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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-04-2009 Parks and Recreation Advisory Council Minutes PARK& RECREATION ADVISORY COUNCIL June 4,2009 In attendance: Duane Taber, Chairman,Mike Mathews, Grace Adams, Cheryl Smyth,Edmon Daniels, Tom Davenport and Rebecca Francik. Staff. Carleen Hanscom, Recreation Services Manager and Stan Strebel,Administrative and Community Services Director. Dan Dotta, Facilities Manager,was excused. The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. by Chairman Taber. Carleen Hanscom,new Recreation Manager, introduced herself to the group. Carleen began work for the City in April, following the retirement of Paul Whitemarsh in March. STAFF REPORTS Recreation Carleen reported that the pools will be opening on June 13. Memorial Pool has been open for private pool parties and for the Channel Cats Swim Team. Last weekend they had a meet, hosting approximately 550 participants. The Girl Scouts after school program is working well. The City has an upcoming Basketball Shooting Clinic that had to be relocated due to flooding at the Pasco High gymnasium. The Anthony's/kayak tours are very popular and are currently full until August. The Head Start program is also full,with 120 youth total. Cyber Stop continues to be active,receiving 440 participants this last month(May). The Senior Center recently hosted a successful parking lot BBQ. Planning continues for the upcoming July 4th events. Maintenance In Dan's absence Stan gave a brief report on park maintenance activities. Things have been very busy. The Cemetery was in good shape for Memorial Day—lots of compliments were received. The new gazebo in Volunteer Park is nearly complete and ready for use. NEW BUSINESS The City intends to replace the current Lewis Street underpass structure with a new overpass, located slightly north of the existing structure. The new structure is anticipated to split traffic at the west end with west bound traffic exiting onto Clark Street and traffic entering the overpass eastbound coming from Lewis Street. A"Y"will be created in the vicinity of 2nd and 1St Avenue,west of the railroad tracks. On the east side the alignment will take the overpass ramp through what is currently Wayside Park just north of Lewis Street and west of Oregon Avenue. Since Federal funding is associated with the project,the replacement or mitigation of the lost park property is required. It has been proposed that the area created by the Y,between 1St and 2nd Avenue, at the west end of the overpass,be developed into a park facility to satisfy the requirement. The Public Works Director has asked for input on this proposal. As this matter was discussed, members had the following comments: 1. Would the elevated sections of roadway on either side of the proposed park create a wall or shadow surrounding the new facility? 2. What would be the noise at the park facility as a result of the elevated traffic? 3. Is the neighborhood appropriate for a park? Who would be the likely users? 4. Is it possible that this property might be better used for a parking lot and the park relocated elsewhere? Stan will discuss this with other City officials to try and get this information for Park Board members. Stan reported that the baseball scoreboard replacement and pergola project at the stadium are nearly complete. The Martin Luther King Center remodel project is essentially finished with the design phase and expected to be bid within the next 30—60 days. The project should take no more than 90 days to complete. Stan expects that it will be completed by the end of this year. This will replace the stage area, which is largely unused, and a junk storage area with two useable workout rooms,restrooms,plus storage above the area in the attic. Stan and Carleen discussed concerns that staff has with the use of inflatable amusement toys, including new State Department of Labor&Industries regulations that require that all amusement ride or inflatable operators must get an annual operating permit from the department for each amusement ride, climbing wall or inflatable. Certification includes inspection,insurance and a decal for the approved devices. Staff has been limiting inflatable devices to Kurtzman and Memorial Parks as a means to minimize exposure and allow us to monitor them more closely. These are also areas where we have electricity available for the inflation equipment. If electricity is not available people use gasoline powered generators,which can be noisy and present their own problems. Following a good deal of discussion, and poll taken of Council Members, it appears that most favor continuing with limiting inflatable toys to certain parks and requiring them on a reservation basis. This will enable staff to better monitor full compliance with the laws and reduce exposure in other areas. Staff will continue to refine this and may prepare a presentation to City Council. Mike asked about the condition of the Road 36 soccer facility. Stan acknowledged there had been some irrigation pump problems. In addition to that,however,the fields are vastly overused and staff is working to put in place an agreement with the Hispanic Soccer League that will better regulate play on the fields to allow adequate time to regenerate and recover turf. Another problem is the design of the fields do not allow for the fields to be rotated or turned in opposite directions to minimize the problem of concentrating all damage in one area. Staff has recently been looking at the possibility of adding to the number of fields available for this use. The Hispanic Soccer League has also contacted the Youth Soccer Association to see about the possibility of using that facility,however, it is also rather heavily used. Staff will continue to keep the Council informed as discussions and alternatives progress and are developed. Mike Mathews asked about the possibility of an additional crosswalk on Burden Blvd. in the vicinity of the baseball stadium. He noticed there had recently been one installed at Road 60. Staff will discuss this with the City Engineer. There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 7:00 p.m.