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PKC - Item 2A - Minutes of October 5, 2021 MINUTES OF THE ROSEMEAD PARKS COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 5, 2021 The regular meeting of the Rosemead Parks Commission was called to order by Vice-Chair Ruvalcaba at 7:02 p.m. in the Rosemead City Council Chamber located at 8838 East Valley Boulevard, Rosemead, California. PRESENT: Vice-Chair Ruvalcaba, Commissioners Luu, Nguyen, and Sornoso ABSENT: Chair Tocki PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Commissioner Sornoso INVOCATION was led by Vice-Chair Ruvalcaba 1. PUBLIC COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE - None 2. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of minutes August 3, 2021 Vice-Chair Ruvalcaba motioned the approval of the meeting notes at 7:04 p.m. ACTION: Moved by Commissioner Nguyen and seconded by Commissioner Sornoso to approve the August 3, 2021, minutes: Motion carried by the following vote: A YES: Luu, Nguyen, Ruvalcaba, and Sornoso; ABSENT: Chair Tocki 3. MATTERS FROM STAFF A. Updated Fall Special Events Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking announced that there would be four weekends in a row of events starting with Fall Fiesta/Día de los Muertos. The event will be held on Saturday, October 9 at Rosemead Park from 4:00 9:00 pm. The event will be filled with family fun including live entertainment, carnival games, crafts, merchant vendors and food booths. Aside from the 9/11 Ceremony, this is the first large in-person event. The event is keeping in line with L.A. County and CDC guidelines and masks are being recommended. The following Saturday, October 16, the department will have the first Pumpkin Dive at the Rosemead Aquatic Center between 12:00 and 3:00 pm. There is a fee for the Pumpkin Dive of $10.00. Kids will be able to jump into the pool, select a pumpkin, along with decorating and other activities on deck. For those interested, they would need to register online for the event. The following Saturday, October 23 will be the first nd Pumpkin Patch. The Pumpkin Patch will be located at the 2 Community Garden on Del Mar Avenue. The department has partnered with CultivaLA, which is a non- profit partner that has helped with the garden. The event will provide 300 pumpkins 1 for 300 kids and will be held from 4:00 7:00 pm. Reservations are required. The first two time slots have already been filled. Take home craft items will be provided as well as pumpkin pie. The last event is the Trunk or Treat taking place on Saturday, October 30. Given that Halloween falls on a Sunday, the event will be hosted on Saturday, October 30. The event will be held from 5:30 8:30 pm and children will be able to trick or treat from decorated trunks of cars located at the Civic Plaza. There will be a costume contest, an outdoor movie, carnival games and a maze. Typically, there is a haunted house; however, due to COVID it was decided it would be best to provide a maze outdoors. Chair Ruvalcaba asked if the CDC is requiring the city to sanitize areas for all events. Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking replied that hand sanitizer will be provided along with hand sanitizing in some areas. There is no requirement to sanitize anything. The department is trying to keep the event to where people come and go. For example, the craft items will be made to pick up and go. The city wants people to come to the event but it is made to where people will come and go. There will be the potential to sanitize certain areas, gloves will be used by those handing out items and staff will wear masks. All participants are encouraged to wear masks as well. Administrative Specialist Jennifer Pineda invited the commission to attend the Trunk or Treat and serve as a judge for the costume contest. Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking also invited the commission to join the Trunk or Treat and enter their vehicle in the event with candy being provided by the City. Those handing out candies are typically businesses and community organizations. Vice-Chair Ruvalcaba inquired about the number of vehicles currently registered. Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking mentioned the current count was at 8 vehicles. The previous Trunk or Treat brought in 28 vehicles. The event is 28 days away with the hopes of bringing in more vehicles. Commissioner Nguyen asked if this was the first time for the Pumpkin Dive event. Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking replied that it was. Vice-Chair Ruvalcaba mentioned that the garden has limited parking and was wondering about the no parking signs. Director Boecking mentioned that there is a certain area where there is parking allowed. There will be parking in the south lot and the northside of the school on Dorothy as well as the parking lot at Garvey Park. There will be 50 youth per half hour which should create a flow of people coming and going. Staff will be monitoring the parking lots along with directional signage that will be posted. Commissioner Luu asked if staff will need help with events. 2 Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking announced there would be an opportunity to help with the City Info booth at Fall Fiesta. The other events would be observational. Commissioner Luu mentioned she would be at the Fall Fiesta Event. B. Monthly Parks & Recreation Department Review The Department is trying to open up as much as possible, and in a safe manner, following L.A. County and CDC guidelines. The Aquatics program has been busy with swim lessons that have all been filled. The Swim Team is up and running and using the pool as much as they can. They have been doing well in the meets they have been competing in. Parks and Recreation has a great partnership with CultivaLA where they have had introductory workshops which were successful. Seedlings were provided for both the first and second garden as well as an opportunity to get to know each other along with helpful gardening techniques. Director Boecking mentioned that the school outreach will begin soon as he met with the Principal at Duff school to discuss educational opportunities at the garden. CultivaLA will be proving an educational opportunity for students. The Garvey Community Center is fully open for programs as well as rentals. The lunch program, Senior Bingo and clubs are all back. All participants are enjoying the center again. The Rosemead Community Center has been busy as a voting center. The center also hosted Wealth by Health, which is an organization that has ben providing vaccinations. They have been coming in the third Sunday of the month and using the center for vaccinations. The 9/11 Memorial Ceremony went well. It was a great ceremony and remembrance of those who passed. The department has also been holding Virtual Family Trivia Nights once a month which have been very successful. The trivia brings about several different topics, The Adult Basketball program has brought in 8 teams which is the most we have had. The league plays on Sundays between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm. The youth golf lessons have been very successful as well as the tennis classes. The volleyball clinic was well attended. There was an LA County protocol which stated that playing games was going to be a challenge and set a guideline that anyone playing in a league would need to show proof of a negative test 3 days before. The department felt that it would be too difficult to follow and therefore instead of playing games, it was decided to have practice clinics which were successful. There is a Garvey Park Dog Park update. There was a request for proposal that was published a couple weeks ago for construction management as well as construction doc, specs, and estimates. The due date is October 20. Director of Parks and 3 Recreation Boecking mentioned he is looking forward to the future development of that project. The Prop 68 grant application was not listed on the department review; however, Director Bocking provided an update. The depart decision as to which projects they will be funding. The final decision would be announced in the fall of 2021. The number of applications were greater than the first round making it more competitive. Once a decision is made, Director Boecking will report back to the commission. Commissioner Luu asked if the vaccine is for booster shots or only first and second shots. She followed up with the type of vaccine that is being provided. Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking replied that the vaccine offered is for Pfizer and Moderna for first and second shot but was not sure if they offered the booster. He mentioned he would find out and report back to Commissioner Luu. Commissioner Luu asked if there would be other adult sports being offered. Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking stated that for this season it would only be Basketball, but potentially there could be a volleyball and kickball program. He is not sure how close the department is to releasing that, but it is something that is being looked at. Commissioner Luu asked if help was needed with the volleyball clinics. Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking inquired if Commissioner was interested in volunteering and if so, would ask the Recreation Supervisor Tam Chu to reach out. Commissioner Luu said she was interested in volunteering. Vice-Chair Ruvalcaba mentioned that it would be great to start a girls volleyball team. Commissioner Sornoso asked if all outdoor events, going forward through December, would be a go and following CDC guidelines. Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking replied with a yes. He mentioned trying to do as much normal as possible. November is traditionally quiet with the following events being in December. The Tree Lighting will be on December 7 which is the next outdoor event with as much normalcy as possible. Vice-Chair Ruvalcaba commented on how touching the 9/11 event was especially with the talks with Susan Rubio and Judy Chu. She also mentioned that some wish commotion in the background. It was also touching to see the firefighters on site respond to an emergency. 4 4.MATTERS FROM STAFF A. Commissioner Comments Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking reminded the Parks Commission that this item was to make comments on any item that was not on the agenda or if there are requests for additional information or questions for a future agenda, this is where it can be requested. Commissioner Luu inquired regarding the youth program and if she wanted to start an ultimate frisbee program, whether the process would be to apply through the city. Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking mentioned that was correct. There is a contract instructor application as well as a class application which can be downloaded and submitted. Vice-Chair Ruvalcaba brought up a concern regarding the garden. She was wondering if people are leaving the water hose on or if there is a leak on one side of the garden. Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking mentioned he would look into it. No one had reported the issue to his knowledge. 5. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:28 p.m. The next Parks Commission meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers. __________________________________ Jennifer Pineda, Commission Secretary APPROVED: _________________________ William Tocki, Chair 5