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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-02-21 - AgendaAGENDA CITY OF DOWNEY RECREATION AND COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMISSION 4:00 PM Tuesday, February 2, 2021 Downey City Hall — 1st Floor Council Chambers 11111 Brookshire Ave., Downey, CA 90241 I. CALL TO ORDER: 1. Roll Call: Vice Chair: Wood Commissioners: Cunningham, Ramirez Ancheyta, and Ceja 2. Pledge of Allegiance: Vice Chair Wood 3. Invocation: Commissioner Cunningham 4. Welcome to Members and Guests SEE SPECIAL NOTICE REGARDING PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND ACCESSIBLITY FOR FEBRUARY 2, 2021 RECREATION AND COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMISION MEETING 1. Introduction and welcome to new Commissioners 2. Approve Commission Minutes for December 1, 2020 This portion provides an opportunity for the public to address the Commission on items within the jurisdiction of the Commission and not listed on the agenda. It is requested, but not required, that you state your name, address and subject matter upon which you will speak. Please limit your comments to no more than 3 minutes. Pursuant to the Brown Act, no discussion or action, other than a referral to staff or schedule of subsequent agenda, shall be taken by the Commission on any issue brought forth under this section. IV. PRESENTATIONS: 1. Activity Report: January, 2021 2. Measure S Update 3. Upcoming Events Supporting documents are available at: www.downeyca.org; Department of Parks and Recreation, 7850 Quill Drive, Suite C, Downey, CA 90242, Monday — Friday, 7:30 a.m. — 5:30 p.m. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, complete the City's Title 11 ADA Reasonable Accommodation Form located on the City's website and at City Hall - City Clerk's Department, 11111 Brookshire Avenue, Monday— Friday, 7:30 a.m. — 5:30 p.m., and submit to the City Clerk's Department or contact the City Clerk's Department at (562) 904-7280 or the California Relay Service at 7-1-1. Notification at least 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make arrangements to assure accessibility. The City of Downey does not discriminate on the basis of disability in admission to, access to, or operations of its programs, services or activities. The City does not discriminate on the basis of disability in its hiring or employment practices. Questions, concerns, complaints or requests for additional information regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act may be forwarded to the City's ADA/Section 504 Coordinator, 11111 Brookshire Avenue, Downey, CA 90241, ADA Coordinator@downeyca. org; Phone: (562) 299-6619; FAX (562) 923-6388; California Relay at 7-1-1. 1, Shantae Duren, Administrative Assistant, City of Downey, do hereby certify, under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing notice was posted pursuant to Government Code Section 54950 Et. Seq., at the following locations: Downey City Hall, Downey City Library, and Barbara J. Riley Senior Center. Dated this 28th day of December, 2021 ffaraae zzwlr Shantae Duren Staff Liaison, Recreation and Community Services ommission SPECIAL NOTICE Public Participation and Accessibility for the February 2, 2021, Downey Recreation and Community Services Commission Meeting Pursuant to Paragraph 3 of Executive Order N-29-20, executed by the Governor of California on March 17, 2020, and the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health Officer Order Revised October 23, 2020 as a response to mitigating the spread of Coronavirus known as COVID-19 and providing direction for moving the County through the State's Blueprint for a Safer Economy — Tier 1, the Regular Recreation and Community Services Commission Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, February 2, 2021 at 4:00 p.m. will allow members of the public to participate and address the Commission during the public comment portion of the meetings via teleconference or by email. Below are the ways to participate in the Recreation and Community Services Commission Meeting at 4:00 p.m. 1. Join the meeting (Audio Only): URL to join the Zoom Meeting: Meeting ID: 989 9453 2804 Passcode: 791222 Call Toll -Free (audio only): (877) 853-5247 or (888) 788-0099 Members of the public wishing to address the Parks & Recreation Commission during public comment or for a specific agenda item, or both, may do so by the following methods. 3. E-mail: parksandrec@downe cy a.org In order to effectively accommodate public participation, participants are asked to provide their public comments via e-mail by 2:00 p.m. on February 2, 2021. Participants addressing the Recreation and Community Services Commission by email are encouraged to provide the following information: a) Full Name; b) City of Residence; c) Subject or Agenda Item No.; d) Written Comments. 4. Via Zoom Meeting 1. If someone wishes to address the Board during the Public Comment section, they must first "Raise a Hand" by — a. Computer App = Clicking on the button to "Raise a Hand" b. Phone Call = Press the keys *9 to "Raise a Hand" 2. The meeting host will send an Unmute request to each caller in turn to unmute themselves a. Computer App = Clicking on the button to unmute b. Phone Call = Press the keys *6 to unmute their call 3. The caller will have five (5) minutes for their comments to be heard 4. After the five (5) minutes concludes, the caller will be muted once again 5. The next caller in the meeting with a "raised hand" will then be allowed to make their comments Participants addressing the Cemetery District Board of Trustees via zoom are encouraged to provide the following information: a) Full Name; b) City of Residence; c) Subject or Agenda Item No.; d) Public Comment. For any questions contact the Parks and Recreation Administration office at (562) 904-7238. 4 MINUTES OF THE RECREATION AND COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF DOWNEY The Recreation and Community Services Commission held a Meeting at 4:11 p.m. December 1, 2020. The Recreation and Community Services Commissioners participated in the meeting Via Teleconference, Chair Pemberton presiding. Commissioner Cunningham led the pledge of allegiance and Commissioner Rochin gave the invocation. Present: Chair Pemberton Commissioner Cunningham Commissioners Rochin Absent: Vice Chair Wood Commissioner Trujillo Also Present: Jason Chacon, Interim Director of Parks and Recreation Shantae Duren, Administrative Assistant Karen Zavala, Office Assistant II Welcome to Members and Guests: Chair Pemberton welcomed members and guests. Written Communications: 1. Approve Commission Minutes: March 3, 2020 A motion to approve the minutes from the March 3, 2020 meeting was made by Commissioner Cunningham, and was seconded by Commissioner Rochin. The motion passed 3-0. Non-Aaenda Public Comment: None Presentations: None Commission Business: None Director Reports/Discussion: December Activity Report Interim Director Chacon delivered a summary of the December Recreation Commission Report. Items that Mr. Chacon reported on included: senior meal programing and wellness checks serving approximately 300 seniors per week, the implementation of the Department's virtual recreation webpage and Rec on the Go programming, contract classes resuming during the months of October - December 2020 and the Covid-19 precautions that were put into place, the ASPIRE programs transition to virtual learning, and the opened/closed statuses of playgrounds and fitness equipment at the parks. Director Chacon also updated the Commissioners on the virtual programming that the Downey Theatre has presented since closing due to Covid-19 shutdowns in March, 2020 including its Virtual Dia De Los Muertos Festival that received 5,000+ viewers. Director Chacon also reported that the Rio Hondo Golf Course closed for six weeks due to the pandemic, but since its reopening has mad up the entire deficit lost during the closer and then some. 2. Measure S Update Interim Director Jason Chacon advised the Commissioners that Wilderness Park is the only park remaining under construction. 3. Upcoming Events Director Chacon reported the following upcoming events: • Santa's Candy Cane Lane on December 5, 2020 • Holiday Home Decoration Contest Judging Commission Member Reports/Discussion: Commissioner Cunningham complimented staff on all their hard work creating new programing and activities for the community throughout the pandemic. Chair Pemberton inquired if Halloween 2021 would be held at the Downey Adult School or Apollo Park. Director Chacon advised that the Department's preference would be to hold the event at the Downey Adult School. Chair Pemberton also compliments staff for all their hard work on the new/additional programming. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 4:53pm Dorothy Pemberton, Chair CITY OF DOWNEY RECREATION & COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMISSION _1QT► IIZ1619:7_'% 111\yIQJil:kTi[oil Date: February 2, 2021 To: Recreation and Community Services Commission From: Jason Chacon, Interim Director of Parks & Recreation Subject: Activity Report — January, 2021 RECREATION Annual North Pole Calling Program: Every December Santa calls local children checking to see who has been naughty or nice. This year's North Pole Calling Program helped Santa reach out to 328 local children which is up from 193 calls made in 2019. Our Santa's called children 12/8, 12/9, 12/10, and 12/14 to wish them a Merry Christmas, ask if they have been good, what they want for Christmas, and to spread a little holiday cheer. Each Santa did an amazing job. We are very proud to have helped create happiness, smiles and cheer for the children in our community again this year. Prettiest Park Challenge: Recreation Supervisor, Heidi Lockwood challenged her Recreation Leaders to a "prettiest park challenge". As a current Rec Supervisor, finding ways to keep staff motivated and on task can be challenging, especially during this time period. Dennis the Menace, Furman, Golden, Independence Skate/Tennis Center, and Rio San Gabriel are in the running for the prettiest park. At the end of this week, impartial judges will vote for which park is the prettiest. Maybe our Rec Commissioners would like to help with this? Some of the judging criteria will be as follows: 1. Free from trash — parking lot, bushes, grounds, ball fields, buildings, and bathrooms. 2. Walkways clean and free from debris 3. Park shelters free from trash, clean tables and floors 4. Walking trails look nice 5. Perimeter of buildings — free from leaves, trash and debris 6. Buildings — no cob webs, no dirt 7. Restrooms — free from trash, graffiti, clean, and stocked with soap and paper products. Staff Appreciation: Our Parks and Recreation Department started a staff appreciation for each division. For the parks & facilities division, Warner Serrano was awarded for this quarter for his willingness to go above and beyond. (see picture) Warner demonstrated his enthusiasm to help pressure wash shelters at our parks and jumped in to turn off water at Rio San Gabriel Park when a water pipe broke. He demonstrated daily his ability to act quickly to help fix any situation at any of our Downey Parks. Youth/Adult Sports league Youth groups have zoom calls scheduled to discuss the impact of COVID and confirm if they will resume field permits in an attempt to transition to a season. Provisional permits are scheduled to be issued on a month -by - month bases. Recreation Sports & Fitness Programing Recreation's sports academies and fitness programs are scheduled to resume on February 8th for the 2021 Winter/Spring sessions. These 4 — week sessions (Feb/March) are limited to individual skills development and cardio conditioning. ASPIRE ASPIRE staff and students used the Winter Break vacation to take a step back from Zooming and computers and enjoy the time home with family. It was also an opportunity for families to get Theme 3 materials for their child(ren) so they could have supplies for the January 4th return to Virtual ASPIRE. There were 100+ families in attendance at the three days of drive -by material distributions, where students and families could see a familiar staff member. Theme 3 will last for 6 weeks and consists of Leader Clubs as well as STEAM Clubs (Dinosaurs for Elementary and Star Wars for Middle school). The drive -by was festive with a winter theme; which included a holiday bag for each child, large holiday blow- ups, a bubble machine and random prizes. At each school site, there was a "Golden Ticket" placed in a random student bag. Students who received this ticket, got to take home a board game which was perfect for family time at home. (Pictured is Lewis ASPIRE's lucky winner and her Giant Uno game). Parents who were unable to make the drive -by days were still able to come to the ASPIRE office and pick up th their child(ren)'s materials until January 8 BARBARA J. RILEY COMMUNITY & SENIOR CENTER (BJR) Events and Activities The Barbara J. Riley Community and Senior Center started the Downey Senior Wellness Program in March, 2020. This program offers seniors 65+ with frozen meals to help during the COVID19 Pandemic. Seniors are able to can aneaa to maKe reservations for meal PICK up on Monday's and Thursday's at BJR. Meals are free of charge and residents receive 4 frozen meals with milk and fruit included. If seniors are unable to leave their residence, the Parks and Recreation Department will deliver meals to their homes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. There is an average of 50 reservations made for the pickup service and 50 residents in need for home delivery. Senior Meal program is serving approximately 5000 meals a month for Senior through this program. Programming The City of Downey continues to provide content for the online Virtual Recreation Center for Downey residents while following the stay at home orders. Recreation staff has been filming on Thursdays with staff focusing on arts, health & wellness and enrichment activities. The website is updated once a week with new programs for all ages. Fitness Contract classes will resume on February 8, 2021 and are being held outdoors at Furman, Golden and Apollo Parks. RIO HONDO GOLF COURSE Golf Rio Hondo Golf Club finished 2020 with one of the best years in history. While the pandemic unfortunately hurt several businesses and even destroyed many, we were very fortunate in the golf industry. We finished the year up in total revenue 15.8% over 2019. This is especially remarkable since we were completely closed for over 8 weeks from mid -March through mid -May. As I mentioned, the golf industry in Southern California was up 5.6% for the year and 13.9 % nationally. Rio Hondo performed significantly better than both Southern California as well as the nation. Golf has been one of the few activities people can do and we have seen a huge growth in new players using the driving range as well as playing the golf course. As things hopefully return back to somewhat normal this year I would expect things to return to more of a normal situation once other activities re open and golf once again has more competition. We would expect to retain a certain percentage of those new players and therefore keep numbers strong although they may not be to 2020 numbers. The course itself has remained in good condition despite the number of players (70,000+) that played this year. There are some needed improvements such as cart path repairs and driving range repairs that we hope to get to this year as budget allows. All in all I expect 2021 to be another successful year and Rio Hondo to continue to be one of the leaders in Southern California. Grounds Fairways- Staff just finished their last application of green pigment to the dormant hybrid Bermuda grass fairways. This pigment will enhance the look and feel of the course and prevent the fairways form having a brownish dry look that is far less appealing. Practice Green Area- Staff changed the flowers and made irrigation adjustments to improve water coverage. They also added some plants and wood chips to the planters including the fountain planter in front of the clubhouse. The practice green remains closed at this time as mandated by LA County. Parking Lot — Staff has found irrigation lines in the parking lot planters that broke due to tree root growth. This seems to be an ongoing process as the trees continue to grow. Lakes- The water levels will continue to be low until we are clear of the rainy season. Overall the course is in good shape with lots of new faces playing daily. Food, Beverage, and Events Due to the pandemic currently only the Snack Shack is open for operations. The event center is not hosting any events or dinning until further notice. DOWNEY THEATRE The Downey Theatre is proud to announce that construction has been completed. Guests will be able to enjoy a beautiful new fountain, a new courtyard and patio and an elevator that directs patrons to the 2nd floor art gallery when the Theatre re -opens. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic the Downey Theatre is not currently open to the public for events. During this break, the Theatre has begun a "Theatre@Home" newsletter, informing patrons of recorded and live streamed events that patrons can watch online. Performances range from internationally renowned artists such as the Mariachi Divas & Jim Brickman to the local & well-known Downey Symphony Orchestra musician interviews and virtual art exhibitions by the Stay Gallery. Patrons can subscribe to the Downey Theatre's email newsletter or follow the Theatre on social media for up-to-date information about upcoming virtual events. Coming in February is Jim Brickman's "Share the Love" on February 12t" — 14t". This virtual event delivers the live concert experience "up close and personal" with Jim Brickman's hits such as, "Love of My Life," "Destiny,""Angel Eyes" and "Valentine". For more information, visit the Downey Theatre's website.