City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
Meeting Date: _10/02/12__ Item Number: _A-1__
PRCS COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM: Consideration of a Recommendation to the
City Council to Adopt a Resolution Authorizing the Submission of a
Proposal/Application for Grant Funds from the Los Angeles County Regional Park
and Open Space District Excess Funds Grant Program in the Amount of $250,000
for the Syd Kronenthal Park Playground Rehabilitation Project.
Contact Person/Dept.: Dan Hernandez,
PRCS Director
Phone Number: (310) 253-6655
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [X] General Fund: Yes [] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: []
Public Notification: (Email) Meetings and Agendas – Parks, Recreation and Community
Services Commission (09/27/12); (Email) Department Updates – Parks, Recreation and
Community Services Department (09/27/12); (Email) News and Events – City of Culver
City (09/27/12).
Department Approval:Dan Hernandez
(09/25/12)
City Attorney Approval: N/A
Chief Financial Officer Approval: N/A City Manager Approval: N/A
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the Parks, Recreation and Community Services (PRCS)
Commissionconsider making a recommendation to the City Council to adopt a
Resolution authorizing the submission of a proposal/application for grant funds from
the Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District Excess Funds
Grant Program in the amount of $250,000 for the Syd Kronenthal Park Playground
Rehabilitation.
BACKGROUND:
On Wednesday, September 12, 2012, Daniel Hernandez, Director of the Parks,
Recreation and Community Services Department, received a copy of a letter that
had been sent to the City Manager’s Office from the Office of Second District
Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, Board of Supervisors – Los Angeles County. The
letter was sent in partnership with the Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open
Space District (RPOSD)and in it, the City was notified of an opportunity to submit
one or more proposals for Cities/County Excess Funds for capital improvement
projects in an amount not to exceed $250,000. The types of projects that will be
considered include the development, expansion or refurbishment of community park
nodes/pocket parks, trails, community gardens and outdoor fitness zones.
Proposals may be submitted with Application Packets and must be received no later
than November 16, 2012. It is anticipated that the funding will be awarded by the
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on or before February 1, 2012.
City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
DISCUSSION:
City Council Approved List of Priority Projects
This request for proposals from the Supervisor’s Office, in partnership with the
RPOSD,is similar (although not identical)to some that were previously received by
the City. For example, in early 2008, Mayor Corlin was informed by Supervisor
Yvonne B. Burke’s Office that Culver City had been awarded $250,000 in Cities
Excess Funds. At the April 1, 2008 PRCS Commission meeting,after extensive
public outreach and input, the Commission made a recommendation to the City
Council that the $250,000 be used toward the construction of a new playground in
Culver City Park. On April 21, 2008, the City Council adopted the Resolution
authorizing staff to submitthe application for that project as recommended by the
Commission. The new Culver City Park Playground was completed in the July
2012; it is being heavily utilized and has been receiving rave reviews from both
children and their parents/caregivers.
The extensive public outreach noted above is relevantto this discussion because the
Syd Kronenthal (SK) Park Playground Rehabilitation is the only unfunded
project/unmet need left on Culver City’s “Wish-List of City Park Related Projects
Eligible for Los Angeles County Proposition A Excess Funds” as approved at the
September 22, 2008 City Council meeting.This priority project list was created in
response to a September 2008 letter from the Office of Supervisor Burke inviting the
City to submit a “Call-for-Projects” wish-list of potential Proposition A compliant city
park-related projects.
At a Special PRCS Commission Meeting held on September 19, 2008, the
Commission created a Project Wish-List that was then presented to the City Council,
along with staff’s recommendation. The Commission’s Wish-List was compiled from
the following sources:
• Comments of eighteen (18) public speakers received at the April 1, 2008
Commission meeting
• A summary of thirty-eight (38) emailed Proposition A project suggestions
• One DVD submission
• Recommendations from PRCS and Public Works Department staff
• The Parks and Recreation Master Plan Deferred Maintenance List
City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
Below is the Wish-List approved by the City Council on September 22, 2008, based
on the PRCS Commission’s recommendation, and then submitted to Supervisor
Burke’s Office on September 28, 2008:
Rank Project
2008 Prop A
Request
Current Status
1 Fox Hills Park
Playground
Rehabilitation
Unfunded In the process of going out to bid; funded
by a combination of Park Facility
(Quimby) funds and Capital Improvement
and Acquisition (General) funds.
2 Veterans’ Memorial Park
Playground
Improvements
Partially
Funded
Project completed; funded through a
combination of a KaBOOM! project,
Proposition A Excess Funds, Proposition
40 funds and the Parks Division Budget.
3 Syd Kronenthal Park
Playground
Rehabilitation
Unfunded A high-priority unmet need; please see
detail below.
4 Bill Botts
FieldImprovements(Little
LeagueField Leveling)
Fully Funded Project completed; funded through a
combination of Proposition A Excess
Funds, Proposition 40 funds and League
donations.
Syd Kronenthal Park Playground
The playground areas at Syd Kronenthal Park areheavily utilized as there are
approximately 2,400 Culver City households within a one-mile radius service area of
the Park; about 63% of this one-mile radius service area benefits our Second District
neighbors.In addition, the McManus (East Culver City) neighborhood has a higher
percentage of households with children than Culver City as a whole (married-couple
families with children: 27.5% versus 17.8%; single-mother households: 9.9%
versus 7.7%; source: City-Data.com).
The Syd Kronenthal Park playground area for children ages 5 – 12 has not been
updated since 1990; the area for children ages 2 – 5 was updated in 2006 and will
not be included in this proposed project. In the 5 – 12 playground area, the existing
play equipment is outdated and replacement parts are no longer available. In
addition to new physically challenging and safe play structures, the area is in need of
both Federal ADA-compliant surfacing and ramps. Currently, the surface material is
100% sand, which no longer meets playground Federal ADA accessibility standards.
Staff proposes to: (a) replace the outdated playground equipment with sculptural
elements that are both physically and mentally challenging; (b) replace the sand
surfacing using 100% engineered wood fibar; (c) incorporate needed features such
as an accessible ramp; and (d) provide a path of travel to and from the parking area
to the playground area that will bring the entire playground into 100% Federal ADA
compliance.
City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
The Excess Funds Grant Program
The category of Proposition A funding that the City has been invited to apply for is
described as follows:
I.C.2. Cities Excess Funds & County Excess Funds – Cities Excess Funds
and County Excess Funds are allocated to Cities and the County, respectively,
for Projects at regional park and recreation facilities, pursuant to Section 24(b) of
the 1996 Proposition.
Therefore, although this is not a competitive grant, since the City has not been given
a specific allocation amount (as with the $250,000 in funding that was used for the
Culver City Park Playground), it could be that the request for $250,000 for the SK
Park Playground Rehabilitation may not be fully-funded by the Board of
Supervisors.The Excess Funds will be allocated between all of the Second
Supervisorial District which includes the following:
• 9 Cities – including Carson, Compton and Lawndale
• 18 Unincorporated Areas of Los Angeles County – including Baldwin
Hills, Lennox and a portion of Marina Del Rey
• 24 Areas within the City of Los Angeles – including Crenshaw, a portion of
Hollywood and Watts
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
The Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District Excess Funds
Grant Programdoes not require a local match. In addition, staff has determined that
there are no available City matching funds that can be utilized to enhance the
project. If the full request for funding from the Grant Program is reduced for any
reason, the scope of the Syd Kronenthal Park Playground Rehabilitationwill be
decreased to fit within the available grant funds.
MOTION:
That the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commission:
1. Make a recommendation to the City Council to adopt a Resolution authorizing the
submission of a proposal/application for grant funds from the Los Angeles
County Regional Park and Open Space District Excess Funds Grant Program in
the amount of $250,000 for the Syd Kronenthal Park Playground Rehabilitation;
OR
2. Provide staff with alternate suggestions.