[0:04] All right. Good evening everyone.
Welcome to the regular meeting of the
[0:07] pickle weed advisory committee meeting
of August 5th, 2026. The time is 7:07
[0:14] p.m. And Becky, will you please call us?
[0:23] Oh, you're muted, Becky.
Haven't
[0:31] done that in a while, huh?
All right. Uh, member Arbit
[0:36] » here.
>> Okay. Um, let's see. Let me get my order
[0:40] here. Um, member Campos
>> here.
[0:45] » Member Newan.
[0:49] » No.
>> No. Okay. Member Ruez
[0:52] » here.
>> Member Sprag is absent. Uh, member
[0:57] Tanchez is also absent and then member
Vasquez
[1:01] » here.
>> All right. Thank you.
[1:04] » All right.
So, I'm going to call the first agenda
[1:09] item here, which will be approval of the
regular meeting minutes from June 3rd,
[1:14] 2026. And I'd invite any questions um
from committee members to staff about
[1:19] minutes.
[1:23] No questions.
So, if there's no questions, then I'd
[1:27] request a motion and a second to minutes
for June 3rd. 6
[1:35] motion.
>> Yeah. Second, Becky, did you catch that?
[1:39] » Yes, I did. I didn't catch the second.
I'm sorry.
[1:44] » Member Arbit.
>> Oh, who motioned? I thought member Arbit
[1:47] was seconded.
>> Member.
[1:49] » Oh, gotcha. Thank you. All right. Uh,
member Arbit.
[1:54] » Yes. Member Campos.
>> Yes.
[1:57] » Member Ruez.
>> Yes.
[1:59] » And member Vasquez.
>> Yes.
[2:02] » All right. Motion approved. Thank you.
[2:06] » All right. This is fun for me. I don't I
don't normally get to facilitate the
[2:10] meetings, so I'm I'm loving it. So, this
is just reminder meeting to the public.
[2:15] Public's welcome to address the
committee at this time. Is anyone here
[2:19] from the public that would like to
speak? They have up to two minutes. I
[2:22] know we have some presenters that are
here this evening, but if there's
[2:26] anything not on the agenda that anyone
would like to share or discuss, this
[2:30] would be the time to do so.
[2:34] Not seeing anyone, I am going to close
the public comments, which means we can
[2:42] move to what we have on the agenda this
evening. And before I get to that, I
[2:47] just want to say it's great to see you
all. Thanks for being here tonight. Um
[2:50] I'm Craig Barman, the assistant library
and recreation director and kind of
[2:54] filling in this evening. Uh and we have
two items that are on the agenda this
[2:59] evening. We have two co-sponsorship
applications that are before you. Uh we
[3:03] have one with Brail Canal and then
another with Canal SC. And we're going
[3:07] to we're going to start with you. So I'm
going to go ahead and turn it over to
[3:10] you to um introduce yourselves and then
uh share what you'd like to share about
[3:14] your application.
>> Great.
[3:17] My name is Yafari and I'm one of the
co-founders and co-directors of Dil
[3:23] and
[3:29] thank you so much for being here. So
>> I just would like to say briefly that
[3:34] last year was our first year here and uh
we loved being here. We thought that it
[3:42] was a really our place to be in the
midst of uh the the community and also
[3:49] the the the many many services and
partners that um that uh make this their
[3:57] home.
>> I'll share just a little bit of
[4:01] information just for context about
process. I know you're all familiar with
[4:05] our co-sponsorship process, but uh PA
system canal provides youth and families
[4:11] access to community programs um they
need to overcome barriers of thrive,
[4:15] empowering them to realize their full
potential as residents of Mur County. So
[4:20] the term of this proposed youth after
school program is from September of this
[4:25] year through June of 2027
um with breaks during the school
[4:30] holidays. Um the program's requesting a
full e-waver, which would be valued at
[4:35] $11,781
for use of the teen room, um Monday
[4:40] through Friday from 3:00 p.m. to 6:30
p.m. So this would be a Monday through
[4:44] Friday youth after school program at
that time period. So the facility
[4:49] advisory committee has the authority to
co-sponsor activities at the board
[4:53] community center as you know and the
committee the committee may grant um a
[4:58] fee reduction a whole fee waiver or may
request additional information at your
[5:02] discretion. Um staff are recommending
this. We we feel that this program
[5:07] really does align with the values of the
community. um the types of programs that
[5:11] we want to see are blended overall and
mix of programs that are offered in the
[5:16] community and we are recommending a 100%
fever for this type of a program. Um I
[5:22] mentioned the value of that program I
think just as a reminder with all of our
[5:25] sponsorships that's representative of
what our standard fees would be if
[5:29] someone were to rent a facility. It's
not a loss of the city. Uh it just
[5:34] represents what the value of that would
be. Um, we have the authority as a city
[5:38] to approve up to $168,000
of total fee wavers. So, this would be
[5:44] kind of considered as part of that rule
for the calendar year. Um, we are not
[5:48] close to that threshold at this point in
time. So, we do still have room to
[5:52] co-sponsorships at this point. Uh, and
so, yeah, I think staff are are
[5:56] supportive of this. I think uh we've
seen great programming system and we
[6:01] would be supported.
Anything else that you'd like to add or
[6:05] share? I know you had a video that you
wanted to share.
[6:08] » In the video, you will see u um our
first annual reading festival that
[6:15] concluded our yearly program and uh it
took place on June 13. And we also um um
[6:25] also are requesting that this this will
be a yearly meeting, a yearly event that
[6:33] would be co-sponsorally.
>> That's correct.
[6:38] » And I'd also just I'd remind the
committee members that there was a full
[6:43] um co-sponsorship application that was
submitted. it was attached to the agenda
[6:47] that has a lot more detail and
information that was provided by the
[6:51] group. Um, with all of our
co-sponsorships, we do require some kind
[6:56] of metrics and tracking to make sure
that the programs are uh that they
[7:01] qualify, that they're eligible. Staff
have already reviewed and feel that this
[7:04] program is eligible for co-sponsorship.
Uh, and so there are some requirements
[7:09] to report out as well as part of the
overall program. So, all that
[7:13] information is in the application that
was sent out as part of the agenda
[7:18] packet. Just a reminder, all of that is
being
[7:23] uh if you'd like, I can share that
video. Try and pull that up. We'll see
[7:26] if I if I'm techsavvy enough to make
that happen.
[7:30] » Thank you.
See?
[7:36] And then Becky, I'll request that
let us know if you can hear this on your
[7:42] end, too.
[7:50] I don't know how loud this will be.
Not loud at all.
[7:56] Becky, can you hear anything on your
end?
[7:58] » No.
[8:01] See
[8:10] is this um screen share?
>> It is.
[8:13] » Okay.
Sometimes with videos we have to do the
[8:18] advanced screen share.
Um
[8:24] share computers. Let's try that.
[8:31] » [music]
>> We can't hear it on our end.
[8:34] » I can hear it very loud on my end.
[laughter]
[8:36] » Okay. Interesting.
[8:47] [music]
>> We still can't hear it on our end.
[8:50] Wow.
>> Um, any other tips or tricks? Yeah, but
[8:55] I think if we stop the share
uh stop the screen share and then go to
[9:01] um where the share gives you the
features on the side. Let's see. Share
[9:05] settings. Um
[9:11] should be an option for advanced screen
share. There's advanced down there. Yes.
[9:15] Okay. And then when we go to advance, we
scroll down.
[9:25] That that was all that it allowed.
>> Yeah, it's all showing right now. Becky,
[9:28] I'm gonna try to just play the video on
our screen without
[9:31] » Yeah, that's fine. I think Christiey's
done that in the past. Um
[9:36] » where you are all able to hear it, but I
wasn't able to.
[9:40] » Try that.
Let's play it web if I can.
[9:57] here
[10:03] try
[10:11] ideas you let me try I'm happy to make
that happen but I know there's audio so
[10:16] you could hear it Yeah. Um, no, we can
also uh play it for the committee from
[10:23] uh my laptop or from your laptop. I was
going to try to do that as well.
[10:26] » Oh, perfect.
[10:33] » All right. Un unconventional, but I'm
going to play it from here.
[10:42] » Thank you.
[10:48] Love
[10:58] to go
[11:13] museum.
[11:16] And they
[11:22] always seem to go
[11:38] to
[11:50] What you thought
[12:14] ended here. I I started this after an
event, but
[12:20] you all saw it, right? Great. Great.
[12:27] » All right.
[12:32] But at this event, we were able to have
over 200 community members join us. And
[12:37] it was uh an event that really was super
successful in the outreach and in the
[12:42] education information people received
that it was a really feel-good time for
[12:46] everyone and a lot of joy.
>> Yes. I I think um also a lot of
[12:53] information that um
that the community appreciated and uh
[13:01] and um gives plants so that everyone can
start their own uh uh pot or garden or
[13:12] add to it. That's one of our main living
objects with resident.
[13:19] Um I want I'm going to open up to
questions and then if I were if you can
[13:22] share a little more about the actual
program who participates in the program
[13:28] how many participants typically
participate on a day basis and share a
[13:33] little bit about the team that works
some type of programs.
[13:39] » Um in terms of participation we have uh
kids from different schools
[13:46] participating. We have uh chosen from
Santo
[13:54] some so some of the couple of of um
girls from No school made their way to
[14:04] our throne. In addition to those schools
of course we used we have we have uh
[14:10] children from Bayista who bista um I
think is our main um school. I would say
[14:21] it's because of how close they are and
the
[14:28] the children
and we have relationship with them.
[14:37] Um
so um we have different uh opportunity
[14:43] dates in during the week but um we do
the pick up at Bayista at 2:45 and we we
[14:52] um bring the children here. Uh we start
with um with reading and meditation to
[14:59] calm everybody down and then start with
reading and homework help and then go to
[15:06] the program. On Mondays we do um sewing
or uh by hand or by um with the machine.
[15:17] Um and the reason one of the reasons we
have chosen the sewing is because any
[15:24] activity that has to do with with your
hands uh immediately brings um brings
[15:30] the the person whether children or adult
um you have to lose your your hands uh
[15:41] and the brain cannot do two things at
the same time. you cannot focus on begin
[15:46] and and be thinking about you know
what's for dinner uh it's you are there
[15:52] present at the moment um on Tuesday we
focus uh on literacy and also health
[16:03] and we have the opportunity to um engage
with with uh the children almost on a
[16:10] onetoone basis to assess the literacy
needs And so we are able to um to
[16:16] articulate a plan to help um that child
in whatever needs they they have. Um
[16:26] uh several of our of our uh participants
um were um behind in their reading and
[16:38] um six months um down the road. uh they
were uh able to not only uh be the
[16:47] outreing level but uh many excel in work
on on their um uh best readers group and
[16:58] and the same is true for homework help
and
[17:03] um
famil development and
[17:08] it's like that um on Wednesdays we do we
have um different um it's like um
[17:19] miscellaneous
day we did um for instance uh sneakers
[17:26] or our
we have done
[17:34] art,
you know, um poetry or reading or
[17:42] um
on Thursday we do environmental
[17:46] education and Fridays we do hands on um
work with the children department. So,
[17:52] we have five cards uh including one at
Bayan that we um were able to
[18:01] to build this past year from February.
And um it was a education experience for
[18:10] for the children uh from the program but
also for all the children at school
[18:18] because it was at the entrance of of the
school. And everybody would see um know
[18:25] the the plants um uh just growing and um
seeds coming along and the first spoons
[18:35] and things like that until the garden we
developed into a a fullfledged garden.
[18:42] And so the um the administrators of
school um are very very content with
[18:50] that very happy So we are um really
establishing a very good relationship
[18:56] with them and uh um once uh once a month
on on Saturday we do a service day.
[19:08] So we we gather the families, the
children and the adults so that um it's
[19:16] an opportunity for the families to have
a um um an activity with their children
[19:24] outside in nature free of charge. So
they don't have to pay, they don't have
[19:30] to buy anything to to be with their
children. So um that has been also a
[19:36] very good experience for the families
that that um at the beginning they were
[19:43] questioning oh my s or something like
that but but the children are so uh into
[19:50] it that they are the parents and the
parents then don't realize oh this is
[19:56] something that my child really enjoys
and also they have left to enjoy.
[20:03] So that sounds more or less what kind of
things.
[20:10] » And how many participants?
>> Um we have had um 12 um participants. Um
[20:21] uh 14 participants.
Um so our ranges is um uh 12 to 15.
[20:31] Yeah.
>> And my last question is, how is this
[20:35] program funded besides this
co-sponsorship? How how do you receive
[20:39] funding to help support this program?
And are there any fees for participants
[20:43] to come to the program?
>> Yes, of course. Um, so we're actually a
[20:48] program that has no fees for any
participants and we make a point to
[20:52] remove all the barriers to entry and all
the financial obstacles. We fund raise
[20:56] all the costs up front and offer uh the
spaces for free, the programming for
[21:01] free and on a year- round basis. And we
are funded by different community
[21:06] foundations, government grants at a
county level, and we're definitely
[21:11] applying for different grants at state
level and federal level. And so we
[21:16] currently have funding mainly for
foundations and county support.
[21:20] » Just want to say congrats to you. I know
that you just received a 501c3. Thank
[21:24] you. status and that's one of the
reasons that this um report is coming
[21:28] now I said maybe earlier in the year is
because you want to wait until fewer so
[21:33] congratulations on that I know that's a
milestone developing services thank you
[21:38] so much and thank you for the advisory
committee and like my said we really
[21:42] found a home here and it's great to feel
like we have a place where we have the
[21:46] support and the community likes this
spot so it's a great fit and we look
[21:50] forward to years of future more great
festivals and programing that we'll hold
[21:54] here.
>> Well, with that, I would open it up to
[21:59] questions from the community members.
>> Yeah.
[22:03] » So, it sounds like a great program, but
I'm really questioning the number of
[22:07] participants. Remember, if you have 12
to 15 participants, that's a lot of fun
[22:12] that you're asking for and that you're
getting. And it seemed more like it's
[22:16] almost like they had a daycare for these
kids rather than a community program.
[22:23] and I see where it's provided by the
community, but still it seems like
[22:28] that's a very small number.
>> So, I'm wondering about that.
[22:34] » Um, we plan to expand.
>> Yes. Yes.
[22:38] » When it Yeah. And as we speak, we are um
um uh we will be in talks with with
[22:48] Bayista in fact and they have invited us
to their staff meeting on the first day
[22:54] and so uh to talk to uh the the staff
about the program uh to start our
[23:00] referral system.
>> Do you have the same students five days
[23:05] a week?
uh mostly. Um so we we do have students
[23:13] five days a week because it is a a
program that um uh it's a leadership
[23:20] program. And so our our activities
um work hand in hand together
[23:28] um to to develop that that leadership um
of the students. And um we are very
[23:36] pleased that uh last year we we did
accomplish that. our uh our students
[23:44] some of our well our students um were
shown in the um in the video they were
[23:50] wearing the the t-shirt and and they are
the ones uh sometimes leading the adults
[23:56] in the families or or or or asking other
people to um to uh come and see um what
[24:05] they have created
uh through the year
[24:08] » and their ages. their ages. Um, we
service uh first grade through fifth
[24:15] year to fifth grade. So, six and up.
>> Six and up. 15 at the most.
[24:22] » Yes.
>> But we do have um do you mind? We do
[24:26] have um certain limitations. Currently,
we're housed the teen room that has a
[24:30] capacity limit that we can't go beyond.
So,
[24:34] » that limit is actually uh I believe
>> 18.
[24:37] » Yeah. 18. So we have to have enough
staff per kids and have room for
[24:41] volunteers. And so we really have a
limitation there.
[24:45] » It doesn't allow us to even expand more
even if we wanted to. So
[24:49] » what is your staff per child?
>> So currently we have volunteers and we
[24:53] have two staff. So we really have a 1 to
six kind of ratio, sometimes even 1:5
[24:59] ratio. And so, well, what I would just
push back on saying we're kind of like a
[25:03] daycare is that we take the time and
attention in this youth leadership
[25:06] program and environmental education
program to ensure that all the kids are
[25:10] getting that attention that they need on
all these different subjects. But at the
[25:16] end of the day, we are a youth
leadership development program that also
[25:20] offers after school programming as well
as all of our other programming. And
[25:23] this is a real base for us. As Mate
said, it has allowed us to build the
[25:28] relationships from here with Bay Vista
with community members from our home
[25:33] base here. So we do actually reach so
many more community members than just
[25:37] our after school programming. For
example, 200 plus unduplicated community
[25:41] members at an event. Our Minga events
can get up to 50 people on popular
[25:46] Saturdays. And we're canvasing in the
community, reaching 2,000 plus people
[25:51] every year that are canvasing, door to
door camping. And so I would just not
[25:56] focus just on who's coming to the after
school programming with the impact that
[26:00] canal canal is having from this location
with the support that you guys have
[26:04] given us because in these years that
we've been here we have grown and we are
[26:08] on a good trajectory and we look forward
to that support taking us to the next
[26:12] level whether it's expanding to a bigger
room here or even keeping our teen room
[26:17] but having more offerings within the
community uh with your support and with
[26:21] the support of our sponsors Would you
apply for a larger room?
[26:26] » So where is the
kind of what I'm getting you're saying
[26:30] is that you're limited by the space you
get here.
[26:34] » So why not ask for more space,
>> right? Well, it's our first so just I'll
[26:39] just give you a quick answer and I
appreciate your questions. Um, so for
[26:43] us, we've just become a 501c3 and so
we've gone from being incubated as
[26:49] fiscally sponsored project to a 501c3 on
quite an accelerated timeline. And for
[26:53] us, we're actually going methodically
and looking to expand to that room. But
[26:57] this is our first time as a 51c3. So we
wanted to keep some stability in our
[27:01] programming as we go through that
transition. And then once we can
[27:05] continue through one more year, we would
like to apply to a larger room. Of
[27:09] course, we also have fiscal restraints
and financial restraints that all
[27:13] nonprofits, especially small grassroots
nonprofits like ourselves are dealing
[27:17] with in these years where budget cuts
are coming from federal, state and local
[27:22] level, even from some of our supporters.
And we have to deal with this reality.
[27:26] So, we do want to scale, but
methodically and in a healthy way that
[27:32] is sustainable for ourselves and our
community members. Okay. And can you
[27:35] also explain if you have from first
grade to fifth grade?
[27:40] » Yes.
>> I there's a lot difference between a
[27:42] first grader
and you only have two staff. How do you
[27:48] divide that? How do you work? How did
everybody get included in that spread
[27:53] immediately? Kids who are like you know
sisters or brothers who are one class
[27:57] apart.
So how does that work? I mean you can do
[28:02] that over three hours a day.
>> Yeah. Yes.
[28:06] » And and that is um also part of our
leadership um uh program. The the older
[28:16] kids become the mentors of of the
younger ones. And so um the same goes
[28:24] for our monthly uh gathering on a
Saturday. that Yavar was mentioning some
[28:29] of our gatherings go no up to 50 uh 50
people and that means that um all the
[28:38] the family members of that particular
child come in a company. So that means
[28:44] that three siblings or four siblings or
two siblings and one parent or or
[28:50] cousins. And so uh that is part of our
uh leadership um program as to no uh
[29:00] have the the family included but um also
have the older uh children be the role
[29:09] models of the younger ones. But then you
would have several siblings from the
[29:16] same family attending.
>> Yes.
[29:18] » So of the 15 maximum that you have we
could have two or three siblings
[29:24] » sometimes. Yes. Yes. We at at times we
had we have had um uh siblings. Yes.
[29:31] » Can I can I just share and add I think
you know from the city's perspective a
[29:35] couple have comments or thoughts on this
thing. One is um you know for the tina
[29:40] room that is a maximum
maximum space of about 18 people that
[29:45] could accommodate that room. So, we
actually view that as a really excellent
[29:48] utilization rate for that room and for
that amount of space. Having that number
[29:53] of of students and staff in there seems
very appropriate for the room. Um, and
[29:58] you know the I was just I'm reminding
again about like the value of that
[30:02] really isn't a cost to us. I mean, it's
not we're not giving money to basically
[30:07] canal. truly it's it would be potential
loss or trading if someone were rented
[30:12] during that time. So I just want to make
sure that that's clear. Um I think the
[30:15] the second part a couple questions about
like childare broadly speaking being
[30:20] sandfell there is a need for afterchool
programs there is strong demand and not
[30:27] enough service providers um that are
offering after school programming for
[30:31] the whole gamut from TK all the way up
through um fifth grade and in middle
[30:38] school and beyond. We know that there's
a need for these programs and so um we
[30:43] as a city participate in a group called
the early learning for the canal
[30:46] neighborhood Belcan as well as canal
promise. Um we have our big preschool
[30:52] right next door. Um we're trying to do
everything we can to really understand
[30:55] how can we as a community provide better
afterchool programming for for kids of
[31:01] every age range. And um some of the the
things that are coming out from these
[31:05] groups are talking about this is that we
just need more we need more programs. We
[31:09] need more inhome care. We need more
centerbased care. Anything we can do as
[31:14] a community to provide more
opportunities for youth development and
[31:18] leadership is going to be very very
helpful. So even though I'm kind of
[31:23] hearing some comments about how, you
know, this may only serve a small number
[31:26] of kids, that small number of kids, they
may not have another option otherwise in
[31:31] the community without programs like
this.
[31:33] The other thing I um I wanted to mention
with regards to um siblings, you know,
[31:40] for our pickle preschool program and the
Parkside preschool across town, that's
[31:44] actually a really important
consideration for us as youth program
[31:47] providers that many families really do
need care for siblings in one program
[31:54] because otherwise they'd be looking at
pickup and drop off in multiple
[31:58] different locations which can be a huge
burden for families. And so the ability
[32:03] to accommodate siblings in one program
is often times a really important
[32:07] consideration for program providers and
something that we actually um give
[32:12] priority to siblings in our programs if
if there's already someone enrolled.
[32:17] They would be higher on our weight list
because we know how important that is
[32:20] for family dynamics. So it's kind of
share that perspective. So let me
[32:24] clarify. So what we're voting on only is
the use the value of the use of the
[32:29] space.
>> Yeah. So your your decision in front of
[32:32] you tonight would be whether to offer um
a fee waiver um or reduction for this
[32:38] program. Typically we would um require
groups to rent space. Um so this group
[32:43] is requesting a fee reduction or waiver
for use of that space to help them offer
[32:48] this type of
>> and the space used for you said it's the
[32:52] team. I would think that after school
for teens would be their name for it.
[32:56] » It's it's it you know the names of these
rooms are holdovers from probably 2004
[33:02] when it was um renovated. That has
historically been the name of the room,
[33:06] but really it's it's another
multi-purpose room just like this one.
[33:09] It can get used for for anything. Right
now we don't have any other competing
[33:14] demand. So this request would not offset
any other usage right now for that room.
[33:20] It would really just be if someone were
to come in and ask for the rental to
[33:25] revisit it. I think you're right. We
need team programming in this community.
[33:29] That's something that our city staff
team has talked about extensively. Um
[33:33] it's hard that's a hard program area to
try to create programs that bring teams
[33:38] in that they want to engage in. And
maybe this can obviously can speak a
[33:42] little more to that too moving forward,
but you know, sports is is a big one.
[33:46] Um, I think that, uh, having things that
draw people in, um, is a big part of
[33:51] that. Right now, if you go to the teen
room, there's not a lot in there that
[33:54] teens are going to be interested in. So,
>> yeah, teens would love to learn how to
[33:58] sew. They love learn how to manage to
cook and to plant. Teams make these
[34:03] things, too.
>> And we do have a uh volunteer aspect.
[34:06] And so part of the leadership that we
provide is also opportunities for high
[34:10] school and middle school students to be
mentors, volunteers to come to different
[34:15] days that day when they're speaking with
them. So we do have that opening.
[34:18] They're also eligible to come to our
Saturday planting and community service
[34:22] events. So we have an a whole aspect. We
also have success in kids graduating out
[34:27] of our program as the leaders becoming
volunteers,
[34:32] interns, and being interested in working
with us. So we do have kids that really
[34:37] maintain an interest in this program as
they grow. Our goal with Raises is that
[34:42] a kid would stay with us all the way
until adulthood because they would be a
[34:45] community member that understands the
merits of the program, the movement and
[34:49] what we're trying to do here. So we
really think that our last years here
[34:54] showed that we offer a lot of value to
this community, disproportionate value
[34:58] to this community because from this teen
room we're able to provide all the
[35:03] things that we outlined. So, we would
really appreciate your support and we
[35:07] think that we would really be able to
double down on all of our successes and
[35:11] have another great year and hopefully
come back to this next meeting with you
[35:15] as an ally and a supporter and a lot of
your questions answered. And so, I'm
[35:19] very interested in uh in advocating for
your support, Ellen.
[35:25] » Also, this Saturday, do you need space
here on Saturday?
[35:28] » We are hosted at BF on Saturday at the
school.
[35:31] » Okay. Now, what about the big you said
you had this big annual party?
[35:35] » Yes.
>> That was the the
[35:39] » That was here.
>> Okay. So, is that included now? $11,000.
[35:42] » No, that's another um last time with
Christie. We did it separately. We spoke
[35:48] to Christie about it and told her the
date and then we worked together. She we
[35:54] had a couple planning days with her and
then it was hosted here. Yeah, that was
[35:59] a for us that was a very low impact
event that did not have any other offer
[36:04] programming. So, we actually don't
co-sponsor that as a city sponsored
[36:07] event.
So I I think maybe my question for most
[36:11] of the it seems as I said seems like a
private day here
[36:16] after school especially 15 and there's
two two staff and all these volunteers
[36:22] and it has to be expanded in age wise
because teenagers need something to
[36:27] learn to the teen ro so I guess I was
going very
[36:33] my question thank you for your answer
>> thank you
[36:37] other questions.
[36:41] Uh, I'm just curious. Um,
do you get like any like CPR training or
[36:47] visit a medical emergency? That's
something.
[36:52] » Um, no, we haven't. Um, we haven't got
that. But that's a an excellent
[36:58] uh idea.
[37:02] long long time ago. I be entertaining,
but we've done we've done CPR trainings.
[37:07] So, we've done CPR trainings uh as
colleagues and so I think we would be
[37:11] good to renew. Um but we we've done CPR
trainings and gone through certain
[37:16] trades together, but you're right, these
should always be renewed and checked up
[37:19] on. So, I think we're due for a CPR
training.
[37:32] questions.
[37:36] » Well, uh, if there are no other
questions and I think at this point I'd
[37:39] open it up to any public comment.
>> Well, I will say that programs like
[37:45] these are critical for the community as
mentioned is a huge need after program
[37:53] like this. So I really encourage you to
consider the support because we will
[37:59] need it and it's not going to be a
single response for this need. We need
[38:04] cross sector respond city
no profits philanthropy
[38:10] private sector and putting all that
together is not easy. So I really
[38:16] appreciate you what you guys did for the
community and think in my scene is small
[38:20] in a scale that is a key contribution to
the the bigger efforts that many of the
[38:25] system. So thank you all
[38:33] that children would learn these skills
in some of the other programs ahead of
[38:38] boulder at our community center.
is like say eight um rather than five or
[38:46] six years old.
Do they have other classes here where
[38:50] they can learn the same things just at a
different time?
[38:55] I think I think we're one of the I
wouldn't want to speak about you know
[39:00] the curriculum of other programs because
I'm sure they have aspects but we really
[39:04] do have a focus on youth environmental
leadership and our focus entails a
[39:10] cultural sensitivity with Latino youth
and families here in the canal. We have
[39:14] a cultural aspect to our programs and as
Mel was outlining our weekly schedule
[39:19] and programming, the sewing program, the
upcycle program, the uh art, the
[39:24] environmental education, the literacy,
the books, everything is culturally
[39:28] sensitive, a bilingual program that we
can service kids that are speaking
[39:33] Spanish, English or both. And we really
do focus on these details and these
[39:38] aspects. And that's what we think is a
unique aspect of our program that
[39:42] throughout the whole curriculum you have
these values that we try to focus in on.
[39:47] So um I don't think currently that
there's another program of another age
[39:51] group that we could say is a parallel
program. But like we've said, we are
[39:55] interested in expanding to a larger
room, having more mentors of other ages,
[40:00] more middle school and high school teens
involved as the mentors and volunteers
[40:05] for community service hours for the
letters of recommendation for college
[40:09] and for just the benefits that they get
as community members and all the
[40:12] positives you get when you give back to
youth and youth programming. Um, and
[40:17] we've had great reviews from people that
come and volunteer with us. They're
[40:20] delighted to be helping the young kids
that look like them, that have a similar
[40:24] experience to them. We have a board
member that was in my test programs as a
[40:29] kid right now that was an intern with us
and a staff with us when we had the
[40:34] budget and was a youth in the programs
that I remember as a kid in the program.
[40:38] So, it's just a testament to that we're
we're really interested in long-term
[40:43] development of these kids. And if if our
program right now is focusing on the
[40:48] younger age group, it's not because
that's all we want to focus on. It's
[40:52] because that's what the strength is
focusing on now because of where we see
[40:55] the greatest need. But we do have a plan
to expand to those other aid groups and
[41:00] get those teens in the teen room.
>> We also have that the music programm
[41:08] after school programs and so on. And I'm
I'm just wondering how many of those
[41:12] students are going to stay in this
program and go on to those programs,
[41:16] drop out of the leadership and go into
personal interest and
[41:20] » well
just wondering how do we know
[41:24] » there there are many children that go
without any programming like were saying
[41:30] so uh there's no shortage of of kids to
go into different programs um but the
[41:38] » you stay
those set of programs also.
[41:42] » No, not necessarily. Um, you know,
different different children go to the
[41:48] music program. Uh, there are more than
3,000 uh children ages 5 to 18 and
[41:56] there's no not enough programming or or
after school programming to go around
[42:02] for everybody. So, the the more the
marrier. when she's talking about the
[42:08] the camping and the scouting which is
fabulous and teaches leadership also. So
[42:14] I don't know how to I don't think
[42:18] » well again I'll just remind that you
know what's in front of us right now is
[42:22] a is a request for this specific program
that doesn't preclude us from you know
[42:26] exploring other types of programs moving
forward but I would just reiterate that
[42:30] I I think this is a needed program and
one of the reasons at a staff level that
[42:34] we are recommending approval of this is
because we do see this as a need for in
[42:40] our community.
>> Great.
[42:43] » Yep. And I think with that and so, you
know, we we had public comment. So, I'm
[42:46] going to bring it back to uh where we
typically go, which would be to request
[42:51] a a vote on this this matter or request
a a motion and a second actually is what
[42:57] I would be um looking for here.
[43:04] » Motions.
I'll second.
[43:09] » Thank you, Becky. Did you catch that? I
did. Thank you. Uh, member Arbit.
[43:14] » Okay. Member Campos.
>> Yes.
[43:17] » Member Ruez.
>> Yes.
[43:19] » And member Vasquez.
>> Yes.
[43:22] » All right. Motion approved. Thank you.
>> Okay.
[43:26] » Thank you. So, you're welcome to stay.
You're also welcome to go if you need
[43:30] to. Thanks. Thank you for being here.
>> Thank you so much.
[43:39] Yeah. Park somewhere we shouldn't
depart.
[43:43] » Thank you so much. Thank you so much
everybody.
[43:47] » Thank you. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Good to see you.
[43:52] » Yeah. And then we'll be in touch too.
It's really great to put new places
[43:55] together. Thank you so much.
>> Thank you so much.
[43:57] » Great. Thank you Greg. This Thank you.
>> All right. And so with that, we are
[44:03] going to move on to the second item on
our agenda.
[44:10] I'm going to welcome some
representatives here from Canal SC. I'm
[44:14] going to let you introduce yourselves
here and then I might share a couple
[44:17] words about the application and then we
can have discussion.
[44:22] » Well, hello everyone. Uh my name is Nico
Carrera. I met some of you guys earlier
[44:26] this year. Um, I am one of the staff
members of Canalc. I wear a couple of
[44:32] hats. I'm one of the coaches of Canalc,
but I also work in the administrative
[44:37] side, logistics as well to make sure
that this program runs smoothly.
[44:41] And hello, how are you? My name is Omar.
I'm the CEO of Canal Alliance. Also, I'm
[44:46] here as an advisory board. I'm a member
of an advisory board for Canalc. So, we
[44:52] can see Canal Alliance is the
responsibility.
[44:57] So thank you for for being here. Um the
reason we asked you to come back this
[45:02] evening is you may recall u has already
submitted a post sponsorship application
[45:08] which came your way earlier this year.
Um we you also know that we recently um
[45:16] put a lot of work into pickle weed
fields and I think as um we're now
[45:22] seeing demand increase for the fields we
wanted to pause before we approved the
[45:27] full year of co-sponsorships so we could
better understand the seasonality of the
[45:31] requests coming our way. So what was
approved um for Canelc's co-sponsorship
[45:37] originally took us through the spring
season. I believe that that
[45:40] co-sponsorship ended at the end of May
2026. Um, and now we're looking at a
[45:47] co-sponsorship request for the the fall
winter season. Um, so that is why why uh
[45:55] Canel is back this evening. That was a a
kind of decision on our part to really
[45:59] just be thoughtful about how we approve
these requests. Um, I wanted to share I
[46:04] think right now one of the things that
we're doing is we're taking a look at
[46:08] the seasonality of field allocation and
trying to make sure that we're reviewing
[46:14] these requests in a way that that makes
sense. That is going to help um groups
[46:18] plan um enough time in advance but not
so far in advance that you can't really
[46:24] tell how many participants they need,
how many fields, what field space. So,
[46:28] we've been having recent discussions
about that process on our end and I
[46:33] think we are honing that in. We're also
taking a look at our field allocation
[46:38] and policy procedures, the rules for the
field to make sure that um those match
[46:43] with our needs and including our
priority allocation schedule, who has
[46:48] priority access to the field. So, that's
something that we're anticipating
[46:53] bringing to our park and recognition
probably this fall and maybe as soon as
[46:58] this month for our August park and
recognition meeting. We're not expecting
[47:02] any dramatic changes, but we want to
make sure it's really clear to the
[47:06] community how how we want to prioritize
access to the fields. For the city, we
[47:10] want to prioritize um um Sandra
residents first and foremost have access
[47:15] to the community. um uh youth programs
are important to us. Recreational
[47:20] programs that are free access programs
are important to us. Uh but we also know
[47:25] that there's a broad range of programs
that uh we want to see happening, you
[47:30] know, including adult programming,
competitive programming. We know there's
[47:34] a lot of different ways people get
involved in sports. Um and so that's
[47:38] something we're taking. I just kind of
want to share that context before we get
[47:42] into uh the canal scene presentation.
So with that, um, just a reminder again
[47:50] that this is a request for
co-sponsorship for use of the field. Um,
[47:54] I need to remind myself the specific
days and times that you're requesting,
[47:58] but you might know off hand before I
pull it up. I believe it's Mondays and
[48:03] Wednesdays, uh, as well as, uh,
Saturdays and Sundays as well. Um, from
[48:08] Saturdays and Sundays, it's from 8:30 to
12:00 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays, I
[48:12] believe, we start at 3:00 p.m. until
7:00 p.m. If I'm not mistaken, those are
[48:17] the times that we are allocated for
that matches. And
[48:23] so the the again, this would not be a
cost to the city. It would just be a a
[48:29] fee waver request. Uh, the value of that
request for this season will be $10,624.
[48:37] be based on our current resident
nonprofit field rental rates for pickled
[48:41] meat field. Uh and that amount would be
in addition to the uh the previously
[48:47] approved fee waiver which was $6,34
for the spring season. Um I I would say,
[48:55] you know, we we do have demand for the
field from a lot of groups. I think
[48:59] slightly different from the team room.
We do have a lot of groups that are
[49:03] requesting access to the field, but at
this point, this this request would not
[49:09] offset in their groups. I think we've
been able to find a nice happy home for
[49:14] everyone that has requested field space
at this point in time that would align
[49:18] with our priority allocation schedule.
So, let's kind of share that context as
[49:22] well.
Um, and with that, I know you mentioned
[49:25] you had a slide deck. Would you like me
to pull it up on the screen?
[49:27] » Oh, yeah, that would be great. Uh, send
it to your email.
[49:30] » Yep. I have that opened here. Let's see
if I can share that.
[49:56] » Look. Okay, that looks perfect. All
right. Just let me know. Sounds good.
[50:00] Uh, well, first and foremost, thank you
so much for letting us be here again.
[50:03] It's a pleasure. Um, we really
appreciated your support last time and I
[50:07] just want to give you guys a quick
update of what your approval brought to
[50:12] our program in the in the in the spring.
Uh, this was the first time that Canal
[50:17] was able to do a full year- round
program soccer. Normally, the the the
[50:21] the season for soccer is in the fall.
This time we were able to do the spring
[50:26] and the fall which was a big step in not
only canalc but uh just soccer in
[50:32] general for recreational programs such
as canal. Um during that time we had
[50:37] about 80 kids that participated. Uh and
trickling in we went up to about 100
[50:43] kids at the end at May. Uh we were able
to have a female team as we promised uh
[50:49] with female staff that were licensed as
well as played previously at D2 and D1
[50:56] colleges that brought their experience
uh to the girls that we brought in. um
[51:01] as well as the fact as we were also
participated in multiple uh tournaments
[51:06] as well such as football with the marine
football league and as well as uh
[51:10] friendly games that we were able to make
with Cor Madera FC um as well as Santa.
[51:17] Um during this time we were able to uh
bring in uh roughly ages from
[51:24] kindergarten all the way up to high
school. some of our oldest kids were uh
[51:29] in sophomore years of high school. Um so
it was a it was a great success in terms
[51:34] of the continuation of the fall last
season. And now we're here to talk about
[51:39] uh the 2026 fall program that we have
planned uh which would go to the next
[51:44] slide please.
[51:50] So for the 2026 fall pickle program
when this uh slide was created we were
[51:58] expecting 130 plus estimated
participants. These individuals would go
[52:02] from TK all the way to 8th grade and we
would have about 10 coaching staffs
[52:07] ranges of all terms of qualifications.
To this day we have about 120 kids that
[52:13] have already signed up. So 130 is no
longer our estimate. We're looking
[52:18] closer to that 200 range. These the
majority of these kids are going to be
[52:22] in the TK to sixth grade, but we also
have the seventh to eighth grade group
[52:27] as well. Um practices would be uh Monday
and Wednesdays from 400 p.m. to 7:00
[52:33] p.m. And games are Saturdays and Sundays
from 8:30 to 12. Um from this we can
[52:40] have about uh actually it'll be on the
next slide. I apologize. Um,
[52:47] from this
we want to drive our impact a little bit
[52:53] uh farther away from just our initial 80
kids that we had. And the way that we
[52:57] did that is by partnering with the
schools in the Sanfell district. Uh we
[53:02] are currently expanding to San Pedro
Elementary and Bajia Vista elementary
[53:06] schools where we'll have afterchool
programs there on top of the programs
[53:09] that we have in uh in in pickleweed. And
the reason why we're doing this is one,
[53:14] we just need more space. There's uh the
incentive is very high and we it's it's
[53:19] just better to be able to have a
controlled environment where we're
[53:23] having instead of having 200 kids in
Pickle Park, we're able to have a
[53:27] controlled roughly 100 kids at Pickle
Park that they have the space to be able
[53:31] to compete, to practice, to be able to
scrimmage so that they're preparing for
[53:35] the the season that we have to come. Um,
as well as the fact is we're going to
[53:39] have about 50 kids at San Pedro and
another 50 kids at Vaya Vista later this
[53:43] uh later this year. Um, but the big
honing in on why we really need your
[53:49] support is because we really want to
take away that payto-play method. Um, as
[53:53] as you guys know, playing sports in
Marin County is a very expensive thing.
[53:58] And that's uh Canal residents don't have
the they don't have the finance to be
[54:02] able to go and be able to give their
their uh their money to uh programs that
[54:08] are that are uh roughly costing anywhere
between what $1,000 to $1,500
[54:14] for the year. And that's just
recreational. When you go into
[54:17] competitive, you're looking up to $5,000
of cost um for any competitive soccer
[54:23] that you'll see such as um other other
organized competitive sports. For
[54:28] Canalc, our price is $300 for uh for the
season. That includes up to August all
[54:36] the way up to November with unlimited
scholarship. And we really mean
[54:40] unlimited scholarship. If you only can
pay $50, 150 free, you have it as we we
[54:47] do not want to make uh a financial
burden to any of these kids. We just
[54:52] want them to play soccer, to be able to
develop as a team, instill leadership,
[54:56] and be able to truly enjoy the sport at
a high quality level that's no uh lesser
[55:02] than any of the other clubs that Marin
provides. Um, and then the other thing
[55:06] that we also want to hone in on is
recruiting with inclusion in mind. Um,
[55:12] we had one successful team for for the
female uh for the female category. Now
[55:17] we're promising five, potentially more.
Uh, this goes all the way to TK, all the
[55:22] way to 8th grade, that we're ensuring
that not only do we have enough uh staff
[55:26] members to be able to ensure that this
occurs, but also to um make sure that
[55:31] these kids as they develop through TK
all the way to 8th grade that they still
[55:35] stay with the same team, they grow as
the same team. And we've been but we've
[55:39] also been able to uh give uh our female
um uh players the opportunities to go
[55:46] and see professional players play. Last
season we were able to take all the
[55:51] girls and their families to the BSC game
which is a professional female team here
[55:56] in the Bay Area to go and not only meet
the players but also be able to see the
[56:00] game and be able to have an amazing
event with their family. and they loved
[56:04] it and they want to come back and want
to continue playing the sport. And
[56:08] that's kind of what our our message is
to be able to obviously encourage every
[56:12] every player that wants to come in, but
also encourage the girls to come and
[56:16] continue to come in and play, but they
are also um you know a big part of uh
[56:22] our our plans to be able to expand into
recreation for community.
[56:31] And the last thing I want to touch on is
that we as Canalc have realized that
[56:37] canal uh soccer is is not the only thing
that we can provide for this community.
[56:41] And what what we mean by that is that we
want to invest beyond soccer and we want
[56:46] to be able to provide more community
outreach to not only the members that
[56:52] play for Canal, but to Canal uh the
Canal community itself. A couple of
[56:57] things that we've been able to do is
being be able to participate in the
[57:00] National Night Out. Actually, we did
that yesterday. That photo on the right
[57:03] is us yesterday over in the National
Night Out. We were able to be at the
[57:07] Fruits and Vegetables Festival and also
for the the World the World Cup final.
[57:10] We were able to have an event here uh in
the multi-purpose room. Uh and we were
[57:16] able to stream the the uh the final of
the World Cup to not only the families
[57:22] of the CanalC, but also residents of uh
the Canal neighborhood as well. Um, and
[57:27] we also are trying to build bridges
across North Bay. What we mean by that
[57:30] is we're trying to partner with other
clubs uh around Canal Alliance Canal
[57:35] that see our vision and want to support
us. And the way that looks is that they
[57:39] want to compete with us. They want to be
able to uh join leagues. For example,
[57:42] Port Madera and Sano, West Marin and
Nevada have all are are all going to be
[57:47] competing uh with Canalc in the fall.
And this goes from TK all the way to 8th
[57:52] grade that they're able to have
opportunities to play other clubs in in
[57:57] in Marin. And this is going to be truly
the first time that we're going to be
[58:01] able to show what Canal talent has and
compare it to uh the rest of Marin, not
[58:07] just for the recreational side, but also
for our competitive program as well.
[58:15] And with that being said, thank you so
much for your time. Thank you for
[58:18] allowing us to present and again we
really appreciate uh you being here and
[58:23] yeah I really appreciate your time.
>> Well, thank you. I'll just say one last
[58:30] thing before I open it up to um to
questions or comments from the committee
[58:35] is that I think I failed to mention that
with the city staff we are 100%
[58:39] supportive of the waiver of this
program. We we kind of like I mentioned
[58:44] ISIS now we see this as a as an
important community program um offering
[58:50] youth soccer on these fields. One of the
reasons these fields um came to be and
[58:55] were so greatly improved is through the
support of groups like Alliance and PLC
[59:00] advocating for this program. Uh and uh
so we we are very supportive of this
[59:06] wave of requests. Um, so yeah, with that
I turn it over to any question
[59:16] if the use of field that you're asking
for the funds for you said there was
[59:20] $6,000 $10,000
does that for the whole year does that
[59:24] include when you had the groups from the
other communities come in does that
[59:29] include reducible field during that time
also?
[59:33] » I can answer that and feel free to fill
in. Um, you know the the specific last
[59:37] super space would be the times that were
listed. I can pull it back up on slide
[59:43] one here. Uh slide two, the the the
co-sponsored request before the
[59:49] practices games. So Monday is a
Wednesday 7 p.m. and then the games
[59:54] Saturday is a Sunday. Now how how can
LSC choose it to use that time for
[59:59] practices or games or use that build
space is kind of to them. So that uh I
[1:00:04] would maybe defer to you the answer to
that question. Yeah, absolutely. Well,
[1:00:07] in terms of the practices, that's uh
solely just for Canal Canal uh kids.
[1:00:12] » So, so what happens when you have a
competition with the other clubs? Do
[1:00:15] they come over here and play? Do you
rent facilities at those times?
[1:00:19] » So, we are only responsible for being
able to host the games that we're uh
[1:00:24] that we're uh that we're supposed to
host. And that's majority is going to be
[1:00:30] on Saturdays. And and those games are
yes their quarter era contest and West
[1:00:35] Marine comes in during those hours but
the reason for that is because we also
[1:00:40] want to invite them over to be able to
play at week to show them our home field
[1:00:45] and there's also away games as well. We
go over to Cord Madera and that time is
[1:00:49] not paid for by um for for this request.
That's that's their own um that's their
[1:00:55] own payment. But uh in terms of us, yes,
we invite teams to come in to come to
[1:00:59] come compete with us, show them our
beautiful field, our beautiful
[1:01:02] community. Um but the majority I would
say is solely for
[1:01:07] » what about on the day that you're not
here like Tuesdays and Thursdays that
[1:01:12] you give those other teams to come play
here and pennis?
[1:01:15] » Yeah. Uh
potentially. Yes. I uh that that could
[1:01:21] be that could be a good idea.
Unfortunately, that's not my
[1:01:24] » Yeah. I I might step in and just share.
I think from our perspective, um I
[1:01:29] actually say no, we don't want groups to
be essentially subleasing their space on
[1:01:34] the field and making those types of
arrangements. I think that it is very
[1:01:38] common for the leads to invite other
teams to come to compete.
[1:01:44] um this request that you'd be looking at
today for the co-sponsorship will be us
[1:01:50] um doing a fee waver for Canf to have
access to the field and to schedule
[1:01:55] those types of games as they see is
appropriate. Um, but you know, asking
[1:02:00] other teams to come and pay for that
time, it's it's already covered, right?
[1:02:04] It'll be covered by the co-sponsorship.
So, so I would say no. I wouldn't want
[1:02:08] them to be supplementing the facility or
making those types of arrangements. That
[1:02:12] would be something. If other teams did
want to come and rent the facility, if
[1:02:15] they really enjoyed their experience
here at Paper Park and they wanted to
[1:02:19] come and and host their own games or
activities here, uh, we would definitely
[1:02:24] be open to that and consider it. So it's
kind of alignment how we allocate
[1:02:27] presser
[1:02:31] I wonder um the days that facility does
the field need to breast
[1:02:38] fresh to where it can out be used by
other or does it need
[1:02:45] » the beauty about surf is that once we're
done it's completely uh usable for any
[1:02:50] other sport or recreation
>> um and we clean up after ourselves
[1:02:54] there's no mess that. Um, and we our
staff also stays late to make sure that
[1:03:00] it's set up so that when the next person
comes in, they're able to use it in any
[1:03:04] way. Yeah, I feel student. Um, on
Fridays, we do field maintenance once a
[1:03:10] week. So, uh, we do have our parks crew
that's going to do a great job of taking
[1:03:14] care of the facility. Um, you know, over
time we we are expecting maybe a little
[1:03:19] piece of wear and tear, but we factor
that into our plans for long-term
[1:03:23] operations and maintenance. But just as
was mentioned, the beauty of this field,
[1:03:27] the reason that we chose to install um
an all weather turf field is because it
[1:03:32] it more than doubled the amount of
playing time available. Um, typically,
[1:03:37] if if you've been familiar with how
we've operated a field in the past, this
[1:03:42] time of year, the field typically
wouldn't be open for playing. it would
[1:03:45] be closing because it would either be
cost prohibitive to longer and maintain
[1:03:49] it or by this point in the season there
would be too many issues concerns with
[1:03:54] the blank surface to allow to be
playable. So it did it. So we're really
[1:03:59] grateful that we have the opportunity to
have year round play and very very
[1:04:03] limited downtime in between groups.
[1:04:10] Other questions?
[1:04:14] Um, Nicholas, may I have a question for
you? You said uh you're going to have
[1:04:21] 140 children,
but maybe in the future you're going to
[1:04:26] take more children because our community
is so big.
[1:04:30] » Yes. Um, we would love to take as many
kids as we possibly could take.
[1:04:35] » Um, we we are still going to be uh going
into the schools once they come come
[1:04:41] back at August 19th, I believe. Um, and
we're expecting to see a big jump in the
[1:04:46] amount of kids that we're going to be
able to recruit during those times. Um,
[1:04:50] and so as of right now, we have about
120 uh kids that are currently
[1:04:55] registered. Once the season um once once
school gets back in, we're able to
[1:05:00] promote our this this uh our software
club to these schools that we've been
[1:05:05] partnered with, we're expecting to see a
big jump and we're prepared to be able
[1:05:08] to take on those kids and increase the
amount of coaches as we see fit,
[1:05:13] increase the so that the quality doesn't
break down. We are really uh we kind of
[1:05:18] pride ourselves in that we want to be as
as organized and as competitive as other
[1:05:23] clubs. So as the need dries we will
match that drive as well.
[1:05:27] » Thank you so much for this opportunity
for our community for me. Really really
[1:05:32] appreciate this big big job. Thank you
so much for big report for for chilling.
[1:05:40] » Thank you so much.
>> We need that. We need that. I think I
[1:05:43] will I just add the we covered
everything but I will add the another
[1:05:47] component of this program is all the
coaches are professional licensed right
[1:05:53] and also those coaches are providing
opportunities for and youth who are
[1:05:59] soccer players but for high school to be
assistant coaches. So they're being
[1:06:04] trained to become the future coaches of
of these kids. So that's another element
[1:06:10] of the program is by having bison
coaches allow us to bring youth to
[1:06:15] follow as well. We have I think like
three high school uh kids right now
[1:06:21] being assistant coaches for we do we
didn't want our program to stop after
[1:06:27] 8th grade or in the early stage of the
high school. We trying to figure out
[1:06:31] other ways to be able to promote
leadership and promote opportunities for
[1:06:35] individuals that were 16 plus. And the
way that we thought about doing that is
[1:06:39] by being able to sponsor their license,
provide them a job, be able to get that
[1:06:43] experience to be able to coach alongside
licensed coaches as well.
[1:06:53] » Okay.
other other
[1:06:58] » I just want to comment that it's so much
more impensive what you're doing with
[1:07:03] 130 students three times a week than
what the others are doing with 13 to 15
[1:07:09] students five times a week six so that's
just why I have been asking a lot of
[1:07:14] questions of the others is really
reaching enough people to make it
[1:07:19] valuable and you're reaching enough
people to really make it work well
[1:07:22] because you're keeping office
[1:07:26] I think the nature the nature of the
work is different is they complement
[1:07:33] each other. So there is programs they
are the scale that what they can do
[1:07:39] require that amount of kids versus
soccer because it's a group setting by
[1:07:44] default allow us to send more kids.
>> Yeah. You're physically active.
[1:07:50] » Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
I think both are very important and they
[1:07:54] compliment with each other.
[1:08:01] » So if there are no other comments or
questions, I open up to public comment.
[1:08:05] Seeing as no one's here, um I would
request a uh a motion at some.
[1:08:20] » All right. And that was uh
Darlin and Ellen. Correct.
[1:08:25] » Okay. All right. Member Arbit.
[1:08:32] » I didn't hear that. I'm sorry. Member
Arbit.
[1:08:34] » Yes.
>> Thank you. Member Campos.
[1:08:37] » Yes.
>> Member Ruez.
[1:08:39] » Yes.
>> And member Vasquez.
[1:08:41] » Yes.
>> All right. Thank you everyone. Motion
[1:08:43] approved.
>> Thank you.
[1:08:46] » Thank you very much
for coming by. Thank you so much. We
[1:08:49] appreciate
>> Thank you. Thank you guys. it.
[1:08:52] » Thank you.
>> All right, we are going to move on to
[1:08:57] the next item on our agenda, community
reports and comments. So, uh if anyone
[1:09:01] from that you would like to share and
report out of any other meetings,
[1:09:05] community events to
[1:09:10] » uh I got different meetings.
I have a a meeting uh about the date two
[1:09:18] weeks ago for about um
um immigrants. What happened around with
[1:09:25] immigrants was so important for me about
our community was multicultural.
[1:09:33] Uh they explain how many
um lawyer we have for help people
[1:09:39] against the ice community
broken families. Yeah. What's
[1:09:45] interesting? Yeah. And last night we
have a a night with the police
[1:09:52] » night out.
>> Yeah. in all outside
[1:09:57] and yeah in all this one days I have for
um group
[1:10:05] SC
[1:10:20] » how was it?
I said it's good because
[1:10:25] member of the
[1:10:31] » Okay. Well, then if that's all there
then I'm going to move to
[1:10:39] um a staff report. Got a couple things I
wanted to share on my end. I think one
[1:10:44] is I wanted just to acknowledge that I'm
not normally the one running these
[1:10:48] meetings. I think you're all aware that
um Christy Bucker was the direct
[1:10:52] supervisor here. She did step away from
her role of the city at the end of June
[1:10:57] and so we did with vacancy in that role.
Um so I've been helping support along
[1:11:02] with Darcy Chulu, one of the recreation
supervisors over at the um the San Rell
[1:11:08] Center on B Street. And so we've been
helping support but just want to Stephen
[1:11:13] Rogers the program coordinator here is
still here. Um Denise at the front desk
[1:11:18] is still here and we're hoping to have
some stability moving forward. So we are
[1:11:22] hoping to um start to make some
decisions about who might be in that
[1:11:26] supervisor role this fall. We'll
definitely keep you all posted as we
[1:11:30] make those decisions, but that was
unexpected um for us to lose twisty at
[1:11:34] this point in time. She just shared that
it wasn't the right fit for her at this
[1:11:38] point and sometimes it happens. Um but u
I'm I'm feeling optimistic about how
[1:11:43] things will come together moving
forward. So just wanted to acknowledge
[1:11:47] that that is a big constit
um couple facility updates. Um the park
[1:11:53] restroom I know that right now it it is
still not in good shape. If you've been
[1:11:59] out there and you've seen it, it um you
all know it needs to be replaced and it
[1:12:03] is still on the work plan to replace the
the park restroom. We ran into some
[1:12:08] delays with the design and the
permitting review, the building check,
[1:12:11] but it is in motion right now, and I'm
still optimistic that we'll be able to
[1:12:16] start that construction project,
hopefully this winter. Uh that building
[1:12:21] may be installed by spring of 2027, far
later than I would have hoped. Um
[1:12:26] sometimes, unfortunately, this happens
uh with these types of projects, but
[1:12:30] that is still on the work plan, and I
just wanted to share that. Uh I'm do
[1:12:34] everything I can to try to get that
moving properly. um the library. Um
[1:12:38] we're getting close to wrapping up
construction. You look out the window
[1:12:41] here, you still see the construction
fencing that is up, but we're hoping
[1:12:45] that that will come down this fall as
well. I think realistically we're
[1:12:49] looking at probably October, maybe
November, the library will be reopened
[1:12:54] this fall, which we're all excited
about. Um the uh Pickle preschool on the
[1:12:59] other side of the campus, uh summer 2027
is when we start construction. Um, we we
[1:13:06] had hoped maybe we would have been able
to get those facilities completed this
[1:13:11] summer. That we didn't quite hit that
window. We don't want to disrupt the
[1:13:15] preschool program. So, we're planning
right now to uh completely renovate that
[1:13:21] facility in summer 2027 when um that
program is not in session. Um just re we
[1:13:27] just received another grant to help
support fun of that project. Um, we
[1:13:32] received $147,000
from, it's called CDBG, the community
[1:13:37] development block grant program. Um, so
we're excited to have some additional
[1:13:42] funding that will help support
the new facility next year.
[1:13:48] Not specifically at Pickle Park, but
nearby. Um, I'm not sure if involved in
[1:13:52] tracking that the city acquired a new
property at 620 Canal Street. is where
[1:13:58] the pedestrian the bridge would cross
Canal. Um if you're on that at the
[1:14:03] property very end of Canal Street um
that used to be a boatyard property it's
[1:14:07] about 1.65 acres. So the city worked
with Trust plan the county man to
[1:14:13] acquire that property. Um, now that we
have it, we're developing plans for what
[1:14:19] could a park look like at that facility
and the money to build uh to build a
[1:14:23] park at that location as well as some
feasibility studies for the engineering
[1:14:28] of the bridge across the canal. Um, but
I want to share that though we just
[1:14:32] received an $800,000 grant uh priority
conservation area grant through uh the
[1:14:38] uh the Metropolitan Transportation
Commission, MTC. So, um we've received
[1:14:44] some initial funding to help with u the
design of the parts of that feasibility
[1:14:49] study. And so we're really excited about
that. We think this is going to be a
[1:14:53] project that will be very competitive
for receiving grant funding and external
[1:14:58] funding sources to help support that
moving forward and we're going to
[1:15:02] continue to be applying for those grant
opportunities to help with that project.
[1:15:06] So likely this fall, we're going to
start some community outreach and
[1:15:10] engagement to get ideas from the
community about what what what do people
[1:15:14] want to see in that park in that
location? What are things that we should
[1:15:18] be there? So really excited about the
opportunity to go to new park
[1:15:22] » to be beautiful. I think so.
>> Yeah.
[1:15:25] » And nice.
>> Yeah, we're really excited about this. I
[1:15:28] know that's that's another project
that's been um envisioned for for
[1:15:32] decades. The opportunity to have that
can across
[1:15:37] » um our fall activity guide will be
coming soon. We just sent that file to
[1:15:42] the printer. So, uh you should be
receiving our fall winter activity guide
[1:15:46] in the mail soon. It'll also be on our
website probably this week or next week
[1:15:51] at our latest. So, take a look at all
the programs that we're offering. Um,
[1:15:56] we've been meeting with the
multicultural center of we're in um for
[1:15:59] the day of the dead celebration which is
also coming up. It's hard to believe
[1:16:03] it's August and November is right around
the corner, but November 7th for the day
[1:16:08] of the dead celebration. We still have a
lot of summer programming going on. I
[1:16:12] don't want to get too far ahead of
ourselves thinking about fall, but um
[1:16:16] yeah, a lot of still opportunities to
get up to the turtle in the pool. Um
[1:16:20] there's all kind I mean, if you look at
the field this time of year, it is busy.
[1:16:24] You've got drop in basketball going on,
volleyball programs, pickle ball
[1:16:28] happening in the gym. The YMCA has their
summer camp program here. The park is
[1:16:33] always busy. So, I'm just really
thankful to see so much use and so many
[1:16:37] different things.
Um, and with that, I think one other one
[1:16:43] other update I wanted to share that
doesn't specifically relate to the park
[1:16:46] here, but the city is we're planning to
build a new community center library at
[1:16:52] the current site for um the V Street
Community Center, the Center Community
[1:16:56] Center. Um, that was approved by voters
as part
[1:17:00] in November 2024. And um we're currently
reviewing proposals from um design and
[1:17:06] construction teams to to start that
project. Um so there is a survey that is
[1:17:12] up. It's um online survey. It's
available right now. It will be in the
[1:17:16] activity guide. We're we're asking the
community to share their thoughts on
[1:17:19] that project as well. That is a that is
a really important one because that
[1:17:24] would be um essentially demolishing the
existing community center and building a
[1:17:29] brand new community center library on
that site. So that is a generational
[1:17:34] bill that will have a big impact on I
think how people use Elbert Park and
[1:17:40] visit that location as a downtown
central library. So we want to make sure
[1:17:44] we hear what people want, what kind of
programs are going to be important
[1:17:48] there. What's the architectural design?
What do they want us to see as part of
[1:17:53] that project? We will likely be working
on that design through 2028. Um,
[1:18:00] construction would likely start sometime
in 2028, hopefully be wrapped up by
[1:18:04] 2030, maybe 2031. So, that's a
multi-year project. Plenty of
[1:18:09] opportunities to share opinions, but one
of those is out there right now
[1:18:13] somewhere.
[1:18:17] So, and with that, I'd open it up for
any questions. Yes. Yeah.
[1:18:22] » Just do we have any theater groups?
>> You know, honestly, I need to check. I
[1:18:28] don't know the answer to that. I don't
know if we have any current programs
[1:18:31] that are offering theater like
specifically. I do know that like the
[1:18:36] YMCA after school program occasionally
will do some theater programming, but
[1:18:41] it's not like a a focus point of what
they're doing. I need to check. I don't
[1:18:46] I don't know if we have any theater
programs at We do have a theater
[1:18:50] program. Um we have a a contract
instructor operate that at the San
[1:18:56] Community Center. So that is a program
offered there. And then um we offer
[1:19:00] youth enrichment programs. So to bring
these schools and so um uh one of our
[1:19:07] program coordinators does help to
coordinate a theater program that
[1:19:10] happens. I think it's a Sun Valley
school. I think another one was
[1:19:15] happening at school. It's kind of
depending on where the contractors able
[1:19:19] to stand up program. So I'll I'll check
on that.
[1:19:23] things like that.
[1:19:27] » Yeah, it's been very popular over at the
Sand Community Center with quite a few
[1:19:32] kids that are participating and a lot of
logistics goes into that with whether
[1:19:36] schools are able to provide bus
transportation and get kids to and from
[1:19:40] locations.
>> Yeah,
[1:19:42] adults.
>> Yeah. Other questions?
[1:19:50] Um, I I guess I was just thinking kind
of piggybacking on my comment earlier,
[1:19:56] you know, I think like
I guess I don't know enough about like
[1:20:01] how is an emergency is handled here.
Is there like you know anything around
[1:20:08] that? Maybe we can that's a whole
another meeting. But I I especially if
[1:20:13] there's the parents around
[1:20:19] I I appreciate it. Yeah, I appreciate
that perspective and thank you for for
[1:20:24] uh raising that point. Um I did take
some notes um as you you mentioned that
[1:20:30] and we do have um for our contract
instructors or staffled programs we have
[1:20:36] some basic expectations about the level
of training and certification that they
[1:20:42] will have when they're offering their
programs and that is something I'll be
[1:20:45] following up with that group on to help
make sure that they have an adequate
[1:20:50] stat plan that they have some baseline
training to help support working for
[1:20:57] training is pretty like a couple hours,
right? It's very short.
[1:21:01] » It is. Yeah.
>> Yeah. No, no, it I can't speak I have to
[1:21:06] double check and take a look at, you
know, legal requirements, but I think
[1:21:09] that best practices that want to see and
so even as a staff team, um, some of
[1:21:15] like for myself, I'm not required to
have CPR first aid, but I want to have
[1:21:19] that. I want to make sure I'm fresh and
current, you know. So, we've got a great
[1:21:23] team over at German pool that is well
trained. Our lifeguards, they're they're
[1:21:28] well trained or first responders. Some
of them also provide training resources
[1:21:33] for CPR, first aid, a um and we're
working to get all of our staff team
[1:21:40] trained up and
I really appreciate my partner did the
[1:21:45] Sarah Linda training. Oh, good. Yeah,
she said it was great. Great. Uh I take
[1:21:50] two training and multicular
for adults and children can too but
[1:21:57] maybe
most of them.
[1:22:00] » Yeah.
Yeah.
[1:22:02] » I think we have one here too.
>> We did offer one here a few months ago.
[1:22:09] » Yeah. We have one here.
>> Yeah. In Spanish I think as well.
[1:22:14] » Yeah.
[1:22:20] But thank you. I think that's
>> Yeah. No, thanks.
[1:22:22] » Other than that, I think everything's
great. It's nice everything happening
[1:22:26] here and especially the civic center.
Kind of knew the area, so I'm learning
[1:22:33] all the great parks here and the events
that the city hosts. It's amazing
[1:22:39] actually.
[1:22:44] » Okay.
You don't want to take this job off.
[1:22:49] » You know, you you will definitely see me
more frequently moving forward. I I
[1:22:53] really enjoy being here,
>> but I will be here all
[1:22:59] I I'm
[1:23:03] » Thank you. Okay. So, just a reminder
that the next regular meeting we have on
[1:23:07] the books is scheduled for October 7th,
2026.
[1:23:12] That's the first Wednesday. So, we look
forward to seeing you then. In the
[1:23:16] meantime, if you have any questions,
feel free to stay in touch with me.
[1:23:19] We'll keep you posted. Transition for
the supervisor here. And with that, I'm
[1:23:24] going to adjourn this meeting at 8:31
p.m.
[1:23:29] » Need a second.
>> I don't think I need a second for that
[1:23:32] one. I think I can just adjourn it. So,
all right.
[1:23:35] » Thanks,