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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJune 21 TOWN OF LOS ALTOS HILLS Community Relations Committee Minutes Tuesday, June 21, 2011, 7:30PM Los Altos Hills Town Hall – Parks & Recreation Center Minutes were approved at the August 23, 2011 CRC Meeting 1. Roll Call: (Underline those who are present) Meeting called to order (time): __7:30pm CRC Members: Roger Burnell Co-Chair, Kathy Evans Co-Chair, Barbara Cannon, Karen Emerzian, Ron Knapp, Jamie Lucia, Joan Sherlock, Barbara Waldeck, Roy Woolsey. (There is 1 committee opening) Quorum=4 Associate Members: Bill Downey, Bob Mabe, Linda Seidel, Marc Sidel (Terms are for 1 year and are confirmed at the beginning of each year) Members of the Public present: _________________________________________________ Town Staff Liaison: Sarah Gualtieri. Town Council Liaison: John Radford. 2 Selection of Session Secretary - (Position rotates alphabetically). Following the ABC order; Ron Knapp – May, Kathy Evans – June, No meeting in July, Barbara Cannon – August, Jamie Lucia - September, Joan Sherlock – October, Barbara Waldeck – November, No December meeting, Roy Woolsey – January. 3 Public Comment (Items not on the Agenda): 1 member of the public present. No comments. (Kjell) 4. Committee Business Update: • Welcome visiting prospective Committee Members (Regular members encouraged to bring a guest to each meeting) • Welcome Barbara Cannon and Barbara Waldeck as new regular voting committee members approved at the last Council meeting 6/16/2011. Add contact info to roster. Both new members were absent this evening. Get their contact info at next meeting. • Report from Mayor Meeting May 26th: Kathy / Roger Kathy reported that she and Roger met with Ginger Summit at the annual Mayors Meeting with all the committee heads. Each committee chair was asked to review their committee charter and let her know if it accurately reflected what the committee is actually doing. If the Charter is not accurate, then each committee chair was directed to draft up a list of what their duties and responsibilities are and submit to council for review. Council will choose to either accept the revised charter, or change it to include what they think the committee should be doing. Some committees may be combined; others may need to change direction from their current path. The meeting was interesting and good to have a chance to see the other committee chairs and hear what they are all doing. There is a fair amount of duplication in come committees and lots of opportunity to collaborate and share information and ideas. It would be nice to have the opportunity to meet all the chairs more than once a year. • Update Committee Roster and Review Committee Charter for upcoming year: As directed in the Mayor’s Meeting, Kathy introduced the current CRC charter as it appears on the town website, and read it to the committee. Everyone on the committee was asked to think about the list of duties and come to the August meeting prepared to discuss a revised DRAFT of the CRC Charter that more accurately describes the duties of the committee. Please send your comments and revisions to Kathy Evans prior to the August meeting, and it will be incorporated into the discussion DRAFT. At the August meeting, the committee will review the DRAFT and make additions and changes and vote on a final version to be submitted to the Council. • Review Committee member term expiration dates / status of finding new members: The following is a list of CRC members and their term expiration dates. The committee chairs are supposed to review this annually, and find people to fill the expiring positions or determine if the current committee members plan to apply to Council to serve another term. It is also important when selecting new chairpersons to make sure their terms do not expire prior to completing their term as chair. Associate members terms are up for renewal each January, for the year. *Associate members may serve for a maximum term of 4 years. Maddy Act: STANDING COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMITTEE (8-10 members; Meeting: Fourth Tuesday of the month) Term expires: Roger Burnell, Co-Chair 11/08 10/12 Kathy Evans, Co-Chair 7/09 8/13 Barbara Cannon 6/11 6/14 Karen Emerzian 11/08 10/12 Ron Knapp 11/08 10/12 Jamie Lucia 5/10 4/14 Joan Sherlock 1/09 12/12 Barbara Waldeck 6/11 5//15 Roy Woolsey 11/08 10/12 • Committee Member Announcements / Chair nominations: All current committee members are eligible for the position of Chair, which is a 1-year term from July through June of each year. Maximum 2- terms as chair. Kathy Evans and Roger Burnell have served 2 years as co-chair, splitting the terms into 2 6-month terms – or each has served for 12 months total. Karen Emerzian and Ron Knapp declined to run for the chair position when asked, however he stated he would consider running for Chair next year along with Jamie Lucia. Ron Knapp nominated Barbara Waldeck, and Karen Emerzian seconded the nomination. Roger Burnell pointed out that it was not good to vote in a new chair, when the nominee was not present at the meeting, to confirm their interest in the position. This item has been deferred to the August CRC meeting for further discussion when all members are present. • Elect New Chair for CRC for 2011-2012: Nominate and vote, seat effective in July Ron Knap nominated Barbara Waldeck, Karen Emerzian 2nd, discussion opened then tabled till August so that Barbara Waldeck could be present. Discussion will resume at August meeting. • Reminder that Final picnic reports should be submitted to chairs before the August 23rd CRC meeting. There will not be a July meeting. Anyone who has completed his or her final picnic wrap up report is encouraged to submit it to the Kathy and Roger as soon as possible, and PRIOR to the August CRC meeting. The outgoing co-chairs will compile the individual reports and present a DRAFT Final Picnic Wrap-Up, at our August 23rd meeting, and then submit to Council for their review, at their September 15th Council meeting. 5. Review of Committee DRAFT Meeting Minutes: May 24th, meeting. The minutes were approved unanimously with minor grammar changes from Roger Burnell. 6. Review of City Council Meeting of June 16th – Attending committee members comment Both Barbara Cannon and Barbara Waldeck were confirmed as new members to the CRC. The graduating seniors in the Youth Commission were presented certificates of appreciation for their service to the community and the new co-chairs of the Youth Commission were introduced to Council. 7. The 2011 Town Picnic: Recap Picnic –DRAFT notes and suggestions **The June Meeting will be a discussion in preparation for the final picnic report to council. Final picnic wrap up reports are due before the August 23rd CRC meeting. When preparing your final reports, they should be complete, with all the address, emails, websites, costs and contact info, of the vendors you have worked with, as well as the quantities ordered, cost and suggestions for next year. What worked and what did not work. **The final reports should be in a format that someone unfamiliar with the picnic could read the report and reproduce your work at the following picnic, using your guide. Thanks!! **Attendance update: 2011 picnic attendance was estimated at 2,200 residents Karen Emerzian said that she counts the meal tickets issued, to determine the number of attendees at the picnic each year. This year one roll of tickets was used up at the check in table, and the final ticket number was not recorded because it was given out. There were probably about 400 tickets on that roll, but it can only be an estimate based on what was used on each of the other rolls. The Firemen prepared over 2,000 meals and ran out of food completely by 3:30pm. Vegetarian chili ran out 18 minutes after the food lines opened up. *We may need to consider more vegetarian options to accommodate our diverse population. Committee Picnic Recap: • Ice Cream / Toppings / Cups / Transportation / Ice: Marc Sidel What was ordered / amount / cost: Vanilla 11, Chocolate 12, sugar free Pineapple Coconut 3, Orange Sherbet 6. Ice Cream / Vendor: Baskin Robbins in Los Altos. Contact Trina Morrow / Owner Cups: Used 2,000+ cups Toppings: All provided by Baskin Robbins (Saves us over $700.00) Dry Ice: Not used this year – weather was not hot enough Ice Vendor: San Jose Ice What was ordered / cost: What worked? It is good to have ice cream and drinks sharing a tent because they share ice. What could be improved for next year? The ice cream and drink signs need to be hung higher so the flavor signs can be at the bottom of the tent edge. The signs were put up late and hung too low this year. • Car Show / Signs / Reservations / Tickets / certificates / awards: Bill Downey, Bob Mabe What attended (_31__classic and _2__electric)? Car Show contacts: Bob Mabe / Bill Downey Calligrapher contact: Jeffrie Price. In the future, we should have a name of a back up calligrapher in case Duffy’s daughter is ever not available. Certificate contact: Roger Burnell printed out and framed the car awards. What worked? The lawn area holds 42 antique cars + 4 electric cars and the parking lot holds 31 cars + 2 electric cars. People liked viewing the cars in the parking area but the car show organizers prefer the lawn area, so the cars can be more spread out. What could be improved for next year? The weather! Last minute changes are stressful to the organizers, who carefully plan which car will be shown next to each other. They spend hours mapping the field and carefully placing similar makes and models together by year. This is a very popular feature to the picnic and it is enjoyed by young and old. Several people came up at the end and said that it is the reason they attend the picnic. • Tent Rental / Stage Rental / Chairs & Tables: Linda Seidel / Sarah Gualtieri What was ordered? Extra tenting was ordered for the BBQ because of the possible rain, but ended up being used for additional seating and a larger ice cream and drink area. Cost with extra rentals was $6,054.62. The rental company would not allow tenting to go over the BBQ because the grease from the fires would damage the tents. Rental / Vendor: Anthony Hayden Party Rentals, Mary Kear What worked? It was nice to have the extra tenting. What could be improved for next year? The band tenting needed risers to lift it higher. We also borrowed a tall Directors chair for the entrance, and should rent one next year. We also added tent backing for the registration table, and it worked well and should be included in next years order to block the band noise. Signs need to be installed higher on the tenting. The band area needed taller tenting. Next year we would include a tall directors chair for the entrance. • Balloon Arch for Car Show / Dry Ice Order: Linda Seidel What was ordered? Linda requested that the balloon arch balloons not be blown too full so they would not burst easily. This worked well. Balloon / Vendor: Diddams in Los Altos on El Camino. What worked? We did not order dry ice for the ice cream because the weather was cooler. • Music (Jazz Unlimited): Ron Knapp What was ordered? We requested they play through the clean up and this worked well. Contact / Vendor: Jazz Unlimited What worked? They received numerous compliments for their music – AGAIN! Very popular. What could be improved for next year? The contest games took their band plug, and this needs to be corrected next year. They will need 100 ft. extension cord to make sure they reach the power outlet at the snack shack. Next year we need to make a sign for the outlet that stated BAND only, and something to indicate that the batting cages are not supposed to be used during the picnic. A baseball player came and unplugged the band! • Sodas / Wine / Beer / Cups / Ice / Transportation / volunteers: Ron Knapp What was ordered? Beer / Vendor: Sudworks What worked? Very popular beer! Wine / Vendors: What worked? They liked the larger tents for sodas and ice cream. It helps them share ice and volunteers. What could be improved for next year? Signs need to be hung higher. What was ordered / where / cost: Most came from Safeway and Nob Hill Foods on SALE. Soda/ Vendor: Safeway / Nob Hill Foods. • Inflatable Events: Roger Burnell What was ordered? Obstacle course, bounce house, bungee Run Inflatable / Vendor: Stars N Stripes What worked? It was nice to have fewer small child activities like the inflatables. What could be improved for next year? Their generator was too close to the band, and loud. They needed a longer cord to get it further away. Ron positioned garbage cans around the generator to buffer the noise. Train / Vendor: Stars N Stripes What worked? The new train station and train stop. Both were good visuals and will add to the picnic. Train station is stored in the attic at Westwind Community Barn. What could be improved for next year? Train tires need to be fully inflated. They lost 2 tires and had to disconnect 1 train car and complained about the path being too rough. Roger had them pump up the tires and everything was fine after that. He will renegotiate the contract. Rock Wall / Vendor: Mobile Rock Inc. Contact Taylor. What worked? Kids loved this and it had long lines all day. The town used its small tractor to position the structure so the large truck did not need to drive on the wet lawn and damage it. What could be improved for next year? Positioning was good, popularity was good. They had 4 routs to the top but only used 3. They said that the wall was more stable when only 3 kids were on at a time. • Pig Races: Sarah Gualtieri What was ordered? Pig Race Vendor: Ham Bone Express What worked? Very popular event! The baby pig at the entrance was charming! What could be improved for next year? The weather! The fencing was too narrow to allow the big rig inside the regular field. Another gate would need to be added to accommodate it in the big field. • Fire Department Food and Menu Reservation / Meal Tickets/Confirmation Letter: What was ordered: BBQ chicken in 1/4, Hamburgers, veggie burgers, chili, veggie chili, salad, garlic bread, watermelon for 2000 residents. Fireman contact: Art Marshall What worked? Food was good but ran out early. They did not 1/4 the chickens as requested. What could be improved for next year? Firemen need to carpool because parking was an issue. We need to think up more vegetarian choices for the menu. The chicken was not 1/4 as requested. If it had been, there would have been plenty of food. • Status Report for Auto (on-line) Registration and Reminder Calls: Sarah Gualtieri What was ordered: Town-wide call to remind people to attend picnic Steve Garcia: Reminder phone call was good. What worked? The computer attendance reports were much better this year and required less staff time. A part time staff person called each volunteer to let them know their assignment. No committee people needed to make phone calls. What could be improved for next year? The computer reports should be modified so that the volunteer lists are generated automatically. A lot of time was spent this year manually typing the reports to make the volunteer lists. • Signs / Event Map / Additional Parking Signs / Shuttle Signs: Sarah Gualtieri What was ordered? Signs / Vendor: Signs Unlimited, Kathy Inserra What worked? The new signs were nice and helped people find their way through the picnic more easily. Mary Kear set up the day before the event, which was nice. They also had staff on site for the entire event in case there were problems. What could be improved for next year? The signs were delivered very late on Friday. This was too late to make any changes or corrections if there had been a problem. • Robotics Club / Lionel Trains / Committee Tables / Dignitaries Invited: Sarah Gualtieri What was ordered: they need 4 8-foot tables and 4 chairs. Robotics contact: What worked? What could be improved for next year? They might do better if we ordered a small stage and placed them in the center of the picnic so more people could see their creations. Lionel Trains contact: What worked? People like seeing the model trains. What could be improved for next year? They were worried about finding a place to store their train cases out of the rain. Dignitaries invited: Each year we usually invite the Mayor and council for Los Altos and the superintendents of the surrounding school districts. We also invite county and regional representatives like Liz Kniss, Joe Simitian, and Ira Ruskin etc. I never saw a list of who was invited this year. Staff usually asks council for a list and then sends an invitation. • Contest Games -Frisbee, Parks and Rec. sand table, Face Painting: What was ordered? Face Painting / Vendor: Neverland Faces, Wendy Mehner What worked? Face painter was fabulous and got lots of nice compliments on the artwork. Lines were long and we ma need to consider adding another face painter so we have 2. What could be improved for next year? The sound system for the contest games was too loud, conflicted with the band and timed wrong. They also used the plug for the band. They were yelling at the time when the car awards were being given out, making it hard to hear. Their timing needs to be timed with the other activities so they do not conflict. List of Contest Games____________________________________________ Contact / Vendor: Nick French and Sally Morgan What worked? Kids and teens loved this. Everyone loved the games and all the youth involvement. The schedule was arranged this year so that all the teen volunteers left their posts at 2pm and went over to the games area till 2:40pm. After the games were over, they returned to their volunteer posts. What could be improved for next year? NO amplified sound. The amplified sound system used the band outlet and was too loud and competed with the band. The timing was also not coordinated and they ran the games during the car show award announcement. • Pony Rides: Sarah Gualtieri / LAHHA / PRPC volunteers What was ordered? 4 ponies Pony / Vendor: Friendly Pony Parties, Terry Tenzing What worked? Kids and parents loved the train ride to the ponies. The timing was good because the kids got to ride until the next train arrived. What could be improved for next year? The ponies were very late, causing a parking issue and people were waiting. • Shuttle Bus and Parking Signs / Ports Potties / Garbage Cans: Sarah Gualtieri What was ordered? 2 continuous shuttles Shuttle / Vendor: What worked? What could be improved for next year? We need to think about using shuttles for all town events in the future, and getting people trained that if there is a town event they park at Foothill and take the shuttle. Parking was a big issue because the car show took all the parking lot. The remaining parking lot was used for handicapped drivers, but filled by 1:30, leaving angry handicapped elderly drivers to walk great distances. The CERT trailer also blocked the handicapped parking lot so cars could not drive through. What was ordered? 3 porta-potty’s. One placed by the pony rides and 2 by the snack shack. Porta Potty / Vendor: United Site Services What could be improved for next year? We could have used a hand washing station by the ponies. What was ordered? Garbage Can / Vendor: Green Waste What could be improved for next year? No one separated their recycle from their food. Next year we should order more garbage cans and place them by the food. • Registration Karen Emerzian What was purchased this year? Everything. We ran out of most supplies last year, so this year we bought new. Number of volunteers for each shift: 5 for the 5 lines. What worked? They liked the extra tenting that was put up on the back of the registration tent to block the band noise. The clear masking tape was also used a lot and we could have had more rolls. What could be improved for next year? Tablecloths can be color coordinated red & blue to match the new publicity and signs. Only full rolls of tickets will be used so that when we run out, we do not forget to record the ending ticket number. • Committee Participation: Kathy Evans What committees participated with tables? We need a list. What worked? Committee table hosts tried to eat early so they could man their tables. Registration needs to be prepared to check these people in early and the food needs to be ready to feed them early. Hot dogs were ready early, but the chicken took awhile. What could be improved for next year? 8. Sub Committees Reports: • Neighborhood Network – Joan Sherlock (Absent) Joan reported that we have 13 new block captains for the town who are CERT members. • Youth Commission – Sarah Gualtieri The outgoing seniors all received certificates at the last council meeting and the 2 new co-chairs were introduced. The YC is full at 20 members. The application process will become more competitive in the future with more interviews. We still need to maintain good school representation and have 1+ from each school. • New Resident Outreach - Roy Woolsey Roger and Kathy asked Roy to send in the new resident packets even if there are less than 20 names, so that the new residents can receive timely event information. • Community Relations Outreach – Status of Community Event in the fall: Roger This item was deferred to the August meeting for further discussion. Roy agreed. 9. CRC Volunteers and Contributions at upcoming Town Events: • July 4th Parade – Town Hall to Gardner Bullis - No CRC participation • CANCELLED Hidden Villa Concert July 17th 5:30 – 7: • CANCELED Hidden Villa Concert August 28th, 5:30 – 7:30 • Hoedown Saturday, September 10th 3-8pm (Needs Beer and servers) • Fall New Resident Event – TBD / Also Needs Budget Proposal • LAHfamily October Pumpkin Carving Event (10/30) / Teen Dance 10/22 • Holiday Barn Lighting, Sunday, December 4th 1-4pm (Needs wine and servers) 10. Completion of any Old Business: None 11. Introduction of New Business: Aprons instead of T-shirts – continue discussion. Deferred till August meeting. 12. Next Meeting Dates: August 23rd, 2011, 7:30 pm (No July meeting) 13. Adjournment: Time - _9:30pm_ Any writings or documents provided to a majority of the Community Relations Committee regarding any item on this agenda will be made available for public inspection in the City Clerk’s Office located at Town Hall, 26379 Fremont Road, Los Altos Hills during normal business hours. KME: 6-2011