The May 6, 2010 Board Meeting of the Pleasant Hill Recreation & Park District Board of Directors was called to order by Board Chair Sherry Sterrett at 7:05 p.m. in the Conference Room at the Administration Office. Board Chair Sterrett reported the Board of Directors met at 5:30 p.m. with Counsel in closed session and there was no action taken.

Pledge of Allegiance

Board Member Dennis Donaghu led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Roll Call

Board Present: Bonato, Donaghu, Hurd, Shepard, Sterrett

Board Absent:

Blair, Hunn, Kubota, Miller, Spatz, Young

Public Comment

There was no one present for public comment.

Board Member Cecile Shepard arrived at 7:10 p.m.

Ex-Officio Member Report, Nasreen Broomand, CPHS

Ex-Officio Member Broomand said it is spirit week and on each day they have a theme. She said AP testing has started. On Monday there was a pasta feed to raise funds for College Park High School Track & Field. She mentioned that the leadership class is having a meeting with the School Administration tomorrow to discuss some issues with not allowing any lunchtime rallies and the students want to improve relations with Administration. Broomand said College Park had a track meet at Clayton Valley High School and College Park High School won. She mentioned there is an Open House at the High School tonight. Lastly, the Black and White Semi-Formal dance on last Friday had 150 participants.

Consent Calendar (ACTION)

• To Approve Bills to be paid, warrants #13637 - #13694 in the amount of $270,021.96 dated May 6, 2010.
• b. To Approve Minutes of April 1, 2010.

Upon motion of Donaghu/Hurd, the items under consent calendar were approved as presented.

Report from Guild of Quilters

Guild of Quilters President Bonnie Engel reported there are 318 members and 41 of them are new recruits from the quilt show in March. She said they had 9 meetings last year with national speakers. The group made 140 quilts of valor, which are for military groups. She stated they had 69 quilts donated to charities, foster homes and seniors. The group also made pillowcases for foster children. She said material and fabric are donated from estates and also donations are received from quilt shops as well. She stated they had netted about $15,000 from the Quilt Show. Engel said they have about 100 attendees at their monthly meetings. She said the Guild makes donations to benefit the community. Engel displayed some of the quilts that were made. She announced they have a temporary home at a church until the School House can be repaired. Board Chair Sterrett thanked Engel for her report.

Budget and Finance

a) Review March 31, 2010 Quarterly Report

b) Review Investment Report

c) Review Pulic Agency Retirement Services (PARS)

d) Set Date for Budget and Finance Committee Meeting

Accounting Supervisor Mark Blair reviewed and discussed in detail the March 31, 2010 quarterly financial statements. Overall revenue reflected a slight (1%) decline from the prior year. Overall expenses increased 2.6% or $124,000. However, this includes $193,000 in increased Capital Expenditures attributable to the costs incurred for the projects approved by Measure E. When adjusted for this change overall expenses were down 1.5%. Board Member Bonato requested further information as to the billing to College Park High School and Ygnacio Valley High School to offset the increased lifeguard salaries being incurred for their water polo now being held at Pleasant Hill Aquatic Park.

Board Chair Sterrett asked where the bond proceeds from Measure E were being held and Blair informed that these were currently invested in LAIF, but we are working with our Bond Counselor, Craig Hill to determine if higher returning investment options may exist. Some further discussion followed with various questions asked and answers provided by Blair.

The financial review was followed by a brief review of the District money market investments in the Local Agency Investment Fund (LAIF) and current returns being generated by the Public Agency Retirement Services (PARS) plan that covers some employees in lieu of Social Security.

The date of Friday, May 21 at 8:30 a.m. was decided for the Budget and Finance Committee meeting with Board Members Bonato and Sterrett. Board Chair Sterrett will be subbing in for Committee Member Hurd who will not be able to attend.

To Consider Sphere Of Influence Options For Local Agency Formation Commission’s (LAFCO) Municipal Service Review (ACTION)

Acting General Manager Lynn Spatz reviewed the recommendations and review from LAFCO. Board Chair Sterrett went into detail about the recommendations, where option #1 is to expand the boundaries to match the northern part of the City by Contra Costa Country Club, about 16 acres that would come into the District’s jurisdiction. She said the second option is to expand sphere of influence (SOI) within the city limits for corporation purposes. She said the third recommendation was to reduce the District’s sphere of influence within areas of Lafayette and Walnut Creek except for Brookwood Park area. Spatz said the Executive Director of LAFCO, LouAnn Texeira, said the loss would be about $9,000 excluding Brookwood Park. Sterrett suggested to expand the SOI as suggested in the first option to include northern part of city areas and does not agree on the third option to reduce the SOI within areas of Lafayette and Walnut Creek. Spatz stated that a letter from the District will be sent to LAFCO on the decision of the Recreation Board.

Upon motion of Hurd/Donaghu, the Board voted on support of option #1 and not options 2 & 3.

To Consider Changing Bond Projects Committee To Ad-Hoc Committee (ACTION)

Board Chair Sterrett explained that when the Bond Projects Committee was first started the Board wanted the meetings to be open to the public; however, when negotiations start with subcontractors, it is the projects manager’s recommendation to switch to an AD-Hoc Committee. Sterrett said this allows the committee to have meetings and discussions of contracts in a more private arena and when there needs to be a last minute meeting scheduled they do not need to comply with the Brown Act on the 72 hour notice. Eventually, she said the committee will still give reports to the Board. Board Member Bonato said the committee may choose to switch back to a standing committee if they feel the need to. Bonato said she felt they should be developing an organizational chart to know their responsibilities and roles as a member. She said if there is a need for quick meetings in order to move things forward, then she also wonders what type of authority would the committee have. Board Member Shepard stated that the committee should be giving a report of meetings and updates. Board Member Bonato said the bond projects update standing agenda item would most likely be when the committee will give a report. Spatz stated that Project Manager Ron Johnson is working out a manual with what the roles and responsibilities are of staff, board and the project manager.

Upon motion of Shepard/Donaghu, the Board approved to change the Bond Projects Committee from a standing committee to an AD-Hoc Committee.

Bond Project Update

Acting General Manager Spatz said the Architectural Review Committee meeting with the City. She said the general comment was the parking for the Teen Center and the reconfiguration of the additions. She stated the Architectural Review Committee thought the Teen Center was “school like” and needs some color. She said one member on the City’s Committee also spoke about a LEED Silver Certified building and there is a private school in Monterey that has this certification and since this is a Teen Center, the District should take the lead and teach young people about sustainability and design. Spatz commented that would be nice, but there is not enough in the budget for this type of LEED Certified building. Board Chair Sterrett stated to Teen Supervisor Hunn, not to take it too personal and the committee will eventually come to understand why things have to be the way they are. Sterrett said things will work out. Spatz said there are many green things built into the plans, such as bioswells, putting in draught tolerant plants, and recycled water will be used at the park, but those details were not present for ARC to review.

Spatz said there was a meeting with the CEQA Consultant Haag, City Staff, Project Manager Ron Johnson and District staff. The meeting went well. Spatz announced there is a Bond Projects Committee meeting scheduled for May 11. There was one more meeting that Spatz attended and met with, in regards to the District computers. She said there will be a proposal submitted soon in regards to the needs and to develop a plan for the transition for phones and computers for the District, Community Center, Senior Center and Teen Center.

Board Member Bonato said there will be a new schedule for the bond projects that Project Manager Ron Johnson will be updating. She said some of the estimates for the various bond projects have come in over the amount such as the Teen Center, but they will be reviewing the budget numbers. Shepard commented the numbers on the Teen Center were not at current market price.

Board Announcements And Requests To Staff

Board Member Hurd said he will be out of the country and will be missing the next Board Meeting.

Board Member Bonato said she read the minutes of the last Friends of Rodgers Ranch meeting. She said there is a grant writer that they have hired to apply for a grant. She spoke to Denise Koroslev with FORR and stated they are Statewide Bond money from years ago and have not been used, so if they apply for the grant they are hoping to restore the barn. On another note, Bonato asked staff if there are any employees that may be taking advantage of the two years additional service with PERS. Accounting Supervisor Mark Blair stated there is one employee so far that expressed interest.

Board Member Shepard requested to not have another meeting scheduled so closely to a Bond Projects Committee.

Board Member Donaghu said it was another successful StarQuest show this year. He said the people that he spoke to said it was the best show ever. He said the kids were great and he has been stage director for 14 years and this was the easiest show yet.

Board Chair Sterrett said she will be attending the Employee Service Award BBQ on May 25. She commented there are 9 employees being awarded. She shared the Soroptimist Youth Award program. She said Board Members Bonato, Donaghu and Hurd attended the Awards Night. She said it was a wonderful event to see all the teens that help in the community and all their accomplishments. She thanked Teen Supervisor Katrina Hunn for making the presentations to the teens on the Pleasant Hill Teen Council that were recognized. Sterrett brought up the District Arts Commission and stated they have $10,000 in their account and mentioned with the bond projects going on, there will need to be some art incorporated. She said there are Seward Johnson sculptures on display at Downtown Pleasanton that she felt would be nice art pieces to have on display in Pleasant Hill. She said when it is an appropriate time, the District may want to request funds from the Arts Commission in assisting in renting of the sculptures, which will draw more people to areas such as Downtown and the new facilities and maybe the District can explore this option with the City as well to see if they would be interested in assisting with the rental fees of these sculptures for a period of time.

Staff Announcements

Acting General Manager Lynn Spatz made the following announcements:

• There was a situation at Paso Nogal Park where a dog died due to an incident where a bunch of dogs got excited and a smaller dog got caught in the middle was trampled by three large dogs and was thrown out of the group of dogs. The owner took his dog to the vet, but the dog passed away. The owner of the deceased dog expressed to Spatz that he takes all his dogs to the dog park all the time and he wanted to make a point that he hopes this does not affect the dog park in any adverse way. She said the owner of the deceased dog does not have any hard feelings about what happened and understands. She said he is just sad for his dog that passed. Spatz said another spectator that takes his dog on leash walks on the trail made some negative comments about the dog park. Sterrett asked Spatz to send a letter of sympathy from the District to the owner about the loss of his dog.
• Spatz said Financial Advisor Craig Hill mentioned because of the AA rating and the lower rates, on the next set of bonds that will be issued, it will improve the District’s bond rating and will lower the interest rate even more. Sterrett said some Seniors were interested in purchasing the bonds, but Shepard commented that all the bonds have been sold.
• The Emergency Preparedness and Shelter Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Pleasant Hill and the Recreation District are being finalized with changes that were requested by the District.
• Hurd reported that General Manager Bob Berggren is doing well. The surgery went well and he is still recuperating.
• Teen Supervisor Katrina Hunn reported that Stage Troupe’s production of Suessical sold out on 5 out of the 8 shows. She said they were wondering how they would do because StarQuest was also on one of the same weekends. She reminded the Board that the 3rd Annual Benefit Concert that supports the Garage Band summer concerts for the teens will be May 14 at 7:30 p.m. at the Community Center with Cover to Cover band performing and the opening band is a group of Middle School age students called the “Rubber Munchkin Experience”, who are very talented musicians for their age. She invited the Board to attend.
• Recreation Supervisor Tina Young reported the Taste of Pleasant Hill preschool fundraiser was a success with about 650 people in attendance. She said it was a great crowd and they raised approximately $5,800. The official opening of the Farmer’s Market is this weekend.
• Spatz said the Latter Day Saints has about 50 volunteers that will be volunteering this Saturday to assist in various duties at Pleasant Hill Park and Pleasant Oaks Park.

Adjournment

Board Chair Sterrett adjourned the meeting at 9:12 p.m.