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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/11/2001 BAKERSFIELD Jacquie Sullivan, Chair Sue Benham Irma Carson Staff: Alan Christensen COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMI'I-rEE of the City Council - City of Bakersfield Wednesday, July 11,2001' 1:30 p.m. City Manager's Conference Room - City Hall 1501 Truxtun Avenue, Suite 201, Bakersfield, CA AGENDA 1. ROLL CALL 2. ADOPT MAY 23, 2001 AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT 3. PUBLIC STATEMENTS 4. PRESENTATIONS 5. DEFERRED BUSINESS A. Staff update and Committee recommendation on International Square Park 6. ' COMMI'I'rEE COMMENTS 7. ADJOURNMENT AC:jp S:~AC~2001 CSCommittee\cs01jull lagen.wpd B AKERS.FIELD ~ ~/~~' Jacquie Sullivan, Chair Alan Tandy, City Manager SueBenham Staff: Alan Christensen Irma Carson AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE Wednesday, May 23, 1:30 p.m. City Manager's Conference Room 1. ROLL CALL Call to Order at 1:40 p.m. Present: Coun¢ilmembers Jacquie Sullivan, Chair; Sue Benham; and Irma Carson 2. ADOPT APRIL 18, 2001 AGENDA'SUMMARY REPORT Adopted as submitted. 3. PUBLIC STATEMENTS 4. ' DEFERRED BUSINESS A; Staff report and Committee recommendation on use of facilities at International Square 'Park Committee member Benham spoke about a working committee that has been meeting comprised of herself, Economic/Community Development staff, Jerry Randall from Old Town Kern, and Ed Lazaroti from Recreation and Parks. The basic consensus has been that closing International Square Park would be a.mistake. It is the goal for Old Town Kern neighborhood to have an urban green space for the residents of the area. The long-term goal would 'be to redevelop the area into some -type of alternative use to enhance the redevelopment of the Old Town Kern area. One of the uses made of International Square,in recent years has been for'distribution of food and clothing to the local population that is either homeless or residents of the nearby -hotels. There have been problems reported by-local businesses with the congregation of activities there. The waste department has concerns about some of the activities taking place apart from the Church outreach activities in this same general area. DRAFT AGENDA SUMMARY.REPORT COMMUNITY'SERVlCES COMMITTEE Wednesday, MaY 23, 2001 Page -2- Representative of the Bakersfield Rescue Mission and Economic/Community Development staff have been communicating with the organizations providing church services and food distribution in the:park. Progress has been made towards a cooperative solution, Which will eventually move the distribution of food and clothing less than two blocks away on property either currently owned-or expected to be acquired'by the .Bakersfield Rescue Mission. Ken Cravens, Director of Outreaoh Missions -Westbrook Chapel, one of the organizations providing services in the park, spOke about their Sunday morning services, ongoing for the last three years at International Square Park. In addition, on Tuesday evenings they are feeding the people gathered in the park as well, which has been ongoing for about 15 years. It is estimated that 90 percent of the people-they serve are not homeless, but live in area hotels. He spoke aboutconcerns regarding,some of the activities occurring in the park and negotiations with Dan Gorman from the Bakersfield Rescue Mission about moving their services to a vacant lot the 'Rescue Mission currently has, which :is about a block and a half away. Details of the move still need to be worked out and they are working together with the business-people as well, so that their concerns would be eliminated in the process. Steve .Ratty, property owner at 23ra and E, spoke about the homeless in the downtown and moving the services being a positive move. The 'Committee was unanimously pleased-with the solution being work out by Committee member Benham and the'working group and thanked all those present for their cooperation. Committee-member Benham stated that staff will be making s°me recommendations and requested that this item be put. back on the .Committee's agenda for an update. B, Staff report and 'Committee recommendation regarding swimming-pool -fees and providing student swim days at City pools Stan ;Ford explained that we have two programs going into effect at City pools this summer for the first time: 1) Fees have been lowered for swimming lessons at the Martin Luther King, Jr. pool and staff is expecting an increase in the amount of applications for swimming .lessons; and 2) The free swim-pass program for Iow-income. Last summer the-City implemented a program with the schools that allows students with perfect attendance during the-week at summer school to get in 'free. The City benefits from this .program because in exchange, the City is allowed to use school facilities for free for summer programs (day camps). When this prOgram started, the free day was on Friday, but there was a need to change to any day during the week, as the pools were used at capacity on Fridays with many students standing outside waiting to .get in. The fairness issue regarding free swim-passes to Iow-income only was discussed. As this program was implemented at the request of 'Councilmembers, staff did not evaluate the fairness issue and would like time to go through this summer and evaluate the program. AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT DRAFT COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE Wednesday, May 23, 2001 Page -3- Because the pools have such high use, staff has concerns that a program for free swimming for students would cause many people to 'be turned away or to be congregating outside the pools, because capacity has been reached. There 'was a discussion about some City pools' in need of repair and small neighborhood pools with older designs versus the need for new regional pools. In the future Recreation and Parks staff will be making a presentation-to Council about a new concept called spray grounds, which are designed for'water-play and are becoming very popular in other cities~ The Committee unanimously recommended making .no change to the swim programs for this summer.' 5. NEW BUSINESS 6. COMMITTEE CO'MMENTS 7. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 2:15 p.m. Staff attending: City Manager Alan Tandy; Assistant City Manager Alan Christensen; City Attorney Bart Thiltgen; Recreation and Parks Director Stan Ford; and Deputy City Attorney Ginny Gennaro Others: James'Burger, Reporter, The Bakersfield Califomian; Leslie Kirk, Channel 23; Steve Ratty, downtown property owner; Tammy Brown, KUZZ News; Ken Cravens, Director of' Outreach Missions - Westbrook Chapel cc: Honorable Mayor and City Council S:~AC~001CSCommittee\cs01may23summary.wpd · BAKERSFIELD Economic and Community Development Department MEMORANDUM July 2, 2001 Committee '-~ TO: Community Services FROM: Donna L. Kunz, Economic Development Director SUBJECT: International Square, Recommendations for Action The International Square Working Committee has been meeting since April 27, 2001 to develop an action plan addressing various issues associated with International Square. T'he focus of this community effort is to clean up International Square and Baker Street. Committee members include representatives from the City, Association of Old Town Kern, Bakersfield Rescue Mission, and the Old Town Kern Pioneer Project Area Committee. The working committee agreed not to close the Square, because it could become a potential asset to the Baker Street corridor. The following short-term and long-term goals have been developed by the committee for each critical element associated with the Square: · Short-term goal - Develop the Square into a safe, clean and secure urban green space, promoting economic growth in the area. · Long-term.goal - Redevelop the Square area into some type of alternate use. Recommendation//1 - International Square remains open. 1. Maintain International Square as an urban green space - In order to achieve these goals several recommendations combined with short-term and long-term action plans have been identified for implementation. All of the following recommendations are based on the premise that the Square remain open to the public as an urban green space. Those on the committee concur that since the jf:S:~OK',Community Services Comm mem.wpd July 2, 2001 Community Services Committee International Square, Recommendations for Action Page 2 Square offers the only public green space in the Baker Street area and can ultimately 'be a part of the area's revitalization efforts there is ample reaSon to maintain and improve the Square. Recommendation #2 - Identify funding source and obtain bids for manufacture and installation of fencing as soon as possible. 2. Improve the maintenance of International Square - According to the Bakersfield Police Department the park is used by people for socializing, drinking alcohol, drugs; obtaining a free meal. Citizen groups use it to serve food and distribute clothing. Overcrowding in the park in summer, alcohol and drug use activities often lead to fights and serious assaults. · Short-term plan - Trees in the square have been trimmed so the lighting from the street lights is brighter. To. allow for greater control of square activities the recommends the installation of a wrought iron fence with access gates around the park. The Bakersfield Rescue Mission indicated they are willing to clean up the litter and debris in and around the Square, if in the future the City undertakes an enforcement approach of permits to use the park correctly. The gates would be closed every evening and then reopened in the morning. Enclosing the park would also help control the spread of trash and limit park hours to control its use. · Long-term plan - The long-term plan would be to redevelop the square with an alternate use. The city has requested federal funding for a streetscape along Baker Street which includes the redesign of International Square. Since the railroad .owns the square, the City is contacting the railroad in an effort to redevelop the square with an alterative use. Recommendation #3 - Coordinate with special user groups; enforce Special Event permitting process when fencing and Rescue Mission project is complete. 3. Park Use Permitting - Should a particular group.be interested in requesting a city issued park use permit, the applicant will need to obtain Special Use permits for jf:S:~,OK~Community Services Comm mem,wpd July 2, 2001 Community Services Committee International Square, Recommendations for Action Page 3 International Square. According to the Bakersfield Municipal Code (BMC) the following permits are required: a. A written-permit is required for delivery of a speech or sermon; OR operate radio, tape, disc or sound equipment (BMC 12.56.070); b. Special event permit is required of an activity is open to .the public or have amplified speech. The application and $60 fee is required 3 weeks prior to event. (BMC 12.56.090) c. Sound use permit is required if there is to be amplified sound. That sound shall not be audible beyond .the boundaries of the park. Amplified music is allowed only in neighborhood and community parks with a permanent. Sound permit fee is $25. (BMC 12.56.180) d. Park .use requires a $50-$250 deposit which is set by the Recreation and Parks Department and is at the Department Director's discretion. According to a cost analysis conducted by the Par. ks Division, the clean up costs after a particularly messy event at International Square is $75.00. e. Evidence of insurance with City listed as additional insured is also required. If the permit applicant has no insurance, then a one-day policy is available through Risk Management for $91.00. · Short-term plan.- develop a flyer/brochure with permit application requirements. Meetings with identifiable groups to review.requirements would be organized. There would be "a grace period" while we educated the community and user groups. · Long-term plan - monitor and enforce the-BMC by requiring the various groups to obtain and possess permits. Recreation and Parks along with the Police Department would coordinate the issuance and enforcement of these permits. Enforcement of permits will be phased in when the fence is constructed and the Rescue Mission's site is ready for use by the groups (see item #4 below). jf:S:',AOl~Community Services Comm mem.wpd July 2, 2001 Community Services Committee International Square, Recommendations for Action Page 4 Recommendation #4 - Keep appraised of Rescue Mission activities. 4. Bakersfield Rescue Mission - The Bakersfield Rescue Mission is currently working. to develop their mission site located just one block east of International Square along Sumner. In brief, they have approved construction of a service 'pavilion, acquired additional property andhave plans to increase day and night time facilities. The Rescue Mission has .offered to maintain and be responsible for opening and closing the Square. They will also monitor the group servings and encourage the groups to use the Bakersfield Rescue Mission at the soon to be built Pavilion. The Mission has been identifying and contacting service' groups to offer them the opportunity to use their facilities instead of International Square. As of this report three such groups 'have agreed to move their outreach efforts to the mission site. · Shod-term plan - Complete the improvements to the' recently purohased two adjacent parcels just west of the Mission. These parcels will be-incorporated into the Mission's outdoor services pavilion which will be available to other groups for their services. · Long-term plan - Working with the Homeless Collaborative, address'human service needs which may occur when the Pavilion and Square improvements are completed. Recommendation #5 - Step-up code enforcement efforts of'the SRO's. 5. .Single Room Occupancy (SRO) hotels - It has been found that occupants of these "hotels" frequent International Square. The city-has inventoried the SRO-hotels in the area. Some are in better condition than others. An example of one of the worst offenders is the Rankin Hotel. Daytime,loitering at the Square is directly attributable to the conditions found in the hotels as residents seek to escape poorly maintained rooms. jf:S:~OK~Community Services Comm mem.wpd July 2, 2001 Community Services Committee International Square, Recommendations for Action Page 5 In addition, food servings and free clothes provided at the Square encourage SRO residents to come to the park. Typically these hotels attract residents with continuing conditions of prison records, substance abuse, medical problems, physical and/or mental impairments, and lack of employability. The servings of food and 'free clothes encourage SRO residents to hang out in the park. There are concerns that the distribution of food and clothes could als© draw children from the surrounding neighborhoods to the park. Some SRO residents are on probation and parole for sex crime offenses. · Short-term plan - The .City will utilize code enforcement to encourage hotel owners to comply with the rehabilitation of these decaying structures. This would include inspections and issuing correction notiCes. · Long-term ,plan - Either replace or rehabilitate the SRO's, with projects like the 'Fegeler Hotel. Economic and Community Development Department will be searching for funding sources to rehabilitate SRO's such as the Rankin. EDCD is also contacting nonprofit housing .providers who have experience in dealing with these types of residential issues. jf:S:~AOK~Community Services Comm mem.wpd