[0:00] in progress.

[0:07] » All right, quite focus without my glasses. I think we can call this

[0:12] meeting to order. Uh shall we have the roll call?

[0:16] » Yes.

[0:19] » Commissioner Chan >> here.

[0:21] » Commissioner Chang Frank >> here.

[0:23] » Commissioner Logan >> here.

[0:26] » Commissioner Martin >> here.

[0:28] » Commissioner Trinkle >> here. and Chair Abbott

[0:31] » here. >> As of right now, Commissioner Kent is

[0:35] absent. Um, and we do have our new commissioner starting tonight,

[0:40] Commissioner Jennifer Logan. >> Welcome.

[0:43] » Welcome. >> Uh, did Commissioner Kent say he

[0:46] wouldn't be here or he may show up or we don't know.

[0:48] » Um, I didn't get a message saying that he was not.

[0:50] » We didn't send out a [laughter] We'll see. We have certainly have a quorum

[0:55] though. That one's unmarked. Okay. I will read the uh land acknowledgement.

[1:02] Uh the city of Albany recognizes that we occupy the land originally protected by

[1:06] the Confederated villages of Lejon. We acknowledge the genocide that took place

[1:10] on these lands and must make strides to repay the moral debt that is owed to

[1:14] this indigenous people, specifically the Aloney tribe. We thank them for their

[1:18] contributions which have transformed our community will continue to bring forth

[1:22] growth and unity. City of Albany commits to sustaining ongoing relationships with

[1:26] the tribe and together build a better future for all that now make this their

[1:30] home. >> There we go.

[1:32] » And we are going to welcome Commissioner Kent.

[1:36] » Excellent.

[1:39] We'll give him a moment to uh get settled.

[1:43] » Actually um while he's getting settled, I just wanted to give an update that um

[1:48] we are going to bump uh item 4.4-2 4-2 from the agenda. Um, our Dena, our

[1:57] community development director who is presenting this is sick and I think um I

[2:02] think it's a good project for her to introduce herself to the commission and

[2:06] so um uh we're going to push it a month. >> Fair enough. Thank you.

[2:11] » Sure.

[2:16] » And let's get the minutes roll of the minutes from the last meeting. Any

[2:28] » I move to approve the minutes. >> All right. Have a second.

[2:34] » You may want to view them or >> uh

[2:36] » you have a comment or >> No, that just our newest commissioners

[2:39] probably abstain from this one because wasn't here.

[2:42] » But otherwise, um I I second. >> Okay. Very good.

[2:47] » Commissioner Chang. >> Yes.

[2:50] » Commissioner Chang Frank. Yes. >> Commissioner Ch Kent.

[2:54] » Yes. >> Commissioner Logan's going to abstain.

[2:57] Commissioner Martin. >> Yes.

[2:59] » Commissioner Trinkle. >> Yes.

[3:00] » And Chair Abbott. >> Yes. All right. Very good.

[3:03] » Motion passes. >> Motion passes.

[3:05] » All right. Public comment. I see no public in the room. How about virtual

[3:10] people?

[3:16] » Uh, no hands raised online. >> Okay. Very good.

[3:21] another few seconds. All right, moving on then. Presentations. I believe

[3:28] one is Prop 68 measure M funded projects update.

[3:43] Jamar to >> Yeah,

[3:46] I hope you have it. [laughter]

[3:52] welloiled machine.

[4:01] » Sorry. Trying to get it to the

[4:11] There we go.

[4:15] All right. All right. All right. Good evening,

[4:18] commissioners. My name is Andre Sterling, project manager at public

[4:21] works. Here to give you an update on our Prop 68 projects uh for this year. So,

[4:27] we can go to the next slide. So, we're going to discuss specifically uh Pier

[4:32] Street Park uh the access and landscape improvements project, Jules Terrace Park

[4:37] shade improvements and dog amenities, as well as a brief update on the Dartmouth

[4:42] tot lot uh seating element upgrade. So, next slide, please.

[4:48] So, we just wanted to highlight uh one project that was completed since our

[4:51] last uh update uh with pros commission. Uh that's the path lighting project at

[4:56] Memorial Park. That those were the five new lamp posts that were installed

[5:00] there. Uh completed in August of 2025. So, it gives obviously more security

[5:07] there at night at the park as well as a warm color temperature uh lighting

[5:13] there. All right, next slide, please.

[5:18] So, our first update is on uh Pier Street Park access, landscape, and shade

[5:24] improvements, and it's all based on the recommendations uh from the pros master

[5:28] plan. So, next slide, just as a review of the project scope

[5:33] since it's been a while uh since our last update. So, new entry stairs, two

[5:38] sets of stairs with handrails. Uh and that's made from repurposed eucalyptus

[5:43] tree lumber from Albany Hill. uh new landscape boulders, a native plant

[5:48] material and trees uh that will be planted uh new asphalt path with a

[5:54] ballard new shade structure for uh the play

[5:58] equipment.

[6:01] Here's our uh conceptual layout. So, it's going to be done in two phases. So

[6:06] phase one would be the access improvements and as we said with the

[6:10] with the scope uh a new asphalt path that's in the north side of the park uh

[6:16] there we're going to relocate some of the existing boulders and also install

[6:20] new landscape boulders uh to direct traffic to the new entry uh stairways

[6:25] there. And then uh of course uh the plant

[6:29] material with the trees and also installing uh phase two the new shade

[6:35] structure for the play equipment. All right, next slide please. That's a

[6:40] rendering there of the south uh side of the park uh with newly planted trees,

[6:46] new landscape boulders, the new lumber uh staircase there.

[6:51] Then next slide. And then the north side with the asphalt

[6:56] path uh another lumber entry stairway and then new trees planted near the

[7:03] benches as well as throughout the hillside.

[7:08] All right, next slide. So for phase two, we're looking at three options for a

[7:13] shade structure uh cantal lever style as well as a shade cell. And the

[7:19] considerations uh for this decision will be uh based on which one is more cost-

[7:24] effective but more importantly which one provides the best coverage for the play

[7:29] equipment. Uh there will be a shade study performed uh to help us make that

[7:34] decision as well. Uh since these are somewhat substantial structures, they're

[7:38] going to be based on uh engineering plans.

[7:44] All right, next slide please. Here's our our tentative schedule. So, we're we're

[7:50] in the uh the bid phase at the moment and hoping to award the contract the end

[7:54] of this month uh and start construction in March and completed uh in about a

[8:01] couple months. All right, our next slide.

[8:11] So, our next project um in the queue would be uh the Jules Terrace Park, a

[8:16] shade improvements uh and dog amenities project. So,

[8:20] looking to install shade elements uh there in the picnic area uh which could

[8:25] be a grove of trees or material furnishing. And then the dog amenities

[8:31] upgrade would be installing a new signage indicating dog and dog owner

[8:35] etiquette as well as developing a system that defines the dog play area that's

[8:40] there. All based on recommendations from the

[8:43] pros master plan. All right, next slide please.

[8:49] So the preliminary scope involves uh obviously the picnic area and just

[8:54] planting additional trees there uh to provide shading for the the picnic

[8:58] tables and then at the the southwest corner of the park

[9:03] uh which is usually used for dog play or for like a dog play area there. Uh there

[9:09] could be a possibility of uh installing a fence [snorts] there to basically make

[9:14] it an official dog run uh for the dogs there.

[9:19] Uh next slide please.

[9:23] Then our tenative schedule uh again would be uh design completing

[9:29] the design phase uh sending the project out for bid in March awarding the

[9:34] contract shortly after in May and then starting construction in June and since

[9:39] it's a smaller uh project it should be completed within a month.

[9:43] All right, next slide please. All right, just a brief update on the

[9:47] Dartmouth tot lot of the seating element uh upgrade. So basically to replace

[9:53] uncomfortable seating elements that are the existing uh seating that's there and

[9:58] prioritizing community and comfort. So the considerations for that again uh the

[10:03] most cost-effective option but also considering comfort and uh most

[10:08] importantly safety for the users of the tot lot and looking at also what best

[10:14] fits the space as far as size dimension but also aesthetics of the tot lot

[10:21] and that concludes the presentation. >> All right, thank you very much. Bring it

[10:26] to the commission for questions. You have any questions?

[10:31] the dates. Um yeah, I had a few. One was for Pier Street Park. Um

[10:39] the um plantings, you said there's going to be drought tolerant plants or native

[10:45] plants or something. >> Native plants. Yes. And uh I know the

[10:48] first round when the park was first built and commissioned the bunch of the

[10:54] trees that were planted died and it was um John Hawkage the city urban forester

[11:00] said there was it was freeway soil. It was just bad news and um maybe there

[11:06] wasn't a sufficient um watering or something irrigation. Do you know if

[11:12] there's any plans for um doing a different strategy that will hopefully

[11:17] lead to better success on the landscaping?

[11:20] » Yeah, that's a good question. I know that we were discussing we do have some

[11:24] quick couplers that are there and we're not going to add irrigation at this

[11:28] point. That's not in this project scope, but we are discussing another solution

[11:32] for at least watering. But the soil, I know we we've done amendments in the

[11:36] past and we can probably discuss that looking into improving the soil quality,

[11:41] but we're not sure how much that's going to improve.

[11:43] » I can I can maybe jump in since I was sort of involved in the sort of the

[11:48] initial construction as well as the the the tree issues. Um some of the trees

[11:52] are doing okay and other ones um it is a difficult environment because it is a

[11:58] hard pack soil plus there's lots of um lots of debris in it. So

[12:03] um once a tree takes hold like it it tends to stay it tends to go but there

[12:09] we have replaced a lot of the trees over time. So that's something we'll find one

[12:13] that works and um we are trying to water them more on a more regular type basis

[12:19] but without an irrigation system. Um in terms of amending the soil um we we did

[12:25] for lots of years and it's it's it's really just a difficult a difficult

[12:30] location. So, I'm I think there are some plants out there that are doing well and

[12:34] we'll try to um use those, but um I think that's going to be a ongoing

[12:39] challenge. Um right now it looks great. We were out there today with Calrans,

[12:43] but it uh uh the native plants, you know, um

[12:49] once uh without an irrigation system, they they kind of go brown pretty

[12:53] quickly. >> Okay. Um it says the bid phase was in

[12:59] December with breaking ground in March. Um for the shade options you showed us

[13:04] three. Uh how is that decision going to be made? When is that decision going to

[13:10] be made and who will be making that decision?

[13:15] » Well, we're we can look to your recommendation as well for input on that

[13:19] decision. uh based on the cost u because we do

[13:23] have uh a limit to the grant funding as well as the matching funds. Um but we're

[13:29] working with a contractor that's providing a shade study that's basically

[13:34] going to give us the best look at the best uh shade coverage for the area. So

[13:38] with those factors um obviously aesthetics, we don't want

[13:42] something that's going to be an >> eyesore.

[13:44] » Um >> but the bids went out in December. Does

[13:46] that mean the plan somewhat people were bidding on it with an unfinished plan or

[13:50] » I'm sorry >> you said the bids went out in December.

[13:53] » Yes. >> Does that mean the

[13:56] request for um proposals or whatever the the bids um does that mean that they

[14:03] didn't know which option it was going to be, but they're still going to come up

[14:07] with a dollar figure or how does that work?

[14:09] » Good question. So we sent out we sent out the RFP and basically with a

[14:14] recommendation uh for a shade structure but uh they can present an as equal um

[14:19] option and looking at those um again it's going to be a slightly uh varying

[14:25] cost in each one. Um but each contractor does know uh that's going to whoever's

[14:31] going to submit the bid they know that is we will accept an as equal to

[14:35] whatever recommendations that we sent out. Right. Um and for Jules Terrace

[14:40] Park, that area where you've um said might be fenced off, uh who's going to

[14:47] make the decision as to whether or not it's fenced off and um you have a sense

[14:51] of roughly how big that area is compared to um the Memorial Park, dog park?

[14:58] » Yeah. So, we're going to still we're still developing the project scope and

[15:02] once we have a more finalized scope, we can come back to pros and present uh

[15:06] present that to you basically to make that decision. Um, that's an option. Um,

[15:12] I don't know how much public polling was was done involving or in the past with

[15:16] the park, but that's just an option. We're not saying that's the final

[15:20] decision. Um,

[15:24] and then for the shade for the picnic area, said it could be plants or it

[15:28] could be like the awnings or something. Um, do you know who decides that and and

[15:33] how that works? >> Yeah, that could also be presented to

[15:36] pros for recommendation, but there were trees planted there previously that were

[15:41] removed. So, it would make sense to keep it a more natural area and just replant

[15:47] some trees, native trees there. We're going to work closely with John Oidge as

[15:50] well with that. >> Okay. Thanks.

[15:55] » Okay. Other questions?

[16:04] » Sure.

[16:17] » Thank you. So, the boulders up top are to keep people from driving cars on or

[16:22] keeping control access. >> Yeah, that's for vehicle traffic. Um,

[16:29] it's going to be a six foot wide path with a ballard uh in the middle.

[16:35] So, similar to the path that's there. I know there's two ballards there,

[16:38] existing ballards on the other path.

[16:51] that's not included in this project scope.

[16:54] » So I can jump in on that. The path the future path will connect into this um a

[17:00] little further to the north. I think

[17:05] » well it's going to connect to the south and then come connect to it's it's

[17:08] connecting on both sides.

[17:24] But more serious

[17:28] test.

[17:33] » Um, we haven't done soils tests. Um, I >> Oh, yeah. Yeah, my speaker was off.

[17:40] There we go. people can hear me. Okay. Um

[17:43] » we haven't done soil stress. That might be something we could do. But it is heav

[17:48] so it's it is the old um highway offramps.

[17:51] » Yeah. So I know other places like that where it's just almost impossible to

[17:54] grow and some arborists they just don't even try. They walk away from it that

[17:59] it's our park. So we have to can't walk away from it. It's not an option.

[18:04] » Can we augur down you know and just drill a big hole through it? get some

[18:08] get the roots down deeper or is it just like 20 feet and

[18:14] » we could we at this point we could try almost anything and it's what like what

[18:18] what we're doing is marginally effective like there's there's some trees that are

[18:22] doing okay and and and others that just no matter how many times we replant them

[18:29] they were kind of getting the same thing. So I'm I'm open to almost

[18:33] anything and I'm sure John would be too. I don't have any solutions on

[18:37] » the trees that are doing well. Are they specific varieties or just whatever that

[18:41] right place and right >> right right place right time. I think I

[18:45] think one of the struggles you know there um so we did amend it um several

[18:50] times and every time we would try to rotoill just more pipe and rock and

[18:54] broken up everything that chunks of concrete from the the highway

[19:00] keep So so it's it's it's not great material.

[19:04] » Yeah. Right.

[19:07] Okay. Um, >> we could I like the idea of the augur. I

[19:10] can talk to John about that. >> Yeah. I mean, often we if we're working

[19:15] in industrial sites, you dig dig a hole and they fill it with water and see how

[19:18] long it takes to if it takes two days and water's still sitting there, then

[19:22] it's a drainage problem. Then you augur and

[19:26] » Okay. >> Yeah, maybe be that. It's also obviously

[19:31] bad soil. Not that it's not like it's going to get

[19:35] down 18 inches and find good stuff, right?

[19:41] » Okay. Other uh other questions? >> Yeah, I just had a question. Can you

[19:46] show the um Jules Terrace Park diagram and go towards that? You we talked a

[19:52] little bit about that dog run. That's what um Commissioner Martin was asking

[19:57] about the fenced off area. Is that right? Is it okay?

[20:00] » So I don't I mean um maybe I'm not recalling correctly. Was

[20:06] that in the master plan as Okay. >> Okay. As recommendation. Okay. So I

[20:14] don't remember talking discussing that in depth at any

[20:17] point here on this commission. So just warning warning. I feel like that might

[20:23] be a big issue potentially for neighbors. And not to say that overall

[20:28] the city may totally support it, but it's just something we should be um we

[20:32] should make sure that the process is good and that there's a lot of public

[20:36] involvement and a lot of notification. Um

[20:40] not to say either way, but just to make sure everybody who has a stake in it

[20:45] feels like they've they've been heard. >> Definitely. I and I would just say that

[20:51] especially if we're going to put a fence up, even if just signage, we should

[20:55] probably be sure and reach out, but but if there's going to be a fence,

[20:59] » I guess this is no longer a question. All right. Uh any other questions? We

[21:04] jumped right to discussion. >> I think questions I had have been asked.

[21:08] So, uh go to public, open up for public comment. Uh

[21:14] » no hands raised. >> No hands raised. Okay. Very good. Now we

[21:19] can have our discussion. I mean, you're not really looking for anything from us

[21:23] right now, right? You're just kind of an update. You don't need

[21:25] » Just an update. Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. Um

[21:30] » um I mean there is no irrigation, no plans to have irrigation or did you try

[21:35] to? No, there's no plans. And I guess part

[21:40] of that would be I know we did discuss briefly that we have existing uh quick

[21:46] couplers there and just developing either a schedule um in that hillside

[21:51] there's yeah there's no irrigation that's actually for the field area. So

[21:56] » that could be completed under another project in the future but not with this.

[22:01] I think one of the the issues in the development of the project was um not

[22:06] being irrigated because this was done in the midst of a drought and the idea was

[22:11] to have drought tolerant plants and not have an established irrigation system.

[22:16] Um and um did take the opportunity to put some

[22:21] quick couplers in there to handwater things, but it's not a developed

[22:24] irrigation system. And it's and it's based off the um water service serving

[22:30] the uh the restroom facility. So it really doesn't have, you know, the

[22:34] capacity that you would have to for a developed system.

[22:38] » It's not enough. >> We wouldn't run it off the bathroom.

[22:42] » Yeah. Um and and I was surprised at how much irrigation I think was something

[22:47] like $80,000 to establish a new irrigation a new irrigation line.

[22:53] Um there has been talk with East Bay Mud bringing recycled water to the area but

[22:57] I think that's >> cheaper. It's not cheap and it's I think

[23:02] a long way away >> making its way right is into Berkeley

[23:06] yet or >> yeah I mean I think I think we've had

[23:10] engagement with East Bay at different times and I think they've run into

[23:14] struggles with how to get alignment there and and this is probably as far

[23:18] away you know it's it's not a huge demand and it's probably the most

[23:23] expensive to serve.

[23:29] And this also seems like an opportunity to engage the community of friends of

[23:33] Thompson Pier Street Park whole park was result of community involvement might be

[23:39] bras ever that

[23:45] even if it's even a bucket by the >> true

[23:51] um any other comment

[23:55] Other than >> Yeah. Yeah.

[23:58] » I did want to [clears throat] second uh Commissioner Chang Frank's comment about

[24:02] the noticing for the dog run. Um so because she and Commissioner Abbott and

[24:10] I were on the subcommittee for the um Memorial Park dog park and that was it

[24:18] was a huge elaborate affair. Um this I necessarily anticipate it being as as

[24:23] much of a thing, but it should be duly noticed and um we have opportunities for

[24:29] public input. >> And one might think that because it's a

[24:32] de facto dog park now it wouldn't matter, but one would be wrong.

[24:35] [laughter] That's why I'm saying even if the signs

[24:39] go up, you need to reach out. >> Fair enough. All right. [laughter]

[24:43] Little little gunshy here. All right. [snorts] Uh any other comments?

[24:49] » All right. Well, thank you very much. Yeah, I I'm I think we're all excited to

[24:53] see uh >> Yeah, great to see all the progress,

[24:56] too. >> It's really fun to see these actually

[24:57] happening. >> Thank you.

[24:58] » We know you're making it all possible. >> I think I have I think I have um I can

[25:03] make it work. >> Moving on to the park maintenance update

[25:07] if we're ready. >> Yes. Um

[25:10] » and at the beginning of the meeting, if some people just tuned in, we decided to

[25:14] skip 42 because >> Yes, 42. We're skipp

[25:26] Well, you know, I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna call a chair's prerogative and say we

[25:31] may now reopen public public comment. If you would like to step up and and have

[25:36] your three minutes, please

[25:48] I just joined the of the USA Northern California. Um, so I'm here for a couple

[25:53] reasons. One is, um, I just want to make the commission aware of fact that

[25:58] there's a fair amount of grant funding that the national USDA makes available

[26:03] for, um, for local t local organizations, whether it's um, whether

[26:10] it's, you know, community tennis associations or cities. And so I just

[26:14] want to make myself a resource to thank anybody if anybody's interested and

[26:18] wants to learn more about that. Um I'd be happy to be or to connect you with

[26:23] some a staff member at the USDA Noral organization. Um so I wanted to offer

[26:29] myself as that. Then I also just wanted to comment that I think the courts at

[26:33] Terrace and uh Memorial falling into pretty like high level disrepair. um

[26:39] which I think is it's I'm sure you guys have noticed and probably heard from

[26:43] other people at some point, but I just wanted to point it out and um let you

[26:49] guys know that they're they get used a ton and um to the point where I don't

[26:54] play as much at memorial as I used to because I have to reserve reserve them

[26:58] if I want to. Um but uh they're great sports. It's a great park and um I would

[27:04] hope that at some point they get fixed up fixed up a little bit and um All

[27:10] right. Well, thank you very much. >> And to be clear, it's US and not USDA.

[27:16] » That's true. That's right. I work with US in my regular life and I do not want

[27:22] to have anything to do with that. >> Um just I give you a little preview of

[27:28] the next um presentation here talking about park maintenance and one of the

[27:31] upcoming projects for this uh this year. Uh we have established a annual park

[27:36] rehabilitation program and we're going to redo the courts at uh Terrace Park.

[27:40] » Okay. >> It's a little snippet.

[27:43] » Yeah. Julia knows who I am but if anybody wants to get my contact

[27:47] information >> I'll give you

[27:51] » city is notoriously uninterested in sources of money. [laughter]

[27:57] Sure. It can be large amounts of money for

[28:00] really large projects or small like there's a fair amount coming that's

[28:04] small micro grants like in the $2,500 range for like if you want to buy like

[28:09] new benches or like new nets for all of the ports or things like that. So

[28:13] there's like there's different types of programs. I am not an expert but I'm

[28:17] learning about it and I can definitely connect with experts to all right

[28:20] » to learn more about it. >> Well, thank you. I think they will

[28:22] gladly take your information. Thanks so much for coming down and making your

[28:25] comments. >> Thank you guys. All right, we will now

[28:27] close public comment, move to item 43, of which we've had a tantalizing little

[28:33] preview. [laughter] Um, I think I could just um The fonts

[28:39] got a little jacked up when I opened it here. So, I did I saved it as a PDF. So,

[28:44] that might um

[28:49] work.

[29:05] Anything's open.

[29:15] Maybe you can drive just take the PDF.

[29:31] You got it.

[29:35] I stop sharing because I think I was messing things up.

[30:05] And that's where I got stumped. [laughter]

[30:16] » Here, I got it. I got it now. >> Okay.

[30:18] » Yep. All right. >> We're just texting you guys to make sure

[30:22] you guys are still woke. All right. Back to our regular scheduling program.

[30:28] » Okay. So,

[30:36] Um we go. All right. So this is a um update on our parks maintenance. So this

[30:45] is something we were trying to do a number of times a year, but um due to

[30:50] staff staff turnover, whatnot, we got out of cycle. So, this is my attempt to

[30:54] kind of bring us back up to speed and uh let everyone know where we are with some

[31:00] of the uh park maintenance things. So, let me jump in and um

[31:05] so we're just going to give an overview of uh our approach to ma um park

[31:11] maintenance um see how it fits within the larger public works uh environment

[31:15] and then some of the key activities we've been doing. Um one of the things

[31:18] I'm really excited about is SB 1383. Um, this is something that we've talked

[31:23] about uh at prior council meeting or commission meetings and has uh been a

[31:29] struggle and there's been some recent developments and changes that are

[31:33] actually in our favor which I'm really excited about. Um, and then we'll just

[31:38] touch on some upcoming projects including the um uh the the tennis

[31:43] courts that uh we mentioned. So um so public works has what I think

[31:50] one of the broader scopes of um scopes of work within the the the city. Um we

[31:56] have uh what is it 16 uh FTEEs as full-time equivalents and then a single

[32:02] part-time person and that and that take we take care of a lot of things within

[32:08] the city. everything from delivering capital projects which Andre talked

[32:11] about to maintaining all the infrastructure and and uh things in our

[32:16] rightway and just from I think this is how we organize ourselves within the

[32:22] budgets and things of that sort. We have sort of functional areas, capital

[32:25] improvements, rightway, buildings and facilities, parks and playfields, open

[32:30] space and then sort of departmental management. Um and so like in in right

[32:37] away it's everything from operation and maintenance of the storm storm drains

[32:41] regul regulatory uh requirements trash and graffiti

[32:46] um buildings and facilities. It's you know just the the general maintenance of

[32:49] the build of the of the facil facilities in um parks and open space. This is um

[32:57] you know all of our structured parks and I'll say that's like Terrace Park and

[33:02] and um I even include the greenway in there to a certain extent. Um uh and the

[33:08] open spaces are more of the bulb and Albany Hill, Cornis Creek. So that's

[33:13] that's sort of our our division of labor there. Um and our approach to

[33:19] maintenance generally speaking, we have um seven maintenance workers, three of

[33:24] which are lead workers. So that's um they're responsible for a functional

[33:30] area. So we have one person around PI Parks and we see uh Michael Michael Hog

[33:35] he's our uh lead worker for parks and um so he's kneede in everything related to

[33:40] parks and and um uh lead workers aren't ex you know we're not large enough to

[33:47] have people exclusively with parks. So um we do everything but as a lead worker

[33:53] the idea is he he's spending a portion of his time understanding what's going

[33:58] on in park. So when there is an issue, he has the contacts to go out and and

[34:02] and address it. Um and then we have a lead worker for public rideway and then

[34:08] a lead worker for buildings. And they're supported by four maintenance workers

[34:13] and these are level two. Um right now we um we have um we're down a couple people

[34:20] for various reasons. So we're down two people. We're looking to kind of bring

[34:23] that back up. So that that's a um constraint in what we can do.

[34:29] Um, and then we have the public works manager, which is a vacant position

[34:33] right now. And then we have a project manager, Andre, who helps support

[34:38] projects, and then the or urban forester. And so that's that's sort of

[34:42] the key folks that are involved in um managing uh the the parks.

[34:50] Um the park maintenance, we have some sort of what I call core activities, and

[34:56] we call this the trash run. And it's that's more of um more than just picking

[35:01] up the trash. What it is, it's a structured time that we go through all

[35:04] the parks. So, uh Memorial Park is we have a um I think it's route A or

[35:10] whatever. We have a Monday, Wednesday, a Monday, Friday trash run. And this is

[35:14] where we go through Memorial Memorial Park, Terrace Park, uh Ocean View Park.

[35:19] We pick up the trash. We blow all the um the uh pathways. We make sure that the

[35:25] the sand in the sandboxes are at the right level and there, you know, we we

[35:29] make sure there's no issues with that. We make sure the bathrooms are stocked.

[35:33] If there's other issues in going in the park, we either address it right then.

[35:37] Maybe it's a graffiti issue or we put it on a list that that gets done

[35:41] separately. So, it's really our eyes in the park uh making sure that it's it's

[35:46] functional. We also have um you know in different parks different so

[35:52] basically Monday, Wednesday, Friday we do some version of trash run throughout

[35:56] the city. Um and then we also do what we call the weekend service and this was

[36:01] something we uh brought on I would say a couple years ago coming out of COVID

[36:05] where we found and this is again a good problem to have our parks get a lot of

[36:10] use. So we would our idea is that we would empty the trash on a Friday it

[36:14] would be you know and that would be enough capacity to le last us through

[36:18] the uh through Monday when we get another trash run. That's not the case

[36:23] after sat after Saturday. In a lot of cases the parks need a little bit of a

[36:26] tuning up. So, we bring in a maintenance worker on overtime uh for four hours um

[36:33] four hours on a Sunday morning to really just make sure things are ready for the

[36:39] next day's uh activities in the parks. And so there's, you know, particularly

[36:43] Memorial Park and Ocean View parks get a lot of picnics and parties and things of

[36:47] that sort. So, um that's been really helpful to um that was that was um one

[36:54] of our largest area of complaints and I think we've really addressed that. So,

[36:58] the complaints are dropping significantly.

[37:01] Um, and I'll jump to like we coordinate with wreck a lot on this issue because

[37:08] um, when recreation has a park attendant out

[37:13] there and that that person is there to assist people doing rentals and and

[37:19] whatnot and that person does some of the lift. Um, but we want to make sure that

[37:25] we come in and do some like underlying heavy stuff. Make sure the restrooms are

[37:29] stocked. If there's trash cans overflowing from the year the the day

[37:33] before, we make sure that's taken care of and and cleaned up across all of our

[37:37] parks. But then the attendant can deal with sort of the, you know, wiping down

[37:42] tables and helping with trash, but not, you know, they they just don't have the

[37:48] facilities to do it like we do. Um, and then for our we also rely on contractors

[37:55] particularly in the landscape maintenance. We um irrigation management

[37:59] and uh trees, you know, we don't we don't have a tree crew. We also bring in

[38:04] specialty stuff. We had a storm drain issue in Memorial Park this last year

[38:07] and so we brought in someone to help clear some storm drains to um help with

[38:12] some drainage problems. So, um you know, that's

[38:18] there's it's really a nice combination of work that we do in house versus stuff

[38:23] that we contract out. And my thought is we want to

[38:29] do work inhouse that we are best suited to. So things like the trash run like we

[38:34] know our parks. We going to go do the thing and we can identify when there is

[38:38] an issue and bring it up and if we if we can take care of it we can we'll do it.

[38:43] if we need to bring in a contractor um we will and and I think that's that's

[38:48] working and in a lot of cases our maintenance workers are helping make the

[38:52] decision of what we can do and what we can't do. Um and then we rely on

[38:57] community partnerships and this is primarily you know Alb Unified um

[39:01] particularly with the the baseball team. They take a really um uh active um

[39:09] engagement in maintaining uh particularly the ball field in Memorial

[39:13] Park as well as other things and other other people who use the fields come in

[39:18] and do work days and so forth. Um,

[39:24] so some of the key activities we've done since um, uh, last the last update,

[39:30] which I think was almost like a year and a half, two years ago, which so I'm want

[39:34] to get back on cycle on this. Um, one thing we did a restroom refresh for

[39:38] Memorial Park, Ocean View, and uh, Terrace Park. And Memorial Park was

[39:43] probably the largest largest one of these. Um and if you recall maybe what

[39:48] was that two 2016 2017 there was the update of the uh restrooms in Memorial

[39:54] Park um I would say in the last couple years they were really in a again they

[40:00] get a lot of use and which is good but um they were showing some wear and tear

[40:05] particularly with the partitions at Memorial Park we pulled all the

[40:08] partitions out took everything and uh we uh redid a surface uh floor surface on

[40:15] it so So, it's more of an epoxy and hopefully that will last better. We got

[40:19] new brackets. I think Andre spent a lot of time trying to uh track down the

[40:24] manufacturer and get brackets to make sure one one of the things the brackets

[40:28] were were broken. So, the um partitions were just all over the place and they

[40:34] weren't they weren't functioning. So, we cleaned the graffiti, we recoted them,

[40:39] reinstalled them, and they look pretty good. um at Terrace Park in Ocean View,

[40:47] we essentially repainted the inside and outside because again they were looking

[40:50] tired and that was done uh with our staff.

[40:55] Um and then one of the things we've been doing the last couple years um

[41:01] uh and this is primarily in response to the SP 1383 was the winter and summer uh

[41:07] services for the fields. So, this is where we um close the fields. Um the

[41:12] winter service we're just coming out of. We close the fields uh in early uh late

[41:17] November and excuse me. Uh they're basically closed through December and

[41:23] January. We do a uh uh a top coating of of compost. We uh airate uh we we seed

[41:31] and it's it's this year. I've got a picture of it at at Memorial Park. It

[41:37] really looks good. Um, so this is an opportunity. The fields get a

[41:43] lot of play time. We don't use really any fertilizers or any sort of other

[41:48] amendments. So giving time for the fields to breathe and just um put some

[41:54] compost on, we water it and let it go without anyone u on it is really showing

[42:00] some um some uh improvement. Um and at Ocean View there were a number of uh

[42:07] uh bare spots um that we were getting a lot of complaints from particularly the

[42:12] soccer folks about um playability in the co in the fields being super hard, no

[42:17] grass. Um and then we had some other issues too with irrigation where um we

[42:22] had some breaks in the line and areas with coverage. So with this this

[42:27] service, we went and um uh we had a contractor with our with Michael um we

[42:32] went and um uh basically did an audit of our system figuring out where the

[42:37] coverage issues were um and we identified a number of leaks that we

[42:41] fixed because there were there were areas that were consistently wet and

[42:44] then we have areas that were drying. So, um hopefully we're going to have much

[42:50] better performance on the um u irrigation side which will help help the

[42:55] fields. Um then we also have done

[43:03] this down here. This if you've been out in the bulb, we constructed a new set of

[43:08] ADA spaces. This came from a um a a complaint from the public, not this last

[43:14] July, but the prior July, with someone who was had accessibility issues, was

[43:19] having some struggles getting out to the bulb. And um they brought it to our

[43:23] attention and we realized that the spots that we had there that were ADA that we

[43:29] identified for ADA um weren't really um up to snuff. And part

[43:36] of it was when East Bay Regional Parks built their

[43:41] parking lot that took the pathway that these

[43:46] these spots um these spots use. So we took a step back and we constructed

[43:52] these uh two spots in the middle of the um uh in that that sort of island area

[44:01] between the pathway and the and the road. Um, and so there are two nice

[44:05] spots with a pathway to the trail and then we uh fixed some of the issues

[44:10] within the trail and I think that's gotten a good response and it quite

[44:14] frankly opened up a little more parking spaces uh for uh other folks. So I think

[44:19] that was a really good thing. Um we've also done uh these picnic tables. You

[44:26] really can't see it too well, but uh Peter in our uh maintenance uh he's a

[44:31] lead worker for buildings and he's really good carpenter. He has replaced

[44:36] at Memorial Park all of the old sort of tres or or composite uh picnic material,

[44:44] you know, material for the picnic tables. And um they made it with nice

[44:49] wood. And he's it is much easier to maintain because as people cut things

[44:54] into it or um uh do we we can sand it out and repaint it and it's a much it's

[45:01] a much better um long term for us to maintain our plan. And we're um what he

[45:07] does is he buys the wood and we let it sit for a period of time so it dries

[45:11] out. And we're planning to um do the same thing at Terrace Park because they

[45:17] have the same same type of um uh picnic tables.

[45:23] Um the other thing that we that's it's on its way with the construction of the

[45:28] dog park and this is uh back to the comment about uh the dog. Nothing

[45:33] changed in the dog park when we uh other than switching the the gate location.

[45:39] The park's basically the same. baseball is basically the same, but uh balls

[45:44] going over the over the fence were um a big big issue and we got lots and lots

[45:49] and lots of comments about that. So, we we worked with uh Albany Unified and um

[45:55] you know trying to figure out what what's the real issue and it seems like

[46:00] most of the comments come not during games because the games really aren't

[46:03] the problem. It's during practice where someone's taking batting practice and

[46:08] the coach is very passionate and and one of the time we got lots of calls. They

[46:12] were coming up against a a pitcher who can like throw 90 whatever 90 miles per

[46:17] hour and and everyone was fouling it off and so you know everyone's practicing

[46:22] and fing it all off to the dog park and the dog park's full and so I think

[46:26] that's that's the that's the sort of the use case that we're trying to um to

[46:31] address. So, we we found this product that that's used at other high schools

[46:35] and the uh Albany Unified coach said, "Yeah, that's he's seen this work." And

[46:40] it's called a um batting turtle. So, it's kind of this cage that that you sit

[46:46] in and it prevents foul balls from going out in either ways. So, we have that on

[46:51] the way. And as baseball's ramping up now, our hope is um and as we've talked

[46:57] with Sid is this this will be a requirement to use um for anyone who's

[47:03] renting the fields, whether it be Albby Unified, the Cyclones, I guess that's a

[47:08] travel ball team that uses it. Um the Albany Little League, they'll use that

[47:13] during practice and then games will will happen as normal. So

[47:18] » fold up or something. >> Yeah, it's it it folds up. Apparently,

[47:21] it's not too hard to move. It looks gangly to me, but um uh they cleaned out

[47:26] an area that they can keep it up on the first baseline. And um I think I think

[47:31] this hopefully this will um maybe not address all the problems, but really

[47:37] take a take a bite out of them. So, um and then we also do um you we uh we just

[47:46] finished uh pruning the trees in Terrace Park today. Um so we do we've gone

[47:51] through most of the parks doing uh trimming work and uh we do play

[47:55] equipment inspections. Um this helps we actually have an outside person come and

[48:01] identify you know defects with this in the in the play equipment. This is the

[48:06] play structures at the parks and you know a lot of them are things that I

[48:10] probably wouldn't have had caught like um when the coating comes off of it that

[48:14] creates an issue for the kids and and whatnot. So, they give us

[48:17] recommendations and we went through a process of replacing a bunch of

[48:20] equipment and we'll have another inspection here in um well, not the

[48:25] equipment itself. We've replaced components of the the the damaged

[48:29] components of the equipment and we'll likely have another inspection here

[48:32] shortly to see if anything else is going on. Um and then we monitor all the the

[48:38] sand and sort of fiber um playground fiber, you know, safety surfaces in the

[48:43] playground areas to make sure they're up to stuff. Um they surprising how how

[48:48] much stuff we go through. Um uh and then

[48:55] our challenges. So it's this is the exact same slide

[49:00] other than the updated pictures that we had before. Um it's vandalism and

[49:04] graffiti. Uh these pictures are from last weekend where we had someone come

[49:10] through and basically the same style of graffiti starting at the bulb working.

[49:14] that's all all the way through the parks and up and down the greenway. Um

[49:20] we have really made a concerted effort to jump on graffiti as quickly as we

[49:25] can. U we found that it goes away. Um you know someone's going to do this but

[49:29] if it we leave it there more comes if we take care of it quickly. Um, I don't

[49:34] know if you've noticed it with the columns along the BART tracks where

[49:38] we've we've basically taken over manage of that from BART because they weren't

[49:43] keeping up and it was really becoming an issue.

[49:47] Um, so some of the things we've done to respond to the graffiti and vandalism is

[49:54] um we have the weekend park checks and that's kind of keeps us on on um you

[49:59] know on top of things before it really spins out of control. One of the things

[50:02] we've done too, which is interesting, is um the bathrooms lock on a timer and

[50:08] we've adjusted those times um just to throw people off just um and

[50:17] like I I one of the things we've we open them

[50:22] later and sometimes it's after school after school um starts because that

[50:27] means people aren't going around in the bathrooms before

[50:31] school. And then um depending on what the rentals are, particularly with

[50:36] daylight savings, we shift the time because you know they in the summertime

[50:41] when there's b uh softball games going on, we 10 o'clock's a perfect time. In

[50:46] the winter it's not. And and what happens is people go in there and we

[50:50] have problems. Um and we've coordinated with uh Alb

[50:54] Unified and they've been really great to help. Um particularly one of the issues

[50:57] we've had was um uh trash during uh at Memorial Park during lunch and um

[51:06] they've been great to work with in terms of yeah getting reminding people to do

[51:10] it. We we coordinate our trash to our Wednesday trash um to happen after

[51:18] lunch. I don't know if our students have noticed that, but um we we then you know

[51:24] after lunch then we go and clean up the park, make sure there's no overflowing

[51:28] trash cans, and that seems to have alleviated that issue. But um uh there's

[51:34] usually someone from the school there also reminding people to um to put away

[51:39] their trash. But it and I guess it's like

[51:44] people for it it goes in waves. Um and in some cases we involve all Albany

[51:53] um police department um particularly with um we have people um living you

[52:00] know we'll we'll spend night in the bathroom and so on things like that we

[52:04] have our our maintenance workers call PD to make sure it's safe to go in and

[52:08] clean up. Um

[52:12] all right SP 1383. So, this was a and just for people who

[52:18] aren't familiar, this was a um state law that was enacted, I don't know, four or

[52:25] five years ago, something along those lines. And it really it really impacted

[52:29] how um uh solid waste management happens. And um one of the components

[52:36] that relates to us is um this this requirement for purchasing and use of

[52:43] organic material. So it was a a way of uh developing a market for um organic

[52:50] material for use in you know um whole host of things you can do with it. Um so

[52:55] each city was given an allocation based on some formula and our initial

[53:00] allocation was uh 1364 tons and this is not tons of this was I I call this tons

[53:08] of SP 1383 compliant organic material because

[53:14] » and that's annual >> annually

[53:16] » and because there's this long list of things that can contribute and then a

[53:21] conversion factor to this this madeup up tons tons things. So um so I I have this

[53:30] is all in um compliant organic material. Um the 1364 was going to be a heavy

[53:39] heavy lift not only for us but for every other municipality. Um, and we jumped on

[53:46] it and tried to do our and and the way this was done, it was phased in over I

[53:50] think it was four years or three or four years where you would phase up and we

[53:54] were meeting our targets and but quite frankly

[53:58] if the if things didn't change I I don't know what we would have done. Um so our

[54:03] target our revised target is now 460 which is hugely different and I think I

[54:10] think um this was our local our local regulator our local agency is stop waste

[54:16] and they worked with um was it Cal Recycle to lower the to to make the case

[54:22] to lower the um uh requirements for cities. So, and and that's that's great.

[54:26] And now we're sitting in a great look a great position because the our bakedin

[54:33] uses are we do two annual um uh twice annual compost giveaway and this is

[54:40] through waste management. Um you can see the the pallets and we have most of our

[54:44] our crew out there. Um, and it's something that, um, I think people line

[54:50] up for pretty darn early in the morning. And it's and it's a really good thing.

[54:54] And that that provides about 69 tons. And our our field services, our winter

[55:00] is uh, almost 300. Our summer service, which is very similar, but we do less

[55:06] fields for less time. We only do the ball fields instead of sort of broader

[55:12] in the parks. And that's that's 215. And then we support

[55:17] uh compost to the compost hub and that's at the gil track and that is that totals

[55:23] 662 which is way above our requirement and so this this is this is great for

[55:29] us. So now we're actually in a position where we're digging into

[55:34] um so when we when we started this and and I'm I don't know if you guys

[55:38] remember like we're just kind of throwing everything out there trying to

[55:42] get uses that make sense. Now we now that we've met our requirement and from

[55:47] what I understand this requirement is going to stay stable unless there's some

[55:51] other determination that we would have time to react with it. So from my

[55:54] perspective we're going to start organizing our effort around meeting

[55:58] that requirement while um I think particularly for the um field services

[56:04] we've gotten a lot of benefit out of um out of doing this. So, what we're going

[56:09] to probably do is go through and see which ones are sort of the best the best

[56:15] use for our money um in this and I could see backing off on maybe the summer

[56:20] service or some part of it and um and really dialed this in to to be the most

[56:26] impactful at at cost. So, um, we're in a really good spot for this and we'll

[56:31] we'll obviously not dial it in too tight so that we, you know, we're not, um, so

[56:38] we don't miss a compliance. And like other things that we've tried to do in

[56:43] public works, we um, we want to make sure the activities that

[56:48] we're doing flow into the compliance reporting so that um, the first couple

[56:52] years it was like, wait a minute, I remember that project. Where's that

[56:55] receipt? Let's get the thing. So, we want to make sure that we we're actually

[57:00] talking with Waste Management, our um hauler to to to help us um

[57:08] and right now we buy our our compost through our landscape contractor and so

[57:13] that has a higher higher cost. We can buy it through Waste Management who has

[57:18] a company that um makes out in the Central Valley for organic farming and

[57:22] whatnot. So, it's really really quality stuff. um they can deliver it here. We

[57:26] have a certain amount built into our franchise and that could lower our unit

[57:30] cost um pretty significantly in a um uh in rough numbers. Um when we buy um

[57:41] uh compost in this switching instead of SP 1383 compliant units cubic yards

[57:46] normal cubic yards we buy it for about $50 a ton or a cubic yard um delivered

[57:55] from aapokco we buy it from our contractor at roughly 40 kind of pulling

[58:02] it out it's roughly 40 I think with waste management what what we have built

[58:07] built into our contract, it might be between 20 and 30, which really drops

[58:14] our costs. So, um, so this is this is like this is great. We can start

[58:19] thinking about this rather than worrying what's the, you know, giving it in

[58:24] little baggies and everyone's going to have to take some home for something.

[58:27] So, >> just thinking how much can we dump on on

[58:30] Peggy Thompson, >> right? Well, that seriously

[58:33] » that that was one of our thoughts was maybe we just make piles, compost piles,

[58:37] and move them around and see what happens. Um, yeah. Um,

[58:44] so, and now we get to some forwardlooking things. Um,

[58:49] one of So, one of the things we've done in all of our um all of our systems, and

[58:53] I think you know, we've talked about the the trees and street lights and and

[58:59] things. We're kicking off an an uh an effort actually I think in the coming

[59:04] weeks um to do an ass inventory GIS inventory of all the facilities in our

[59:10] parks. So this will be a basis for us to start doing um a replacement schedule um

[59:16] around our play equipment and other things fencing so that so one we're very

[59:21] clear what we have what's what its condition and then we can start um

[59:25] putting a replacement program and this goes handinhand with a new feature that

[59:29] we have in our uh capital improvement program. Um the we've in other areas

[59:35] we've established these what we call it programs like we have a sewer program,

[59:39] we have a uh sidewalk program, we have a road program and the idea is we want to

[59:45] be investing a certain level every year in and year out. Not so much in a um

[59:51] like a signature project. is just in the basic stuff so that we don't have

[59:55] comments like we had today about you know the the playability of our courts

[59:59] um being in a in a in bad shape and you know I I don't think there's there's a

[1:00:06] lot of things are looking tired there could use a refresh. So this is going to

[1:00:11] be our um in the current CIP we have about $200,000 a year for a fiveyear

[1:00:18] plan. Hopefully when we get to the end of that we can we can in the new plan

[1:00:23] extend that and adjust it based on what our needs are.

[1:00:28] So this year we have a couple things in the plan. We have at Memorial Park the

[1:00:32] back stops at the the padding on the back stop is just deteriorating before

[1:00:37] our eyes. It's um and so we're going to replace that. We're getting a quote for

[1:00:41] that right now. And then we're going to do the Par Terrace Park tennis courts.

[1:00:45] And this is one thing that I wanted to bring up with um unfortunately Dena is

[1:00:50] not here. Um but I wanted to have the conversation uh in the master plan. Um

[1:00:55] there was discussion about flex courts and what we do with flex courts and how

[1:00:59] we integrate those. And one of the opportunities to for flex courts is um

[1:01:05] when we redo tennis courts and and it's it's not a big lift to

[1:01:10] paint lines to support another use. the lift is are we all on the same page of

[1:01:16] what that other use is and one of the things I wanted to do and it's it's kind

[1:01:20] of great that um we had the commenter and Andre has contact because one of the

[1:01:26] things I want to make sure is that we don't degrade the playability for tennis

[1:01:29] because um you know the courts at Albany High are Albany High's home court the

[1:01:36] the courts at Terrace Park are used by St. Mary's College High School and um

[1:01:42] and and so we want to make sure that they're playable from a you know a match

[1:01:46] play or whatever. Um but this is the opportunity to bring that in. So um

[1:01:51] that's one thing that I want to be talking about so that um Andre doesn't

[1:01:56] have to make it up himself. Um and then uh we have the Aloney Linear

[1:02:02] Park fitness equipment replacement. Um I believe Andre has meeting with uh

[1:02:09] vendors right now to look at different options. So that should be coming to the

[1:02:13] commission here um in 2026 if not um early 2027. And then we want to do the

[1:02:21] citywide turf audit. Um this to me is one of the big things where we decide

[1:02:25] where we want turf, where we don't want turf, what what could it be? And that

[1:02:29] folds into a couple of other studies. the

[1:02:33] programming along the Aloney Greenway and Peggy Thompson Pier Street Park

[1:02:37] which are you know slated for 27 and 28. And in my mind the Aloney Greenway

[1:02:45] programming and Peggy Thompson programming go hand inand with the um

[1:02:50] project that Dean is going to be leading on the the sort of you know what what

[1:02:56] uses can go in different places. Um, so

[1:03:01] and then so we get into the measure. I don't have

[1:03:06] budget numbers because I just quite frankly didn't have enough time. Um, I

[1:03:10] do have a um tab open to I have links. Um, all this stuff is on our website, so

[1:03:17] I can Let me see if I can get this up here.

[1:03:21] Um, [clears throat] and show folks where it is.

[1:03:29] Um okay.

[1:03:39] So sharing we go.

[1:03:46] So this is um on our website where we detail really everything that's going on

[1:03:53] in a lot lot of areas. This is the uh page that deals with the measure M or

[1:03:58] the open parks and open space part parcel tax. Um these reports they have

[1:04:05] reports here of um projects and pro program expenditures and that's updated

[1:04:09] annually. Um give you a heads up it hasn't been

[1:04:13] updated um with the new audit that was just completed but um we're working on

[1:04:18] that and should should be done fairly soon. But it does detail

[1:04:23] what we spend the money, what revenue has been coming in by fiscal year, and

[1:04:27] you can see exactly how we're spending it. And um way we've budgeted things,

[1:04:32] and it's a really a a little bit of a tug a tug. It it

[1:04:37] supports both operating costs as well as capital. Um so it's um it's something we

[1:04:44] keep an eye on and and probably will adjust over time as needs as needs come.

[1:04:51] Then I have uh [groaning]

[1:04:58] let me see and then um the next slides around the um construction alerts. This

[1:05:05] is another um city projects. We call it construction alerts but it's it's really

[1:05:10] um all projects on the website. We try to keep this updated about all the

[1:05:14] things going on in public works because we have a lot of them. And we have um

[1:05:21] uh every project has has a page um and we try to give um here let's see if we

[1:05:29] can get into this one. Um what we do is identify the project the project number.

[1:05:36] There's usually a um a contact a little history. Um this was the Albany Albany

[1:05:43] Hill um forest management plan. So we have the the the final

[1:05:48] uh we have documents related this one is the plan development FAQs but then we

[1:05:53] have all through the this is where the sort of the repository of the history of

[1:05:58] the projects and um so we try to keep all I think some of it's

[1:06:05] been archived but we try to keep everything on here as long as we can so

[1:06:08] that people can understand what's going on and um

[1:06:13] look to hear for the most current information.

[1:06:18] All right, let's see if we can get back to

[1:06:28] uh Oh.

[1:06:44] All right. [clears throat]

[1:06:49] So, there's there's the link for Oh,

[1:06:57] there we go. Um there's a construction zone

[1:07:01] construction alert. Um and then finally, how to report issues. So, um, one of the

[1:07:07] things we do do is we've we have a, um, uh, it's actually a GIS tool that you

[1:07:14] can report an issue. You can report the location, snap a picture, upload it, and

[1:07:20] on the I guess the landing page, it's called the first page of the when you go

[1:07:24] to the website, we have these um uh tabs down here and one's report an issue and

[1:07:30] this will take you to to that and you can uh report an issue and then Jamra

[1:07:37] will tell one of us to go do it. Um, and with that,

[1:07:43] let's open it up to questions and discussions.

[1:07:48] » All right. Maybe you would like to take a breath. [laughter]

[1:07:51] That was a lot. Drink water or something.

[1:07:54] » Well, once I get going, I could I could I [laughter] could keep going.

[1:07:58] » Well, we should. All right. Uh, questions.

[1:08:03] » Clarifying question. The 200,000 for the capital improvement plans over five is

[1:08:08] that each year? >> Yeah. So, it's a million dollars over

[1:08:10] five years. >> Okay. Thanks.

[1:08:15] » Other questions? >> Yeah, I had a few. Um, one was for for

[1:08:22] maintenance. The staffing is important and you said we're down some FTEES. You

[1:08:27] mentioned there's 16 FTEEs in your department with 16 point something with

[1:08:31] the part-time. Um, how many of those positions would you say are are vacant

[1:08:36] now and what challenges, if any, do you anticipate in filling them?

[1:08:39] » So, we have um two open open positions and one is someone's out on a different

[1:08:46] issue. Um so part of it is um uh the maintenance workers we've had

[1:08:52] some turnover because um people find different jobs and one of the things

[1:08:57] that um I think the people here have a a um a

[1:09:03] good experience and it's a good place to work but there's there's not a lot of

[1:09:06] opportunity. you know, we we have a small crew. There's not a lot of

[1:09:10] movement and um uh all the people who have left have left for like, oh yeah,

[1:09:15] that makes sense. You're going to another place, less commute, something

[1:09:19] different. And so, um I think the maintenance worker side is is something

[1:09:23] that's just always going to be one of these cycling in. The good news is we

[1:09:28] have three really good um lead workers. They're they're

[1:09:35] I think all of them have been with the city longer than me. I think some I

[1:09:39] think Michael's probably the the the longest tenure

[1:09:43] maybe pushing 20 years. Um, so we we do have some good institutional knowledge,

[1:09:49] but what we don't want to have is um uh we just had one one person uh retire

[1:09:57] um a while ago about a year ago and AJ he had been with the city for gosh and

[1:10:03] he walked out with a lot of knowledge that we're we just realized that we're

[1:10:07] relying on him. So, one of the things we're trying to do is is make it so that

[1:10:12] everyone knows how to do everything in some ways. So, it's it's um building

[1:10:17] that capacity, but I think some of the um

[1:10:23] some of the um some of it's just part of the part of do doing business and on on

[1:10:29] that in in that maintenance worker side. Um the office positions, we have a um uh

[1:10:37] public um the public works manager position open has been um open for a

[1:10:42] while. Hoping to fill it here shortly. Um but part of that was me wanting to

[1:10:48] stick my that's why you're seeing more and me more of me. Um I really stuck my

[1:10:52] nose into that end side of the house to really understand what's going on and

[1:10:57] try to try to improve level of service. So, I think we're at a point where we're

[1:11:01] going to start bringing in people. And one one of the things I want to do is uh

[1:11:05] implement a new um uh enterprise asset management program like

[1:11:12] a work order program essentially that's tied to more GIS. That's why we're

[1:11:16] supporting the GIS. Um and and that will help us be more effective on the work

[1:11:20] order side of things. >> Okay. Thanks. Um the uh for irrigation

[1:11:27] you mentioned uh I said I remember irrigation was going to be rerouted and

[1:11:33] improved in the dog park was part of the plan. It was very forward thinking. That

[1:11:37] was great that you the city and you were working on that. Um the irrigation

[1:11:42] issues you discussed tonight, the dry patches, the wet patches, is that there

[1:11:46] is that what you're talking about or is it lots of other locations? It's it's

[1:11:49] it's really all over the place. And some of it is um you I walked it with Michael

[1:11:55] um and [clears throat] our and our contractor um like over time some of the

[1:11:59] irrigation heads because you know it's mowing they get pushed down and so um

[1:12:05] some of them get buried and some of them are at an angle so they're not as

[1:12:09] effective. Some of them are just broken and like there's a crack down below and

[1:12:14] and that's that's the persistent wet spot. So it was really just diligently

[1:12:18] going through the system and trying to correct as many issues we as we can and

[1:12:23] we've also done that along the greenway to a certain extent.

[1:12:26] » Okay. So those sounds like more like local damage and things like that

[1:12:29] whereas the dog park was a big system that

[1:12:31] » dog park >> Yeah. dog park was a really unique thing

[1:12:34] because >> it different.

[1:12:35] » Yeah. Be because the dog as you remember the dog park wasn't a dog park. it was

[1:12:41] » it was section B and then before that it was uh an athletic field and the

[1:12:47] irrigation system for that was comingled with the the infield system. So when

[1:12:53] they did the infield system they watered you know you couldn't couldn't control

[1:12:57] them and Andre and his project they separated that so we don't

[1:13:01] » so that was a big job and the other things you're describing are little

[1:13:04] repairs here. Yeah, they're they both have impact because the area the areas

[1:13:10] where um it was wet um like it was always wet and so I I think this will be

[1:13:18] you you'll have I think we'll have better control and better performance of

[1:13:21] the of the irrigation system and therefore we'll have better um uh you

[1:13:28] know the grass will be will be much much

[1:13:32] better condition. Um you mentioned the picnic tables going to

[1:13:38] actual wood >> from the trex or whatever it was and um

[1:13:42] do you anticipate any of the milled lumber from the eucalyptus trees on Alb

[1:13:46] Hill being used for things like that or benches or

[1:13:49] » probably not. I think um we've used that in so Andre is using some in his part in

[1:13:54] his um his project but we've also used most of that on Albany Hill for small

[1:14:01] retaining walls and steps and things of that sort. So, um I and and I think

[1:14:06] dimensionally that's not as consistent. So, um I think I think it works better

[1:14:12] on the hill than it does in a in the park.

[1:14:15] » Um Okay. And who owns Memorial Park baseball field and what's the financial

[1:14:20] agreement with the schools for the baseball field and who paid for the

[1:14:23] turtle? >> Um so,

[1:14:28] boy, there's a lot in there on that one. Um so it is it the the city owns the BA

[1:14:33] is owns the uh baseball field. It is a um there's a joint facilities agreement

[1:14:40] that outlines how a lot of the things are done. Uh not just with ball fields

[1:14:46] but um uh use of various school facilities like we host I think we host

[1:14:52] pickle ball in the in the gymnasium. Um, [clears throat] in as far as the turtle,

[1:14:58] we're buying the turtle um because it's we have the obligation to maintain the

[1:15:04] asset. And so this is this is this is part of um addressing an issue about

[1:15:10] playing playing as a baseball field, not necessarily a Albany High School things

[1:15:16] because it's used as an adult league. There's there's many people that use it.

[1:15:21] » Summer camps would maybe use it as well. um not so much summer camp, but there's

[1:15:25] there's um little league, there's a travel ball, and if you drive by,

[1:15:30] there's a an older like a like an adult league that uses it. So, the idea would

[1:15:35] be that whenever they're doing batting practice or practice, they would need to

[1:15:39] use the turtle. And then you mentioned flex courts and um doing something with

[1:15:46] I I'm forgetting exactly what you said was going to be updated or considered

[1:15:50] for updating in the tennis courts around town. Um I was on the subcommittee with

[1:15:55] Commissioner Chang Frank and Commissioner Kent maybe on flex courts

[1:15:59] and um and so that would be something that would be I'm hoping would come

[1:16:05] before us. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. um as

[1:16:07] you're like before actual improvements are done to the netting and

[1:16:11] » yeah so I think what we would do is line out a project line out a project and

[1:16:16] hopefully and and hopefully through the project that Dena's um doing we can get

[1:16:21] some ideas of what a flex court means >> and then that can flow into our design

[1:16:26] that we would then come and present to you guys that then would um uh receive

[1:16:32] you know comments so that we're all on the same page with what is being

[1:16:35] constructed. Okay, great. And those that's the kind of thing you anticipate

[1:16:40] there's regular maintenance on the courts throughout like annual or

[1:16:43] whatever, but is this is this something you see happening this year? Is it

[1:16:47] » Yeah, I'm I

[1:16:52] » possibly late spring. >> Okay. In a few months.

[1:16:56] » Yeah. >> Right. I look forward to that.

[1:16:58] » Yes. So, so that's this this is the first year of that program that we're

[1:17:01] doing. So, we want to um like we want to start getting ahead of steam um and and

[1:17:08] took a little bit of time on the sidewalk program. Now, now we execute

[1:17:12] sidewalk pro uh projects without a lot of um

[1:17:17] they they come pretty routine, but in the beginning it wasn't because we're

[1:17:21] kind of finding our way and I think this will be a little bit of that too. But I

[1:17:25] imagine once we get the program going, once we understand sort of the assets

[1:17:28] that need to get replaced, we can we can get the decisions out ahead of time.

[1:17:34] » Okay, that was it for me. Thanks. >> Did anybody think of just uh recruiting

[1:17:39] better batters? Okay. Um more more [laughter]

[1:17:43] comments or discussion? I I do I do say when I first got here and this is total

[1:17:49] tangent. There was I got out there and we needed to we need to we needed to

[1:17:52] raise the um uence >> the fence because some kid was hitting

[1:17:57] it out and breaking windows across the street and I was like give the guy a

[1:18:01] star. >> Oh, that's that's a good hit.

[1:18:03] » And we haven't had that same problem in the

[1:18:06] » field. Yeah. >> So

[1:18:07] » there a discussion? Yeah, please. Um is like field service for winter and summer

[1:18:15] also include like pier street like you said or like the parks itself or is that

[1:18:20] just >> So in the um so it's it it is focused on

[1:18:24] turf in the winter service we do um on the south side of Memorial Park. You

[1:18:30] probably noticed that the we fence off part of the area. We sort of flip-flop

[1:18:35] one. So this is the area on the south side of Memorial Park. It's sort of

[1:18:41] unstructured play area. We host um movie in the park and things like that there.

[1:18:46] And we've we we don't want to close all of it. So we do

[1:18:51] one one side one year, the other side the other year. Um and we also do

[1:18:55] terrace park, but it is really just um the service is the same. We airrate, we

[1:19:02] try to as much as we can keep people off of it, we top dress it and and and

[1:19:06] seating. And um I would say it's probably less effective than the ball

[1:19:11] fields just because I think there's I mean it's just a snow fence keeping

[1:19:16] people out. So it's it it I don't think I don't I don't know there's there's

[1:19:21] rule followers and there's people who just do it. [snorts]

[1:19:24] » But it's not like individual like or anything. No like

[1:19:29] » No. No. It's it's really just blocking it off and giving this the the giving it

[1:19:35] a little time to rest.

[1:19:39] Yeah. Um, just for clarification, like what's the difference between like the

[1:19:42] normal maintenance of the tennis courts and what you're going to do with like

[1:19:45] the um 200,000 >> the terrace?

[1:19:50] I I didn't hear all of that, but let me I can

[1:19:53] » um like what's the difference between the normal maintenance of the tennis

[1:19:56] courts and like what you're going to do with the

[1:19:58] » So, in the normal maintenance and we've been probably pretty spotty on doing

[1:20:03] some of this, you know, there's there's cleaning and and actually in a part of

[1:20:07] our trash run, we go and clear the courts. Um but there there is buildup

[1:20:13] particularly at tennis at terrace park where there's a lot of stuff from the

[1:20:17] trees coming down and sits in the corners and it builds up and that

[1:20:20] degrades the the the surface. Um, and that's that can be done on uh regular

[1:20:27] maintenance, cleaning it, and then having a contra there's a contractors

[1:20:30] that can come in and do surface um surface cleaning um to prolong the

[1:20:35] service. And we that's one thing I want to start doing um particularly at Ocean

[1:20:39] View that we redid. What we're doing here is we're going to strip the court

[1:20:44] of its posts, everything. There's a large crack on the on the eastern side

[1:20:49] of the the court, the one that's a little higher up. Um, we're going to uh

[1:20:54] resurface it with asphalt to address the crack, reinstall things. So, it's it's

[1:20:58] um it's be like a new court. >> And are there any like plans to do that

[1:21:05] to the memorial park tennis court? >> Um, we're going to move to that one

[1:21:08] next. That that's on the list. It's just um Terrace Park is really the there's

[1:21:12] there's a crack there and um uh the posts were

[1:21:18] they're they're bent over and and whatnot. We've we've patched it together

[1:21:22] as much as we can. >> The terrace is marginally usable.

[1:21:25] » Yeah. >> So,

[1:21:33] one one idea I had and maybe maybe we already do this, you know, just the

[1:21:37] stuff that comes to mind that do we at lunch is over. Do we have trash cans on

[1:21:42] that end? because I know the trash cans generally are the street. Are they

[1:21:45] between the park where kids are eating lunch and the school where they walk?

[1:21:50] » So, this is interesting. Um, last was it last year?

[1:21:55] Not not this la this this school year. Last school year when this blew up, we

[1:22:01] we actually did a it wasn't really a study. We went out there and saw where

[1:22:05] the trash cans are, where they're being used because some were overflowing, some

[1:22:08] weren't used at all. and um and and including the ones that were along the

[1:22:15] the roadway where the uh cars parked. Those ones those were issues um on

[1:22:20] another because people would stuff in their cars and just overload the trash

[1:22:25] cans. So, we actually removed those and we repositioned trash cans in areas

[1:22:31] where um uh kids were or pe not not only kids but

[1:22:37] um the the people were using the park where the trash was h happening and um I

[1:22:42] think it's addressed um a little bit I don't know if it's come back but um kids

[1:22:48] would would sit at um the bleachers near the tennis courts and and eat I think

[1:22:53] and that the little trash cans inside the tennis courts were just overflowing

[1:22:59] with trash. I think we got rid of those or did we?

[1:23:02] » But the idea was we wanted to limit um trash going into those and make them put

[1:23:08] in the big bellies. And I think I think it's working

[1:23:12] » easier to do the right thing. >> Yeah.

[1:23:15] » Right. Uh, I had one more question. I forgot to ask uh for I did ask about the

[1:23:21] ballpark in Memorial Park for for the for USD. The tennis courts at Terrace

[1:23:26] Park that you were just talking about. Um, you said they're used by um St.

[1:23:32] Mary's. >> Yep.

[1:23:33] » And uh I was wondering what kind ofou or what kind of financial arrangement do we

[1:23:37] have there? >> So I don't know exactly but I

[1:23:40] » private entity. >> Yeah. I think they they pay a rental fee

[1:23:43] like any other user. So, I think they're just like

[1:23:46] » they just reserve in advance. >> Yeah. And that's um Joy in recreation.

[1:23:51] She handles a lot of that. And I think all the leagues whether it's soccer,

[1:23:57] baseball, tennis um put reservations for um various courts and courts or fields

[1:24:04] and she tries to come up with a schedule but um the only ones the everyone other

[1:24:11] than Alb Unified pays you know our our the rate that we

[1:24:16] have in our our rate schedules. >> Okay. Okay. So, they're just a a regular

[1:24:21] rental user. >> Yep.

[1:24:23] » Okay.

[1:24:27] » All right. There uh anyone else want to weigh in? All right. See? None. We will

[1:24:33] close the item. Thank you very much. Always good to get these. Was there Did

[1:24:37] you check public comment? I forget. You >> did. Okay, great. We did. Um did right.

[1:24:43] » I think so. I don't know. I was >> either way there's no hands raised.

[1:24:47] » No public I I guessed that, but I was pretending.

[1:24:52] All right. Um uh moving on. Subcommittee updates.

[1:24:58] Not seeing any subcommittees. Announcements and future agenda item.

[1:25:04] » You want to do your announcement? You don't have one?

[1:25:07] » Yeah. >> Um just to piggy back off what Mark was

[1:25:11] talking about, um the dog park is now back open. So, it's open for public use.

[1:25:18] Um, the other ball fields and stuff are open as well. Um, and that's weather

[1:25:23] permit permitting right now because if it starts storming, we will have to

[1:25:27] close it to keep the fields from getting too messed up. Um, my next announcement

[1:25:34] is the Kids and Family Expo. Join us for a fun, familyfriendly afternoon at the

[1:25:39] Kids and Family Expo, a one-stop shop for programs and services for kids and

[1:25:44] families. bring the whole family to the community center on Saturday, February

[1:25:48] 28th from 1 to 4:00 p.m. Guests can explore local programs and family

[1:25:54] services, including summer camp previews and the opportunity to sign up for our

[1:25:59] popular Friendships Club summer program, as well as special discounts available

[1:26:04] for registrations completed at the event. Enjoy a variety of activities for

[1:26:09] kids and parents alike, including tasty snacks, free face painting, a free

[1:26:14] raffle, free biking, and stro uh strolling magi mag magician from 1:30 to

[1:26:19] 2:30. Come out and connect with uh community resources and join in on the

[1:26:24] fun. >> All right, announcements.

[1:26:30] I just I should have said this during the agenda item. I uh we mentioned you

[1:26:33] mentioned the uh request service or the report a problem tool. I use it a lot

[1:26:39] because we see stuff on the blue glove crew and I just have to say they're very

[1:26:41] responsive. I hope it's not because I'm the one submitting it. [laughter] I

[1:26:46] trust that it's not but but oftentimes just a day or two the thing's gone. So I

[1:26:50] I kudos to that. That's great. >> I'm not biased. I respond accordingly.

[1:26:55] » The only thing I would say is that is that um I'm a little shocked to hear

[1:26:59] they all go to you. Yes. Because the hardest part is figuring out which

[1:27:02] category to put. It doesn't matter. >> You don't need that. You don't need that

[1:27:06] button. >> It It does because it's whether because

[1:27:09] that gives her the information to tell one of whomever to go do the work.

[1:27:14] » But I don't know the right I'm not doing the right one half the time. I'm sure

[1:27:17] [laughter] >> I I usually can figure it out. So

[1:27:20] » that's the thing. Give away the secret recipe. [laughter] We get a stack of

[1:27:24] » All right. Anyway. All right. Uh other announcements, agenda items. So, we do

[1:27:30] have >> clearly we'll have the parks master plan

[1:27:33] studied edenum coming up. >> Yes, we'll have the parks master plan.

[1:27:35] Um, we might have what I'm super excited about actually uh Hillary Sardinas um

[1:27:42] has been working talking with Margot and I think she's doing a project. This this

[1:27:47] sounded amazing. She's doing a project on Alb Hill and she's putting little

[1:27:51] trackers on monarchs >> and um I was like really? Um, and so she

[1:28:00] likely or might be coming to do a presentation on that, which I think

[1:28:04] would be just fascinating. Um, and then, um, I I haven't heard anything about it,

[1:28:10] but it is sugarsw sweetened beverage time, so that'll be on the on it, but

[1:28:14] I'm less excited about it this year than I have in the past.

[1:28:18] » I think with the the butterfly things, the hardest part is getting them with

[1:28:21] the dart to get them to go to sleep. >> Actually, Margot explained it a little

[1:28:27] bit. It's really fascinating. >> It is. I'm sure.

[1:28:29] » How big is that thing? I mean, can they fly with it?

[1:28:31] » Yeah, it's >> No, I I ran into um

[1:28:33] » Hillary. Yeah. Hillary in the grocery store and she show I was like, "Really?"

[1:28:37] And she showed me a picture. It was amazing. And then they have this

[1:28:41] » thing is this very educational because then they with the GPS tracker you can

[1:28:44] see, oh, this one originated at Albony Hill and it goes here. Like,

[1:28:47] » yeah, >> it's f it is fascinating. And I I

[1:28:50] couldn't believe that it can be >> it can go to a butterfly,

[1:28:53] » right? >> Yeah.

[1:28:54] » I know. And and Margot said, I guess they they attach it by cooling them, so

[1:28:59] it it kind of slows things down, but then when they warm them up, like one of

[1:29:03] them like she said it >> was like rolling around like a dog would

[1:29:07] be to, you know, something off its back. >> So

[1:29:12] » yeah, >> we can understand. All right.

[1:29:14] » Yeah. When uh one agenda request is when you

[1:29:18] do or related to something you already mentioned was for flex courts um is when

[1:29:24] you do uh agendaize that to >> um make sure to look at old contact

[1:29:31] lists for all the tennis people, all the pickle ball people um because they were

[1:29:38] very engaged with all of that. But then also it should also include whoever we

[1:29:43] have on the volleyball people and then some of these flex nets can also do bad

[1:29:47] mitten. So I don't know who we would contact for that but that would be

[1:29:51] basically cast a wide net. >> Yep.

[1:29:53] » Would be my recommendation. >> No pun.

[1:29:55] » Yes. Yes. [laughter] >> Still regulation.

[1:30:02] » Okay. >> All right people. We got to keep these

[1:30:04] things light. >> All right. Any uh All right. Seeing

[1:30:09] nothing else, we will adjourn and see you March 12th.

Parks, Recreation & Open Space Commission - Feb. 12, 2026

Transcript