Parks, Arts, & Community Services Commission - Regular Meeting

Good evening and welcome to the August 13th meeting of the Parks and Community Services Commission meeting. I call this meeting to order at exactly six o'clock. Ms. Fatua, the roll call, please. Let the record, please, sorry.

Let the record reflect all commissioners are present except for Commissioner Dorn-Parker.

Thank you. And I jumped over the pledge of allegiance. My apologies, commissioner ledger. Would you lead us in the pledge? thank you and my apologies um at this moment i would like to invite any members of the public who would like to comment on items not listed on the agenda to please come forward i will turn on your mic welcome sir thank you thank you

Good evening, and thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Teague McGrath, and in full disclosure, I represent an RFP bidder to be the next operator of the Costa Mesa Tennis Centre. I'm aware of the RFP guidelines regarding communication with council members, so I'll do my best to ensure I don't cross any lines. Regardless, I'm not here to talk about my RFP. I'm here as a community member with deep concern for the tennis centre's current state and the diminishing community engagement with what is a very unique and special place. As background, I'm a local resident. My home is less than a mile away. In fact, I walk my dogs every night at the Costa Mesa Boys and Girls Club Park, which is a great park, so thank you. My kids all went to school here. I'm married to a Garden Grove girl who is a staunch USC alum and a mad football fan, so I'm not going anywhere. I've also been a regular player at the Costa Mesa Tennis Center for the last 15 years. And for the last eight months, I've been at the center almost every day in either a personal or business capacity. So I have firsthand experience of the reality on the ground. A couple of data points. On Tuesday, August 4th, at 11.29am, a beautiful sunny summer day, when a tennis centre should be bustling in peak season, I was at the centre and there was no one there, not one player. On Thursday, August 6th, about the same time, even better weather, and there were four small children sitting under the recently installed shade structure and no one else there. No classes, no camps, no clinics, no community. I've played and coached tennis and now pickleball for over 40 years and travelled the world doing it. And I can promise you, no other tennis centre would be so quiet at this time of the year. And although I'm sure the revenue lost each month for the city is significant, it's not what's important. It's that the community engagement is quietly eroding. Players who used to come every week have stopped. Families have enrolled their children elsewhere. League players have found other courts. And every month that passes makes that recovery longer and harder. For working parents in this community, summer camps at the centre is not a luxury. It's what makes the school holiday manageable. It's where the child goes on a Tuesday morning so they can get to work. It's where memories are made that turn an eight-year-old into a 40-year-old who brings their children back too. The community is disconnecting and discontinuing their use of the centre. That chain, that cycle of community loyalty is quietly breaking week by week. I'm not here to criticise or point blame at anyone. I get it. I get how difficult your jobs are, the many hats you have to wear, the projects you have to manage. And I genuinely appreciate what you do. I'm here to put specific, observed facts on the ground from someone who has direct, consistent and documented experience of this facility's current state. I'm here because this place matters to me. Because I've been there almost every day. Because the courts should be full in August. They are not. This community deserves better. And I think you deserve to hear that. You need to hear that from someone who will be there again.

Thank you, sir. Seeing no one else in the chambers to make public comment. Ms. Fatua, is there anyone online?

There are currently no members on Zoom at this time. Okay, thank you.

Moving to Commissioner comments and suggestions. I would like to begin with Commissioner Kamala.

Hey, everyone. I'm glad I could make it tonight. Nothing really, just a big thank you to city staff as always. So far this summer, all the events between the concerts and the symphonies and the movies have been fantastic. So thank you to everyone for your continued efforts and just an amazing summer so far.

Thank you, Commissioner Ledger.

Yeah, I don't really have much tonight. Just loved the concerts in the park. Loved the booth the staff had set up there and the surveys we were getting from the residents. I appreciate all the residents that took the time to do our survey. And that's it.

Thank you. Commissioner Hewson.

Thank you. I'll also keep it brief and just kind of echo what everyone else said. I had a chance to take the family to Songs in the Canyon, Concerts in the Park, and it was a real blast and feel very privileged to be able to be a part of that. So thank you.

Commissioner Garcia-Arcos.

Yeah, thanks everybody for coming and making it out today. I just wanted to share about the Creek Team. If you haven't heard already, Creek Team OC is an organization, it's a nonprofit that is fighting to ban herbicide throughout Orange County, and they're actually moving state level as well. And so if you are interested in collaborating with them, there are some numbers you can, I mean, follow them on Instagram or Facebook and maybe look up their nonprofit org. But they're doing a lot of great work in Orange County. They've actually approved some pilots in some cities. And I encourage one of the founders, Bethany, who will be presenting at city council to encourage that the city of Costa Mesa can also back them up and ask that we also become a pilot for these pilots. these areas that are being sprayed by chemicals that are affecting us in long-term. We're being exposed to these glyphosate, which is also known as Roundup, that is causing cancer and it's destroying habitat. So there's a lot of things going on. So shout out to the Creek team. Then I also wanted to bring up our 93rd annual conference that's coming up in Monterey with the Western Chapter International Society of Arboriculture. So I encourage anybody that wants to learn a little bit more about that, to look them up on the westernchapter.org. And it's exciting because the main focus is into the horizon. How can we look into the future and how can we lean on other professionals to improve and become more of service for our canopy coverage. Yeah, I should have thought this one through a little bit more, but I also wanted to mention about the Pasadena School District. They are currently removing 193 trees, protected species, and so I encourage that the city and members of the community in Costa Mesa get involved with the school district. We have a low canopy coverage throughout the schools and asphalt can get up to 40 degrees higher in some places from shade to asphalt. So it's really important to know that trees are scientifically proven to improve grades, health, and every other aspect. and so i do encourage people to look into that and see how we can help the school district to improve the canopy coverage just like this movement in pasadena but yeah really excited to to share more about it once i get more involved with them so thank you thank you commissioner vice chair wright

Hello, everyone. I think something worth reporting back on is Chair Brown and I had our presentation to City Council this month. It went really well. I think, as you guys all know, we're really proud of everything we've accomplished in the last year, two years, and the momentum, and it was really well received. They had They all seemed really proud and encouraging. And I just wanted to say a big thank you to Director Gruner for all of his support publicly. Chair Brown and I were even reflecting afterwards that none of this could have been accomplished without you and your trust in us and working with us, and also even the city manager and her support. Also, Director Ryan, Public Works, and Raja and especially with all the like CIPs that we've been diving more into and even like the finance team coming when we looked at the fee schedule just it has felt really like cross functional and I really appreciate everyone that you've kind of called in to educate us so that we can do more meaningful work And yeah, it felt like a really great culmination moment of being at City Council and sharing with them. So looking forward to tackling all those next things and to a good meeting.

Excellent, I will keep my comments brief as well. Just to follow up on the parks presentation to City Council, Thank you to Commissioner Ledger for joining us and supporting us. We had a really good time actually talking to city council and talking a lot about not just what we've accomplished and what we want to do, but the way in which we focused on process. And that was something that came across in council member Bewley's comments, who was full of praise for all of us and all the work that we've done. really moving forward a lot of the objectives and the thing that he and others noted is that they had never seen this isn't their words this is mine but such a powerful parks commission like a parks commission that was so invested and really doing a lot of work so we got a lot of kudos from that i'm sharing that because not everybody watches the city council meeting so if you didn't Thank you to Council Member Bewley for his comments as well as Council Member Reynolds for her comments. So I wanted to share that all with you. And then the second note is just again for city staff around the ROCS program. We haven't had a chance to see you all sense that experience over the summer and so I just want to acknowledge that especially as I'm talking to folks out in the community it is very hard as a working parent to find child care and so those after-school programs are essential and I just I can't even begin to convey to you the visceral feeling of the anxiety of not having after-school care for your child And so those parents, I'm so empathetic, those parents who got those notices like a couple weeks or actually they got it a month before school was starting that they wouldn't have after school care was a nightmare. So one, just a reminder that should cuts need to happen, I would encourage us to get more public engagement around that. That is a call for the department. It's none of our business, but I will say as commissioners, we were inundated with messages from community members. And that too, those after school programs are, I would encourage us to look elsewhere for cuts. That especially at our Title I schools, working parents really depend on those so just to note i had to and i know we've you know we've taught talked about it but i just have to acknowledge it publicly um because i'm hearing about it from parents in the community as well okay i think that's it for commissioner comments and suggestions unless anyone has any final words um moving on to the cons consent calendar i would like to pull the department report is anyone interested in pulling any other reports for example Are we okay to vote on the minutes and the park ranger report?

Motion to approve.

I can second. Second. Go for it, Commissioner Houston.

All right, yeah, I would second it.

Commissioners may vote on your dais.

Ditto, there we go. It's just slow, it's tired too.

Motion to approve the minutes as well as the park ranger report and then the item.

So I would like to discuss the department report. I just want to acknowledge under senior programs, so under the Costa Mesa Senior Center, page two, looking at the numbers that spread of trips, right? And this is because this is the impact of the change in the senior transportation program. I just want to call that out for us, those numbers. So when you look at June, we're still up at that high number of 1558, and that is more than cut in half for July. So I just wanted to, at the base level, acknowledge that and to make sure that we get a report on or an update on the senior transportation program by November before the end of the year, I think would be helpful so that we can understand. I have a variety of questions around that. I'm curious to know what the rides are looking like. What's the reception from our seniors? Um, are we in the interim period doing anything to collect data from our seniors? Around what's working, what's not working. I think that that kind of program evaluation will be important because as I read this and I heard from a community member about this as well, I had that moment where I thought, oof, that's, you know, it is a big cut, which is part of what we're doing here, but I want to know how it's going. Okay. Make a motion to receive and file. I make a motion.

Commissioners may vote on your dice.

I made a motion again.

I second it.

There we go. Motion carries 6-0.

Thank you. And with that, we move into monthly reports. Director Gruner, the Parks and Community Services Director's Update.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and good evening, Commission and members of the community. So we're going to go ahead and pull up this report, this presentation real quick. All right. There we go. Okay, so this is the summer update. I'm going to be going through quite a few slides, mostly pictures, but I'm going to provide a narrative to the pictures and give a little bit more context to it. But before I get into that, I just want to highlight some of the upcoming events that we have coming up. And we have the Teen Dive and Movie Night. And that's going to be over at the Aquatic Center on Friday, August 21st from 6.30 to 9.30. So please come on if you have kids who are interested in participating. Come on out. It's a lot of fun. And we'll just hang out by the pool and watch a movie. We also have the free performances, the Symphony on the Go. We had our first one actually a couple days ago on August 11th. We had a great turnout, probably the most that we've ever had. We had about 240 people attend, and it was very well received, and that's going to be followed up with another one next Wednesday, August 19th, and that's going to be at Vista Park. And then we're going to have our final one, our final concert on Saturday, August 29th at Schiffer Park. Again, these are all free and they're community neighborhood-based concerts with the Pacific Symphony. And it's just a great, great event for families to get together and enjoy a little music and have a little picnic while it's still nice and warm out. And then we also have the art venture coming up on September 12th through September 26th. We're going to have the opening reception and award ceremony on September 12th. We're doing things a little bit differently this year. In past years, we would have the opening ceremony and then we would have the closing ceremony over at the at the ACMA facility, which is now obviously managed and coordinated from UCI. But for this year, since we are a little bit short-staffed, so we are going to make some adjustments to it, and it's going to be a one-day opening and closing ceremony. And that's going to be on September 12th, and we're going to kick things off at 3 p.m., and that's going to be over at Norma Herzog. The nice thing about this is that we're going to be able to recognize the winners from the different art contests that we have. And people can actually view the art directly right then and there. So it's going to be nice for people to, once we make the announcement, that they can actually take a look at the art. As opposed to previously before, we weren't able to bring the art over to ACMA. And it was just kind of a little bit... yeah, a little bit challenging that way to actually view the art. So we're excited for that. Again, that's going to be September 12th and at the normal Hertzog community center. All right, so let's get into the summer programs that we have. Um, so a special thank you concerts in the park were absolutely phenomenal. Um, I want to definitely thank the Costa Mesa foundation, for their commitment and dedication, and for their, obviously, support in helping us coordinate these events. It is really their event, and we provide a lot of logistical support for them, and it's just a really good partnership. I want to thank the staff leads. I know we have one of them sitting over here now, Kathia. Been very instrumental in coordinating a lot of the efforts there. And I also want to thank the event sponsors and the performing bands, of course, for their performances and the attendees. Without the community coming out and participating, obviously these events wouldn't be as successful as they are. And we range between 3,000 to 6,000 attendees, which is phenomenal for so many families to come out and just really enjoy some nice music in the park. Some additional summer events. We have the swim lessons ongoing. I mean, they are ongoing throughout the year, but especially in the summertime frame. Our numbers really tick up quite a bit. And then we have the Summer Rocks program, and that's a free program where we provide programming for teens, basically from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m., and it's free. And we get quite a few kids coming out for that. I think we average about 300 per session. And then we also have the Downtown Recreation Center, At the aquatics pool, we have the luau's that we do down there. We have the movies in the park. We conducted senior socials, especially July 4th celebration where we had a nice barbecue and that was actually served by our police department and fire department. And we're really making a nice festive environment for the seniors. And of course, who can forget July 3rd? So July 3rd was a record-breaking event for us. We had about 19,000 participants or attendees coming out. It was absolutely phenomenal. The bands were great. And not to... Not to forget the American choir that we had, the 250, coordinated by Deborah Wonderczyk. Just an absolutely phenomenal job. Hearing 100 people singing in sync. And these are all amateurs. They're not professionals, and they sounded like professionals. So it was really nice the way they collaborated and for them to come out and do that event for us. So, yeah. Okay, this clicker is kind of slow, isn't it? All right, there we go. Okay, as I mentioned, Summer Rocks program, 300 participants, Monday through Friday it was held. We had, you know, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and again, this was free. The kids had a great, great time, and that's, you know, coordinated over at the Paleric Community Center over there. I want to also highlight our Camp Mini Explorers. So we have max capacity at each session at 44 participants. And that's also held over at Balearic. And they do some excursions where they go down to the beach. And then they also obviously do a lot of fun activities over there in the playground area, in addition to being inside and doing some programs and activities there as well. We also have the Happy Feet Running Club again. And we had about 35 participants. It's also a free program. And it's an introductory clinic to learning how to run. And you'd be amazed at how many kids actually enjoy just running and just being out there in the open and just run their little feets off. And at the end, we do a little contest, so to speak, where they run a short little track. It's about a mile long. And they get a little medal at the end just to commemorate their efforts and their conclusion of this program. Then we also have Camp Costa Mesa. This is a fee-based program, but they do go to quite a few excursions. And again, we have max capacity at 70 participants. And that's really held out of the teen center and also over at T-Winkle. And we have just a lot of fun activities and excursions where the kids can learn educational things as well as just having some fun time playing. You know, either they're going bowling or they're going to a petting zoo or different things. And just a really fun time for the kids to spend their summer. And then, of course, we also have our teen camp. And the max capacity for that is about 27 participants, which we reached at every single session. And, uh, they do similar things as the, as the other camp, um, where they do go to excursions, but they're a little bit more, uh, just a little bit different for the older group. And, um, you know, you can see the riding bikes around the lake, you know, again, going to see the horses and different things like that. Um, they go to, you know, some other like boomers for example, and just have a lot of fun during their excursions. and a good way to meet new friends and have a nice summer. And as if that isn't enough, we are also doing some outreach for Shalmar Park as well as Moon Park. And Shalmar Park, this is like the phase two. Right now, we're constructing the playground area. The city did purchase that apartment building that's adjacent to the playground area to further expand the park. And so we're conducting some outreach, trying to get some community input and feedback in regards to what they envision of having in that open space area. And so we conducted two so far. The first one was on Friday, July 24th, and the second was on Friday, August 7th. We had about 70 people attend between both of them, including the online survey. We're also going to be out at Back to School Fresh this Saturday. And that's going to be over at the Senior Center. We're going to further get some additional input in regards to that open space. And then we're going to create a conceptual design which we will share with the community on Wednesday, September 2nd. This is the tentative date, but that's kind of what we're looking at, to see kind of between the two conceptual designs, like, is this the right track that we're going on? Or do they want to see like a blended version of the two? So we can really fine tune it for the community, make sure that we include all the different items that they're looking for. And then we're going to bring it to the PACS on September 10th, and then to council in October. We did a similar outreach for Moon Park. The outreach was conducted on Monday, July 20th. We had about 160 community members participate and or completed the online survey. So a little bit more engaged over there. And again, same thing, we're going to provide a conceptual design to the community in September, and then we're going to bring it to PACS in October. And then, you know, so this is part, it's going to be part of the whole CIP process, but we want to make sure we get your guys' input. So as we move into the budget season, that we can, you know, incorporate your feedback as we discuss it further in the CIP process. And then a couple other updates, of course, social services. I want to mention this again. Year-round, no-cost mental health service to the seniors age 50 and older down at our senior center. It's a great program. Not every city has this. It's very unique, and it's something hopefully people will take advantage of and continue taking advantage of. because it is a really good service. So for more information, you can visit the Senior Center or call 714-327-7550. And I do want to provide a couple updates on the Lion Park Lions Park Cafe. The operator, as you know, we have selected an operator. They have purchased the equipment. The equipment is installed. But now we're just going through the county permitting process. So obviously we're collaborating very closely with the operator. And as soon as we can get that open, we will definitely do so. And also just a quick update on the tenant center RFP that we're still going through the process. I don't have a timeline that I can share at this time. But we are going through the process, and we'll continue to do so. All right, and with that, I'm going to hand it over to Mr. Rob Ryan to provide a maintenance update. Or do you want to, do you guys have questions now? Okay.

Okay.

The agenda outlines this as doing one report and then the next report, so we'll just follow the agenda to be safe. I really appreciate that the Senior Center provides mental health services to seniors 50 and older, but as a 49-year-old, I just have this moment where I'm like, so a senior is 50 or older. That's like, wow, I'm kind of unprepared for that. I have other comments, but I just had to get that one out. Commissioners, who would like to go first? I'm going to get commissioners, and then I'm happy to open it up. Commissioner Ledger.

Yeah. So first was really just there is a rumor going around that we're canceling concerts in the park. Do we know where this rumor started? Because I know it's not true. But I'm just getting a lot of people panicked, and I'm telling them it's not true, but do we know where this rumor started?

I do not know where it started, but it is not true. It is not mentioned in the Fairview Park Master Plan, and it's an ongoing event that's been there for a very long time. we are not looking to make any changes really at this time. Um, you know, and I, it's never been really discussed on the dais with the commission. Um, so I, I do not know where it came from.

Thank you. I just wanted to double check because I'm on, um, Facebook telling people it's not true when they're posting about it, but I'm just like, I think we need it to be officially said it's not true. Um, see, I think that was, Oh, I had a lot of questions written down, but I think they all got answered in your presentation. Yeah, that's it. Thank you.

Vice Chair Wright, did you want to go next?

Okay, so I'll address where that rumor came from. So in our presentation to City Council, and it was in our PDF document that we shared with everyone under Commissioner Education and Things We Want to Learn More About, we had a section on events that included, you know, having better quality of community outreach at events, different types of events. And it did have in writing concerts in the park, exploring a new location. While I do feel like we've talked about it, ideas have been thrown out there, other locations or even more of like a rotating um type of concerts in the park like with how successful songs in the canyon has been for example or symphony on the go like a lot of it we're already doing right um but of course to make slides look aesthetic i went very succinct with the copy and so that did get screenshot shared to the public in our presentation to council that is very much so how we framed it is We're looking for their guidance on this because I do feel like as we've been more involved in the Fairview Parks process, it has been brought to us just the spectrum of uses that are allowed or not allowed at the park. And so but at the same time, we very much assured them like there is not a consensus on the commission. There is no, you know, power we even have really in this realm. And there was no there was no like strategizing of alignment with what's going on with the master plan at all. So we did address it in the meeting itself and would totally understand out of context that could raise some alarms. But I think you guys all know that, you know, everyone has different opinions on what should or shouldn't be allowed at Fairview Park. And as of now, the current council, I think, is okay with concerts in the park being there.

Other commissioner comments, questions? Yes, Commissioner Garcia-Arcos.

Yeah, I feel like I wanna bring something up. I wanna encourage these conversations to continue because Fairview Park is a protected zone. And just remember, and just kind of disagreeing with 3rd of July, why more fireworks, right? But just understand that when the nesting season is really active, these defenseless animals, for example, which is just birds nesting, they can get alerted and abandon their nests. So sometimes even the parents will come and feel like they're not safe, and so they'll fly and abandon the nest as well for their own safety. And just to kind of continue having these conversations is really important. I don't know that we can do anything about it, but having these conversations will hopefully plant a seed that can go somewhere. So that's my comment on Fairview Park. Yeah, I'm really excited for our fifth annual Back to School Fresh. Because of the construction in Chalamar, we are moving it to the senior center. And so everything's coming up really, really well. I wanna give out a shout out to Eric, who's the director for Bright Youth. He's been putting in a lot of work, and I encourage the commission, the PACS, to join us. This is a community coming together with community. It's really important to show love, show your support, and just be there for people, especially now. Right now, there's a lot of hurt, as you all may have seen the news, especially there's a demographic that's being attacked, but yeah, it's a safe space for everybody to celebrate. And so also get resources, free haircuts, backpacks, and free food, skateboard. I mean, there's going to be dancing, break dancing. There's going to be a lot of pretty cool stuff. So hopefully you don't miss it. It's this Saturday. Setup is from 10 to 12, and the event itself is going to start from 12 to 4 p.m. So really excited for that. And yeah, so thanks for the time.

Any other commissioner comments? Commissioner Houston?

This is more just a quick question. But for the public outreach for Shalimar and then for Moon Park, I mean, just a quick thing. I do love that we're getting the community feedback to get their ideas about the park drawing and things like that. But I do remember when we were looking at the... proposed CIP, and I actually don't know if it's gone all the way, but there was a, you know, basically it was like 50,000 for Moon Park. And so with this outreach, I mean, can you just kind of talk about the relationship between what was designated on that CIP, really that 50K, and then what is that 50K buying, and does that relate to what just happened with Moon Park here?

Yeah, no, that's a really good question. So do you want to talk about it?

I can. Okay, go for it. Thanks for the question. Yeah, the $50,000 for Moon Park was just for, just an initial kind of scoping practice, just to find out what the residents around the park really wanted. We did put a placeholder of, I think, $650,000 in next year's CIP budget, but this was just to have someone on board to provide drawings, conceptual plans to share with the public, and eventually the commission, just to get an overall concept THAT WE CAN MOVE FORWARD WITH AND PROVIDE US SOME BUDGET NUMBERS FOR NEXT YEAR THAT WE CAN SCALE UP OR DOWN THAT PROJECT DEPENDING ON WHAT THE COMMUNITY WANTS. SO THAT $50,000 IS GETTING US THAT OUTREACH ENGAGEMENT AND THOSE CONCEPTUAL PLANS TO PRESENT Next year, we'll bring on a actual designer and they'll do the final design and the construction documents. So there'll probably be some more community outreach and engagement as well as commission involvement through that process next fiscal year as well.

I guess, sorry, if I can just have one follow-up. So, I mean, the 50 that we were talking about is like... I get what you're saying about there's some drawing, there's some sort of deliverable at the end of the day, and before we get to that final product, there's this community outreach. Totally makes sense to me, and it seems like a very good idea, but I guess my question is is that, I'm trying to just get a gauge like how much have I mean I don't need specific numbers, but I mean are we dipping into that right now, like are there plans being drawn and then I guess my question is. After we do this Community outreach does that require more money on top of the 50 to get these final plans after the Community outreach.

So the 50,000 now, so for example, our July 20th event, we had a team from the designer out there with poster boards, just broad ideas, stickers for the community come out. I think they brought four or five people out with them to engage the community, talk to the community. We did tours around the park to talk about different aspects of the park. Then they will... draw up a couple of conceptual plans based on that feedback and the survey, so that'll be another deliverable. They'll be at the next community outreach meeting to present those concepts to get a little bit more engagement and feedback on those more, they're gonna be higher level but a little bit more detailed to what the community was asking for. So probably have like two concepts to look at and make interchangeable, we like this on this one, this on the other. Then they'll take that back and probably come up with a more consolidated single concept plan to present to PACS or maybe two additional concept plans to present to the PACS Commission when that time comes. And they'll also provide at the end some engineering estimates based on that selected plan that'll help us with the budgeting process to make sure we set aside, we request enough money in next year's CIP to actually fulfill that project.

Perfect, thank you.

Vice chair right then I'll go after hi.

I love all our summer programming. It's awesome and especially looking at the fees. You know I'm glad we're keeping everything affordable and I'm looking forward to the maintenance presentation, obviously. I'm curious about the, sorry, if you know me, that was really genuine. That was not sarcastic, okay. My question is about the Lions Park Cafe. Specifically the fact that people come to me and they kind of laugh at the fact that it says coming fall 2025 on the outside of it. So I'm just wondering what have we learned about this specific type of project that maybe would have informed our timeline projection to be a little bit more accurate moving forward?

Yeah, I mean, it's a challenge, right? The intent was for us to have it open, you know, last fall. You know, with the construction, there was some delays in the construction, and then we had to get the county to, you know, approve it. And then, you know, finding an operator. I mean, everything has just kind of been prolonged much more than any of us would have anticipated. I mean, once we award the contract, you know, Me personally, I was under the assumption that we're going to open up in May, in June. But there's some challenges that the operator had to deal with and had to kind of overcome, and that's a little bit out of our hands. Nevertheless, I think we have a great operator. And just being there for them and trying to work them through the process, I think it's a new endeavor for them, having a facility that's a city-owned facility and not necessarily their own. So I think there was a lot of things that we learned. I mean, probably communication and really kind of taking a deeper dive into their operational needs and maybe constraints will help kind of guide us a little bit better and make a better prediction of when we can open.

So what part of this involves the county? Obviously I know that the library is county and then I know the fund, the grant obviously came from the county, but is it a permit related?

Is it, it's health permit related. Um, so that facility has never operated before, so they have to install all the equipment and then the county has to inspect the, the equipment, the equipment. and make sure it's suitable for that area and that space. And then they have to basically permit it. And unfortunately, that takes, I mean, that's a process. You have to apply for it and then you have to schedule it. So it does take a little bit of time. And yeah, unfortunately, it's taken a little bit longer than.

And that's a process that all Costa Mesa restaurants. Every restaurant has to go through. Is through the county.

Yes.

Okay. Well, I'm just learning that.

Yeah.

Bummer. Okay. Good to know. And we're, we'll all eagerly join me when they open up.

Absolutely. Yeah. As soon as we have a grand opening date, we'll definitely share it with you guys. Um, I'm, I'm hoping it's going to be very, very soon.

So thank you for that. These are really great questions, the moon park and that. So I appreciate it. Um, I would love to put a plug out there. I would love to learn about what we all learned from the surveys. at Concerts in the Park, if we could learn about that next month. So that way it's still fresh, like right off, gives you some time to analyze. So I'm super anxious or excited to hear about that. Wondering if you could give an update on the art staffing situation.

Well, we have not gone out to recruitment yet, but we are looking to do that hopefully within the next few months. and try to get an art specialist in that position. It's actually being currently reviewed. There's an internal review process for this particular position. And so I have to wait until that is complete. And I have not gotten any type of direction or knowledge in regards to, because what is being reviewed is the actual job description. Is it in line with what the person is doing or does it need to be updated? You know, does it have to be, maybe an elevated position title. Um, so these are all the internal review processes that the HR department is doing and, um, and along with the union. And I just have to wait until I get further clearance and direction from that.

Do you have a sense of timing?

I do not.

Thank you. I'm excited to hear that the teen camps are full, and I'm wondering if there was money to increase the teen camps, the number of participants, would there be the demand? Do you have a sense of how many people, or do you feel like you just kind of meet that?

I think if, yeah, I mean, there's certainly a demand. Um, you know, we have, we have people on the waiting list. Um, so an increase in funding would allow us an increase in staffing and we could, you know, increase that, that cap. Um, what that number is, I don't know, but I mean, in the years past we've had up to 90 people. Um, so I mean, and even at that point it was full and with the waiting list. So, it's hard to gauge exactly what that magical number is, whether it's 150. I have no idea, but it is a very highly demanded program.

Okay. Thank you. Commissioner ledger. Do you have a question?

I'm so sorry. I just remembered. I had a question on the art venture closing ceremonies. Um, understand why it had to be scaled back. Sad. Cause I really enjoyed it. Uh, is it still formal dress and are there refreshments now?

Yeah, no, I mean, event-wise, it's going to be similar to what we were offering at ACMA in regards to, you know, hors d'oeuvres and, you know, I mean, we'll have like soda and water and different things like that. I don't know if we can have alcohol. That might be the only difference. But, yeah, so but event-wise, it's still going to be formal. It's still going to be a very classy type of, you know, event that evening.

Good, thank you, because I already bought my dress.

Okay.

Thank you, Director Gruner, for the report. I think what I'd like to do is invite Mr. Ryan to give the Public Works Maintenance Services update, and then I'll open up both items for public comment, if there's public comment. Is that okay, Ms. Fatua? Okay. Mr. Ryan, welcome.

Great, thank you very much. And Vice Chair Wright, I know that you were sincere about that. The laugh wasn't because I thought you were insincere, it's just we don't get that very often. People don't get that excited about maintenance, but thank you for that. So I just want to start out with some quick updates on a few of the big capital improvement projects. First, the Costa Mesa Skate Park expansion. As well as funded through Orange County Board of Supervisor Katrina Foley, it's going to double the size of our existing skate park. Construction contract was approved by Council on April 7th, and then construction began the week of July 20th. They're working on the demo and the grading right now, and the anticipated completion is spring of 2027. Weather permitting, of course. Ketchum-Lybolt Park, if you're driving by, you can see that going up rather quickly. Work is ongoing. Irrigation and plants have been installed. The anticipated completion is late September 2026, so not too far away. Shalimar Park improvements. Construction started on May 11th. Some demo and work going on there. Anticipated completion is winter of 2027. I'm sorry. Yeah, so it'd be early 2027. So not December 2027, but January, February 2027. Could be sooner. My understanding is that they're making great progress and moving quickly, so that'd be great. Two-winkle lake improvements. Most of the work on the upper lake was completed in mid-June. The wildlife was transferred from the lower lake back up to the upper lake, and demolition of the lower lake is underway, and the reshaping, we should complete that one in the fall or winter of 2026. And the Fairview Park projects, I think there's not much of an update from the last time we spoke. All of these are kind of in either the design phase or an environmental review, and some of that process is gonna take a long time, so there's not a lot to update there right now, but we'll keep you posted on any major updates there. Just a few other, I know Director Gruner already touched on Moon Park, and we talked a little bit more about it, but it was held on July 20th, which was Moon Day, which was kind of cool. Thought it was a nice tie-in, which is we kind of pushed that to get that out there right away. Great turnout. We even had a member of the public bring in their own board with their own concepts that the designer put up and let people comment on that as well. It was kind of neat. then we've also started coordinating with the orange county sanitation district who has some some access points there we also started coordinating with the orange county parks and trails department just to make sure they're in the loop as there's a little bit of shared space at the edge of that park so we began that outreach and coordination with them and we'll continue to engage them to make sure things go smoothly and we're not getting out of bounds on on the project and the expectations there Also, Jack Hammett Sports Complex, we began the renovation of fields one and two, complete removal of the turf there and the re-leveling installation of a brand new turf. So that'll hopefully help with some of the drainage and the level surfacing there. So that's a great project. Should be finished up this week with the installation of the sod and then ready for play for the big tournament that usually happens around Labor Day. And finally, at Harper Park, we're currently working on a survey to send out to residents and scheduling some pop-up meetings in the park just to get an idea what people would like to see in that playground. It'll be a smaller, scoped project, that being a leased area. We leased that area from the school district. So we're going to stay within the bounds of the existing playground. So not as much room to expand and grow out, but definitely get some great updated play equipment and We definitely want to see what the community would like to see in that place. So we're working on that survey, and we'll be getting that out soon. With that, I have some updates on maintenance and repairs. This was something that I really had slated for our May meeting. I'm sticking with it. Some of it's from some time ago, but I felt this was really important. The funding for almost all these projects at the parks, they come from our CIP funds. We'll be discussing CIPs. the blink of an eye it's going to come before you know it i think it's important for the commission to see how these funds are utilized the impact they have on the parks and how the team is able to keep these aging playgrounds in safe and usable condition for everyone to enjoy so this is these are the funds for the park and playground playground and parking lot improvements the sidewalk replacement and park lighting. This last year we used a majority of our park lighting funds at Brentwood Park and then the remainder was unfortunately to fix repairs from stolen copper wire and vandalism. So a lot of our funding from this last year went to that. We have additional funding this year and we're already looking at Canyon Park to restore the lighting there and put in solar lighting. which that will help reduce the vandalism and the theft and keep those lights working. So we did a lot of testing on solar lighting at the entrance of Canyon Park. It worked great. So anyway, that being said, I just wanted to give an overview. I'll try to go a little quickly. There's a lot here. So Giesler Park, just some playground repairs. In January of 2026, they replaced a deck. February of 2026, a second deck, removed some rusted areas, painted the transfer step. installed all new safety labels, and then replaced a damaged double slide that was at that park. Just a crack. It's hard to see, but in the picture top right, there's a crack on the slide to the left at the base, kind of where you land. A little hard to see in the picture, but we replaced that slide with a brand new double slide. Here at Harper Park, I'm sorry, this is This is Heller Park. So here at Heller Park, did some repairs to the pipe guide rails, and... And we attached some barriers, including attachment hardware, and that was a concern from our commissioner. The spacing and then the railing there, so you can see the before and after on each one. The before are at the top and the after are at the bottom. Decreased that spacing so the smaller kids can't jump through. It's great aesthetically and improved the safety there. We always appreciate feedback from the commissioners and from the public when they see things We'd love to be able to address those in a timely fashion here at Lindport Lindbergh Park replaced a balcony deck and a barrier replaced a hand bar, replaced two square decks, some step sections, and you can see the before pictures on the left and the after on the right. One thing I forgot to mention, I apologize, but a lot of this work that you're seeing here was identified in our parks and playground assessment, and I tried to put little asterisks at the end of each one that is related to those those playground assessments, and I should have said that from the beginning, I missed that point, but as we go through, you'll see a lot of these have the asterisk, and so we're already addressing those issues that were highlighted. That was really helpful. It was a great tool for staff to be able to prioritize those. Schiffer Park replaced a bunch of belt swings there, refurbished the tire swing, INCREASED THE WATER PRESSURE OF THE DRINKING FOUNTAIN, REPLACED ANOTHER DAMAGED BELT SWING, AND THEN WE HAD TO REPLACE AN ENTRY TUNNEL TO and then remove some termite damage from a beam in the roof of the restroom. Again, a lot of those were identified in our playground assessment. The damaged belt swings, there's kind of something weird going on in that area and Wakeham Park. There's some people that bring their dogs out and let their dogs go out the belt swings and tear them apart. We can't figure out why or who, but it's been kind of an ongoing issue at a couple of different locations. Schiffer Park and at Wakeham Park and we learned the park rangers and step up patrols and things like that, so Not sure why I'm not sure what the fun is but it you know It's damaging the playgrounds, and it's tough to keep up with Wilson Park, a lot of these were in our park assessment. We also had a resident that was calling to ask about improvements to Wilson Park. So you can see we did a lot of improvements at Wilson Park to the two- to five-year-old play area, changed out some window activities, guardrails. barriers, decks, hand loops, vertical ladders. A lot of that was identified as just worn areas in our playground assessment. So we were able to do quite a bit of work this year. We purchase all the parts through that fund, and then we have a staff lead maintenance worker that's in charge of the playgrounds, and he and a part-time worker are able to do all the installation, majority of the installations in-house, which is great. Saves us a lot of money rather than hiring people to do that, and they do just a fantastic job of refurbishing our playgrounds. And then finally, the Wilson Park restroom. I know that was one that commission had concerns about. We were able to make some really nice improvements there. We removed that old broken tile. It was identified in the playground assessment. We just did a kind of a stucco patch over what was there. It's not a rough outside stucco, but it's just a nice finished stucco on that bottom rail there. Repainted everything. We added all new fixtures, painted the, Inside and out at a trash cans were able to replace that arbor that's outside there was termite damage replace that repainted all that she got a fresh coat all the way around. A proxy the floor with a very thick epoxy coating replace the floor drains it it looks wonderful came out really nice. And then T-Winkle Park, again, some repairs there to ring pole, belt swings, bucket swings. I really wanted to highlight the surfacing. So in the past, we'd have a contractor come in every year and do these patches to our playground surfacing, especially at T-Winkle. For some reason, T-Winkle, we get a lot of holes punched in it that just wears off. I'm not sure if it's high heels or what's going on, but that's a particular one we have a lot of issues with. Staff felt that that was something they could take on themselves and buy the material and learned how to do that patching. So you see staff out there doing that patching. The color matches, you're never going to match the color. It's sun fades, so it doesn't matter what we do. We buy the same colors, but you're always going to see a brighter color when we do a patch. But that's saving quite a bit of funding that we can put towards more playground equipment and more replacement. So that's something they decided. They came to me and said, hey, we want to do this on our own. What do you think? And go for it. So it was fantastic to see. And they're doing a great job. They've done it in a couple of locations now. Just some random other work at the Bleric playground in the ECC. We installed a we saw. There's just an open space with nothing to play there. So we installed a little we saw system. PIECE FOR THEM TO PLAY WITH. REPLACED THE DOG WATERING BOWLS AT BARK PARK THAT WAS IDENTIFIED IN THE PLAYGROUND ASSESSMENT. CANYON PARK WITH A DAMAGED SPIRAL SLIDE THAT WE WERE ABLE TO REPLACE. TANNINGER PARK REPLACED SWING ATTACHMENTS AND HARDWARE. LIONS PARK I WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THAT. THAT GRAVITY RAIL WE LEARNED EARLY ON THAT GOT A LOT OF LOVE AND A LOT OF USE THERE. And it had issues with it quite a bit in the beginning. So what we did is we purchased a whole other set of the upper workings. So we swap those out on a monthly basis, take the old one down, work all the inner bearings, replace all the bearings. We put the new one up right away, so there's no downtime. Take that back to the shop, they replace all the interior pieces, and then next month they swap them out again. And so I don't think we've had really any downtime since just a little bit past the opening on the gravity rail. So that's another kudos to staff, they do a great job. That was a nice touch to be able to not have any downtime there. We were having some downtime, considerable downtime before we bought the extra pieces and just started swapping them out every month. Sidewalk repairs. This is our specific sidewalk repair funds. These are scheduled for fall Even though it's last year CIP funds those funds do roll over we identified the areas we sent square footage to our engineering team and They are close to I think awarding a contract for that specific Work, so I'm looking for probably a fall of this year to complete all those and you can see the list of parks and all of those had areas that were identified in our our park assessment RESTROOM PAINTING, THIS WAS A BUILDING MOD. WE PAINTED RESTROOMS AT COAST MESA SKATE PARK, DEL MESA, LIONS PARK, SHIFTER, ANGELS PLAYGROUND RESTROOM AT TEE WINKLE AND THEN VISTA PARK. THESE ARE PART OF OUR REGULAR BUILDING MODS WE DO EVERY YEAR THROUGH ROTATION. Then playground safety surfacing, so sand and wood fiber. We rototill the sand of all parks on a quarterly basis. So you can see our schedule there. The next one is scheduled about September. They go through and just rototill, fluff up the sand, and then we add new sand and material when we need. So we added new materials at Geisler Park, Pinkley Park, Marina View Park, Perez Park, Smallwood, and T-Winkle, and those were all identified again in our playground assessment. So we were able to take care of those things Some of it, it helps when we just rototill and move the sand around. Sometimes you don't need to add sand. Sometimes you go there and there's been so much play and the kids move the sand around that if you just move it back and rake it out, it's actually nice and full and you don't need it. But these were the sites where we did add sand or the wood fiber. We did celebrate Earth Day. I know that was a while ago now, but we planted 30 trees at Wilson Park, had a great turnout. I THINK WE HAD THE ARTS CHAIR, A COUPLE PLANTING COMMISSIONERS, AND THEN WE WERE ABLE TO PLANT THROUGH CONTRACTORS AN ADDITIONAL 50 TREES ON THAT DAY, AND A LIST OF PARKS, PINKLEY, HELLER, TANNINGER, CANYON, AND VISTA PARK, AND THEN OUR STREET MAINTENANCE TEAM ASSISTED WITH THE DISTRIBUTION OF FREE COMPOST TO RESIDENTS, AND THEY HANDED OUT 600 BAGS OF COMPOST, WHICH WAS GREAT. SO THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION. I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.

That is fantastic. Thank you. Thank you so much for that. Please give kudos to your staff. I really appreciate the way in which you're utilizing resources wisely to make improvements without a full replacement. I think that's very much in line with our values in terms of being smart about the ecology of it so that we don't have to tear everything up and throw it away and have it all new. Really appreciate that. Normally I pass this all to you first, but I'm going to go first this time because I just two comments that I want to make. in addition to that. The first is I really appreciated the way in which you went through all of the repairs with the asterisks relating to the parks assessment. Okay, so now what I want is I actually want to be able to go to that park assessment document or something, a copy of it, and to be able to go, okay, this was the original. These are the maintenance repairs or the maintenance that happened this year so that I'm able to see like, okay, that's what we achieved in one spot, exactly like a checklist, and that this is still what's outstanding. Something like that, it doesn't have to be super fancy, but just more of a spreadsheet way, because you captured it so well in your presentation, but that as a document, the playground and park assessment is a really useful tool if we could have like the full tool with your additions.

Is that something you'd like to see Park specific or you talking about one page at the beginning or end parks?

I would like it park specific cuz like for me I go through what are the needs of these I think about the parks in my district, right? I'm thinking about all parks, but I am like what are the parks in my district? What are the outstanding needs but you know, you're thinking about all parks, right? Like okay, so we covered these parks in this area. What about those? So that would be a plea. I think that would that tool would be really helpful for us as we're making CIP decisions and That could go along with the CIP, right? And then the second is a plea for when you work on the sidewalks, is this an opportunity to put some poetry in those sidewalks? If we're doing the sidewalks in those parks, could we get a poem in each park? So that's something, just if we're going to be doing the work, I know that there's interest. I know that this is something that the Arts Commission is working on with some city council folks. A plea for that seems like an opportunity. And it doesn't have to be all of them. It could be a couple of them, right? And maybe we distribute it. There's some metric in terms of how we distribute it so that... there's a diversity in terms of districts but if we're like if we're redoing the cement why not but i know it's a little bit more money but it is a little bit so a plea for that okay those are my those are my comments others commissioner ledger let's see um so the bluff stabilization you said you'd come back with a timeline was that correct

I forget what was said, but I had a question. I didn't want to ask the question if it was answered.

That's going to be a long process to get the design. So that's under, under design right now. Yeah.

Okay. Sorry. So along those lines, um, we're in a super El Nino. They just announced today, 95% chance. So if we're getting a lot of rain, is that going to cause too much erosion before we're ready for the stabilization? mean that that's always a potential um there there's erosion that's ongoing there so that that that would be a potential okay and then um i want to say i love seeing uh all the new parks we're doing with different like they're all so different because when you're going through all the repairs that were made it's like all the parks have all the same features so i love that we're adding new ones with our new parks or playgrounds. So as for the dogs damaging the swings, Schiffer Park was one of the parks. It was a little bit, I think, over a year ago that I reported somebody was training dogs there. So I'm wondering if it's like they're training attack dogs or guard dogs, and that's why the dogs are attacking the swings at those parks. You mentioned the park rangers mentioned it was the dogs. So have they said anything further on that?

So no, we've just had residents mention to us that it's the dogs. We alerted the park rangers to the issue for them to be on the lookout. But we've heard that it's just a single owner, not necessarily a trainer. It seemed like from what was shared with us, it was an individual with a dog that just allowing him to do whatever he wanted to do.

Okay, thank you. And then I love that the staff wanted to learn how to do the patch repair. Whoever came to you with that idea should be up for a promotion when one is available to them. That was a great idea. And I think that's all I have for now. Thank you.

Any other commissioner comments or questions? Commissioner Garcia-Arcos.

Yeah, I just wanna start by thanking both of you for overseeing these projects. It shows like with the pictures of the kids smiling and just how much joy there is and then how much work is being done, how we're leveraging and utilizing funds correctly. And yeah, I really appreciate that. I have a few comments. I wanted to mention that in Chalamar Park, we only have one tree. and I was concerned about the watering, and I reached out to both Mr. Rob Ryan and also our Valente Martinez, who's our city arborist, and they replied within an hour, and we actually scheduled a meeting to meet in Chalamar Park within two hours of that. of that call and I really appreciate the attention that they took to assess the tree and really go into detail of what this tree is going through and then reporting back to the maintenance division, the contractors that are doing the construction. And so that was really nice to experience that there's a lot of care for these trees and for the park and for any involvement that one wants to be in. So I really appreciate that. And I just wanted to also mention about the damage in the park, the slides. So that's a huge liability. So I encourage maybe door knocking to neighbors that could have cameras, you know, pointing in that direction or just have like neighborhood watch just specifically for that because someone can really get hurt with, you know, damage. that is that sharp. So I encourage the city to see if maybe there's a collaboration with residents. And looking at how the city stepped in and wanted to do more to save funds, I encourage the city or some employees to speak up on young tree pruning. I think that's something that we can tackle. I'm saying like I'm gonna actually do it, I'm sorry. But I know it's a lot of work. I know it's a lot of training. We have four certified arborists, so I do think that those funds that we're paying a contractor outside can go into the funding for the city of Costa Mesa for staff, and we can learn from each other. and do it properly. So I really encourage the city to look into that. And I wanted to share Valente. I was able to really communicate with him and I really appreciate his passion, his passion for our urban forest. And there's some concerns of funding. I mean, we really want to increase funding to be able to manage and improve our maintenance. because there's just a lot of work that is being done by some individuals. So I encourage anybody with opportunities with grants that we can apply for specifically for canopy or maintenance in general, I encourage to share those resources. And for Earth Day, I really appreciate the Wilson Park diversity. That's really important because the Emerald Ash Borer has, this is something that is being introduced into California that it just passed in Oregon, but it wiped down millions of trees. And it wiped down hundreds of thousands of trees within the state. And so that is because all of those were, they're attacking ash trees. And so those ash trees are, don't have the defense mechanisms, right? But anyways, if you plant diversity, if you plant an ash tree and then a coast live oak, the coast live oak is not going to be damaged by that. So having diversity is really important for canopy coverage so that we're thinking ahead just in case these things are introduced um so that i really appreciate that diversity in wilson park so um yeah i want to end it by mentioning that i had the privilege to be part of the panel for um uh for poem poem yeah the poetry at um for the parks, and I really encourage what our chair mentioned about adding more of that, because the youth are so passionate. The words that were spoken were so intentional, and I'm really excited for those to come to Flourish and for everybody to kind of see how we feel about our parks, about the people around us. And yeah, I'm really excited for that. So thank you.

Any other commissioner comments or questions?

Vice Chair Wright. Well, it was perfect. A plus. I'm so happy. And thank you so much for the presentation and taking the time to share with us everything you guys accomplished. Because I did hear about the Wilson Park bathrooms on Facebook. And I was like, oh my gosh. i need to know about this sooner i need to know right away so um i'm on my phone because i have my visual map that i made of all the c-rated parks and i just can't find it on my computer so i just want to share with you guys the projects that we recommended as they were identified in the playground assessment that are now done We made these recommendations in April. So like you guys are so fast. So Geisler is a Geisler. I do this every time. John Steven, the mayor knows. And he told me is a Geisler. Okay. I got to do right by my understanding. Geisler. We specifically, it was very specifically called out that we needed to fill the bark that like the levels of it was unsafe. So that got done. And you did playground replacements, which was also in the, assessment. Harper is getting redone, so that's getting handled. The Marina View Park, the sand getting filled, that got done. And then you're doing the sidewalk soon. And then the major thing was the Wilson Park bathrooms. So those are all done. And my mind even goes to how many improvements you made would likely bump these parks into the B. grade now. So, um, I'm really excited about that. I, um, I'm going to go through the other C's that I didn't hear you mention just cause I'm sure you already have either done something or have something planned. But my other thing that I think would be really interesting is I'm really glad we spent the money on this and that you actually used it. I think the thing that this consultant may have gotten wrong, though, is that they really overestimated the cost for all these repairs. So ideally, publicly, I'd love to see a before and after comparison of the costs, especially since we did most of it in-house, because we made those CIP recs based off of the prices they put in there versus you guys know the true costs just I'm sure off of like a gut instinct at this point. So that would be really, I would love to see that even if you just email, even if we just talk about it, but, for the sake of future work. That would be awesome. Okay, would love to hear about, so here's the other C-rated parks. Oh, and then thank you so much for Heller Park. I firmly believe Heller should not be a C-rated park. It's an amazing park, and it just needed a little bit of TLC, which you guys did. They gave it a nice power wash and touched up a couple of areas on the playground that needed enhancements. But otherwise, that park is looking great. So here's the other C-rated parks that I didn't hear anything about, but I'm sure you're doing work at, would be Estancia. The small wood park, specifically the sports court, was called out in the assessment. Vista Park as well. I saw you mention some small amenity enhancements at Bark Park, so I'll leave that one alone. So those three, is there anything specifically that comes to mind for you that you want to speak to? Otherwise, the other C-rated parks that you already talked about were Harper, Heller, Lindbergh, Marina View, Moon Park, Wilson Park, and Bark Park. So come on. You're killing it. You're killing it.

So Estancia Park, we do have some of the concrete. There was a lot of hardscape at Estancia Park. There's not a lot of amenities there. So most of that was surrounded around the hardscape. And so we're going to be addressing that as part of the sidewalk repairs. So some of that will get addressed. I don't.

I thought it was like a bench.

Yeah. Concrete bench. That may be able to be repaired. We'll take a look at that. So that's Estancia Park. Smallwood Park, we didn't have any funding. We usually have a building mod every year for sports court resurfacing. We didn't have that this last fiscal year. We do have that this fiscal year. So more than likely, Smallwood Park, I haven't gotten a list of all the recommendations yet, but more than likely, Smallwood Park will be included in that for resurfacing. It'll be either a complete resurfacing or just the keys and the center court.

Yeah, the sports court was the main thing weighing it down to a C. Otherwise, everything else looks fine.

Yeah, and some of that is a little bit of aesthetic. It's in the shade. It gets hit by irrigation. It collects some of the morning dew, and it's a really shaded court. So it does show a little bit more wear and water spots typically, but that should be addressed this coming fiscal year with that building mod. And Vista Park, I know there was some minor improvements, but I'd have to go back and look at... We're just starting out the new fiscal year, so we're already getting our projects and our outlines going for that. So I'd have to look to see what specific was there and then talk to staff to see what they have in mind. I get to sit up here and take credit for everything, but really it's my staff that... that really drives these and they go out and look at the parks and they make these recommendations. So I just get to sit up here and do the presentation and take credit for it all.

such a humble director vista is a rated worse with structures amenities and hardscape so i'm sure you have hardscape worked into it and then honestly even some of the amenities is just they need new trash cans and benches things like that um but yeah thematically like i love piecemealing the solutions doing it in-house um i think that's amazing and the way to to be as lean as possible. And I'm really, really impressed by how much you guys have been able to chip away at. And I would absolutely support continuing funding for a maintenance assessment of this SOAR every couple of years. I mean, if you guys get through this fast enough, they're gonna come back with nothing left to report on. So and then just a comment on the trees with Commissioner Garcia Arcos talking about even trees at the schools and us wanting to be even I think more equipped to advocate with the schools collaborate with the tree canopy assessment like I want to. I want that to be like our secret tool or weapon of sorts. And even if we can optimize, so what is the like rubber material called on those playgrounds at T-Winkle? Is it just like a, what's it called? Is it a compact rubber?

PIP, it's poured in place safety surfacing.

So PIP, so I would specifically like to advocate for more trees to be planted around playgrounds that have that material because it does get so hot. And as a parent, that is the one standing in the non-shaded area. I have noticed that's really a need specifically at T-Wingle and Lions Park. So that's just my note on tree planting. And I have no idea if that's even mentioned in the, uh, canopy assessment, but I, you know, I haven't forgotten about it. I want us to use it eventually for something for something strategic. Um, so yeah, thank you. I'm very happy and congratulations.

Any other commissioner comments or questions? Okay, I would like to open up both the Parks and Community Services Director's Update and Public Works Maintenance Services Update for any public comments. If there's anyone in the chambers who would like to make a public comment. Seeing none, Ms. Fatua, is there anyone online to comment?

Not at this time, Chair Brown.

Okay, thank you. And with that, move to old business. Item number one, the new community garden location study update. Director Gruner.

Thank you, Madam Chair. As you recall, in May of 2026, just a few months ago, the commission selected three commissioners to be part of the evaluation team of the garden centers and to do some research. And today we're going to be getting an update from those team members. in regards to some of the progress and what they've identified. I do understand that Commissioner Kamala has created two surveys, one for the garden center folks, and then one for non-garden center folks who are interested, potentially, in being a part of the garden center. And so we can let him kind of discuss that and provide some further input and insights. And I do want to mention that the surveys, have been posted or will be posted very soon at the garden centers via an A-frame and a QR code, and people can scan it and participate. So we are starting to get the information out. We'll be sending out an email as well to all the garden center people. And with that, I'm going to go ahead and hand it off to Commissioner Kamala.

Awesome, thank you, Director Gruner. So just a few updates, I haven't broken up into three parts from our last meeting. Number one is the garden membership and current rules, the survey, some upgrades that the city staff have done and some design changes, and then overall launch and timeline and next steps. So first off, who's in the gardens? I think that's something that we, looked at last time we were here, staff was able to pull up the information. So right now we only have two non-residents and one nonprofit participating. Everyone else is a local resident. Of those two remaining non-residents, they were grandfathered in under an older policy and they do pay a non-resident rate. To keep things accurate and to keep it all current and clean, staff verifies residency during the initial onboarding of new gardeners and run a full audit every two years. So kind of that residency was something that we were concerned about with it being so full and it seems like we're in a good spot there. Number two was survey upgrades. I love this. Thank you for adding the visual context. It helped. Like Director Gruner said, originally I thought, hey, well, let's have two surveys. Staff took my ideas and made it even better, and there are three surveys. There's one specifically for Del Mar, one for Hamilton, and one for non-residents. The non-residents one has specific images that says, that has like the different beds and the different styles. So you could kind of get more feedback on how we progress and how we open up that space. Also, there was a section on smarter feedback. So there was a question about garden improvements. Staff shifted the format to a ranking scale. Since all the proposed upgrades were highly positive, ranking them will help us see exactly which ones have the highest demand. let's see and then for a launch timeline and next steps for the rollout like director Gruner said the original timeline was I think August 21st but I think we might be able to get the survey out as soon as tomorrow I asked that the survey window be expanded on the back end because there is a q3 work party at Del Mar on August 25th from 530 to 730 where hopefully a few of us can Make it out to connect with current gardeners and get the feedback and make sure that they participate in the survey. And so we'll be able to capture that information. And then once we get that information, the plan is to meet with city staff to discuss the survey results and really go from there. So that's where we're at. Excited about the A-frames with the QR codes. Hopefully we can also get some digital image that we could share on social media just to get as much community feedback as possible on this. So that's kind of where we're at and looking forward to presenting it on September 10th.

This is really great. I'm really, really excited for this. Thank you, Commissioner. And congratulations on your new baby and being here to give us this presentation on very little sleep. So thank you for that. A couple of questions for you. Just various things are on my mind around gardens because it's a particular passion of mine, even though I'm not a gardener. Will there be an analysis of other spaces that could be potential gardens? So I'm curious what that's going to look like. I'm curious if you're going to do any comparative analysis of other cities' garden programs so that, like, for all of the different things that we might be interested in in terms of size and participation and costs and all the other things, will we be comparing them to other cities where we're like, oh, they have a real, like, Irvine has a good garden program, for example, at UC Irvine. I've heard really great things about it. So I'm curious about that. And then the third thing, just top of my mind, great idea around social media. I would really love to hear how the city might, we might be able to utilize the city's social media in order to do some of this outreach so that it could be, as we're thinking about the gardeners who aren't even on the waiting list yet, so people who haven't even raised their hand but who would like to, how might we utilize social media? So those are just some of the questions that I had.

So I'm going to answer some of that. And I do also, before I answer that one, I say I really appreciate Commissioner Kamala's taking the lead on this when we meet. He has done a good chunk of the work, and I appreciate that. So give him props for that. We did find an open plot that would be a perfect place. So we have seen other locations. And what was your other question was? Yeah, and we are going to be looking into other cities. I know when we did our values document, I did identify cities in other states and everything that were comparable in the demographics to Costa Mesa. So I need to find that for me to look at other cities. But glad you mentioned Irvine. If one of them wants to take Irvine, I'll find another city. So that's it.

Other commissioner comments, questions? Yes, Commissioner Garcia-Arcos.

Yeah, I just wanted to add and hype it up. There's so much potential in these spaces. There are some spaces that are underutilized, and so we're trying to figure out where can we add more plots. In my notes, I'm like, hey, city, hook us up with other cities. Give us your connections that you have with other community gardens. That will help us reach out to the individuals that are running those spaces. So I think that's really important. and then a garden in other spaces. So I don't wanna take the credit for this. I was talking with the chair, the arts chair, Elisa Ochoa, and she mentioned something that really was fascinating. And I didn't even look at it until she mentioned it. So right next to the historical, what is it? There's a rose garden that is not really utilized, at least from my observations and other people's observations. So that's city property, if I'm not mistaken. I hope. Can you answer that?

It is, but there is a retention basin. for water directly below that. So there may be some limitations to what can and cannot go there. I'm not an expert in that area, but I am aware that we are limited because of that retention basin.

Awesome. Well, I'm glad it's not a no. So there's an opportunity there. And if not, then let's just push it a little bit further out. But there are locations that we can all collaborate. And if you have any ideas, please reach out to us. That's what we want. We also want you to connect us with gardeners that you might know that are using those facilities. So I'm really excited for that. And I really appreciate it. Kamala commissioner Kamala for you know spearheading this it's a lot of work and I really appreciate the work that you're doing it's making it easier for us to do what we're contributing so thank you

So I hear a plea for those members of the public who might have ideas to reach out to city staff and share them and other commissioners who have ideas to reach out to Ms. Fatua, since it is a subcommittee, so we will not reach out to you directly, but we will send them through the city. Other commissioner comments?

Madam Chair, if I could just add to that a little bit. So I do know I live over in South County. I was driving by through Ladera Ranch, and they're actually completely redoing their entire garden center. I mean, they're building posts and different framework for that facility. So that may be, although it's a private HOA community, I don't necessarily have any context to that, but it would be worth looking into and kind of we can get some cost estimates of how much that would cost potentially and see how they're reconfiguring it and what they charge or how they manage their program on a year-to-year basis.

Any other commissioner comments or questions?

I just want to make a comment of encouragement. You guys are doing so great, and I look forward to your presentation. Thank you.

at this point i would like to open it up for any public comment if there is anyone in the chambers who would like to make a public comment on this item seeing none miss fatua online not at this time chair brown thank you and with that i close old business and we move to new business item number one the donation of a memorial tree and plaque at vista park mr rhine thank you very much again the next item before you is a request to receive a donation

of a memorial tree and plaque to be installed at Vista Park. So the city received a request from Damien Paez requesting permission from this commission to donate a memorial tree and plaque in memory of his nephew Julian Hernandez who passed away earlier this year. You may recognize the name. This is a young man that was biking in Irvine and was bitten by a rattlesnake and subsequently passed away. The tree and plaque would be installed at Vista Park Julian, you can see from the letter, it was Attachment 1. He was born and raised in Costa Mesa. According to his family, he had a great appreciation for the city. His uncle described him as a true force for good in the lives of everyone that knew him. He was an Eagle Scout, which demonstrated his character and service to others. He had a successful career as a mechanical engineer, but according to his uncle, always made time to coach his young niece's soccer teams. William's roots in Costa Mesa run deep. His family has proudly operated a family business in Costa Mesa for decades. And he had a deep love and appreciation of nature. So Vista Park is an extremely special place for the family. The park is where the family gathered to celebrate birthdays, holidays, and other special occasions. And the tree would serve as a great place for them to gather and share stories and memories of William. So after reviewing a few options, the family and staff agreed the most suitable location for the tree would be in a lower lawn area or in a lawn area near the southwest corner of the park. You can see it depicted in by the green arrow on that map. A little more close-up location. So the left is looking kind of southwest towards Huntington Beach. The picture on the right is kind of looking back towards the restroom building and the playground in that direction. So there's a little flat area that's in that section of the park that would be a nice place to plant a tree. So staff and family agreed on a coast live oak. It's a native tree. It can grow between 30 and 80 feet tall. It has a very dense canopy. Here's a couple of sample photos of the tree a little acorn, and then there's a sample photo of one type of plaque that we do. It'll be installed in ground near the tree. So staff reviewed the site's location, determined that it's suitable for the donated items. The installation will have a minimal fiscal impact on the city. The donor pays for the tree and the plaque. The city just simply will provide the labor to install both. The request does meet the requirements as set forth by city council policy, and therefore it's recommended that the commission approve the request from Damien Paez for the donation of the tree and plaque in memory of Julian.

Thank you, Mr. Ryan. Are there commissioner comments or questions? Commissioner Houston.

I have one. I hate to push back on these, but this is the park that my family and I often go to. And so can you go back to the slide that shows the location? And the only thing that I wanted to bring up is because one of my I'll just say personally favorite parts about this park is that it does have such a good view. And so even if you're in the grass area, I mean, you have a view looking out. And so to put a 30 to 80 foot tree in that particular location kind of seems like the one window that actually looks out there. And so while I love to honor the family, um, uh, and their loved ones, I just, I have to push back a little bit to ask, is that in the window of the, the area kind of looking out? Because it seems like maybe there's a, from this image we could tell right here. Sorry if you can go back. From basically the entire park, you can see out that little window right there. And so my one concern is that if you're sitting really anywhere in that grass area, a 30 to 80 foot tree is gonna essentially block that view for anybody. Just wanted to at least bring that to people's attention here. You know what, sorry, I can't tell what.

Mr. Ryan, do you wanna provide?

It would be essentially in that like. Website? The area they're talking about is far away in that image. This looks like right at the playground area there, from your view, if that makes sense.

There is a lower seating area for viewing of the vista that people can take advantage of. I think it's important to keep in mind if you are sitting and enjoying that view, the tree is going to be growing, so you'll see a trunk of a tree, but it won't necessarily block the entire view. Definitely understand what your concerns are.

Sounds good. I'll just leave it at this. I still think that there's no other trees in that area as it relates to that window right there. And so I would just make the suggestion that if it could be moved somewhere near the closer to the path, but either right or left, that would be my suggestion. But aside from that, I'll leave it at that.

I will acknowledge that I, too, go to that park, and I love that park. And it's because of that, precisely as you're describing it, that feeling of open and expansiveness. I would second that if there's a way to move it so that it's not right in the middle. There is something that's majestic about that view, I will say. And it's like I understand the point of sitting down. It's not in your way. But there's like a – this is how I feel when I'm there. There's just a feeling of openness with the view that's really nice. So I don't know if that's a possibility to still honor. I very much want to honor the family's request for a tree, but perhaps be a little strategic about where we put it.

absolutely if there's a if there's a motion in a second and supported by the commission with that language in there we can definitely go back to the donor and if there's something specific that you can outline in that motion that we can go back to them with we can definitely present that that's why we're here this it's this body's responsibility to approve or make suggestions in the recommend in the report there's an opportunity to suggest an alternate location. So that's absolutely within your purview and we can go back to the donor and share that with them.

I would be willing to make the motion. Do you mind going back to, there's like an overhead view that kind of shows the grass area as like a circle, if you will? Yeah, so if I could, I would make a motion to move the tree location and I mean, I'd be open to other suggestions from either the staff or the family, but I would say essentially that whole area where that green arrow is, the preference would be to leave that area open. And so perhaps moving it, I'll say northbound closer to the bike path right there. I guess my question is, are you looking for a suggestion on the motion or is the motion just to move the location?

That is, that is, it's your motion. That is completely up to you. Okay. A few things that I will, I will say is that when we're looking at locations, a couple of things as we try to stay away from, from hardscapes and interference with hardscapes, and we try not to impact open space. So putting it like in the middle of a large grass area, we try to try to keep as much open space and provide shade. So it's a little bit of balance. And there's just a couple of things I would share, but. Okay. It would be your motion.

Commissioner Houston, I'm happy to entertain a motion. I know Commissioner Ledger would also like to contribute. So do you want to make a motion or do you want to go to Commissioner Ledger and then come back?

Sure. Maybe I'll package it like this. My the motion would be to move the current proposed location and to honor the family by putting the tree somewhere along. I'll call it the north part of the bike path.

Sure. Can you see my, my cursor up there as a show?

So is that the area you're kind of, I mean, I'll, I'll say, let me just, if I can just circle it here, I would, I second the motion.

Yep.

We're just, we're taking a motion in a second. We're taking a motion in a second. All right. Commissioner ledger.

I'm sorry. I'll wait. How long is this going to push back for the family? Because this, I, I've seen them all over social media with this story. They were really, um, they were devastated by this. So I don't want to push this back too much. I understand, um, the concerns as I actually brought my husband here on our first date to show him the views. Uh, so I understand the concern with the views. I just don't want to push this back too much for them.

So that really depends on the donors and what the actual motion is in the end result where the suggestion is. We would take it back to them and they could choose to say, yes, we'll move forward with what the commission's recommendation is. It wouldn't delay it at all. If they said, no, we don't like that, how about this? then we'd have to schedule and present it once again to the commission. That would probably take maybe a month or two, depending on how long it would take to write up the report, get everyone to agree, and then get it on the agenda to present. So again, if they accept, no time at all.

And I also want to say I do love that they picked an oak tree. I think it was, I spoke with Commissioner Garcia-Arcos about why don't we have more oak trees, they're really good hardy trees, so I like that.

Vice Chair Wright.

I'm totally, I'm also in support of basically trying to have that unobstructed view And if it makes a little bit more sense for a motion to keep it like open ended then I'm I'm in favor of making a motion that just protects not putting the tree in a place that obstructs the view but allows you guys to work within those confines if that's easier.

So let me know what you guys Mr. Ryan is does that make it easier.

Absolutely, we can definitely, with that direction, we can go back to them and say we just don't want to obstruct the view, pick a secondary location if the commission is okay with that latitude. We're certainly okay with that.

Commissioner Houston, do you want to revise your motion or do you want to, with what Vice Chair recommended?

I don't really have a preference. I'll say sure. I'll revise the motion to just say the motion would be to not put it in the current suggested location and that the view of that southwesterly area be left unimpeded.

I would second that.

Commissioners may vote on your dais.

I should do, we need to do public comment. Yes. My apologies. So apologies, we may need to vote. We will vote again after we take public comment. So I'd like to invite members of the public to please come forward and comment on this agenda item. Seeing no one in the chambers, Ms. Fatua, is there anyone online?

There are no members online.

Okay, now we will vote again. Commissioner, is there room for Commissioner comments? We can make room. Commissioner Garcia-Arcos.

Yeah, I wanted to ask, what size is the tree that you're planning on planting? Typically, they pay for a 24-inch box tree. And is someone, can it be rejected if the structure of the canopy isn't good? Yeah, absolutely. Because it's donated? Even if it's donated?

So the, yes, the donor will write a check to the city, the city purchases the tree, and it's delivered to the city for us to inspect prior to planting. And I think I mentioned this before, we have the right to reject anything that we don't see as being a good tree, and we send it right back to the nursery.

Perfect, and then the nursery that you guys are purchasing is Devil's Mountain, if I'm not mistaken?

Right now it's AY Nursery.

Would you consider buying from Devil's Mountain? Just because I've seen a lot of presentations that David Teschler, who was overseeing the organization, now he works for West Coast Arborist, it doesn't matter, but he's such a genius. The way that they start growing these trees from seedlings and then move on to different containers that he invented are amazing. Astonishing. And so I really do appreciate that nursery because of the way that they've been managing. And so I want to make sure that we have a tree that is fit for what we're trying to preserve for long term.

So we do have a procurement process, and so we can certainly look into them as a vendor. I'm familiar with them. I'm familiar with the containers. It's new technology that's very, very interesting. But we do have a process, so we'd have to go through a bidding process. If they were a successful bidder, then we would certainly entertain using them. And I think we are due to get additional pricing this year, so we'll certainly look into that.

Okay, and then just to kind of look in terms of like trying to accomplish that, would you be able to recommend the family on how well that nursery grows their trees? Or can city add like budget to kind of, oh man, but you're saying like bidding, like the lower bidder will probably get the, really? It's a bummer. Can we donate to I'm being serious.

So this is the process that we have in place right now as far as the procurement of trees. Um, so, but we can definitely look at the, at the process and we can look at bringing them in and offering the opportunity from them to provide some, some pricing to us. Okay.

Yeah, that'll, that'll be helpful.

I'm going to recommend that we might want to put trees on the agenda at an upcoming meeting. And that could be one item of discussion, which is the procurement of trees and to talk through that. So that seems like a reason to put that on the agenda. Okay, cool. We will follow up in an agenda prep meeting. One last recommendation.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can we make sure that the grass line is at least five feet in diameter around the tree trunk to make sure that there's, you can install mulch and just, you know, for future use?

Yes.

Okay, great, thank you.

Thank you for those thoughtful questions. Okay, we're ready for another vote.

We have a motion by Commissioner Hewson and seconded by Chair Brown. Yes. Commissioners may vote on your dais. Motion carries 6-0.

Thank you all, and thank you for those suggestions. Appreciate it. Moving on to new business item number two, the donation of a memorial bench and plaque at Fairview Park. Mr. Ryan.

Thank you. The city received a request from Adriana Lopez requesting permission from this commission to donate a memorial bench and plaque in memory of her grandfather, Salvador Lara Rodriguez, who passed away in 2024. The bench and plaque would be installed at Fairview Park. She provides some background. You can follow along in the letter that's included in attachment one. Adrienne and her family spent most of their lives in Costa Mesa. Even though they moved nearby to Huntington Beach, they still consider Costa Mesa their hometown, quote unquote. Adrienne and her sister both had graduated from Estancia High School, and their brother is currently attending there. Fairview Park was a special place for the family, a place where they spent time with their grandfather sharing adventures and celebrating a lot of milestones in the park. Salvador loved nature and appreciated the beauty of the park. The family shared that they continue to visit the park on a regular basis, and they plan on gathering everyone together there on an annual basis to celebrate their grandfather and share memories so that that bench would serve as a great place to gather and share stories and memories with their family and friends. So after viewing a few options, the family and staff agreed that the most suitable location for the bench would be on the southern end of the park, near the lawn area. The location is along the existing asphalt path that runs through the park from Placentia Avenue towards the restroom building and then connects to other trails. You can see it as the kind of orange dot at the bottom left of the screen. Here's a better view of the location. The asphalt path is there, you can see in the foreground there on the bottom. It's right near the fence line for the high school. I believe this is just east of the bench that was previously installed, near that triangle area. This is a sample of what the bench would look like. They're made out of 100% recycled plastic. And then the sample of the plaque, they'd be either installed in the back of the bench or in the ground, most likely in this case, the back of the bench. So staff has reviewed the suggested location and determined that it's suitable for the donated items. The request was presented to the Fairview Park Steering Committee on June 10th, 2026. They really had no specific feedback regarding or concerns about the bench or the location. Most of the discussion was around process and and their concerns of having Fairview Park staff involved, which we do. We generally get a suggestion from the family where they'd like a bench. We look at that, make sure there's no interference with irrigation, hardscape, those types of things. We bring in the Fairview Park administrator, Mr. Dalton, to make sure that he doesn't see any conflicts with that, and then it is presented. So there's no determination made prior to submitting that to the steering committee for them to weigh in on. The installation will have minimal fiscal impact on the city. The donors can incur the cost of the donated items, and again, city staff will perform the installation. It does meet the requirements as set forth by city council policy to recommend that the commissioner approve the request from Adriana Lopez for the donation of the bench and plaque in memory of her grandfather, Salvador Lara Rodriguez. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ryan. Are there any commissioner questions or comments for this donation?

I just want to say I'm glad it went to the Fairview Park Steering Committee beforehand, and I'm prepared to make a motion to approve.

I'm going to open it up for public comments. Is there anyone in the chambers who would like to make a public comment? Seeing none, Ms. Fatua, is there anyone online? Not at this time, Chair Brown. Vice Chair Wright, I would entertain a motion. Sure, Commissioner Graciakos.

I know it's going to go through many committees, and I'm really happy for that. Just to encourage them to also...

It ends with us. Oh, it does? So it went through... Oh, it did? Okay, I'm sorry. What's great is that it went through the body... essentially reporting up, so they saw it and then it came to us. Yeah.

Yeah, thank you for doing that. Were there any conversations about not putting it directly underneath the tree for damage reasons from the root system, like the bench itself?

There is no tree associated with this donation, so were you referring to a tree in the park existing? Yeah, existing. Yeah, we wouldn't put a bench near a tree with the root zone, so I don't believe there's any tree in that location.

Yeah, just wanted to make sure, thank you.

Okay, there is a motion by Vice Chair Wright. Is there a second?

There's a second. Commissioners may vote on your dice.

Motion carries 6-0. Wonderful. Thank you all. We had a break last month, so we're back to business. Fairly light agenda. We did it in a couple hours. Kudos to us. Unless there are any other commissioner comments or questions, I'm going to say we will see you back here on September 10th for the next meeting, and I adjourn this meeting at 7.53. Thank you.