Could we start please with a roll call?

Commissioner Alexander.

Here.

Commissioner Bernie.

Here.

Vice Chair Schwartz.

Here.

Chair Radies.

Present.

Thank you.

The first item on our agenda is non-agenda public comment.

Members of the public may speak for three minutes regarding any matter not on tonight's agenda.

Commissioners will not respond to comments or answer questions.

As such, speakers must stay on topic if speaking to a particular agenda item, and if speaking during non-agenda public comment, they must address matters within the subject matter jurisdiction of the city.

If speakers fail to follow these rules, they'll be warned, and if they continue to disregard the rules, their opportunity to speak will be ended.

Do we have any non-agenda public speakers tonight?

We have one in-person speaker, Speaker Klein.

Welcome, Speaker Klein.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Speaker Klein.

Moving forward, our next agenda item is our staff communication from Recreation Parks Director Justin Long.

Director Long.

Good evening, Commissioners.

I know we missed the last meeting, and so we're gonna just kind of catch up and try to condense this together.

We're gonna start off by some community events that are coming up.

We have the volunteer coastal cleanup.

This is taking place every second Saturday of the month at 10 a.m.

at Seaplane Lagoon.

This is organized by the community action for sustainable Alameda Casa.

The rhythmics in the park, the accordion soul music and line dance is taking place Saturday, July 18th, from 12 until 2 p.m.

at Franklin Park.

The Alameda Walk Series is on Saturdays at 9 a.m.

July 11th will be taking place at Tawada Park to Veterans Court, and July 25th will be Old Town Alameda.

Our Starlight movies in the park.

These events begin at 6 30 p.m.

with movies starting at 8 15.

We've got the next one coming up on Friday, July 17th, which is the Little Mermaid.

And the sorry, the July 17th is the Little Mermaid Dive-In movie at the NCNL Swim Center.

Sorry about that.

And our Friday, July 24th, Back to the Future movie will be taking place at the Alameda Point multi-purpose field.

Some department highlights.

Since we missed June, we held hosted all of the school picnics at the end of the year that took place in June.

Our summer season is off to a great roaring start.

ARPD currently employs over 200 young individuals to provide the recreational needs to Alameda.

We're having a really great summer, and the theme this year is a totally red summer 2026.

We did some work at the Lower Washington Field, the LED lighting conversion project has been completed.

Park maintenance staff have redone water supply and drinking fountains at Cruzy Park.

We filled the full-time gardener position.

We welcome Jose Rodriguez to the team.

ARPD held an on-site community meeting at Longfellow Park on June 3rd and discussed the 88 access pathway, which you guys will hear about.

It's on the consent item.

And then close to 500 participants and over 2,000 community members took place in our Sand Castle and Sculpture Contest that took place on June 20th at Crown Memorial State Beach.

And then the annual Leisure Club Talent Show took place at the Mass Social Hall on June 25th.

There was approximately 100 attendees and celebrating the leisure club.

It was a great event.

ARP held an on-site community meeting at Tillman Park on July 2nd, discussing Alameda Little League's majors division play starting there in 2027.

This is something that we'll hear about more about on the regular agenda item.

And then July 4th, we held the 4th of July parade.

We had a great parade with 190 entries and over 60,000 spectators.

And then, and I really want to shout out to Pat Russian and his team on this one.

They really did an amazing job.

It's all of the department's effort and also the maintenance staff.

Almost all ARPD staff are involved in the parade, which really makes a special thing here in Alameda.

So I really want to thank them for all their hard work and sacrificing their holidays for us.

Our registration for fall and winter programs open on July 8th.

So for all those parents looking for after-school programs, the registration is now open, so start planning for fall.

For our youth programs, our tiny tots, the registration for fall, will open or sorry, opened on July 6th, and that program will run from September 8th through December 11th.

Our wrap, our after-school registration is underway.

Several sites have already filled up, and the remainder are filling up soon.

So if you're late to the game, please check out our website to see what's available.

Our summer camps, we still have some spots available.

There's a couple spots in our day camps, our WOW and Tenderfoot, and a variety of sports classes.

So if you're still looking for something for the rest of the summer, we still have a few things available for you.

Our special interest classes that are currently offering, H2O Steam, Dance Fusion, Lego Robotics, Karate, drums, and many more.

So there's still some availability in those.

And then our community recreation.

We want to make sure that people get out and join us.

This is a free program.

It's one till 4 p.m.

at the following locations.

Mondays, it takes place at Bull Hole Immigrant Circle Park.

On Tuesday, it takes place at McKinley Park.

Wednesday takes place at Whale.

Thursday, it's taking place at Tillman.

And then Monday through Friday from 12 until 4 30, it takes place at Gene Sweeney in Lincoln Park.

These are active programs that we offer for free for the public to come out and join us.

So please check those out.

The teens, our underground center, is open for drop-in Monday through Friday still from 12 until 5 p.m.

through August 7th.

They're taking a trip to the Space and Science Center in Oakland, Saturday, July 25th from 7 until 10:30.

And then our Teen Tween Summer Adventure Camp will be taking is taking place.

So some of those trips still have availability if people are looking.

For our adults, our registration and specialty classes is open.

The open gym is still taking place Sundays from 6 until 10 p.m.

at the Alameda Point Gym.

We have tennis, private and group instructions available.

And as you well know, we have indoor roller skating taking place Wednesdays, 9 p.m.

till 10 30 at the Valid Meadow Point Gym.

It's widely attended, so that's a it's a good event.

And then at the Mastic Senior Center, there's a medical eligibility home and community-based services.

You can learn about the different benefits, program eligibility, medical recovery.

That's taking place on July 14th at 10 a.m.

in the media room.

And then there is a stained glass and mosaic for beginner and intermediate.

This is design and create glass art.

This takes place Wednesdays, 9 30 to 12 p.m., July 29th through September 2nd.

And then in our aquatics, our aquatic camps are open and running.

And if there's any uh different programs out there, so we have a choose a private camp, Pirate Camp, Star Wars Camp, Cardboard Boat Camp, and Intro to Dive that are all running and some still have availability.

And then we're offering our group and flexible private swim lessons for all ages.

We're running that all throughout summer until school starts.

And then we'll still be running swim lessons on the weekends when that starts.

Amanda Denoso and Sandy Gottlieb for all their hard work in helping to coordinate all the numerous facility rentals, picnic rentals, and events throughout the year to make these celebrations a great thing.

Last year we had over 1,100 picnic rentals, which you know often on some weekends we're having 27 to 30.

So it really keeps them busy, and the department really couldn't function without their support and helping the community make these reservations.

For some project updates, the Godfrey Park shade structure that was damaged was repaired on June 8th.

The Lincoln Park netting project began on June 8th and is about 95% complete.

Final work is being done on the driveway.

We anticipated opening in the coming week or so.

There is a vegetation weed abatement taking place at Gene Sweeney Park from Webster until Wood Street.

And this is in preparation for clearing the site for upcoming community garden.

And then the Leidecker Playground has been ordered and we expect it to arrive in September.

Just so you guys are aware of a few things that are ongoing.

We are currently working through our joint use agreement with AUSD as the Emma Hood pool is construction is ongoing with the anticipated completion by late fall, with operation hopefully beginning in January.

Again, we'll all be predictive along that construction.

And then if you will bear with me, I just want to recognize Commissioner Alexander.

So let me just read this as this will be her last meeting.

So on behalf of the Recreation Parks Commission and the City of Alameda, it's my pleasure to recognize Commissioner Adrian Alexander as she concludes eight years of dedicated service, including two terms as commissioner and service as the commission chair.

Commissioner Alexander has generously dedicated her time and expertise to the Alameda community.

Her thoughtful leadership, sound judgment, and commitment to public service, have strengthened the commission's work and contributed to many important decisions.

It has been a pleasure to work alongside her.

Her support, encouragement, and collaborative spirit have been greatly appreciated by fellow commissioners and staff alike.

Beyond the commission, she has been a familiar face at community events throughout Alameda.

Taking the time to listen to constituents, build relationships, and ensure community voices were reflected in the commission's work.

Staff also deeply appreciate her thoughtful visits to the office, whether just checking in, bringing snacks to brighten the day.

These are simple acts of kindness have made the office staff feel valued and reflect the genuine care and appreciation Commissioner Alexander has always shown for the people behind the work.

Commissioner Alexander, thank you for your leadership, dedication, unwavering commitment to the city of Alameda and your service has been a meaningful and lasting difference.

Thank you very much.

I'll respond to that later this evening.

Thank you so much.

For that, that's the my report.

Thank you.

Do we have any questions for Director Long this evening?

I know there was a lengthy discussion on a bond measure uh at City Council.

It didn't look like I know there's a kind of a preliminary list of projects, but if that does move forward and get approved by the voters, do you expect there to be some funds at least dedicated to parks and recreation?

So the majority of the funds that would come toward the department or help supporting the department would be about um design and construction of a unified courtyard.

As you know, we're kind of scattered throughout the city with our maintenance activities, and so that's really where the majority of the support will come in to play is really about the infrastructure needed to support operations from the back end.

Great, thanks.

Yep.

I have a clarification I like to ask about.

Um during the parade, I was talking to some folks, and a lady approached me and said, You took our tennis courts away at Leidecker.

I said, No, we didn't.

Yes, you did.

You took the tennis courts away.

There's only pickleball there, and everybody's doing lessons.

So could you clarify the tennis situation and the pickleball situation at Leidecker, please?

Sure, gladly, Commissioner Alexander.

Um we instituted there's three courts located at Leidecker.

Um the commission as well as the city council authorized us to do a pickleball trial, which was made permanent on one of those courts.

The other two courts remain available to the public for tennis play and open tennis play.

Lidecker is also a lit court, so it is available up till 10 p.m.

Um, and then the lessons ARPD is conducting primarily the majority of their lessons at Cruzy Park right now.

It's it was in a uh a move that we did at the time in order to allow for more open tennis play to occur at Lidecker, knowing that one of the courts was being used for pickleball.

So here's my question.

If I want to give a tennis lesson, I have every right to have an hour on that court to give my lesson.

Is that correct?

Um, am I wording that correctly?

Well, what I would say is you have the right to use the the court whenever you like.

If you were taking a private tennis lesson from an instructor that has not reserved the court, there's a process for them to do so through ARPD as an independent uh tennis lesson provider.

Okay, so so you can you can do that.

That clarifies it, thank you.

Other questions?

I only had one question, uh noting that the subject of field allocation is on the agenda later this evening.

Um I'm wondering if you can remind us of the key dates through the year for seasonal field allocation.

Um I don't have those in front of me, but I'll I'll have those.

For later for we do, there's one that's happening now, so we generally do fall.

So it'll run from basically August until uh November, then all the fields technically go into a rest phase from November till February first, and then we do the spring allocation, and then we do a summer allocation.

Great, thank you.

Yeah, okay.

Moving forward, our next item is uh Commissioner Communications.

Uh, I joined Director Long in recognizing and thanking Commissioner Alexander for her uh many years of service and celebrating her tonight on the occasion of her final meeting.

I know you'll be speaking later in the agenda.

Um, but for the time being, I'd like to invite you to provide the first update.

Thank you very much.

I may repeat something since we didn't have a meeting in June, so I apologize for that.

Um, most recently, I was part of the Fourth of July parade.

For many years, I was a judge and got to see the entire parade go by, but this year I was in the parade on a float, and that is a very different experience.

Again, kudos to Pat Russi and that entire ARPD staff for that thing was so organized from top to bottom, and I have to thank the maintenance crew.

We had a truck from ARPD and their trailer, they even helped me decorate the trailer when we were down there.

So I have nothing but positive things to say about them and our dear driver.

I have to mention his name, Nick, if that's okay.

Um, but that parade, it was unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable.

Will I do it again?

Yes, but I need more help with us on the truck.

We need more people passing out items.

Um, I went to the Leisure Club talent show, which I like to do every year, and this year it was inside at Mastic Center, so it was a whole different vibe this year.

But those kids just kids, young adults just work so hard and they're so excited about what they do, and they come up and they talk to you.

So I encourage anyone to try to go to that show.

I think it's like the third Thursday in June, so you could check your calendar for that.

Um I recently walked to Gene Sweeney Park and saw all the clearing that we've done of the trees and that and the new pathways there, and I was actually there on Friday, and they had the community recreation, and there are a lot of people there, a lot of parents there with their kids, so that was great to see.

Um I was at Bayport Park for an event and saw that the soccer field is being reseeded.

Is that open yet?

Yes, Bayport is fully open now.

Okay.

Um I went to the uh community meeting at Tillman about the little league being played there, so we can talk about that later.

I did attend several little league games at Little John and watch the transformation from one game to the next to see what was going on.

Um, I did go to some games at Rittler Park, and that's a curious way to figure out how to get through the soccer game to get to the right softball field, but that was that worked out all right.

Um, I do like the new sign that tells you why the parks are closed, it has a QR code.

I noticed that the other day.

Great idea, great idea.

Um, drove by Estuary Park, the playground equipment is in, the dog park areas.

I don't think it was paid, but it's set out, the bathrooms are there, the pickleball courts were um basket was down, so that was kind of exciting to see.

I did go Lawnfillow Park and look at the new entrance, the ADA entrance we want.

I do have one question as to the letter received about the locked gate.

Um, I looked at that, and for me as an old park director, it looks like that might have been a safety issue, so kids aren't running out.

I don't know, but that um I think that's enough.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Commissioner Bernie.

I do not have anything, but I would just like to give appreciation to Commissioner Alexander for all the work that she has done on the commission, and in a sense, help mentor the three of us in the way of the commission.

We were all news while she was on the commission, so I would like to give thanks to her for all the help that she's done with the commission in general and pathing of knowledge of her experience on the commission to us to have some continuation of the issues that she has brought up while we were all on the commission together and to help us address the future issue issues moving forward.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Vice Chair Schwartz.

So I was a judge at the Sand Sculpture and Sandcastle contest back in June.

So I had a great time.

I brought my parents were in town.

I brought my son who played in the sand, what we're building their sculptures.

So that was a lot of fun.

Really great event.

So thank you for that opportunity.

And thank you to ARPD and East Bay Parks for putting on a really spectacular and fun and engaging event.

It was a lot of fun.

I also participated in the uh Alanita Fourth of July parade on a float, which is always fun.

I did drive this year instead of walk, which was actually way better.

I agree.

Yes.

And uh and again, thanks to ARPD for all the work it goes that I know goes into organizing a really great event like that.

Um I did listen to city council meeting um on Tuesday, hoping to support the additional funding and award of the contract for the City Aquatic Center, but I did not make it till 11:20 p.m.

when I think is when Justin started his presentation.

But I did watch the recording the next morning, um, so really happy to see um that go through and finally see those final steps where uh we can start construction.

Um I do know the contract was awarded to the same company that did the Piedmont Pool and is doing the South San Francisco pool.

I know that are also both all electric.

Um I do believe there were some delays because of commissioning the Piedmont Pool.

I know this is a newer technology, um, but I will say it was uh, you know, I know we're still two plus years away from that stage, but um, you know, hopefully by then um, you know, we'll have some lessons learned from some of those earlier projects I know they've done.

So um it was definitely reassuring to see um we went with someone who's who's done an electric keating system before, so really excited for that.

Um, I know I think Justin mentioned this in the staff in the staff communication.

Um, thank you for bringing the the flexible swim lessons this year.

Um it's been um way easier to get, you know.

My son just had lesson three of ten uh this evening, uh, which is where I just came from.

Um, so really a lot really nice to be able to have more flexibility scheduling lessons and then um just being able to keep him with the same instructor.

Um so you know, he's he's turning five into this month, and uh definitely want to get him.

He's very confident, um, but gotta get him to actually swim and not drown is is the challenge.

So that's uh our goal for the year.

Um, and then lastly, again, thank you to Commissioner Alexander um for your uh service over the last eight years and uh as Commissioner Bernie mentioned, really mentoring us uh uh our the last couple years really appreciate it.

Thank you very much.

I appreciate that.

Thank you.

I'll start by uh joining Vice Chair Schwartz and offering congratulations for the uh the decision on the aquatic center on Tuesday night.

It's a wonderful endorsement of the department and your leadership director, uh Director Long.

Uh it's not every day that a community makes such a sizable investment in helping make sure that everyone has the opportunity to learn how to swim.

It's really wonderful.

Uh, like Commissioner Alexander when the subject of Little League and Little John Park was on the commission's commission, excuse me, the council's agenda.

Uh, and then the weeks following, I spent several weekends out at Little John Park observing uh transitions between games, crowd flow, etc.

Um wonderful opportunity for all of us uh just to be eyes and ears out in the the community um and I've asked uh director long um for support moving forward and making sure that when different public meetings and so forth occur out in the community that we're just part of the the core distribution on those, that we're uh we're certain to be aware of those moving forward.

Um I want to give a shout out to all the staff associated with ARPD's summer programs.

As the parent now of uh I can't believe it of a teenager.

Um certainly it is a different set of summer programs that we're looking uh looking at.

Um the the parent text threads that I'm a part of are full of interests and requests for skill building opportunities uh for this for this age group, life skills.

Um, um and in particular, one one gap that I would uh that I would call out is uh cooking lessons.

Um to our knowledge, the closest uh set of kind of age-appropriate cooking lessons for this cohort is a kitchen on fire in Berkeley, which is quite a ways, um so perhaps an opportunity for future summers for that uh for that age group.

Uh that being said, um, frequent visits uh to the underground teen center, and so to give a shout out to that uh wonderful opportunity for this uh age group.

Uh last thing I'll uh mention uh as I continue to tour the islands uh facilities uh through through um work with my son this month uh took us out to the golf course for the first time.

I was certain that uh my golf clubs have gone away for the duration of uh the 18 years of childhood, uh so it was very exciting to go out together and uh start hitting uh starting balls together.

The entire staff out there was wonderful, welcoming.

It was great that for some for a child who maybe you don't know if the game's gonna stick, that there are um clubs available for him to borrow and hack around with.

Um, so just uh a great experience uh to share together and thank you for that.

Okay, thank you all.

And moving forward, uh the next item on the agenda tonight is our consent calendar, um, which is uh a new item for for us as a group, just to call out uh the consent calendar consists of routine items that are considered together and acted upon with a single motion, unless commissioner requests that an item be removed uh for separate discussion.

Um tonight the consent calendar includes uh item 5A, which is approval of the May 14th, 2026 recreation and parks commission regular meeting minutes, item 5B, which is a recommendation to approve the Longfellow Park ADA access improvement project, and item 5C, a recommendation to approve the Alameda Recreation and Parks Department public office hours.

Um before we move forward, are there any clarifying questions from commissioners about items on the consent calendar tonight?

Are there any members of the public who wish to speak on a consent calendar item?

And no speakers.

Uh, are there any requests from commissioners to remove an item from the consent calendar?

Okay.

In that case, uh, can we have a motion to approve the consent calendar?

I will motion to approve the consent calendar.

Second.

And could we have a roll call vote, please?

Commissioner Alexander?

Yes.

Commissioner Bernie.

Yes.

Vice Chair Swartz.

Yes.

Chair ADs.

Yes, thank you.

The motion passes unanimously.

The next item on our agenda is regular agenda item 6A, which is to consider a recommendation for the relocation of Alameda Little League's majors division from Little John Park to Lower Washington Park for fall of 2026 and Tillman Park for spring of 2027, following the approved athletic facility allocation policy.

Uh, we'll have a report and presentation, then the commissioners can ask clarifying questions, we'll have public comment, the commissioners will discuss and offer comment, and then from there we'll need to make a motion to either approve the recommendation, provide direction to staff to explore other specific park locations, or recommend staff explore other solutions and return with additional recommendations at the end of our discussion.

Director Long.

All right.

Uh, thank you, Commissioners.

I'm just gonna tilt this up a little bit.

Um, like I said, we're here tonight to discuss um the little league uh majors usage.

Um as you know, we started a trial at Little John Um Park this last fall, um, or sorry, spring.

Uh sorry, get my months where I'm at right now.

But um we started for the spring, um, and uh we held two community meetings there prior to it happening.

Um, you know, we we took their feedback.

However, I think um what we'll find out uh what we found out through the process was that due to the size of the park, um, these were the main concerns that that people had was parking plan, the transition between games, no amplified music, specific time, um allocations that the um the group had uh specific access to, and then neighborhood access when Little League wasn't using the park.

Um, some of the things that uh what we were looking at at the time was a schedule from March until June, uh then with some playoffs in June, but overall, the memo memorandum of understanding or MOU was to cover those main items to give some leeway and feedback for the neighborhood to be able to have input to Little League continuing to use the field.

Again, these were the primary concerns with parking conditions, noise access, and as little league was using it in the spring, there was a lot of angst with the neighborhood.

I think the inundation with the number of players in a confined space, and just the overall size of Little John, made it feel like the park was being taken over for a specific period of time, and with games back to back, we really took that into consideration as we're starting to approach alternatives tonight.

We did bring it in front of city council at first to bring an MOU, and they wanted us to come back here to this commission and bring some alternatives, which is why we're here tonight.

Little League also had the same concerns about the size of the field after they started using it originally.

They thought it would be a good fit, but they too agree with the neighborhood in this sense that this was not the best fit at this location, and they worked with our staff to try to figure out what alternative locations might work, and so that's what we're here to talk about.

So what our staff did was they started to review the spring field allocation and really look at to see where we had underutilized fields based on the requests that were made.

Um it also helps us to look at just our allocation process in general, and then we also looked at the fall 25 allocation to see what potential impacts would happen for this coming up fall season for Little League, knowing that they needed a home for this fall, and then uh looking at a solution for the spring of 27.

So of the options that they came up with for fall, Lower Washington uh was identified as uh a site that would be suitable for Little League to utilize, and based on the fall allocation previously, um we didn't think that there would be a big impact to other users by using this field as the where the requests were last year.

Um this field it has a parking lot off to the side.

There's street parking, and so the transition, this is a the same use.

There's currently games being played here now by a different variety of groups.

So we don't really consider it a change at all.

But and their fall season is not as intense as their spring season as anyone who is involved in little league, spring is a big time frame for them.

Um we also looked at for like say for spring 27.

Um, this is the Tillman Park on Bay Farm Island, and as you can see, the sports field sort of in the center of the image there will leave actually a good amount of the park still available to the public to utilize during any type of game play taking place.

Um the the field size is appropriate.

Um we actually held the community meeting like we said earlier on July 2nd.

Uh we sent mailers out to any properties within 300 feet, so everyone received a mailer about the meeting and what we were discussing.

Uh we posted at the location uh signs of that.

We posted on social media.

We also posted on our website that this was taking place.

Um during that meeting, uh it was not well attended.

We had two members, and then uh also Commissioner Alexander.

Um we had more staff there than we had the public.

Uh but we talked about the process, the the two individuals there were in support of the games taking place.

Um we talked a little bit about just little league's usage hours.

You know, there'll be Monday through Thursday, they'll be having uh one game a night, and then on Saturday they'll be doing up to up to four.

Um, and as part of the conversation, we also talked about if there is an impact, there is a potential to split the Saturday games by doing two it at Tillman and then two at the Wood Middle School still.

So there still is that possibility with the group.

Um Little League is also what was just off the north of the picture is the parking lot for the school.

So they have confirmed with the school district that it is available for little league to reserve or rent during the course of their season to limit the impact of parking, as there's no longer parking on the road to the east.

Sorry, my eyes are a little blurry to read the name.

I think it's Avalon Way.

I'm sorry, I can't really see from here.

But there's a bike lane there now, so there's no parking along that east side of the park there.

So you know, so in order to minimize that, they'll have to utilize that school lot.

Um now this is the solution for 27.

Uh, we are also looking at the long-term solution, which is out here at the multi-purpose uh field in the north side of the grass area is where we'd be looking at adding a new baseball diamond that can support both the age group for the 10 to 12 year olds, but would also support softball.

I think one of the things that uh that's to our speaker earlier, Alameda needs more fields, they need more access to it.

Increasing one more diamond is a way for us to do that, at least on an interim basis.

Um, one of the highlights I was not able to, or I did not include in there is we are starting work on uh another uh woodstock field where they're actually going to be upgrading the lighting to LED, and that will allow that field to actually with the new lumens, it'll actually support nighttime play, and for fall for giving us one more lit field that can be fully used.

Um, there was a there's one poll that was missing which made it not usable for nighttime play, which is now will be covered.

So not a permanent solution to the shortness of fields that we have, but at least a little bit of improvement there.

Um, but the ideal thing that we'd be adding here is the in-field, we would allow them to put a temporary fence in for their season, like they do now, and then they would remove that so that the large grass area could still be used for soccer or other sports in the interim.

And so we'll be looking at this for trying to get this into effect for the fall of 2027.

Um, you know, it's when we when we first approached and little league approached us about needing a specific location, um, you know, we tried to look at what was the most available for the impact that we had.

Um, but you know, I think this this is probably a better solution for the amount of players that are happening and the turnover for the day as there's ample parking on Alameda Point and around this facility to support that activity.

Um the other part is we're looking at the field allocation process in itself.

So just to give you a little bit of a history and how it sort of functions is for those different time frames that we briefly discussed earlier: the fall, the spring and summer, um people make requests to us.

Uh we have a prioritization factor of how it ranks between school youth sports and and ARPD programs and whatnot.

But people make requests, and they often make requests for specific fields that they like, not necessarily the space that they need, and so what we're starting in this fall as part of the allocation is we're requesting people to provide what size field they need to support their program so that we can do the the mastery in the back and putting the puzzle together to try to maximize all the fields that are getting utilized, and then is it a point to so that we can minimize impact to other organizations, and then what we're really hoping to do, which we did this last spring is we were able to take Vaport out of rotation the last the last season in fall in soccer, really did a number on it, and so right now we have Rittler out of circulation and it's uh getting restorative work right now.

So, in order for us to build that capacity into there, I know we shut down the fields from November till February, but it's not the best time to do field restoration work, and you don't really get good grass germinating in November and things like that.

So we're really trying to work in a rotation pattern here.

So this field allocation process and review will help us do that.

So fall will be a trial on it, and then hopefully we'll be able to institute it more fully when we get to the spring seasons and then summer and fall again.

So that's really where we are in the status.

So you know, there will still be activity at that field.

It just will not be for games.

And so they're happy to support that.

I think the field improvements that were done at Little John were necessary for the safety of both the playground and the players, not to mention the ADA access that had to be addressed.

So I think the community still benefits from all of that, and I'm glad to have that.

And I think this will be a viable solution into the future for little league, and to um support sort of the uh the allocation process as well as ARPD's overall field allocation that we have.

Um so again, what we're seeking here is just that uh for you to ask to consider approving um these recommendations to move these shifts, um, and then uh it will open it up to questions if you have any clarifying questions on this.

So, with that, thank you very much.

Thank you, Director Long.

And as we uh as we move into this item, uh I want to disclose uh to my colleagues my own association with Alameda Little League.

I've shared previously that for many years I've volunteered and coached for Alameda Little League, and while I know many of the members socially, uh I don't and haven't ever held a position of decision making authority with the organization or served on its board.

Um in addition, I haven't participated in any of the department's conversations with Alameda Little League.

So my participation participation on this item is entirely my own.

With all that being said, uh, can I invite uh from commissioners any clarifying questions for Director Long?

I have one question.

Just so just to confirm, the long-term solution isn't a permanent solution, it's just long term.

Well, we're long term is that how long is that?

Well, until there is a sports complex master plan done for that whole area, it'll stay in effect until we get to the point where we're actually looking at building the sports complex in that area.

Okay.

So that that is a very long-term project.

Right now, it's uh it's an idea with about a 60 million dollar price tag.

So we'll be there for a long time.

Okay, and how much work will need to be done to make this long-term solution feasible since it's out at the base.

So, what I would say is you know, um, depending on how much we do internally uh with our own staff and how much is done by contractors, it'll be a balance probably be about a $50,000 impact to skin the field, put fencing in for dugouts and and whatnot, and a backstop.

So there will be an expense associated with this, but the long-term uh access and uh availability to the community to utilize, I think will um you know it'll outweigh the cost of that.

We have funds in our um our unassigned capital repairs and our deferred maintenance that we can utilize toward this.

Um, and we'll also look toward taking any donations.

Anyone out there who uh supports youth sports will be more than happy to uh to assist with that if you're willing to.

And there's lighting.

I haven't been out there, I haven't been out there in at least this part in a bit.

It's there's lighting already at that field, or what will that also have to be included?

There's no lighting at that field in our our solution.

Will not include adding lighting at this time.

Um I just have a quick question.

Umman is my neighborhood park.

I go by there all the time.

There's older people playing baseball, there's volleyball, there's lacrosse, there's soccer.

Um the question I brought up at the community meeting was is for your clarification is that those soccer teams and lacrosse teams will still have field access, it just may not be at the park of their choice.

Is that correct?

That is correct, and as part of the allocation, we'll look at trying to accommodate all their needs and requests.

And I guess just another clarification is that I'm making the assumption that Godfrey, Leidecker, I'm gonna miss a park along the way that all those fields are being used for little league that can be used, correct?

All the fields are being utilized as much as possible for little league.

As part of this last allocation, they got 12 of our 20 fields.

So it's still a very large portion of fields that they're getting.

But we're also balancing out full usage.

We also work with the schools who utilize Godfrey and some of those other fields as well.

So it's a balance of all of those.

And so in those fields, allocations are all equitable around the city from you know Bay Farm to the base, all around all those fields.

Yes.

All being used.

Thank you.

I have uh I have three questions.

Uh the first is can you take us through how the athletic facility allocation policy applied in arriving at this recommendation and what alternatives uh were considered along the way?

So as part of the allocation process, like I was saying, you know, we there is a um uh we have a uh prioritization list that targets ARPD programs are first, uh school programs are second, youth sports are third, and then everything else goes to sort of adults, and then any type of intramural or contract availability.

Um so what we do is uh what we did in this sense is we reviewed the the 26 and 25 both seasons, both spring and fall, uh, to try to verify usage, hours used, and then what wasn't utilized, and try to evaluate basically uh where we had gaps, and then uh try to look at where we could shift, and that's how we evaluated it.

Um the alternatives were looking at how many how many sports were affected, how many are already utilized?

Does it impact our Title IX and making sure that we're balancing you know usage between both girls and boys sports?

And so we have to take that into consideration as part of this, and so we looked at all those different opportunities in order to identify these as solutions.

Great, thank you.

Uh the second question is uh part of the controversy around the use of Little John was regarding the the use of an MOU in that in that situation that granted um certain rights and so forth.

Can you take us through the circumstances in which an MOU is appropriate and why in this situation an MOU isn't applying?

Yes.

So often we've used utilized MOUs when an organization actually makes improvements to a field, which is a financial improvement.

So, like for example, at Little John, uh Little League contributed $55,000 to the city to make those improvements, and in lieu of that, you would give exclusive rights to utilizing it for certain hours, not all of it, but you know, very specific hours of usage that they would need.

That's sort of the the donation in kind.

They also rent the fields from us following our field allocation policy.

So that's generally when you enter into an MOU where Tillman sits right now.

Tillman doesn't need any significant major infrastructure improvements to support them playing, and there's room within the allocation that we can just go through the normal process, and they will like say like they already did through, even with the MOU, they were paying the same hourly rate as everybody else, they weren't getting it for free, they were still having to rent the fields.

So I think it's an important distinction around that, but it was really to cover the capital improvements.

I see okay, thank you.

And then the last question, building on what Commissioner Burney uh asked.

Just of course, long-term is a is a is a is a is a difficult statement, but I'm curious, does staff view the proposed Alameda Point baseball diamond as a response to a temporary field shortage situation, or is that evidence of this broader athletic field capacity gap that needs to be addressed otherwise?

It's evidence of a larger field capacity issue.

Um, you know, the there's a couple of things that we're also in consideration of fields that we're gonna lose in the future.

So the Hornet field that is out estuary uh enterprise park is in a tideland zone, and this is not a compatible use, so at some point, that field will uh be decommissioned, and then the main street linear soccer field uh will become housing at some point.

Again, when we talk about lifespan and expectation, do I think that's going to happen in five years?

No.

Do I think it's going to happen in 10?

Maybe.

But I don't know.

But that would mean that we lose two significantly sized fields to have access for the public to have.

And as you well know, here in Alameda, we are a very dense community.

We do not have lots of surplus open space.

There is room on the base that has been identified as for a sports complex that could support the addition of potentially for baseball diamonds, four soccer fields.

You know, we have about 40 acres that are available to us in for future development.

But again, that is sort of a long-term plan to address the increase in population, and just the need for more open space for the general public to play.

So that will be our long-term plan.

And when I mean long-term, it's that's probably a good 15 to 20 years from even consideration, I would say at this point.

It would build upon the skate park that exists, as well as the large gymnasium that we currently have, which is one of the largest in the East Bay.

Thank you.

And thank you for mentioning too the Title IX evaluation as part of your analysis.

Any further questions?

Did you say you're putting in another field at Woodstock or just lights?

We're replacing the LED lighting, which will make the field available because it will have enough coverage for nighttime play.

But we're not adding an extra dime, I think.

Thank you.

I didn't think so.

Great.

Thank you all.

Do we have any public comment on this item?

We do we have one online speaker.

Speaker Rick Breslin.

Welcome, Speaker Breslin.

Thank you very much.

Good evening.

And now have two children attend AWS B schools and local sports.

My wife Corona and Oscar is board members for Alameda Youth Basketball and Alameda Little League.

And by the way, I'd like to thank Chair Radies for all the coaching over the years.

The kids love being on his team.

Over the past year, we've worked closely with the RPD while Alameda Little League sought additional permits to accommodate its continued growth.

That work is included expanding the use of Alameda's baseball fields and addressing the infrastructure needed to support hundreds of children and their families.

For some context, Alameda Little League has grown by approximately 10% each year since the pandemic and now serves more than 800 Alameda children between the ages of four and 13.

For the past three decades, approximately 400 to 500 players across 40 teams have spent every spring season playing baseball seven days a week on the two folds the league built at Wood Middle School for years ago.

Those fields hosted roughly four hours of play every weekday and nearly 20 hours every weekend.

One of those diamonds was demolished in the summer of 2024, and the second diamond will be demolished in the next couple of years.

Those hundreds of children need a place to play.

So thousands of children more places to play.

Throughout the transition, from maintaining and operating two dedicated baseball fields at Wood Middle School to relying more heavily on city park facilities.

The ARPD staff has been outstanding.

They have worked diligently to balance the needs of Alameda's youth sports organizations while making the best use of the limited facilities available.

As I'm sure the staff would agree and to echo Mark Klein's comments from earlier, Algeda is simply running out of park space to support the growing demands of our community.

Looking ahead, we're excited to work alongside city leaders and ARPD staff to explore creative long-term solutions.

The future development of the city owned property at Alameda Point presents a tremendous opportunity to meet the increasing demand for recreational space, and I encourage the Parks Commission City Council to lend their leadership, experience, and support to efforts that uh bring the city and the local youth organizations together in partnership to create these new recreational facilities that will benefit not only today's children but generations of Alameda families to come.

Thank you for your time and your continued commitment to our community.

Thank you, Speaker Breslin.

Are there any other speakers tonight?

No more speakers.

Great.

In that case, it's time for commissioners to discuss and offer comment.

Who would like to start?

Please.

Thank you, Director Log staff.

This seems like a very thorough um investigation into some better alternatives.

I think we've heard over the last couple months, you know, some feedback from the community on the Little John Park usage.

And so, you know, I I don't see any flaws here.

I appreciate all the hard work and the thoughtfulness and working with the neighborhoods, uh, the neighbors uh and little league to come up with what seems like uh a very agreeable solution to both the community, uh Alameda Little League and ARPD.

So uh I will be happy to uh support this.

Commissioner Birdie.

I do not have any issues.

I think this is a very very well put together plan, and I'm glad that the little league organization and the communities are all aligned with the proposal, and I have no issue moving forward with it.

Um I want to thank staff for trying to solve our problems quickly.

Um, you know, that was a trial period at Little John.

I think you know there was a necessity and they needed fields, and that's what was there, and that's what we tried.

And I think for what it was, it was a good process.

I was down there for several games.

I watched, I was able to find parking.

You could still use the park, but I understand the neighbors' concern.

So I'm glad that we found another solution to that.

I want to thank Little League for all of the um improvements that they made at Little John.

I know that they needed to make the dugouts uh ADA accessible, and it was and the new fences were really nice.

Um, I think that this will be great at Tillman.

Um, as I said, I live in the neighborhood.

I see cars there all the time, and we have to remember our neighborhood parks don't have parking lots, whether you're at Franklin or you're at Rittler with two soccer games and two baseball games.

So the neighborhoods are impacted when we have these sports games.

There's just no way around that.

Um question, Director Long.

Um, the diamond at the school that's still available.

Is Little League able to use that or not?

So the diamond that is available literally is able to rent it, yes.

They can still rent that one diamond that's available at Wood.

While it still exists, as uh the speaker mentioned that the it's it's out on limited timeline of two to three years.

Okay.

Well, I thank you.

I'm all in favor of this proposal.

I think it's great.

Um, I'm anxious to go down to Woodstock and watch a game at night.

There you go.

Uh I'll close um by offering uh similar similar effort to commend both the little league and and the ARPD staff for actually collaborating uh in this instance through through several cycles of effort to find a home uh for the kids uh out on the fields, both uh both in the spring and the fall seasons and that spirit more than anything, an effort to engage and work together.

Um, I think I find most encouraging uh from the entire from the entire process.

You know, look looking back, what what happened at Little John, in some sense, um, you know, having spent weekends out there, um uh at some level unsurprising and and uh possible to anticipate when you put so many people together in such close proximity um over a period of time.

And I would just offer uh offer up the commission in the future for situations where uh an MOU is under development, uh which would imply a deeper sense of engagement and investment on the the part of a sports league as well as potentially greater impacts on a surrounding neighborhood to offer up the commission as a place to offer eyes and ears to receive that type of feedback and hopefully get in front uh further in front of some of the issues that ended up uh ended up arising.

Um, but with that being said, uh I'm in agreement with my colleagues that uh I think this is a well thought through proposal, um, and I would offer my support as well.

Um, hearing that it feels like we are um in a in a unanimous position of agreement.

Um, does anyone have a motion to approve the motion?

Oh, excuse me, approve the recommendation that's in front of us.

I'll make a motion to improve the recommendation.

And I'll second that and could we have a roll call vote, please?

Commissioner Alexander.

Yes, Commissioner Bernie.

Yes, Vice Chair Schwartz.

Yes.

Yes, thank you.

The uh motion passes unanimously.

Okay, moving forward.

The next item on the agenda is our next meeting, which is on September 10th, 2026, after we're on recess during the month of August.

Uh, do we have any agenda items that anyone would like to put on that agenda?

Uh a couple of proposals.

I'd like to reiterate uh Commissioner Alexander's suggestion from earlier in the year to have a recap of the uh the summer season and the summer programs in terms of attendance and uh operational uh takeaways.

Uh that'd be wonderful to have as part of our practice.

Um my other two were just uh actually my only other one is just a question more than anything.

Um, knowing last year that we had so much conversation leading up to uh the recreation parks user fee schedule.

Does it make any sense to bring that forward earlier in the planning cycle, even if to just discuss it from a philosophical standpoint before we get into the nitty-gritty?

So, I offer that just as a question.

Yeah, I think I think we have already considered that, and so we'll be bringing it earlier and allow more discussion to happen around uh those different fees and different proposals.

Okay, wonderful.

I would just like to know other on the September meeting.

We will have two new commissioners.

Yes, the mayor will be on the 21st of July.

Um, the council will take a vote on appointing those two members, and so that'll be uh their first meeting.

So just wanted to make you aware of that as part of this.

Terrific, thank you.

Can I can I add something?

I don't know in a okay.

Why want to add to that agenda?

Please, please.

Um, you know, we've talked about in the past having the aquatics supervisor come talk to us and the leisure club.

So I hope that they'll continue to have all the different departments come, maybe not once a year, but every year and a half to come and give a report.

Not only so we can meet them so that they can meet the new commission and have a conversation.

Thank you.

Uh Director Long, is there anything else that you'd like to add to that agenda?

Not at this time.

Okay, wonderful.

Before we uh adjourn this evening, I want to offer the opportunity uh the floor to Commissioner Alexander on the occasion of her last uh commission meeting.

Thank you.

Let's see if I can do this.

You know, 54 years ago I walked into Crucy Park right out of high school.

Do your math, you can figure it out.

Um I want to thank Amy Woolridge and uh former mayor Spencer for giving me the opportunity to serve my first term here on the Alamine Recreation Parks Commission.

Um I loved it so much I asked for a second one.

So I'd like to thank the current mayor at Mashcroft for that.

Um it's been a privilege to serve with Director Woolworth and you director long.

Um it was a privilege to be here during that transition period that ARPD had for a while, and with the new commission.

Um seeing the department behind the scenes in a different way from being a park director was really interesting to me.

Um it is amazing what 14 people full-time staff members do in this city and the recreation services that you have, the maintenance crew, it is absolutely amazing.

Um getting to know the staff has been a real joy.

Um, bringing them cookies once in a while doesn't you know hurt that, but anyhow, and I've learned that it takes a very long time to get anything done.

Um also the financing with that.

Um Deep Hay Park is still on the horizon somewhere.

I remember probably seven years ago, DPA Park came to us, the sports complex.

I talked about that about eight years ago.

We looked at that.

So it takes a long time to try to get these fields.

Um the new Cruzy building took over 10 years, and I was the pre was a real pleasure to open that building, although it was during COVID and we had to do it on a Zoom thing.

It was really a pleasure of mine to open that new building.

And the way that building looked before, no building in this town should ever have looked like that.

It was in deplorable condition, whether it was a wreck building, any city building.

So I implore the um city council on that to be sure that our buildings don't get into that condition again.

Um I was able to open the Lincoln Playground after the trees fell down, and we had a new playground.

We named a Boho Circle, Whale Park.

Three or four other parks that we named.

We added, we changed the name of Jackson Park to Chichenya Park.

We added that nice natural playground there.

The swim center has been on the agenda in the last eight years that I've been here, along with the community garden, so it's really exciting to see that that's coming to fruition.

And when you talk about the infrastructure bond, I watched the council meeting the other night, and it looks like almost half of the money is going towards improvements that we need for fire, and I'm all for that.

However, I think you need to remember that parks and playgrounds are part of our infrastructure.

We have several really old buildings that need a lot of work.

The Oak Club needs a kitchen.

It's sinking in certain places.

Godfrey Park needs work.

I'm probably forgetting one along the line, but you can't defer this maintenance.

The pathways in and out of the park, something really simple.

Almost twisted my ankle, those paths are so bad.

So that's all part of what we want in this town.

We want safe facilities.

There's a lot of old benches and picnic tables that have a lot of splinters in them that need to be repaired or something.

The O Club, like I said, needs a kitchen.

Everybody wants more pickleball courts and tennis courts.

Well, the ones we have have to be repaired every three to four years.

It's a big overhaul that costs a lot of money.

We ask request all the time for more indoor basketball, more outdoor basketball.

Well, we don't have any space for that.

So I just kind of want the council to remember that recreation is part of that infrastructure.

Yes, we can't do everything, but I hope that they'll remember that when they put that forward.

And to the new commissioners, I want to thank you for wanting to serve on LMA Recreation and Park Commission.

I have a few little tips for you.

Be sure that you read your agenda before you come to the meeting, take notes so you know what you're going to talk about.

Get your questions in your head.

Take the time to go to an ARPD event.

Go to the movie night at the park, or if there's the sandcastle contest, pop down there.

Just pop down to the local park and talk to the people that are there.

Introduce yourself.

You'll get a nice pretty name tag, introduce yourself.

And that's one way to get out of the community and see what they have to say.

You can bring the questions back to the meeting.

And finally, um I would like to thank all the commissioners that I've served with.

I'm sorry that Commissioner Robbins was not here tonight to leave with me.

And I want to thank staff again.

It has been an absolute pleasure to work with everyone at the ARPD office, and I certainly hope to continue to work with you again.

And this has been a really memorable experience.

Thank you.

Thank you.

With that said, the next and final item on the agenda is our adjournment.

Can I have a motion to adjourn, please?

I'll make a motion to adjourn.

Second.

And a vote, please.

Commissioner Alexander.

Yes.

Commissioner Bernie.

Yes.

Vice Chair Schwartz.

Yes.

Chair 80s.

Yes, already.

The meeting is now adjourned.

We'll see you all in September.