It's a little tricky with the trees
because there are limited native tree options for a public space or like a more
ornamental space where because native trees are meant to be like out in the
natural environment. So that's that's where they work the best. So we will see if we can find any substitutes,
but we have looked and I like...
So we will continue looking but I'm not completely confident on the tree aspect but on the shrubs, perennials,
grasses, then I do believe that we can incorporate more local natives.
Thank you.
That's all I had.
I just wanted to clarify when you are selecting and refining the plant palate and consulting
external groups, are these the stakeholders we've heard from today?
Are these external environmental scientists and biologists and what exactly is that process?
So we have many resources for native plants and I think our stakeholders are amazing resources.
So we know we have gardens here that we can visit.
that we will be doing all of that.
But then there are also just extended resources
in our field that we utilize on a daily basis.
So we'll be balancing both.
Thank you.
Why don't we move it down the line?
If anyone has feedback, questions about,
you know, what structures have been put up,
the site plan, place structure, landscaping,
materials, et cetera, now would be the time.
Because this is going to go back
to the city council after this.
I do have a question about the suggestion of monitoring by a certified biologist for
nesting season during the treat, either the planting and or removing.
Sure.
So there is an environmental study that's happening concurrently to the design process
and that will cover any tree removal.
So there are always specific mitigation measures for nesting birds, and they're correct that
you cannot remove trees when that is happening.
So there will be, they're called studies that will be done during that process.
Yes, which will include a monitoring biologist.
This is more a question for staff, but SEEK was completed.
We have filed the notice of determination for the MND, and we are in the process of
filing applications with the regulatory agencies.
So there's the mitigated part of the MND is available for review by people, I mean for
people to look at?
Yes, it's public.
Okay.
Yeah.
It can be found through the city's website.
anybody? No. I have a couple just general thoughts. Maybe I'll get the ball rolling. I'm not a
big fan of the barnyard animal. I know that. I know you probably had another
thing which you could have put up in there. I understand that and message
received, but I think that probably, just from an aesthetic point of view, I'm more
in favor of a different pallet, if you will,
rather than corn stalks.
Yes.
Can I just offer the reason, this is not the intent,
what you saw in front of you at the barn.
The reason that we wanted your consideration
of a potential farm scene is the nature
of the name of the park, right?
Heather Farm Park, which is named after a horse.
And so if I'm hearing the commissioners,
that's all well and good,
but we prefer the aquatic environment.
Is that fair?
Yeah, sure. I mean, with the defined aquatic environment, I guess, if I had to choose,
I'd pick a lizard over a rooster, right? I know it's not up to me. I think there's
also maybe some, I'm not a landscape architect, but, you know, the the concept
of the rose garden is also interesting to me. You know, I understand it's
mainly for children and they're gonna be more into, you know, a cool gecko rather
than you know some a rose bush if that makes sense but I think the world's are
always sure in that regard so it's and that's a fun thing to choose because
it's gonna be going for a while and I do say that the kids do love the bucket
from yes personal experience yeah sure so maybe incorporating some elements
from the park itself like Jocelyn suggested lily pads and frogs and that
type of thing. That's exactly what I mean. Yeah just don't close the book on that
because I think that's, it'll go a long way. Yes. And also it's meaningful rather
than just you know a something cute. Right. Yes. That's helpful, thank you.
Noted. So are we gonna provide feedback on the four items here now? Yeah. Okay. I'll
I'll go first.
OK.
So I guess my main points are that I would definitely
like us to try to increase the number of native species
we're using.
And I appreciate that you are already
starting to really try to do that.
And I know you have other considerations,
but a balance would be good.
I agree completely with the chair on the pool play
structure.
I actually, you know, I think I agree with palette A.
I like the contrast, but I don't like the very white walls.
I don't know if you can mix and match a little bit,
but maybe like the darker wood accent with the lighter wood,
but then the darker of the concretes and the tiles
and that type of thing might be worth taking a look at that.
And I guess I would really, I appreciate
that you're working on the equivalency for the lead.
And I think that's really, really important.
I mean, the city has pretty ambitious sustainability goals.
And I think that's a really important element.
And it's also an element we should
try to make sure people understand
that we're attempting to do that and what that really means.
And I think that even if we can't get a plaque,
then we can at least tell that story there.
And I want to make sure, some of my questions
kind of related to this, but I do
want to make sure as much of that facility
as possible is just sort of available to the casual person.
I didn't rent a room.
I'm not swimming.
But it's a great facility.
And whether it's an outdoor space or an interior space,
I want it to feel like it's really a community there.
And it's accessible to everyone, not just because you're
part of a class or on a swim team.
So whatever elements we can do to make sure that happens.
And then yeah, I think signage is gonna be really critical
as we change that whole area from the kind of entrance
it is now and to what it's gonna be in the future.
So appreciate all your efforts.
First of all, thank you all for the great work you've done
and the staff as well in getting us to where we are.
It's a lot different than what we saw earlier in the year.
And there are very many improvements.
And I did want to thank you specifically
for moving the bath houses,
adding another one, which is more the public,
the people that are at the pool, but not swimmers.
They now have a place that they don't have to go
into the locker rooms, that type of thing.
Very, very useful.
for locating a flagpole, thank you very much,
and for adding outdoor showers.
I plan on using all those things.
But I do want to kind of go through the four items here
and say that first of all,
the updated project site plan is very well thought out.
And I particularly appreciate thinking about the users
because there are a lot of public spaces
where I feel like architects didn't realize
that people are gonna be walking from point A to point B,
maybe with a roller bag and they have to go up steps,
down escalators, up elevators,
and they're just trying to get from point A to point B.
The point A to point B is gonna be very easy
in this facility and it's gonna be very useful
and it's gonna contain the privacy
where there are private parties, so to speak,
from the public spaces, it's gonna be very well-defined
and I think a lot of thought went into it.
I appreciate that.
On the recreational pool play structure,
I'm not gonna add anything further.
I think it's gonna be great, whatever we end up with
and the bucket dump is going to be huge, as are the slides.
And big steps with wet feet are going to work.
So we're heading in the right direction here.
Landscape plan and planting pallet.
I think it's obvious from not only
the public comment, which was really thoughtful, I thought.
To reach an agreement as to the trees specifically, the trees that we're going to use on the site,
I'm not worried about the larger number of trees which are going to be supportive of Heather Farm and the other areas that we're going to increase,
But the trees around the structure that we're talking about to get agreement on is going
to take a lot more justification as to why we're recommending a particular tree.
Our comments were probably fairly shallow, but none of us are arborists.
We had, you know, limited amount of time to look to Google things and figure out what
they were, get some background on things.
But when it goes to City Council, obviously the bar is going to be raised in terms of
what's going to be necessary to what you're recommending and what you ruled out and why.
Because to rule out a native in favor of a non-native, it's going to be difficult.
it can happen so I encourage more work there.
In terms of finally in terms of the exterior building material palette, I generally agree
with the design review committee about choosing the darker.
I'm not sure we need it quite that dark on the tile, you know, there are colors in between
those two that could be successful.
I love the use of wood.
And I hope it ages well.
I'd like to see it last 50, but I won't be around for that.
But overall, I wanted to say that this is a beautiful plant.
It is really superb, better than anything
we saw in that any other community had in a similar,
in a similar objective of what we're trying to do here.
Just fantastic at this point.
I know there'll be changes.
I think all the changes that are happening so far
are for the better.
It is very creative and practical.
So thank you.
I just say I'm very impressed with the design,
especially with the community room.
Our family and our community have been
to the current community room many times.
My son, who's sitting back there at the end of the year,
Northgate, cross-country banquet there.
We've been to weddings and they've taken classes there.
But looking forward to this new facility
with the sustainability measure,
the energy efficiency built into it,
I'm really looking forward to it.
And thanks for the great work.
I definitely like a lot of the changes
from the revised design development presentation package.
I especially want to highlight the expansion
of the recreational pool and how that has been expanded
in height, width, and depth.
I think this facility is really designed
to service a lot of stakeholder groups
within the aquatics community,
including water polo, diving, artistic swimming,
and speed swimming.
But I do see some challenges for how the facility
will host all of those programs and continue to expand
so that Walnut Creek can be competitive on that front
and also bring more economic vitality to the city
through aquatics and sports tourism.
However, given the parameters and constraints
of the size and cost.
I understand that this is a very difficult issue,
so I hope that is all being arbitrated properly
with the aquatic stakeholder groups.
So that's my only comment on that.
With regards to the recreational pool play structure,
I like where that vision is going.
I mean, I think the other commissioners
have already addressed the theme.
The only additional comment I would add on that is,
I think my demographic would really like more water slides
but I understand there are regulatory issues
and cost constraints around that.
With regards to the landscape plan and planting palette,
just to echo what I've heard from the public commentary
as well as my fellow commissioners,
I would say I really encourage you
to follow environmental standards
and consult with external organizations.
I know you said you were working
with the Open Space Foundation
and other existing stakeholders within the community,
but I'd say also continue to utilize external resources
that you have as a neutral source.
And finally, with regards
to the exterior building materials palette,
I agree with the staff recommendation
and the design review commission's recommendation
for palette A, just because of the glare concerns
and also cleanliness.
And then with regards to the wood,
I did have one question.
How often will that be treated and upkept?
Because I've seen how rain has severely damaged a pavilion
that I frequently use
and it has not been the best for that structure.
Yeah, so the wood will require some limited resurfacing
probably on the order of every roughly 15 to 20 years.
And so a few cycles of that through the lifetime
of the building, but not on every surface.
So all of the exposed wood structure
at the underside of the roofs and the trellises
actually should stay pretty intact.
They won't get a lot of exposure from the elements.
So it'll be a lot of the sunscreen elements.
Those will probably need it first.
The ones at the interior probably
you won't need any major
maintenancing efforts
because they'll be far more protected from the elements.
So it's really the thinner, sunscreen elements
and then some of the pieces,
I think there's wood columns not at the aquatic face,
those columns that actually touch to the ground,
those will need a little bit more
resealing and resurfacing.
If that answers your question.
Okay, thank you.
And then my final comment regarding the facility,
this goes back to,
I believe Commissioner Garland brought this up,
is to ensure that this really is a community-based community
center and not only designed for paid programs,
whether these are run by the city
or run by foundations within the city,
that it's really open access to everyone.
So whether that means having a living room space for youth
or more alcoves within the atrium area for games
or even having a library of board games at the disposal
for kids who want to use those between lessons and classes,
or installing swings that hang from the beams of the atrium.
I really encourage you to add those types
of fun and very youth-oriented features
to make it more centered on the community.
Karlyna, you are always a tough act to follow.
And that's coming next.
As a long time swimmer, I've swim in a lot of pools,
and yeah, in regards to the palette, definitely the dark,
because you've got the reflection from the water,
the sky, the cement.
And then when they plaster a building white,
it's pretty overwhelming.
So I like the dark,
even though when you're looking at the photos,
I could understand why people may be watching,
say, hey, white shows up better,
but dark definitely works better.
Thank you very much for being here
and accommodating all our different user groups
and perspectives and somebody who,
I'm from the private sector,
so we're used to plowing ahead with plans.
So on the public sector,
I'm working with all these different groups and people
that are experts in their area
and enjoy learning from everybody who contributes.
Thank you very much for that.
I live in a neighborhood,
we have a private lake over here called Lakewood
and I was on the board for several years.
So there was always a discussion around native and natural,
what is native and what is natural.
But at the end of the day, it did always come down to,
hey, a lot of this is not natural.
Like natural is shell ridge, right?
And we are making unnatural changes to this
and those do require compromises.
I'm definitely not an expert in the plant selection
all the things that go into that with with wildlife and whatnot but I have
enjoyed learning about that from Leslie and the Open Space Foundation on the
meetings that I've that I've been able to attend and if there's an opportunity
for Carlina to go to those meetings you should on a Friday morning sometime you
should try to attend those you'd enjoy that and I'm glad that Brendan's gonna
again his dumb bucket. Well when you put it like that I'll put a bow around this
thank you everybody very much for all the work that it's taken to get to this
point because as director Safin said it really started half a generation ago. My
my points have been said by my fellow commissioners so I'm not going to rehash
everything but I just wanted to say thank you thank you to the city staff
thank you to the stakeholders that are here in attendance. I know that there's
still some work to do and we're gonna cross that finish line but overall looks
amazing. I think that the public's gonna be very happy with the final product. And
with that I believe that we are done with our comments. So thank you everyone
and we're gonna move on to staff reports. Doesn't appear that anybody else has a
staff report and I'm not sure if a commissioner was gonna bring this up or
not but I wanted to just take a minute to remind everybody that community
service day is coming up on October 12th you can go online to sign up for a
number of different projects I believe there's about 34 projects in total and
we are still seeking many volunteers so we would appreciate the help thank you
looks like Karen has one item good evening commissioners I'm Karen he's
Martin program manager I am just here to remind you and all of Walnut Creek
residents that The Wallet Festival is coming back this year. It'll be February
8th, sorry, September 18th through this Sunday 22nd. All information can be found
on TheWalletFestival.org's website and they are desperately seeking volunteers.
So you can go to the website and sign up to be a volunteer as well. This will be
taking place in Heather Farm Park. There will be playground and parking impacts.
Those things are going up on our websites and there will be signs posted
next this week. It's Monday. Thank you. Any other staff reports? No? Okay, we're
gonna move on. We have a Youth Commissioner service acknowledgment. For
those of you who may not know, this is Commissioner Meyer's last meeting with
us, and she has served diligently for the last two years. So I wanted to say a
a couple remarks in her honor. That's okay. Currently on behalf of your fellow
commissioners, city staff, city council, and people of
Arnold Creek, we want to say thank you for your service. You are our first youth
commissioner. Is that right? It was two years ago and it was a pilot program and
And doing this job requires a lot of thinking on your feet,
kind of being ready for stuff that you don't necessarily
have maybe total confidence in what you're talking about.
But be smart enough to figure it out along the way.
And I wanted to make the point that for the two years
that you specifically have been on here,
from the very first day that you started,
you have been operating at the highest of levels.
And I want to congratulate you.
And I know that my sentiments are shared
by the rest of my commissioners as well.
Every time you've been here, you've
been prepared and thoughtful and intelligent.
You ask the toughest questions of anyone here.
And I just wanted to make that clear.
You don't really need my praise, because I
know that you've got it well in hand.
I really would love to see you back here someday.
I can't wait to see what you go on to do,
but thank you, it's been an honor and you'll be missed.
Thanks.
I think we want to take a picture.
So we're going to get a picture with the gang
and we have a going away present for you as well.
Don't go anywhere just yet.
Tony or Linda, we want to do the, yeah.
Okay, I'm going to walk over here
and give this to you, awkwardly.
Let's take a group photo or do we have to open here first?
Do you have anything you want to say?
Oh I'm sorry, first time on the job.
I guess it's speech time.
I guess I'll start out by thanking the public.
Thank you all so much for being here.
I know usually we have a much more filled meeting chambers,
especially for our very contentious topics such as pickleball and the
the mountain biking flow trails.
But it's really incredible to see such an engaged community
who cares about the future of Walnut Creek
as much as the commissioners here do.
And I really appreciate all of that engagement.
So thank you all for showing up,
for expressing your opinion
and for caring about our future.
And I guess now I'll say thank you to city staff.
Thank you for your tireless support
and helping onboard me to this commission.
I know it was probably a little bit unprecedented
for me to join a commission of this nature.
So I appreciate all of your help and support
with that transition and your willingness
to respond to all of my questions and commentaries.
And I'd like to extend that to our panel of experts
who come in as well and speak on these various issues.
I know you, the architectural team on this project,
have probably endured many questions from me,
so I appreciate your continued willingness
to respond to those as well, so thank you.
And I found it very informative and informational,
so I'm glad we were able to have that dialogue.
And most of all, I'd like to thank my commissioners.
Thank you for welcoming me to this commission.
Robert, I know he's not here,
but he was chair at the time that I joined this commission,
and without his approval,
there would not have been a youth seat on the commission
and that actually happened on several
of the city commissions, a youth seat was not approved.
So thank you to him, if he's watching this,
for creating that opportunity.
Sharon, I'm sorry we didn't get to work together longer,
but I'm excited to see what you continue to do
on this commission.
And to my four other remaining commissioners
who have been here for the long haul, since the beginning.
Thank you so much.
I really learned a lot from all of you,
especially your leadership, your inquisitiveness,
and how much you care about the city of Walnut Creek
as citizens, and also how much you care
about youth perspectives.
So I really appreciate that,
and I've learned a lot from your example, so thank you.
Thank you.
All right, we're gonna get a quick,
We're gonna do the, your own picture first.
Should we adjourn first or should we?
All right.
Well, and then, thank you, in that regard,
this concludes the September 9th, 2024
Prose Commission Special Meeting,
and we're adjourned until October 7th, 2024,
scheduled meeting.
Thank you for coming.