1 CITY OF MANHATTAN BEACH
PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION
Monday, October 13, 2022
4:00 PM
Location: Virtual – Instructions within Agenda
MINUTES
A. CALL TO ORDER - Chair McCarthy called the meeting to order via Zoom and in person at the City Council Chambers at 4:06 pm.
B. ROLL CALL
Present: Allen, Greenberg, Weiner, Windes, Serota, Vice Chairperson Doran, Chairperson McCarthy
Others Present: Director Leyman, Sr. Management Analyst (SMA) Robb; Public Works Maintenance Manager Sean Roberts, Melissa McCollum, Senior Recreation Manager, Rosemary Lackow, Recording Secretary C. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – August 22, 2022
It was moved and seconded (Greenberg/Windes) to approve the minutes as submitted; by a show of hands, the motion passed 7-0.
D. CEREMONIAL – None.
E. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION (3-Minute Limit) – None
F. GENERAL BUSINESS
Chair McCarthy suggested and , with no objection, the Commission received a report from Sean Roberts, Public Works Maintenance Manager as the first order of business (see page 3, Staff items)
1. 2022 Workplan Item updates
El Porto Family Park – (Greenberg, McCarthy, Allen) Director Leyman reported that an informative memo was placed on the October 6 th City Council agenda as a consent item; was pulled off consent and , after discussion, was received and filed. This proposed swing set project will now be on the list of unfunded projects and will be taken off the Commission agenda. Sand Dune Park Master Plan , including Nature Areas/Trails and Building (Greenberg, McCarthy, Windes) Commissioner Greenberg reported: The sub-committee has met, joined by Councilmember Hadley , who is very positive about the celebration /survey. The committee has provided input for a survey to staff. Director Leyman noted that internally staff is discussing how to market the
2 survey and a meeting has been set up with the ad hoc committee next Tuesday.
Commissioner Greenberg will follow up with staff on park signage.
Director Leyman reported that the painting of the restroom building and new sod is done and looks great and the city council is discussing various options, (walls, fencing) in handling access or transition between the park and a sort of “no man’s land” nearby.
Dog Parks and Community Parkettes (Weiner) Commissioner Weiner reported:
Dog Parks: Live Oak Park and Polliwog: The shade canopy is still awaited at Live Oak. At Polliwog where the larger dog park is being expanded, the school district is now working with the city. The school container is not needed and can be removed but the city containers need to be re-located. The next step is to make a plan to remove and re-locate containers; the sub-committee will be meeting soon to discuss and there will also be discussion with user groups that may be using the containers. Director Leyman hopes a list of deferred maintenance items can be completed and provided at the next meeting, with the dog park expansion being a high priority. It was clarified that there is a smaller dog park on the Marine Avenue site, however there are no community issues with that park and no action is needed there.
Parkettes: Larsson Street and 8 th Street: new fencing will be needed not only at Polliwog but also at the parkettes, along with new lighting and a gate and some securing screening materials. The next steps involve figuring out what work items can be done in-house by Public Works, measuring fencing and putting together a package for a purchase order which can take advantage of economies of scale.
Repurposing Pay N Play – (Windes, Greenberg, Allen) Commissioner Windes reported: they have met twice in September and October and locks have been put on the building to prevent unwanted access. PWD has done a lot of cleanup work and staff is looking at getting confirmation that the roof is ok for up to two years. A tentative re-opening/launch of a three to six-month long pilot program for various community use is anticipated in January, 2023. The idea is to provide a number of programs and record data as to which are the most used. Many p ossible activities have been suggested that might appeal to a range of ages and degrees of physical activity for th e four separate rooms. Also, vendors of some simulator activities (e.g., “tech ball”, soccer) are being looked into. It has been suggested that there could be dedicated activities for seniors (in am) as well as students after school (pm). Materials can be stored at the Marine Avenue Park meeting room and perhaps that space , being underutilized, can be brought into this trial repurposing program ; Director Leyman will coordinate with Sean Roberts, Jan Buike and Archie Sherman. Before reopening, the facility will need to be renamed.
Publicity be done by staff; Director Leyman will schedule a meeting with staff and the committee to discuss all matters ( naming, marketing, programming) .
Commissioner Greenberg suggested that since it rece ntly rained, the roof be
3 checked now for leaks.
Explore Aquatics Facility – (McCarthy, Weiner, Doran) - Commissioner McCarthy reported: 1) She and Ken talked with Amy Howarth who, post-election will put them in touch with the school to discuss Begg; 2) she has scheduled a meeting with Gary Wayland (MBX founder) to learn how to set up a 501c3 which also has implications for the aquatics facility project ; and 3) She and the sub - committee will reschedule a meeting with the Redondo Beach group to discuss (very noncommittal still) the due diligence done so far regarding the Aviation site, as well as a possible partnership between one or more beach cities and Beach Cities Health District. Regarding the lower Manhattan Village parking lot site, she is hoping to find out more about the lease the City has with the Country Club, particularly as most recently renegotiated; she is also looking for information as to subsurface conditions for Manhattan Village which may be relevant since at some time in the past these areas were under common ownership. Regarding the aquatics survey—171 responses have been received (400 desired for statistical validity). She will be getting a copy of the final survey now that it is a public document.
Donation P olicy and Programs (Weiner, McCarthy, Allen) – Commissioner Weiner reported the committee is progressing methodical ly. He and SMA Robb sat in a presentation by the California Parks Alliance regarding 501c3 organizations. A meeting is scheduled next week with Gary Wayland. The next step is to being someone on board who can create a “storyboard” describing steps to create a Manhattan Beach 501c3.
G. STAFF ITEMS
Public Works Maintenance Manager Roberts reported:
Sand Dune Park improvements : Hydroseeding for erosion control is still on order; restroom painted and new sod placed; PWD tasks should be done in time for early November celebration; maintenance on metal mirrors in bathrooms very intensive–Commission approved removing altogether; on-site signage will be cleaned up but not necessarily replaced in time for November event; additional tree planting will be accomplished within the next 6 months.
Polliwog Park: An RFP is out for lighting (65 lights); Dog park: he is looking into replacing wood chips with decomposed granite (DG) . Commissioner Windes will give a contact for dog user issues; Man ager Roberts will look into report from Commissioner Windes regarding recent locked access to the dune during park hours.
Director Leyman reported:
City Council: On October 6, council approved three amendments to the Senior
4 Advisory Committee Guidelines and Bylaws, including: 1) all 9 voting members to be at-large; 2) all members to have a 2-year term (July 1 - June 30) and 3) MBUSD may appoint a student representative who would be non -voting and serve as a liaison to the SAC. Chair McCarthy, a non-voting member, stated that she believes that, with these changes, especially going to at-large membership, the community representation will be better and the council will have better flexibility.
Projects:
Public Works CIP projects: The engineering division has launched a “Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Project Updates” page on the city website on the Public Works page. One can quickly find out information on any CIP project on a map integrated into the city’s GIS (>Departments/Public Works/Engineering Division/Capital Improvement Program Updates/Current Construction Map). This shows only projects on the CIP list, not deferred maintenance projects.
The Polliwog playground project has had significant delay due to issues with a sewer main; this is now resolved and completion is estimated for February, 2023.
It was noted that the sign on the fence needs to be updated.
Upcoming events:
October 21, 6 pm: opening for MBAC exhibit “Fly High Dive Deep” (Lynn Aldrich) October 22, 1 pm: Family Carnivale Halloween (34th annual) October 29, 10 am: Polliwog Park “Rainbow Gazebo” ribbon-cutting October 30, 4 pm: pumpkin race.
November 4, 4 pm: MBMS Pickleball court reopening (tentative). Resurfacing started, hope to have completed by October 21.
November 11, 11 am: Veterans Ceremony Day
November 16, 6 pm: Pier Lighting and Holiday Open House December 11, 3 pm: Fireworks Festival
December 14: Older Adults Holiday Party
There was brief discussion regarding the condition of the rainbow crosswalk near the pier; Director Leyman will discuss offline with Commissioner Windes.
Commissioner Windes will lead organizing a Parks and Recreation Commission entry in the Halloween pumpkin race and requested volunteers to assist.
Regarding the Polliwog Park permanent stage project, Commissioner We iner inquired as to whether there was merit, in terms of progressing, to the idea of working with the Cultural Arts Commission on the Polliwog Park permanent stage project. Director Leyman stated he will look into this and report back.
H. COMMISSION ITEMS
Older Adult Program update - Commissioner McCarthy reported that, other than the successful revision of the bylaws, there is nothing new to report . She noted that the group is becoming more active in terms of community participation and
5 discussions; staffing issues seem to persist.
School District update – Commissioner Greenberg noted he had no report and, actually hasn’t had any contact with the district since the pandemic. Commissioner Windes noted that the district has moved back the start time at Mira Costa from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. which seems to be a trend at schools.
Commissioner Greenberg suggested that after the school board election is over, it would be a good time to reach out to the new leadership . Comm issioner Greenberg explained that any at-large Parks and Recreation commissioner can submit an application to the school board to be a liaison; after a review /vetting process the school board nominates an applicant to the city council which ratifies the nomination. He is in his final year of his second term, so there will be a new liaison next July.
Student update - Commissioner Serota noted Mira Costa Homecoming is this weekend.
Next meeting date: After considering various options, although a shortened time frame, it was agreed for consistency and continuity, to keep the standing time o f Monday, October 24 th. Following the regular schedule, the meeting after that would be November 28th.
I. ADJOURNMENT
It was moved and seconded (Greenberg/ Weiner) to adjourn. The motion passed, 7-0 with a hand vote. The meeting adjourned at 5:35 p.m. to October 24th.