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Minutes – Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting of November 4, 2020 Page 1
Minutes
PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION
Wednesday, November 4, 2020
Regular Meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission
CALL TO ORDER
A Regular Meeting of the San Luis Obispo Parks and Recreation Commission was called to order
on Wednesday, November 4, 2020 at 5:30 p.m. via teleconference by Chair Thurman.
ROLL CALL
Present: Commissioners Kari Applegate, Adam Stowe, Andrew Webber, Vice Chair Robert
Spector, and Chair Rodney Thurman
Absent: Commissioner Rick Blair
Staff: Parks and Recreation Director Greg Avakian, Senior Planner Shawna Scott,
Recreation Manager Devin Hyfield, Active Transportation Manager Adam
Fukushima, and Administrative Assistant III Jeff Andrews
PUBLIC COMMENT ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA
Non-agenda correspondence letter submitted from Mr. Trevor Weiger read by Director Greg
Avakian regarding the lack of lighting on basketball courts in the City.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1. Consideration of Minutes of the Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting of October
7, 2020.
ACTION: UPON MOTION BY COMMISSIONER STOWE, SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER APPLEGATE, CARRIED 5-0-0-0 the Parks and Recreation Commission
approved the Minutes of the Regular Parks and Commission Meeting of October 7, 2020.
BUSINESS ITEMS
2. Active Transportation Plan Presentation
Active Transportation Manager Adam Fukushima gave an update on the Active
Transportation Plan as it relates to the Parks and Recreation Commission. ATP sets policy
for bicycling and walking, makes City more competitive for State ATP funding, target date
for implementation is 2030. New in the plan: updates and replaces 2013 bike plan, new
planning areas, incorporates majority of proposed bikeways from BP, but shifts focus away
from bike paths to on-street improvements. Public outreach was in the fall of 2019. Mr.
Fukushima went over new design innovations, a proposed bike and pedestrian network map,
Minutes – Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting of November 4, 2020 Page 2
improvements on connections to parks, project prioritization (rated in 3 tiers), additional
pedestrian projects, opportunities for other pedestrian improvements, recommended
programs (bike education, bikeshare, open streets), and the schedule moving forward. Q&A
with commissioners.
ACTION: No action taken
PUBLIC COMMENT: None
3. Parks and Recreation Master Plan and General Plan Element Update
Senior Planner Shawna Scott gave update on Master Plan and General Plan Element Update.
Commission gave additional feedback, clarifications & additional comment opportunity to
commissioners regarding the summary in the staff report. Topics covered: What are the
amenities that are most important to prioritize, understanding operation and maintenance
costs? Consider near-term (0 to 5-year, 5 to 10-year) and long-term (10 to 20-year)
timeframes; What are the parks and facilities that are most important? What parks and
facilities should be our highest priority to improve? What spaces? and; What is the right fit
between amenities and parks (what amenities should be where)?
ACTION: No action taken.
PUBLIC COMMENT: None
SUBCOMMITTEE LIAISON REPORTS
3. Subcommittee Liaison Reports
A. Adult and Senior Programming: Commissioner Spector
i. No news (bad or good), have not been meeting, nothing to report
B. Active Transportation Committee: Commissioner Webber
i. Public comment is next step, ATC is doing a great job putting together the plan
C. City Facilities (Fields, Golf, Pool, & Joint Use Facilities): Commissioner Applegate
i. See programming update below
D. Jack House Committee: Vacant
E. Tree Committee: Commissioner Thurman
i. Ron Combs to retire in December, Anthony Whipple to step in temporarily;
ECOSLO is continuing with planting trees with grant received, finishing with 120
trees by the end of the year, received another grant and will plant more trees &
divert logs out of green waste
F. Youth Sports Association: Commissioner Stowe
i. No youth sports association at the moment
UPDATES
4. Director's Report
Minutes – Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting of November 4, 2020 Page 3
Recreation Manager Lindsey Stephenson provided a programming update
• Community Services
o Halloween activities – great feedback from the community, will plan something
similar for winter/Christmas time.
o Contract classes – some classes are in person (private and group tennis lessons,
Youth Evolution Basketball), now adding youth yoga and jumprope classes, and
surf lessons, dog training classes, outdoor art class
o Community Gardens – Emerson Park Community Garden has been cleaned up
significantly, as has Laurel Lane Community Garden
o Sports – Session 2 of youth sports clinics, all have sold out with waitlists, sessions
include speed & fitness, pickleball, golf FUNdamentals, and disc golf
o Gobble Wobble has been paused for this year; SLO Food Bank is doing a virtual
event; Parks & Rec to encourage community to participate in Food Bank event
• Youth Services – continuing full-day childcare, 8am-530pm at 3 school sites in the City;
receiving daily updates from the school district on what the second part of the school
year will look like starting in January; update to be provided from SLCUSD on
November 17th
• Public Art – wrapped up neighborhood greenways submissions and voting; 30
submissions lead to 4 artists working from November 20th to December 20th painting
street murals
Recreation Manager Devin Hyfield provided a programming update
• Aquatics
o The updated policy allowing 2 person per swim lane is going great. By providing
guest the opportunity to swim with someone within their household or social circle,
we can increase capacity and provide community members an opportunity to swim
if they were unable to reserve.
o Private lessons have concluded and will resume in March
o Family Recreation Swim – The idea is to offer a program that would allow a family
to utilize the therapy pool and to give children the opportunity to swim since the
SLO Swim Center was not able to offer family/children programming in the
summer due to COVID-19. The program would allow families to rent the therapy
pool for a 1-hour time block – 50-minute swim and 10 min exit the facility. A guest
would make a reservation for the therapy pool and they would be the only (private)
users for the reservation. The reservation would be for up to 8 people in the therapy
pool and following guidance for private gatherings.
• Facilities
o Spring allocation applications are being received through Friday. There have been
no updates for Adult Rec leagues but will continue to follow up with County
officials as we get closer to January.
o The Ludwick Center was utilized for the Elections. Officials utilized the facility
from Friday through Tuesday and provide a safe and secure voting experience for
the San Luis Obispo Community.
o Fall Facility Renovations of turf and diamond fields have begun for all fields except
for Damon-Garcia. Fields will begin to reopen in January and February
Minutes – Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting of November 4, 2020 Page 4
o The State and County have provided updated guidance for public indoor and
outdoor gatherings, but the City will continue to keep facilities closed through the
end of the year.
• Golf
o The Community has been grateful for the extend hours and golf cart rentals. In
October, the course was open daily from 7 am to 6 pm. With Daylight Savings, the
updated hours are 8 am to 5 pm daily through mid-March.
o October saw 244 new players, over 1,600 paid rounds.
o Night Golf continues to be a success with the final Night Golf on the year occurring
on November 19. Total rounds for Night Golf was a record high of 71 rounds.
o In conjunction with the SLO Throwers, the LLGC will run a pilot Night DISC Golf
program this Tuesday, November 10 with members of SLO Throwers assisting the
Parks and Rec staff with the setup of a Disc course at facility and evaluating the
Night Disc Golf program for future public play.
Update from Parks & Recreation Director Greg Avakian
• Kudos to all Parks & Recreation staff
• Thank you to SLO Pickle Ball club for donating 2 pickle ball nets for all the community to
use for drop-in play
• Moving forward with grant opportunity for pickle ball courts to be installed at Mitchell Park
• Bob Jones Trail closure started October 19th; different organizations provided resources to
homeless community members; clean and clear 56 homeless camps; City departments
working together to do tree trimming and vegetation control around the creek, will continue
for the next 2-3 weeks
• Jack House Committee met last week
• Night Hiking 2-year pilot program – submitting proposal to extend for 1 more year
• Next PRC meeting to include goals and finance plan for FY21-22 and any additional items
that come up in the next 30 days
• City update – election went very well, no glitches or issues with voting at Ludwick, votes to
be finalized next week; if measure G passes, that will assist department and PRC with goals
and plans as we move into the new year
• Annual holiday parade to be on hiatus due to COVID-19; City is partnering with Downtown
SLO to brighten up holiday feel and support local businesses downtown; to be announced in
7-10 days
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 7:33 p.m. The next Regular Parks and Recreation Commission
meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 2, 2020 at 5:30 p.m., via teleconference.
APPROVED BY THE PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION: XX/XX/2020