Measure DD Community Coalition
February 9, 2004 7 9 p.m.
Montclair Recreation Center
Agenda Committee: Naomi Schiff, CJ Hirschfield, Nancy Rieser and Stana
Hearne
Minutes by Kathy Raymond, Executive Director, Friends of Oakland Parks and
Recreation
In Attendance
Beat 15x NCPC Jim Ratcliff
Butters Land Trust David Barron, Dolores Apton
Chabot Park Highlands Homeowners Association Ken Benson
Childrens Fairyland C.J. Hirschfield
Coalition of Advocates for Lake Merritt James Vann
East Bay Bicycle Coalition Rick Rickard
East Bay Regional Parks District John Sutter
Friends of Oakland Parks and Recreation Kathryn Raymond, Don Walls
FROG Theresa Nelson
Lake Merritt Institute Elizabeth Borowiec, Stana Hearne
Lake Merritt Rowing Club Jerry Denham
Lake Merritt Breakfast Club- Aileen Frankel
Oakland Heritage Alliance Naomi Schiff
Oakland Parks Coalition Jennie Gerard
Parks & Recreation Advisory Commission Theresa Nelson
San Francisco Bay Trail Project of Association of Bay Area Governments
Brian Wiese
Spanish-Speaking Unity Council
Rita Torres, Evelyn Johnson
Waterfront Action Sandy
Threlfall
Also:
From the City of Oakland:
District 4 Council member Jean Quans office Richard Cowan
District 7 Council member Larry Reids office Pat Mossburg
Community & Economic Development Agency Kerry Jo Ricketts-Ferris
Public Works Agency Joel Peter
Public Works Environmental Services Lesley Estes
The Meeting was called to order at 7 p.m. and presided
over by CJ Hirschfield. A special thank you was given to all the
volunteers that help to make this process successful.
Minutes from the previous meeting were approved.
There was no Audit Committee Report.
Update from Risk Management Committee
Ken Benson reported that there isnt a Risk Management
Committee at the City, open to citizen input. The Citys Risk Manager,
Stephanie Garrebrant-Sierra, deals more with issues around Workers
Compensation and not really with contracting risk issues. Stephanie
did indicate to Ken she would like to be invited to one of our meetings to
provide an overview of the Citys Risk Management role but that contracting
wasnt her area of focus. The Coalitions Risk Manangement Committee,
comprised of Ken, Don Walls and Matt Webb, believes that City Attorney John
Russo, speaking at the Coalitions December meeting, was looking more
globally on the contracting issues involving potential risk. Don Walls
mentioned that he had sent a letter to Mayor Jerry Brown about embracing
public/private partnerships. Don Walls also mentioned that he had a
conversation with Raul Godinez, the Citys new Public Works Director, and
that he seemed positive about the need for a contract template for the City
to use with non-profit organizations. Rauls view was that this issue
really wasnt a conspiracy; its just that everyone is doing his or her own
individual tasks and it is not coming together, everyone is looking at this
issue from a slightly different direction. It was decided that to get
anything resolved we need senior leadership. Naomi Schiff asked if
John Russo would be able to delegate a point person, such as Doryanna Moreno
who handles contracts, but the committee felt this was more of a policy
issue and it needed the top leadership. Kerry Jo Ricketts-Ferris, DD
project manager from the Community and Economic Development Agency, had
written an email to Bill Noland, Acting Director of Finance and
Administration, asking if he would like assistance in coordinating a meeting
to discuss various Citys positions and come up with a coordinate approach
to work on improving the Citys relationship to non-profit organizations
wanting to contract with the City to construct buildings, parks, etc.
The committee felt, however, that this matter might be somewhat out of
Bills prime area of expertise. It needs to be someone familiar with
contracting. Don Walls and Kerry Jo mentioned that there are already
some templates in place with the Friends of Oakland Parks and Recreations
Rockridge-Greenbelt Contract and the Unity Councils Union Point Park
contract and perhaps the City could review the templates already created.
It was thought that to get the issue resolved the Measure DD Coalition
should invite City Manager Deborah Edgerly, John Russo and Jerry Brown to
get involved and attentively urge passage of a policy to have agreements
that truly facilitate cooperative public/private partnerships and dont
impose onerous insurance liability on the non-profits. Naomi asked if
it would help to get the Coalition to write letters to City Council members
to help move this issue forward. However, it was pointed out that this
is a policy issue and that there are several obstacles including the
solution that was brought before the Council for a Trust for Public Land
contract to renovate Bertha Point Park, which was entirely funded by private
philanthropy. This contract almost wasnt approved because the City
Council wouldnt vote to waive Public Works Agencys standard project fees.
Council Members thought this might set a precedent. It was decided
that we should invite Deborah and Jerry to the next meeting.
Lesley Estes of the Public Works Agencys Environmental
Services Division pointed out that we may want to talk to Randy Hayes who
has recently joined the Mayors office to try to sell improved
public-private partnerships as a matter of City sustainability. It was
decided that the Coalition should develop a standardized letter to send to
the City Council on this issue. Don Walls will draft the letter.
Update from the Citys DD Project Managers
Kerry Jo Ricketts-Ferris, Community & Economic
Development Agency (CEDA) DD project manager, mentioned the RFP to be
released will focus on Fund Development rather than Grant Writing. A
final version of the RFP will be out on the street by March 1st.
The Scope of Work will include identifying key organizations that can
promote the fund development. The City will use existing staff
resources to develop the Measure DD city web site; they have a person
spending 25% of her time towards this effort. They hope to have the
site up in 30 to 45 days. They will have independent tabs for projects
on the web site. They are also working on narrated vision pieces that
will run on KTOP and hopefully will provide a nice piece for Fund
Development endeavors. CJ Hirschfield asked if the City wanted
independent resources that specific groups might have to aid in the web site
or the KTOP pieces, such as videos, etc. Kerry said all resources are
welcome. Sammy Roberts, City Marketing Manager, is aiding by providing
a graphic artist to help develop citywide measure DD signage. They
hope to have a user-friendly sign format visible to motorists and
pedestrians. The only question was whose phone number to put on the
sign and Kerry mentioned she would like to get a specific number set up for
Measure DD questions. Don Walls mentioned this would be the perfect
place to put the web site information and have people go there. The
Coalition thought that adding the web site address was a good idea but also
thought a phone number was also needed.
Kerry was asked the date of the Citys next Executive
Team meeting which would be attended by two of the current Agenda Committee
members. She said the date hasnt been set yet but will take place
sometime towards the end of March.
Kerry reported that the City has submitted an
application for an Urban Parks Act of 2001 (under State Parks and Recreation
Department) grant of $3 million for the Cryer site, which is Phase II of
Union Point Park, and that the following organizations and agencies
submitted letters of support: Childrens Fairyland, East Bay Conservation
Corps, Coastal Conservancy, East Bay Regional Parks District, Jack London
Aquatic Center, Lake Merritt Institute, Oakland Parks Coalition, Unity
Council, Urban Ecology and Waterfront Action. Kerry said she tried to
position the request so that the State couldnt turn us down completely,
illustrating that the Cryer site development could be done in a phased
approach. Staff should hear in about 45 days if the application is
complete and then will set up site visits. Final decisions will be
made by August 2004.
Kerry hopes to have the Friends contract signed by the
City within 2 to 3 days. Kerry also mentioned that she is working with
Kathy at Friends about creating a specific donor package for benches at Lake
Merritt Park. This started with Friends having a donor that wants to
put a bench at a site of a past historical home. John Sutter, on the
board of the East Bay Regional Park District, suggested City staff look at
the Districts policy regarding acceptance of donations for park benches,
because there is an implicit expectation to maintain a donated bench, which
may be difficult over many years. Theresa Nelson also noted that the
City Parks and Recreation Advisory Council has a policy and approves all
plaque language.
Joel Peter, Public Works Agency DD Project Manager,
reported that Studio One renovation/retrofit planning is moving forward.
The consultant architect and Studio One advisory group toured three
different Bay Area art centers to get ideas. They will be having a
meeting on February 20th and will decide on the design process
and timeline. Aileen Frankel asked if there would be public meetings
set up around the design. Joel said there would be and they will be
discussing when to have these meetings at their meeting on the 20th.
The March 16th City Council meeting will
have a number of DD issues on the agenda: 1) 12th street project
is coming along and the contract will be awarded to Rajappan & Meyer; 2) The
Municipal Boathouse renovation design contract will be awarded to the
Wallace Roberts Todd team (as an amendment to WRTs existing Master Plan
contract.) and as-needed consultants list, including landscape architects,
architects and engineers, will also be approved, some of these will be used
for smaller Measure DD projects, such as creek enhancement projects.
Sandy Threlfall asked if there was an appeal process for consultants who bid
but were not selected for the as-needed list. Joel said there was not
an official process but they could talk to the Project Manager and find out
why they didnt make the cut. He said there were many worthy
applicants but they had to choose a select number and some had just
outstanding qualifications.
Naomi mentioned that it would be great to make the
media aware of progress on DD projects since its easy for the citizens to
lose the connection with what their tax dollars are funding. It was
asked if the Coalition should do a press release about these awarded
contracts. It was suggested that the Coalition let the reporters know
beforehand and then have it released right after the March 16th
City Council meeting. Kerry pointed out that if a speaker wants to
address an item on the City Council Agenda, thereby drawing attention to it,
the item would be taken off the consent agenda and be moved to the agenda
with no scheduled time. The Agenda Committee agreed to notify the
press.
The East Oakland Sports Complex is still the topic of
discussions among District #7 Council member Larry Reid, District # 2
Council Member Danny Wan, the consultant for the project and the staff of
the Citys Treasury Department. Pat Mossburg on Council member Reids
staff mentioned that one of the things that is happening is that the Olympic
size pool will be reduced to a 25 meter pool and this would reduce the
overall cost from around $56 million to around $32 million. Currently,
There are approximately $16 million in funds identified for this project
(including a $3 million grant application submitted to the State on Jan. 15th,
2004 prepared by Public Works Agency project manager, Jeanne Zastera).
Joel also pointed out that on the walls there was an
underwater (bathymetric) map of Lake Merritt prepared by URS the map shows
the flows in and out of the lake and will be used to prepare a computer
model. He also shared a Tribune article about the installation of the
first storm water filter funded by Measure DD. Jennie Gerard asked if
there were a determined number of storm water filters that had been decided
on and Joel said that it was undecided at this time, and that the Lake
Merritt Water Quality Task Force is considering additional filter units as
well as other projects. One more had been determined by the Rotary
Nature Center.
CJ said that Childrens Fairyland has signed a design
contract and is moving forward with the design of improvements there to be
funded by Measure DD.
Report on Lake Merritt Water Quality Improvements
Lesley Estes, Public Works Agency, reported on the
Citys approach to determining what projects to undertake to improve the
Lakes water quality. A recently reactivated Lake Merritt Water
Quality Task Force is meeting on a regular monthly basis looking into
structural options. Dr. Alex Horn from U.C. Berkeley spoke at their
last meeting, stimulating discussion about a wide array of options.
The Coastal Conservatory has set aside $1million for water quality
improvements but the City needs to officially write a grant, and to do so
will require more specifics. The Task Force is trying to find
solutions that will not need a lot of electrical usage or create maintenance
issues, and that will address the anaerobic nature of the water on the lake
floor. They hope to improve the water quality in Lake Merritt by
increasing dissolved oxygen and eliminating trash. The Task Force will
develop a plan over the next year. Lesley mentioned if there were some
items that everyone agreed on they may be able to go forward with some of
these smaller issues but they will need an overall plan before the main
components can go forward. For example, they are currently
trying to put in additional CDS storm water filters where possible.
Creek Restoration and Acquisition
Creek Restoration and Acquisition: City staff
wishes to conduct more public outreach before particular creek projects can
move forward with the limited Measure DD funds. It was stated that The
Measure DD bond allocates a small amount $5.5 million for restoration and
$4.5 million for acquisition. Staff has a list of potential creek
segments from six years ago that compose preliminary priorities for the
funding. The list was developed with criteria from a consultant.
Lesley said she had been going to some community meetings and provided a
handout illustrating how interested groups could submit projects for
consideration and what criteria the proposed projects will be judged
against. She hopes to begin the public process in the spring of 04 and
hopefully decide on the list of projects by summer. Don Walls asked
since the money is so small for acquisition could some be redirected to
restoration. Kerry said no, the bond language was very specifically
written for these categories. It was asked if the acquisition budget
could be used for purchasing conservation easements and the city is looking
into. It was stated that some of the acquisition money would be used
for Butters Canyon. Rich Cowan, from District #4 Council Member Jean
Quans staff, explained that the Butters Trust was able to acquire an
option on some pristine land for $75,000 but the trust doesnt have the
money for purchase and has asked that this acquisitions be funded DD money.
There may be other property that can be acquired here as well. Lesley
wasnt sure exactly, but possibly $300,000 or $400,000 that could be
allocated for this project.
Lesley spoke about two creek projects that are well
underway and have identified funding but may be eligible for some DD funding
if the committee sees fit. One project is on Arroyo Viejo Creek where
the Oakland Zoo is doing creek restoration and an educational element.
The design is 80% done and about 90% of the funding is in place. Work
will begin this summer and it probably wouldnt need DD money. The
other project is on Lion Creek at the Coliseum Garden. Where the Oakland
Housing Authority is creating the park and it has a large concrete channel
running through it that they hope to renovate. Kerry pointed out that
there is a master plan underway for the Coliseum Gardens Park; Lesley said
her group was working on the creek portion. Theresa Nelson asked about
other potential projects that may also be ready for funding other than these
two, such as along the Temescal Creek in the Rockridge and perhaps the upper
Temescal as well. The group did not think they could make an informed
decision on just these two projects without knowing what other projects
might be worthy of consideration. A Creeks Committee was
set up to review these issues the committee participants will be:
Rich Cowan, Dolores Apton, David Barron, Theresa
Nelson, John Sutter and Bruce Douglas
To a question about matching funds, Lesley mentioned
that she is looking into other funding opportunities. And most RFPs for
matching funding wouldnt be until July as an early estimate.
Union Point Park
Rita Torres and Evelyn Johnson from the Unity Council
reported on the progress with Union Point Park. The Unity Council is
finally moving forward into Phase 1 construction. They went out for
bid last month and the City Council will be awarding the contract on Feb. 17th.
Still going through the process so couldnt say whom the contractor would
be. They should start construction in Mid-March. This phase
would involve environmental cleanup, the parking lots and the North and
South side and all the underground utilities. Phase 2 is about 95%
done with Construction Documents and is now being reviewed by the city for
100% completion. They will then go out for bid for Phase 2 and the 2
phases should dovetail. The Cryer site would be the 3rd
phase and hasnt started a planning process. They hope to have both
phase 1 and 2 done by next spring. $4 million is from Measure DD funds
and the total project for the first 2 phases is $8.5 million and it is fully
funded. It was mentioned that this would be a great place for one of
the City Measure DD signs and Kerry said the Cryer site next to the park
will have one of the new signs when they are completed. The committee
asked that the groundbreaking be announced so the committee could attend.
It was said that this merits publicity on the success of how Measure DD is
going. Naomi asked if there was a process on who should put out press
releases, as we didnt want to step on the Citys toes here. Kerry
said she wasnt aware of a current process but will work with Sammy to come
up with a procedure for Press Releases.
Measure DD Community Coalition Web Site
Kathy Raymond spoke about possibilities for the Friends
Measure DD Community Coalition Web Page. The site will be at Friends
newly launched
www.oaklandparks.org. It will have a list of organizations
participating in the Coalition, minutes of the Coalitions meetings, notes
from the Executive Team meetings attended by the Coalition representatives,
and the times, locations and agendas of meetings, as well as a place for
comments and responses, links to the city site and other org. sites, a list
of organizations that participate, etc. Theresa Nelson suggested that
one of the sites, either the Citys or Friends should have a map showing
all the DD project locations and the ideal would be if you could click on an
area and see the project description.
Don Walls mentioned that the flatwater kayak and canoe
Olympic Trials, scheduled for Mid-April on Lake Merritt, would be a good
place for a booth to publicize the status of implementing Measure DD.
Liz Borowiec was going to report on Water Quality but
Lesley had covered most. Jennie Gerard asked about the use of fountains,
specifically the Glen Echo fountain, now unplugged. Liz and Lesley
stated that they were looking into this option but hadnt gotten there yet.
Lesley said it didnt look like a great option to answer the oxygen issue
but there may be a place for them as they do help stratification somewhat.
It was asked if the storm drain backups on Lakeshore
and Grand cause an issue. Lesley stated that none of the water quality
improvements address that problem; however, a second, large culvert will be
installed shortly on Lakeshore Avenue by Alameda County. They
are not looking at issues related to flooding or maintenance though they are
big issues. It was pointed out one of the big issues is illegal
dumping that takes a lot of the maintenance workers time.
Sandy announced that there is a Port of Oakland Good
Neighbors Breakfast on Feb. 25th at the Jack London Aquatic
Center.
The next meeting will be March 8th, location
suggestions included Redwood Heights, Sanborn and Arroyo Viejo. The
agenda should include Deborah and Jerry.
Other
potential agenda items may be:
-
Update on Oak to 9th as it relates to implementing
the Citys adopted Estuary Plan. Although a couple of lawsuits have
been filed, the Coalition should invite Mike Ghilmetti of Signature
Properties and Citys Planning Director Claudia Cappio. Kerry
mentioned that the City has not been presented with a formal application for
the area. The Estuary Plan is the only plan the City currently recognizes for the area.
-
The projects along the channel connecting Lake Merritt with
the Oakland Estuary, Kerry and Joel offered a presentation on the URS
study. Recommendations were made for specific speakers from the
Peralta Community College and the Oakland Unified School District whose
School Administration Building backs onto the channel.
-
Update on Creeks, including the list developed 6 years ago and
any information on other projects that may be further along. Kathy
will send out the list and the handout from Lesley before the meeting.
Additionally, there was a request to schedule the topic of how best to use
the creeks acquisition money.
The meeting was adjourned at 9 p.m.
