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Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee
Wednesday, November 19th at 5:30 PM
City Hall - Conference Room 204
MINUTES
Present: Roberta King, Sarah De La Rosa, Sidney Long, John Burt, Mayor Johnson, Yancy
Weaver, Lynnette Marks, Leann Heywood
Absent: Hillery Ross, David Ruck, Aaron Bodbyl-Mast,
1) Call to Order
a) Meeting called to order at 5:40 pm
2) Action Items
a) Approval of 11-19-25 Minutes
i) Motion to approve by De La Rosa, seconded Long.
Motion unanimously approved.
3) Discussion: Beach Warning System Proposal
a) Director Karczewski shows a visual of the beach warning system. There are currently
two at Pere Marquette, one at each bathhouse. The proposal is upgrading the system to
include additional beach warning systems along the beach. Karczewski goes over
potential locations for the additional systems. This includes online access for the public
to be able to see conditions in real time.
b) Director Karczewski zooms in Jacob from Swim Smart to further explain the beach
safety systems proposal and answer questions from the board.
c) King has a question about the size of sign and the size of the traffic light. The sign in
general is about 4 ft x 3 ft roughly. The stop light is 3.5 – 4 inches in diameter and about
a foot in height. King also asks about the visual distance of sign. Jacob explains that the
light visibility is about 1000 feet in the most unfavorable light conditions. The light is also
targeted in the area you want so as to not interpret the neighborhood.
d) Burt asks if the sign has an audio warning and Jacob explains it does not have audio in
the current proposal but it could be added. The audio can also be used for purposes
separate from the beach warning system if wanted.
e) De La Rosa wonders if the light signs stay up year-round and what the shelf life would
be. Jacob explains they are designed to stay up year-round. Anything left out in the
element is subject to damage. However, removal is not required.
f) Jacob explains this proposal would include hardware maintenance on a regular basis for
the next 5 years.
g) Burt asks Jacob what the system is tied to and is there a place to go if you aren’t at the
beach to go to be able to see the conditions before heading to the beach. Jacob explains
that the system is connected to the weather service and apart of the proposal is working
on a landing page with the City for the beach conditions.
h) De La Rosa asks with the current proposed sign placement, if you are in the water, how
do you know if the conditions have changed. Director Karczewski agrees that is a good
point and there could possibly be a double-sided sign. Jacob says there is an option to
have a cylindrical pole that can be seen from all sides but they are more expensive.
i) De La Rosa asks about language options on the sign. Jacob answers that the default it
is English and Spanish but there are the possibilities of other languages.
j) De La Rosa also asks if this proposed plan can be implemented by summer if approved.
Jacob says yes as far as signs. With the antenna needed on top of the filtration plant,
they would need to get going on that sooner rather than later due to permits.
k) Mayor Johnson asks about the cost of a single cylinder. Jacob explains its usually 2-3x
more expensive than the standard sign due to the amount of solar power needed.
l) Director Karczewski asks the committee if they feel comfortable with the current
proposed plan with the additional input that we get an additional one to put on by the
pier.
m) Motion by Heywood, seconded by Burt to take the beach safety proposal to the
commission as is for approval.
Motion approved unanimously.
4) Discussion: Sports League Policy
a) Director Karczewski shows the updated sports league policy with the proposed changes
for the board. He goes over possible violations for current leagues and reoccurring
problems the parks department has with some leagues.
b) Mayor Johnson asks about public safety’s involvement in these violations and suggests
restarting the discussion to get them more involved.
c) Director Karczewski explains all the fees in red are the updated fees from the special
event application that had not yet been updated on the sports league application.
d) Director Karczewski goes over possible new rentable field locations and fees.
e) The board discusses resident vs non resident fees as it relates to park assets.
5) Discussion: Donation Policy
a) Director Karczewski gives the board the overview of the current policy and some
problematic areas. The group suggests a lottery system.
b) Heywood suggest that this might be a bigger discussion than the time we have allotted
tonight. Director Karczewski suggests we revisit this policy at the next meeting.
6) Discussion: Park Concession Policy
a) Director Karczewski expresses interest in the Parks and Rec Board being the only
approval for Pere Marquette concessions. Mayor Johnson says the ordinance would
need to be amended by the commission for that to happen. Heywood brings up that
since we only meet quarterly there might be a timeliness issue.
b) Director Karczewski asks the board how they feel about Chick Fil A coming to the beach
as a mobile concessionaire. Marks suggests the possibility of considering an upcharge
for corporations and non-resident businesses.
c) De La Rosa feels we do need more concession options at the beach. Mayor Johnson
suggests maybe a pilot test weekend.
d) De La Rosa asks if there are specific parking spots for concessionaires. Director
Karczewski says currently concessionaire spots are at his discretion.
7) Discussion: Summer Rec Program
a) For last year’s program, the City pitched in $15,000 for a 4 week program and do we
want to stick with our commitment to the program. Marks shares she has had
conversation with Superintendent Cortez about the program being longer. Mayor
Johnson says this needs to be a conversation on if we want to take it on internally or if
we want to contract it out, inviting others to run the program.
b) De La Rosa would like to see a program for older kids/young adults for public safety
reasons and for a longer time period.
c) Marks agrees we need to have a scope for most of the summer.
d) Director Karczewski will start the conversation with Superintendent Cortez.
8) Update: Park Acquisitions
a) Mayor Johnson would like to hold off on the conversation until the April meeting.
9) Public Comment
a) The City of Carlsbed, CA puts their beach feed onto the hotels room television.
10) Adjournment
a) Motion to adjourn by De La Rosa, seconded by Marks.
Motion unanimously approved. Meeting adjourned at 7:34 PM
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