Recreation, Music & Parks Commission
Recreation, Music & Parks Commission
Wed, March 15, 2023
Agenda items
Vote records
Discussion summary
Transcript
Meeting summaryAI-generated
Recreation, Music & Parks Commission — March 15, 2023
This was the commission's first in-person meeting back in chambers, which drew an unusually large turnout from the public — particularly from the local skating community. Two substantive items dominated the evening: an update on the skate park design project and the formation of an ad hoc subcommittee on the Integrated Pest Management Plan (IPM).
Approval of Minutes — February 15, 2023
The commission attempted to approve the prior meeting's minutes, but several commissioners indicated they had not read them. The chair (with one commissioner noting she had been absent that meeting and would need to abstain) opted to postpone approval to the April meeting rather than vote on unread minutes.
Vote: Postponed to April meeting; no vote taken.
Skate Park Design and Site Analysis Project
Parks Director Drew Halter and Project Manager Bjorn Griepenburg (Public Works & Utilities) presented an update on the city's ongoing Skate Park Design and Site Analysis project, which has been in active community engagement since January 2023.
Background: The existing Petaluma skate park was built in 1997 and is among the oldest in California. It lacks lighting, restrooms, a water fountain, shade, and seating. Following the passage of Measure M (a dedicated parks sales tax) and increased skate activity during the pandemic, the City Council earmarked funds — approximately $463,000 combined from Measure M revenues and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds — for this project. In December 2022, the city contracted with Grindline Skatepark Inc. to lead design and community engagement.
Community Engagement to Date: Two community workshops were held (January and February 2023), plus an online survey. The overwhelming takeaway from both: the community wants to invest in a single, large new skate park rather than upgrading the existing one or building multiple smaller parks. Survey results showed roughly 77–78% favoring a new park, and about 69% preferring one large facility over multiple smaller ones. A phased construction approach was recommended by Grindline to work within the current budget, allowing skating at each phase as it is completed.
Site Analysis: Eight city-owned properties were initially evaluated; four were selected for deeper analysis:
Kenilworth Park — Central location, good transit access, proximity to the library, teen center, and existing skate park. Drawbacks: no lighting (dawn-to-dusk park), no restrooms, uncertainty tied to the larger Kenilworth redesign project, and likely need for safety fencing. Estimated footprint: ~22,000 sq. ft.
Leghorn Park — Good amenities (existing restroom, lighting). Fatal flaw: smallest footprint at ~14,000 sq. ft., comparable to the existing park and below the 20,000–30,000 sq. ft. target. Also on the outer edge of town.
Lucchesi Park — Strong location near shopping, the Boys & Girls Club, Loma Vista school, the Lynch Creek Trail, and senior center. Existing restroom and lighting nearby; no fencing needed per Grindline. Drawbacks: parking challenges during events, and mature trees that may require management. Estimated footprint: ~58,000 sq. ft. available, with a meaningful portion usable for the skate park.
Wiseman Park (near the airport) — Flat, open, blank slate with existing restroom. Significant weaknesses: far from the city center, poor transit access, not near schools or activity generators, and currently a dawn-to-dusk park with no lighting.
Community Preference: At the February workshop, live polling of over 50 attendees ranked Lucchesi and Kenilworth as the top two sites. In a forced head-to-head vote, Lucchesi won 34–14 over Kenilworth.
Public Comment: Eleven speakers addressed the commission — the largest turnout of the evening — all expressing enthusiastic support for the project. Most speakers were local skaters ranging from teenagers to adults with decades of experience. Several specifically endorsed Lucchesi Park as their preferred location. Key comments included:
Multiple speakers thanked staff and Grindline for a genuinely community-driven process.
Denise Tunfalia of the Petaluma Skate Park Coalition urged the commission and City Council to commit to phased funding, not just rely on private fundraising.
A speaker from the Sebastopol skate park community emphasized the value of multi-generational, multi-use skate parks and shared fundraising and advocacy experience.
Several speakers noted the park would reduce skate activity in conflict-prone public spaces and bring positive community benefits.
Commission Discussion: Commissioners were unanimous in their enthusiasm for the project and aligned strongly with the community's preference for Lucchesi Park. Key points raised:
Protection of existing mature trees at Lucchesi should be a design priority.
Gopher activity at Lucchesi is significant but unlikely to compromise concrete surfaces, though geotechnical work for Petaluma's adobe clay soils will be essential.
Funding continuity for phases 2 and 3 is a real concern; commissioners urged that Measure M and other capital funding be committed at the city level, not left to fundraising alone.
Minor upgrades to the existing skate park (lighting, water fountain, accessibility improvements) should proceed on a separate track without diverting from the $463,000 project budget.
Next Steps: Staff will bring a similar presentation to City Council to seek site selection confirmation. Once a site is selected, Grindline will develop conceptual designs for two more community workshops planned for summer 2023.
Vote: No formal vote required; commission provided feedback and direction to staff supporting Lucchesi Park as the preferred site.
Establishing an Ad Hoc Subcommittee for the Integrated Pest Management Plan Update
Parks Director Halter explained that at the February meeting, commissioners had expressed interest in forming an ad hoc subcommittee to assist with developing the draft update to the city's Integrated Pest Management Plan (IPM). However, a vote taken at that meeting was not properly agendized under the Brown Act, so the item was re-noticed for tonight.
Scope of the Subcommittee (as approved): The four items from the staff report:
1. Provide a framework for the role and responsibilities of the IPM Coordinator.
2. Provide recommendations for the role and responsibilities of the IPM Task Force.
3. Draft language for the "least toxic method exemption protocol."
4. Provide recommendations for pesticide use related to certifications.
Discussion touched on the scope's limits — commissioners asked whether the ad hoc could address topics like gopher abatement and clearer definitions of "pest" (clarified to include weeds, fungi, rodents, and insects, not just chemical pest management). Staff noted those items fall within the IPM policy framework and can be addressed. A council member present noted that the artificial turf issue raised separately by the public is outside the IPM and cannot be folded into this subcommittee's scope.
Commissioners also discussed the importance of community stakeholder engagement as an informal tool available to the subcommittee, and confirmed meetings can be arranged with or without staff present, during normal business hours.
Members appointed: Commissioners Marianne (Rizzo?), Hannah (Greenspan?), and Kate (Robert-Jelly?) volunteered and were nominated.
Vote: Motion by Commissioner (name unclear from transcript), seconded. Passed unanimously by show of hands. All commissioners in favor.
Commissioner and Staff Reports
In brief commissioner and staff updates:
Grant Park playground renovation is nearly complete; a ribbon-cutting ceremony is forthcoming.
Anna's Meadows park design was approved by the commission and is heading to City Council, with a shade structure being explored for inclusion.
Summer camp registrations are nearly full; families should register immediately.
Gopher abatement contracts are being finalized for four parks: McNair, Prince, Wiseman, and City Hall.
Grazing pilot program: The city is moving toward a pilot program using local sheep grazers at approximately six open-space parks (including Manny Knolls, Country Club, Steamers Landing/McNair Peninsula, Westridge, and West Haven) to manage vegetation naturally. Community outreach will accompany the rollout.
Fourth of July fireworks: Survey data shows strong community support for a public fireworks display. Details (altitude, location, format) are still being worked out with Public Safety; vendors are being contacted.
Chess tables on Water Street: Grand opening celebration set for April 29, 11 a.m.–2 p.m.
Arbor Day: Tree planting event at McNair Park, March 29, 10 a.m.–noon; nature walk with Releaf Petaluma on Sunday.
Davidon/Scott Ranch development: City Council unanimously approved the project, which includes 47 acres of open space linking to Helen Putnam Park, a learning center, and trails.
Commissioners called again for a Parks Master Plan, a recurring theme from multiple members.
Key Takeaways
Lucchesi Park is the clear community and commission favorite for the new skate park, supported by workshop polling and nearly all public speakers. Staff will take this recommendation to City Council to formalize site selection before design work can proceed.
The skate park project has real momentum but a limited budget (~$463,000); a phased build-out is planned, and commissioners strongly urged the city to commit ongoing capital funding — not depend on private fundraising — to complete all phases.
An ad hoc subcommittee was formally established to assist staff in updating the city's Integrated Pest Management Plan, with Commissioners Rizzo, Greenspan, and Robert-Jelly (names uncertain from transcript) appointed to serve.
Summer programming is nearly sold out and the city is actively hiring seasonal recreation staff — residents should register for camps now.
A grazing pilot program using local sheep at up to six city parks is imminent, aimed at natural vegetation management and sustainability benchmarking.
AI-generated summary from voice-to-text transcript. Not the official record. Verify important details with the source documents linked above.
What happened at this meeting
Approval of Minutes for the meeting of February 15, 2023
The Commission moved to approve the minutes from the February 15th meeting, but postponed the vote to the next meeting in April. One commissioner noted they had not read the minutes and another commissioner who was not present at the February meeting abstained. The minutes were available online via a link sent by Drew, but not all commissioners had time to review them before the meeting.
Skate Park Design and Site Analysis Project Receive an update and provide feedback on site selection and design criteria – Bjorn Griepenburg, Project Manager, Public Works & Utilities & Drew Halter, Director of Parks and Recreation
# Skate Park Design and Site Analysis Project - Summary
Staff presented a comprehensive update on the Skate Park Design and Site Analysis Project, which began with community outreach in 2019-2020 following Measure M's passage and awarded a design contract to Grindline Inc. in 2022-23. Community engagement revealed overwhelming preference (77-78%) for keeping the existing 1997 skate park while investing in one new larger facility rather than multiple smaller ones, with the community identifying Luke Casey Park (Lucasi Park) as the preferred site due to its 58,000 square-foot footprint, existing infrastructure including lighting and restrooms, and natural shade from trees. Staff recommended a phased build-out approach due to the current $463,000 budget being insufficient for full construction, with Phase 1 buildable within existing funding and subsequent phases dependent on securing additional funding through Measure M, grants, and city budget reviews. Key concerns raised by commissioners included preserving existing trees, managing soil conditions (Adobe soil and gopher activity), preventing project momentum loss between phases, and ensuring adequate city funding commitment rather than relying on public fundraising. The skating community, including multiple public commenters and youth skaters, expressed strong enthusiasm for the project, praising the democratic community process and Grindline's collaborative design work.
Staff presented a comprehensive update on the Skate Park Design and Site Analysis Project, which began with community outreach in 2019-2020 following Measure M's passage and awarded a design contract to Grindline Inc. in 2022-23. Community engagement revealed overwhelming preference (77-78%) for keeping the existing 1997 skate park while investing in one new larger facility rather than multiple smaller ones, with the community identifying Luke Casey Park (Lucasi Park) as the preferred site due to its 58,000 square-foot footprint, existing infrastructure including lighting and restrooms, and natural shade from trees. Staff recommended a phased build-out approach due to the current $463,000 budget being insufficient for full construction, with Phase 1 buildable within existing funding and subsequent phases dependent on securing additional funding through Measure M, grants, and city budget reviews. Key concerns raised by commissioners included preserving existing trees, managing soil conditions (Adobe soil and gopher activity), preventing project momentum loss between phases, and ensuring adequate city funding commitment rather than relying on public fundraising. The skating community, including multiple public commenters and youth skaters, expressed strong enthusiasm for the project, praising the democratic community process and Grindline's collaborative design work.
Review, Discuss, and Recommend Establishing One AdHoc Sub Committee to Assist Staff in Review and Development of the Draft Update to the Integrated Pest Management Plan Drew Halter, Director of Parks and Recreation
# Combined Summary
Staff recommended establishing an ad hoc subcommittee to assist in developing a draft update to the Integrated Pest Management Plan (IPMP), with four defined scope items: providing a framework for the IPM coordinator role, offering recommendations for the IPM task force, drafting language for the least toxic method exemption protocol, and providing recommendations for pesticide use certifications. When commissioners questioned whether the scope was too limited and whether artificial turf and community involvement could be included, staff clarified that the scope must be narrowly defined as a Brown Act transparency requirement to ensure the committee has a clear mission and completion point, and that turf issues fall outside this scope. Staff further explained that while the ad hoc committee could meet with community stakeholders and staff to gather information, membership would be limited to commissioners and staff, with formal community input presented during regular commission updates. The motion to establish the ad hoc committee was approved with commissioners Marianne Greenspan, Hannah, and Kate nominated and accepted as representatives, and the chair requested they meet within the month to report back at the next meeting.
Staff recommended establishing an ad hoc subcommittee to assist in developing a draft update to the Integrated Pest Management Plan (IPMP), with four defined scope items: providing a framework for the IPM coordinator role, offering recommendations for the IPM task force, drafting language for the least toxic method exemption protocol, and providing recommendations for pesticide use certifications. When commissioners questioned whether the scope was too limited and whether artificial turf and community involvement could be included, staff clarified that the scope must be narrowly defined as a Brown Act transparency requirement to ensure the committee has a clear mission and completion point, and that turf issues fall outside this scope. Staff further explained that while the ad hoc committee could meet with community stakeholders and staff to gather information, membership would be limited to commissioners and staff, with formal community input presented during regular commission updates. The motion to establish the ad hoc committee was approved with commissioners Marianne Greenspan, Hannah, and Kate nominated and accepted as representatives, and the chair requested they meet within the month to report back at the next meeting.
Agenda items (3)
Procedural (1)
1ProceduralApproval of Minutes for the meeting of February 15, 2023
What happened
The Commission moved to approve the minutes from the February 15th meeting, but postponed the vote to the next meeting in April. One commissioner noted they had not read the minutes and another commissioner who was not present at the February meeting abstained. The minutes were available online via a link sent by Drew, but not all commissioners had time to review them before the meeting.Public Hearing
2Public HearingSkate Park Design and Site Analysis Project Receive an update and provide feedback on site selection and design criteria – Bjorn Griepenburg, Project Manager, Public Works & Utilities & Drew Halter, Director of Parks and Recreation
What happened
# Skate Park Design and Site Analysis Project - SummaryStaff presented a comprehensive update on the Skate Park Design and Site Analysis Project, which began with community outreach in 2019-2020 following Measure M's passage and awarded a design contract to Grindline Inc. in 2022-23. Community engagement revealed overwhelming preference (77-78%) for keeping the existing 1997 skate park while investing in one new larger facility rather than multiple smaller ones, with the community identifying Luke Casey Park (Lucasi Park) as the preferred site due to its 58,000 square-foot footprint, existing infrastructure including lighting and restrooms, and natural shade from trees. Staff recommended a phased build-out approach due to the current $463,000 budget being insufficient for full construction, with Phase 1 buildable within existing funding and subsequent phases dependent on securing additional funding through Measure M, grants, and city budget reviews. Key concerns raised by commissioners included preserving existing trees, managing soil conditions (Adobe soil and gopher activity), preventing project momentum loss between phases, and ensuring adequate city funding commitment rather than relying on public fundraising. The skating community, including multiple public commenters and youth skaters, expressed strong enthusiasm for the project, praising the democratic community process and Grindline's collaborative design work.
3Public HearingReview, Discuss, and Recommend Establishing One AdHoc Sub Committee to Assist Staff in Review and Development of the Draft Update to the Integrated Pest Management Plan Drew Halter, Director of Parks and Recreation
What happened
# Combined SummaryStaff recommended establishing an ad hoc subcommittee to assist in developing a draft update to the Integrated Pest Management Plan (IPMP), with four defined scope items: providing a framework for the IPM coordinator role, offering recommendations for the IPM task force, drafting language for the least toxic method exemption protocol, and providing recommendations for pesticide use certifications. When commissioners questioned whether the scope was too limited and whether artificial turf and community involvement could be included, staff clarified that the scope must be narrowly defined as a Brown Act transparency requirement to ensure the committee has a clear mission and completion point, and that turf issues fall outside this scope. Staff further explained that while the ad hoc committee could meet with community stakeholders and staff to gather information, membership would be limited to commissioners and staff, with formal community input presented during regular commission updates. The motion to establish the ad hoc committee was approved with commissioners Marianne Greenspan, Hannah, and Kate nominated and accepted as representatives, and the chair requested they meet within the month to report back at the next meeting.
Additional votes recorded in minutes
Establish IPM Ad Hoc Subcommittee
aye 1
voice voteaye
Verbatim transcript available
71 transcript segments indexed
reporting in progress okay um I'd like to call this Wednesday March 15th Recreation music and Parks Commission meeting order this is our first meeting back in the chambers I think most people haven't been in the chambers and so it's so exciting to be here and be in person with everyone we will start with roll call thank you earlier here here okay perfect we'll move on to Pledge of Allegiance great thank you we're going to move on to General Public comment any comments that don't pertain to an item on the agenda does anyone have any general public comments uh chair we received two public comments which were posted to the agenda prior to the meeting there are no other general public comments perfect thank you okay um we will move on to the approval of minutes from the February 15th meeting does anyone want a motion to approve the minutes any changes I didn't see the minutes online were they posted online they were should have been we can check here real quick did the rest of the commission read the minutes I only say that pardon they were in the link that Drew sent I just was on the um I I brought up the things from last meeting the I needed the draft the I um IPM and I didn't see it on there because I was just going to click on it and read it there um it says draft minutes yeah is that it okay if right the rest of the commission I wasn't at that meeting so I can't um I have to abstain but if the rest of the commission didn't have time to read the minutes or didn't read them we
can always postpone this for the next meeting I read them did the rest of the commission read them no okay so so let's move it to the next meeting we'll um remember that in April okay we're gonna move on we're going through here we're going to move on to Petaluma skate park design and site analysis project um Drew are you starting to stop here yes thank you chair I'm going to allow a minute or so so we can queue up our presentation slides and introduce some staff I want us to start with just a high level review of where we are how do we get here and in in 2019 2020 shortly after the passing of the the dedicated Parks sales tax measure M the city undertook a pretty significant community outreach which in which involve public meetings surveys workshops to help inform not just measure M but prioritize investment across our parks so pandemic 2020 also give us a lot of indication on on the the patterns and shifting uses of our spaces how we um what our vision is for the future of them but most importantly we saw a lot of increased activity across the spectrum of outdoor activity but there were a few in particular skating was one of them where we saw just an increased usage across the board and it really highlighted again the fact that we have a lot of room for growth here in Petaluma to accommodate the need for the skating community so in 2021-22 city of council approved funding to earmark towards evaluating new opportunities to expand skate parks in Petaluma and evaluate the the
existing conditions of the of the current Park that kind of culminated to the 2022-23 fiscal year budget where a portion of the American Rescue plan act arpa as well as a pretty significant portion of measure M revenues that year combined as for the first time approach Appropriations towards project which was a skate park design and site analysis project so that really kind of takes us to December where we were excited to bring to council and get the approval of a design contract grindline Inc which the city now brought on has been partnering with to take this from Project to a reality and wow there's been a lot of Outreach which Bjorn will talk about tonight we'll have some folks here that I recognize has been part of that process but this is a really big moment for us this is the first public meeting per se where a committee commission board has been had the chance to kind of review process up to this point and I think most more importantly get some impact input on our recommendations on how we see this going forward so with that I'll introduce Bjorn griffenberg who wears many hats but one tonight is as our project manager with the public works and utilities division spearheading this so Bjorn take it away all right great thank you drew I mean I haven't spoken into a mic here yet so sound good all right good evening commission members and members of the public you can go ahead and advance to the next slide please DeLana foreign we are not really sharing any um new
information on this project at least new to those who have been following along through our first two Community workshops that we've held um in in January and February um but we'll bring you all up to speed on some additional project background recap our first round of Engagement and then talk talk you through the site analyzes that we just did with grindline at our February Workshop talk through some potential a potential phased build out approach and then next steps next slide please so as Drew acknowledged the Petaluma skate park was built in 1997 it's among the oldest in California and something we all know it lacks a lot of um standard Park amenities and features that would encourage participation from a broader range of Ages ability levels and user groups some of the amenities it's lacking include lighting restrooms water fountain shade seating this and Drew mentioned there's been a lot of energy around this project through various discussions including measure am it's it's part of the city council goals and priorities and we were excited to go through a competitive RFP process through which we received two proposals actually interviewed both firms and and chose grindline skate parks Council then authorized that contract in December and we've moved very quickly grindline came down later in December we did a number of site visits with them had a kickoff meeting and and then we've actually been able to hold one Community Workshop per month since then and so we've got a
lot of great momentum on this project next slide please so our our project goal here is to work with the community to chart the future of skating and other related activities such as BMX rollerblading and freestyle scootering in Petaluma and um I've been assured by people in the skating community that when you say skating it's an all-encompassing word it's not just referring to skateboards it's also referring to other skate park users um but really what we're we're trying to get at here the heart of this project is is how do we target future investments in skating infrastructure in Petaluma next slide please so our first round of Engagement which included an online survey that grindline put together and distributed as well as that First Community Workshop over at the community center really focused on the question of whether we want to Target our investments upgrading the existing skate park or do we want to potentially leave it as is and pursue a new skate park or multiple skate parks elsewhere and what we heard at that workshop and in the survey from an overwhelming majority of people is that they while they acknowledge that the skate park is something there's a lot of sentimental value with the skate park um people would much rather Target their Investments building a brand new skate park and rather than building multiple smaller skate parks they would like to Target investments in a single larger skate park we did acknowledge at that meeting that funding is you know is is
somewhat limited we have a project budget currently of about four hundred and sixty thousand dollars which is definitely not enough to build that large design and build that large skate park and so something that came from the community and and came from grindline as a recommendation was to pursue a phased approach that would essentially allow people to skate each phase as it's completed and then we'd move on to the next phase as additional funding would become available next slide please so I'll just quickly share the online survey results and then the workshop results around those Central questions there were a lot of other questions grindline asked about but those were much more detailed about specific skating features um so just for your benefits as I mentioned with the online survey we had about 77 percent of people who expressed preference for keeping the existing skate park and focusing investments in a new skate park next slide please and then on the left there you'll see this was a paper survey that was available to attendees of the first Workshop we tallied up the results very similar outcome 78 saying keep that keep the skate park and construct a new one and then on the right there slightly more detailed question asking for preferences between really between the question of you know do you want a single larger skate park or multiple smaller skate parks um 69 voting for the large skate park option and then interestingly 20 saying um uh make some improvements to the
existing skate park but invest a majority of funds into the new park design so overall there you actually have about 89 saying you know Focus you really focus your efforts on that that single new skate park next slide please so um moving into our second Workshop then um which we held just last month again at the community center our Focus moved to the site analysis exercise in which grindline looked at the strengths um weaknesses opportunities and threats a SWOT analysis really focusing on things like accessibility location relative to other activity generators like schools or shopping destinations um accessibility by different modes of transportation Transit from whether you know the parks were located in um were located in places that were accessible by transit by walking by biking looking at sight lines into the park for safety reasons and also looking at existing amenities you know lighting restrooms other things on site that would potentially lower the cost of construction and then really importantly looking at the available footprint for a skate park so the we did initially identified eight Drew uh city parks or city-owned properties that could potentially accommodate a new skate park is that correct correct eight sites were toured yep and so we we uh whittled it down to four Parks from that list um sort of working with grindline and also working with the feedback we received in that first round and the four Parks we whittled it down to were leghorns Park lucasi Park
Kenilworth Park and Wiseman Park so we'll just go through each of those right now next slide please um so the first one up is Kenilworth Park and just to kind of Orient I know this is small for folks in the audience but to orient you um so they've got grindline is showing um strengths sort of shaded in a in a light green weaknesses in a um in a yellow opportunities in blue and threats in red and I'll just provide a high level summary for each of these so for Kenworth Park the main strengths that were identif strengths and opportunities identified were the fact that this is a very Central Park obviously accessible from all areas of town very much very accessible by transit plenty of parking availability and then also its proximity to the library the teen center the existing Skate Park shopping so it had a lot working has a lot working in its favor from a location standpoint um some of the limiting factors or potential weaknesses that this is a currently a dawn to dusk Park which means you do not currently have any Lighting in this park for nighttime activities there are no existing publicly accessible restrooms and then there's also the potential uncertainty around this project around this as a potential site due to the much larger Park redesign conversation happening there's also would be a need for fencing likely due to the proximity to multiple roadways and grindline the reason I mentioned fencing it seems like a very random thing to think about but grindeline's guidance is
really to try to avoid they don't like having fenced in skate parks where possible um and I'm just looking through my notes to see if there's anything else I didn't mention what so the flip side of that um you know mentioning the the larger Kenilworth redesign effort that was also seen as a potential opportunity right because then this could become folded into a larger conversation around that Park and there's some potential cost savings there since there would already be major construction activity happening um and then key to note that the available footprint is actually much larger but what we included was uh 22 000 square feet here um on the understanding that roughly one third of this park would be available for um this sort of active Recreation anything drew that you want to add to that there yeah I think that's that's exactly it the visual kind of shows the footprint of the the park which is more of about 60 66 000 square feet so we're trying to highlight about a third would represent 22 000 but as it's portrayed that's not the 22 000 feet doesn't represent that entire area so think of it about a third thanks um thank you I think we can go to the next slide which is leghorns Park so leghorns uh was a very appealing location due to its um proximity to shopping lots of schools in the area transit access it's a busy Park you have some really good uh existing amenities you have there's a restroom located right near the proposed location there is Lighting in the park so
this is not a dawn to dusk Park there's lighting for the tennis courts um and then as far as weaknesses go um the really the Fatal flaw for this park is a as far as the skating Community was concerned was The Limited uh footprint so you can see this actually has the smallest available area of the four Parks we looked at 14 000 square feet which is comparable our our existing skate park is about 14 000 square feet um and and that really um you know the the Target that I think the skating Community has identified that grindline has recommended is more in the neighborhood of 20 to 30 000 square feet especially through a phased approach where you need a little bit more room um to kind of grow the park over time um and then another downside identified to this location was um the fact that it is not very Central it's it's located on the the outer edge of town all right next slide please uh Lucchesi Park was um is our second most central location located near shopping the Boys and Girls Club Loma Vista immersion Academy in a busy park with um with nighttime activity at both the tennis courts and on the soccer field so good good amenities from that perspective there is an existing restroom very close to the proposed location and also accessible by transit accessible by the Lynch Creek Trail and and uh From grindline's perspective no fencing would be needed at this location uh weaknesses um was really limited the potential parking challenges especially during events busy events at the
community center the Little League fields um and uh and also the presence of trees throughout this area and and grindeline did did acknowledge that that's something that they're very used to working around um and even mention you know it does become a maintenance concern and even a potential Hazard right with with trees dropping leaves and debris on a surface that you need to have clean and smooth um for safety reasons but um uh Matt at grindline has uh promised us that the skating communities are very good stewards and usually pretty good at at keeping the skate parks clean from his experience and so um he he Matt has really doesn't see that as a huge uh map from grindline does not see that as a big challenge um next slide please so the last Park we looked at was Wiseman out by the airport so biggest strength and opportunities it's really kind of a blank slate for this this piece of land it's very it's flat it's open would not really present any significant design challenges also has an existing restroom on site that small building that you see towards the top of the um the orange polygon there um the the biggest weaknesses identified by grindline and and by this and echoed by the skating Community the fact that this is located on the out of outer edge of town not very accessible by transit not really located it's in the middle of a resident of a residential neighborhood so it's not really located near any major activity generators like schools or shopping and this is also
currently a dawn to dusk Park so new lighting would potentially present a challenge all right next slide please so this is just a summary of kind of the the high level of each Park the available footprint whether or not we have an existing restroom and lighting and whether or not grindline felt fencing would be needed and then just some notes um really providing commentary on the nature of each of these locations I'll just pause here so that you can um digest this information all right I think we can move to the next slide so we went through this exercise at our our like I said at our last Workshop people in attendance had an opportunity to ask questions about each of these sites and after hearing about each of the sites asking questions we asked folks through live polling using their phones to rank these in order of preference so you can see lukasi and Kenilworth came out on top those numbers to the right of each of these are the average ranking from over 50 votes that were received at the at the workshop and then after we received these results in real time we asked people to pick their preference between the top two locations so forced ranking and if you go the next slide please and that's where the Casey came out on top with 34 votes uh compared to kenilworth's 14 and for folks with no preference all right next slide please so um now we'll transition into just some some phased build outs really quickly I'm not going to spend too much time on each of these um really I
think the the heart of the feedback we want we're looking for from the Commission in public tonight is around the site analyzes and and site selection process but just to give you a sense of kind of of where grindline is looking uh next as far as how we would potentially design and deliver this project just to show some examples of other projects they've worked on next slide please so for each of these you'll see an image of the final build out along with um some sort of images showing the phasing over time as well as the square footage that they added with each phase and what you'll see with each of these um delaying I'm happy you can you can just start kind of scrolling through these I don't know that we need to spend too much time on is um just the that we can potentially deliver a park that is um tailored to the available funding that we will have over the next that we have through our initial funding and showing kind of the varying sizes of these phases and number of phases providing a little bit more flexibility Andrew I don't know if you have anything you want to add just in with regard to the phasing yeah I think it's important um you know we a lot of the discussion you know that will come after that is right how do we sequence the phasing you know and the reality is we got a lot of feedback on that design and that's really what's exciting about working with grindline is they're going to take a lot of that information and really work hard to make the most sense about
what can we skate in each phase what makes the most sense but that just hasn't you're not that processed yet thank you um okay we can go to the next slide so as far as next steps are concerned um as you mentioned the majority of this approved budget will be needed for project development given what we are looking at that includes engagement planning it includes what we're doing right now and then also the the more detailed design work that will get us closer to shovel ready status for that first phase um we'll continue to develop that phasing plan and explore public-private Partnerships and funding opportunities we also know that it's important not to forget the existing skate park it does need some upgrades and so we will explore concurrent upgrades to the skate park to make it more user-friendly more accessible but without diverting funds from this 463 thousand dollar approved budget that we have to to devote towards a new uh designing and building a new skate park and following your feedback tonight we will be taking this to council with a very similar presentation for their feedback as well do have another slide here showing the um just our overall process and timeline um so just kind of recapping what we've what we've done so far awarded the contract in December held our first Workshop in January really answered that first key question of of where we want to take this project um held that second Workshop in February focused on the site analysis we're here tonight um so
it's great we've we've had a one meeting per month on this we're keeping really good momentum and then we will after tonight go to council as soon as we can get on an agenda um and uh and then once we have some confidence in a uh that a site has been selected we can cut grindline loose on developing conceptual design for designs for um public review and feedback and that would be those would take us through the summer with we have two Community workshops planned to really roll our sleeves up and and dive into the proposed design but until we have that site selected we unfortunately we have to we kind of have to hold grindline back until we have confidence that we have a site selected and uh lastly just encourage everyone to go to the project webpage city of petaluma.org Escape Petaluma we're keeping it up to date after every round of Outreach and we also are sending updates out to anyone interested in keeping up to date with project and with that I'm happy to turn it back to the commission okay just clarifying questions any clarifying questions about all this okay um I'm a little behind because I'm new to this M and I don't personally skate the um the question I have the current skate park um behind the Swim Center is it locked up at night no it's not being locked up at night okay so it doesn't have lights no no okay so people could go in and do it I I never thought about fencing um so that was a question and then I was wondering um why Wiseman wouldn't need fencing uh with
Wiseman I believe it was just that there was enough of a enough room to provide a natural buffer between the the skate park potential Skate Park location and the roadway um so really what they're looking at is the potent with skate parks you have the potential for skateboards to fly out into a street right um and so the in an ideal location you would have enough of a sort of natural landscaped buffer around the skate park um so that you don't have that so would you create a berm so it doesn't um I think it could be achieved multiple ways it could be a berm or if there's enough room it could also just be sort of a natural landscape surface because it is a residential area right so I was just I was just curious about those yeah and um I don't know how many um I want to say police calls get called to the current one um does the Petaluma Police Department have um because I know we have um a lot of I teach on the fairgrounds and so we have a lot of our shelter lists friends hanging out in front of the the fairgrounds and if the Escape part wasn't locked they could actually I didn't know if they went if it was a problem if the shelter lists go into that area at night they pitch fence their tents up around the Kenilworth building so I just never looked down that way to see if that was a problem I I can actually answer that I'm at the school Center five days a week I've never seen um there's definitely never been any tense of anybody's sleeping there I think maybe in the last three
years we've had maybe three incidences oh that's good yeah it's not not big that's good to hear because the roundhouse has any around Kenilworth we have the safe team comes a lot between the library and the the Kenilworth buildings in that Park so it's good to hear so those are my only comments and questions other clarifying questions Hannah um I guess when fencing's mentioned can that include natural fencing that the city would install are we just talking like chain link fence like if we were to put like the natural hedge barrier at Kenworth which they're wanting for the playground anyways is that are we including that in the conversation are we just talking like chain link fence um we really haven't talked about fencing types with grindline but that's definitely something that we would look at with them and as we move into the design Marianne I have a couple questions one um would the putting the skate park at Kennel Worth then preclude the other community conversation about having a new play area and other things there would it one take the place of the other or would they still both be in the in the mix Drew I'll give you that one to you yeah I'll take the first stab at it so you know that's why I think that the SWOT analysis was so interesting on this because in one in one aspect you had you know some advantages of the Construction Construction ability of it you've it's an exciting proposal to have mobilized a lot of heavy equipment on the site and keep the costs of a
skate park build down however um that process uh you know we're at that point the portion of just being at the point of selecting a design firm for a larger project so the risks are you now combine those two elements and they have to go together in that design selection as well as funding Etc so that's a risk as far as we're concerned as well because you're kind of hitched to that process versus going on an independent timeline so that's the best way I could answer that question is they would have to be combined and they would follow each other through the Outreach through the design selection review SQL all of it okay and the other question I had was about the trees at Lucchesi would we be looking at taking out trees to put in a skate park there or would the trees be protected that's a great question I'm gonna put Cindy on the spot here you know there's it's interesting to look at an aerial um there's obviously some trees that will come into play but there's a tree planting out there recently you want to speak specific to that sure thank you drew um so the trees that were planted with really if I want to say it was a few weeks ago now those are all outside of the area that's being scoped for the skate park so the new trees are out of what I would call the danger zone there are some mature trees within that area some that are probably going to have to be removed anyways just because they're decaying so as far as from the the footprint that's there there are a few that we'd
have to look at but I don't think that we'd have to remove a great number of trees to place the skate park there I also think we could probably work with the team with the design too better understand if there's you know some trees that have been there in our older growth to save those trees right to not be a sacrifice to the design and I'll and I'll just add real quick um you know another advantage of that mature trait uh mature shade canopy was something that was exciting to the design firm too to be able to work within that to allow those berms and shade to be assets so it's a it's a thin thin line there foreign yes um so I guess one clarifying question would be is um is relief on hold for planting any more trees at in this area where it's being considered for the skate park so the plans were to face tree planting at Lucchesi and we haven't looked at that area yet but there's a lot of Park so when we've looked at Luke Casey we looked more to the area closer to Lynch Creek Trail in that Parkside for dude to do phase two planting so at this time they're not on hold we just haven't hadn't explored that area yet okay um with Kennel Worth um I know and off the top of my head I can't remember I know there's a lot of people that want the volleyball court to come back and that would be a concern was that taken into consideration the the size that would be needed with you know when you did the 22 000 was that kind of keeping in line like this area would be volleyball and this is
the play structure and this is the picnic that kind of take that into consideration yeah that's a great question we did the initial round Community Workshop surveys to really inform um you know how we partner with the right design team for Kenilworth you know their our Direction was essentially three components of that Park we had active Recreation uses we had a play area and we had a kind of a group Gathering um it was picnic facility there now so those are kind of the three themes that we had for the design so I think the next step whether it be volleyball or any other amenity I think that's the time when then we would have to engage our community again to say he here are all the options our here's the site constraints we can't have it all but prioritize it is it volleyball is it this and roughly within those three themes how do you create a balance between the three so um no we didn't specifically look at volleyball in the existing footprint okay um and this might not be discussed was it discussed what the upgrades would be for the old skate park I understand the funding isn't intertwine but what are those looking like so we did um or grindline uh in their online survey did ask the community on about the importance of different types of amenities and the preferent the top preference was for lighting second was water fountain and then canopy and then to a lesser extent seating so and I don't think their list actually included restrooms but we've identified that as another
potential need as well as just the accessibility of of the um the entrance it's it's got some pretty intense bollards that make it hard for people with bikes to get in or or wheelchair users um and then also and the fencing I think has been identified as another sort of eyesore that's fair to say true anything else that I'm missing from that list yeah I think I sort of or opportunity I think when we're walking it you know say well we could you know push this back here wouldn't this be nice but um but yeah I think we really have to lean on the skating Community to kind of help us prioritize that and take the feedback we've received up to this point which is to really Safeguard this project but then perhaps create another track that we need to focus on that was all my questions thanks any other questions okay um Cindy go first how do skate parks affect gophers and what would it mean long term as far as Gophers concrete if I'm going to be honest with you so the effect on the skate park as far as surface wouldn't be as big as an impact but when you look at whether it's Kenilworth or Lucchesi they have a lot of gopher issues so I think when you go and you do grading you're gonna take down all their tunnels right where they live but if you don't grade the whole area then they're still going to be on the perimeter but it won't necessarily affect the play surface of a skate park so so if they're on the perimeter they won't puncture the cement they won't you know and I I've never seen
it and I the one the one park that I don't have gopher issues in well actually there's two but one is the skate park I haven't had any issues there okay so I don't think it'd be an issue if I'm being honest um but we'd still want to look at it because lucasy has quite an intense gopher issue and it's not it's not been at the top of my list to kind of address because it's not in the playing fields right so I'm addressing the the parts that have active Playing Fields first but we'd have we would want to still take a look at it okay but I mean when you're thinking of depth right so the depth of concrete that you're going to be putting in is not three inches thick but even at that I don't think you get most Gophers I mean I could be wrong I I will do my research I just haven't seen it be an issue and maybe um commissioner berticelli had some experience with skate parks and gophers can you put the mic on thank you sorry not sorry about that the Gophers themselves won't be able to puncture the concrete but over time if they're really working an area underneath they could um uh change the the soil competition or create voids underneath which could create problems with settling and and things like that over time over time so that's something that would be looked into with this process yeah and definitely we're already starting the Gopher abatement process so it would just fall in line with our program okay thank you if I can also add with our problems or challenges related to Adobe
clay in Petaluma we've already identified that we would need to do some pretty thorough geotechnical work as part of the design for this project okay Karen did you have a question I I was just going to mention the Adobe because concrete and Adobe have a lot of problems yeah you can talk to all the Neighbors in that area in my own driveway too my driveway is cracked over time so you don't want that to happen so I don't I don't know how you would do bring in Phil do you dig down because the Adobe goes pretty pretty deep um fortunately the city is gaining a lot of experience and expertise in this area um and so they're they're several different ways to approach it but those are all we've we've definitely shared that information with grindline and and they're taking that into consideration as they move forward with the design okay thank you um my last question is about the phasing I'm sure this is a concern by everyone of if you know you complete phase one and oh no there's no money for phase two or oh phase two is going to happen in 15 years or and I know you can't be you know specific about when it's going to happen and where that funding is going to come from but are we talking about a three-year process a five-year process what are you thinking there I'll start and then pass it off to Drew so grindline's initial recommendation is you know phase one um work with the available funding right to design and construct construct with whatever is left within that 463 000 budget um
and then and then after that they sort of they recommend phase two and I'd ideally roughly five thousand square feet um try to get the project up close to 10 000 feet you have a pretty good footprint at that point and then phase three the remainder of the park um likely closer to ten thousand square feet for the for the third phase but all this will be worked out through the design and and um and and with the consideration given to the funding constraints is that measure M funding so it's within our 10-year period is it what is that yes so the funding to date was um you know one-time funds through measure M and through the American Rescue plan act so I think this has the potential any funding source should be on the table it's going to be included um as part of the annual process of budget review that goes to council so it shouldn't be just limited to measure M I think we as a city need to look across our capital projects and say where's the skate park fall in and we'll we'll be looking at every opportunity I think those that are more successful in in obtaining grants are those that are shovel ready and so that was another um you know motivation to getting us to construct phase one is you have construction documents that that are shovel ready so that you'd be more um you know have Advantage going in for getting grants but until that design until those kind of phased phases come out we just we don't have a timeline yeah okay I think I think I'm struggling with that because um
I guess we can't think into the future of how we get the council to write approve in three years or four years can you can you tell us about another phased in Project that's happened in Petaluma and what the timeline looked like well you know current I think the Petaluma Community Sports field is a is a good and bad example um one that has taken decades um so that's one that's kind of where a little PTSD but for a lot of different reasons too you know those are giant phases there was recession and a pandemic there were other needs the city had so I think the important part is to prioritize this within a capital Improvement projects and parks and prioritize this within Capital proven projects city-wide but other phase projects it seems to be a very Petaluma approach um I think more more often than not but you know Miracle League was phased in that we've done the playground and and site build kind of separately it was a pretty unique project that was a 100 Capital um privately funded capital for the ball field and then grants and contributions for the playground so that one a lot of Partnerships but um yeah phased into and that's kind of where Bjorn made a good point about momentum right is it's really hard getting getting that phase one adopted into construction but momentum is a is a great thing for public projects okay thank you any other clarifying questions before we go into public comment uh just one thing I know this is our first time in person does everyone need one of
those yellow forms because we had a lot of folks come in late so so if you would like to speak you need one of these yellow forms I believe they're in the back and you'll hand them to our clerk over here and I do have them up here so I just want to make sure everyone can speak thank you Hannah I appreciate that okay am I introducing public comment I do forget this part sure you can cue our our clerk to open up public comment okay I'll cue the clerk well officially open up public comment and then we'll read that statement during public comment during public comment the public is invited to make comments on items of public interest that are within the recreation music and park subject matter jurisdiction and that are not listed that are listed on the current agenda public comments are limited to three minutes per person depending on the number of persons wishing to address the commission time will be allotted in equal shares totaling no more than 20 minutes subject to the commission's discretion so as of right now we have seven public comments um that would be 21 minutes it looks like there's a couple more coming in maybe one two three four so eleven is everyone okay with going with three minutes a person okay great so what I'm going to do is I'm going to call up the speaker and then I'm going to call up who's right behind them so and have them sit in the chair right behind the speaker spot there just so that we can move the process faster the clock is going to go up there as
well thank you so much um and we will hear the public comments so we're gonna have um Tyler Hagen speak and then Tom Scott right behind him okay there you go uh Sean stork right behind him okay so Tyler Hagen I'm losing my voice here so I'll keep it quick but uh my name is Tyler I'm born and raised here started skating in Poland when I was about nine um thank you um yeah I was here and skating when the current Escape Park was built it was cool but um I think I can safely say all the skaters and Pelham are very stoked to the prospect of a new one um and also for all the adults who see here there's probably like 20 kids who would also be very excited about it so I just want to say that also thank you there's my voice uh thank everybody for for uh considering it great thank you we'll have Sean stork and right behind that Nick cotton good evening everyone thanks for being here tonight my name is Sean stewartz I'm a lifetime uh Sonoma County resident I've been skateboarding for over 35 years uh so needless to say it's been a big part of my life I have two children they also skateboard I'm here tonight to say thank you for being here for getting grindline involved uh it's encouraging to see this process happening and I just want to show my support for the Lucchesi Park location I think it's the best option that we have for multiple reasons and that's all I have to say tonight so thanks again thank you all for being here thank you Nick cotton followed by Ryan Buchanan um uh yeah uh
mine's pretty much the same I'm 20 and I've been skating in Petaluma for like six seven years now uh primarily at The Phoenix Theater because that's like a really good spot we have in town with ramps and stuff um and I've gone to the the park we have quite a bit but uh comparing that to Parks uh like Sebastopol and Nevada it just like is not up to par at all so whenever I heard that this project was gonna get like start get rolling like uh and like how it's been for the last few months I was excited to participate and show up to like the meetings and stuff um so yeah I'm excited and I hope we get something going that's all I got awesome thank you Ryan Buchanan followed by Zach Warner or watch nerd Watcher Zach all right so um I've been skating for like three years now I'm 16 years old and I have like wanted a new park for so long I used to actually scooter at our old at our park now and that was about like seven years ago probably and ever since like I started scootering then I wanted to park ever since I started skating I wanted a new park and I just wanted to say thank you for finally like starting to do this and I'm very excited for what's gonna happen thank you thank you Zach Watcher followed by Ariel Brown um I'm Zach obviously but um I've been skating for about a year now and um like from the community like the skate park isn't known as like the best skate park um but I really appreciate you guys like going out of your way and you know trying to at least get a new skate
park it's really appreciated so thank you thank you Aria Brown followed by Denise Chen thank you I um I'm Mariah Brown thank you drew Bjorn for all your work we've been and the workshops you've been doing I really appreciate it and thank you for your attention um we've raised two kids here in town they're in their 20 now 20s um we spent their whole life skating and traveling to communities around Petaluma because of this park not being up to par so we're really excited that this is happening and moving forward and more than that for these kids that the Next Generation has somewhere to be so thank you for your time I appreciate it and uh we all support them the Casey location thanks thank you Denise followed by Tyler Lynch hi I'm Denise turnfalia I've been living in Petaluma for about 28 years I am a youth Advocate a skate Advocate and representing also Petaluma skate park Coalition so I'm a couple things I wanted to talk about the process thank you Bjorn thank you drew thank you to the commission it really truly has been a community Democratic process and it's been really great to be part of I appreciate that grindline is ahead of the design they're really good folk and I think that you can trust their design and decision making and giving Petaluma the best design process of that I wanted to share that the community is invested and the skate communities invested in in they're all in on this project and so what they need what we need is to have the Commission in and then the
of course City Council in and I Echo Megan your concern about funding right so if it's like if we're having these phases where's that funding and I really do think it is it would be who view you as a commission to really recommend that there is phased funding um as part of measure M money we know that we're going to have community members and our Coalition and other public organizations help with fundraising but I don't really think it has to be all on this all on the public organizations I really do think Petaluma needs to commit to funding this project and so I wanted to thank you you have quite a team they really have done their due diligence and thank you thank you Tyler Lynch followed by Eric Faith Fels hello I first want to thank Bjorn and Drew for all their work with Community workshops and getting everyone together the process has been really awesome and I know everyone has been really thankful to be able to have feedback on this Pro this project um in multiple different ways throughout so many years not only just how long it took for the initial skate park to be built but also to have something done as being someone has been like a BMX bike rider for over 20 years and using the skate park since it opened as a skateboarder there's just that Park and kind of preserving it is something that's definitely kind of important it's uh made its kind of a stamp on the the BMX and skating community and being able to kind of Honor um how much uh a part of those cultures are in
this town and having some huge people who are skateboarding and bike riding and being able to honor that with a new park especially since it's induction into the Olympics and other opportunities with that and also the opportunity to bring people into town with having a nice new skate park I mean talking to any people that have participated in these sports are willing to you know fly around the world to go and go to a skate park that's worth the time so being able to have people like grindline work on it and just the city to get involved is is really great so looking forward to seeing what happens and thanks for your time thank you Eric Faith followed by Timothy Lane hi thanks a lot I'm a skateboarder for decades um I'm a dad and uh I'm also a project engineer actually and I'd like to uh they say thanks to Drew and Jordan both for their thorough analysis has been quite impressive um all the feedback you've solicited to um so that's been really nice and I I do really appreciate your thoughtful consideration the council um asked some really good questions uh so I'm excited uh you know I just want to Echo a lot of the sentiment that's already been shared um and I think lukasi is the best location also Central um I think you should go ahead with the the phased in approach skateboarding the way the parks are you can always add to them if there were repairs that needed to happen those could actually be considered a feature you know so um the trees like you said if they come out we
can still skate around them if they're there we'll clean up because we're not trying to you know skate on a Surface it's not prepared um and I'm just excited I want to um also encourage you to get some lights because the longer the time that's open the more chance for people to use it and you know one thing is for the children you know for the kids to have somewhere to go something to do it's really super positive influence for them so um yeah I just wanted to give some feedback there on that and appreciate your time and consideration thanks thank you Timothy Lane followed by Joel huckaba yeah thank you good evening commission and and thank you drew and Bjorn my name is Timothy I live in Sebastopol uh 20 years plus with the Sebastopol skate park committee and and ongoing community members so I was just digging around the skate park today there's gopher holes as I'm trying to kind of do some some drainage work you know while we've got the break in the rain and I would like to just put my vote in for the lucasi location it just uh from my community work and the experience that I've had in that kind of regard having multiple areas where families can come and and kids can play soccer while maybe another family member or Mom and Dad want to skate that that's just a really wonderful opportunity having facilities on on location is Big um I you know just knowing how how much just a water fountain costs and how long it took for us to get a good water fountain where you can fill up
your water bottle and and there's a little dog dish down below and you know just things like that I get excited about um uh just in in regards to the phase uh issue that that's it that's a really good uh you know it's a logical question how how are how are the nuts and bolts gonna kind of unfold um the skateboard BMX uh um scooter wheelchair uh BMX communities we're tight we WE Network and um you know I I ran three of the fundraisers myself after people on the committee had gotten kind of burned out and I had fun doing it I got local bands um you get a lot of raffle together and it's it's a really we had youth bands playing it was just a really fun Community activity that um brought it brings people together you know and that's that's something that that is the skate park in Sebastopol really the observation was this is the most used Park that we have ever dedicated our time and money to that was one of the really interesting observations of the city council and um I personally led the the uh the lights committee it took us seven years but it was the these guys here uh you know when when some of the youth came up and spoke at the podium all of a sudden the park was uh you know or rather the lights were were approved and it was it was um absorbed into the cost of a new phase that we had next to the skate park which was a playground and some barbecue pits and stuff so it's really I know that there can be some concerns about um the skateboard community and BMX Etc but really in
all people you know I drive down to free Fremont to ride a skate park down there because I love it I've driven up to Oregon because that's where the grindline parks were 20 years ago so these are just kind of things I wanted to share with you I'm really very grateful for the the contribution you all do you know to our community as a commission and your time is valuable so you know thank you appreciate it thank you we have Joel followed by Bobby Britton hello my name is Joel Huckabee and I actually grew up in Santa Rosa but only just very recently actually moved to Petaluma and very grateful to be here and I just wanted to express my gratitude to you all for coming together to discuss this very exciting new development in Petaluma and also give us as the community an opportunity to speak and express our opinions and excitement and passion about this as well and yeah just kind of piggybacking off of what Tim said I personally like skating at Sebastopol a lot and I've met a lot of these people through that Park and I think um you know skateboarding BMXing all all those Sports they do get a bad rap sometimes but also I think a really beautiful aspect about it is that I have friends of all ages at Sebastopol and that's just from showing up and us all coming together and doing what we love and you know I'm actually very recently become friends of people like Tim and Eric and it's just from skateboarding and us hanging out together and having a good time and so once again bottom
line gratitude thank you so much this is a very exciting development and I think it's something that the community is only going to thoroughly benefit from because it really does bring people from all different ages and all different walks of life together to enjoy something outside and what more could you ask for at a community park so thank you so much I think partnering with grindline is incredible they make extremely awesome parks and it's going to excite a lot of people and Petaluma is already such an awesome place and it's only gonna add another positive aspect to this great City so without further Ado thank you so much for including us in this thank you for taking this into consideration and um for us that are here and everyone else who could not show up we are all extremely excited for this next step and hope that it can come through into fruition so thank you so much thank you finally Bobby Britton hello thank you for having us all today and I just wanted to back up what he was saying that grindline has done some amazing work for the skateboarding community and we're super honored that you guys have chosen to work with them for the city um the other thing I just wanted to add was I only moved here about a year ago I grew up down in the Bay Area skateboarding starting at a very young age and there's no skate parks when I was skateboarding at a young age so unfortunately that led to a lot of conflict with police officers at a young age you're at public areas
destruction of public property creating noise conflicts I couldn't help but notice when I first walked in here today that there was evidence of people skateboarding in front of City Hall and kids are going to find a place to go and skateboard and do their thing unless we provide it for them they're to continue to do things that other members of the community might not like so much so very grateful for you guys backing this project and adding to the city and making something beautiful for the kids so thank you thank you and thank you to all of our speakers that came out tonight it's really great to see such a strong Community here um so uh now commission discussion um so this our task at hand here is to provide input about the site selection between the four sites um does anyone want to start with feedback Marianne uh it sounds to me like the the site of choice through the community is Luke Casey and the only concern that I have with with that is the trees that we minimize removal of any healthy trees or protect the trees as needed to facilitate the design of the skate park thank you Marianne Kate thank you I just want to first of all thank everyone who came out today from the public it was so inspiring to see this community show up and I mean you guys have me excited about this my son just skateboarded for the first time yesterday um so I'm just he's only two and a half so it's not like real skating but I'm just I'm just really excited and it's so um I'm just I'm really
impressed by staff and how the momentum of this project is really exciting and I just want to keep that going it sounds like we have the community support behind this project and I think the set the city needs to step up and really you know provide funding at the city level for this so that we can keep the momentum going and really engage the public in this really important project it's such a positive multi-generational sport um we have world-class skaters here in Petaluma like we need a world-class facility and I'm just so glad that grindline was the um design firm of choice I think it's it's amazing so um I'm just hearing Luke Casey Lou Casey Lou Casey um it seems like that is really the ideal location um I you know I think Kenilworth had some really great you know components with the whole redesign or revitalization project you know it seems like it would have worked to kind of fold it in but um I think there are just some barriers there and the footprint like if we are doing this in a phase design process where we can really make this a big impactful project I think Luke Casey makes more sense um to have it be like a feature and an attraction and um yeah I'm just really really pumped on this project so um I that's really all I have to say is I'm excited and I I hope that um city council moves forward with the Casey as the location that would be my feed back on the site analysis Stacy um this was one of the reasons why I wanted on the commission this park in general I
grew up with a lot of skateboarders and you need a place to go teens need a place to go it's super important and before I go with my recommendation I want to address the bad rap um if anybody ever says that what I think is that they need to really look at the art of skateboarding and look at the tenacity the perseverance the commitment the spatial awareness the strength to pull off some of these tricks and so I just need to address that because every time I hear it it's very aggravating to me you can tell I'm already upset about it because it is such a commitment to do the sport and so again if we give space for these activities that develops a certain type of character of what we want out of all of our citizens and so I think really delivering on this project um I think is going to be great um I think that lucasi Park is definitely my choice I think it can offer the largest square footage and that is something that when I've gone to other skate parks trying to do something the the size of what we already have I just don't think it's going to deliver in that big way I think the um the lighting that's already there for the soccer fields can be tapped so there's some different infrastructure things there um and in terms of the phasing um I think that yes I agree we need to recommend that measure Island funding is using all all of the capital money that we can to push this forward um and and do it in and try to get it on a timeline from that piece um so yeah that's it Karen but
first of all I have to say that being on the city council I never hear positive I never hear a thank you so it's really nice to hear so many because I'm like oh no they're going to have pitchforks but new to this and new to this process um when the existing skate park was built my kids were teenagers they are now homeowners and they're in trouble with their HOA for having skate ramps in front of their house I'm really excited because now I have almost seven grandchildren who will be using that Park in Petaluma so I'm really excited um looking um ahead Lucchesi park has the biggest space 58 000 square feet is what my notes say and then the trees can perhaps be shade because while you're waiting your turn or whatever or scathing or your mother is sitting there watching you waiting so you take you through the hospital I was there anyway the um the shade is is great and natural trees is great I'm sure we can work the paths or whatever you call it the ramps around the trees but I just see it as multi-ages you've got you're you're young I'm a preschool teacher so my preschoolers love to think they're skateboarders and then you've got your older children and then you've got your teenagers and then you have your adults and then you also have that BMX so my only kind of concern is how do you skate with the BMX because that's bicycles and I watched a BMX movie filmed at our existing skate park to kind of understand and I'm like how do you how do is there times have you worked that out
I mean you guys are awesome that's great I I applaud you um you could run the world with knappy's in harmony thank you I think that's great thank you yeah after looking at everything Luke Casey definitely seems like the best fit with shade and places to hang out and eat and you know skate do everything um and with the city pushing for this multi-generational thing they're doing um seems like that can all be incorporated there and maybe there's a grant out there for that with the senior center there and the little league and Boys and Girls Club um yeah very exciting another reason why I joined the commission was to start the process of the skate park which I know I think talks had started before the pandemic and then kind of went out and then there was repaved tennis courts instead so hopefully that we stick to it and get this done and yeah I think we really need to make sure the city funds this um as much as it can and not asking for private donations because the city owes owes those to our community so thank you thank you um so I I wholeheartedly agree with OKC I think that that's the right space I appreciate that the community feels like that's the right space as well and that we all feel like we can support what the community wants so I think that that's really great um I just want to go back to making sure as Marianne said that the trees are protected in the best way we can that the Gophers don't mess things up for us and as much as we can get this phasing thing down so
that we're not left hanging going we where's phase three why isn't phase three here I just really really hope we can get to a place that we don't not finish the project that that's really important to me that if we're going to move forward let's let's move forward and really do this in a way that we can um I again want to thank the skating Community I was at the First Community Workshop the um the positivity the collaborative in collaborating the working together um it wasn't ever and Us Versus Them of the City versus the skating Community it was how do we come together to work on this and it's been a beautiful beautiful process so thank you to staff and thank you to the skating Community for being a part of that and for showing up and continuing to show up show up to city council too right um awesome any other comments from the commission yeah uh for Cindy probably have the Gophers affected the tennis courts at all no not that I've seen cool that was a good comparison thank you Hannah thank you um cool okay we're gonna move on to um review discuss and recommend establishing an ad hoc subcommittee to assess staff in review and development of the draft update of the integrated Pest Management plan Drew thank you all so much yeah yeah thank you all right Bjorn audience be dismissed as well thank you born Bjorn so just to restate the the item that we're we have in front of us ultimately staff is recommending that the commission discuss and establish an ad hoc subcommittee to
assist in the development of the draft update to the integrated Pest Management plan the ipmp so if most of you remember from the February 15th meeting last month four weeks ago the majority of Commissioners expressed an interest to form the ad hoc subcommittee to assist with further development of language of the draft and scope related to the IPM while a vote was taken to establish committee staff has been advised to gendize the item first discussion tonight with proper noticing and essentially take take two actions one to review the scope that's being provided to make any adjustments that the commission deems necessary that includes additions modifications taking things away and ultimately taking action to nominate two to three members and actions on creating that that subcommittee so I'm going to go over real quick this is available in the staff report but those those four I error at four bullets that represented the scope that the majority of the commission provided staff feedback on was one provide a framework for the role and responsibilities of the IPM coordinator to provide recommendations for the role and responsibilities of the IPM task force three draft language for the least toxic method exemption protocol and four provide a recommendation for pesticide use related to certifications there were some conversations on which to use so again I want to really reiterate that the commission can modify can take can change any of one of those Scopes we just wanted to
provide back to you all what the majority of the commission's feedback was and open up the discussion to hopefully establish that ad hoc tonight so that we can meet and get going happy to answer any questions any clarifying questions around our task here okay any public comment okay uh discussion so um so I my understanding task at hand is is that the scope of work that we want that do we want an ad hoc is that the scope of work and who will be on the ad hoc if we have it those are the three tests at hand so first question is do we want an ad hoc but but Drew said we had to motion it here tonight to make it official right but there was a legal thing there yeah so so tonight has been agendized for discussion and there's a recommendation action for tonight and that's to tonight establish the ad hoc with the scope that's in front of us and if you want to change that scope this is the opportunity to do that um in a public meeting that's been agendized so that it's very clear of when we do break and meet um we'll have a good understanding of what those expectations when you come back to the commission to report are on and so so yes we did can I can I ask a question um why uh uh why does it have to be so limited in terms of like for example there's four things listed maybe we come up with two more why is it limited it's a seven page document why why is it so constrained out of curiosity why why are we limited to the four no I know I understand that we're not limited to the four but
um I guess what I don't understand is um why can't the ad hoc look at all of it and then figure out you know from the community members what's what their things were maybe the items that what we see I'm just I don't understand why we have constraints like why would legal put constraints on us I think it's it's the the brown act provides legal advice that if we're establishing an ad hoc committee which is not um under a public meeting that there should be an expectation on the role and scope of what that ad hoc is doing you're essentially assigning tasks to them and so it's a transparency issue so if they if you want to look at I mean there's not a page number that you have to come back with if that seven page document you want to turn it into 20 within this scope you know go for it it's not it's not that it's just that whatever it is it's agreed to tonight that that's your scope and I think the point is to not have ad hoc committees that run without um a point for which their their mission is complete so that you don't have standing committees which then run into the issue of having to go through public noticing Etc so it's it's all around that transparency law so that when you do come back there's a good expectation of what it is you're going to be coming back with but other than that make that the scope that you all feel you want to take on okay so is that why it says you know providing but not limited to so meaning sure yeah I mean just because this is the first ad hoc
that has formed on this commission I've seen them formed in other things so I'm just trying to understand like the process right so meaning there's these four things that were identified if we identify two more here but if one came up completely separate you know again surrounding that seven page document that's still okay or it's not okay I'm not trying to yeah I think I think I would get Twitter going before I I think what what I would recommend then is regular report outs to this commission and if that scope changes then we discuss it at the next commission say hey this this led us down this Avenue I think we should talk about it as a commission just so where we're going to adjust the role I think that's probably the best advice I could give yes council member I said there's been a lot of public um we've gotten letters as council members about the turf and a lot of people came to council a public comment talk about the turf the um artificial turf that would the ad hoc is only limited to the IPM and they can't bring in a Turf conversation is that why we have to limit the ad hoc committee Drew do you mind if I step in a little bit sure just because the tree committee has a lot of ad hoc committees and this has come up and they've questioned it in the same way so for ad hoc committees you have to have a clear definition of what the role of that is right so the way Drew's presenting it is that there's these four areas but as a commission you guys can choose to expand that or
not but you as a commissioner have to vote on what the ad hoc is going to be doing and that's what's being asked now to answer your question about the turf the turf is not in the IPM so it's separate and that's why you wouldn't bring it into this document itself well that's what I was trying to to explain is that you're just talking about the IPM you can't expand into the turf correct so that's why there's a framework right because this is being brought forward to review the IPM and the IPM that's presented right so that's what the ad hoc is that's what their goal is okay thank you see maybe um I don't quite know how this would be qualify as a deliverable but the ad hoc act as a bridge with our community stakeholders and community members who have expressed interest in being involved in this process and how we could distill that you know information and you know the public wants and what what their you know feedback was um how how do we make that into a deliverable or an actionable item for the ad hoc committee is that possible to add that is that just an expectation that the ad hoc committee will have um you know that collaboration with those stakeholders automatically yeah I think that's a that's a great question um short answer is you know that's that it really is a tool that the ad hoc has available to them so not having to go through a monthly noticing process is really important so that you when you need to take meetings with working groups and it's not just working
groups it's um staff and operation stakeholders it's other operators that was you know that's an important part I think of this committee is you know taking a pause taking a step back and you know the six or seven months of gathering that information from the Consultants on meeting with these working groups meeting with staff all that information is available but also it's kind of our jobs as staff to help set up those meetings or provide you information as the ad hoc committee moves along the process does that answer the question sort of um I guess uh how do we make sure that the community is involved still involved in the process can can I so yeah I think that the ad hoc has that at their discretion to meet with community members so it's not necessarily A deliverable as much as and as long as along the lines um of you know is it limited to just this these deliverables or you know can we utilize the community as yeah I I want to be careful um not you know the adult committee will be members of of this committee and commission and staff so we're not looking for membership outside of that and that when we present out you know that's really the role of involving everyone and you know it was a it was a you know a very Lively debate on Monday night's Council I think there's a lot of people very interested in this um so so it's also it's important for us to give regular updates at this committee sorry this Commission on progress and kind of the routes that we're taking and and
yeah there's not a timeline on that so um part of that is just this this next step tonight thank you so I'll go ahead yeah just um in the IPM I don't know if we're allowed to add things to the list right now but I'm wondering if like the pest presence just seems like very like there's like can we like narrow down what we're gonna do for go for abatement what the process is gonna I know we're still like finding a contractor and kind of dialing that down but like so we have some steps that the city will take when there's an outbreak like there is at most of the parks except for the tennis courts and the skateboarding just so there's you know there's steps that we're ensuring we're doing as a city especially with getting this go for contract um finalized so the to change the scope um to include go for abatement or to include yeah the Gopher abatement would would fall under the IPM as it is now yeah there it is identified as a pest um I think some feedback we got on Monday night stop receiving Monday night was to provide more of a matrix or inventory of of pests that are currently being kind of managed so that was some feedback we've gotten since we met last so that may kind of work itself into that in a kind of an inventory if you will if that's been managed we want to be careful to know that whatever we do we can't there's always unintended you know pests that come come into our environments so there's a there's going to be an aspect of that but for as far as this is concerned
we we did receive that feedback more kind of robust identification of what we're going after are currently going after yeah because it's just it's just kind of it's almost like reading like when the doctor gives you your medical report you know it's like that kind of stuff you're like what are they even talking about so I mean so you're saying that that can be added as one of these numbers that um the addressing specifically Gophers I mean that if um there are pests that are going that maybe you would use say Organic pesticides on right this isn't that caliber it's a whole separate thing that all of us are dealing with um so it can be its own separate thing to make sure that there is wording you know and and maybe um uh ideas put down in in terms of how those things could be managed sure I think the the IPM policy or program policy is really what we're talking about it's a policy it's an overarching document that lays out sort of the groundwork and the parameters for everything that we're doing in terms of dealing with pests but it's not going to be the same as what an IPM Coordinator would do which would be to tell you specifically these are the actions that you're going to take using these products right um you know and lay out a plan that's more of an IPM um an IPM plan for specific sites rather than sorry um rather than the policy which is sort of more how are we going to approach all of these different situations and what are going to be our over overarching guiding
principles in dealing with all of these situations the IPM coordinator is going to give the specific plans for each specific pest at each specific location so I don't know that we're going to get into that much detail in the policy of how we're going to specifically treat each type of pest in other words I don't you know what I I realize after you're talking is I think that it when I read this document it seems like pest as in bugs versus a small mammal I think that's it's funguses it's bacterias it's rodents rats right yeah so so I think that that was I think that's the maybe the differentiation of so maybe the feedback of understanding what Pest and you know encompassed because when I read it I'm thinking more of uh things that you would put compounds on like you know pesticides right versus managing animals rodents whatever you want to classify in that thing we surpassed also right but that's what I mean so in my head right so when I read that document when they say pests I guess pest isn't at least me I'm not thinking of it necessarily as the living animals with a heartbeat I'm thinking of it as a weed a fungus that type of thing you're right so when you don't live in the world of Maintenance like my world I I get it if I were to read that you'd be like a pest right some kind of bug typically I think is what most people would think about so um just more clear definition of the term pest Stacy is that what you're asking or do you want to Define me yeah well yeah Define
Pest and and I think that that was the feedback it sounds like from City Council of the of um identifying and again you guys probably know off the top of your head what the things you deal with are the most right right okay so oh go ahead Karen um I was just going to mention the reason we were discussing it on Monday is because this is part of our city council's 10 top priorities and goals for the year so we're really really looking to accomplish something this year because it's on our goals it's we're committed so that's why we really had a long conversation about it and how we do have Partnerships um especially with the the pests like um the we have the Sonoma Marin mosquito and Vector they call them vectors not mice vector control their Partnerships with Petaluma and we can use that as well you know to um when we hire this person there we already have a built-in partnership with the Sonoma in mosquito and vector control for some of those four-legged living things as well as the weed abatement or I the strawberries or the plants the bot berries or whatever we have growing so okay I would agree that this is a um I think it's also a priority of the commission as well I'm going to bring us back to our task at hand here which is is are these four items our scope we want clearly there's already a feeling of wanting an ad hoc and who will be on the ad hoc so coming back to that task at hand of the four items to do is it yeah it was just um gonna ask more of kind of like a nuts
and bolts question about timing of ad hoc commitment and like what that looks like if we do move forward because I just don't see anything on the staff report about about that or if that is left completely up to the odd committee itself yeah thank you commissioner the one reference on the ad hoc is that typically the commitment is that you would be meeting with staff or hosted meetings during the traditional workday hours Monday through Friday so that's kind of the only expectations other than that the first order of business is to kind of meet together and talk about schedules and timing and what you can commit to um and and yes while you know the council member you know there's a hyper focus on all these items of among the top ten um you know there are some like the historic Trestle and there's others that are just ginormous and that are going to attract in different Paces but I think the the point is made that you know we as much as staff can support this ad hoc set up meetings um you know we're we're committed to that but I think other than there's no expectation other than you know to meet during the traditional Work Day hours great thank you so much Hannah does the ad hoc have to set up meetings through staff are we allowed to do that on our own or does everything have to go through yeah no that's a great question um we we appreciate kind of working with staff to set those kind of initial parameters but but no um there's not a requirement that staff be attending at all
those meetings um we want to support the effort we'll provide as much information as we can help the process out but the real hope here is to support you know staff's efforts in return so good question so going back to scope hearing the feedback from staff and Marianne and whatnot does everyone feel comfortable with these four four pieces for our scope of the ad hoc and getting some head knots here okay I'm trying to lump this all into one motion here okay and then the last question is who who would like maybe we can just do like a raise of hands of who would like to participate we could take two to three people for the ad hoc thank you Mariana so oh perfect perfect okay so then we need a motion to um to have an ad hoc committee based on the scope of these four items with Marianne Hannah and Kate as our Representatives can someone motion that sure I motioned for uh to form an ad hoc uh do you want me to list out each of these do you want them said with I think you could reference the staff report or okay you know items one through four to create an ad hoc with um to cover the four items listed in the staff report from the March 15th meeting um with Commissioners uh Rizzo oh my gosh I'm forgetting here Greenspan thank you and Robert jelly yes do we have a second I second that motion great all in favor oh we don't have the little lights huh just hand raised you guys haven't had the lights up yet up there um awesome okay thank you all thank you all and I look forward to hearing
back from the ad hoc I hope that you meet within the month so that we could hear back next month thank you on for taking on this really we were ready to meet early the weekend we approved it the first time so Marianne was wrong now it's all legal and done properly so thank you okay so we're gonna go on to commissioner comment I'm gonna go just kind of down the line um we'll start with Hannah commissioner comment hi yeah parks are wet um my my daughter finally had her first uh baseball game tonight so that was exciting that the field dried out enough for that um yeah Parks look good green gophery long grass um lots of gophers and my yarn too uh art commission's been good just um yeah kind of talking about the small art art piece commission um actually had a recommendation for doing some like skateable cement artwork down um like C Street where that that whole area was like a huge skate spot back in the day um when all the auto dealerships moved away and it was just an empty playground so yeah kind of incorporating what we've been talking about and into art which could have been cool if Kenilworth was the spot to incorporate that art money and the park money and the skate money and kind of do like a full thing but um Luke Casey is definitely better with not having to have a fence and yeah other than that that's all I got thank you thank you Kate um youth commission did not meet we did not have a quorum yesterday so um we did not meet unfortunately um so no updates there um I
haven't really gotten out to many of parks in the rain um but last time I was at the parks they were looking pretty good pretty underwater a lot of them but um I also just wanted to comment um the the discussion around skate park and um the ipmp has just really highlighted for me the need for Parks master plan and I'm just going to continue saying it just because I think that it would be so helpful in guiding these conversations um so just there's my little plug for that thank you so I have Stacy Stacy do you mind just turn on the mic thank you so much I'll say that with the mic I'll plug a Parks master plan as well that was the other reason I wanted to get onto the commission as well I was really feeling like this town needed that um okay all my all of my Parks look good they're you know they're just tree branches everywhere and stuff and um although I didn't see any trees down two trees fell in Cherry Valley in one week it was pretty impressive they were big too um okay at Lucchesi Park which is not one of my Parks but it's the park next to my house and my husband took the kids there yesterday there's two big kid swings missing so they were they're taken off so you guys must know about them um and so that the little baby ones are there but the ones that you would normally swing on like kids they're not there and all of the monkey bar things are gone so in that play structure they're like little handles and you'd swing all of those are gone you guys look puzzled by that yeah
I mean uh we shouldn't be surprised we don't know where these things end up but yeah we were not aware so thank you huh okay okay um then uh did you have the meeting with the um pool contractor yes we've been communicating regularly with the pool contractor had met with them and staff uh in regarding covering the pool and do they have the equipment to cover the pool and what's going on there specifically yeah we have the equipment to cover the pool there has been [Music] um you know challenges with Staffing with wind advisories Etc so we are committed to being very clear with them our expectations that which is that the pool is covered and that the schedule dictates the ability to cover the pool so that's been our our position and we're working towards that okay thank you I asked you know I asked why the kids don't cover it like the swim teams like I was like why don't they cover it and the feedback that I got from that is that the rollers don't work well there's not um there's kind of like almost like handles that they need to pull with those aren't there and so they said they're more than happy to have the swim teams do it as part of closing but their needs the the proper equipment for them to be able to do it needs to be there so that was just feedback because I mean I felt like that was a low hanging fruit like they're already in the damn pool rather than have a lifeguard get in right because if it's a staffing issue you know the kids can do it but it sounds like from
what I understand it it there needs to be some improvement in that equipment as well yeah I mean I agree and I think there's a from my understanding and Rachel's is really um you know our resident Aquatics expert kind of grown up through Aquatics programming but there is a culture of covering and uncovering the pool through the teams that are typically there the Staffing challenges are in the mornings typically to be the ones to uncover the pool so that was one strategy we discussed is you know those swim teams those volunteers committing them sharing insurances things like that but we have to also just kind of get to the bottom of the equipment and what they can and can't do obviously safety is the most important but after that um you know during these these cool and cold weather we we need to make sure the pool is covered okay that was it Marianne update on a little bit of an update on the museum board um there's a lot of activity going on uh there's going to be all kinds of tours starting up School tours they're going to be the petalumens of yesteryear are going to be in the butter and eggs parade they're going to be handing out literature there they're going to be starting up their weekly um tours again um and also want to mention that Solange won an award from the Sonoma Historical Society I believe Sonoma County so I think that's fantastic and I was hoping that we could maybe put a little blurb about her on the website or something like that um we're looking at a brand
refresh with a new logo and kind of a new look for the museum so there's uh somebody that's working kind of full-time on that who's um creating a whole uh sort of New Look for the the museum all the museums Communications getting on social media and all that um they're talking about well the biggest thing probably is that they decided to hire an executive director I think is really great to get them some leadership in the museum and start tackling some of the bigger issues fundraising of course is is a um is always a big issue and they're looking at having open houses to bring people in to tell them about what the board does get in more people interested possibly in joining the museum board so because some people are maybe getting a little bit burned out and um really kind of it's It's there's just a lot of ideas bubbling up and a lot of activity starting to happen wanting to get information and get engaged the public officials more the city council more to bring them into the museum let them know what's going on what the needs of the museum are and um you know how they can form closer alliances uh with within the city to support the museum so um yeah there's a lot going on at the Museum and I think the parks are I'm really happy to see the park screening up again happy to see all this water even though I know it's causing a lot of other problems but um I think I just have to always you know give a shout out to the staff because I know you know uh that you're doing a lot with
a little and I think that's you know you are to be whoever wants to be applauded the staff in the job that they're doing so thank you thanks Marianne Karen oh did you Stacy sorry Karen one second I just wanted to note P back didn't meet this month so I don't have an update that's why I don't have an update it was canceled um well good news um the city council approved um unanimously the um davidon Scott Ranch development it will have a park um portion which is 47 Acres of open space that will link and I'll link up with Helen Putnam Park and so there's um that's really great news for babaluma because it's going to have um a learning center it's going to have a lot of other features and I have a walking trail and it's really exciting and that's also been uh in the the the uh almost 20 years I think it was 19 years it's been in the pipeline to be developed and it went from a huge development Housing Development to only 23 houses and 47 Acres of open space park for our community so I'm really excited about that um I talked about the goals and priorities there's a lot of um things happening and they're all so positive for about the woman I'm really excited and um do you know that there is an app for Petaluma I mean I had to learn about it even after being elected we have an app and so if you see something that is um wrong um like at the park like the swings I didn't even know the swings were I thought I didn't know how long they've been missing or anything that's like the BMX I
didn't know how long that had been a problem but if you do have a problem you do go to it's called engage Petaluma it's an app you download it and you take a picture and you send it to this app and then the staff member um who if it's the parks I guess usually they're about Public Works items but they get right on it and they get updated right away and a photograph and a map and it's if you don't even have to say your name and they'll make a comment um it's really I learned about it because I'm like people are telling me about things all the time and I was like having to write the email well this is instant it goes to a staff member and then it gets given to the right staff member to correct immediately so um yeah the water on the parks I hear about these muddy walkways and but it will dry up the sun will come out and we'll have Springtime soon so it's great for potholes too yeah one day it will be torn up right but they get right out there and they get deeper so they want to know about it um immediately signs um street signs and what have you too so it's really great so but even in the Parks I haven't seen too many Park um suggestions or repairs needed but usually they're potholes but it's really exciting because before I was going to like um the the internet and seeing all the complaints from the neighborhood groups and then I was like oh you just go to this app and it gets fixed right away so the parks needs that do get those requests Cindy okay okay just for the just for
the record just Cindy I didn't have your microphone on but yes to confirm those those go track to staff as well so sometimes you know it's an added step to go through engage just to come and ping us but for those quick ones like you're walking and you just need to snap a photo what a great tool you know but if there's a larger safety issue with context helps too but it does go in integrate into the workflow system it just takes one layer of staff to get there and then it's prioritized with the queue and the work order system as it is so it's not like a ferry you can come over and sprinkle some dust on that pothole but yes we do get it and it's great to have tools like that but it's great for Parks so if there is something like um swings missing right away that staff needs to know about because I didn't know when they were last seen since I didn't have anything a benchmark for the parks sorry no it's great because um I usually go to Leghorn but the kids were looking for swings and bond Park didn't have swings and I would happen to be a bond one question about Bond Park why is the turtle over the concrete I wouldn't let the grandkids climb on it because I didn't want to fall off so the turtle and the community engagement process it was really important to that community that the turtle stayed within the park but in order to put the playground in the way that we did it did not allow for the turtle to be in the playground anymore because it's not in the safe ball zone so in order
to address what the community wanted was to keep the turtle in the park and also install the playground that the community wanted we had to pull the Turtle action out of the actual playground but children still climb on it and there's nothing but concrete underneath of it so it's not in the playground so if people are climbing over it then it's like they're climbing over a picnic table or something else right that's why we could not put it in the playground though because then we could not find the play structure that was from the feedback that's what the community wanted okay because there's no signage that says please don't I wouldn't let them but there's no signage or anything and so parents were letting them climb on it it doesn't matter when you're a grandmother and your three-year-old grandsons hits his head it doesn't matter um well I think that's good feedback for stuff to hear that maybe maybe you should be able to do so thank you um okay so I would also like to praise the staff um public works as well as Park maintenance and whatnot with all these storms trees coming down flooding getting in front of it I mean seeing knowing the storm is coming and seeing public works out there getting in front of it on the streets I think we dodged some severe bullets there because of the staff that we have in Petaluma so I think that's really amazing um I would love to hear from staff in your staff report um I saw a survey on social media a while ago about Fourth of July so if
anything landed there around 4th of July and maybe it's too early for an update about you know where we are with summer camps and summer activities and whatnot if if we need to do a push somehow on that or not and that's all I have so we will move right to staff for coming great thank you I'll add that to my notes Cindy but if you want to get going hello everybody if you excuse me if I'm a little bit tired I've been sitting in Council table for hours at this point um but just your updates for the month Park staff has been really busy with the storms we've been really lucky actually we have not had a whole lot of damage in our Parks we're really grateful we'll see as it dries out next on our kind of schedule is to start our turf maintenance program right it would have normally happened in March but because it's been so wet we anticipate that will start in April I'm in process for finalizing um the go for abatement contract for four parks to start so we'll start with McNair Prince Wiseman and City Hall so those will be our four that we initially start to see how that abatement program will work and if we can get some good Headway on that so look to see some changes and hopefully not so many Gophers in in your Park you know commissioners thank you no I can't do anything at your house but hopefully the parks will get better um but so so um that's in progress your Parks team outside of that are you know have been I'm ramping up their refurbishment so you'll see in leghorns park
one of the major things they've been working on is refurbishing the picnic tables that kind of need a little bit of love Henry Park sign got refurbished that was one of our signs that we did this past time Grant Park um they had removed all the equipment so that install was happening we're getting the playground infill so that should happen and you'll get to hopefully Rachel and her team will do a grand opening for that revamp of that park it was pretty phenomenal so really excited about that your tree committee we met just prior to you for the first time on the council diocese it was great we had a lot of Spirited discussion Arbor Day events officials are the 29th which is going to happen we nailed that to time it's 10 to 12 and McNair Park will be planting trees probably two to three trees that was decided and then on Sunday we'll have a nature walk with relief Petaluma going through the nature quarter that they've helped plant through the east side account so we're going to have a weekend of trees that's really exciting so if any of you guys can make it we will send information out we welcome everybody to come outside of that your tree committee also is going to form a new handoff committee on Communications and possibly tree ordinance policy process so we'll agenda I thought that was a really spirited discussion today but they are moving a lot of stuff happening your relief team we finished by the skin of all of our teeth the six Parks got planted with all the rains it
was really hard but South Gate and Meadowview did get done so those are all planted out if those are your Parks take a look give us some feedback but we're really excited to finish this planting season take a deep breath and then make steps for the next next season we'll probably be planning in the fall Arroyo and Miwok are on that schedule so look out for that but lots of trees it looks really cool and look easy if you can just dream a little bit how different that Park will look not even with the skate park discussion but the mixture of the trees around the pond and it's really of the Legacy that we're living behind so really excited about that work that is your Parks update thank you thank you Cindy uh just piling on from the theme of um just wet weather over the last four weeks since last we met you know really kind of wrecking havoc on all of our um our organized sports leagues especially the spring you know I think in in I'll say six weeks or at least in May um this is this will be a great problem to have and but I think there's a lot of just consternation about like commissioner Hanna said just they haven't seen we haven't seen these kind of types of delays for several seasons so there's a lot of angst to get out there and play and it just again kind of reinforces the need um you know have these conversations on on all weather fields and and what what our community would be facing without them and also a broader discussion too on you know the role that they play but
with that said we do we do expect um you know that Council will take up our status of reducing our um our our water regulations which is something we haven't been able to discuss for the last couple years so the fact that we can water water parks and the council will be taking that up at the end of the month means means everything and really allows us the tools that we need to to keep and sustain those improvements on our natural grass fields so that's that's all great and you know like like Cindy said that the Grant Park playground we were really excited um because we kind of were able to get in there a little early before the daily the playground is installed but we weren't able to get back in there and and finish the job so we are excited to add that last wood fiber construction fence comes down and then the opening ceremonies ribbon cutting might be delayed a little bit but when it happens really excited to open open that playground Anna's Meadows also is going forward the commission unanimously supported the design and and gave strong feedback to include a shade structure as part of that initial so that's kind of delayed it a little bit as we try to creatively think on how we can fund that but we we have a good route forward so we'll be bringing that to council I don't have a date for you now but we're excited after we finish up Grant to quickly bring an item up to council to get an award for construction for that project and a shade structure and adjacent to it the
summer programming registrations are almost all full so if you know anyone who's still looking for summer camps there's spots here or there but um huge Deluge of folks signing up for camps across the board so um if you're looking for places to go or need need folks go go now and don't wait um or tomorrow the we're all we're also hiring at several kind of our seasonal staff building attendance tiny tot teachers and our Recreation leaders who've been really successful to have a high retention rates of bringing Camp counselors back for rec leaders but this is across the board other agencies we're talking to really hard to find and then maintain and retain you know good qualified enthusiastic young Rec leaders that we can bring into our camps so those are a position we're particularly looking at the senior center just wrapped up a six weeks of aging gracefully lecture series uh which was um really well well done and was capped off today by a St Patrick's Day festivities there my I had firsthand um or sorry second-hand experience from staff that it was a big hit so there'll probably be some social media media posts about that later but um yeah the senior center is just buzzing the events that really make that place come alive is it's pretty exciting so I was jealous that I missed out on that today but glad staff took part in the research in reconnaissance the chess tables that are installed on Water Street also we're looking a little bit farther out for a kind of a grand opening
celebration but that is April 29th we're committed to from 11 to 2 so put that down now it seems like it's farther out but I'm sure it'll come by in a blink um but yeah trying to get folks out there get some chess players there to to demonstrate and activate that space and excited to see that and that we are also worth noting we're getting close to executing some some agreements with partners and local grazers to have a local pilot program to graze some of our Park land so this is something that I think we've we've talked about kicked around and I've always wanted to do but we are we're at a point where we have a smaller kind of pilot program that we're going to try and um I think we had six Parks yeah so we'll have a have six parks to report to probably next month but I just want to let you know now we're excited to to be kind of putting this out there you'll be involved in it um obviously it's it's half as the grazing but more importantly it's just the education and Outreach around what we're doing what we're trying to achieve and create some kind of benchmarking that we can track over time to see kind of the costs the benefits and really what kind of changes can we expect in our landscape so more to report out on that now but it's something that we're really hoping that Parks and Rec take the lead on and if it's supported and if we can grow it to other departments division cities we really want to scale up but right now we're going to be taking a lead on a few parks and
been exciting project to meet with some grazers and really a lot of local expertise on folks that are doing this and so I'm sure with the rains they'll have a lot a lot to eat yes can I just ask what parks or the pilot sure I've got to be careful because you know we have a few on the fence so to speak but um how about I'll give you a few we've got Manny Knowles we've let me just give a microphone yeah I'm gonna put Delana on the spot okay yes we have Manion Knolls Country Club um Steamers Landing um or McNair Peninsula depending on how that's referred to we also have now I'm on the spot I can't think Westridge West Haven Royal open space and don't hold this to us this plus or minus a couple Parks but those are ones that are I've made the short list thank you go ahead isn't there there's sheep that go down D Street that go to the McNair peninsula they've already been doing that for like the last three or four years we're just we're just gonna leave them there and we'll make they just move them down D Street and they graze and then they take them out yeah so that's a big thing because it's like five o'clock in the morning so that's a great segue you teed that up for me so um it's the transhumans festival that um that kind of spearheads that and that's how we met um kind of some of the local Partners um Sarah Kaiser who helps lead that Festival we were working with her to kind of find the local grazers um meet with enough of us to kind of ground truth what makes sense not all
parks are you know built to graze but but yes McNair peninsula in particular is a good site and we'll be working with her on that that event again as well because I guess they do do a lot of damage to other vegetation trees and yeah the education and the Partnerships are so important because yeah it changes hard for everyone if you're not expecting it and you see a lot of sheep out you would you know cause some alarms so yes this is why the Outreach is just as important of why we're doing this um and that's why it's important to have kind of that local expertise to help us engage the community and let people know what we're trying to accomplish yeah yep that's all I have okay you you didn't talk about Fourth of July thank you that was a question yes and the survey yeah so I'm sure it's going to come to council yes um it will we we're not at a point where we're committed to doing um one event or another but we through the survey through the findings it's pretty clear that the community is is a strong majority is is looking for a fireworks display a public display there are some questions about um you know it's a high altitude display or if it's something a lower altitude display at the fairgrounds and so while that's the strong recommendation I think now is we're meeting internally with Public Safety and other departments to find out what the scope of that display is but we're also contacting pyrotechners vendors in anticipation of a public display so that's those meanings
those calls does that work is happening we just don't have a definitive we're going to do this this is what it's going to look like yet thank you okay so that is our meeting for tonight we're going to adjourn our meeting until our April meeting looking forward to hearing from the ad hoc then thank you all great to see you all in person thank you everybody