March 20, 2024 Special Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 4
MINUTES OF THE
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE
City of Coronado
Winn Room Subcommittee
Held in the Council Chamber at:
1825 Strand Way
Coronado, California 92118
Wednesday, March 20, 2024
4:00 p.m. Special Meeting
Note: The order in which items appear in the minutes is not necessarily the order in which they were discussed in the meeting.
1. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL
The Special Meeting of the Winn Room Subcommittee was called to order at 4:02 p.m. on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in the City Council Chamber at City Hall with Chair Tanaka presiding.
A quorum of members was present to conduct a meeting by the following results:
Present: (2) Councilmember Downey; Subcommittee Chair
Tanaka
Absent: (0) None
Also Present: (3) City Manager/Agency Executive Director Tina Friend Assistant City Manager Tony Winney
Director of Library Services Shaun Briley
Director of Public Services and Engineering Leon
Firsht
Director of Recreation and Golf Services Tim Farmer
City Clerk/Agency Secretary Kelsea Holian
2. INVOCATION/PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Chair Tanaka led the Pledge of Allegiance.
3. CONSENT CALENDAR: None.
4. COMMUNICATIONS – ORAL:
Chair Tanaka provided background on the history of the Subcommittee.
Councilmember Downey provided comments regarding the purpose of the proposed March 20, 2024 Special Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 4
renovations, including the need for an upgraded audiovisual system.
5. WINN ROOM SUBCOMMITTEE:
5a. Winn Room Subcommittee Spring 2024 Workplan
Tina Friend, City Manager, presented the staff report utilizing PowerPoint.
Councilmember Downy asked if staff had determined a timeline for the Subcommittee.
City Manager Friend replied that meetings will be scheduled every three to four weeks.
Julie Webb provided comments regarding additional outreach to the community.
Harold Myers provided comments regarding the average number of attendees at events in the Winn Room.
Phil Garn provided comments regarding difficulties scheduling the Winn Room, competing events, visibility of films in the room, and inability to partition the room for smaller groups.
Merridee Brook provided comments regarding updating the audiovisual system, compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and impact on the Coronado Island Film Festival.
Doug St. Denis provided comments regarding the impact of renovations utilizing the Winn Room and expressed the need for a medium-sized venue in Coronado.
Grant Talford provided comments regarding the high attendance of music events in the Winn Room.
Dawn Richards provided comments regarding events limited by venue capacity and libraries as community hubs instead of book repositories.
Lei Udell provided comments regarding the availability of other City venues.
Morgan Miller provided comments regarding the capacity of the Winn Room.
Deborah Kaller provided comments regarding the importance of timeliness for the project.
Chair Tanaka provided background on the history and purpose of the Winn Room Subcommittee.
Chair Tanaka and Councilmember Downey indicated their acceptance of staff’s proposed workplan.
March 20, 2024 Special Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 4
5b. Community Outreach Plan
Tony Winney, Assistant City Manager, presented the staff report utilizing PowerPoint.
Chair Tanaka asked if the City had an email notification list for the groups that utilized the Winn Room. Mr. Winney responded in the affirmative.
Councilmember Downey asked staff to verify that all active groups were included on the list.
Suzanne Rivers asked how individuals may join the email notification list. Mr. Winney asked Ms. Rivers to contact him via the email address on the PowerPoint or the Project Coronado website.
Harold Myers provided comments regarding hosting a Subcommittee meeting in the Winn Room.
Councilmember Downey noted that the Subcommittee meeting was held in the Council Chamber to facilitate video recording of the meeting and that videos would be posted to the City website.
Dot Harms asked if the Winn Room remodel could be brought to the public as a ballot measure.
Discussion ensued regarding various outreach strategies. Consensus was met on the use of Quick-Response (QR) codes, engaging with news media, conducting the final Subcommittee meeting as a public workshop, emphasizing the significance of public input throughout the process, and deciding against the use of online surveys. 5c. External Venues: Availability and Cost
Assistant City Manager Tony Winney presented the staff report utilizing PowerPoint.
Councilmember Tanaka noted that although the Coronado Union School District Black Box Theater has the same seating capacity as the Winn Room, its layout facilitates events that the Winn Room cannot accommodate.
Councilmember Downey highlighted superior audio/visual system and flexible seating arrangements of the Black Box Theater. Shaun Briley, Library Services Director, noted that the library has utilized the Black Box Theater previously for various events.
Councilmember Tanaka asked Mr. Briley how often the Library hosted musical events.
Mr. Briley noted that there are a few events a year in the Winn Room or in the Library lobby after business hours.
Dawn Richards provided comments regarding the cost to non-profit groups to host events at non-City venues.
March 20, 2024 Special Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 4
Morgan Miller provided comments regarding the rental cost and insurance cost for nonprofit organizations.
Harold Myers asked why the Winn Room is a free venue. Mr. Briley explained that libraries are state funded to host events, provided they are free to the public, and offering the room at no cost enables the library to run more programs. Councilmember Downey remarked that due to the scarcity of other free rental spaces in Coronado, the Winn Room experiences significant usage.
Jean Seager provided comments regarding that the Winn Room is open to the entire public, whereas a private room rental might not offer the same level of accessibility.
Merridee Brook provided comments regarding the limitations of various external venues.
City Manager Friend provided background on the various other projects in the City that could impact the Winn Room, including the recreational fee study and facility use policy.
Councilmember Downey noted that the public calendar of the Winn Room does not show all the reservations for the space, and that bookings by non-profit organizations are not included on the public calendar.
13. ADJOURNMENT
Chair Tanaka adjourned the Special Meeting at 5:35 p.m.
Approved: April 24, 2024
__________________________
CASEY TANAKA, Chair of the
Winn Room Subcommittee
Attest:
____________________________
KELSEA HOLIAN, City Clerk of the
City of Coronado