Home About Us Events News Park Groups Playground Campaign District Park Planning ParkScan Nature in the City Publications Park Histories Get Involved Links Internships Giving to NPC Contact Us	Calendar | Minutes | Park Groups | RPD Budget Crisis | Seminars | Survey Results | Binders    DOWNLOAD PAST MINUTES District 1 Minutes (Acrobat Reader Required) » September 17, 2002 » December 3, 2001 Minutes - District 1 September 17, 2002 (7pm - 9pm) Argonne Playground Clubhouse In Attendance Michelle Duffy, Russell Cramer, Marian Cramer, Howard Stone, Esther Kwan, Jacquelyn Garrett, Wayne Andersen, Lisa Auer, Lara Witter, Janelle Pierce, Robert Sindelar, Tom Scharffenbager, Cheryl Butler, Susan Berg, Joel Shepherd, Tanya Weldid, Joan Immendorf, Dennis Ow, Raul Hernandez, Ron Miguel, Maria Morgan-Butcher, David Spark, Tania Weidick, Michelle Menegaze, Sarah McMillan, Mike Anguere, David Heller, Christina Edwards, Najwa Aineb, Debra Yoch, Kathy O'Sullivan, Susan Burke, Vidya Tikku, Richard Bressani, and Isabel Wade. In attendance was also Jake McGoldrick, Supervisor for District 1. I. Welcome and Introduction - Vidya Tikku, NPC II. District 1 Project Updates Vidya Tikku: Review of 2002 DPP events in District One, outreach: Richard Bressani: Distribution of programming analysis handouts and brief description of programming trends. Attendees were invited to provide comments/suggestions on programming to Richard Bressani for discussion at the next DPP meeting. Isabel Wade: Description of Park Scan project. See NPC web site for details. III. Neighborhood Tree Summits – Chris Buck If interested in planting trees see map of plantings planned in District One. A commitment of 40 trees is needed for a Saturday planting. Cost per tree is up to $150.00 Cost increase is due to lack of funding. Chris will take the word back to Milton that $150.00 is too costly. Caltrain is paying for the trees planted on the 3rd Street project. FUF is working to become part of the city's budget. FUF has one meeting per month in each district. Meetings last 1.5 hours and cover tree protection issues. Empty sidewalk basins (where trees were once planted) are illegal. If a tree comes out, a replacement must go in. Property owners are responsible for this and can be fined if a tree is not replanted. Call DPW (Street Use and Mapping Department) to report empty basins. Reports can be made anonymously and the city will pursue. FUF will be having a free tree pruning workshop in October. IV. Recreation and Parks Update – Esther Kwan & Raul Hernandez Regarding District 1 programming analysis, we don't see a lot of teen participation in clubhouse activities/events, thus little programming. Dance programming for 4-5 year olds will return once more staff are available. We are looking for the right staff. Programming for pre-school age and those over 60 are a priority right now. Programming should be a topic at next DPP meeting. There are 24 staff for 16 playgrounds in District 1. About 1/3 are part-time. Fall Programming schedules are now available. Rossi Playground - baseball infield is finished and new, benches are in progress. Park Presidio: 100 block reforestation has started 600 block at 14th Avenue replanting is finished Argonne Playground: Replaced irrigation, new plantings, wall replaced on playground edge. Argonne has been assessed and is not compliant with any standards. Rec/Park will try to get it repaired or will remove the dangerous equipment. Short-term fixes will not affect capital plan schedule or budgets for renovation work. Staff work orders have not been addressed because there is only 1 equipment repair staff person for the entire city. Raul will look into status of work orders from Argonne and will handle work orders now personally. There is a difference between Capital Plan funds and In House Capital Improvement funds. Richmond Library: in the planning stages for new playground Mountain Lake: has new bathrooms with handicap access. Dupont Court: resurfaced tennis courts V. Argonne Playground Update – Lisa Auer and Wayne Anderson (Contact Richard Bressani at Neighborhood Parks Council for copies of handout materials from this presentation.) The community that uses Argonne Playground is shocked, frustrated, and angry at the neglect, delay, and silence by Recreation and Parks Department regarding the playground. Despite being a well-used and popular park for all ages, Argonne Playground is in deplorable condition. Serious hazards include: entrapment/strangulation hazards, inadequate protective surfacing, inadequate fall zones around swings, structures that are completely rusted through, peeling/chipping paint, etc. The community has organized The Friends of Argonne Playground (with over 100 families on the mailing list) and is committed to making the playground a safe place for children to play and an improved multi-use center for all ages. The immediate concern is for the hazardous play structures to be addressed immediately. The Friends of Argonne Playground needs the following support from Supervisor McGoldrick: Letter of support to Recreation and Parks Commission for approval of revised Capital Plan. Urge Rec and Parks Dept to assign park planners immediately and begin moving the project forward. Advocate for immediate safety inspection of playground and removal of dangerous equipment. Letters of support for grant proposal to Friends of Recreation and Parks. Be our ongoing advocate for this neighborhood project. Options for Friends of Argonne Playground: Temporary fixes to equipment done by Rec/Parks Replacement of dangerous equipment with supplemental funds Capital Plan renovation Jake McGoldrick's Response: With a good needs analysis, supplemental funding can be asked for. Friends of Argonne Playground can testify (as a group) in front of Board of Supervisors for money to temporarily fix playground. Raul Hernandez's Response: Will schedule an appointment this week to evaluate play structures and other equipment for hazards and will notify Lisa Auer about options for short-term fixes. New consensus: rather than close the playground completely, we'll repair it temporarily and make it safe. Next Steps: Raul will evaluate the playground and will be back in touch with Lisa, Vidya, and Jake. (If funding is needed to repair existing structures, it will come out the current budget. If supplemental funding is needed, Jake will assist in securing.) Lisa will prepare a community letter for Jake to sign and will follow up with him regarding other ideas the group is considering Vidya will update Friends of Argonne regarding PROSAC decision. Friends of Argonne will apply to Friends of Recreation and Parks for a Neighborhood Grant. Vidya Tikku will also send some grant information to Friends of Argonne Playground. Christina Edwards offered to hold a workshop at Argonne Clubhouse to gather children's ideas/input for the new playground. Friends of Argonne will prepare and distribute a community survey and will hold workshops to collect input and ideas (possibly involve Robin Williams in these efforts). The group also needs to identify existing talent within their members and neighbors of the Argonne Playground. VI. Closing Remarks - Vidya Tikku « Back to District Park Planning

Back to Top © Neighborhood Parks Council, All Rights Reserved. 451 Hayes Street, 2nd Fl., San Francisco, CA 94102. phone: 415-621-3260, fax: 415-703-0889, e-mail: .