Parks, Recreation, and Arts Commission - Regular Meeting

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All right.

It is 5.31. We're going to go ahead and get the Parks, Recreation, and Arts Commission meeting started. I now call this meeting in order. City Clerk, would you please conduct roll call?

Yes. Commissioner Barraza.

Present, I'm sorry.

Commissioner Kalia? Present. Commissioner Dolan is absent. Commissioner Duran?

Here.

Commissioner Kucharski is absent. Commissioner Miller?

Here.

Vice Chair Ward is absent. Chair McCoy?

Present.

We have a quorum.

Thank you. Do we have a motion to excuse the absence of Vice Chair Ward? All motion. Thank you, Commissioner Duran. Do I have a second?

Second.

Thank you, Commissioner Kalia. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed say no. Motion passes. Do we have a motion to excuse the absence of Commissioner Dolan? Thank you, Commissioner Miller. Do I have a second? Thank you, Commissioner Barraza. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed say no. Motion passes. Do I have a motion to excuse the absence of Commissioner Kercharski?

Yes. I say so. Yes.

Thank you, Commissioner Collier. Is there a second? Thank you, Commissioner Duran. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed say no. We will now begin with the Pledge of Allegiance. Will everyone please stand? Ready? Salute. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. We will start with the approval of the agenda. City Clerk, are there any changes or proposed changes to tonight's agenda?

There are no changes.

Thank you. Is there a motion to approve the agenda?

So moved.

Thank you, Commissioner Barraza. Is there a second? All second. Thank you, Commissioner Duran. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed say no. No. This item is approved. We will now move on to the approval of minutes. Are there any changes or proposed changes to the minutes from the special meeting of June 1st, 2026 or the regular meeting of June 15th, 2026?

There are no changes.

Thank you. Is there a motion to approve the minutes? Thank you, Commissioner Miller. Is there a second? Thank you, Commissioner Duran. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed say no. We will now move on to member reports. Commissioner Barraza, do you have any reports or comments for this commission?

I don't at this time. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Commissioner Duran.

YES, THANK YOU, CHAIR. I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THE TECH EASY PROGRAM. I KNOW THROUGH THE LAST ROUND OF BUDGET MOTIONS THIS COMMISSION MADE A MOTION IN SUPPORT TO SUSTAIN THE PROGRAM AND SINCE THEN Parks has decided to continue the program as well. And so for any Fresnans ages 55 and up, there are two upcoming sessions. And if anyone is interested in getting more information or registering, you can call the city at 559-621-7529. And again, this is for the Tech Easy program, which helps with free digital literacy classes, again, for presidents age 55 and up and so it's a great program and i'm glad to see the commission support it and parks continue the program and i know we're wrapping up july but wanted to wish everyone a happy uh parks and recreation month july it's observed and even though we're meeting at the end of the month it's been a really big month for our park so that'll be it thank you thank you commissioner miller thank you commissioner kalia nothing at this time

Thank you. We will now move on to city administration and park staff reports and comments. Does anyone from the administration have any reports or comments for the commission?

No updates at this point, Chair.

Thank you. And you're doing park staff reports as well? Nothing?

Nothing to report there either.

Okay. We will now move on to unscheduled communication. Would any member of the public like to speak on any issue within the jurisdiction of this commission? You will have up to three minutes. As a reminder, if you would like to comment or schedule a workshop or discussion item, now is the time to make those comments. If you would like to make a comment regarding any of the scheduled hearings, comments will be taken when each item is heard. All right, I do have some cards. First person I'd like to call is Camilla Sutherland.

Thank you for the Parks and Rec. I just first of all wanted to say we've come here many times and we're always asking for something, trying to be part of a team. The things that have been happening out of the park, they have addressed the birds on top of the lights with their Excrement coming down in the courts. They've washed them off. They're out there was sweeping the courts They're cleaning the courts. And so we're just saying we appreciate that we want to keep it up we also want to talk about how if you would allow me my little brief here is that Roding Park has been a pillar of Fresno's recreational life for more than a century what many people don't realize is that tennis at Roding Park began in 1924 and and making it one of the oldest public tennis areas in the Central Valley. Today we have special opportunities to build a partnership between Roding Park Tennis Club, the Fresno Pickleball, and the new futsal that's going to be out there with the Parks and Rec. And so we wanted to say we want to endure that. keep that generational going. Our courts are full lately. They're full in the days. They're full in the evenings. Our vision is to honor the past, energize the present, and grow the future of racquet sports at Roding Park by combining the tennis club's longstanding community presence with the reach and resources of the Parks and Rec, we can create a unified initiative that positions Roding Park as a historic tennis landmark. This partnership transformed the courts from simply a place to play into a place where Fresno's tennis history is told and experienced. We want to do some community tennis. We have a new charter school being built across the street from Roding Park by the zoo on Belmont. Getting those students involved, getting celebrations. When we've got Fourth of July, we have our Armed Forces tournaments out there. And to me, why it matters is this partnership with the Parks and Rec. We've been out there many years, washing courts, cleaning courts, keeping them clean, having activities, which we're a nonprofit organization. We want to do that. We want to keep that going. So together, we can ensure that the story of tennis at Roding Park continues, beginning in 1924 and still thriving today. And I'd ask, we've had many requests to meet with the Parks and Rec to whoever the person's in charge of directing tennis and pickleball and the futsal that's now gonna be out there, how do we get our meetings set up to make that happen? Madam President, thank you. Chairman.

Thank you. Our next speaker will be Karen Hubler. That's you, hi.

Thank you so much for listening to the tennis community's concerns. And if I can, I'm going to validate Camilla's statement that the Roding Park Tennis Club actually started 102 years ago. And I only know that because I Found this this minutes book from my dad and and it was passed down by his dad Jim Huebner And they were both avid tennis patrons and and Really wanted to see tennis be a a community builder, a community center, a place for family, a place for kids. So March 12, 1924, I'm just going to read the first opening paragraph. On this date at 7.30 PM at the Commercial Club was held a general meeting of the active and enthusiastic tennis players of the city of Fresno with the idea in mind of organizing a tennis club to promote and further the game in this city. Some 35 attended the meeting. including Raymond Ringley, head of the city playground department. So I think you were in his foot, you took his footsteps, uh, and among other leaders of the community saw tennis as a place for families, um, and communities, children to come together and. and just enjoy the outdoors. And that's what my father's vision was for forming Fig Garden Swim and Racquet Club. He lived across the street from Running Park, where Huebner Sports happens to be my last name, because it was our store. But that was where he grew up. It was his home. And tennis has made a difference not just in my life, but in this community. You can see the people represented here. And for most particular across the state, for children, for like if you look at the Golden State, Golden Gate Tennis Club, it's a thriving space for children. And so if we can keep that in mind as something that we can all support and support. in this town that I love so much. I live in Fresno now, but I work in LA, terrible commute, but I'm also an historian. That's my career at USC. When I found this book that spoke to the history of tennis, that your predecessors supported. I just want to encourage you to keep that up at a public court center like the only one of its kind in Fresno, in the surrounding area. So thank you for listening to us, and we'll be happy to talk more about this as the weeks and months progress. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, Fred Wong.

My name is Fred Wong. I'm a lifelong resident of Fresno. My father took me out to play tennis in their mid-50s. So I've been there, and I played in high school here locally and a member of the Burning Park Tennis Club. The only issue I want to bring on to the board is I started to play again after I retired, and I've noticed the poor maintenance issues on the courts that refer to safety for the public and for the participants. I'm a retired civil engineer, and there's drainage problems, there's fencing problems, there's all kinds of other stuff. And I've worked with Camilla on other things, and I told her I would offer my assistance to be present with her, with meeting with the park staff to go over some of the issues at the park. And I'm willing to do that. So I want to keep this facility running and safe for the rest of the whole city. Thank you.

Thank you. Do we have anyone online?

There is no one online.

OK. One more card behind you. Hi, Adam. Go ahead and state your name.

OK. Hi, my name is Adam Balakian, and thank you to the Commission for your time. I just wanted to follow up real quick. Last month, I gave a little presentation on the current bathroom conditions at Roeding Park, where we surveyed 55 current active participants of all ages, all demographics, 89% of which rated the bathrooms at Roeding Park a 1 out of 5. And then I did follow up with the Parks Department, or I tried to at least, to get some additional information to give context to the Pratt Commission. I submitted that on June 11th. I still haven't gotten any response from the Parks team, but just to kind of give context for some of the things I asked about, I really wanted to know more information about the cleaning schedule at that bathroom, because our understanding is it's not cleaned after 2 p.m., so by the time everybody comes out after work to enjoy the tennis courts, the bathrooms are in a very poor condition, and... they're not cleaned again until the next day. No one's out there. And then also some additional questions regarding the plan for the new bathrooms or the prefabricated bathrooms for next year. And just, again, following up on if there's any way we can make some sort of at least effort to make some adjustments for those bathrooms to be closer to the tennis courts, facing the tennis courts, more accessible. There's been a lot of loitering near the bathrooms this summer. So some people do have concerns about that with... just safety and overall cleanliness of the bathrooms. So that's Roeding Park. I also wanted to bring up, I went to Logan Park to play some soccer a week ago, and I thought the Roeding Park bathrooms were bad, but actually the Logan Park bathrooms are even kind of a step below that because they don't even have a door on the stall. The men's restroom has one bathroom, and there's no door at all on the stalls. So I wanted to bring that to everybody's attention, and hopefully we can get a few of these issues fixed. And again, thank you for all of your time, and we appreciate what you guys are doing.

Thank you.

I have one more.

Before we go online, can we get the last one in the chamber? Later? Okay. No one else online? All right, well, I will go ahead and close unscheduled communication, and we will now move on to workshops. As soon as I can get this flipped over. ID number 26-999, workshop update on the expanded access to arts and cultural grant program. Will someone from the Parks Department please begin the presentation? You want questions after?

Questions after, please.

Okay.

Good evening, commissioners. My name is Sarah Gaitan, program manager for the Parks Department. Today I will be giving an update on the Expanded Access to Arts and Culture grant program, which is also known as EAAC. We're going to start off with cycle two updates. Staff have been meeting one-on-one with each of the grantees to enable contracting with each of them and meeting them where they're at in the process. The groups that received 90% upfront have been contacted with information on the next steps. And the team is currently collecting all final reports as well as expense reports to complete the contracting period. For cycle two materials that have been handed out to grantees, these are the graphics that have been used to aid the grantees through the contracting journey. You have all been given a copy of each one so that you could take a look at them. The purple one will be the typical route used for contracting all grantees moving forward for the cycles. The blue graphic shows the journey of those who are part of cycle two and will be entering into a settlement agreement. The next graphic shows a hybrid journey that was built out for the grantees from cycle two who will need to enter into a grant agreement as well as a settlement agreement. And then the green and blue graphic will be used during cycle three, and that's for the application review committee formation process so that they understand what their journey will be looking like. This now brings us over to cycle three updates. On June 30, the notice of funding opportunity, the NOFO, was for general operating support and for project support grant solicitations was released. The eligibility screening is now open, and it should be completed by August 15. And it's all being collected via the submittable program that's online. All potential applicants are encouraged to complete the eligibility screening as soon as possible to allow time for clarifying questions that may be needed to complete the eligibility screening. And we're also keeping the website up to date, and that can be found at www.fresno.gov. And grant applications will be due by September 30th at 3 p.m. So once the eligibility screening is completed, we will send the application to the applicant and then they have until the 30th to complete it. We also have two workshops that are coming up that will be followed up with two others later with different topics. A survey was sent out on June 19th to our Measure P email list of a little over 800 emails. We received feedback about times, dates, locations, and topics for the TA workshops. which is what we use to create the workshops that we will be hosting. The first one coming up will be on July 23rd, which is this Thursday coming up. It will be held at Ted C. Wills from 3 to 5 p.m., and this will be a grant guideline workshop. We will be reviewing eligibility criteria, applications, the review process, scoring, how to apply, and any other questions that anybody may have about the grant guidelines. and then the following week we have our very first meet and greet workshop type it's a fiscal sponsorship workshop it's going to be on tuesday july 28th and that will also be from 3 to 5 pm but this one's structured a little bit differently from three to four we will be inviting anybody who would like to be a fiscal sponsor to attend that we will be reviewing any questions that they have about their role in the process as far as being a fiscal sponsor. And then the second portion of the meeting, we will encourage the community to come in and meet with these potential fiscal sponsors so that they could interact with each other and hopefully find somebody that could help them with their particular project. And also, both of these will be recorded. And the fiscal sponsorship one, the structure of it is a little different. So the first portion will be recorded. The second portion, unfortunately, will not. And we will encourage in-person participation for that. We have also added a few updates to the website. We now have a frequently asked questions area and these are all questions that have been coming in through our email. The FAQ area has a filtering option so you can filter by a topic that you're interested in and then it also has a search feature so that you can type in a particular word that you're looking for and it'll take you to the questions that have those words associated with them. The questions will be updated weekly, and like I mentioned, the questions are being taken from emails that are coming through our Expanded Arts email. This is just a little snapshot of what they look like. You'll see the topic up top, the question off to the left, and then the answer on the right. Another new section on the website is the meetings section. All upcoming meetings will be posted here along with previously recorded meetings. So right now we have the two that are upcoming and as we get more dates for the next two, we will have them posted there too. And once the meetings are completed, we will also add the recordings in that same area.

Is preregistration required or can you show up the day of the event?

If it's virtual, we're encouraging you to pre-register because that's the only way that you will be able to get into the webinar.

OK, thank you.

The next 30 days, we plan to continue to meet with cycle two grantees and move forward with the contracting and funding process. We will continue to update our website. Like I mentioned before, we're doing the frequently asked questions weekly and any meetings and any new documents will also be found on there. We will continue reviewing eligibility screening forms that have been coming in through Submittable and providing the links to the application for any applicants who are eligible. We are continuing to review fiscal sponsor prequalification forms for any fiscal sponsor who is planning to sponsor five or, sorry, six or more organizations or artists. And we are also developing the application for the application review committee and outreach plan with PRAC, with the subcommittee that will be formed for that. For agenda minutes, any PRAC communications that you need to find, you can visit the website, our Fresno website. Under Legistar, you'll be able to find any information for upcoming PRAC meetings and any previous meetings, agendas, minutes, videos of that sort. And then, of course, we have our website also, which is the www.fresno.gov slash eaac. And this is just a little snippet of PRAC meetings that are coming up. We will continue to provide updates during the PRAC meetings. The PRAC meetings are held every third Monday of the month. The upcoming meetings we have August 17, September 21, October 12, and October 26. The phone number where you can leave us messages in regards to the EAC program is the 559-621-2999. And the email where we are encouraging everybody to submit their questions to is expandedarts.fresno.gov. Those are the questions that we are putting on the FAQs. And then the website is there again. And with that, I will open it up for some questions.

Okay. I have some questions. Can I ask about Cycle 2? It's just a... Yes, you can, or no, you can't, after I ask my question. Okay. Okay. Has all grantees been paid out, or are we close to paying them out?

They're still currently in the one-on-one meeting part of it, so nobody has been paid out yet. We're still working on agreements based on what we are learning from each of those meetings. It is taking us some time to go through them. We had... quite a bit of them, but we have managed to meet with the majority of them already, so agreements are being worked on, and they should be coming pretty soon to each one of them.

So I know that we're opening up round three, so has the three positions that were being advertised been filled yet?

We are still interviewing for a few. But we do have a community outreach coordinator. The outreach specialist has started already. But we do have a few more interviews this week to fill some of the other spots.

OK. I think I'm good right now. I'm going to go ahead and ask Commissioner Barraza. Do you have any questions?

Yes, Madam Chair. The first question, in regard to the folks under cycle two, how many are still not, what's the word, ready as far as getting their money and all this stuff? How many are we still working with?

Do you know approximately? We don't have that exact number yet. What do you wanna?

Can I ask, do you mean how many applicants haven't been compensated yet? Because the ones that have been selected already for cycle two have been selected, so they should have all their stuff together. I think it's just the compensation part, but I'm just trying to understand your question.

Yes, I also have questions about cycle three, but I just wanted to get a sense of I mean, when is that thing going to get closer on?

Yeah. So Commissioner Barraza, Shelby McNabb, Assistant Director. There's fireworks happening. It's July. So I just wanted to add, we have to enter into a contract with every single Cycle 2 grantee. So as you know, there were over 100. So we're simultaneously negotiating each of those contracts now. And prior to issuing payment, we're asking all of the cycle two grantees to provide receipts and proof of expenditures and final reports. So you can see in the graphic a lot of the lead work that goes prior to entering into the contract in many cases. So once we get to the agreement phase, we will be able to pay out once we receive those reports. But we've met with almost all of them to start them down that path. So it's been moving actually very quickly in the scheme of things. But we cannot just issue a check. We have to enter into the agreement. In order to do that, those graphics walk you through the steps. In some cases, the grantees are not vendors with the city, so they've got to get that set up. And there's some other steps that they do on their end so that we can then initiate that process.

What's your timetable for completing that process?

That actually varies based on the speed at which many of the subrecipients can meet with us, prepare the reports, gather all of their receipts. So if you had a grant award that was $100,000 and you spent it on a variety of materials, gathering all those documents, if you didn't have them handy already, could take you some time. I know we have a handful that are about ready to execute a contract, so we're getting there. But it's really contingent on each of the awardees and some of their records.

So what was the answer?

I can't give you a time because it varies. If they're already a vendor in the system, if they had completed records, if they have all the documentation and completed their reports. In some cases, they didn't finish their projects until June 30th. So they just finished, so they've got to do their reporting and then they'll be ready to get their settlement.

Okay. In regard to cycle three, I notice you're having training for fiscal agents, or what do you call them, fiscal sponsors. How is that? Let's see. Will you be able to establish a list of qualified fiscal agents so that community organizations that are looking, not organizations, but community groups that may not have the nonprofit status that they need the help of as fiscal agent, will you have a list of them at some point?

So we're encouraging anybody who is wanting to be a fiscal sponsor to attend that TA session that we have so that they can meet with some of the community members and the community members can come in and either leave their information with those organizations so that they can get a call back or find, partner up with somebody who wants to take on their project. As far as collecting a list, we're going to encourage the community member or the organization who is willing to fiscally sponsor to put out a call so that people can...

OK. So they have to do it on their own?

We are trying to help as much as we can.

And what is the deadline? One final question. What is the deadline for the filing of the applications?

August 15th would be the date that you have to complete an eligibility form.

And I think there is a pre-qualification first, right?

Yes.

OK. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Oh, no problem. I think in her presentation on July 28, they're holding a fiscal sponsor workshop. So I would encourage anyone who's looking, any community group, any artist who's looking for a fiscal sponsor to be able to apply for a grant under the EAAC cycle three to come out to that workshop. And you'll be able to meet some fiscal sponsors and see if it would be a good fit. As far as the list, that would be helpful, but I know that's time consuming and you guys already have a lot on your plate. So just encouraging the community to come out July 28th to the fiscal sponsorship workshop.

Commissioner Duran? Commissioner Duran? Thank you, Chair, and thank you for the presentation. I like the information, and having been on the website with a lot of the new changes, they look great, and I love seeing the information. I had two questions, one related to the webinar registration you mentioned earlier, so obviously we're encouraging folks to register beforehand, but if they find out the day of or they think they can't make it and then Turns out they can. Are they able to register that day and get the link? I mean, is that going to be possible? Yes.

You're able to register for the webinar up until the time of the webinar.

OK, perfect. And then my last question. For the PRAC subcommittee input within the next 30 days for the ARC review, our next meeting is August 17. Was that subcommittee going to be planned today or next meeting?

Yes. The subcommittee will be formed on the 17th, and then subcommittee meetings will be established there moving forward so that we can get that process going.

Got it. So the application won't be completed within the next 30 days? Yes. Okay. Gotcha. Thank you.

You're welcome. Commissioner Miller? Commissioner Kalia? No, not at this time. Thank you. Commissioner Kercharski. I have another question. When you say you have a handful of applicants ready to go out of the 100, is it about 25, 30, handful? No? Higher? Lower? Just trying to get a feel because I know this is like a, want to close this chapter and be able to focus on cycle three?

Yeah. So we have, I think staff have flagged maybe three to five so far that have completed all the steps that are ready to go. But I do want to express that as we got into this, we decided, we held some TA workshops and we found out that there's a lot more nuance to it. So we've held one-on-one workshops with almost every single applicant. And in that, we would find out maybe they completed part of their scope, so now they need both of those paths. So now we're talking two agreements so that they can get settled for what they've expended and then go forward with a grant agreement. So it's been a lot more complicated. But I will say that all of the cycle two have been very gracious in navigating the process. And though it's taking some time, they will be very well positioned for future business with the city because they're set up as vendors, they've navigated insurance questions they're getting very familiar with the process so it is just a handful but I do expect that now that we've met with them once they complete their their projects on the 30th of June many of them they're preparing the reports right now they're getting all the documents and so we expect kind of a tidal wave of it to come in and then start sending out the agreements

Besides getting set up as a vendor within the city of Fresno and other things that the city of Fresno may have implemented, is the process still pretty much the same?

Yeah, so if you look at the graphics, I don't know if we can pull those back up on the screen. Yeah, so on the graphic that's colored purple, there's some handouts in the back if anyone was interested. First, we get their contact information to determine who has authority to contract. So in many cases, the fiscal, well, in all cases, the fiscal sponsor is the authority there, right? So we need to know who is the appropriate contracting entity they submit different items to be set up as a vendor and that might look like writing a check to Purchasing giving them a blank check so they can get set up in that system and that takes time They also to get set up as a vendor the city has to actually call you to make sure that you're real so that we're not paying an imaginary figure there. For signers we need the authority docs and in some cases some of the nonprofits might have had changes to their board and so now they need to update their board information and tell us who the two signers are going to be and then we have to review the information that they provide. The city attorney also validates that that signing authority is legitimate so that they're able to sign the contract on behalf of the organization. They reviewed the terms of the agreement, and when we got to that part, some of them said, well, wait a minute, I'm not actually going to be able to be done by June 30th. And so we have to say, well, what is your progress to date? Please provide a report of what you've completed and what you've expended, and let's look at that together.

So it's been a lot of adjustments made?

It has within our parameters. Obviously, we need to honor the scope of work that was awarded. But in some cases, there were around 11 who didn't have an agreement with Arts Council. But they did have a scope that they got awarded for through PRAC. And so now we're navigating, well, what did you apply for? And what did you resubmit with your adjusted budget? So it's not as simple as everything's done and in a pile, and here you go, write a check. It's multiple steps, as you can see, that we've made as convenient as possible, and then working through that one-on-one. Again, we've had all of those meetings. We've tried to troubleshoot. I know we've had some issues with our SharePoint access because of cybersecurity, but we've sent the files through email so that they can get started. I think we're really committed to quality customer service, but it does take time.

and we we don't want to say oh well you weren't done by this so just too bad like that's that's never the attitude so we're working through it okay so last question when you stated there has been negotiations made are the awards being lessened by the amount that they were awarded or just negotiations to make sure that the project is being completed and so negotiations on timeline and things like that.

Yeah, it's more so timeline, so we're not changing the terms of the agreement, and none of the award amounts have been changed. But I will say that if an organization submits a report and they show that they did not fully expend funds, that might have an impact on the amount, because we can't pay you for money that wasn't actually expended on the project. But it's really more of like, fine-tuning the details to be precise about their particular situation. We are not extending months and months and months and months, but if they enter into a new grant agreement, they do get that full year. So there's a lot of nuance, and it's case by case. And when we jumped into it, we thought, OK, well, this will be either this option or this option. It wasn't. So we're going case by case to work through it and build those relationships. And hopefully, they're learning about the contracting process, and we're able to provide some stability to get us there.

Worst case scenario, if we have a grantee who spent less money than they were awarded, what happens to that money? Does it go back in the pot and roll over or just, Just transparency.

Yeah, so we would look back at the original terms of the agreements. And typically, that was supposed to be returned. But we have to look at each case and see those details. But in order to do that, what we need are their expenditure reports, their receipts, and their reports. And that takes time to put together. I know many of you have probably done that in your professional capacities. So we're not accepting, well, I'm 90% done. we're asking, okay, well, what does that look like? Here's an Excel sheet. Please detail and itemize. In some cases, they might identify expenses that they were like, oh, I almost forgot about that. But in other cases, if it's the reverse, then it's something to work through.

Okay. I just have some questions maybe some people from the community or the public wanted to ask just to get some clarification. Thank you, Shelby. Anyone else have any other questions in regards to this presentation? All right, we will now move on to, I closed my script. Hearing items, ID number 26-973, hearing to receive public input on expanded access to arts and culture grant programs. Will any member of the public like to make a comment regarding this item? You will have up to three minutes. William, is your card for this item or the next item? For the next one. OK. Thank you. Anybody online? I have no one online. Okay, we'll go ahead and close that one and move on to the next hearing. ID number 26-974. Hearing to receive public input on allocations related to Measure P updates to the Parks Master Plan and Cultural Arts Plan and Annual Parks Department Budget and Capital Improvement Plans. Would any member of the public like to make a comment regarding this item? You will have up to three minutes. And I have Dr. William Contenti.

Good evening.

So I would like to make a request, not for funding, but we would like to make a motion to meet with whoever is in charge of the funding and allocation for the Measure P funds. We are with Roeding Park Tennis Club. You already heard from Adam. It was with the community tennis at Roading Park, which they do free clinics two nights a week, Tuesdays and Sundays. And then the Measure P funds, we would like to see better facilities at Roading Park. We don't know who is on the committee that's making the decisions. Did a great job with the pickleball courts. But we need better improvement in facilities for safety, for cleanliness, for monitoring. And we'd love to have a Roading Park either tennis club board member or a Roading Park tennis club participant be on that meeting or at least be invited to the meetings. And we have come up with a written proposal, a two-page proposal, regarding some of the improvements and additions we'd like to see with the Measure P funds using the existing facilities that are there, not encroaching on any of the green space, which was the vision of Roding when they originally built the park. Anyway, we have a lot of ideas and we want... Help us help you. We have some ideas and we want to be included in the decision-making as to how all the Measure P funds are being allocated. 2024 fiscal was $75.2 million and looks like 46% is going to existing parks, which Roding Park has been around a long time. And this is for clean, safe tennis courts so that more kids can play Tuesdays and Sundays and the rest of our people that are there, especially playing at night until 10 o'clock. We want them to be safe. We want to have clean bathrooms, clean access to facilities. Anyway, we want to be included. So please tell us. Please tell us. Yep, one minute. No problem. Please tell us how we can be involved or who we need to talk to, who we need to email, what pigeon we need to send with a note. How do we get to one of the meetings? How do we get included in the planning and the idea process for the allocation of the Measure P funds? So if you have any questions for me, we'd like to be included. Roading Park Tennis Club, Camilla and our president, Jesse, would love to hear.

Thank you. The person you said that you'd like to come alongside, who do you want them to come alongside with the prac?

That's what we don't know. We don't know who's making the decisions, who decided to convert the first three tennis courts into pickleball and a futsal court. Yeah, there's facilities there for clean safe. We don't know that's why we want to help with the decisions Okay, and be involved. Okay. Thank you. Those were council motions made by the City Council Those City Council not not parks and rec not a measure P committee. I

No, it was on the dais by the city council during that fiscal year. That can all be found on the city's website in the finance department. We'd be happy to send you the budgets for those years along with the motions that were made.

Okay, city council budget.

I'll talk to you after this. Okay, sorry. No, I'll give you my card and we'll talk after this. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Commissioner Barraza.

Yes, I just wanted to point out that this commission plays a very important role in making recommendations. In fact, Measure P requires that the commission evaluate the proposals and make recommendations to the council. And the council, of course, has the final word. However, I wanted to request staff, if we could get a copy of the final actions of the council pertaining to our recommendations i know that you will always share that with us later on during the calendar year but i'm interested now this just happened last month so i would like to see of all the wonderful recommendations that this commission submitted to the council what was funded very simple question and i know that staff must must be involved in in that process all the time because you have the final budget that was approved. So I'd like to get that information. I know that I can go to the website, but I'd like to have something that relates specifically to our recommendations to the council.

And I think you're referring to the item we typically bring back to the commission, usually in September or August, going through the recommendations that the Pratt Commission made and then what was adopted in the final budget. So that will be coming forward to you, but in the meantime, On the city webpage under the finance department you'll see a reconciliation of all the motions that were made But we can definitely make sure that that meeting in August or September That that will be one of the slides that is presented to you all and that will be presented to us as we get ready to make our Correct other recommendations in November correct as we get into the October meetings where we meet twice a month and then November correct So that's gonna kind of lead us up to that discussion for those you're talking about three months from now.

I

No, I'm talking about either next month or the following month, depending on the agenda. But we'll start meeting in October and November twice a month to start making those future FY28 recommendations.

I know that I can do the research myself, but since you folks are working with that information, I thought it would be useful for this commission to get more details on what was the outcome. I know it's there, but can you help us with that?

There were a number of motions made. I'd have to go and honestly look through this right now to tell you all of the recommendations that the commission made and then what council made. So if you want, we can send you the presentation that I took to council on June, I think it was 8th or something like that. And then I can also send you the reconciliation. So our budget presentation will have the PRAC recommendations. And then we have the reconciliation document on the final budget option. So we can definitely provide that. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Aguirre, this gentleman that just spoke, is there any point person that we should direct them to initially to talk, just to sit down and talk and go over the suggestions?

I think if it's capital related, that's why we had this hearing every month on the agenda for folks to give their recommendations. And again, this fall, but they've reached out. I've met with Ms. Sutherland a few times. in the past, so they've reached out to me in the past. It just really depends on the nature of its capital. I think coming to you all to make those recommendations to City Council is appropriate and why we have that item on the agenda.

Okay, thank you.

Do we have any more questions in regards to this item?

I have a question. On the Roading Park capital improvements, I don't remember, I think it was like last meeting and the meeting before, that I believe were funded and they're coming. It was the bathrooms, right? Was there anything else that?

So the pickleball courts are under construction right now. We're wrapping that up and then the restrooms will be behind that shortly. Any other? Well, we had the tot lot improvement project where we put new equipment with softball new picnic benches throughout the park, some tree trimming, tree replanting, the Pine Grove picnic shelter replacement. You know, we had a fire damage there, so we replaced that. All in all, I want to say Rodin's received probably about $8 million worth of improvements in the last couple years, including court resurfacing of the tennis courts back in, I think it was 2024.

Yeah, this goes back to my comment I made a couple meetings ago. Like, how can we just do more of everything? It's like, so it's good to hear there's been 8 million, you know?

Yeah, and I think that kind of goes back, Commissioner, to the years where, you know, the resources weren't in the Parks Department. And now that they're available, whether it's through Measure P, ARPA, grants, we're now starting to kind of catch up on some of that deferred maintenance stuff. You know, whether it's roofs, Irrigation systems, you know all that stuff starting to catch up now. So unfortunately, yeah, we do get quite a bit of money from measure P Unfortunately with the number of years we had this deferred maintenance that we kept kicking off We're just trying to catch up to where we should have been 15 20 years ago

Exactly. So whatever we can do to support you all in getting more funding, more projects. It sounds like you've made quite the effort at Roeding Park already, but I'd be interested to see more as these folks are really asking for it. However that looks in your program of capital improvements across, you have to do the you have all the priorities you're juggling. So it might be good to hear from the Parks Department what they think could happen next and when in the balance of all that so we can make a reasonable recommendation for the City Council.

Right. And I think if you go back and you look at three, four years ago when Measure P first came around, There were a lot of projects that went through the design phase. They had money funded for design. There's a number of those projects that are left without construction funding. I don't want to leave these pretty plans on a wall. I don't want to leave the 90% plans in a cubbyhole. We want to continue building those. So we're still trying to get through that long list of items that have design dollars only and no construction. So if you look at a lot of our previous budgets, those are now starting to get completed, like the Pinedale restroom rehab. We had designs but no construction funding, so this year we got construction funding. Some tot lots, I believe it's Stallion, got the construction funding they needed. Rotary East got construction funding. So those are all moving forward now. We had those plans at 90% just sitting there until construction funding came along. So we are kind of completing what we started. I don't want to leave plans and projects unfinished, so we're working through that. So that has been a priority in addition to all the other deferred maintenance items that we have throughout our inventory. Okay.

Is it safe to say that with the highest needs definition going up to 50% now, there's more other parks included that need maintenance, that need repair within the highest needs neighborhood, as well as the projects that were waiting for construction or design phases?

So some of the other projects that were in the design phase were not high needs when we first started with the 33%. Exactly. Some have moved into that. Others still are not in there that we're completing. But yeah, I think it's fair. We went from the 33% that we were initially operating under, I think that was 24 park locations. So now with 50%, I believe we're up to 64 parks. So it did bring in some additional park assets like Rotary East, which was outside. Pinedale was outside the high needs neighborhood. and a number of other parks. So it's bringing those into play, which is allowing us to utilize some of those dollars, not just on the Category 1, which is existing, but also Category 2, expanding our footprint, expanding our green space. So purchasing land that's in high needs and building, designing and building. So we're able to do a lot more of that now with us moving that threshold up to the 50%.

In a perfect world, it would be nice to see land bought, park design going. It would be perfect to see it all done and not done in phases, like once the design is in conception, just to go ahead and build it all out and then move on. But we had this conversation before. It seems like that would be... the better thing to do because it seems like we'll get a lot more accomplished instead of having parks just sitting in design phases or construction phases waiting to be funded. If we just allocate the funding to build it, design it, construction it out, build it out from the beginning to the end, we'll know what dollar amount we're looking at.

Right. So anything new, any new acquisition is following that path there where we would acquire the land design with the intent to build. So all continuous, not this piecemeal where it's real choppy, I think is where you're kind of going. So the goal would be to acquire design and build all in the same, the same kind of plan and process.

Yeah, our parks matter to our community. This parks department has been facing cuts because of the budget, because of us way back in what, 2008 maybe. So with Measure P coming along, it's supposed to supplement it, but it seems like sometimes we're supplanting it just to get things done. And that was never the intention of Measure P. So I hope that that concept materializes to where we can see the parks being, land being bought, parks being built from the beginning to the end, and then we move on to the next park. And then that will also help us bring up our park score, right? So just throwing it out there.

Yeah, and I think, as I mentioned, the deferred maintenance from the existing parks, we're all competing for category one, which is the 46%, which sounds like a lot, but then you split that into two categories. citywide and high needs. And it's not as much as you think. It doesn't go as far as it used to anymore. Exactly. When a splash pad runs you $1.6 million, it's a lot of money. So it's using the money wisely and leveraging it with other grants. And we've been able to do that utilizing ARPA funding, Measure P, as well as Prop 68 as well. So trying to get as much as we can out of Measure P rather than just relying on just Measure P. really expanding that so we can leverage those dollars the best we can.

Yeah, and also when we're putting amenities in the park, reaching out to the community, making sure that's the type of amenity they want in the park, not what we feel it needs to bring beautification or bring people out. What do they want? What are they actually using? What do they need in the park? What's missing, right? I think that would go a long way as well.

Sorry, I know you're probably tired of me talking, but we just had one last week at El Dorado Park. We had a community meeting there. We had about, I'm going to guess, 50. Commissioner Durand, you were there. Is that about accurate? And for about an hour and a half, we went through with the different boards with magnetic kind of features and let them pick what does your park look like. And I stress your park because it is their park. How do you want to use this park? How are you going to activate that space? Is it a community garden? Is it... a splash pad? Is it basketball courts, resurfacing basketball courts? Is it a new tot lot? And just hearing and the ideas flow, it really is something that I probably wouldn't have thought of. But that community definitely wanted that. And we show it when we produce that survey. It's going to show x amount of people picked this amenity. And then at that point, we'll take it back to the community based on the data. This is what we heard from you all. And those who couldn't make it, we have an online survey for them to get their input in there as well. That's the type of community outreach that we're performing. I don't know before I came in if that was done or not. And I think that's why a lot of these parts have been successful. I look at Trolley Park on Van Ness and Weldon there. That park is packed. It's half an acre. But yet the community told us exactly what they wanted. And they're using that park daily. They're using it at night, taking food from the nearby restaurants, walking over. The school's using it. So I think we hit a home run with that one, as well as some of the others that we're getting ready to open up as well.

And that's good to know. Speaking of utilizing parks, I rode by because we heard from community when we were building the skate park at Romaine that they wanted a BMX park in West Fresno. So the site chosen for the BMX park was Mariella Brown. I drove by that park. This week, that community center, I couldn't believe all the trees that were planted are almost gone. The grass was yellow and the BMX park, the skates and the ramps and stuff were not being taken care of. But this is what community voice that they wanted. This is what the BMX community said that they wanted. Even with Romaine Skate Park, this is what the skater community said they wanted. So we have to make sure when we go into partnerships or we put things in place that community wanted, that we're taking care of them. Because that's an eyesore, and that's the only park out there in that area for those residents with a community center. So we have to make sure that it's beautiful and it's taken care of. So I would appreciate that we get some water on that grass there so we don't have a fire out there.

We are working on the irrigation. Those trees will be replanted this fall. Thank you.

Madam Chair, when is the next Parks Master Plan update?

So I believe it's year 2028 or 2029. The last one was adopted in 2018. So we do have money in our budget to start that process. So in addition to the Cultural Arts Plan, we also put money in the budget for a Parks Master Plan in the upcoming years.

And then one last question. When will we be able to visit the Southeast Fresno Park to see how it's coming along?

I was actually going to do you one better. I was going to offer up that park and a couple others that are under construction. So similar to what we did a few years back, we have our parks fans. Obviously, we can't take more than three commissioners, but want to offer up kind of a field trip to see what's under construction that has Measure P funding that you all have had a hand in approving. and show you the progress and what's coming along. That being one of them. Dolores Worth, which is about open. Milburn and Herndon, the Overlook there. So a number of projects. I probably don't have enough time to take you through everything, but some that I do want to highlight with the commission as it cools down a little bit, hopefully.

When is that going to happen?

As soon as we can send the email out to you all and coordinate dates and times. I know you all have jobs, or I think most of you. have eight to fives, but we'll figure out what time works for you all. OK.

Thank you. I see some youth before I close out the meeting, and I just wanted to say welcome. Can you guys come up? See you all in your uniforms. Welcome. Hi. Can you introduce yourselves?

I'm Logan Rivas. And I'm James Ellis.

And you guys are with?

Troop 95.

Okay. And you guys are here observing?

For a merit badge? Yeah, for the citizenship and the community badge.

Awesome. Well, I just wanted to acknowledge you guys and tell you thank you for coming out. It's good to see smiling faces and youth in attendance. So thank you very much. And anything you want us to know about what you're doing and the organization that you're with? I know I'm putting you on the phone. You guys can come up if you want to just give us a little brief or you guys are nervous.

We probably don't want to go into a full moon presentation since it wasn't agenda.

No, it's not so much as a full moon presentation. I just want to acknowledge who they are because they're here trying to volunteer in their time to get a medal. And I just want to honor the youth.

Yeah, I'm just worried about .

I understand. Well, thank you. I just wanted to say thank you for coming, and I admire what you're doing, and keep up the good work. Thank you. Thank you.

I had a quick question. Are they here for a school project or part of their assignment to learn about government?

We're here for Boy Scouts. It's not anything school related. It's a separate thing.

OK. Yeah. All right. But OK. Thank you.

Thank you. All right. It is 633. Like I always do, I would like to close out the meeting in the memory of Dr. Frenzy.

OK.

I can't hear. I'm deaf all of a sudden. No, I didn't. I closed it. No, I did both of them.

Madam Chair, officially we did not close public comment for the last one. We kind of just jumped into discussion.

Well, I now close public comment. I think we all asked the questions on the commission that we wanted to. And it is 634. And I would like to adjourn the meeting in the memory of Dr. Francine Naputa, like I always do. Thank you for coming out and enjoy your evening.

Thank you. Thank you.