ycity of Lafayette Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes

Transcription

1 ycity of Lafayette Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes Wednesday, November, 0 :00 PM Lafayette Community Center Sequoia Room, 00 St. Mary s Road Lafayette, CA. CALL TO ORDER Chair Horn called the Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission meeting to order at :0 p.m.. ROLL CALL Present: Chair Alan Horn; Vice Chair Stephanie Stevens; Commissioners Joe Dougherty, Peter Read and Mark Poole Excused/Absent: Commissioners Geoffrey Bellenger, Abigail Fateman, Alison Hill and Carol Singer Staff Present: Director of Parks, Trails and Recreation Jennifer Russell and Park Maintenance Supervisor Greg Travers. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Commissioner Poole moved to adopt the agenda; Vice Chair Stevens seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous voice vote (-0-): Ayes: Commissioners Dougherty, Poole, Read, Stevens and Horn; Noes: None; Absent: Bellenger, Fateman, Hill and Singer.. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR SEPTEMBER 0, 0 AND OCTOBER, 0 The approval of minutes for September 0, 0 and October, 0 were postponed to the December, 0 meeting.. PUBLIC COMMENTS Chair Horn stated today is Veterans Day and he asked everybody to recognize Veterans and their sacrifices. A. Leigh Creekside Park:. The Commission will review and provide comments on a draft memo to the City Council that recommends amending the Leigh Creekside Park Master Plan. Director Russell suggested discussing Item A., stating that Commissioner Read s recusal on Leigh Creekside Park does not establish a quorum of the Commission. She apologized to those present for the item and explained normally Commissioners would all be present; however, there were emergency absences. She stated the items will move to the December meeting unless a special meeting is scheduled, which could be difficult due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Commissioners agreed to continue Items A. to the December, 0 meeting.. The PTR Director will report on a site meeting with the Planning Director, City s consulting arborist and the Project Architect:

2 The Commission made it clear that Leigh Creekside Park Improvement Plan needed to have the City s consulting arborist review the plans as they relate to the trees. Moving forward, what will happen is Mr. Dixon will discuss and bring samples of the fall zone material and look at specific parks where fall zones occur under mature trees, given this is the situation behind the Community Center and they had to perform mitigation when improvements were installed. This needs further study to determine how fall zones affect mature trees. Going forward, the Planning Commission will need a sample and specific data about the product, as well. The arborist indicated that an Incense Cedar tree is in very poor health and will need to be removed. This had implications for the structure so it would require the structure without the tree or relocation of the structure pending other relationships with the trees. The arborist stated that a 0 distance was needed from the Redwood trees and there needs to be more information about the log edges which were doubling as containing the fall zone material and also could be used for a play and seating area. This information was relayed to Mr. Dixon. The City s Planning and Building Director was present at the site meeting and recommended a tracing or rough sketch that would indicate how the play structures and fall zone materials could be adjusted to minimize impacts to the trees, especially the oak trees. The arborist said the pathway going around the Heritage Oak tree would create minimum to moderate risk to the health of the tree. He presented the alternative to move pathway up the side of the creek which is furthest away from the dripline in the area of the grinding rocks, and not circle the tree. Commissioner Poole asked how much of the problem was risk to damage of the root structure versus risk of falling branches. Ms. Russell said the risk related to damage of the tree. Chair Horn questioned if the alternative was because of downside drainage, noting that the other side is still very close to the tree. Ms. Russell said it was to stay out of the dripline completely of the Heritage Oak tree and there would not be a loop around the tree. The path would lead from the two entrances to the play zones, and continue along the edge of the creek line to where the grinding rock is. The City s Planning and Building Director thought it would be very useful to hold a site visit for the DRC as a study session and to show footprints of the play structures and footprints of the fall zone with caution tape, similar to what was done before. The PTR Commission will see a formal report when completed.. Commissioner Poole referred to the arborist s 0 setback from the Redwood trees and he asked if this is just for the fall zone or any development. Ms. Russell said her understanding is that the 0 setback is for any development. However, more information is needed about the fall zone material when it is right up against trunks. As far as oak trees are concerned, the arborist insisted there be nothing in the drip lines. Chair Horn suggested moving up Items on the agenda until Little League representatives arrived. C. The Homes at Deer Hill Development Project: Ms. Russell stated the City is waiting on the County s decision as to whether or not signatures collected by Save Lafayette are official. The County has up to 0 weekdays to confirm this. Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission Minutes Page of November, 0

3 D. Parks Maintenance and Operations: Park Maintenance Supervisor Greg Travers gave the following report on general maintenance and operations activities: Community Park: They repaired the upper field soccer goal storage gates. They welded them in place and made them as high as they could so they do not impact the ground. The Women s restroom was vandalized after people were using the facility when it was broken. Normal playground inspections were completed and minor repairs to play structure. The turf continues to thrive. Buckeye Fields: They removed very large Monterey Pine trees on the top of the hillside along the backyards of Sweet Drive due to structural concerns. Bids are being received for new windows on the meeting hut. They will paint the Little League snack doors and possibly some interior painting to the hut. The concrete patio around the snack bar needs more repairs. Neighborhood Parks: Minor repairs have been made to play equipment and site furnishings at Brook Street. Trails: They had a very large tree at Hidden Oaks that fell last year which is a City tree on the trail easement. He and the Public Works Director discussed it and they spent $,000-$,000 to clear the 0 foot section of the creek. Drought Field Conditions: Fields continue to thrive, but will be closed just prior to Thanksgiving for the annual rest period. They will be re-opened March st except for Little League evaluations. Water was turned off about one week before Halloween and repairs were done to irrigation in anticipation of next year. Ms. Russell stated she received a call from a woman interested in looking at the City s commemorative program, which will be brought to the Parks Subcommittee first for review and have Mr. Travers involved. Commissioner Poole thanked Mr. Travers for his work with maintaining the fields turf, given the drought.. TRAILS A. Trails Maintenance, Operations and Easements: Status Report by Trails Subcommittee. Commissioner Dougherty reported that they held a trails walk through Hidden Oaks and trails are looking good. They also visited the water tower at the top of Diane which has a great view. Ms. Russell met with Commissioner Bellenger to review what he has done with trails on Google Earth. He has created accurate lines on existing trails as well as locations for proposed trails. B. Updating the Trails Master Plan: Status Report by Trails Subcommittee. Commissioner Dougherty reported that they visited the Crestmore property which goes up a steep hillside and they walked almost all existing trails and easements and have a good handle on them for the master plan.. COMMUNITY CENTER A. Community Center Maintenance, Operations and Programs: Status Report by the PTR Director: Completed installing the windows and working on some minor cleanup items for the new building. Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission Minutes Page of November, 0

4 Held the Burton Valley PTA Annual Fundraiser which was a large party in the Community Center. The stage takes 0 minutes to setup and 0 minutes to take down, and the City will need to discuss adding pricing for future stage use. Commissioner Dougherty commented that the band loved the stage and he said about 0 people attended the fundraiser. There were great decorations of balloon columns and special lighting. He also suggested that given ice condensation and melting, he suggested mandating plastic buckets that do not leak or something else, and everyone agreed. Lessons learned include working with renters to make the dance floor a beverage-free zone. Staff is also working on winter preparation such as cleaning gutters and sweeping up leaves.. LAFAYETTE SCHOOL DISTRICT S FACILITIES MASTER PLANNING PROCESS: Individual Commissioners reported on meetings they attended: Commissioner Dougherty reported on taking notes from each of the school visits which he will forward onto Commissioners and staff. Their biggest concern is primarily infrastructure improvements, heating, windows, electrical for computers, and basic student comforts. The second biggest issue as raised by Burton Valley School, given they have the most space and the affected over-crowding potential for adding more students to that campus, is if the other campuses cannot take it. This brings in elements of boundaries, split families and he thinks the school district will need to discuss this before they decide what money will be spent. Because of prior programming and events, there were only 0 people at the Stanley school meeting, but topics related to the fields, grass and dog poop. One person wanted to build a dog park on the fronting of St. Mary s Road on the field and keep the dogs off of the grass. Another recommendation was to convert the entire field to artificial turf, an all-weather track, and remove dog poop. All elementary schools have issues with their multi-purpose/gymnasiums being used for gyms, events, staggered lunches, which is another topic they will need to address. He said Lafayette Elementary and Spring Hill Schools are the only schools with open access parking lots. Burton Valley s is in the middle of the campus and Happy Valley is in the back without parking, so both are locked. Another point is that there is a lack of information and decisions on the Meher School. People are concerned with the decision to use it or not use, and/or do something with it. The Lafayette School community is concerned because they want split schools and Lafayette is the school with the most capacity constraints. They want to move the maintenance facility off site and open that up which could provide more playground or drop-off space. They also said that the new library space they are acquiring should not be district offices but classrooms and it should move to Burton Valley, to Maher or elsewhere. At the December meeting, they will present the architect s plans and the plan for the bond. They are currently polling people on how the money should be spent and are contemplating whether to re-open Maher or spend money at all schools. He said Commissioner Singer attended every board and community meeting. Burton Valley had the most attendance at plus Stanley families were there. Happy Valley had and Spring Hill had attendees, in addition to Board members and architects. Happy Valley School was the only school that did not mention fields, but they got new grass this summer. The only thing they wanted was an all-weather track outside of the grass, but all three schools mentioned terrible field conditions and whether artificial grass a possibility. Vice Chair Stevens reported there was a cross representation at the different meetings, as she had a Happy Valley and a Lafayette family. They felt a little lost at Burton Valley and was surprised with the size of the school. Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission Minutes Page of November, 0

5 Commissioner Dougherty said the school district indicated they want to maintain open space and play space at all of the schools. Complaints were received from Lafayette and Spring Hill on how the campus is very compact and there is not enough open space or classrooms, whereas Burton Valley has plenty. All schools wanted the portables gone and the district s desire is to reclaim open play space. B. Proposal to Install Synthetic Turf at Buckeye Fields: Representatives from Lafayette Little League and Heavenly Greens will present a proposal for Commission consideration. Kristen Altbaum, Heavenly Greens, said she is a year resident of Lafayette, has children and thanked the Commission for their hard work. She said Heavenly Greens is based in South San Jose and she works primarily in Lamorinda, Alamo and the Danville area. Heavenly Greens is the largest privately owned turf installation company in the U.S. and they only install in the Bay Area. They install a lot of residential and commercial products, military installations, soccer and baseball fields, school districts, and she is ready to address questions of the Commission. She said they are hoping for the opportunity to install turf at Buckeye Field. She knows turf is a concern as far as safety is concerned, and is ready to answer questions honestly and ethically about turf. Commissioner Poole said he is not sure everybody is as familiar as he is about the issue at Buckeye Fields. He said it might be helpful to understand what is going on there. Park Maintenance Supervisor Greg Travers stated that the lynchpin of natural turf is water and they are down to watering days per week which over the long run will not sustain the turf. It will continue to degrade next year and the roots cannot support the compaction and tearing of the turf and conditions have not been good for the past years. He thinks there is a place for artificial turf in terms of maintenance, cost and safety and they should take a hard look at it. There are many different systems, shock pads, fibers, and they are at a point where there are more products now than ever and many products have not gone through the warranty period. He suggested Public Works Director Mike Moran get involved or engineering staff and research the systems so they are educated about the different systems. Commissioner Poole echoed Mr. Travers statements and stated that the City has been studying this issue for a number of years. He asked Heavenly Greens about the pros and cons of their product. Ms. Altbaum said Heavenly Green has a variety of different turfs, different systems, and depending on the application and how the field and turf will be used, they develop a plan. In this case, they have baseball as opposed to a soccer field. She said the industry is moving away from crumb rubber and it was her recommendation to take it completely off the table, given it is controversial. She suggested looking at safety first and performance second. She sat down with two of their suppliers and they reviewed what the testing shows from safety and actually how a ball bounces on a particular type of infill, what is the fly out rate of the material, how hard and compacted will it be for the players in the outfield to land on that material, or how will it act if a kid will slide in if they turf the dirt areas of the field at second base. They decided that Controlled Products have the best products for this. She said Acalanes has an infill system, a non-thatch system but it has some cushion rubber. The Controlled Products are denser materials which makes the product thicker. They are vertical fibers and they want to put a thatched system because it provides some padding and the enviroinfill is a quartz sand product out of Texas. It is natural and infused with anti-microbial technology. The studies talk about the fact it has no carcinogenic products in it, and they felt that this, along with inches of drain rock material underneath it would be the best, longest lasting material they could propose there. Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission Minutes Page of November, 0

6 Commissioner Poole noted that soccer uses Buckeye Fields in the fall, and that the original plan was that the fences would be removable and there would be room for an even larger soccer field. Therefore, the material should be something feasible for both sports Commissioner Poole also asked about whether the first, second and third proposals are to replace the grass infields only, or if they also include replacing the infield dirt. He asked about the interface between the artificial turf and natural surfaces. Mr. Travers asked whether overspray from watering adjacent natural grass will affect the synthetic turf warranty and whether infield particles will end up on the natural grass and compromise its health. Chair Horn noted that the Commission has never heard what the request is from Little League and Commissioner Poole agreed they should present their proposal. What he understands from talking with Paul Souza and based on conversations Mr. Souza has had with Ms. Russell, Little League is interested in a variety of options. They are interested in replacing the infields only as one level which is the infield grass and not the dirt. The second proposal is to redo the entire infield and outfield so everything would be artificial like it is at Wilder in Orinda. It would be artificial surface from home plate to the fence. What he is not sure about is whether they are proposing a middle option involving replacing the dirt infield as well.. Ms. Altbaum said she believes this is correct as far as where Lafayette Little League stands. They are looking for the best possible solution. She said turf is priced by volume so they would get a better deal with going with more square feet. The numbers are for two infields only for a total of, square feet for $,0. When that was quoted to the Little League, because they have experience in this space, they also thought they should also provide a quote for both infields; the green squares and what they call sidelines which refer to x 0 foot strips outside of the dugouts. There is still the brown earth, but they would have turf in the infield and right outside of the dugout. Mr. Travers said the site originally had strips like that but the second year they were destroyed from foot traffic. Ms. Altbaum said this will also go around behind home plate which is called the halo area. This was going to be a total of 0, square feet for $,0, which she confirmed is both infields and the halo. What that did not include any kind of prevailing wages and the enviro-fill infill. She suggested and Mr. Travers took a picture of the overview with his phone and then copied it for Commissioners. Commissioner Poole asked how they arrived at,0 square feet. Ms. Altbaum said when she went to the field months ago she knew they were working with 0- week lead times at the time. She talked to Rick Bianchina and it was decided they wanted a bid for not just the infield but the entire dirt area. Commissioner Poole clarified that the,0 square feet includes the dirt infield. Ms. Altbaum noted this quote is for two standard sized fields. Ken Daly, Lafayette Little League, arrived at :00 p.m. and apologized for being late. Ms. Altbaum said the next one is the same scenario, except one field will be bigger. Mr. Daly said Chaney Field would be a standard small Little League field north. The difference with the north project would be to expand the north infield by about or feet in depth. The prevailing thought of Little League America is that is going to move to what they call 0/0 so 0 foot pitcher s mound, 0 foot base pads as they move forward mostly because of Little League world series controversies and year olds playing in that group. Thus, they are talking about making north field adaptable so that if they have to play those types of games there they have that ability. Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission Minutes Page of November, 0

7 Commissioner Dougherty said the Commission was discussing exactly what the proposals are because they have not heard from Little League before tonight. He thinks they now understand that these proposals are not just for the green grass diamond-shaped infield. They are the dirt infield and the strips in front of the dugouts behind home plate. Mr. Daly confirmed and said they are basically calling it dug out to dug out as far as coverage is concerned. A bigger issue on both facilities is the drainage. What has gone on historically is that when the field starts to get run down and there is a dirty infield. They add more clay and rake and pack down the clay and let it sit. What has eventually happened is they start with a drain level and as they begin to pile dirt they clay up above the drain level. What happens on both fields is that the water builds, it sits, cannot drain, and there is a swampy circumstance. Therefore, no water and too much water are obviously terrible for grass. Mr. Travers asked what the level of priority or importance is it from the League to maintain the skinned infield or the status quo as it is. Mr. Daly said he thinks the long-term priority of the League is to try and get that to a place where it is manageable. They do not want to go back and forth with City staff as to how that field is maintained or what can be done to get the grass to green. He thinks the issue with the way that the infields work from the standpoint of a baseball field, the grass and the way it is set up is ideal. The reason this began to be an issue was not only maintenance of the field itself but maintenance of the mound. He knows Mr. Travers has done a lot of work to tarp the mound and he thinks if they can get a consistent surface like the one proposed, they would take that over all proposals. Mr. Travers asked and confirmed with Mr. Daly that therefore, it would be a better option to have the tan artificial as opposed to the loose material. Commissioners questioned the mounds, and Mr. Daley said there is a proposal within that where they can build a mound and have a stand-alone mound or clay mound. A lot of fields in cities anchor the mound and it is a moveable or portable mound. He said he believes Moraga and Camino Pablo have portable mounds. If they are looking at this being an adaptable field, it is a more practical way to look at it, and he noted that not all of the dads are experts at treating dirt so it is better to put in something that is fixed. He noted that given advancements in the product, it reacts just like clay and dirt for kids sliding on it. Ms. Altbaum said they can do it a couple of different ways. This pricing comes with manufactured painted bases so they can manufacture the bases right on top of the turf. Mr. Travers asked Mr. Daly if they want the releasable plate or the base to sit on top of the turf, and Mr. Daly said his choice would be to have the releasable bases, and Ms. Altbaum said this is an easy thing to do. Mr. Travers asked if there would be a cover when going between the s and 0/0 s, and Mr. Daly said yes. Ultimately the field would have to be adapted at that point in time, but when the discussion came up it would be simply realigned and moving the field with no heavy labor. As he understands it from Dan Ventrelle, the League would be designed under the current Little League guidelines unless Little League of America decides they are going to change their guidelines to a major fields division. Mr. Travers said if the El Nino happens, they might have the opposite situation where in March it might rain all month and the League might not be able to play on the grass because it is too wet. Commissioner Dougherty referred to the anti-microbial and asked if it has to be cleaned at all. Ms. Altbaum said they say you can clean it with different products and it should be cleaned a couple of times a year, but the anti-microbial definitely helps between those cleanings. It is not a zero maintenance field but very close to it. Mr. Travers asked how much it costs to clean the field. Ms. Altbaum willfind out. Also, she was not sure what equipment Acalanes has or any of the high schools have that runs over the turf. Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission Minutes Page of November, 0

8 Mr. Travers said he believes it averages that after 00 hours of use or after a week and one-half, the field must be swept. Depending on the infill it has to be decompacted which is basically the number of times you rake in each direction. The sweepers and the decompactors are non-motorized and they are towed by someone. The cleaning of the sand in the coconut husk in his research is much less of an issue than the crumb rubber. In fact, sanitation rarely comes up on the organic infills and he was unsure about why this is. Commissioner Poole said here they do not have the Stanley problem of it being also used as a dog park, although Mr. Travers said he sees deer and turkeys, and he also sees dog toys and tennis balls at times. Ms. Altbaum said she will obtain information about what is recommended because she thinks it is very little maintenance. Mr. Travers said he has a comparison of what they spent last fiscal year at Buckeye Field and he plugged these numbers in. He has projected artificial turf maintenance costs which is not accurate given they are not sure of the system to be used and, while solid figures, they are not confirmed. Commissioner Poole said it would be helpful to have the cost figures because that would be important for making a recommendation to the City Council. He also questioned whether the expected life of the turf was longer than other sports. Mr. Travers said he would also like to know about the batter s box which is a high traffic area because this is less resilient than the clay. Ms. Altbaum confirmed that they could just replace this piece. Chair Horn referred to a nailer board so insulation stays in, and Ms. Altbaum explained an edge is needed for the turf to go up against. Mostly where the nailer boards are up against the fence lines where the dugouts are. This keeps everything stretched and she said everything is stapled in the ground at the seams, glued very tightly together. She referred to the pitcher s mound and said the price includes going down to level on both of the fields. In other words, she is responding to the request for portable mounds in these bids which includes the excavation. Commissioner Dougherty asked for the effect of non-water items or beverages and snacks on the turf. Ms. Altbaum said there are always going to be kids running on the fields when they should not be there. When she was thinking about maintenance, using a bit of water use and different products like Simple Green can be used on it, and if things are spilled on it, it will not lose its color or fade over 0 years by more than %. It is very indestructible stuff, but that said, it depends on the community s preferences when it needs to be replaced. She spoke with her boss and he thought it would last about years. She said she thinks the Commission should determine the cost of water and maintenance and compare it. She knows the bids seem high, but sod is very expensive. Mr. Travers said it is important to remember that even the cost of sod notwithstanding, it is the sustainability during these trying drought times. For synthetic turf maintenance costs, he is calculating 0 hours a week for the fields which is a. acre site. Yearly maintenance costs would largely consist of weekly grooming or sweeping of the surface as well as trash and leaf removal. Yearly de-compaction is also required and included as an on-going maintenance cost. Grooming tools are non-motorized so depreciation is minimal. Approximately 0 man hours a month should suffice for sweeping, water, and ancillary maintenance. He asked and confirmed with Ms. Altbaum that the turf does not need to be watered. She said a nice feature of the enviro-fill material is that it is cooler than a rubber field by 0% to 0%. Mr. Travers asked if they should have the infrastructure in place to water it just in case they need to, and Ms. Altbaum said there is no need and she would have water lines capped. They are used to putting turf next to organic turf and the artificial can handle irrigation water just like it handles rain. Irrigation water that gets onto the artificial will not make it look any different in those areas. Mr. Travers estimated 0 hours per month for labor at $0/hour which is $,00 per month or $,00 Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission Minutes Page of November, 0

9 per year. He said the last fiscal year contractual maintenance for natural turf was $,. In-house maintenance was $0,000, $0 for irrigation system repair and the water costs were $, for a fiscal year total of $,. He said one thing everybody needs to understand is that the last fiscal year was very unusual and he discussed pre- and post-drought costs. For a non-drought year, there is additional cost such as infill replacement. They did not do any lip replacement to the infields. They did not over-seed or do a lot of fertilization and these costs would likely add an additional $0,000 to $,000 per year, so in a normal year, it would be closer to just over $0,000. Mr. Travers said the water district used 0 totals when assigning % reduction. Overall cost was more or less a wash because the cost of water rose % and they had to use % less. The -year average from 0 through 0 was $,. This last fiscal year, they used $,00. Ms. Altbaum said she has heard maintenance estimates for natural turf to be $,000 for a typical soccer field whereas maintenance of a synthetic turf field is $,000. Mr. Travers said there is much data, many opinions and many systems and it varies all over the country. Ms. Russell said the Council looks at the lifespan and replacement costs, and whether specialized equipment needs to be purchased. She said it s important to look at the whole picture. Chair Horn questioned the cost-savings, stating that by the time you spend the money to build it they will not gain much cost-wise. Mr. Travers said a sinking fund will also have to be set up. Mr. Daly said with all due respect regarding the status of the field, to call the infields a field right now would be very generous. There is a need to have the fields rehabilitated, refaced, and actually get grass growing on them. In some instances in the summer time, things were unsafe. Mr. Travers agreed that upper Community Field was awful. Mr. Daly said they cannot be sustainable as fields and stay the way they are currently. Commissioner Poole said to him, the playability issue is the point which is more compelling. The Council studied this issue and it was the same result in a different context. The cost savings were debatable due to the expense of replacement. While they may have an El Nino this year, the long-term outlook might not be so great. He thinks there might be some other environmental issues that other Commissioners have concerns about such as issues regarding runoff, drainage, what synthetic turf does to the underlying soil, and he assumes these would be studied in the CEQA process. Commissioners concurred it is a playability issue in the long-term. Mr. Travers asked if the plan is to go to the 0x0 larger fields and what this means to the hillside because the right and left field fences are not adequate for 0x0. Mr. Daly said they would probably elevate the fence in the right field and go up which is common. He was not sure in left field if there is a similar problem and could probably dimensionally change that field. Of all the fields they talk about, that might be the least viable deal in the sense it must be a Little League America deal. Commissioner Dougherty said the solution would be that you move majors to Burton Valley and it becomes an AAA and AA field at Buckeye. Mr. Travers said that, if the fences were moved back on the north field to the very edge of where the grass meets the hillside that could solve problems for soccer. Mr. Daly said he thinks they would probably gain an aggregate of -0 feet at least. At its depth they would probably get feet. Mr. Dougherty said his concern for the right field is the rock. He asked if there is a plan to push the fence. Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission Minutes Page of November, 0

10 Mr. Daly said they would build it up. Mr. Daly said Chaney Field will probably stay the way it is. It is a AAA for minors field and it works that way. If they make a change it will not be at that level. It will only be at the major level to move it above and there is probably some ability to do something with the North Field, but it would require adding a bit to the fence. Commissioner Poole said in terms of installation or phasing, right now the City has no park funds for this. To the extent Little League is not funding this; this is an issue that will have to be taken up with the City Council. That said, if they were to go ahead with one of the first three options, he asked if it would make it problematic doing the outfield in a later phase. Ms. Altbaum said the beauty of this is they are flexible. They can do the work in phases. If it is decided soon that the City and Little League wants a portion of this done prior to March 0, they will barrel through that piece and get it done. They can look at doing a second phase at a later date. She said it is really more about what the City and Little League is willing to invest. Mr. Daly said going through the effort and cost of just doing the infields and leaving the outfields as natural grass makes phasing the work more costly. If they end up doing the whole thing then it is really inconsequential and they basically add on to more in the outfield. Commissioner Dougherty said there is, however, the option to move AAA to Northfield, AA to Chaney, and 0/0 to Burton in the long term. Commissioner Read said when replacing worn sod with new sod, he asked if it is the same cost per square foot or are they using the same subgrade. Ms. Altbaum clarified they use the same subgrade, so it is less expensive. Interestingly, a lot of the microbial infill has a longer warranty than the turf and some of it can be recycled into a new system. She thinks they take it out in strips, shake it out and reuse it in the system. Commissioner Poole said they have heard that replacement costs are roughly half the price. Ms. Altbaum disagreed and said the biggest cost in this situation where margins are small is the turf itself. She likened it to carpeting a house and on a per square foot basis, this is as good as it gets for what the City and Little League are getting. She has a vested interest because she lives in town and her sons play baseball. She knows many people in the baseball community and she would love to be able to do the project. Commissioner Poole asked for next steps, given four Commissioners are absent from the meeting. Ms. Russell said they will want to see samples, visit sites to see and talk to those who maintain the turf, nail down costs, make sure options are clear, and vote on it as a Commission. It then must be screened for CEQA, and they would then go to the City Council with a recommendation to move forward. The Council would have to decide if they want to spend General Fund money. Mr. Daly said the Homes at Deer Hill are coming in with turf fields and he asked and confirmed that there was CEQA required for this installation. Commissioner Poole said that the process for a project like this could take one year and he indicated it is very unlikely this project could be completed by March Ms. Russell described the Commission and City Council approval processes. She also noted that there will be problems if they get heavy and long rains with El Nino because that could delay construction. Normally large projects are done in the summer through early fall. Ms. Altbaum said baseball pretty much will not be played with sheets of rain. As far as timing is concerned, she would need a decision made days from the time the proposal is sent out for this season. Commissioner Poole asked if there were examples in the area of an existing grass field that has been Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission Minutes Page 0 of November, 0

11 replaced with artificial and what the environmental requirements were, given minimal grading or wildlife effects. He asked Ms. Russell to reach out to colleagues to find examples. Commissioner Poole suggested referring the item to the Parks Subcommittee for additional discussion and agendize it for the December meeting. He also does not know whether the project must be bid out, but thinks Ms. Altbaum s bid is extremely competitive. Ms. Russell stated it is possible to sole source a specific product with a rationale. Ms. Altbaum stated Controlled Products makes this product and they use Heavenly Green to install it in the Bay Area. Ms. Russell suggested receiving something in writing indicating this is a unique product that is only offered and installed by Heavenly Greens. Ms. Altbaum said they do not have complete sole rights to this product but rather they are the preferred installer of this product. Commissioner Poole said in that case they probably need multiple bids. Mr. Daly asked and confirmed that the City would need to go out to bid and follow all public bidding requirements. He also asked if the bid submitted by Heavenly Greens would count. Ms. Russell said typically the City Engineer or a contracted engineer draws up plans and specifications. Then they advertise with their standard specifications. Bids come in and there is a set date and time for opening the bids. The City Clerk reads the bid and by law the City must select the low bid unless they find an error and then they would go to the next lowest bid. It would be included in the CIP, the Council approves the CIP and they come up with funding sources, and if there is some urgency for future playability and safety and given the drought conditions, she said it could be sent to the Council as a separate request aside from the CIP projects. Ms. Russell asked for Heavenly Greens references, especially fields built for other municipalities. Ms. Altbaum noted they have done many schools, but also installed at NASA Ames Research Center and Camp Parks Military Base, homeowner association installations, and a park she is getting ready to do in Alamo after someone gifted their property for this purpose. She said they installed many dog parks in various cities, and she agreed to provide the list to Ms. Russell.. COMMISSION REPORTS: Individual Commissioners will report on activities that pertain to parks, trails and recreation business. These reports are informational only. Chair Horn reported that he is serving on the Sales Tax Committee to fund what City residents said they wanted to have built. The number one item is open space, downtown parks, parking and more police surveillance. He noted that the City s reserve is set at 0% but it went up to % which is about $ million which could be used up quickly in a disaster. Ms. Russell said she was also asked to provide information as well on the cost of a downtown park, buying open space, etc. 0. SELECTION OF AGENDA TOPICS FOR THE NEXT REGULAR MEETING AND EXPLANATION FOR REMOVING CURRENT TOPICS. LAFAYETTE SCHOOL DISTRICT S FACILITIES MASTER PLANNING PROCESS: Update reports by Commissioners Dougherty and Singer.. Status Report of Deer Hill Park. Leigh Creekside Park update and arborist report. Three sets of minutes to approve: September 0, October and November, 0. Trails Maintenance, Operations and Easements: Status Report by Trails Subcommittee.. Community Center Maintenance, Operations and Programs: Status Report by the PTR Director.. ADJOURNMENT Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission Minutes Page of November, 0

12 Commissioner Read moved to adjourn the meeting at :0 p.m. to the next meeting on December, 0 at the Lafayette Community Center; Commissioner Dougherty seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous voice vote, which carried by unanimous voice vote (-0-): Ayes: Commissioners Dougherty, Poole, Read, Stevens and Horn; Noes: None; Absent: Bellenger, Fateman, Hill, and Singer. Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission Minutes Page of November, 0