On Monday, July 16 the City Council considered the establishment of a new Athletic Facilities Preservation Fund.

Looking at the lack of reserves or ongoing funding for capital replacement of sports fields, Board of Education President Rick Raushenbush had previously prepared a document for the School Board suggesting the need for a designated source of funding for facility replacement costs estimated at hundreds of thousands of dollars.  The Athletic Fund proposal is the outcome of several months of discussion between the City and the School District regarding this issue.  The City and the School programs both utilize many sports facilities owned by one or the other, while not always sharing expenses.  Legal limitations on the School District’s ability to charge users for facility replacement, rather than operating costs, is another issue.

The proposal included a $25 annual fee from Piedmont Recreation Program users, but does not require School District users to make a contribution to the fund.  The School District maintains a separate reserve to pay for replacement of field turf, gymnasium flooring, and other structural items.  The allocation amount from the Athletic Facilities Preservation Fund to the School District was not specified.  > Click to read more…

Council Member Keating Highlights Change to New Athletic Fund Plan.  This matter will be discussed tonight, Monday July 16.  –

The Athletic Facilities Replacement Fund on Monday’s agenda has changed significantly from that initially proposed in October, 2011. The principal change is that the $25 fee will apply only to participants in sports activities administered through the Piedmont Recreation Department. Members of the private sports organizations will not be charged the fee when using city facilities – Linda Beach Field, Coaches Field, Hampton Field and the Swimming Pool. Based on this revision, annual revenues of the fund are projected to decline from $145,000 per year to $68,000 per year.

Garrett Keating, Piedmont City Council Member

PCA LINKS:  PCA Article and City Staff Report

On Wednesday and Thursday, July 18 and September 19, the Piedmont Recreation Commission will hear testimony to improve the utilization of Beach Playfield.  Groups of adults have frequently dominated field use and discouraged use by neighborhood youths and families.    Persistant neighborhood concerns have included scheduling, safety and access for casual play on weekends after organized use by the Piedmont Soccer Club/Baseball-Softball groups.

In 2007, after public hearings the Recreation Commission recommended modifications to the Beach Playfield Use Restrictions. In February 2008, the City Council approved new rules limiting adult use of the playfield by groups of 12 or more persons 21 years of age or older concurrently participating in the same activity (ies) or game (s). Again in 2010 and 2011 the Recreation Commission held public hearings on the Beach Playfield. Decisions on rule changes or modifications were not made pending the establishment of a park monitor program to document use patterns.

The Commission will now consider rule revisions at the July 18 and September 19 hearings, including a rule dividing the playfield into two equally sized “east” and “west” fields with one of the fields being designated only for children and families.  Safety between the two fields has not been described.

The Recreation Commission hearings to solicit public comment will be held on Wednesday, July 18 and Thursday, September 19, 2012, at 7:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, 120 Vista Avenue, Piedmont, California.

Written comments may be directed to Dick Hunt, Chairman, Piedmont Recreation Commission, 358 Hillside Avenue, Piedmont, CA 94611 or mdelventhal@ci.piedmont.ca.us. The hearings will be televised live on KCOM Channel 27 and through streaming video on the City Web Site: http://www.ci.piedmont.ca.us under “online video”.

After the Recreation Commission consideration, their recommendation will be made to the City Council for any use modifications.

For further information, contact Recreation Director Mark Delventhal at 420-3073.

Parcel Tax on November ballot –

On Monday, July 16, at the Council meeting starting at 7:30 p.m., the Council will consider establishing the Athletic Facilities Preservation Fund and establishing a $25 fee per user dedicated to the fund.  The funding issue was brought up a few years ago when calculations were presented showing the unfunded cost of maintaining gymnasium and field facilities. Budget constraints on the schools and the City, facility maintenance require an independent funding source.  The agreement with the schools will be considered at the meeting.

The Council will finalize the November 2012 ballot measure for renewal of the Municipal Services Tax effective July 1, 2013.  The proposed tax will have an inflation escalator of up to 4% annually to be determined by the Council.  The measure requires a 2/3rds approval by those voting on the measure.

The Mid-Year Crime Report from the Interim Chief of Police will be presented. Requests for more police presence in the areas closest to Grand Avenue were made at the recent Town Hall meeting.  A suggestion was made to place outdated police cars strategically around the City as a deterrent to crime.

Negotiations between the City Recreation Department and the Piedmont Swim Team (PST) have resulted in an agreement extending the current contract until December 31, 2012 for  $9,000.  This will be an increase to $17,250/year from the $16,000/year rate previously being paid, but less than the $44,000 per year cost for the PST use of the pool.  The Piedmont Swim Team is an organization independent of the City Recreation Department.  The High School and Water Polo teams do not currently pay for use of the pool.

The 2012-13 pool deficit is now anticipated to be $138,156. The cost of use by the Swim Team and Piedmont Unified School District (PUSD) is calculated by staff as:

                                         Cost of Pool Hours*              Pool Fees

• Swim Team                     $44,000                                $17,250 (new rate)
• PUSD                                $35,000                                $0

*Hourly cost based on operating costs divided by total pool hours times hours of use.  Estimates do not include any facility replacement costs.  Staff indicated looking at “marginal cost” would not be a standard industry calculation.

The Council will meet in closed session to continue “discussion regarding pending litigation in the matter of Friends of Moraga Canyon v. City of Piedmont and relating to potential litigation (Blair Park).”

Staff reports for the meeting can be viewed here.

City and Team Both in Transition Over Pool Use-

On Monday, July 16, the City Council will consider a new, six-months lease for the Piedmont Swim Team’s (PST) use of the city pool, increasing the team’s fee through December from $8,250 to $9000.  The one-year contract between the City and the team expired June 30, 2012.

According to Recreation Director Mark Delventhal, “The short-term extension is based upon both the Swim Team and the City being in a transition phase. The Swim Team is in the process of recruiting new coaches while the City, as we all know, continues in the process of assuming management of the pool and transitioning to a public facility.  Therefore, both parties agreed that a long term agreement at this time did not make sense.”

The team’s new schedule:

The City will also allow use of additional lanes in the main and medium pools when they are available.

Meanwhile, the team’s longtime coaching staff is leaving town at the end of the summer and planning to start a new swim team in Albany, which has a newly remodeled, 10-lane outdoor pool. Approximately 15 of the PST’s 105 members (most of whom live in Berkeley or Oakland) are expected to follow the coaches to Albany.

According to Leslie Pannell, president of the PST Board, “The team is practicing in Albany this summer, and it takes anywhere from 25 – 45 minutes to get there during commute hours, which is not acceptable for most Piedmont families.” She said that the overwhelming response from a survey of current team members “is that it’s important to have a team IN Piedmont that kids at all levels can walk to.”

The problem is providing enough of the pool’s six lanes for the team’s 2.5 hours of daily practice time. Since the City took over management of the pool a year ago, the team has been restricted to 3 lanes, resulting in multiple swimmers in one lane.  Pannell said because of this, “we are now looking to shrink the team to 80 members to maximize the swim experience of the kids on the Team and not have 8+  kids swimming in one lane at any given time.”

The City did offer the PST all 6 lanes for 2 hours, from 3 to 5 p.m., but the team turned it down. (This proposal included giving the High School team all 6 lanes from 5 to 7 p.m., and lap swimmers from 7 to 9 p.m. The latter also objected to this proposal.)

Pannell said “PST would like to work more closely with the Recreation Department to develop synergistic swim programs that meet both organizations’ revenue needs and objectives.”  She said PST originally planned to expand the team to the point where they could rent the entire pool during practice, but to do that, they would have to take less skilled swimmers, which she said, competes with the Rec Department’s plans to expand its own swim program. During contract discussions, Pannell said, “This growth was seen by the Rec staff as cannibalizing their plans to grow their lesson revenues by expanding it to more skill levels.”

If the PST reduces the team size, its revenue will shrink accordingly, limiting its ability to rent additional pool space.  Pannell said, “Our fee structure is competitive with the market, and although we plan to raise fees slightly for the Fall Quarter, we cannot significantly raise them without pricing ourselves out of the market. “

Pannell said PST historically had a good relationship with the Swim Club and for the most part, co-existed well.  “With the change to City management,” she said, “we have a good relationship with the Rec Department management, but the budget constraints that they are forced to work under has impacted the team’s access to the pool and has become increasingly restrictive.

“Without increased lane access, we are becoming a team that grows good competitive swimmers only to see them leave when their skills reach a level where they lap other swimmers in their workout lanes due to lane overcrowding, or they simply need to seek a larger competitive peer group to swim with.   Coaches wishing to develop and grow a team want to keep swimmers, not develop them for another program to profit from.   It is still too early to tell, in our Coach search, however we are concerned this will impact our ability to find a seasoned, good caliber head coach.”

It is Delventhal’s job to grapple with balancing the PST’s needs with those of lap swimmers and recreational (individual and family) swimmers —  who support the pool’s operations — as well as accommodate the Piedmont High School swim team and water polo team, which do not pay for use of the pool.   “We’re doing all we can to fashion a solution with the Swim Team,” Delventhal said. “There is talk of merging the Rec Department swim program and the PST. We are interested in that and want to work together, but not now.” He added, “We will have a Swim Team here, no matter who runs it.”

Planning Commission to consider reducing setbacks and other changes to zoning requirements –

On Monday, July 9, the Piedmont Planning Commission will hold a public hearing regarding potential amendments to the setback provisions of alleys, lanes and driveways that serve two or more properties including reduction of required setbacks.

These proposed Chapter 17 Zoning Code changes are some of many being considered to facilitate planning and implement the  2011 Piedmont Housing Element resulting from lengthy negotiations with the State of California.  The zoning item will be number 9 on the Agenda.

The purpose of the hearing is to take public testimony on the subject, and provide an opportunity for Commission comments. The Planning Commission may give direction to staff for future hearings, but no formal action will occur at the meeting. Zoning changes will ultimately require City Council approval through the City’s ordinance process including further public hearings.

Staff encourages interested individuals to attend the hearing and express opinions and ideas. Alternatively, one may wish to watch the hearing on KCOM, cable 20 or by logging on to the city’s website at www.ci.piedmont.ca.us: on the right hand side of the homepage under the “City Council” heading, click on the “Online Video” link, then scroll down under the “Sections on this Page” heading, click on the “Planning Commission” link, then on the “July 9th meeting”, click on the “Video” link, and scroll down to Agenda #9 and start watching!

Comments may be made at the public hearing, submitted in writing to Kate Black, City Planner at 120 Vista Avenue, Piedmont, CA 94611, or emailed to  kblack@ci.piedmont.ca.us.
For more details contact Kate Black at 510-420-3050.

It is time, according to the City Charter, to reorganize Piedmont Unified School Board officers.  On July 11, at 7:00 p.m., the Board will meet in the City Council Chambers to vote on a new President and Vice President.  Roy Tolles, current President, will have completed his term.  Vice President Rick Raushenbush is expected to be elected President, and Andrea Swenson, a new Board member, to be elected Vice President.  Presumably, Superintendent Constance Hubbard will be chosen to continue as Secretary of the Board.  Board committee and liaison assignments will be accepted at the meeting.

Piedmont’s Public Safety Committee will meet on Thursday July 12, 2011, at 5:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers to discuss ways to encourage residents to hold neighborhood safety meetings for presentations by public safety personnel.  A map showing where the meetings have already been held is available.   Also, the Committee will discuss disaster preparedness for the City and the Schools.
All meetings of the Public Safety Committee are open to the public and include an opportunity to address the Committee with concerns or ideas.

Echo Avenue view of future library

playground view of future library

On Tuesday, July 3, the Oakland City Council (OCC) approved a five-year $150,000 lease and $200,000 for moving costs and tenant improvements to relocate the Piedmont Avenue Branch of the Oakland Public Library to a modular unit on Echo Avenue.

The Oakland Public Library (OPL) administrators have been in negotiation with the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) for several years about moving the library to the grounds of the Piedmont Avenue Elementary School at 4314 Piedmont Avenue.   The used modular unit has been an OUSD classroom for some years and, according to the contract, is leased to the City in “as-is condition.  …City acknowledges that neither District nor District’s agents have made any representation or warranty as to the suitability of the Modular Building…”  The modular unit is approximately 1600 square feet (compared with the current 1700 square foot library building) and is located four and a half blocks from the current library location.

The modular unit will be rented for $2500 per month or $30,000 per year –  $150,000 for the term of the five-year lease agreement.  According to the lease contract, it commences as of “February 1, 2012 or when the modular has been delivered to the City.”  Utility expenses will be estimated by the OUSD and paid by the City of Oakland.  The terms of this agreement with the OUSD were recommended for approval by OPL staff.  On June 26, the Life Enrichment Committee of the OCC also recommended the proposed agreement and tenant improvements funding.

The rent will be paid from Measure Q fund 2241, the Oakland library parcel tax approved by 77.2% of voters in Oakland.  The $200,000 for the cost of the move and tenant improvements to the modular unit will come from Library Trust Fund 7540. 

The Piedmont Avenue branch library has been the original and only tenant in the architect-designed library building since 1932.  When Citibank offered to sell the library building to the City of Oakland in 2008 and 2009, Oakland declined.  Citibank then required the private purchaser of the adjacent bank building to buy the library building and library building lot as a condition of the purchase of the bank building and its lot.  For an entire year the new owner privately subsidized the library by providing it with free rent.  When the City remained uninterested in buying the library building, the new owner offered a 10-year lease at $4250 per month.  The City declined this offer as well, but in the fall of 2010 entered into a one-year lease with a one-year optional extension.  When the first year of the lease expired, the City declined to exercise the extension.  In order to have more flexibility, the City preferred a month-to-month tenancy with a 30-day intention to vacate notice provision and a monthly rent of $4900.  It is expected that the 30-day notice will be given by the City Administrator this summer.

Three libraries in the OPL System are not City-owned: the Cesar Chavez Branch Library in the Fruitvale BART transit village, the Eastmont Branch Library in Eastmont Mall, and the Piedmont Avenue Branch Library at 160 41st Street with convenient parking across the street in the Key Route Parking Lot.  The move into the modular unit is viewed as a temporary situation, lasting at most five years, until a permanent library facility can be planned and financed. 

Opportunities Abound for Greater Community Use of KCOM

A year and a half ago, I wrote an opinion piece for the Piedmont Civic Association (PCA) about the viability of KCOM, Piedmont’s community television station; could it and should it be revived to its former relevance:  http://www.piedmontcivic.org/2011/02/09/opinion-should-kcom-be-revived/  

Briefly, the piece outlined the origin of KCOM, which began in 1984 when Piedmont had two cable stations: a government station and an educational station.   The Chief of Police managed the government station, which included supplying city news and safety updates, and a teacher in the High School managed the Piedmont Unified School District’s station, which included filming sports, student generated programs and performances.  After a few years, the School District station closed, because it took too much additional time for one teacher to supply content for a TV channel AND teach.  Likewise, the city’s station was turned over to a professional film producer and volunteer, Polly Rich.  Polly not only anointed ‘KCOM’ its acronym (the ‘com’ is for community), but she got the station up and running with a Board to oversee the station’s mission and yearly goals including fund-raising drives, and built an energetic volunteer base to produce local content.  After awhile, Polly found that she too was putting in 40+ hour weeks and requested a stipend.  Piedmont’s new City Administrator, Geoff Grote, appointed city employee, Marietta Blessent, to then oversee the station.  > Click to read more…