LIVERMORE
AREA RECREATION AND PARK DISTRICT
MINUTES
REGULAR
MEETING OF THE
BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
WEDNESDAY,
JANUARY 9, 2008
ROBERT
LIVERMORE COMMUNITY CENTER
4444 EAST
AVENUE, LIVERMORE, CALIFORNIA
7:00
P.M.
CRESTA
BLANCA BALLROOM
DIRECTORS PRESENT: Director Faltings, Director Furst, Director Kamena,
Director Wilson and President Goodman
DIRECTORS ABSENT: None
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: Chiye
Azuma, Tim Barry, Jim Brandenburg, Lora Cohen, Jill
Kirk, Michael Kyle, Gretchen Sommers, Brian Tibbetts
Meeting was called to order by President Goodman
at 7:03 p.m. All Directors were present except Director Kamena.
2. PUBLIC FORUM
President Goodman opened public comment. No
public comment received. President Goodman closed public comment.
Director Kamena arrived at 7:04 p.m.
3. CONSENT AGENDA:
3.1 BOARD MINUTES
3.1.1 Meeting of December 12, 2007
3.2 COMMUNICATIONS:
3.2.1 General Manager’s Monthly Report (#61/6)
3.2.2 Notice of Substantial Completion - Arroyo
Mocho Trail Extension
President Goodman asked if Directors wished to remove
any items from the consent agenda. On a motion by Director Faltings, seconded
by Director Furst, approved the Consent Agenda, passing 5-0.
Director Furst stated that in the minutes for
the December 12, 2007 meeting, there is inaccurate information in the last
sentence of the second paragraph on page 3, agenda item 8.3, regarding the Ranger
Station. Director Furst requested that the sentence be corrected to reflect the
accurate budget amount approved by the Board. The sentence should say: “After a
feasibility study was conducted by Arkin & Tilt Architects, the Board
authorized staff to begin planning the conversion of the house into a Ranger
Station, and approved a budget of $575,000 for the project, which was later
increased to $775,000.” Director Furst made a motion, seconded by Director
Kamena, to approve the Consent Agenda, as amended. President Goodman invited
Board discussion. No discussion. President Goodman called the motion. The
motion to approve the Consent Agenda, as amended, passed 5-0.
4. CONSENT AGENDA RESOLUTIONS:
President Goodman stated that item 4.2 will be
removed from the agenda, as it requires additional preparation.
4.1 AUTHORIZING DESIGNATED PERSONNEL TO SIGN DOCUMENTS
Resolution No. 2095, a resolution designating the
Sr. Recreation Supervisor - Child Care to sign State Department of Education
documents on behalf of the Livermore Area Recreation and Park District.
4.2 APPROVING REVISIONS TO THE DISTRICT
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
This item removed from agenda.
4.3 AUTHORIZING A GRANT APPLICATION FOR
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT FUNDING FOR FRIENDSHIP CENTER OPERATIONS
Resolution No. 2096, a resolution authorizing a
grant application for City of Livermore Community Development Block Grant
Funding for the Friendship Center operation.
4.4 ACCEPTANCE FOR PERMANENT MAINTENANCE OF
TRAIL SEGMENT A-4
Resolution No. 2097, a resolution authorizing the
acceptance of the construction and landscape improvements by Pacific Union
Homes to Trail Segment A-4 for permanent Maintenance.
President Goodman asked if Directors wished to remove
any items from the Consent Agenda Resolutions. No items removed. Director
Faltings made a motion, seconded by Director Kamena, to approve the Consent
Agenda Resolutions.
President Goodman invited discussion by the
Directors. Director Furst inquired about item 4.4, relating to Trail Segment
A-4. He said that a number of trees blew down on Greenville Road during the recent
storm, and he wondered if the trees were in this section of Trail Segment A-4. Senior
Park Supervisor Jim Brandenburg replied that some pepper trees in this trail
section, on North Vasco Rd. blew down; the trees were in the bioswale, which is
belongs to the City of Livermore. Mr. Brandenburg said that City staff will try
to remove the fallen trees by the end of today or tomorrow.
President Goodman asked for a vote on the
Consent Agenda Resolutions. Resolution No. 2095, designating the Sr. Recreation
Supervisor - Child Care to sign State Department of Education documents on
behalf of the Livermore Area Recreation and Park District; Resolution No. 2096,
authorizing a grant application for City of Livermore Community Development
Block Grant Funding for the Friendship Center operation; and Resolution No.
2097, authorizing the acceptance of the construction and landscape improvements
by Pacific Union Homes to Trail Segment A-4 for permanent Maintenance, passed
by the following roll call vote:
AYES: Director Wilson,
Director Kamena, Director Faltings, Director Furst and President Goodman (5)
NOES: None
(0)
ABSTENTIONS: None
(0)
ABSENT: None (0)
5. BIDS AND PUBLIC HEARINGS: None.
6. OLD BUSINESS:
6.1
2008 BOARD MEETING CALENDAR REVISIONS
President Goodman stated that the Board will
review proposed 2008 Board meeting dates, approved at the December 12, 2007
meeting, that conflict with training conferences and determine if there should
be any changes to the calendar.
General Manager Barry referred to the proposed
2008 Board meeting schedule approved in December and a list of conferences
scheduled for 2008. President Goodman invited Director comments. There was some
discussion regarding specific conferences and who might be attending. The Board
agreed to keep the schedule as planned, with the understanding that it can be
changed if it turns out that there is no quorum at those times when Directors
are attending conferences. Director Faltings encouraged the Directors and
senior staff to attend the conferences when the District is able to afford it.
She said they are very valuable in terms of the teaching sessions and
networking opportunities, and participation in the conferences makes better Directors
and employees for the District’s constituents.
7. NEW BUSINESS:
7.1 COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS FOR 2008
President Goodman stated that he will make Board
committee appointments for 2008. He said he had asked Directors for their
preferences. President Goodman said that he tried to accommodate Directors’
request but, unfortunately, could not meet all of the requests. He noted that
there is an error on the committee assignment sheet to the effect that Director
Faltings is on the Board of Directors for CARPD, so she must be on that
committee; President Goodman assigned Director Faltings to that committee
instead of Director Furst. Also, he noted that Director Faltings’ schedule does
not permit her to serve on the ESS Parent Advisory Committee, so he is
reassigning this committee to Director Wilson. He asked Directors to let their fellow Board members know if they
cannot attend a meeting, in order to try to have someone else attend in their
place. Director Kamena thanked President
Goodman, saying he was very pleased with the assignments. President Goodman
said he appreciates all the efforts made by the Directors.
General Manager Barry said that staff will be
contacting the committee members to set up the committee meeting schedules for
the year.
8. COMMITTEE REPORTS
Director Wilson reported on her attendance at the December
28 Personnel Committee meeting. President Goodman reported on his attendance at the January 2 LCAC
meeting.
9. MATTERS INITIATED/ANNOUNCEMENTS BY
THE DIRECTORS
1) Director Kamena talked about the state of the
state address which was televised yesterday. He said the state of California is
facing a $14 billion deficit next year, which represents 10%+ of entire budget.
He said this will mean across the board cuts, and that there will likely be steep
cuts to transportation and schools, etc. Director Kamena said there will be powerful
constituencies lobbying for money. He said that the chances that the state will
turn to local districts to balance its budget are very, very high. Director
Kamena said that state legislators are able to predict a fiscal crisis six months in advance, but that they cannot
do anything about it then. LARPD, however,
can do something, said Director Kamena.
He said he is proposing a District budget review
to consider cuts that may be easier now, during the last half of this fiscal
year, so that the District does not have to make more difficult cuts later. He
said he doesn’t believe in across-the-board cuts. He said that doing a budget
review now will help the District to prepare, and if it turns out that the
District did not need to prepare, then it will still be in good shape. Director
Kamena commended General Manager Barry and the Board for building up the District’s
reserves. He said he is very worried about this and thinks the District should
take measures to reduce the burden now. He noted that he is not on the Budget Committee,
but that any Director is empowered to propose cuts.
2) Director Faltings said that, as new Chair of Budget
Committee, she takes Director Kamena’s words very seriously. She said that the
state will take from the District what it can. She said that her opinion is
that the state will go after enterprise districts, but she does not think special
districts such as LARPD will come out of in unscathed. Director Faltings said
that, thanks to Proposition 1A, the state has to borrow, not steal from local
agencies, and it has three years to pay money back, with interest. She said
that the Governor’s declaration of an emergency is not the one required by Proposition
1A; the state will have to go one step further if it wishes to start raiding
local governments. Director Faltings
said she agrees with Director Kamena that LARPD needs to review the budget and
see what measures can be taken.
3) Director Furst requested a written update on
the progress of the different trail connections, including the Arroyo Mocho trail
around the Plotkin property and the trail west of Sycamore Grove Park.
4) Director Furst said he is frustrated that Holdener
Park is not yet opened, and that we have not been able to get the trails cut. He
said he would like staff to contact East Bay Regional Park District about this.
He said he would like the park not only open, but with recognizable and safe
trails.
5) Director Wilson said she met with retired
Youth Services Superintendent Barbara Kraybill and Senior Recreation Supervisor
Jill Kirk on December 30, which was Ms. Kraybill’s last day on the job. Ms. Wilson
said that, as an advocate of environmental education, she wanted to find out
what the ESS/KZ division has been doing in this regard. She said she was
pleased to discover that ESS is already doing field trips, walks, and outdoor
science types of things. She noted that Ms. Kirk is very interested in this
sort of thing, too. Ms. Wilson said she was extremely impressed that many of
her ideas are already part of ESS/KZ programming.
6) President Goodman said he agrees with Director
Kamena that by looking at not spending money, it can only help the District.
7) President Goodman said he walked to the RLCC
on Saturday for the Polar Bear Slide event. He said it was rewarding to see
young children and older adults go down the slide, and it was a great photo
opportunity. He challenged the other Directors to participate next year.
8) President Goodman said that the recent storms
knocked many trees down. He said he saw trees down in Big Trees Park, and at
Carnegie Park, for example. He commended LARPD, City and LVJUSD staff for all
their hard work cleaning up the damage.
9) President Goodman said he recently attended
the Livermore Cinema and was pleased to see an advertisement for LARPD on the
screen. He noted, however, that the ad had no sound.
10) Director Faltings announced that the Ravenswood
Victorian Tea in February is completely sold out. She advised those reading
about the event in the newspaper not to send in money or inquire about tickets.
1) General Manager Barry announced the free
LARPD Showcase event at the RLCC on Saturday, January 12, from 11:00 a.m.-3:00
p.m. He said there will be activities on display, demonstrations on stage, jump
houses in the gym and a general carnival atmosphere. He invited the public to come
learn about LARPD and have a great time.
2) Mr. Barry said he was pleased to announce the
hiring of John Lawrence in the position of Assistant General Manager. He said
that Mr. Lawrence has worked for the City of Sunnyvale for 20 years, and that
he has a wealth of experience. Mr. Lawrence begins on January 16. Mr. Barry
said this new position will be a great relief to the administration of the
District.
Meeting
adjourned to Executive Session at 7:32 p.m.
11. EXECUTIVE SESSION
11.1 REAL ESTATE NEGOTIATIONS
Pursuant
to Section 54956.8 of the Government Code
Property: 13.5 acres of
land, Robertson Park Rd., Livermore, CA
Agency
Negotiator: District Staff and/or Legal Counsel
Negotiating
Parties: Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District
Under
Negotiation: Terms of Purchase
11.2 REAL ESTATE NEGOTIATIONS
Pursuant
to Section 54956.8 of the Government Code
Property:
Sonoma School, 543 Sonoma Ave., Livermore, CA 94551
Agency
Negotiator: District Staff and/or Legal Counsel
Negotiating
Parties: Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District
Under Negotiation: Lease agreement
12. RECONVENE TO OPEN SESSION
Meeting reconvened to Open Session
at 8:30 p.m.
13. REPORT ON ACTION TAKEN IN EXECUTIVE
SESSION
No action to report.
14. ADJOURNMENT
Meeting adjourned at 8:31 p.m.
APPROVED,
_______________________________
Steve P. Goodman
President, Board of
Directors
ATTEST:
__________________________
General
Manager and ex-officio
Clerk
to the Board of Directors