Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: REGULAR AGENDA (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: PUTNAM AND CATOR FIELD FINAL CONCEPT DESIGN
DISCUSSION
Date: December 12, 2023
Written by: Damien O'Bid, City Manager
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council discuss the final design concepts for Putnam Park and Cator Field and provide staff with any final feedback prior to beginning design work.
Background
In 2018 and 2019, the City conducted public meetings and outreach to develop initial conceptual plans for all of the City Parks. The 2019 Park Capital Plan resulted from this community engagement effort, which serves as the design starting point for parks that are budgeted for improvements.
In the 2023/24 Fiscal Year Budget, the City Council budgeted for design work for improving Putnam Park and Cator Field. The budgeted work included additional public outreach to refine the 2019 Park Capital Plan concept and design to prepare the parks for bidding and construction in the summer of 2024.
Analysis/Discussion
To initiate the design process, the City conducted online polling on the 2019 concept, and held a public meeting on August 12, 2023 to gather feedback on this initial concept plan. Following this initial public meeting and review of the initial poll, the City developed more refined concepts, with A/B options for different areas of the park with different configurations or amenities. The City conducted a second community poll to gather input on the concept alternatives. Concurrently, the City held a second public meeting on September 16, 2023 to discuss the concept alternatives.
Based on the results of the community surveys and the public workshops, the City has developed a single final design concept for Putnam Park and Cator Field/Civic Center Park. This final design concept will be the basis to begin detailed design work to prepare both parks for construction in 2024. However, prior to beginning detailed design, the City is bringing the concept for discussion and any final input.
In addition to the agenda, the concepts have been added to the Project page on the City website for anyone following these projects and attendees from the workshops have been notified via email.
Financial Considerations
The City is still working on an updated financial projection, but it is expected that work at the parks will need to be phased due to budgetary constraints. Proposed priority work at Putnam (Phase 1) are the perimeter walking trail, bridge across the Laguna and dog park. Proposed priority work at Civic Center Park is the dog park. Actual phases will be dependent on cost estimates and available funding, which will be more developed by the time of budget discussions for Fiscal Year 2024/25.
These improvements, like Kotate Park, is largely funded by the General Fund, with minor contributions from Parks Measure M and potentially Park In Lieu, if available.
Environmental Issues
This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it is not a project which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, pursuant to CEQA Guideline section 15378.