Monterey Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting - May 14, 2025
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Monterey Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting - May 14, 2025
The Monterey Parks and Recreation Commission met on May 14, 2025, to receive a report on department operations from February through April 2025, review and endorse proposed Neighborhood and Community Improvement Program (NCIP) projects for fiscal year 2025-26, approve prior meeting minutes, and hear public comments. The meeting also featured farewell remarks for retiring Parks and Recreation Director Karen, who served 39 years.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes: The commission unanimously approved the minutes from the February 12, 2025, meeting.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Lorna Moffitt (speaking twice): During the first public comment period on the operations presentation, she suggested the city develop a community garden project and promote outdoor activities, and she promoted her free horseback riding program through Village Project. She also criticized the concept of invasive species, alleging it was created by Monsanto to sell herbicides. During the general public comment period, she opposed the removal of eucalyptus trees, arguing they provide ecological benefits and questioning the scientific basis of invasive species designation. She advocated for permaculture alternatives and urged sparing a dying oak tree at Schultzy Park.
Discussion Items
- Presentation on Parks and Recreation Operations (Feb–Apr 2025): Staff provided an overview of parks maintenance (beach cleanups, turf care, transient camp removals, horticulture fair, forestry/fuel reduction), recreation programs (Bunny Hop event, summer camp planning, youth/adult sports, senior services, centers at El Estero, Hilltop, Schultz, Casanova, and the Sports Center), and facility updates. The Sports Center pool renovation is on schedule for a June 1 reopening, with a 33rd anniversary celebration planned that day. The department noted increased demand for programs and challenges in staffing due to wage competition.
- Review of Proposed NCIP Projects for FY 2025-26: Staff presented seven priority projects: Hilltop Park Center improvements (structural repairs), El Estero Park Center improvements (kitchen, accessibility, lighting), El Estero large group barbecue area upgrades (picnic tables, drainage), Schultz building repairs (roof, painting, termites), Sports Center advanced climate controls (energy efficiency), mural refresh at Hilltop, and a proposed lease of 205 Montecito Avenue for community space (potential partnership with Boys & Girls Club). Commissioners discussed costs, priorities, and the need to serve the Via Del Rey neighborhood. A commissioner offered to attend NCIP advocacy nights.
Key Outcomes
- Motion to Support NCIP Projects: The commission unanimously passed a motion to endorse the seven proposed NCIP projects as staff recommendations.
- NCIP Advocacy Volunteers: Commissioners Christian and Justin volunteered to attend NCIP advocacy nights scheduled for October 15 and October 22, 2025.
- Staff Announcements: The Sports Center will host a free 33rd anniversary party on June 1, 2025, honoring retiring Director Karen (39 years of service) and featuring music, barbecue, and a Zumba party. The Old Capital site will be discussed at the May 20 City Council meeting. Other recognized staff included retiring maintenance worker Chris Meichselsberger and park supervisor Steve Garcia.
- Next Meeting: The commission’s next meeting is scheduled for June 11, 2025, at 5:30 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Chair Crampton. Vice Chair Ono. Here. Commissioner Benz, absent. Commissioner Boya, absent. Commissioner McEwen here. Commissioner Reed, absent. Commissioner Schmidt. I am here. Thank you. Myself back on. Nate, if you could read the public comment procedures, please. Yes. Good evening, Commissioners. Information on participating in this meeting and providing public comment, including remotely by Zoom or telephone, is available on this meeting's agenda, which is online at iSearch Monterey.gov. Remote commenters will be muted until it is your turn to speak. A timer will be shown on the screen. If you are connected on Zoom, the timer is accurate with no delay. In the chamber, we ask attendees to please keep their phones and devices and devices muted to prevent audio interference with tonight's meeting. Thank you for participating in your city government. Thank you so much, Nate. Presentation on the status of the parks and recreation department operations for February through April of 2025. This is not a project under CEQA Article 20, Section 15378, and under general rule Article 5, Section 15061. Karen. Thank you. Good evening, Commissioners. Tonight we have a presentation of the Parks and Recreation Department operations for you from February through April 2025. And we will start with Heis. The Kiwanis and Green Cadre did some beach cleanups with the um with the public and different nonprofit organizations. And as you can see, we did a lot of a lot of hours doing uh transient camp removal. Um we were just doing that not just the other day as well. Um trying to trying to catch up on that. So um yeah, so you can see in Solda the Retro, we did a drink a drinking fountain. We'll be doing another one of those. That's gonna be at San Carlos Park, hopefully pretty soon. Um did a little bit of extra um turf maintenance at Jack's Fields, uh air verifying and trop dressing it there. Um sister city, as we all know, got uh kind of cut tore up a little bit by our by our sea lion friends, but uh we were able to go back in and our crew did an amazing job um restoring that and re-relandscaping that. So um really um really neat neat thing there. And also, I don't feel we there's if you do take a walk there, we put a memorial plaque. We got reached out to by somebody whose mom planted a cypress tree right there, and she has a picture of her with the cypress tree. Um, so you know, 30, 40 some odd years later, um, where he was able to track down the tree. We put a plaque there, so that's pretty neat. Found the the owner, the rightful owner responsible for that one. Um little projects around square in the process of relancing San Carlos Beach. See you'll you could see some project um some progress there recently. Um and then obviously we've lower presidio, we did our seasonal weed eating through a lot of our different parts like Don Dabby. We did today. Um, but the Lower Presidio we we pushed on and got that done ahead of um the big birthday event, which was last last week. So hopefully some of you were able to make the horticulture fair. I know uh Justin, I saw you there.
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