PKC - Item 2A - Minutes of November 5, 2019
MINUTES OF THE ROSEMEAD PARKS COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING
NOVEMBER 5, 2019
The regular meeting of the Rosemead Parks Commission was called to order by Chair Morten at
7:00 p.m. in the Rosemead City Council Chamber located at 8838 East Valley Boulevard,
Rosemead, California.
PRESENT: Chair Morten, Vice-Chair Lin, Commissioners Nguyen, Ruvalcaba and Tocki
ABSENT: None
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE was led by Commissioner Nguyen
INVOCATION was led by Vice Chair Lin
1. PUBLIC COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE - None
2. CONSENT CALENDAR
A. Approval of minutes – October 1, 2019
Chair Morten motioned the approval of the meeting notes at 7:03 p.m.
ACTION: Moved by Commissioner Ruvalcaba and seconded by Commissioner
Lin to approve the October 1, 2019 minutes: Motion carried by the following vote:
AYES: Lin, Morten, Nguyen, Ruvalcaba, Tocki
3. MATTERS FROM STAFF
A. Garvey Park Restroom Renovation
Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking shared that ground broke on the project
on Friday, November 1. The construction team met the previous Thursday to
discuss small issues; nonetheless, the project is moving forward smoothly. The
project should be finalized by February 2020 or sooner. Updates on the timeline
will be reported in future meetings. During the renovation, the restrooms next to
the baseball field and snack bar are open for public use.
Commissioner Nguyen inquired about the total cost for the restroom renovation.
Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking mentioned he did not have the total cost;
however, would provide an update in a future meeting.
B. Garvey Dog Park
Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking stated that the grant agreement was
received from the California State Department of Parks and Recreation. The grant
for the park is being funded as a matching grant. It will be matched at 50 percent
with a total of $290,000 being received from the state and the City will match up to
$290,000. The total cost of completing the project is approximately $580,000.
There is a completion deadline for the project of June 2022. Staff will move along
with park designers to finalize the design.
Chair Morten asked regarding the location of the dog park.
Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking replied that the dog park would be built
at Garvey Park next to the restrooms. Once the design is finalized it will go to the
Parks Commission for suggestions. Currently, the area holding old City vehicles
will be the new site of the dog park.
Commissioner Ruvalcaba asked whether there is a new location for the vehicles.
Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking responded that the vehicles are being
sold off in an auction, disposed or donated.
Commissioner Tocki asked about the official award date for the grant and how long
the period of performance would be. Also, the project is set to go until June 2022
and Commissioner Tocki asked whether there is the opportunity to extend beyond
that date.
Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking replied that a request can be made to
the state to move and extend the date. The state asked for completion and
submission of all documents by June 30, 2020 and although it is a tight timeline,
Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking mentioned he is confident the project
can be completed in the allotted time.
C. Monthly Parks & Recreation Department Review
Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking mentioned the adult and youth sports
programs have been successful. The Adult Basketball League will begin in January
and the commissioners were invited to participate and form a team. The Youth
Basketball Clinic had a total of 30 participants. Registration for the Basketball
League is now open with 72 participants already registered.
Playschool had open houses in the end of September which were successful giving
people the opportunity to view the classroom areas and meet teachers. Fall session
began on October 28. The Rosemead Rapids swim team has been very successful
with 115 participants. There was a donation of pool tarps made by the Newhall
Land and Farming Company and installed by Knorr Systems, which saved the City
thousands of dollars.
The Garvey Community Center has been busy and went through an emergency
drill. They were able to clear out the center without no one being left behind or
injured along with very little complaints. The center recently celebrated Halloween
with a Monsters Inc. Spooktacular social event. The excursions have been
successful. There have been some upgrades to the facility as well with the most
recent being lighting and a new water fountain, which was donated. Garvey Park is
working on the restroom renovations. The Rosemead Community Center hosted the
Wealth by Health Community Clinic on Sunday, November 3. The free event was
brought in by a non-profit group and serviced a lot of people. The event featured
free services such as dentistry, cardiology, family medicine, eye exams,
acupuncture, massage therapy and flu shots.
Fall Fiesta was held on October 12 and was one of the most well attended in years.
The weather was great and the activities were well received. The Trunk or Treat
event was held on October 31 with over 3,337 people participating. There were
over 1,800 people going through the Haunted House and over 400 people attending
the previous weekend. The Annual Fitness Day and Health Fair is coming up on
November 17 in the Plaza area as well as the Annual Tree Lighting and Dinner with
Santa on December 3. There are many engaged community groups that participated
in the Trunk or Treat with a total of 23 cars. The groups bring in their own candy
to distribute and the City also provides additional candy.
Commissioner Ruvalcaba mentioned that she appreciated that the flyers are being
sent to other schools. She saw students from other districts like Monterey Park in
attendance.
4. MATTERS FROM COMMISSION
A. Commission Comments
Commissioner Tocki requested to have the preliminary dog park design presented
in the next meeting to review whether that design is still viable, especially with the
approval of the grant.
Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking mentioned the initial plan is simple but
hopes to add to the plan and include more amenities.
Chair Morten asked whether there were any updates with the tentative park on
Mission.
Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking stated that there was information
provided by the state regarding clarification to the application. Also, there was a
meeting with the representative at the proposed site to go over the standard
procedures with the request. Director Boecking is hoping to hear back on the
decision by early 2020; however, there were over 430 totaling 1.3 billion dollars
with only 254 million available to give out. The new decision date has been pushed
out to Spring 2020 with a possibility to hear back in the end of March. There have
been no changes to the park design and will not do so unless the grant is awarded
and then the design would be revised. There would be the need to go through a
process and include community meetings. It is a positive step that the representative
visited the site.
Commissioner Ruvalcaba asked whether the Parks and Recreation Department can
water the empty plots. Chair Morten mentioned she waters the plots to ensure that
the soil doesn’t become compacted with water and then cause the soil to become
sterile. She also mentioned that at one point there was a mention of getting lockers
in the garden as it makes it difficult to bring tools. Sports lockers would be
beneficial for people to use.
5. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 7:19 p.m. The next Parks Commission meeting will be held on
Tuesday, December 3, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers.
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Jennifer Pineda, Administrative Specialist
APPROVED:
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Beverly Morten, Chair