good evening and welcome to the February 3rd, 2025 PROS Commission Meeting.
Could we get a roll call? Secretary Vickers. Yes, good evening. Commissioner Pinkstaff.
Here. Commissioner Oler. Here. Commissioner Conson. Here. Commissioner Garland. Here.
Vice-chair Cook. Here. And chair Moran. Here. We're gonna move to public
Communications this portion of the meeting is reserved for comment on items not on the agenda under the Brown Act the Commission cannot act on
Items raised during public communications, but may respond briefly to statements made or questions posed
Request clarification or further item to staff does any member of the public?
Wish to speak on an item that is not on the agenda
Going once and twice
Okay, we'll move on the consent calendar next on the agenda is the consent calendars any commissioner have questions
the consent calendar item. Seeing none, the consent calendar? No? Okay then we're
gonna move to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of December 2nd, 2024.
Can I get a motion to approve the minutes? I move that we approve the
minutes for December 2nd, 2024. I second. I'll call the roll.
Commissioner Pinkstaff? Commissioner Oehler? Yes. Commissioner Conston? Yes. Commissioner Garland? Yes. Vice
Chair Cook? Yes. And Chair Moran? Yes. Item passes unanimously. All right, next on our
agenda is an item for commission consideration in the staff report on the
CIP and the 10-year capital investment program. Good evening, commissioners. My name is Alex
Huang. I'm the senior civil engineer with the capital improvement program. And tonight I'm
going to present to you the parks, recreation and open space projects in the proposed 26 and 27
capital budget and also the proposed 26 to 35 capital investment program.
So this is a study session so we can spend a little more time to answer questions and
receive feedback.
So just to give a quick outline of tonight's presentation, I'm first going to review the
parks recreation open space projects in the 26th and 27th capital budget and then I'm
I'm going to take the commissioner's comments and the questions and comments, and then I'm
going to go into the 26 and 35 capital investment program, and then I'll take the questions
and comments for that afterwards.
So next step is that I'm going to incorporate both the comments for the capital budget and
the CIP and update the material.
So what's the difference between the capital budget and the capital investment program?
So the capital budget is the two-year cycle that is approved every other year.
It actually allocates the funding for each of the projects.
And it's informed by the first two-year cycle of the CIP.
And it responds or incorporates what grants that we received, opposed to the capital investment
program.
So this is more of a long-term planning tool.
It's divided into five two-year cycles.
It does not actually allocate any of the funds, but it provides a vision and defines priorities
for the projects and optimizes each of the projects for grants and donation opportunities.
Moving into the capital budget, there's two main categories in the capital budget.
There's the asset management category and there's the discretionary project category.
The asset management projects maintain the existing facilities and assets.
City has a municipal maintenance plan, also called MMP, that tracks the city assets and
their service life when they will require substantial maintenance.
These asset management projects are data driven by asset management plans and user input,
so as opposed to the discretionary projects.
These projects are new improvements or substantial improvements to the existing facilities or
assets.
So tonight I'll be going over the asset management and discretionary parks and open space projects.
So where do we get the money to pay for these capital budget projects?
So we have general fund, which is a percentage of the city's operating budget.
In lieu of parkland dedication, this is a developer fee on residential development.
It's calculated as a product of established rate of parkland required for each new resident
from development.
So over the last budget cycle, there's been a reduction on new development resulting in
a reduced reserve of in-look parkland funds.
So the forecast for this new development for new developments in the upcoming 2026 and
budget is also very conservative. So this results in a reduction of post related projects
in this upcoming cycle. So moving to the next one, the sales tax measure O. So this was
a bond measure from 2023, which includes a half cents transaction and use tax. It's estimated
to bring in about 12 and a half million per year donations.
So the city has an agreement with the Walnut Creek Aquatics
Group for a $3 million donation over 10 years
for the habitat farm community and aquatics center.
And other revenues, so this includes financing.
So in order to build a header farm community and aquatics
There's going to be some debt service required to fund that project.
So looking at the projects here, this is the project list for the 26-27 capital budget.
We have the park's infrastructure repairs for $400,000.
The open space infrastructure repairs for $150,000.
Median upgrades for $200,000.
And the large project is the headphone park aquatic and community center for $77 million.
That's the bulk of the capital budget for this next cycle.
Can I interrupt here?
Yeah.
Hi.
So, when I was reading through your report in advance, I was wondering, how are median
upgrades related to parks and rec?
There's greenery in the medians, and that's funded as an asset management with general
funds.
It's not funded through the Eloo parks,
or it's funded for general funds for the beautification
of the obedience.
And is it mainly on roads, or is it also in business parks?
And also is it incorporating, I forget the number,
like C3, whatever it's called, stormwater,
is it incorporating swales and things
like that for stormwater or is it really
just a beautification of roads?
It's more the beautification of roads.
We have the separate funding for the C3 work typically.
Mike.
Yeah, so typically it's in here because the park staff
maintains the medians and greenways.
And those would be all of the city-owned greenways.
Sometimes we refer to them as lineal parks
if you're walking along YVR or something along those lines.
And the $200,000 is more so for improvements,
the aging infrastructure.
And so that's generally why it's listed in here,
because it's managed under the same division.
And is there a policy about, say,
the native plants or drought tolerance or?
It's not a formal policy, but a policy
that we do our best to adhere to,
certainly in regards to irrigation consumption.
We're putting in all new irrigation systems.
In fact, some of the systems we're replacing on YVR
we're putting in the late 70s.
And it's, you know, we always work
to improve the infrastructure.
It's just so difficult for lane closures
and shutting the roads down
if the irrigation system's working.
But we're now at the point where it's probably 95% native,
drought tolerant plant material
and the new irrigation systems, yeah.
Good, thank you.
Move to the next slide here,
so I'm not gonna go over each of the projects
in the capital budget for those projects.
So the first one is the park infrastructure repairs.
This is an asset management project.
City maintains 22 parks, 10 miles of paved trails.
Under the municipal maintenance master plan,
MMP provides a schedule for long-term maintenance
and replacement of irrigation components,
paved trails, tree plantings, fencing, playground equipment
repairs, sports fuel surfacing, and other improvements.
This includes sustainable improvements
that will reduce water usage.
Another project is the open space infrastructure repairs.
This is another asset management project.
So this project will improve
in the open space infrastructure facilities
including the grazing program,
preserving the current stock ponds, new signage,
trail markings, unpaved trail repairs,
as that's pedestrian bridge repairs,
restoring various areas throughout the open space
and other projects as needed.
And the median upgrades.
This is another asset management project.
So under the municipal maintenance plan,
MMP provides a schedule for long-term maintenance
or replacement of median landscaping and hardscaping.
This project includes the median renovations
that would lower maintenance, reduce worker exposure
to traffic and create more sustainable landscape beds.
and the Edder Farm Park Aquatic and Community Center.
So this is a discretionary projects.
It's gonna combine the swim center
and the community center
into a single facility at Edder Farm Park.
So the center will offer flexible spaces
for health, fitness, education, and camps.
So the current status,
the design concept has been approved
and we're moving toward final design.
We're currently working
of the environmental agencies getting approvals
and working on mitigation measures.
And that's it for the capital improvement projects.
I'm open to questions and comments on the proposed 26, 27
parks, recreation, open space projects.
Thank you, Alex.
Just so we're clear, are we gonna,
can we direct questions kind of regarding everything
have in front of us to you or you know is this yeah you feel comfortable cuz
you're gonna get it I think but in terms of like what you know some of the other
things that when our packets are Arbolado Park you know the bocce courts at
Larky and rug gear and all that stuff so there's a lot that we have is my point
yeah that's that's a CIP so I'm going through the capital budget first great
Okay, so we're gonna take things step by step.
Then we'll go to the CIP.
So I don't wanna do everything at the same time, so.
That's fair.
Well, having heard that,
does anybody have any questions, comments regarding the CIP,
which is kind of the first jump.
Capital budget.
Sorry, the capital budget, the first jumping off point.
What Alex just talked to us about.
Are we gonna get into more details
about the capital budget?
I would assume so.
That's kind of what I'm trying to figure out,
What the process of what we're gonna get a capital budget just the projects I presented and under the
Under parks recreation open space. There's a lot more projects
But that involves like different traffic projects and other asset management project. No, I know I meant just just within pros Commission
Responsibility. Yes
We are gonna get more details. No, I think this is okay
Then then yeah, then I guess yeah, I guess
we'll fire away.
Okay. Yeah.
So can I just add one thing real quick?
So there's-it's-we made the decision to break it
up for a couple reasons.
One is sometimes these presentations can be long
enough that you forget a portion of what was taken-what was spoken
about shared in the capital budget side.
So we wanted to focus on the capital budget
and then provide the CIP afterwards.
And if we-if then you have more questions
about the capital budget, we can open it up to even further.
What I think you might be alluding to, in past years,
we may have had six or seven projects in the capital budget.
Due to some of the funding shortages in the Park and Lou Fund,
we're limited to just a few projects this year.
And Alex will share more of that when he gets into the CIP.
Does that?
I think that, yeah, because I definitely want
to make some comments about the two-year capital budget
And where where that money is going. Okay. Yeah, so wait on that. Yeah, no, let's do that now
Yes, because we're breaking it up. Yes. Let's do that now. Okay. Yeah
Otherwise, it'll get lost once we get okay. Yeah, go ahead. Okay
um, first of all, uh
I just have a question of timing
so
on the 11th city council meets
to discuss the
Council priorities for 2025 to 27. Okay, so that is the exact time period for the capital budget
Mid 25 to mid 27, right?
We submitted through a discussion and you know bullet points from that
Our input to the City Council on our priorities our perspective on priorities
Not just for pros. It could be the broader top five, you know that that exists already
But in the case of pros most of the things that were submitted to the council
for the
February 11th meeting were
part
recreation and open space
Ideas and comments we had made
But we don't know what their
Priorities are going to be until after the meeting
So, it seems a little cart before the horse to discuss now the funding for 2025 to 2027 of and the prioritization of those funding when we don't even know where the council is on the types of things that we think are priorities.
So that's my first point, okay?
But then if you dig into the list
that is part of the quarterly meeting I noticed
in the attachment that's going to council,
there are items that are completely ignored
in the capital budget that we place priorities on.
And there are items that we really don't know
what the council is going to think of them and if we're allocating money and if we're suggesting
allocate money and agreeing to make that recommendation tonight it could be for something that
is no longer a priority from the council perspective. So I'll stop there for the time
being but I want to come back to it because there are things that are completely ignored
in the capital budget.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Sorry.
Thank you for the comments.
It's a little challenging in the sense that we meet every other month.
If we were to meet in March, we would probably-well, in this example, in the current year, we would
know exactly what Council had said in terms of their priorities and in the direction that
they were heading.
The council priorities that all of the commissions shared was summarized.
It was shared with City Council.
In fact, the chair was at a breakfast with the mayor last Friday and also represented
some other projects that were taking place in the parks along with these priorities.
Council knows what the priorities are.
However, we don't know what council priorities are, to your point.
If we were meeting, and one of the challenges is the capital budget has to be in draft form
been wrapped up by April. And so the way that our meetings are scheduled we don't
have the opportunity unless we were to call a special meeting which is maybe
something we could consider next year is not potentially postponing the February
meeting to March assuming well it wouldn't be next year it would be two
years from now when the capital budget came back up. But it's a good point I
completely understand what you're what you're referring to it's just
challenging based on our scheduling.
I anticipate that was going to be what the logic was in terms
of why we're doing this now.
But I feel like we still need to be vocal about those things
that we want some money behind, because if there's no money
behind, there's no way it's going to ever happen.
And that's a great, sorry, did you want to share?
Yeah.
That's exactly why Alex brought this tonight as a study session, is because this is exact
feedback we want to get.
If there are things that you want to discuss further, ask more questions about, make suggestions
on funding, different funding allocations or different funding sources, we want to hear
that tonight.
Because this information tonight is also going to get wrapped up in a package and given to
council as well.
understand and I don't want to I don't want to dominate this discussion I want
everybody you know to participate but I do have some points I want to make in
the course of the discussion okay so let's just bring it back real quick to
the the points that Alex made about the capital budget specifically the you know
work on the median asset management open space stuff like that does anybody have
questions or comments regarding the capital budget improvements. I do. I was
just wondering how you prioritize the projects. I mean you gave a list of
examples of the kinds of things that are covered but it's not really projects yet.
So, I'm curious, like, it's all, and this is all maintenance or repair, basically, for
the most part, renewal replacement type of thing, so it's nothing new, you know, right?
So, I'm just curious, like, what is your process internally for prioritizing what needs to
be done?
I'm assuming safety's important, but what other things do you consider?
We definitely have to look at funding availability.
think with the reduction of in lieu Parkland fees
There really wasn't much
Funding to go around with different projects and we knew that had a foreign aquatics center was a priority so that needed to get funded
the parks recreation open space in the median
These are like maintenance projects that
Needs to get done and needs to get funded for I know I think you said you have a plan, right?
that you have a maintenance plan.
I'm asking you, how do you prioritize things
within that maintenance plan?
The life of the facilities,
the just, you know, complaints you get
that something's broken or just, you know,
how are you gonna prioritize your $400,000?
Mike, take on that one.
Sorry, I feel like I'm hijacking your presentation here.
So it's all of what you just said.
Some of it is complaint driven,
but the vast majority is through our MMP.
So our MMP, for those of you who are not familiar
with the term, our maintenance master plan,
every asset within our park system,
in fact, every asset within most of the city,
including our street infrastructure,
our storm drainage system,
is identified in a software program that we manage.
And we can pull up when that equipment was installed,
what the estimated life expectancy is,
and when that equipment should be replaced.
For example, two years ago, this commission recommended
that we replace, they voted to move forward
with staff's recommendation to replace
the playground structure at Civic in Walden.
Both of those were put in in 97.
They've reached their useful life.
We're spending more time maintaining them.
We were getting a lot of feedback from the community.
That became a higher priority.
And so that's how we prioritize the work.
It's probably 80% through the MMP,
and then there's some challenges that staff have
with some certain things.
There's ADA challenges, and then it's also complaint driven.
Some of this equipment is just aged out
in terms of the new generation
and what's more interesting to them.
So I have more of like specific questions.
So for the park infrastructure repairs,
is that the Walden Park, the Civic Park that we heard about
and also the Arborado, the courts, the tennis courts, no?
Yeah, so the presentation I gave a couple of meetings ago
where we are getting draft designs
that we're gonna be bringing back to the community
and the commission to redo the playground at Civic Park
and redo the playground at Walden.
That was funded in a previous cycle.
So that works ongoing right now.
And the courts at Arbalotto have already been funded.
That actually, that project goes out to bid this week
and will likely be in construction this summer.
So that is from the previous cycle.
What we're talking about today is
what are the recommendations from the commission
in the 25, 27 two-year work period, two-year budget period?
What is this commission recommending?
And to further, to share a little bit more information
on that, because this is a study session.
There are a number of comments in terms of education,
Creek restoration infrastructure repairs
that are tied into that 400,000
and that 150,000 for the open space.
It's signage, it's new materials
that we're gonna be purchasing.
We heard from this commission that they would love to see
an increase in educational opportunities in the open space.
And so there are new materials that we are gonna buy
assuming this $150,000 is approved.
There's infrastructure out in the open space
in terms of old irrigation systems.
There's new bridges we're putting in.
There's bridges where we're gonna be replacing.
You know, there's gates and all kinds of things
that are going on.
It's the same in the park system.
We've got to redo a couple of the sand volleyball courts
that have just aged out, don't drain very well.
It's a little dry season,
but we know that they're not draining very well.
So it's more of a, it's a maintenance type project,
but it's also enhancing that capital budget item
and the infrastructure.
There's tree planting.
Tree planting is going to be,
over the next two year budget cycle, is gonna be huge.
It's probably gonna be 80 to $100,000
that we're gonna invest in planting trees around the city.
That doesn't mean,
I don't wanna get ahead of this
and say we're gonna plant a thousand trees.
There's a lot of infrastructure
that goes into planting trees
and making sure those trees are gonna survive
without somebody hand watering those trees every month.
So a lot of this funding is going to go into the environment in terms of tree planting,
those types of things.
Unhoused.
There's a couple other items.
Sorry.
Go, Ryan.
This is great.
There's unhoused that was brought up from this group.
Pickleball.
Those are really items outside of the park and recreation, or sorry, outside of what
the staff can do at this level.
It's more of an executive team, City Manager's office and PD that's working closely with
the unhoused.
We realize it's a priority for this commission.
And then with the pickleball, that's an ongoing challenge.
We're not going to solve that in this budget cycle, I don't believe so.
Before we leave this in lieu fee issue, is that you're constrained by that that you can't
use general funds for part projects?
So the Public Works Department, it looks like Rich might get up here and chat a little bit
more about the overall capital budget and the general fund funding.
The city does, or the Public Works Department supports staff, the other divisions and other
departments in capital budget projects.
And I'll let Rich speak to that.
Good evening, commissioners.
Rich Payne, Public Works Director.
So I just, this, the information that you're hearing today is a couple of things with regard
to the capital budget.
Two years ago, this commission looked at the 10-year CIP, and you actually approved some
of the projects that were in that CIP.
So when you're looking at some of this stuff, some of these projects were pulled out of
the things that you've already, the projects you've already approved.
In addition to that, as Mike mentioned, maintenance has a list of needs that they also have to
be included in this budget outside their operational budget.
So when you're looking at the projects that are up here, most of them and general fund-related
projects, most of them are non-discretionary projects.
Those are projects that are improving our existing infrastructure.
new projects, we have to find another funding source. Sometimes it's at Park and Lou. In
this case, you know, the community said, hey, we want a new community center so we're going
to vote in an extra sales tax to fund that, along with some other things. So when you're
looking at this project, there's this distinction. When you look at those, when you're looking
at those items of 400,000 to 150,000, the medium upgrades, those are all non-discretionary
Projects that need to be added so that we excuse me so that we can continue to maintain our existing infrastructure
Can I ask you another question? Sure
So but the in lieu fee is really tied to new residential development
But it's used for maintenance of existing facilities. So the so the in lieu fee is some upgrade
Yes, but yeah, exactly and that's and when we're looking at these the park projects
We're looking at enhancements to the existing and that's how we're using and justifying using in Luffy, so
so recognizing that
our capital budget and
for that matter to see IP
for those things that we're most interested in is
typically capped by the in lieu
parkland
funds
That's been our guidance all along
But with measure oh there are additional funds that are flowing besides
the
pool and community center replacement that
If the right priorities are assigned to them
Could could get supported in our recommendation
Is that correct?
Correct and you have weighed in on some of those we have the lighting project out at Tice and the two
Synthetic fill projects so that that funding came from this Commission in the community when those were decided
Right, but to take it to the next step of
measure o related funds
from now on
During the period where those funds are
Incoming from the 10-year is a 10-year. Yeah, it's 2034. I think it's okay
It's possible that if council agrees with a priority and a fund amount that we recommend
that could be
Designated out of not just in lieu but out of measure of funds that is correct
I will I will just add though. Mm-hmm that measure of funding is
was
pretty well, you know
defined in terms of what it was being used for and
If there's extra funding funding related to that measure
Then then that would be an option but right now it's you know
I mean it's being it's dedicated for certain projects and we're really focused on those projects at the moment
understand so
I have another question. Sorry good for me or Alex for you
Okay, um or Mike, but you know, I know the city has a grants program tries to get grants
From other institutions to help pay for some of our projects
Where does the most of those require matching funds and does a matching fund have to come out of the in lieu or?
Does that come from somewhere else or just it just is it, you know project specific? So it depends
For instance, I'll just use an example CDBG money. We we get
Funding for doing projects like we're looking at around the community center right now
There are times when we use some of the general fund to match, you know
To fund you know to enable those projects to happen
Sometimes the funding for grants are a little bit short
And so incorporate some of that park and Lou funding and and and other
Sources, but we try to use you know, if there is a matching fund to make an improvement in our park
We try to use that parking the funding for those types of priorities. I
Have a quick question. I don't know if you know the answer. He's put it on the spot anybody, but what's the
The decrease roughly
between
The in lieu we're looking at now as in previous years and I know the last two
Last cycle probably was not all that great as well, but we're at six
630,000 now.
I don't remember what the numbers were, but it was more than that, but it wasn't significantly
more than that, no?
Anybody know?
I can share, and Alex may know as well, just based on the projects that the engineering
team is dealing with right now, which is the two playground projects, which is somewhere
around 500,000, the re-court resurfacing is about 800,000.
that's what's been budgeted.
And then there was also these infrastructure repair numbers
were also in there as well.
So you're talking closer to $2 million was allocated
in the current two year cycle that we're in
just out of Park and Lou.
And then if you throw in there also the lights
in the synthetic turf that came out of, not all of it,
a lot of it came out of Measure O
and our public private partnerships.
there was some of that thrown in there too.
So the last, so the current cycle that we're under now
is about two, two and a half million of Park and Lou
and then other sources because of the lights
and things have it up probably closer to five,
six million dollars.
So when we do get into the CIP portion of it
you'll see that there hasn't been a lot of development.
We haven't collected a lot of fees in Park and Lou,
but going back to your comment, Art,
I think if there are projects that this committee
or this commission wants to recommend,
I think it's worth hearing and making note of those
as we move through this process.
Yeah.
Do you want me to jump in or let others?
What I want to do is put a pin
in the capital budget part of it,
because Alex is going to tell us about the,
So we'll be able to listen and then kind of respond to that.
While I'm on that, does anyone else have any comments,
questions regarding just what we're looking at,
essentially here with the capital budget stuff?
Yes.
Nope, no.
Okay, please proceed.
Okay, all right.
Okay, the 10-Year Capital Investment Program.
So let's start with some background.
The 10-Year CIP is a planning document
that provides vision and defines priorities.
the 10-year CIP does not appropriate funds that's done separately with the two-year capital
budgets and this is the dynamic document that builds on previous work. It's deliberately
broad which allows the City to identify, prioritize and then schedule projects in two-year cycles.
So this slide here illustrates the various inputs that go into the development of the
10-year CIP. The CIP pulls from a variety of stakeholders including staff, commission
and council. In addition, it pulls projects from adopted plans including the parks and
master plans and asset management plans. Most importantly, this is a planning document
and does not allocate funding. Let me go straight into the projects. So first here is the Edder
Farm Park resilient playground surface replacement. It's an asset management project. So the
All abilities playground is a popular park which was constructed in 2014 at a time it was expecting
200,000 visitors over 20 years there's been a lot of expected wear and tear and this project will
perform a major renovation replacing the surfacing and adding an additional eight to ten years of life
next project here is the header farm park irrigation reservoir lining and also the
Here the farm park pump and pond irrigation fountains.
So this project will repair the leaks at the irrigation pond.
This will reduce water loss.
And then also, as a separate project,
it's going to replace the irrigation pumps
and the aeration pond pumps, which
was built about 20 years ago.
They typically only have about 10 years life,
so they're due for replacement.
The next project here is the ball field synthetic turf replacement.
This is another asset management project.
So the turf fields are scheduled to be installed this upcoming summer in 25.
The heavy use expected at this turf will allow additional programming time.
So synthetic turf usually lasts about 8 to 10 years and this project will perform a major
renovation given their 8 to 10 years of life.
the clock. Pool house and pool house repurposing master plan construction. So this is a discretionary
project. So with the scheduled completion of the new aquatic facility in 2027, the existing
pool and pool house will be demolished and repurposed for other needs at Heder Farm Park.
So the plan is to, for phase one, to create a master plan in 2829, in 3031, start the
the design and construction for the first part of it and for the second phase we'll
do another design and construction for the second remaining part of the repurpose plan.
The civic park master plan.
So this was a part of the 2017-2018 capital budgets to update the civic park master plan.
So the project was on hold with the development of your parks your future and with this implementation
the synthetic turf field project funding from this project was reallocated to fund the construction
of that project and move back into the CIP. So this project is now back in the CIP for consideration.
The Arbolado Parks Improvement Project, so this project was included as part of the 2022-23
capital budget for new park amenities at Arbolado Park. Again, this project, similar to the
The previous project, the funding from the capital budget was moved for the construction
of the turf fields project and then moved back into CIP for further evaluation.
So plans are in development for this project and will be brought back to the public for
review and completed.
The Oak Oak Park Improvements Project, so this is another discretionary project, and
And it was originally included in the 19 and 20 capital budget.
With the implementation of the turf fuel project the funding for this project was moved over
to fund the construction of the turf fuel project and moved back to the CIP and will
be again considered at a future date.
So this park is not familiar but it's a 16 acre park at the north end of Rossmore Parkway.
It's the only park to serve the Tice Valley area along with Tice Valley Community Park.
And the project will include new trails, new spots, and resting areas, as well as signage
and expanded parking.
And our project is the Bocce Ball Courts at Lockie and Ruggier Park.
Back in 1920, there was a conceptual study done on the design.
And then this is now the CIP under two separate funding cycles for construction.
Walden Park.
So this is the Walden Park parking lot expansion, and there are discretionary projects.
So this is a popular park known for its playground, disc golf, and easy access to Iron Horse Trail.
The relatively small parking lot that serves this park, it's often full, so the proposal
here is to expand the parking lot to itself to give better access to the park.
So staff is seeking commissioned feedback and to prioritize the discretionary projects
in the CIP.
So some of the criteria may include any available outside funding, any internal funding availability,
facility condition, and the community's desire.
This is the list of projects and where they're currently in the proposed plan CIP.
So that concludes my presentation on the CIP and I'm here to open for comments and feedback
and prioritization of the 26 to 35 CIP?
Thanks, Alex.
If anybody-is everybody okay with this?
I think we can maybe split this into a couple different ways
to kind of approach this.
And one, what I'd like to do maybe is just invite my fellow
commissioners to get some clarification
and maybe ask some questions about exactly
where the money's being spent and how that works and so forth.
And then we can maybe transition
into a broader conversation about this project versus that project and what's important and
does that make sense is that okay for everybody so we kind of just don't get lost in the weeds
you know we kind of move along those lines is that okay okay so I'll just turn it over if
anybody has any kind of bookkeeping questions or anything like that just just the general sense
because I think we've been a lot of it's when you're looking at it for the first time can be
wait, I don't understand this exactly, so I'll welcome any questions. I have a couple myself,
but I'll turn it over to the commissioners first. Okay, so I'll ask some of my questions.
Can you help me explain, like for instance, the synthetic turf, which are going in at
Heather Farm, fields one and two, it's earmarked though for the years 34-35. Is that just because
Are we are we financing that and we're paying it off then or how can you just explain why wouldn't that be in?
The the current year. Yeah, that's that's for the future replacement of the synthetic turf
So oh, we're already looking right the turf that hasn't gone in yet. Yeah, okay. All right now I get it
Okay. Well, I guess that's forward-thinking there
That didn't make sense to me. I can't wait to see the bleachers
That are gonna go in there in that picture too because that seems like it's a no. I'm just giving you a hard time
What else did I have to ask it please somebody else jump in because I'm looking at my notes
So I do want to ask about a couple three areas
Just so we're clear
The three areas are Creek restoration funds
pickleball
Court construction or whatever you want to call it
And the third one is public safety.
It's the things that we can additionally do.
I know we've done a lot, but additionally do
to avoid vandalism through motor vehicles and things like that.
Those three areas.
What, what, where are we in the, in general sense
of projects relating to those things?
So currently, and moving into the next two years cycle,
and I'll just take the last one first,
which is basically security for infrastructure,
I think I'll call it,
because you guys have all seen pictures
when someone drives the truck up on the turf
and spins donuts, those types of things.
We've had several problems in terms of vandalism
at Heather Farm in Arbalotto.
devil shadows some of these areas that are easily accessible
we have not had an issue at arbalado park
uh... in probably a year and a half
uh... because of this because of the infrastructure that we've installed
typically you're seeing boulders
you're seeing more
uh... bollards
more objects in the way
we we are waiting for the pool project to start
at heather farm
uh... as you know the pool is going to creep into
the turf area up closer to the All abilities playground,
which is then gonna fence a portion of that area off.
We will then move forward and if you can envision it,
there is a landscape buffer between San Carlos
and that paved road.
We will be adding boulders and structures within that area.
And then you'll see some lower fencing along Heather drive.
And as it turns back into the parking lot
and along Heather farm,
that'll be funded out of that $400,000
of infrastructure improvements.
Second, can you remind me of what the other one was, please?
So, creek restoration, I'll touch on that,
because I think we have a speaker here tonight
that's going to also talk a little bit about that.
During, for this current cycle,
the city decided to move forward and basically support
in the realm of about $25,000,
the Walnut Creek watershed for improvements,
basically invasive weed removal,
which I'm sure Mr. Simmons can speak to
when he's up here at public comment.
We look forward to contributing to the same fashion
of improving our Walnut Creek through Heather Farm,
along with looking to remove the non-natives
and invasive weeds that we identified
in a plan that was put together two or maybe two cycles ago
out at Heather Farm Park,
where we did an analysis on the drainage areas
and identified those areas.
We're also gonna be tackling that through this $400,000.
That's some of those projects.
I don't have them all laid out in front of me.
I know that Commissioner Garland asked kind of,
how do you prioritize?
And then maybe what those projects are.
I can share those with you in the future,
specifically how we're gonna spend that $400,000.
don't have a here with me today but but those projects are going to take place
in the next cycle. And Pickleball? Pickleball I don't have an answer for. I
know that director Safeen is here and he may be able to provide an update but I
don't I think we're I think management is working through that challenge right
now and I'm not sure there's a lot to update. I know that we've in the past
We've identified some potential other locations to build new courts.
That is all continuing to be discussed, and that's unfortunately about all I have for
you at this time in regards to pickleball.
So no funds identified for any court construction?
In this budget cycle, there's no recommendation currently listed for new pickleball construction.
that's correct now if that's something as i mentioned that's something that this commission
thinks is important and want to bring uh to want us to bring back to council as we summarize this
meeting by all means okay well count me in on that okay thank you i have one comment um
i would actually like to see the planning for the uh repurposing of the clerk center moved forward
I understand it's follow it's you know in the two-year cycle following the completion of the new pool, but
I don't
You know unless you just don't have enough staff to you know handle that at the same time that construction projects going on
it seems like
The public would be better served by doing something sooner rather than later with that. You know very large portion of
Heather farm so I would propose that get moved forward if it's possible
Just to what I'll ask a question to your quick is that in place where it is because we need it
To exist while the current the the new structure is being built
That was my thought it's planning though that even starting the plan for it is after
The new one is completely done. Is that what we're calling it
Well, there's three, you know if you have to if you look at the breakdown of it
Right. It shows, oh, we're planning.
Well, that's an expensive plan, don't you think?
Well, no, it's planning and-
You're saying plan.
Start the planning earlier.
But I'm saying in 2020, the 250,000 is a plan.
Right.
And that's not starting until 28, 29.
Which is after the new pool is open.
In 27, right.
Yeah, and we'll note it.
Yeah, we'll definitely note it, yep.
Just following up on that point,
I also agree with the idea that it would be nice
to have the years in place that we have now,
at least for Heather Farm
and the All-Abilities playground resurfacing,
the irrigation pumps, I think they're all in the 27, 28.
Reason being is that one day
there won't be construction crews there, right?
And it would be nice to just put a pin in it,
Tie a bow on it and then let the community enjoy it
for a couple of years, rather than,
okay, it's now another two years, now we're doing this,
now it's another two years, we're doing this,
so we don't kind of rip the band-aid off,
so to speak, over at Heather Farm.
So I'm in favor of keeping the years as they are.
But to Commissioner Garland's point,
it makes sense to at least move up the planning
for the Clark pool.
I've got more to say, but I just wanted to...
I think it's just a matter of like,
if we can find a funding,
because in the capital budget right now,
The funds are already pretty much tied up, so we need to find another 250 to supplement
for that cost.
But it is noted, and we'll share that information.
Okay, Bachi.
Was there a-how did Bachi make the list of priorities?
So some of you have been on this commission for a while, and seen several of these projects
funded already. And due to some shortfall in funding for the synthetic turf project,
there were some projects that we hadn't started and some that were on the books with some
funding remaining, that we ended up closing those projects and diverting that money to
help budget for the synthetic turf. And that's why you're seeing some of these. And I'll
just go through them real quick just to give you a better idea.
So Arbolado Park, two cycles ago there was $50,000 that was set aside to do a planning
process with a commissioner or two in the neighborhood and some of the other stakeholders
in that area.
That $50,000, the decision was made, council supported, to that money was going to roll
back in as all these projects are going to go through.
The $400,000 that is listed in there now was funding that was anticipated would have come
out of that planning process.
So it's about an acre and a half that we were going to consider planning for.
To redevelop an acre and a half is somewhere around, you know, three to 500,000, depending
on what you want to do.
That's what you're seeing in there.
But the money that was pulled aside and put into the synthetic turf was $50,000.
So as part of this new improvement, we would still have to go out and meet with the community
in the future and go through a planning process to make sure that everybody was engaged.
Park, there was $25,000 set aside. This goes back to the $17,000, $18,000, I believe, so
this is several years old now. We had not been able to move that up on the priority
list, and quite frankly, we could have probably had a more thorough process with the neighborhood
before we started that project. It had already been funded. We had filed the CAT-X, the CEQA
information and we just hadn't gotten around. It was really just a dirt pathway that we
were going to do in a figure eight to allow for some more hiking up there in that area.
So that was a 25,000. As part of this 150, what you're seeing in there, this goes back
art. I believe you remember this. When each commissioner was assigned a feature park and
it was Commissioner Ludwig who had Old Oak Park and we were looking at developing these
parks in a much grander scheme than they are today and this included a parking lot and
that's why you're seeing a much larger number than just the 25 that was set aside for the
walking path. The bocce courts was a project that Public Works partnered with Arts and
Rec and some commissioners served on and we did a large survey throughout the community.
We moved forward and hired a designer to design two bocce courts in Larky and two in Rudgir.
We had about $30,000 remaining after the consultant was done with that design.
Those designs still exist.
Building those courts didn't become a priority.
I think Pickleball was picking up right around that time and we knew the impacts that were
taking place at Rudd Gear and thought maybe we should kind of reassess the
amount of usage over there at Rudd Gear and I think we just paused on that.
And the estimates of the construction were much higher than we thought they'd be.
Much higher. Thank you. You're absolutely right. And then Walden was never funded.
That's a project that's been on the books for a while. And then the Civic
Park, Heather Farm Park master plan. This was one of the feature parks that Tom
and worthy, the past chair was involved in.
And we were looking at kind of revamping
or taking a new look at Civic Park,
including to the extreme of moving the playground
to the other side of the park
to try and spread out the usage.
And because of the council's priority
for infrastructure improvements,
which ultimately led to the pool and synthetic turf,
this project was put on pause
and approximately $300,000 or somewhere in that neighborhood
went back into the funding, the synthetic turf.
And so we didn't wanna just wipe these out
because they were important to the commission in the past.
So the goal was to bring these back,
just put them in later years
and rehab these conversations in the future.
Well, I'll just second Commissioner Oler's comment
regarding the pickleball, picking that back up
and maybe add a pickleball master plan.
What I'd like is to open up to the commissioners
to kind of give us general thoughts here
because as commissioner Lohler said,
you know, the train is leaving the station
with the city council is gonna prioritize
over the next two years.
And so I'm sure they're all watching this
on their couches at home right now, listening to us,
but if they aren't, they're still gonna hear our input
regarding what we talked about,
Commissioner Garland's suggestion
that we move Clark up maybe two years.
What do you guys think about Civic Park?
Are bocce courts an important thing?
I've been on this commission so long
that the bocce's come and gone two or three times now.
And it always kind of gets kicked down
when other things come up.
But is this the time we say, you know what,
now it's time to put some new bocce courts
at Rugged Gear or Larky.
So that's kind of what we're looking for right now, is when you look at this, what
does this say to you?
What do you like prioritizing and not?
And just, you know, give us your honest feedback about what you think.
So welcome your suggestions.
Sorry, you probably said the same thing.
Sorry, Kevin Savane, Director of Arts and Recreation, just trying to make sure your
process goes smoothly.
There's a lot going on at the dais.
I believe you have a member of the public who wishes to make a comment.
I would suggest from staff you take the public on before you all deliberate so you can hear
from the public.
So sorry to jump in, I apologize.
Does any member of the public wish to come and speak at this time?
Sorry, Bob.
Good evening, Chair Moran, members of the Commission.
My name is Bob Simmons.
I am here tonight as president of the Walnut Creek Watershed Council.
For those not familiar with it, the Walnut Creek Watershed is 146 square miles in size.
It includes parts of nine cities and towns in Contra Costa County.
It is the largest watershed in Contra Costa County.
I said nine cities and towns are partly in it.
There's only 19 towns total, cities and towns total
in the watershed.
I'm going to be mentioning something
that the Watershed Council has done in 2024.
Two of them directly relate to,
from my perspective, to things that the commission
needs to be thinking about going forward.
And the first one is in 2024,
we completed an identification
of high and medium priority restoration sites
in the watershed.
Those are all really in the developed area of the watershed
because it was a community-led activity.
It wasn't staff supported or anything like that.
And we were identifying the places that we knew the best.
We identified some in Walnut Creek,
some in the open space,
and some that are in private ownership, let's say.
And those are important to be thinking about
as we're going forward.
The second thing we did is we applied
for a Bureau Reclamation water grant for planning
and creating a watershed restoration plan,
the first ever plan that would be done
for the Walnut Creek Watershed.
Early January, we got notice that we'd been approved.
It doesn't mean allocate or anything like that.
And then, you know, we're not too sure
what's going to happen going forward,
but that's the way things are.
The third thing that I wanted to mention is,
And this is important for what I'll
call fish people in particular, and you
do have fishing in Heather Farm Park,
is that through our advocacy, our quiet advocacy,
when we're pounding on drums or anything like that,
the flood control district decided
to ask the Army Corps of Engineers
to study alternatives for fish passage at what's
called drop structure number one.
Drop structure number one is the first barrier
fish passage for salmon coming up from Susan Bay from the ocean and it is a
complete barrier to that fish passage. I've been there at the base of drop
number one and seen salmon there, seen 20-25 inch Chinook salmon there, they
can't get above, they're poached and so we would we're really happy that the
flood control district which is always historically said no we can't do anything
at all has has written to the Corps of Engineers. Again we're not sure what the
the result will be, but the initial response
to the core was really positive.
The latter one doesn't really relate too much
to Walnut Creek other than I could note
that in 1940, in the 1940s,
you could fish in downtown Walnut Creek.
And that was a long time ago.
So how do I wanna, now I have to look at my notes.
When I looked at the proposed CIP for 2026 to 35,
I didn't see any creek restoration
project, wetland restoration project,
in any manner, shape, or form.
And I think that is disturbing for me
as a creek and watershed person.
I think it should be disturbing for you as well.
If you're a climate change person,
it is also significant because creeks and wetlands
are where your wildlife live, where
you have the greatest growth of vegetation
because you have moisture there.
So you have the most carbon sequestration
you can possibly get. And so it's important for when you're looking at a planning document
like this to think about, well, what do we want our creeks and our wetlands and our watershed
to be like in five or ten years? Because right now it's not going to be any different really
than it is today. And you do have, and I appreciate the funding that the staff has provided to
to us, and we've used it to remove.
It takes about five times to get it done.
Remove a particularly bad invasive species
that causes flooding and is a fire risk.
And we're doing pretty well on that,
but there's still a ways to go.
And staff did a fairly nice job in Shell Ridge
and a project near Indian Pond.
But there's a lot more sites.
There's Hazard Pond down in the southern part of Shell Ridge.
There's Rock Oak.
There's actually a creek in Red Gear
that is heavily infested with ivy and for those of you not familiar with ivy, if you
want rats you plant ivy. It's that simple. The other thing we found from Civic Park,
once we removed the ivy and another group came in and planted some native plants, flowering
plants, the woman that has been walking that particular section has said the number of
butterflies has exploded, both species and number. Why is that? Because the ivy interferes
with one of the life the part of the life cycle of most butterflies and so
it's really important to do so going forward I wanted to mention a couple
things besides just identifying restoration projects and prioritizing
them which I think is an important function of both staff and the
Commission in Walnut Creek and I hope that's one of the things you talk about
and go on I'll also mention though the 1993 Creek Master Plan you know you get
to 2035 it's gonna be 40 years old a lot of things have changed in those 40
years and you know we buried a lot of creeks and not that the city has buried
creeks but I mean it has happened and so we really need to have a look at that
plan and maybe a wholesale complete redo of the plant of the Creek master plan
because of its 40 years old the city was really a leader in doing it back in the
early 90s but it's time to take another look at it so I'll just conclude on this
part of it by saying Creek I hope well I was gonna say Creek restoration is
really expensive and so when you start looking at $150,000 that little section
by the library that we've been working on and we're now on the fifth year of it
which is the final year it's about a hundred and seventy five thousand and so
you know Creek restoration is really expensive the city is getting quite a
deal with us from for getting rid of the Arundo in Civic Park and we got some
more work to do there but when you work with contractors in some of the places
in the creeks that are really steep you have to work with contractors you can't
work with volunteers it does cost a lot of money plus you have anyhow what I
hope you do out of this is that you communicate to staff and the council
that restoring our creeks restoring our watershed restoring and creating
wetlands and expanding wetlands is really important for the city to be
thinking about. And I mentioned that from the standpoint that I come from the
Walling Creek Watershed Council. Most people don't when you say Walling
Creek Watershed, they just think about the city of Walling Creek. But it's the
same name. The creek starts here. It starts in by Ilfern Isle. And I think
it's really important for Walling Creek, the city of Walling Creek, to show some
leadership in creek and watershed restoration. I wanted to mention one other
thing for you to think about going forward because I'm also, as staff knows,
a trail person and I'm going to mention sort of three trails and as you look
forward to the next ten years so the three I want to mention one is a trail
connection from the Iron Horse Trail to Sugar Loaf open space going through the
Rudgear Park and Ride. Why is it important you're getting a lot more people
downtown people want to get on a bike they don't want to just ride on the Iron
Horse this would get them access into Sugar Loaf for bike riding it also be a
better parkings but the second one is is to create a paved path through the
Cuba checked attention basin which is next to Northgate High School so the
bikes would not have to go on Northgate Road to get to Montalbo State Park the
State Park has done a wonderful job with making improvements to that roadway to
make it safer but the Cuba checked attention basin over to the city by the
way has a conservation easement that had purchased many years ago would be an
excellent amenity would also connect the shell ridge to sugar loaf trail which
is presently now you have to walk along North Gate Road if you really want to do
that particular section the last one is really not really a recreation one so
much is to improve the tunnel underneath Ignacio Valley Road that presently
doesn't really allow you to ride your bike through it doesn't really allow two
people to walk side by side that's a big project but the to me that the selling
point is not a recreation park, but really to make it more of a commuting
vehicle to enable people that live east of Walnut Creek to get access to the
Contra Costa Canal Trail and to BART for heading into the city. So thank you so
much for your service. By the way, I'll just note that for those of you who are
afraid of these things, I started in your seat some 25 years ago. You know, it's a
great experience and so I hope you're all enjoying the time that you have here.
So it's a wonderful job you're doing. Thank you. Thank you, Bob. Does anybody
Do you have any follow-up questions for Mr. Simmons?
Bob, I do.
And I don't wanna put you in the spot,
but thank you very much for your,
I always enjoyed the updates to the watershed.
Thank you.
I know you said it's an expensive proposition,
just watershed maintenance and so forth,
but is there a priority in your mind,
if the city council is looking for
what we can control in the city itself, you know.
I know the library stretch there is being worked on
and so forth and you know what better than most,
I mean just, and I don't need an answer,
but I've, you know, just while I've got you,
I'm just curious.
I'll give a response, whether it's an answer
or not, it's a different matter.
And part of it depends is if you give me 500, not me,
but if you allocate 500,000, that's sort of one answer.
If you allocate two million, that's a different answer.
And literally these are all things that done, but let me take just a minute and say what was done with regard to the
Indian Creek improvements and if you
When the mud is gone if you haven't been down there you should go down there because the city did a nice job
It wasn't quite the way I would have done it, but they did a nice job
I would have taken the trail out of the creek entirely. It's just Mike but Mike knows that
There was a cooperation between the Walling Creek open space foundation and the city because the Walling Creek open space foundation
funded the concept work that was done in order to and then the city came in and
instead of going with a contractor which probably would have cost two or three
times as much they did it through staff and so I mean it worked really well it
was done relatively inexpensively and it looks nice and I'm looking
forward to seeing it with water but that's probably at the low end of what
you can do with any type of thing if you go to hazard pond which me is probably
probably has the biggest opportunity for creating a much larger wetland area than is there now.
It probably needs to be, soil needs to be removed from it, so that functions more as
a wetland.
That would probably be my number one.
But that's a large one, and I can come up with smaller ones, you know, at a different
time.
Thank you for the question.
Yeah.
Thank you very much.
Does anybody have comments we'd like to share?
We're just regarding the CIP and different projects questions for Alex
all our other
Staff in the room anybody. Yeah, I have a comment
So when I pulled the citizen of Walnut Creek about their thoughts on the priorities
For pros for the next year. Some of them talked about the opportunities and access to community gardens
I don't know how that will work into the CIP. I know that
Heather farm we could we currently have out that opportunity, but I'm wondering if civic park there's any
Potential sites there that we could explore and whether that could be part of the master plan update
That's in the current CIP. I
Just want to put that out there
It how homestead park has some gardens as well, right those are city
And how, what's the process for somebody renting space, a garden space there?
So those are, that's a great community garden.
I don't know if you've been out there, but it's definitely worth getting out to.
These people kind of dress it up and, and have like their own little art show out there.
Their plots are 625 square feet.
So they're large, they're about $150 per year to lease.
And there's a waiting list of about five years.
And so the best thing to do is to reach out to myself or Ranger Janky and let him or myself
know that you're interested in the list, and we put it on the list, and as plots become
available, we reach out to the people on the list to see if they're interested.
Well, I'd like to be more specific about creek restoration, but I don't know a dollar amount
to put on it as a recommendation and I don't know how to define it. I mean there are various
ways to go about it but it's a very, I think it's bigger than us. It's bigger than pros.
It's really the whole Molnick Creek and for that it's city council and I'd like to think
that it could be high on their list of priorities,
but I just don't know.
I certainly think that we have great advocates for it
in Bob and in Wesley Hunt.
Both have been involved in it quite some time
and have done countless hours of work.
but without visibility in the CIP,
without visibility in the capital budget,
I value the things that the C is already planning on doing,
but I think that we really need to take it much higher
to really make it effective and make it something
that the community in general can be very proud of.
This is gonna take years.
It's gonna take a lot of money.
I just don't know exactly how to tee that up
in the context of what we're doing tonight.
Can I respond to that?
Because I don't know the answer to that either.
I've made several notes here
and we've got a number of projects
that we need to work on this year.
And Bob always brings value input
to these types of conversations.
And I mean, there could be a recommendation.
Bob's right, the plans are old, need to be updated.
The commission could have a recommendation
that we want to set, because I don't know the number either,
100,000 or $150,000 aside,
whether it's this cycle or the next cycle,
to hire a consultant to come in
work with the commission and work with the community stakeholders to update the plan.
And so we actually have something to work towards where we can identify small projects
as we move through. So because it is, it's a massive project, as you can imagine.
And your recommendation, you're, you know, kind of trying to put some structure on that
is totally in keeping with the Walnut Creek way of successful large projects. I mean,
You've got to develop a big plan with a lot of involvement,
a lot of input and involvement.
And this one is not something we can do in a vacuum.
It involves surrounding communities
and the watershed council and flood control
and potentially Army Corps of Engineers, you name it,
any organization that touches water.
And there are a lot of organizations
touch water around here would have to be involved but it I think it's something
that we should start that process get back to the planning phase of how to do
this I I'll second that yeah I think 1993 certainly was a long time ago and
that's the last piece of paper that we're working off of then I think Bob
does have a point because they're the word Creek is in the city's name and I
think a lot of people kind of forget that my my my thoughts of which I'd like
to be noted for the council and staff are that as I mentioned before keeping
the idea of Heather farm being quote-unquote completed and that means
more than just the new swim center but the existing Clark swim center, the all
abilities, the irrigation pumps, just to be able to kind of not have an ongoing
construction site there for the next 12 years. I, if we're looking at moving
things around whether it's this year or next or what have you, I've been on this
Commission so long that I remember when we did the Civic Park Master Plan update
back in 2017 and it's now kicked to 32-33 to Commissioner Pinkstaff's point
and also some of the discussions we've had just about the creeks is that Civic
Park and I made this point two months ago was that it is could and is somewhat
the crown jewel of the city and will only continue to be so because of all of
the influx of people that we're going to have and have now in the downtown area
who live in multi-family housing and do not have backyard and so the idea of
moving up in my opinion the Civic Park master plan in order to facilitate
whatever that looks like because the opportunity is there right well I don't
know what we do with the cars but there's the real estate is there we've
You've got a creek running through it.
The location is impeccable.
It's next to the library, and it needs some love.
And I think that's the next big part
that the city could tackle,
and I'd hate to see we wait for another seven years
before we get around to that.
And then the last thing I'll say is
I'm fine with all of the things that we have on here.
And the reason why is because if you look at some of this,
It's just been years and years and years of,
we'll get to it, we'll get to it.
The bocce courts are a great example of that.
I know it's, I'd hate to see it kick down the road
if the money isn't there.
And I understand there are more important things,
but a lot of these have been in the hopper for many years.
And so to see it on paper again is great,
but it would be nice to be able to commit to it
rather than 20 years from now saying,
wouldn't it be great to do some bocce courts
over at Red Gear and Larky, you know.
So, as much as, you know, we can always wave our magic wand
and materialize the money, I understand that.
Keeping this list and actually acting on this,
I think, is really important, but my point would be
to be able to move up the Civic Park.
And, yeah, that's it, that's it for me.
I concur in that with the Civic Park.
And also, that could combine Creek restoration
as part of the ideas for that as well.
So I think that does several things.
Plus, you know, there's sustainability issues in there.
And I remember us bringing up the fact
that downtown has changed a lot
and we really need to be conscious of that
and developing our open space and recreation facilities.
So again, that's consistent with that priority
we talked about at the last meeting.
So, and so, better hire some planners.
But there are grant monies too, you know,
the California State Department of, oh my God,
drawing a blank, the parks, the people who do the parks,
you know, they often have grant programs.
And, you know, there's definitely,
like Bob was saying, they got the Water Smart Grant.
And again, who knows what the federal government will do
with monies like that.
But nonetheless, it's a 10-year CIP.
So all is maybe not lost.
So yeah, I think it'd be nice to make sure
that some of these broader reaching things.
I know we're kind of really focused on the Heather Farm
complex, which is a huge undertaking
and a big chunk of money.
But it'd be nice to kind of keep these other balls going
as well.
Other thoughts?
OK.
Do you mind if I summarize what I heard then?
I'm not at all, please do, okay.
So work towards developing new courts
or figuring out a solution for pickleball.
Move the Clark Swim Center planning up two years in the CIP
so we can start planning sooner.
Look into further opportunities for community gardens
throughout our park system
and get that listed on the CIP.
Move the Civic Park Master Plan up in the cycle,
seems like move it way up in the 10 year CIP,
as what I'm hearing.
Work towards completing that park infrastructure,
including those pumps.
So we're not on construction forever out there.
Potentially put some funding aside
for Creek Master Plan update.
And then the last one is look to continue
to seek grant funding for some of these opportunities
so that we do get in a pinch with the Park and Lou
that we have another funding source
to help us through these.
Did I capture everything?
The meeting's recorded if we didn't,
so we'll make sure it's in the minutes.
Thank you, Alex.
All right, thank you.
I'm gonna call for any commissioner reports.
Do we have anything they'd like to share?
I do not as well.
Any staff reports?
Looks like Kevin Safeen has one, yeah.
Apologies for making you watch me walk.
For the record, Kevin Safeen,
director of arts and recreation.
So I have a little slideshow.
One of my other roles is to be like Mr. Vickers,
so I am the staff to the arts commission.
And so last Monday, the commission approved public art
for the new Heather Farm Aquatic and Community Center.
So they heard a report which summarized the entire process
that the commission went through to identify public art.
There's a requirement of all private development.
They put 1% of their construction into public art.
The city's not exempt from that.
So there's an expectation that the budget
will include public art.
So the budget for public art for this project
is about $950,000 significant.
So staff went through a rigorous request
qualifications process last year had about 160 artists respond to that, narrowed that
down to about 30. The Arts Commission appointed a selection panel, which included Arts Commissioner,
City Council Member, members of the public. That group narrowed it down to 10, and then
they invited five folks to present proposals, and they selected three. So those three were
approved last Monday by the Arts Commission, and I will show you what they are. So the
The first is going to be, and if you're familiar,
I'm sorry I didn't bring an overview of the project site,
but if you're familiar with the design,
includes a lobby, an atrium,
which is the entrance to the community center on one side,
and the aquatic center on the other side.
So the first public art piece approved
is up in the ceiling there, it's called Poppy.
So this would be as you enter from either side,
the west or the east,
you'd see these poppy sculptures hanging from the ceiling,
which would be both inviting and help
to make the space look a little bit more vibrant.
So this is a piece designed by two artists from New York
who have done this in other public and private facilities.
So a very exciting piece here,
and this is what it would look like
if you were sitting on your back looking up the ceiling,
you'd see the poppies like this.
So it'll be both an interesting piece also,
I think will help sell rentals and activity there
a little bit more, because it makes it a little more vibrant.
So again, just another view of that.
So, and this is what it would look like from the outside.
The design is still somewhat influx,
but this is a good view of if you were outside the building,
what it would look like lit from the inside.
So that's the first one.
The second one is a sculpture,
which would be in the park itself,
so not part of the project per se,
but in the area between the playground and the pond.
And so this is about a 10 foot tall sculpture
by an artist out of Oregon.
And she has come up with three, and this
is how you can see the scale, three different sculptures
here using natural stone.
One is that one on the left, which is about 10 feet tall,
the other 10 and 1.5 feet tall, with granite on the bottom,
and then other stones going up.
and then two smaller pieces,
which would serve as benches in this process.
This is what it conceivably could look like
within the park itself.
Oops.
And then this would be engaging,
the artist spoke to, she believes,
in having people touch art and interact with it.
And so not just a hands off.
So she sees people climbing, sitting,
jumping on these pieces.
So that's the second one.
Then the third one is as you are coming into the main entrance to the facility from the
east, this would be the drop off side, on the left there, on the top, that's the bathhouse
of the pool.
So as people are entering the pool on the left, they would be seeing this mosaic, which
is a glass tile piece which is stretched about 40 feet in length attached to the building.
So this is a sample of what it could look like.
The artist used this image in another piece.
So he would not be doing this same piece here, it would be a new image.
This artist is out of San Francisco.
So he would be essentially creating an original piece here, again, made of glass mosaic, which
will be attached to the building on that side.
So all of this was taken into consideration by the Arts Commission.
They approved it.
and so they are the final safe in public art.
So we're moving forward with public art here.
Artists will be working with the architects
to engage in the design process.
So I know this wasn't part of your consideration
for this evening, but if you have any questions,
might be happy to answer them briefly.
Thank you.
I have a couple questions.
Sure.
When's it going to go public?
Public in terms of the art pieces.
So, well, officially it went public
since it was a public meeting.
I expect that when we continue to have updates
to the community about where we are with the project,
and I don't know if Director Payne's gonna talk at all
about the next steps and where we are with the project,
we will continue to post updates on the website
and share things through the city manager's monthly
newsletters, perhaps the nutshell will include this.
So as soon as we have something,
I don't wanna just do art itself standalone,
but I'd rather tell that story more broadly.
So there'll be opportunities.
And then a kind of comment question-y thing.
I noticed that large fans above the poppies,
are they meant to flow, or are they static?
They'll be static.
The artists will work closely with the architect
to make sure that both the radius of the fans
do not hit the piece that it's hanged on.
The piece are going to be rigid, so they will not
be floating back and forth with the wind at all.
That's the intent.
We'll see.
Are they pink and yellow?
I don't think pink, necessarily.
I think it's more of a natural tool.
Is it more poppy?
Is it more orange?
Yeah.
It'll be more orange, I would expect.
Anyway, it's probably going to be more orange than pink.
And that's my sense.
Poppy like the flower poppy?
Right.
Yes.
looks like a jellyfish, too.
I have the beholder, yes, but poppies, their genesis
was the poppies, the flower, the state flower.
Thanks, Kevin.
Please pass our thank you on to the Arts Commission, too.
Also, I'm glad that the second piece is hands on,
because it's going to be hands on whether they want it to be
or not.
Yes, absolutely.
Thank you.
Secretary Vickers, you, Rich, did you want to, no?
Good evening, Public Works Director Rich Payne.
So just a couple things with regard
to the aquatics and community center facility.
In terms of schedule, right now we
have not received the regulatory permits for the project,
but we are diligently working on them.
And based on our discussions with them,
they've given us an indication that it's
plausible that we'll receive those by the end of March. And so we are working
forward to move on the project and we've broken it up into two phases as of right
now. Phase one will be the demolition of a portion of the existing pond and then
also the expansion of the lake and so that will involve dewatering the
existing concrete pond around the community center and in basic and breaking up the
The bottom of the the pond if you will so that we can put a footing in and accommodate the new edge line of the pond
The other portion is and it's also a large portion is the expansion of the lake
And that will include
about 16,000
surface area expanding that much and then along the path so if you're familiar with the path that kind of goes
along the north end of the pond
down around the natural lake
that it almost follows that that trail almost follows the edge line of the new expansion, so
That's sort of our plan with regard to
That area you probably if you've been down there because of the nesting
period we tried to
Get some trees removed down there several of you have if you haven't walked down there. It does change the whole environment
But that's to accommodate the expansion. So we removed something right around the area of 40 trees
and the reason for that is to to remove them so that we aren't conflicting with
bird nesting and that sort of thing when we start the project so
Yeah, so if you have any questions with regard to that I'm happy to answer them
What is the expected time frame for that phase one?
So the phase one and thank you for asking that.
It's we can't work in the waterway there's a moratorium from October to April so we have
until about the end of April all the way to mid October to accomplish all that work.
So that's that's our plan now again this is all tentative on the permitting what we didn't
want to happen is all of a sudden we receive the regulatory permits and now we can start
but we haven't planned, we don't have the design ready so we're working with our architect
right now to get the design completed for that portion, get the plans and specs so we
can go out to bed so that's our goal and that's what we're pushing for right now.
There's going to be some biological assessment, we'll have biologists on site, there perhaps
could be some relocation of some wildlife and some other things as we dewater that pond
and also some impact of the environment.
So we want them there to sort of direct us and give us some feedback in terms of how
we can safely do that and protect the environment at the same time.
Thank you.
Thank you. Yeah, so just to add on to what Rich was saying if you get a chance to get out there in the next
Few weeks or even the next few months. We've now installed a construction fence along the
Portion where we just remove the trees which is actually the southern end of the Nature Lake that fence is there to protect the wildlife
Also keep people out of the area to be quite honest with you
so it will be there until the till the pond expansion is complete and
possibly a little after that, as you can imagine,
we're going to be revegetating that shoreline
that's part of our permit,
and we're gonna want those plants to get established
probably before we remove that fence.
So it's not very sightly, but it's hopefully beneficial.
And just to add on to what Rich said,
if you can envision this,
we are gonna be dewatering that concrete pond at some point,
and it'll probably be dewatered for as much as six months.
And so that environment is really gonna,
if we do move forward
and get into construction in April, May,
it's gonna be a different summer out at Heather Farm,
for sure, so, but it's progress,
and that's the direction the community wanted to go,
so that's where we're working on.
So in regards to my brief update here,
and Bob hit on some of this,
and I've seen some interest here from the commissioners,
we have a number of projects that I wanted to bring
to the commission this year.
We did a, for some of you who weren't involved,
we did a 10 year park plan, which was I think,
it was either a 15 to 25, 20, 2015 to 2025 plan
or 16 to 26 that we need to start working on updating.
When we put this plan together,
it took us three or four sessions.
We actually held the sessions out at the courtyard
and over at Heather Farm,
where we could actually get out some plans
and have more of a conversation study session.
The second one, second item for me is we've got some trails that are 20 to 25 maybe 30
year social trails that we are evaluating.
We have a change in use document that we're using and once we complete that we'll be bringing
it back to the Commission to share that information and share our recommendation moving forward.
And then two others, there's we've received a lot of feedback over the years about the
Nature Lake and the state of the Nature Lake with all the Thule's that are in the Nature
Lake.
And that kind of is in line with Bob's, Mr. Simmons comments regarding and now the council's
comments regarding our waterways and creeks.
And I'd love to bring that information back, share with you what we know historically kind
of summarize that 93 Creek restoration plan and and just be able to have a broader conversation
and make sure that everybody's in the know of what those plans look like in the past.
And then the yeah and so I think that's it so I'm not sure which is a priority for this
commission so I'm going to send out an email and ask each of you to prioritize these three
or four opportunities and once I get that feedback returned I'll start working on preparing
for the April and what would it be? April and June meeting. Thank you. That's all I
had. Thank you.
It would be like a brief description of each of the items, like for us to vote. Okay, thank
you.
Yeah, thank you. When I send them out, I'll summarize in a little bit more detail than
I'm sharing tonight. Yeah. Thank you.
Anything else? No? Okay. Thank you all for being here. This concludes the February 3rd,
2025 pros commission meeting. We are adjourned until April 7th, 2025. Thank you.