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1 DRAFT MINUTES City of Glendale Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission Glendale Civic Center 5750 W. Glenn Dr. Glendale, Arizona 85301 November 12, 2020 6:00 P.M. PRESENT: Sam McConnell, Chair Gayle Schiavone, Vice Chair Kristina Cadena Stephanie June Reggie Martinez Kathryn Mawby ABSENT: None. ALSO PRESENT: Jim Burke, Director, Public Facilities, Recreation and Special Events Walter Varney, Assistant Director Paul King, Interim Deputy Director Diane Williams, Program Manager Sean McGary, Civic Center Administrator Heidi Barriga, Special Events Administrator Manuel Padilla, Recreation Coordinator 1. Call to Order Chair McConnell called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. 2. Roll Call Chair McConnell facilitated roll call. [Note: Commissioner Martinez was acknowledged on the virtual meeting call, however, was unable to hear the meeting or participate verbally due to technology issues. He has been listed as present, but not included in the vote tally.] 3. Citizen Comments No citizens present. No comments. 4. Approval of the Minutes Motion by Commissioner Cadena, second by Commissioner Mawby, to approve the October 12, 2020 Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission Meeting minutes as written. Motion carried 5 – 0. 5. New Business a. Information: Commission Reports Commissioner Mawby reported that there is a light out at Sunset Park, and she received complaints from a few neighbors indicating that the park equipment is falling apart and the paint has worn off. Vice Chair Schiavone reported that she visited the Heroes Park Library and spoke with a librarian who shared the following concerns: 2 • There is an enclosed area near the children’s reading room, which has some weeds in it and the librarians have been pulling the weeds. • There is general concern regarding weeds around the library grounds. • There has been recent vandalism around the park, trash left behind such as broken glass, and broken tire stops. • The field south of the library is expansive, untreated, and unimproved. Mr. Burke and staff shared the following responses: • Parks staff is responsible for maintaining the grounds outside of the library; the library staff is responsible for maintaining greenery areas inside the library. • Staff is working on the weeds and ensuring proper irrigation. • Staff has spoken with the Library Director and a joint approach towards vandalism will be utilized. • A lake will be installed at the south end of the park and the design phase is in process. The whole area will be dug up soon for the project. The agenda item was concluded. b. Information: Special Events Update Ms. Barriga gave an update on the City’s Special Events. The presentation included the following information: • Due to COVID-19, this year’s Downtown Festival Season will not consist of the traditional weekend festivities, such as the lighting ceremony, vendors, and performers. • There will still be 1.7 million holidays lights installed throughout the downtown area, which will be turned on nightly from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m., from November 25th through January 9, 2021. Music will be streamed into the Murphy Park area. • A Drive-In Movie will be held on December 4th and participants will be encouraged to purchase take-out food from the downtown restaurants. • A Jingle Bell Hike will be held on Saturday, December 12th from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Thunderbird Conservation Park. Due to COVID-19, registration is required as space is limited. • The traditional Glitter & Glow event in January is still under consideration to be held, pending COVID- 19 trending. • On Thursday, October 29th from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Foothills Recreation and Aquatics Center (FRAC), a Boo Drive-Through was held. All guests remained in their cars and candy was distributed to children. There were 120 children registered for the event and over 300 bags of candy were distributed. The event was very successful. Kudos were given to staff for pulling together and thinking outside of the box to create this new event. Vice Chair Schiavone asked where the holiday events would be advertised. Ms. Barriga replied that the events would be advertised in the Glendale Star, Peoria Times, and AZ Central, on social media, and on window display posters provided to downtown businesses. Vice Chair Schiavone inquired about the food collection that was typically done in connection with the parade. Ms. Barriga stated that the parade was done by an outside vendor. Mr. Burke noted that a food collection drive will still be conducted, with drop boxes at the main library, downtown, and Heroes Park. Information will be sent to the Commissioners. c. Information: Update on Reopening of Recreation Facilities Ms. Barriga reported that on October 1st, following CDC guidelines, the FRAC was opened for use by current members with limited capacity, City park ramadas were opened, and areas used for sports activities were opened for limited use with reservations required. Ms. Barriga announced that in October, 1,109 members used the FRAC facility. 3 d. Information: Right Tree / Right Place Program Mr. Varney reported that the Glendale Parks, and Right of Way divisions are working with the Salt River Project (SRP) to provide safe, reliable power by removing hazardous tees that are growing into power lines and causing outages. Mr. Varney provided the following statistics: • SRP has identified 167 trees which need to be removed. • 74 trees, at 8 different parks, will be removed by the Parks Division. • SRP has awarded a $200,000 grant to the City, which will allow for the planting of 222 at this time. In total, 500 trees will be re-planted in the City. An informational flyer from SRP was distributed to the Commissioners. Vice Chair Schiavone inquired about the size of the replacement trees. Mr. Varney stated that the City will receive two 24-gallon trees and one 15-gallon tree for every one tree removed. Mr. Varney stated that removal of the trees began today. e. Information: O’Neil Park Construction Project Update Mr. Varney provided an update on the O’Neil Park Construction Project, which included the following information: • The O’Neil Park pool has been in abandoned state since 2009. • CDBG grant funds were obtained to assist with the costs of removing the pool and associated buildings. Proper removal was conducted, and the ground surface was filled in and compacted. • Pictures were shown of the demolition. • Two 12-foot by 12-foot ramadas were installed as well as outdoor exercise equipment. • A splash pad will also be built on the site at a later date. Mr. Burke complimented Mr. Varney and his crew on the project and for utilizing CDBG funds. Mr. Burke noted that funding was not available for a new swimming pool, however, is available for a splash pad and it will be installed in the near future. 6. Staff Updates Mr. Burke announced that Mr. Varney has been promoted from Interim Assistant Director and is now the Assistant Director of Public Facilities, Recreation and Special Events. Mr. Burke shared a brief background of Mr. Varney’s experience. Mr. King announced that Mr. Sean McGary is the new Administrator of the Civic Center and relayed a brief background of Mr. McGary’s experience. Ms. Barriga introduced Mr. Manuel Padilla as the new Recreation Coordinator for Afterschool Programs and relayed a brief background of his experience. Mr. Burke noted that there is a hiring freeze in place; however, selective authorizations for these positions were obtained. Mr. Varney reported on the following projects: • An AZSTA grant was received to assist with the cost of installing new ramadas at the Foothills Sports Complex. The project will be funded one-third by Glendale Little League, one-third by AZSTA, and one-third by the AZSTA grant. ADA enhancements will also be added to the project. 4 • Two tennis courts at Bonsall Park North will be converted to eight pickleball courts. The project begins next Monday and should be finished in early January 2021. • Approval was obtained for the construction of two new pickleball courts on the southwest side of Foothills Park. Mr. Burke explained that pickleball is very popular and staff is getting many requests for pickleball courts. Mr. King gave a report, which included the following: • Large cracks in the play pool at Rose Lane were identified and repaired by a vendor. • The roof at the Rose Lane Recreation Center was resurfaced. • The HVAC units at O’Neil Park Recreation Center will replaced this fiscal year. Mr. Burke announced that a draft of the Master Plan should be received by year end and will be brought to the Commission for review and comment, as well as brought to Council. Mr. Burke announced staff is working on the NPRA re-accreditation process for the whole department and items will be brought to the Commission for review. Mr. Burke reported that there are 185 standards to be reviewed for this certification process and staff is working with a consultant to pull all items needed. Mr. Burke stated that staff will work on this project through spring and hopefully, the NPRA will conduct a site visit in the summer. 7. Commission Comments and Suggestions Commissioner June commended staff on the good work in the parks. Vice Chair Schiavone inquired about the impact from the bonds not passing in the recent election. Mr. Burke stated that he and Mr. Varney will be meeting with the management team tomorrow to discuss next steps for the future. Vice Chair Schiavone commented that staff is doing an impressive amount of work and was glad to see the addition of new staff. 8. Next Meeting The next regular meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission will be held on December 14, 2020, at 6:00 p.m., at the Glendale Civic Center, located at 5750 W. Glenn Drive, Glendale, Arizona, 85301. 9. Adjournment Motion by Commissioner Mawby, second by Commissioner Cadena, to adjourn the meeting at 6:41 p.m. Motion carried 6 – 0.