The January 14, 2010 Board Meeting of the Pleasant Hill Recreation & Park District Board of Directors was called to order by Board Chair Sherry Sterrett at 7:02 p.m. in the Conference Room at the Administration Office. She announced that Board Member Shepard requested to move agenda action items 6, 7 and 8 up since Shepard had to leave early.

Pledge of Allegiance

Recreation Supervisor Dave Peters led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Roll Call

Board Present: Bonato, Donaghu, Shepard, Sterrett

Board Absent: Hurd

Berggren, Blair, Kubota, Miller, Peters, T. Riley (intern), Spatz, Young

Public Comment

There was no public comment.

Ex-Officio Member Report, Nasreen Broomand, CPHS

Ex-Officio Member Broomand reported that the College Park High School leadership students will be taking a field trip to Irvine, California for the Statewide Leadership Conference in April. She said the Pennies for Patients fundraiser is currently going on to raise money for the patients at Children’s Hospital in Oakland. She mentioned they are thinking of doing a Spirit Week later in the month. Board Chair Sterrett thanked Broomand for her report.

Consent Calendar

Upon motion of Donaghu/Bonato, the Board approved the warrants as presented and approved the minutes of December 3, 2009 with recommended changes. Board Member Shepard abstained from the minutes of December 3, 2009.

• a. To Approve Bills to be paid, warrants #13200 - #13226 in the amount of $180,560.11 dated January 14, 2010.
• b. To Approve Minutes of December 3, 2009.

To Review Independent Special District Selection

Committee Procedures The General Manager said there were some changes to the LAFCO Selection procedures. He said the Board Chair is usually the voting representative for the District and it is one vote per District. Board Chair Sterrett will be present at the CCSDA Quarterly Meeting to vote and represent the District. Board Member Donaghu said he would also be present at the meeting and will be the backup representative if Sterrett is not able to make it.

To Consider Proposals for Geotechnical Engineering Services (ACTION)

The General Manager said there were four proposals received ranging from $11,000 to $18,100. He is recommending Purcell, Rhoades & Associates for the geotechnical services. He said the District has worked with Purcell, Rhoades & Associates dating back to 1994. He reported they will conduct a soils report for the Senior Center and Teen Center. There is a $3,000 retainer for upfront permit costs. Board Member Shepard mentioned that her husband works in this field and the scope of services is not complicated, straight forward and there are no technical challenges involved.

Upon motion of Donaghu/Shepard, the Board approved Purcell, Rhoades & Associates for geotechnical engineering services for $11,000.

To Consider Administrative Leave For Exempt Employees (ACTION/Second Reading)

The General Manager stated all changes suggested by the Board were completed. Board Member Shepard said she cannot support this policy. She believes that salaried employees are paid a higher-based salary knowing they are taking on additional responsibilities and are required to take on extra hours. Board Member Bonato said she reviewed the survey with other agencies and said the closest one to what is being proposed for the District is the Hayward Area Recreation District, which grants up to 40 hours. She said there are so many variations among the agencies. Board Chair Sterrett said she does support the policy and said she looked at various other salary surveys that have been conducted in the past couple of years. Pleasant Hill Recreation & Park District’s salary scale is lower than any of the other salary scales of the other agencies surveyed. She stated that the goal of this new policy is to be consistent and this additional time is not out of line.

Board Member Shepard said she does not feel that the comparables are current and mentioned that the City of Walnut Creek has cut salaries and hourly rates. The General Manager stated the Walnut Creek salary rates are still above the District’s wage scale. Board Member Donaghu said within reason, it comes down to safety and even the exempt employees where he works, in the private sector, receive comp time to rest and to be safe when they return to work. He said when they are putting in long hours, the employee is given time to take off. Board Member Bonato said she understands the safety concern, but she is concerned on how much time is enough time and to stay competitive with entities with agencies close to ours. She agrees on the initial 40 hours, but is not sure about an additional 40 hours. Board Chair Sterrett said those issues are protected and it states in the policy that the additional 40 hours need to be approved. She also said that the hours are not able to be carried over and cannot be paid out. She said it is a way of saying thank you to the employees because in many ways they are underpaid and put in many more hours. She mentioned many times the employees did not receive raises and still stuck with the District. Some further discussion followed.

The General Manager said that the Recreation and Parks field is so unique because staff are working when people do not work, in the evenings and on weekends. He said this is when people are recreating and yet, staff are still in the office during the regular day working. He recommended tabling the agenda item until the next Board Meeting. Board Chair Sterrett tabled the Administrative Leave for Exempt Employees until the next Board Meeting on January 28, 2010.

To Consider Resolution 2010-01-14, Two Years Additional Service For Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) For Qualified Employees (ACTION)

The General Manager reviewed the memo in regards to the savings from the last time this program was offered in 2005. There were savings from offering the program to the qualified employees. Board Member Bonato continues to have concerns that the Board is making a decision and to convey to Staff, that the District is saving jobs and not out to cut jobs. Upon motion of Donaghu/Shepard, the Board approved resolution 2010-01-14 for two years additional service for Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) for qualified employees.

To Consider Items For Board Study Session

Board Member Bonato is curious to learn more about the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) program and the financial obligations, sole contributor and matching contributions. She also would like to discuss the relations and history with the City, School District and other co-sponsored groups such as Friends of Rodgers Ranch. She wants to know the historical perspectives of where the District has been and where the District wants to go. The last item she would like to discuss is any redevelopment in the area and more revenue for the District with open space, with DVC Plaza, and any revenue generating possibilities.

Board Chair Sterrett said she would like an update on the Pleasant Hill Instructional Garden (PHIG) and wanted an opportunity with the staff and General Manager to discuss where it is going. The General Manager mentioned that he, along with Park Superintendent Lynn Spatz, will be meeting with Monika Olsen with PHIG the day before the Board Study Session. Sterrett remarked that she wants the District to be pro-active instead of re-active. Sterrett said she would also like an update on the relocatables at the Winslow Center. Lastly, she wants to discuss the parking issue at the Senior Center during the development and construction period of the new Senior Center. The General Manager stated that the Board Study Session will be at Rodgers Ranch on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Bond Project Updates

The General Manager suggested having this agenda item as a standing item to have as a communication tool to update the Board on the progress of the bond projects. He said Jerry Haag met all the insurance requirements as well as his sub-contractors. He stated that Haag has started the traffic study including traffic counts. He, along with Haag, met with City staff to review the scope of work and reviewed sample EIR reports. The General Manager will be conducting a tour of the project sites with Haag and the sub-contractors tomorrow.

He mentioned that staff has submitted reports of each bond facility project current usage and the possibility of increased usage. He said that both, he and Steve Harriman, met with Mal Malpass and Jack Prosek at the Senior Center to review the plans of the Senior Center. There was one suggestion made about switching the platform of the stage to face front and not to the side. He said there were some other changes made as well. He said Steve Harriman is great to work with. He stated that Walter Jones was also at the meeting. Walter will be the project manager for Stephen Harriman & Associates for the Senior Center and June Lee is the project manager for the Teen Center.

So far, 10 applications have been received for the Bond Oversight Committee. The interviews will be conducted on Monday, January 25 from 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

The Bond Projects Selection Committee will be reviewing and meeting tomorrow to narrow down the 19 proposals for the project and construction management services to 8 firms.

Board Announcements And Requests To Staff

Board Member Bonato was invited to the Senior Center Board Meeting and said it was a good educational experience. She clarified some concerns on the priority of bond projects.

Board Member Sterrett received the Moody’s Investment Report and thought it was great. It talked about the District’s tax base, all the good things the District has accomplished and how the District is above State and National Averages in terms of economic numbers. She said they talked about how the District’s financial position has been well managed in difficult times. She mentioned that in the difficult and on-going recession, the District has done well because the expenditures are very flexible. It stated that the District adopted hiring freezes and tighter control on discretionary expenditures and did not have to face the issue of layoff notices despite a reduction of revenue from the tax shifts. She thanked the General Manager and staff for all their hard work.

Staff Announcements

The General Manager made the following announcements:

• Acting Interim Superintendent Dick Nicoll with the Mt. Diablo Unified School District had his retirement party earlier this evening and the General Manager presented him with the resolution from the Recreation District along with a family swim pass and a senior membership. He said that Nicoll said nice things about the District, including our outstanding programs and how great it is to work with the District.

• East Bay Regional Park District has openings for an Advisory Board, which is a two year term.

• A new board photo will be taken at the next Board Meeting

• Mark Blair said the Board requested to have delineation of expenditures when they occur with the each of the bond projects. He asked how the Board would like the expenditure accounts shown. He asked for their guidance and clarification of what the Board wants and he will accommodate their requests. Board Chair Sterrett that each project will have their own account, but Blair wanted to have specification of how the Board would like to see it for reporting purposes, such as listing soft costs to hard costs. Sterrett said it can be discussed at a future Board Meeting.

Adjournment

Board Chair Sterrett adjourned the meeting at 8:18 p.m.