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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - Commission on Persons with Disabilities - Meeting Date: 3/17/2015 City of Glendale Commission on Persons with Disabilities Glendale Main Library - 1st Floor Large Meeting Room 5959 W. Brown Street Tuesday, March 17, 2015 6:00 p.m. MINUTES I. Call to Order - The meeting was called to order at approximately 6:05pm by Chairperson Lesser. II. Roll Call - Chairperson Lesser, Vice Chairperson Kumar, and Commissioners LeGendre and Pirooz were present. Commissioner Hoerner was absent. Mr. Strunk announced that Chairperson Hirsch had resigned from the Commission. III. Approval of Minutes - January 20, 2015 -Chairperson Lesser called for approval of the January 20, 2015 meeting minutes. Vice Chairperson Kumar made a motion to approve the minutes as written. Commissioner LeGendre seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously. IV. Introduction of New Commissioner Chairperson Lesser called for the Introduction of the New Commissioner. Mr. Brian Pirooz introduced himself and provided some information about his background. The Commission welcomed him. V. Presentation of Draft Department Budget Chairperson Lesser called for the presentation of the Department Draft Budget. Mr. Strunk made a presentation regarding the FY15-16 budget process, which will begin later this month and will be completed by the end of June 2015. The Community Services Department is scheduled to present to City Council its Capital Improvement Plan requests on March 24 and its operating budget on April 14, 2015. The director conducted a presentation and provided an update to the Commission regarding the department budget and questions of the Commission. Mr. Strunk explained the budget begins early the year prior. The FY15-16 budget preparation began in October. He reviewed approximately nine years of the general fund budget and noted the severe decrease, which began in FY08-09. Mr. Strunk displayed a pie chart indicating where the general fund monies are spent with the majority of funding budgeted to the Police and Fire departments. He reviewed the Capital Improvement Budget for FY15-16 noted some of the projects on schedule and identified the funding source as well as the approximate cost. Vice Chairperson Kumar asked if there would be budget cuts this year. Mr. Strunk said no. He continued with a chart of the Community Services Department and displayed their staffing. He said there are 141.75 Full Time Employees with the proposed FY15-16 budget being $40,472,580. Minutes - Commission on Persons with Disabilities March 17, 2015 Page 2 He reviewed the upcoming operating budget for each division in the Community Services Department. These are CAP, Department Administration, Parks and Recreation, Human Services, Community Housing, and Library and the Arts. This was for information purposes only. VI. Update on Parks and Recreation ADA Facilities Audit Chairperson Lesser called for the update on the Parks and Recreation ADA Facilities Audit. Mr. Erik Strunk explained in October 2011, Recreation Consultants, Inc. was hired to conduct a comprehensive ADA assessment of all parks and recreation facilities. The project was completed in the Spring 2013 and since then department staff has been hard at work implementing the recommendations of the consultant. The purpose of this item was to provide the Commission with an update of this strategy and its next key phases. Mr. Paul King began the presentation by announcing that registration for youth sports program has begun. Commissioner LeGendre stated previously the standings for the spring and summer sports programs were published in the Glendale newspaper. This was big news for the kids. He asked if this would take place in the future. Mr. King also thought that was a great idea. He said he was looking into a program that would report statistics and email the standings to those interested. Mr. King explained staff's strategy for making this year's program successful. He said they would be using part of their operating budget. Staff has prioritized the list, which includes all the improvements that need to be made. He explained how city staff would be accomplishing some of the less costly repairs, upgrades, and improvements. He added they are partnering with the city's Facilities Department to find creative ways to make repairs at the least amount of cost. Mr. King reviewed the projects, which have been completed. He said the city has received grants, which will allow for seven parking lots to be re- striped. He provided the locations of these lots. He said these are the seven in most need of re-striping. Commissioner Pirooz asked who designed the trails at Thunderbird Park. He said there are large rocks on the trails and many of the surfaces are rough. Mr. King said erosion from the September 8, 2014 storms is still being addressed. He explained the large rocks are to prevent erosion of the trail. This was for information purposes only. VII. Commission Work Plan Chairperson Lesser called for the Commission Work Plan presentation. Mr. Erik Strunk presented this item. The Commission wished to discuss the Elsie McCarthy Sensory Garden Park. Some of the issues, which needed to be addressed, are the lighting fixtures. The Commissioners believed there is not enough lighting at the park and they wanted to know if solar fixtures could be installed. Also, the Commission pointed out the fountains do not work. Another issue was how to prevent vandalism at the park. Minutes - Commission on Persons with Disabilities March 17, 2015 Page 3 Also, the Commission wanted to visit events related to the disabled community. Chairperson Lesser said staff was to provide a list of contacts where the commission could begin by researching or contacting those agencies to see what they had upcoming. Vice Chairperson Kumar said there is no sound feature in the park. She said this is to be a park of the senses and believed more sound features are needed. Vice Chairperson Kumar felt the park needed to be promoted as it has potential but also needs to be maintained. Vice Chairperson Kumar would also like to invite interested persons to the Commission meetings to find out what types of issues or complaints they have. She would like to know in order to possibly assist those persons in which she is serving. Mr. Strunk suggested a type of Town Hall meeting possibly taking place once a year. The Commission agreed. The Commission also agreed they would like to provide information which is helpful to the disabled community. The Commission agreed the Work Program should be included as a standing item on future agendas. No action was required. VIII. Commission Comments Chairperson Lesser called for Commissioner comments. There were none. IX. Adiournment Vice Chairperson Kumar made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Pirooz seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 7:31pm.