CALL TO ORDER: Chair Rodrigues called the meeting to order at 7:09 p.m. He requested that we all keep our servicemen and servicewomen in mind and in our prayers this holiday season.

ROLL CALL: Present were Chair Ernie Rodrigues, Vice Chair Blythe Lind, Commissioners Lanny Brown, Eileen Hofstadt and Alyssa Madden. Staff members present were: Craig Bronzan, Director; Poldina Scherff, Recreation Manager; Roger Stromgren, Park/Maintenance Manager; Barry Margesson, Park/Maintenance Supervisor; Sue Barry, Recreation Supervisor; Tammy Homan, Management Analyst; Edie Keller, Administrative Supervisor and Linda Stadlbauer, Administrative Assistant II.

PRESENTATION(S): NONE

CITIZEN COMMENTS: NONE

CONSENT CALENDAR:
1. Approve minutes of regular meeting of November 16, 2010
2. Accept Recreation Manager project status report. (P. Scherff)
3. Accept Parks Division monthly report. (B. Margesson)
4. Accept Landscape Division monthly report. (A. Wanden)
5. Accept the Activity Code of Conduct for the Brentwood Senior Activity Center. (O. Alvarez)
 Motion to approve items 1-5 of Consent Calendar.
Motioned: Hofstadt - with modification to Item #1 Minutes of November 18, 2010; in the Citizen Comments section. Modify the guest speaker Sash Migay’s statement of “ages 5 and under to 74” to “under 5 to 74” and paraphrase Traci Tovani’s statement of “adult soccer is still a level that residents are interested in” to “adult soccer is still an activity that residents are interested in”.
Motion: Brown
Second: Lind
Ayes: 5
Noes: 0

SCHEDULED MATTERS:

7. ACTION ITEM: Approve staff recommendation related to use of City facilities.(C. Bronzan)
Mr. Bronzan gave a PowerPoint presentation reviewing the Field User Groups for Use of City Facilities. The information included the current draft process, recommendations from the Ad Hoc Committee of October 28, 2010, definition of a Recreational League, City of Brentwood’s staff recommendations, and the proposed priority of use draft process. The most notable change is the proposed priority of use for the Recreational Leagues/related tournaments for East Diablo Youth Soccer League and Brentwood Pony Baseball League in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

Guest speakers then came forward; the consensus was that they all support the staff recommendations and appreciate the effort that has gone into the policy making process.

In addition, Sash Migay, president of East Diablo Youth Soccer League (EDYSL) is in support of a weighted draft for their competitive teams where they would get a large portion of the first draft choices due to the size of their organization.

Mike Rainsford with AJAX United East Bay (a youth soccer organization), had several concerns with the proposed draft. They are concerned that there might not be consequences for EDYSL or PONY if they use the reserved fields for competitive sport activities instead of the intended recreational use. They agree that all competitive leagues should be treated the same. They are satisfied with the plan to at least get some of the field usage for their organization, and are not in favor of a weighted draft.

Paul Slay, with PONY, informed the Commission that although their organization is very similar to Little League, it differs in that Little League has a major and a minor league whereas PONY has a BLAST league for the older children. In BLAST, the reason that the 50% of the teams are from out of Brentwood is because there are not enough members at that age level from within the City. PONY does not agree that BLAST should be splintered off as a competitive league vs. a recreational league. He is in favor of having a weighted draft.

Jason Saude, of the Delta Dawgs, a competitive traveling softball team, agreed with the definition of recreational leagues, and therefore disagreed that BLAST should be considered recreational. He pointed out that they are a traveling team, same as the Dawgs, and that they do cut players from the team and should not be included in a weighted draft, should that be the direction we are going.

Brian Daubin, of the NorCal Titans, agree with staff’s definition of a recreational league, and that recreational leagues should have a priority in field usage. They feel that that the weighted draft policy would not be good, as it encourages an organization to over-sign a great quantity of players and therefore sacrifice the quality of the program. If organizations that have recreational and competitive components, such as PONY and EDYSL, are given a priority in a weighted draft for field use, they will have an advantage in that the lines between competitive and recreational are not clear when it comes to actual field use, and it is not feasible for staff to monitor the actual groups that are on the fields 100% of the time. Also, the Titans have played against BLAST, and that league is very competitive, not recreational.

Abel Ordaz, manager of the Delta Diamondbacks, agrees with staff’s definition of recreational league but feels that competitive and recreational leagues both have value to the community and that they should have equal weight when it comes to the draft process.

Chair Rodrigues then asked the Commission for comments and questions. These included;
a consensus that they support the staff recommendations and also appreciate the effort that has gone into the policy making process.

The Commission feels that it is the combined responsibility of sports organizations and the City to work cooperatively towards providing quality recreation programs for residents.

Commissioner Hofstadt felt that we should not select one organization over another as better, or larger, or older. These measures would exclude emerging new interests and restrict participant options, and historically other communities have tried this form of weighted draft only to find that some groups have falsely stacked participant numbers in order to have a greater draft priority. She also expressed the thought that, although a draft is the only fair way to distribute limited space, if we choose to use a weighted draft with organizations such as PONY and EDYSL, which have combined recreation and competitive divisions, it would not be feasible to police recreational use vs. competitive use on the fields. Therefore, we will have to rely on the groups to be honest in their use of field space, and any complaints of misuse will be forwarded to the organizations’ respective boards.

Per Craig Bronzan, wording of the MOU would include verbiage regarding misrepresentation of the organization by registering recreation teams when competitive is actually being played and that it would be grounds for disbanding the MOU.

Commissioner Brown inquired about whether other groups would receive field space time if PONY and EDYSL are given priority. Craig Bronzan responded that other organizations would receive time, but that it is our intention to give PONY and EDYSL priority. Other teams would get time, perhaps just not their preferred time. He was also concerned about the organizations drafting for recreational team field time, but actually putting competitive leagues on the fields instead. One of his questions was; if Little League came to town, where would they fit into the new priority list? Craig Bronzan responded at Level 5. All other organizations, such as the Titans and Dawgs and Diamondbacks, would still be able to rent fields using the draft, but would not have the priority of use that a MOU would give to PONY and EDYSL.

Vice Chair Lind felt that we might use the weighted draft for non-recreational leagues by taking into consideration how many recreational teams they have. She felt that new programs would always have the potential to grow and therefore be able to have more choices the following year. One idea might be to base picks on the number of teams as a group.

Commissioner Madden stated that there is justification for PONY and EDYSL’s recreational leagues to receive priority based on the number of children served, but that the competitive leagues/travel teams associated with both groups should not, as they are very competitive and comparable to other competitive organizations who have traveling teams. She is not in favor of the weighted draft.

Chair Rodrigues felt that hi-comp is important because it stems from the next level after recreational, but believes that recreational programs should still come first in Brentwood. He believes that with open communication and cooperation, we will be able to make it work and supports the staff recommendation.

All agree that recreational programs are our priority.

The Commission thanked the audience and speakers for their input. This item, if approved, will be brought to the City Council for approval on January 11, 2011.

 Motion to approve item 7 of Scheduled Matters, with clarification about the exact definition of “weighted draft” and research on whether or not it works for other cities.
Motioned: Lind
Second: Madden
Ayes: 5
Noes: 0

6. DISCUSSION ITEM: Joe Seavey with GameTime will be doing a presentation on Special Needs Play Equipment (B. Margesson/J. Seavey)
Joe Seavey gave a PowerPoint presentation that emphasized the company’s concept and philosophy: “EveryBODY Plays: Universally Designed Playgrounds” and their vision “7 Principles of Inclusive Design” that are shared by GameTime and their partners; Utah State, SISKIN and Boundless. He commended Barry Margesson and the City of Brentwood for having beautiful parks and, having met the minimum standards for special needs, but reminded the audience that this really does not adequately serve the disabled population. He handed out a packet with more play equipment details, and encouraged staff and Commissioners to review it. Mr. Seavey presented some of the company’s innovative designs which interweave universally accessible play equipment, natural and synthetic landscaping, poured in place rubberized surfacing and berms that serve as natural ramps. In presenting some details about recent installations/renovations of play areas in our locale, he informed the Commission that Concord had wanted to bring in a destination playground for special needs children, but did not have adequate funds. GameTime, in cooperation with Boundless, was able to acquire financial assistance from CBS Corporation in the form of third party corporate funding, and were able to build the play area. The City of Brentwood, if they chose GameTime, would also be considered for such funding assistance through Boundless. The Commission was very impressed with the company’s “7 Principles of Inclusive Design” which translated the Adult Focused ideas into Child Focused ideas.

STAFF COMMENTS
Staff thanked Chair Rodrigues and Commissioner Brown for all their time, hard work and dedication to the Commission over the years and wished them well in all of their future endeavors. They will be rotating out of the Commission at the January 11, 2011 City Council meeting. Staff hopes to see them in the audience at future Park and Recreation Commission meetings, as their experience and input is invaluable. Staff also wished everyone Happy Holidays.

COMMISSIONER COMMENTS
Commissioners also thanked Chair Rodrigues and Commissioner Brown for bringing their vast experience and knowledge to the Commission, and also hope to see them at future meetings.

Commissioner Brown thanked the Commission for the time together, and that 15 years is a great experience and it’s good to look around town and see all the good that we have done together.

Chair Rodrigues thanked the Commission and staff for so many good years working together, and for their friendship and support. He looks forward to the new challenge of working on the Senior Club board in the new year.

REQUEST FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS:

ADJOURNMENT
Meeting was adjourned at 9:08 p.m.