Okay.

Okay.

Okay, now we'll do the row call.

Liz Marks absent.

Deborah Stevens.

Katie Holman.

President.

Julie Seeger.

Here.

Michael O'Connell.

Present.

Tom Wolf.

Do we have any uh supplemental reports to report?

No.

I don't think any.

Any public comment?

No.

No.

Okay.

That's good.

It's worth a try.

Need approval for the uh minutes of February the fourth.

I move we approve.

I have I have one change.

It says that I approve the minutes, and because I was not present at the December meeting, I need to abstain because I can't approve minutes when I wasn't present.

So it just needs to indicate that I have abstained.

Thank you.

Do we have another second?

Okay.

Our first presentation will be from uh Glenn Matella.

He's the uh a board member and past president of Napace Association.

I don't think so.

No.

Can you hear me now?

Yes.

Yes.

Past president before Jim, Jim's predecessor.

Um talk a little bit about the information about the bocce association itself and some of the history of uh the the creation and uh the establishment in the courts at the senior center.

Um I passed out uh the handout that has the existing board of directors on it.

I'd like to call out two names off that list.

One is the board bocce board president Jim Holland, all around swell guy, and Marilyn Bettcher, who's our current uh treasurer and was the current was the treasurer treasurer when it was created twenty-five years ago.

So she's the sole remaining member of the original board.

The board uh Napa Bocchi Association was formed as a five oh one C4, which basically is a uh welfare uh nonprofit for uh social welfare nonprofit.

Um it was created in two thousand one, about this time.

Our twenty-fifth anniversary is officially uh ten days, March tenth.

Um I was uh I was employed by the City of Naples Park Park and Recreation, so I met the uh the original board of members, board members in early two thousands.

So I met the uh the original board of members, board members in early 2000s, and I was uh designated as the guide for the bocce tour when the association approached uh the city to look for possible locations for to build bocce courts.

We looked at five locations, uh O'Brien Park and uh Century Oaks Park, which were community designated parks, were uh scrapped right away because of there's no parking there and there's existing neighborhood issues about building something like a bocce courts inside the an existing facility.

We looked at uh Fuller Park as a potential site.

It also had issues on both sides from the association as well as the city.

Um it's also uh is one of the more popular parks, and it would have made it even more popular and crowded, and parking would I think would have been an issue.

We looked at Kennedy Park, um down on uh uh flatlands where flood control is, there's a master plan for ball fields and a lot of recreational activity.

So we looked at there's a little apple ultra by the um golf course parking lot.

We looked at that area.

There are issues about how to get services there, uh restrooms, uh power, and all that.

Plus, there's actually a small wetland there that was kind of right in the middle and uh would have gotten away.

And the fifth site was the senior center.

So originally we looked at, or the intention was to put the bocce ball courts in the between the creek and the social hall, and that little corner where the bridge over the creek and the bridge to the between the buildings goes in that area there.

But there are setbacks required from the floodplain from the creek.

So by the time we abided by the setbacks, we would have had one court, maybe two courts, and it would have been pressed right up against the building.

And there's some pretty nice trees there that would have had to come out.

So that was scrap too.

So basically they had no location yet.

But the two houses on Jefferson Street adjacent to the bocce courts came on the market.

And the city, in their infinite wisdom, bought those houses.

And they decided they would improve the entrance to the senior center because the original entrances were off of Egleson, in and out on a one-way street.

It would have been better.

There used to be a fire lane adjacent to the courts, so they widened the fire lane, put in the two driveways, and built the bocce courts.

The bocce association contributed $10,000 to the project to uh help fund the build.

And we started uh when this established in 2005, the bocce association began playing there.

The original league had 18 teams, and we basically grew that from there.

Um it was basically one league, uh, no divisions.

As we we moved along, we picked up teams, but when they put the roof on, about uh what, 2008, 2009, that created a lot more interest.

And the league maxed out at 51 teams, which is the capacity of the courts, capacity that we felt uh the association felt that we could handle.

We played Sunday through Friday, and we play on a rotating basis.

We don't play like a like a bowling league where you play Tuesday night, go bowl, you play one of those nights, and it's different every week.

That way nobody gets stuck playing Sundays and Fridays especially.

Um so we we grew to 51.

We used to have a end of the season barbecue where the association would pay for the food and drinks for the players who all who wanted to attend.

We would have uh raffle drawings for uh gift cards, um $100 gift cards to I I think they originally were 50, there are 100 now.

Um to players who attended the barbecue could draw, you know, their number gets drawn, they get it to get a dinner.

Um and that's all the money was that we acquired were from the fees they paid to to play in the league, so we were returning money to back back to the players.

We are you know in a nonprofit.

Um shortly before COVID, we we dropped down from 51 teams a little bit.

number gets drawn they get it to get a dinner um and that's all if we all the money was that we acquired were from the fees they paid to to play in the league so we were returning money to back back to the players we are you know in a a nonprofit um shortly before COVID we we dropped down from 51 teams a little bit we never got that high again but we did three or four years at that level just before COVID we created a day league that plays Tuesdays and Thursdays there still is still does um but when COVID hit we lost DOS teams and and what six seven teams and have never never came back for what for whatever reasons a lot of them they like to was a the excuse they told me is we like our circle of friends and I guess that's not on the bocce courts but so we we haven't gotten back to that level um we during COVID we can't we canceled one two seasons we canceled the barbecues and all that um we just started up last summer with a pot luck where the players will bring the food and the bocce association funds the gift card giveaways and the uh drinks I think we've we paid for the current season just started in the first week of March it goes until the last week of June the the summer fall season starts first week of August and goes to about Thanksgiving so give or take depending on how many teams there are the current season has 381 members on average it's about nine nine members a team when I was uh president uh I was asked to do a um a survey on for over and under 50 for the for the senior center to make sure that we were a senior organization and we were over 90 are 90 percent over 50 and and and still are and the and those that weren't were basically on two teams so um this season has uh 43 teams 29 nights 14 days uh the the fee is uh 200 a team in keeping with our uh mission statement to provide uh bocce uh you know activities and bocce facilities at affordable rates if you figure uh nine member team 200 15 games for about a buck and a half you got two and a half hours of entertainment uh a good value I think um for uh players who want to join you know participate in the league um they can call contact the senior center the senior center will refer them to Jim and Jim holds a um a list of players looking for teams and if you want uh to add pizza people to your team you can pull them off the list um so uh expense wise our biggest expense is insurance um followed by rent and the rest is propane and such but it's manageable compared to those two so I'll be happy to answer I try to answer any questions you may have um regarding the association anyone have any questions I do yeah hi I'm Liz and um I love the senior center and uh I've mentioned this to uh Jim before that's um I would love to play botchy but I can't commit to play when it's on a different night every week and you know my husband teaches like one night a week and you know we all have commitments but I don't I've just sometime it would be great to consider that like maybe offering some where it's a certain you know it's a certain night every week.

Yeah it is it has been considered okay um multiple times in in my terms but um it's never quite you know you who plays Monday night football night you know and you know and you would have to you know divide you know like different divisions it it's it's from my opinion it it's it's possible to do like either a Monday or Wednesday and then B League would play Monday or Wednesday and they you could get you know you'd give you days off but when you do you know the Monday night bocce league there's eight teams if you want to do 15 games you you just you just kind of run down the line you play the the same teams multiple times if you spread it out you also get to meet other bocce teams because not each division plays the same night it generally it is but sometimes an A division team will play on B division because there's an open court so you meet other other other um teams so it's it's you know it's an issue it's like a it's kind of like a timeshare who who gets that

You also get to meet other bocce teams because not each division plays the same night.

It generally it is, but sometimes an A division team will play on B division because there's an open court.

Um so you meet other other um teams.

So it's it's you know it's an issue.

It's like a it's kind of like a timeshare.

Who gets that?

You know, what whatever night the dancing with the stars isn't on who plays that night.

I know I would just you know just not to make light of it, but um yeah, antiques roadshow or football games.

So I would never want to play Monday nights.

But who how do you do that?

You know, yeah, I don't know.

Yeah, we did we didn't either.

So it it comes up from time to time.

And we can bring it up again.

But uh yeah, but it has been considered several times.

Thanks.

Yeah, okay.

I have a question.

Do you uh over here?

Hi, I'm uh Michael O'Connell.

Uh do you have tournaments and do you compete with other communities within the county?

We've originally in the first uh maybe seven, eight years of the league.

We had a when we only had one week, no divisions.

The top eight teams would play and we'd had the barbecue would be the tournament.

And they do playoffs in order to come in order to get the trophy, you had to win all all your games for that day.

So we used to do that.

Um we've we've provided uh referees, if you will, for like Portes Abertis for them to run tournaments for us as money raisers, and we would do the measuring and uh scorekeeping and all that stuff for them.

Putting on a tournament it takes a great deal of effort.

Um I know I've talked to St.

Alinas, the the the final round of seeing St.

Lena's is a big deal.

But they have way more courts than we do and b better better players than we do, and and uh not everybody is that competitive.

Our our league is is much more social, especially if when we started it was much more uh competitive.

You know, teams threw the same way every time through the same spot every now, you know, we're there for the pizza and wherever the pollina lands up is where you throw at.

Um so the association itself isn't isn't that competitive to run a tournament with association members.

Um sponsor somebody from somewhere else.

Um it's been discussed, but never too foolish.

Thank you.

Any other questions?

Yeah, one question here.

Okay.

Quick question.

Um, so how's the senior center treating you?

Are you missing anything?

Is there anything that we should consider that would help the league or uh anything that needs to change?

Well, the the number one issue that the association has is the is the surface on the courts, and we meet in a couple weeks with the Park and Rec commission to discuss those.

I mean, if though if those get replaced, you know, ninety percent of the association will be happy.

Um because it's it's kind of been an issue and we've asked for I know the city has plans to do bigger things in that area, you know, make uh the bus stop, put the bus stop out in front so they they can park off the street to load and unload and build restrooms and uh bocce association gets a club clubhouse and uh and and and fix the surface or the underlayment that's it's cracked and bumpy and we'll be happy people.

So just to clarify, what Glenn is referring to as the bus stop was in the initial um the initial study that we did when we when we uh trying to think of the word.

Oh my gosh, it's left me now.

When we um remodeled the senior center, that was uh phase phase two and came in much over budget.

Um but the in that initial plan there was a call to put uh basically raise those two houses that are adjacent to Jefferson and then put in another building um and then make the uh the entrance to the senior center a little bit more visible than it is now.

But for now, that's tabled.

Thank you, Linda.

Any other questions?

Okay, well, thank you, Glenn, for the presentation.

All right, well, thank you.

Thanks for the opportunity.

Whoops.

Our next presentation is from uh Aurora Gullian.

Yeah, she's the program coordinator for I can't even pronounce it.

Yeah, it's Puerta Saviertas.

Thank you.

Yeah, no worries.

All righty, can everyone hear me okay?

Yes, okay.

So I'm Aurora Guillén.

Um, and it's Aurora kind of like the princess, just so it's easier to say.

Um and just really quickly, I'm gonna read you our mission.

We have it on our website.

Um Puerta Saviertas is a trusted home and advocate that strengthens the Latino community through multicultural programs and services.

And so um at Puerta Saviertas, we provide many, many services and programs, and I'll just be talking about a few key programs that we have.

Um I can go ahead and share and start off with the programs that we're able to offer at the senior center, which our seniors absolutely appreciate.

They love it so much, and I'll be sharing a little more about their feedback as well.

Um so at the senior center, we're able to offer two different programs right now.

Our first being our art class on Wednesdays from 2 to 4 p.m.

Right now, we are offering it all the way through June, but we are hoping to continue it through part of half of the last half of the year.

Um at our art class, so it first started without any um particular funding for it.

And so what we did is we just were able to um get art supplies for the students and just get it started.

And um, luckily enough, um my previous director was able to secure funding for um a local artist to to basically have a local artist um teach the class so that they could not only just paint but also learn some skills, and so that went really, really well, and um they loved it so much.

And the feedback that we got from them is that they just wanted to continue not only to paint and to do arts and crafts, but to also come together and be together and be able to talk and socialize and um get their minds off of things and that are happening in their personal life, right?

And so right now we have about I would say 30 to 40 of them attending every Wednesday.

We have about 50 to 60 signed up, but of course, with busy schedules, um we typically get about 30 to 40 every week.

And so um, yes, our seniors they they're always letting us know that they would love to come back and just have it permanently because this art class has been going on for about I want to say two years, maybe two and a half years.

And so it hasn't been around always, and it's fairly new, um, but it it is something that they very much appreciate and and we're very appreciative to the senior center for um being able to provide us a space for that.

Um secondly, we have another program with our seniors.

Um it's called La Cultura Cura, and La Cultura Cura translates to Cultural Heals.

And what this program is is we have and we work very closely with a psychotherapist um and traumatologist.

She is basically able to lead this group.

It's kind of like um, I can compare it to kind of like a support group.

And what she does is um listens to them, talks to them, checks in with them, sees what kind of talks about what's going on with them, are there any themes, and they tackle those themes together.

And so she's able to help them learn different types of uh tools in order to improve their mental health.

Um this is something that they're really enjoying as well.

Right now we are getting about 20 to 30 um attendees for that group.

Um this group, La Cultura Cura, we meet every Tuesday at the senior center from 2 to 4 p.m.

And um, and yeah, um the psychotherapist that leads it, she's very great, and we've worked with her for a couple of years, or quite a few years.

Um, and yes, our seniors are very much enjoying it.

And let me go ahead and check my notes to see if I missed anything, but um here.

Yeah, I think I I've covered most of the things that you guys might want to hear about, but just to give you a little rundown of Puerta Saviertas, can I get a hands of any everyone who's heard of Puerta Sabiertas?

Okay, quite a few people here.

Um and so Puertas Abiertas is kind of like the go-to place for any Spanish speaker here in Napa County who is just needing a little more guidance in in and around resources.

We also provide specific services, and a lot of the attendees and seniors that attend both of those classes that I covered, um, they also get just support in even maybe reading their mail.

So maybe they're sent something in English and they just need support on reading it and maybe even responding or knowing what to do next, or maybe where to go to ask for more questions, and so there are a couple of other things that we do to support them in that way.

Um yeah, we we provide food resources.

I think each of you have a flyer of our a little rundown of our um organization.

So we provide food resources, we um help with citizenship, and we partner with other organizations in the community to do that.

Um we we do a lot of things, we put on some know your rights presentations, labor rights presentations, and of course we we work with local legal professionals in those areas to be able to provide information to the community.

And and yeah, um, and if anyone is looking for um information in the community, we're all bilingual, and there are about six of us.

I know a lot of people think there's probably more of us, but we're a grassroots organization, and there's just six of us.

We've also got a part-time intern and a part-time volunteer supporting us right now, and very luckily we have um we have about five or six promotoras, there are permanent volunteers that help us with outreach in the community.

Yeah, and I think I've covered all of the main things that I wanted to talk about today.

Yes.

I'm just wondering, I know you guys moved down to Saskell.

I'm just wondering how it's going there.

It's going very well.

Our building is entering, I believe it's second phase of um remodeling.

And so yeah, it's going very well.

For those that don't know, we were donated a building last year, and so we moved in in July, and we see that there's um it's a much better place where people can find us basically.

We're right there on SAW school.

Um we share the parking lot with Black Bear, and so it's a huge parking lot.

Um we have seen actually an increase in like I would say 30% of our services within the last year, and and of course, yeah, we know there's a lot there's a lot of changes going on, so a lot of people are relying on us to um help them navigate whatever they're going through.

Yeah, I just wanted to say thank you for your help with their mental health.

Um it's really uh uh difficult time right now, and so thank you for doing that.

That's great.

Yeah, of course.

And and of course, um we do have uh a separate mental health program for adults, so anyone 18 plus, so in case um you know of anyone, um, all of our programs are provided in Spanish.

Um so for our seniors, we've got um La Cultura Cura every Tuesday, and then for our um any other community member, we have um a different program for that.

And then how is your um organization funded?

Where do you get your funds from?

Yeah, most of it is um this would probably be a better question for my ED, but um most of it is like private funding.

It's we don't really rely on federal funding.

Um, and thankfully we don't, and thankfully our previous director um kind of um pushed us to not rely on federal funding because it's I mean we're seeing a lot of cuts left and right, and so yeah, that's something that we're lucky in.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Uh how about immigration services?

How are you talking about maybe immigration services working so?

Yeah, so um we're actually uh I kind of mentioned our citizenship services earlier, and so I can kind of go from there.

So our citizenship legal services, CLS, it's a program with um that includes us, Puerta Sabiertas, it includes the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area.

It includes uh Up Valley Family Centers and On the Move.

And so the four organizations come together to be able to provide um appointments for citizenship.

Um when things started to change and and we knew we were going to have to um start addressing this particular area.

Um we decided to move CLS under Napa Valley Together and we created the the collaborative of Napa Valley Together.

And so we've been working on providing know your rights presentations to the community.

Um we've been to uh vineyard management companies to give presentations.

We've been to low-income apartments.

We did go to most of the and if not all of the uh senior living facilities in NAPA to provide this presentation.

We have also been to schools providing the the know your rights presentations.

And so um within uh the know your rights presentation, not only do we talk about one's constitutional rights, but we also talk about getting connected to the right resources, so encouraging folks to get connected to IIBA, the Institute of the Bay Area, Immigration Institute of the Bay Area, um, to be able to just get a consultation or get more information on their specific situation.

Um Napa Valley Together, we also do family preparedness plans.

So um if a family is looking to have an emergency plan for if anything were to happen to either parent or both parents, they can get into contact with us and we can help them just have a plan, a backup emergency plan for that.

Um part from that, let me see if I can think of anything else.

Um yeah, I mean that's basically what we do with Napa Valley Together, and and of course, any group in Napa is still able to request a presentation, you can head on over to Napa Valley Together.org to be able to request a presentation wherever you work or wherever um wherever you're involved in here in Napa.

Another question.

I just thought of another question.

Um I know it costs about around $10,000 for one person and maybe a little bit of a discount for a family to get uh legal services.

Um do you do you have families that are having a hard time you know coming up with that money to do that to get the legal services?

Um you know I think I think we're very lucky to have IIBA here just because I from what I know uh they have like a sliding scale system.

Um so that basically means that they it really depends on what someone makes, depending on someone's income is how they are able to work with them, right?

Um but yes, technically um if someone is looking for a private attorney, a private immigration attorney, it is we have been saying that it is very hard for people to make up that money because it is a lot, a lot of money.

People are getting charged like or getting estimates of like twelve thousand dollars, you know, like it's it's not very um accessible to to families.

To have a private attendance.

Yeah.

You're absolutely right.

Yeah, and then let me just go ahead and check if we have any other questions.

I can help with those.

I also brought my cards today in case anybody wants to take one home with them.

Um yeah, we're here to answer your questions.

We are open at 305 South School Avenue and we're open Monday through Friday, 9 to 5.

Any other questions?

Thank you very much for the presentation.

Yeah, of course.

I'll go ahead and leave my cards over at the front table.

Okay.

Have a nice day, everyone.

Thank you.

Oh, actually, if I can just mention really quickly, because I I heard a question earlier.

Um, and I don't know if this is I guess something, I don't know all of the information, but I was helping some of our attendees um in our Wednesday class with the survey for the senior center that's going around right now.

And they were just mentioning that um some scholarships were affected for other classes, and so kind of through me they wanted to let everyone know that they're hoping that maybe scholarships could be offered again so that they can join some of the the physical classes that they've recently have joined and and whatnot, and yeah.

Working on it.

Okay, perfect.

I know you are Linda, I know you are, but just wanted to mention that here.

Thank you, everyone.

Thank you.

Next we'll have the update from Parks and Rec Linda, but I think Allie's up next.

Good afternoon.

My name is Allie Koenig, and I'm the parks planning manager for the Parks Recreation Department.

And I'm really excited to be here today to share a lot of the recent capital project updates that our department has been working on.

So I'll share some recently completed projects and then upcoming projects that have been in the works over the last couple years.

So a few highlights from 2025.

And just to back up a moment, many of the projects that you're seeing on this slide here were recommendations that came from a recent conditions assessment that we completed of our park system on amenities that are poor or failing and in need of replacement.

So in 2025, we prioritized many park improvement projects.

And we found that almost 40% of those were in need of replacement.

And so we've been phasing those improvements.

So that was a significant improvement, of course, to ADA and the parking lot that was in disrepair.

So that was completed.

And then we installed a park rustrum at Alston Park, which is one of our most uh visited parks in our park system.

It's our second most visited park.

Uh and we've heard over the years of a of a restroom uh in need.

Uh there was a portable restroom previously.

Um this has significantly improved that park entry, and then there was also parking lot resurfacing uh that was associated.

So a lot to um celebrate in the last year, and then looking forward, um we've been uh busy working on um with a couple projects in construction.

Uh Fuller Park.

Um this project is on or this park is under construction to replace what was the um poor playground uh and replace it with um all new equipment, a new rubber surface, uh, and we'll be adding overhead shade, musical play components, um, and a lot of exciting things for families that will be all within the previous playground area.

So here's some photos of the construction starting from demolition through layout um to footings and now equipment assembly.

And here are some more recent photos of that of the install.

Uh there's the rendering on the left-hand side, and some of the equipment that's been put in.

And even today there's more progress.

So yeah, we're on track to reopen uh this area of the park in May.

So we'll be making announcements as that moves along.

And then I'll be talking about some other projects that are in different design or different project phases from design to construction.

Um these are capital projects that um are part of Measure G, the city's sales tax, recent sales tax and tax initiative to address high priorities across the city from park projects to streets.

Um here are some of the projects that we'll review, uh, starting off with the Las Flores Community Center renovation.

Um this kicked off in March.

Um it's what our the city's only community center that um uh serves our the city of our size.

It has not seen any significant improvements since its original build over 30 years ago.

And so this improvement is slated to improve full interior and exterior flat work, ADA improvements, some new amenities for the tennis and pickleball courts that are on site.

So a couple images.

So just in summary, this project is in place to address all the needs, both interior and exterior, and improve it for all the gen uh multi-generations that use the facility.

So we're excited to see this move forward, and we anticipate that it should be completed in December and then reopening in the next year.

Park shade structures.

Fuller Park, the picnic area that's adjacent to the playground has been improved with a new ADA pad and a new overhead shade structure.

So that's the image of the rendering of for that improvement on the bottom.

And then we will be installing overhead shade structures at a couple, a few of our neighborhood parks.

Esther Dever, Springwood, and Playground Fantastico Park.

All of these parks were identified based on either trying to replace amenities that were or picnic areas that were in disrepair or are reservable or were identified through prioritization with the community.

So this shade structure project is either in construction or in design, but we'll be seeing the full improvements by the end of this year.

As I mentioned earlier, with almost 40% of our playgrounds in need of a replacement, and this being a free public amenity for our neighborhood parks and our and our families, as well as public safety improvement.

We've identified the next phase of playgrounds that are in need of replacement, as well as the park amenities that surround it.

So those next few parks were Esther Deaver, Monarch, and Solomon Parks.

Those were brought forward to our parks commission last year for their design review, and we worked through plan and budget development.

These three parks were high priority on within our park system, both for infrastructure that was in the poor and failing category, and also located within areas of Napa that either had were identified from a social equity standpoint.

And so we're really excited to get these projects underway this year.

We've been in design development over the last year or so to really look at the whole park, identify areas that are safety improvements, and then areas that are will hopefully enhance the experience for families and our users.

Similarly, we'll be uh improving the pathways.

Um we'll also be improving the sports court.

Um this park has a large walking loop and um the for the previous design had uh fitness equipment situated within throughout the walking loop and over the years um have needed to be improved.

So as part of this project, we'll be consolidating uh the fitness equipment into one area along that loop.

Um and we went through a design process with our local high school New Tech High and uh worked with them to identify equipment that would serve all all ages.

So this uh this park does include uh that unique improvement.

And then Klamath Park, it's one of those three parks that I was mentioning.

Um similarly we'll be seeing pathway improvements and sports court improvements as well as some other amenity improvements like our picnic tables and our benches.

Um you heard previously that we had a restroom improvement at Alston Park.

Um in addition to shade, park restrooms are frequently requested by all types of users in our parks, and we've identified three of our community or open space parks that um serve a wide um wide swath of our community to begin the design phase.

So we have Fuller Park, Sentry Oaks Park, and Westwood Hills Park, and we've been underway um developing those plans for for these three parks.

The images that you see on the slide are examples of kind of the styles of restrooms that we're starting to look at.

Um these parks are all very different in the type of user, um, and so we're trying to be mindful of the character of the park and um what might be best.

So that's under design.

Um and then we hope to move into construction in the next fiscal year.

And then finally, a splash pad.

So I um enjoyed hearing the history on the boty courts and the feasibility and understanding first understanding the right location for new facilities in our park system because splash pads are um also called spray grounds is an image of what uh example facility could look like, but um they've been um high priority of our community.

There our park system currently does not have um aquatic facilities.

And so um splash pads are great because they're more passive uh aquatic facility types where they don't require lifeguards, they're not pooling water, um, they're multi-generational, they invite families, um, and they're a lot of fun.

So um we've been looking at community parks in particular for uh this type of facility, similarly as described earlier, looking at um which park might be the best fit based on a lot of different factors.

So at this point uh we're studying Kennedy Park, O'Brien Park, and Las Flores Community Center to see what might be a suitable fit for this type of facility.

Um see if it might be uh a potential future project.

So that brings me to the end of projects that are currently um in design or construction with our last uh budget cycle.

So I'd be happy to answer any questions that anyone might have.

Oh, sure.

Yes, um our senior center parking lot improvement that was done last year.

Um we observed that the crosswalk that um crosses from the botchy courts to the facility uh has not held up.

So we've called the contractor back to address the issues that we're seeing at that crosswalk.

So it was already on.

I have a question about um Les Flores.

The there is a small little play uh play equipment right there.

Are you guys doing anything with that or upgrading it or adding more or yes?

So that playground was replaced in 2017.

Okay.

Um so yes, so no improvements to that particular equipment.

Well, we are there's fencing around it currently, um, and that's because we're um addressing the ADA, so we're uh improving all the flat work around it.

Just walk by there this morning.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, and they're they're actively um uh demolishing all the flat work there.

We are also as part of that because it's a youth area where um we've been wanting to add some playground stencils so that the because there's a lot of concrete, try to make it a little bit more user-friendly for the kids that participate.

So awesome.

Yeah.

Um I have a couple blocks from two parks.

One is uh spring work.

What park is wonderful?

I think it's so busy.

I've seen that person come and touring self-playing by the bottom for I don't know what he was doing.

There's just families there.

And then I did by, I think it's North Jefferson over Alpha Meadow Ark, North North of Salvador.

That part is in really poor shape.

There's lots of weeds and the playground is really old.

I'll have is that Monarch by by chance?

Okay, yes, so that's uh one of the three parks that are scheduled to be improved this year.

So yes, yeah, because there's no pathway to the playground either.

Um yes, so that one is identified, was identified as a priority.

And the Springwood Park, um why do people drive to it?

I don't know where they're coming from, but we have a lot of harvest and that part of the birthday parties.

Yeah, we're excited to see we were glad to see the response, and then hopefully these next phase we'll we'll also see similar.

Thank you.

So thank you.

Um with a feasibility study for this class.

What is their timeline for understanding if it's a goal forward or not in the construction?

So it's about a six-month feasibility process, and uh that's um because we're not only looking at the existing uses in the park, but we're also looking at all the existing utilities in the park because that will be of course a huge cost driver for any site.

Um so that requires additional coordination.

Um so that's about a six-month process.

And then from there, this was a request by council to study this type of facility, and so we would likely need to bring that um our findings back and then understand um if it would be suitable for a future project.

So overall it's about a six to twelve month feasibility process.

And then part of the funds exist if that is if there's a decision at the end of that since 12-month process to uh at this point there haven't been funds identified for the project.

Um, so it would need to be considered in a future uh funding cycle.

Are the improvements to the bocce courts part of parks and records improvements to yes, those would be part of those facility uh improvements as part of the parking lot.

Is that what we'll be talking about on the meeting on April 15th?

Okay, great.

Thank you.

As you're working on these enhancements, is there going to be additional park benches or seating in the parks?

Yes.

A lot of times there's uh as you've mentioned, a lot of people are at the park, but the adults don't necessarily have a place to sit.

And so is that something that's been taken into consideration?

Yes, yeah.

The park furnishings are high priority along with uh major improvement.

Um we take a look at all that when we put together the plans.

So for example, uh Monarch Park, uh there's currently one uh picnic table there.

Um yeah, and it's hard to get to, it doesn't have pad, and so as part of that we looked at what could we do to add those seating areas around the area?

So we'll be adding um two new picnic table areas around the new playground that would help provide for gathering.

So yes, yeah, absolutely.

There are any other questions.

But thank you very kindly, I've yeah, thank you all, and I'll see you next time.

Next we'll have Linda Button with the program survey update.

So just to add a little the Los Flores is being renovated.

I should be renovated too because that was my I started when that facility opened.

So I have been here for 3 years, I think now.

So good afternoon, everybody.

We are here to discuss the survey results for the senior center.

Katrina recently sent out a survey that we had developed to the last probably the last three months, I think, of classes.

People who had registered for a class.

And we also sent a similar survey to the senior service provider groups.

But this is just solely focusing on the results that were received so far about the class enrollees.

Aurora mentioned that they were helping Puerto Sabertas was helping to collect some of the surveys in Spanish as well.

So not all of those have been put into the survey results.

And I believe we are still getting results now.

And Katrina has access to that, and Katrina is not here.

So what is up to date is from the very last day that she was here last week.

So far we have had almost 200 responses.

It was a 4.7.

You can out of five.

So most of the respondents you can see have take a health and wellness class at the senior center.

That's not surprising to me at all.

And then they mentioned other, you know, other uh activities that they may have been attending.

So 84% agree or strongly agree that they have enjoy socializing and meeting new people at the senior center.

97% felt welcome and comfortable at the senior center, which is a great news.

92% agree or strongly agree that by attending senior center programs, it supports the a healthy lifestyle.

Challenges to attending programs at the senior center.

24% indicated that financial that they had a financial hurdle.

13% don't know what is offered, 9% cited transportation, 6% cited registration barriers, like maybe it's too hard to register, they don't know how to access the website.

And uh 5% said language was a factor.

So the next page you'll see that their expectations were met.

97% agree that their expectations were met, that the location and that the space was appropriate.

So clean and accessible.

70% indicated that email was the best way to communicate with them.

And then 42% said the e-newsletter.

So I'm not quite sure if they are under if they're conflating those two, that the newsletter is email or that they want a separate email blast because currently we don't really do any targeted emailing uh of marketing materials or anything like that.

Um 19% said the city website.

Uh uh, I'm sorry, skipped over the online catalog.

30 percent almost 30 percent people find classes at the online catalog.

Um 10 percent cited family members, let them know about the programs, and then 7% said flyers.

It would be interesting to me to know because most of the new people will take the flyers.

So new people coming into the center grab those flyers and you know, take them with them as you know, to kind of find out more about our programs.

So it does make sense that people who are taking programs don't grab those flyers.

But if we were to survey people that don't attend or are new to the building, I would think that it'd be kind of inverted to that, right?

So 78% uh of the people responding or white or Caucasian, 1% black or African American, 12% uh let Latino, 4% Asian, um, five percent of the people prefer not to state, and then zero for native peoples.

Um other programs they would like to see, pottery, bingo, knitting and needlepoint uh drawing, which we do have several drawing classes, so that tells me that we need to do a better job at letting people know we have drawing classes.

Uh Zumba often requested we are having a hard time finding an instructor.

Trips and tours, um, book clubs we also have at the senior center.

So again, more information for me.

Um cooking classes, uh they prefer a sw or want a swimming pool, not a pool table.

So, and then um table tennis, flower ranging, Spanish, um, tech assistance, which we do have on a monthly basis, and then monthly breakfasts.

That is the first time that we've surveyed the senior center participants that I've seen monthly break breakfast noted.

So there used to be a senior service provider that had a monthly breakfast and they disbanded um after COVID.

So maybe this is people wishing to have that again.

So I anticipate that when Katrina is back, we will have again have access to the survey results.

Oh, I'm sorry, I skipped a page, but um she will have uh an update to this, I know coming up.

Um sorry, this this was under general feedback.

The next page is like their the last question was right in comments, and so um most people praise the staff as friendly, help helpful and welcoming and patient.

Um they love the variety of the classes and note improvements to their health and uh they like their instructors.

They appreciate the renovations, the cleanliness and accessibility of the building.

Um a few suggested making the spaces feel warmer.

So I'm not sure if they are looking for throw pillows or you know, something that would kind of create a warmer ambiance.

Um a few r people thought that the classes were too expensive, especially compared to other centers, and um wanted discounts or free trial classes and um better signage, more flexible class scheduling, and uh a desire to have inclusivity for younger seniors.

What were some other comments that were mentioned?

I do believe that we are getting a new sign in the front of the senior center building coming up soon that I think was just shared with me.

So that will be good because our updated sign looks pretty bad.

So and that's the updated sign.

So as I mentioned, we are still accepting surveys.

So if you're a class participant and receive the link, please feel free to pass it out.

And then um we are still collecting them.

We have paper copies in the lobby, and then also um still connecting with Puerto Sabirtas to collect some of this the surveys that were in Spanish.

So happy to answer any questions.

Do you have any idea of how we actually demographic?

Uh I believe the overall demographics for NAPA is about 40% Latino.

So we are falling short to date.

I think that once we get some of the um some more of the surveys from Puerto Sabiertas that were um added after this, and then also are the programs that we have in Spanish too.

We need to collect some of those.

So hopefully those numbers will come up.

I know when the newsletter comes out, it's in English and in Spanish.

Was the survey in Spanish too?

Yes.

Okay.

What other programs would you like to see offering the senior center?

It's all recreational activities, it looks like.

And I'm curious if there has been interest expressed in things like I've got the folks who will like attend lectures in Alpha Community Center, for example.

Is that the type of thing that has come off that's been offered as orchestra?

So we the speaker series generally are classes like hands-only CPR or fraud prevention, or is that what you're kind of referring to, Katie now?

I think there's two buckets.

You know, there is that kind of thing where it's like you're learning something educational, or you're having like a workshop on state planning and that kind of thing.

But um I've seen like art lectures and things like that in Novel, and I have a couple of clients I work with who are very excited, and who we transport them to Yachtville so that they can go and enjoy those.

And I just kind of wonder if it would hit a cord.

Um just interesting that it's all very recreational.

I think that's a good question.

Yeah, I haven't ever had anybody reach out for classes like that, or at least to me, but I can take a look at Yauntville's um catalog.

I just had dinner with their director last week, happens to be Jim's niece.

So um so I can talk with talk with them and yeah, and see you know what they're offering.

Yes.

I recommend it for people who seem like they would be interested in cultural pursuits.

Yes.

Okay.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

I just want to say um you I think you guys are doing a fabulous job.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And um, we are very happy with our new Mahjong class.

Good that Linda helped add another session, and we expect to get more participants when the beginning class finishes up, they'll migrate over to our class.

Yes, thank you.

Mahjong, I had somebody who's coming to visit Napa from out of state, and she contacted me this morning and wanted to know where she could play Mahjong.

So apparently it is just not Napa Valley.

That is Mahjong Crazy.

So it's a whole bunch of people.

Yes.

Yes.

Are you considering having a Spanish class?

We um we did have an instructor who was teaching Spanish classes, and he moved to online, and I would love to have someone come in and teach span classes in Spanish, either for Spanish speakers or to learn Spanish.

I would like both.

Um agreed.

Um, so um we found when he was teaching the classes that he only had one or two participants from Napa, he was sort of offering them collectively to many recreational organizations at a time.

And because it was online, lots of people could attend and make it worth it worth his while.

Um, but I think we would prefer to have something that's in person.

So um I'm always open to any suggestions that people have.

So if there are, you know, whether it's you or you hear from people out in the community.

Uh oftentimes I will just add the caveat that you know, if you know an instructor and can recommend an instructor, happy to talk to any of them.

It's it's kind of hard.

Um, I don't know, some of you were uh or well, maybe just Jim, um Betty Rhodes, our previous commissioner who is now smiling down upon us, always wanted a hiking or a poll walking class, and I found one person in the Bay Area and finally got her under contract, and then COVID hit and we had to cancel the class.

So that it's just sometimes it's really hard to find that niche um instructor, but I'm always willing to talk with people and and meet with people.

So if you know of anybody ever, you can always give them my contact information.

I'd be happy to reach out to them.

So and I will investigate um Yachtville's lecture series.

Any other questions?

Comments.

Thank you, Linda.

Ping pong sounds like a lot of fun.

You're not the only person who mentioned that to me.

Katrina's on a ping pong.

Yeah, so she's a ping pong proponent.

So I'm very yeah, I'm very competitive on the ping pong table now.

Okay, just one.

Good to know.

Yeah, stop.

I believe I am next as well, Jim.

Yes, you are.

Okay.

And we'll just continue.

Um I'd like to let you all know that um I it is it does say I am pleased.

I and I am pleased, but I am a little bit of a bitter sweet to this that Karen Vega, our Latin program manager who's done a phenomenal job reaching out to organizations such as Portasavas, the community, the different housing, the different housing areas, senior housing in Napa.

Karen has applied for and was granted the a new job working in the admin area of recreation department.

So even though she moved her desk two feet away and is sitting basically in the same spot that she was last month has she now has a completely new role and will not be continuing on as program manager for the Latino community.

She is taking on the role in the office at admin area which she expressed interest in so she will be um has taken over those duties and we are currently looking for someone to take over as the program manager and and kind of fill her big shoes that she has it we may have somebody coming on board.

We'll have to find out in a couple of weeks but um there may be somebody who's who's stepping in to take her position so that doesn't mean that those programs will disappear of course we're going to continue we are continuing on with them Karen has already started in her office admin role so those programs are still continuing.

She is giving us a little bit of support where she can so you will probably find be finding somebody new in that stepping into that role soon.

We do have our speaker series coming up we have the estate planning and legal services of Northern California and there are that class is almost full so it was very popular in the fall we or we offered it it is almost full I think there's only three spaces left it following that we have our hands only CPR class coming up with Napa Fire so if you wish to take hands only CPR or know somebody who needs to take hands only CPR please go ahead and have them register and we'll be we'll be doing that on April 16th.

April 21st HICAP will be at the senior center and they are um the only health insurance advocacy program that's licensed by the Department of Aging in California to give insurance advice they don't sell insurance but they help with Medicare choices and they'll be doing I believe it's Medicare fraud that they're going to be talking that it's a gentleman named Michael he will be there discussing in the middle of the month and then coming up in May um the very always popular talk by Detective Olsen for Napa Police Department will be talking about frauds and scams and how to avoid becoming a victim of those crimes.

So almost all of those classes have uh pretty robust registration already and if you um I would suggest that all of you it's very interesting and scary statistics that Tyler shares uh about the scams from the Napa police department so I would encourage you all to to uh to attend if you can there's um there is going to be another safe conference I think it's it's safe right not safe um and that's going to be I think on the first week of June I think it's June 6th maybe or that first week out at the college and I'm sure Detective Olson will be there along with usually they have representative from banks and other agencies talking about uh fraud prevention so June 23rd oh June boy I was way off thank you um so I mentioned uh at the previous uh SAC meeting that we were able to attend a virtual uh APS training but um Joe Cherry was able to come out in person and give that training to all of the senior center staff um I love that it was in person because staff were able to kind of sit listen to his presentation and then ask questions and then one question spurred another question and you know it Joe was uh great about giving out tons of information and and letting people know that it's okay to file an APS report nobody's gonna be removed from their home by your report um and truly they are just there to assist people in getting the services that they need to keep them at home.

Um, and truly they are just there to assist people in getting the services that they need to keep them at home.

So that was wonderful.

We are seeing that our luncheons are still remaining strong.

We have had 75 people at both the Valentine's and St.

Patrick's Day lunch.

Um last time I checked, there were 50 people registered for the April luncheon, um, which has I think another week or so to take enrollees.

And GetFit and Chai Chi are still going strong into the new year and have gained even more from January.

So uh GetFit had a 19% increase, and Tai Chi had a 12% increase.

And the first Tai Chi uh, he has a Thursday evening class, and that went from like two people to last month.

I think he had 12 or 15 people.

So that was amazing.

I think he uh Lloyd Vance is the instructor, and he was prepared to let it let it go for a few months and let it grow from the two people in it was the very next month it had like 12 or 15.

So summer registration for the entire recreation division um starts next Tuesday.

So we will have summer registration will be open for all of the classes, not just at the senior center, but camps and aquatics as well.

So I'm happy to answer any questions.

Any questions for Linda?

Okay.

Thank you.

Sorry, I do have one for one.

Do you have the luncheons mapped out for the entirety of the year?

The dates?

We usually do them by a trimester.

So our the recreation catalog is is published three times a year, so we usually do it by trimester.

I mean.

Yes.

You can well, if and if you I mean, we'll be the fall is the longest session, so that goes from basically September through December.

So I think yeah.

Yeah.

Okay, sounds good.

Okay, there's no other questions.

Anybody have any reports or anything that they want to discuss?

Go ahead.

I'd like to share a brief update from two county meetings I attended at the Napa County Commission on Aging.

I attended one on February 23rd, and Linda and I attended one on March 26th together.

Uh first, a major theme at the February 23rd meeting was a broadband and digital equity for older adults.

And that uh Napa County IT project manager Mark Revis presented on efforts to expand high-speed internet access.

A key point was that some grants may help make broadband available, but not always affordable.

And the group discussed practical supports already in the community, like free computer and Wi-Fi access at the Napa County Library and free digital literacy classes through the Napa Valley Adult Education, as well as the importance of partnerships with internet service providers and community events to increase adoption.

There's also discussion about long-range planning, including a county white paper on future needs and the basic question if we expand access, will people use it, and what support will they need to be able to do so?

Second, older adult safety, especially financial safety, came up strongly.

The SAFE program, as Linda had mentioned, seniors against financial exploitation was referenced, and the elder abuse task force shared that check fraud is one of the most common issues they're seeing.

I know we've seen in the newspaper two people that had check frauds when they paid their taxes to the uh county as well.

Uh one was for $60,000, and uh that's that check was stolen.

Uh they're working on short educational videos and other awareness tools to help prevent exploitation.

Third, there were multiple updates on programs and services such as HHSA reported continued deployment of the B Well Mobile Van, offering services at multiple locations.

And they did note some behavioral staffing efforts that were underway.

Uh community partner updates also included shared the care with large volumes of donated and distributed items, support for veterans and new clients, and fall prevention outreach for the March 26th Commission on Agent Aging Meeting, which Linda and I both attended.

For the March 26th Commission on Aging Meeting, which Linda and I both attended, Napa County's District 2 supervisor, Liz Olessio had just come back from Washington, D.C.

from a county a national county meeting of all county supervisors all throughout the United States that got together in Washington, D.C.

And she provided a broad update on county committee work and priorities, including affordability issues and long-term planning.

The county's planning approach includes subcommittees for community insight and baseline data as expected by the summer.

The group also discussed ongoing gaps in transportation and care access, including post-procedure transportation challenges and questions about skilled nursing capacity that accepts Medi-Cal.

Finally, there was a funding discussion.

They have $1,500 to be able to continue support for efforts, and they agreed to support the SAFE conference, which you had just mentioned, is on June 23rd from 10 to 1, and also share the care consistent with their prior uh allocations that they did last year.

Finally, we did uh QPR training, which is question, persuade and refer, which is a suicide prevention program that teaches community members to recognize warning signs that someone may be contemplating suicide.

The session was taught by MENTIS staff.

The training lasted 30 minutes, was free, and is also offered virtually or in person to anyone that's interested.

The education was provided because suicide among the elderly is a critical public health issue, with adults age 65 and older accounting for roughly 22 percent of all suicides, despite only being 16% of the population.

Older adults, particularly men over 85, have the highest suicide rates, often using more lethal methods, resulting in one in four attempts being fatal.

Key risk factors include depression, social isolation, chronic pain, and loss of independence.

That's my summary.

Happy to answer any questions.

Questions I did hear that the B Well mobile van comes to the Senior Center once a month, so that's great.

Yes.

They're there the second Tuesday, the morning of the second Tuesday of the month.

So they're in the parking lot from about 9 to 11:30 or so.

And they're now starting to offer mental health or behavioral health services through that van, which they had not been able to do before, so they're expanding that program.

Yeah, any other questions?

No.

Okay.

Thank you.

Michael B.

Well, I guess that's all we have for today.

I thank you all for coming.

And our next meeting will be June the third.