Special Meeting of Napa Parks, Recreation and Trees Advisory Commission - April 16, 2025
Special Meeting of Napa Parks, Recreation and Trees Advisory Commission - April 16, 2025
The Parks, Recreation and Trees Advisory Commission held a special meeting on April 16, 2025, at 6:00 PM at Fuller Park, 560 Jefferson St, Napa, CA. Commissioners Bordona, Stults, Richard, Streng, Wallace, Katz-O'Neill, Graffuis, and student rep Bynum were present; Stults was absent for roll call but later noted as present? The agenda included approval of minutes and three informational presentations: the Napa Park and Recreation Foundation, a Climate Action Update, and the OneView Integration/Lucity Work Order System. No public comments were made.
Consent Calendar
- None. The only consent-calendar item was the approval of minutes, which was moved and seconded under agenda item 4.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public spoke.
Presentation: Napa Park and Recreation Foundation
- Kevin Hansen (board member) and Kent Anderson (Executive Director) presented the foundation's mission to support the city's Parks and Recreation Services Department. The foundation, established in 1998, focuses on fundraising for unfunded programs, youth scholarships, playground improvements, volunteer recruitment, and special events. Key points:
- Youth Scholarships: In 2024, the foundation contributed $15,000, assisting approximately 75 families. In 2025, contributions increased to $25,000, with an estimated over 100 families to be served. Scholarships primarily support swim lessons and summer camps, emphasizing water safety.
- Playground Improvements: Examples include contributions to Century Oaks Park ($5,000 from Napa Valley Aloft) and Springwood Park (including a zip line).
- Friends of the Parks Program: A pilot program to organize corporate and individual volunteers for park maintenance (graffiti removal, trash pickup, invasive plant removal, etc.), expected to begin in May 2025.
- Special Events: The foundation is the official vendor for adult beverages at the Fourth of July event, using temporary ABC licenses to raise funds. They also participate in Dia de los Muertos, Earth Day, and other events.
- Outreach: Flyers, social media, Give Guide, yard signs, and partnerships with civic groups. They cross-promote with the city. The foundation has one paid part-time staff member.
- Annual budget varies (historically $15,000–$50,000) but is increasing due to professionalization.
Administrative Report: Climate Action Update
- Deborah Elliott, City of Napa Climate Action Coordinator, provided an update on city climate efforts. She defined climate action, sustainability, and climate equity. The city has a goal of net zero climate pollutants by 2030 per the Climate Emergency Resolution (2022) and 2040 General Plan. Key areas:
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions (2019 baseline): On-road transportation accounts for over 50% of emissions, building energy nearly 30%, followed by off-road equipment, solid waste, etc. City efforts focus on these top sectors.
- Transportation: Pursuing federal grants for EV charging stations and electric vehicle purchases, working on a community transportation needs assessment with partners (Resource Conservation District, Bike Coalition). Received technical assistance for fleet electrification planning.
- Building Energy: Replaced a gas water heater with a heat pump at Las Flores facility, planning solar and energy efficiency projects. Supporting regional rebate programs.
- Off-Road Equipment: Hosted rebate events for commercial landscapers (funded by ARPA) to replace gas-powered equipment. New gas-powered lawn/garden equipment sales banned in California as of Jan 1, 2024.
- Solid Waste: Working on a biomass facility and anaerobic digester; SB 1383 implementation to increase composting. City is procuring recycled-content materials. Polystyrene ban effectively handled by state law.
- Climate Action Plan: Consultant recommends a program-level EIR to avoid lawsuits; costs shared among regional jurisdictions. Draft and outreach expected summer 2025.
- Parks & Trees Connection: Adaptation measures include shade, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and education through events like Art Walk (2024–2026 theme: climate action).
- Q&A: Buses (NVTA) are transitioning to electric; garbage trucks may use clean natural gas from anaerobic digester. Solid waste emissions are expected to decline with local implementation, not shown in state projections. The program-level EIR is funded by all jurisdictions (50% population, 50% equal share; city and county cover over 60%). Private sector emissions are addressed via state laws (e.g., building reach codes, SB 1383) and local incentives/policies.
Administrative Report: OneView Integration / Lucity Work Order System
- Jeff Gittings, Parks and Recreation Department, presented the new My Service Center online portal (launched March 14, 2025) and an annual update on the Lucity work order system. Key details:
- Background: Lucity, an asset-based work order system using GIS, has been used since 2019. A public portal existed earlier but lacked communication back to users. The new My Service Center (OneView) allows residents to submit non-emergency requests (potholes, tree issues, etc.) and receive real-time updates via email when they create an account.
- Features: Mobile app/website with GPS location, photo uploads, automated prompts to route requests to the correct department. Public can see map of all requests and their status (received, in progress, completed). Anonymous submissions allowed but reduce communication.
- 2024 Work Order Statistics:
- Total work orders executed: approximately 3,000.
- Public-initiated requests: approximately 825 (about one-third of total).
- Self-directed work: two-thirds, of which 30% (about 1,000) are preventative maintenance (PMs) auto-generated (e.g., turf mowing every week).
- 264 PMs sending weekly/annually; 200 auto-generated inspections per year (mostly monthly playground inspections).
- Average days work orders were open: 10.84 (most closed same/next day).
- Top five tasks (2024): pruning (924 work orders), inspections (under 200), cleaning (high 100s), backflow testing/repair (around 100), tree removal (in top five).
- Benefits: Strengthens transparency and reduces duplicate requests. Seamless integration: when a public request becomes a work order, status updates automatically. Helps staff track frequency and location of issues for better resource allocation.
- Q&A: Highest demand requests are typically tree-related. Some requests are denied if outside jurisdiction or for turf mowing (already scheduled). Priorities: safety hazards addressed immediately; routine tasks integrated into planned work. Encouraged commissioners to use the system and share with community.
Comments by Commissioners and Staff
- Item 7A (Report by Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Representative) was not given because the representative (Hoenicke) was absent. The meeting proceeded to adjournment.
Key Outcomes
- Approved the Regular Meeting Minutes of March 26, 2025, unanimously (motion by Stults, second by Richard, all aye).
- No formal votes or binding decisions were taken on the presentations; they were informational only.
- The next regularly scheduled meeting is May 21, 2025.
Meeting Transcript
Meeting. Sorry, that's the title. Okay, I'd like to call to order the non-special meeting agenda for the Parks Recreation and Trees Advisory Commission, uh, April 16th, 2025. Isn't every meeting special though? Not formally special. Darn it. Um could I please have roll call? Wardono. Here. Stoltz. Richard. Here. Strang. Wallace. Um Dick is absent. Heineke is absent and Sado's absent. Thank you for that. Okay, uh agenda review is next up on the agenda. Um we're gonna start with public comment, um, then we'll go to approval of minutes, and then item 5A is a presentation from the Napa Park Recreation Foundation from Kent Anderson. And then items uh 6A is uh a climate action update with Deborah Elliott, and item 6B is the OneView Integration Lucidity Work Order System and ANRO update with Jeff Giddings. Um with that, we'll move to public comment if there's any members of the public here who wish to speak on items that are not on the agenda. Uh now's the time. I'm not seeing any. Um, so we'll move to approval amenes. Any comments or motions? Move to approve. Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Motion passes unanimously. Um, 5A. Uh presentation on the Napa Park and Recreation Foundation. Kent Anderson, executive director. Good evening. Good evening, commissioners and staff. Uh, my name is Kevin Hansen. I'm a board member of the Napa Parks and Recreation Foundation. And uh I want to acknowledge a couple of things. It's good to be presenting to a group that cares about parks and recreation programs, uh, as does the foundation. Uh we have different missions, as as I'm sure it's very obvious to you, but they're very complementary. Um, and we're going to align ourselves with the policies that have been developed by parks and recreation services, which is financial sustainability, capital investment, and social equity. So those are also the focus of our mission. Um, our mission, and we're gonna go over that again. Uh, Kent will also cover that too in the PowerPoint. My comments will be brief. Um, but I do want to say that we're looking at unmet needs uh from the uh foundation's perspective that uh would be special parks projects and recreation programs, uh specifically youth scholarships, uh which we would would encamp encompass um swim lessons, summer camps, and that sort of thing. Um we've uh participated in community events, so we're looking for donations in order to support uh the programs I just mentioned, and we are a 501c3, so we can accept donations to support that. Um our executive director will take it from here, is gonna show uh a number of things I think you can see on at least one of your screens.
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