Recommendation to adopt resolution authorizing City Manager, or designee, to submit a grant application to the California Department of Parks and Recreation for funding under the Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program, for the first phases of the Drake Chavez Vision Plan Implementation Project and MacArthur Park Vision Plan Implementation Project (Projects); and, if awarded, execute all documents necessary to accept the funds in an amount up to $8,500,000 for each Project, for a total grant funding amount of up to $17,000,000 for the Projects.  (Districts 1,6)
Thank you. We're going to quickly do item 20, please, and then we'll go back up to the last two items. Item 20 Report from Parks, Recreation and Marine Recommendation to adopt a resolution to submit a grant application to the California Department of Parks and Recreation for funding under the Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program Districts one and six. Thank you. Have a motion by Councilmembers and House. Can I get a second, please? Can I get a second, please? Second by Councilwoman Allen. Councilman is in the house. Give any comments? Yes. I just want to say how excited I am about this grant application. And I'm unbelievably grateful to our director, Dennis and his team for the work that they have done on behalf of our parks and especially our great Chavez vision plant here in the First District. These are both areas of such high need in our city with so little access to green space. And I know that personally, the Drake Park mission plan is something I've been absolutely thrilled about since before I was on council. Seeing this project take its first steps towards fruition has been wonderful for our Willmore neighborhood and our Parks and Public Works team have done an amazing job with with the place, like the local park connection. We still have a lot of work to do and to address that an equal and equal equities in our city, especially as it relates to park access. But these visions will more well, we'll need a little bit more work, you know, and creating access to high quality, accessible and equitable park space in Long Beach is is something that we're working towards. So I'm really excited about that. Thank you all so much for your hard work on this item and I'm so incredibly excited for the future of this. So thank you. Mr. Motorcade. Did you have any anything you want to present on the staff side on this or. That's up to the council? We can do a short presentation by Mr. Brant or Mr. Dunn. Sorry, on this. It's both this and MacArthur Park and he can park. No. Let me go. Let me go to Councilman. Sorry was a second. Just some comments, councilwoman. Oh, no, I was going to ask if we could have stopped your presentation before then. Let's do that. Mr. Motor. After a short presentation. Mr. Dennis. Thank you, Manager, America, honorable mayor and members of council. Both of these projects earlier tremendous examples where establishing a shared vision by engaging with the community have provided the foundation for the pursuit of significant grant funding. So for for the direction of his vision plan in particular, should the department be successful in receiving the eight and a half million dollars in grant fund? It will bring some tremendous recreational amenities in terms of the early phases of the overall parks development, and it includes a whole array of things and especially to be appreciated during this COVID era by the community where there's a focus on fitness equipment, improved sports courts and athletic fields, landscaping, but also things like community gardens, I think for sustainability purposes and just the connectivity and giving people in some of the higher density neighborhoods, some open space and some opportunities to really build community in their neighborhood. Park MacArthur Park again is another great example. Over in Council District six of a similar process, we're developing a shared vision with communities. Input is once again providing the foundation for excellent appeal for an additional eight and a half million dollars in grants. In that particular park, there'll be specific renovation of the playground area and expansion of open play for both active as well as passive enjoyment in the park perimeter. Walking trails and multipurpose walkways are proving to be very important for individuals fitness. And we also look at investing in outdoor fitness equipment and other opportunities for, again, the community together to really become more resilient, getting to know their neighbors. So these are both excellent examples, but we do appreciate the council's support for us to pursue these grant funds. That concludes my presentation. Lester Energy Questions. Thank you. Councilman Sara? Yes, Mayor. I was wondering if we have public comment on this item. And then I would like to make my remarks. And that's okay. Sure. We do have public comment. Our first speaker is Chan Hobson. Hello? Hello? Do you hear me? Yes. Please begin. But every mayor, Robert Garcia, city council members and city manager, Tom wanted them. My name is Ken Hobson. I'm a resident of the city of long before for a year. I am the executive director of the Smart Parent Association. My office is in the district about a mile away from MacArthur Park. My oldest son grew up with that park. I just thought I'm 20. Specifically for city staff to find funding for the Park Vision Plan Implementation Project. MacArthur Park is my goal and it badly needed improvements to accommodate the community. The community within the one mile radius in the area makes up 17% of the population, making it one of the most densely populated area in the city. I was so happy to participate in the visioning process for the park because it never had a vision plan and I am so excited to hear that the staff involved will find funding to implement the plan. Thank you to the city along with Parks, Recreation, Marine and all the partners 87 Friends of the Park, the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust and City Fabric for the hard work, participation and commitment to finishing the plan. Thank you to Councilwoman Farrow for her support and dedication to ensuring them through our path and quality of life for people in this state. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Mary Simmons. Yes. Good evening, Mayor Garcia and city council members. My name is Mary Simmons. I live in the sixth district and I fully support item 20. Specifically for city staff to find funding for the MacArthur Depart Vision Implementation Project. MacArthur Park is my park and that I go to and needs improvement badly. I actually live across the street from the park. This community, the community within one mile radius of the area, makes up 70% of the long, long beach population, making it one of the most densely populated areas in the city. I will say I was happy to be able to participate in the visiting plan for MacArthur Park because I'd never, ever had a vision plan. I'm so excited to hear that the staff will work to find funding for the implement to implement the plan. Thank you to moms. Long beaches, parks, regs, Marines, all the partners, AOC seven Fred, the MacArthur, Los Angeles Neighborhood, Land Trust, the fabric and all our local stakeholders for their hard work participation and. Commitment to finishing the plan. Let's continue to bring resources to a to the park and finish the plan. Two weeks ago, we had an amazing vaccination clinic at MacArthur Park. And I would like to commend Councilwoman Julie Sorrell, her staff, as well as the entire health department, for a job well done. We vaccinated 400 residents at MacArthur Park and thank you, Councilwoman Julie Barrow, for your support and dedication to ensuring we improve our parks and quality of life for the people. Of the Sixth District. Thank you very much. Thank you. Our next speaker is Melissa Williams. Hi, my name is Melissa Williams and I live in the sixth district with my husband and my two children. And I wanted to speak in support of the finding funding for the MacArthur Park Vision Plan Implementation Project. As the other commenters have mentioned, this is a very dense part of Long Beach. Many of us live in multi-family homes without a lot of outdoor space for children and families to use. The park is kind of the center of our neighborhood and it is in dire disrepair. In spite of the condition the park is in, it still continues to host very important cultural and neighborhood events such as the vaccine clinic that Mary mentioned. I would I was very excited when I found out that there is a vision plan to improve the park. So I'm really happy that the city council and the city staff seem willing to support those efforts to find funding. And I think that this kind of thing is especially important in the pandemic with the children not in school, to have a place where families can go. I want to thank all also the partners. Long Beach Parks and Recreation and Marine, the AOC Seven Neighborhood Association to do really wonderful work around here. Friends of MacArthur Park and the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust and City Fabric for all of their support to helping to make our our district better. And also Councilwoman Shirley Sara, for all of the great work that you've done in our area to really improve conditions and equity for our residents. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Rocio Torres. You. Good evening, Mayor, and good emergency council members. My name is Joe Theaters. I live in the second district and MacArthur Park is my childhood park and it is still my park. Believe it or not, 47 years I've been here and I've never had a vision in crime for my part. So I support item number 20 specifically for City to find funding for MacArthur Park's visioning plan and implementation project. I was glad to be able to participate in the process for MacArthur Park Visioning Plan because it had never been done before. Thank you to the city of Long Beach, Parks and Recreation and Marine and all the partners that champion for our Park 87 Friends of MacArthur Park, the L.A. Neighborhood Land Trust and City Fabric for their hard work and participation and commitment for finishing the project. Thank you for Councilwoman Susie Saal for continuing to champion for our park. She helped us with the visioning plan and information that we needed. And MacArthur Park is a beautiful park in a beautiful place. Let's continue to reactivate our park. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes public comment for this item. Back then to go back to Councilwoman Sara. Thank you, Mayor. And I want to just thank all of the committee members who made their public comment. And I feel that they've said a lot of things that I would have said and that I continue to want to have them lead this process, as they did with the visioning, with our partners. So so I want to thank again, just reiterate, thanking the studio staff at Parks Rec and Marines and our amazing neighborhood group, AOC seven. That's just really been, you know, making sure that we address so many of the issues in our parks and our neighborhoods. And the Friends of MacArthur Park and the L.A. Neighborhood Land Trust and City Fabric for helping to really just get feedback from such a wide variety of groups. I saw many seniors sitting with younger generation and talking about what they really like to see at this park. And I also want to mention this is also my neighborhood park. I live in the 9.13 area. It's really like within walking distance from me. And I'm just disheartened that we continue to have porta potty bathrooms that have been there for a long time to variety amenities that I think could be much improved, which is why I really look forward to working with our partners on the ground, as well as our city staff to look for funding so that we can make improvements and really improve the quality of life of everyone around the area. So thank you so much. Councilman Allen. Now? Yeah, I didn't have any comment. Sorry about that. No problem. I mean, I just want to add great projects both obviously. Certainly that the Drake Chavez project has a special place in my heart. Having worked on that, in fact, in my predecessor worked on that project as well. And it's been a long time coming just building that part kind of piece by piece, and it looks so great now. I love seeing the soccer fields, love seeing the connections, how well the Willmore neighborhood is and such a great job. And the community with that and folks like Kathleen and Jim and Cheryl and and so many others that have played such a vital role in in getting that park to where it's at a and Diane and so many others so just happy to see this where it's at. So with that, I'm sorry. The councilman. Thank you. Thank you. I just want to our staff where we were on budgeting to replace and repair the bathrooms so that they won't have porta potty bathrooms. This time. I got it. We do have a budget. A project was added into Measure A, I believe, about a year and a half ago, something like that. And it's in design and it's more important. Wonderful. So I'm just going to speak to and I know after I made this comment last time, I got a text from Council Vice Mayor Richardson supporting what I'd said, and I think that it's important to say it again. The park bathrooms are part of a critical infrastructure across our city for our families. That was prioritized by this council in a previous council action related to measure A for other measure funding as it became available. And as I said in the Infrastructure Committee meeting earlier today, when when other proposals are brought forward that are in opposition to the original intent of the Council, we should also at least be brought the list of things that are not getting funded that would have been funded by the previous council action. Because when you see projects like this one that are just so critical to a community like park bathrooms, I can tell you today I was at a park and I saw multiple city staff stop on their break because they need to take a bathroom break. And they're an infrastructure across our city, not only for families, but for our city workers. And some of them are in such horrible disrepair that we just need to continue to invest in these park bathrooms across our city . They're just too important. And so thank you to the community who partook in the visioning process. It will come out to be amazing, but those amazing amenities are only possible when bathrooms function and are kept and maintained in an appropriate manner. So thank you so much to everyone for all the great work and congratulations to Councilwoman Sara. It'll be a great, great project. The Mercedes. Cast your votes. Roll call. District one. I. District two. I. District three. I. District four. I. District five. I. District six. I District seven. By District eight. I. District nine. All right. Ocean carries.