According to Hollister Management Services Director Mike Chambless, the city mailed 1,000 letters in English and Spanish to residents within 3,000 feet surrounding McCarthy Park to notify them about the Feb. 27 Hollister Parks and Recreation Commission meeting to discuss their neighborhood park. Less than a dozen showed up, including five members of a single family.
It almost didn’t matter, though, because one of the commissioners was a no-show. So, because there was no quorum, the two members who did attend adjourned and departed from City Hall, leaving Elizabeth Matz of BFS Landscape Architects standing at the podium.
Since she had traveled from Monterey to give the presentation on BFS’s conceptual design for McCarthy Park, Chambless asked those present if they would like to stay and at least see it, even though the commissioners had left the building and there would be no official discussion or vote.
After voicing a unanimous consensus, Matz carried on gamely. She described how the long neglected and underused park might be transformed into a green, tree-covered oasis in the community that would include a $1 million water feature and other structures to accommodate skateboarders, picnickers, pedestrians and those who just prefer to relax on green grass. The park is located near Lucky market, boardered by McCarthy and Alvarado Streets and South Chappell Road.
The design and park will be paid for in part by a $700,000 state grant. The total price tag could be as high as $2.4 million, which Chambless said must be secured from a source to be determined, since the state has decided not to offer the grant again.
Matz told the audience that her company had designed a programming layout of the park. She said all the elements for the park were determined before the company won the bid (against five other companies).
“What the city has tasked us to do is take these program elements and lay them out in McCarthy Park,” she said as she began showing overviews of the proposed look of the park that will be set up in two areas or elements. “We have an open-space element, which is a large turf area that’s going to allow folks to have informal pickup games or soccer. It’s also going to be there to facilitate community events, whether it’s music in the park or other activities for the community to come together.”
She said a perimeter path will allow people to walk the common area, with linking paths that lead out to the surrounding neighborhoods. There will also be a stage/skateboard component, designed to accommodate performances and skateboarders. Surrounding it will be a picnic area, including a pavilion and restroom.
In the area of the existing basketball court, she said there will be a splash pad, which she said will take some of the pressure off the Valley View Park, more commonly known as Whale Park, which attracts many families during warmer months. She said the existing play equipment will be enhanced with additional features, such as swings for smaller children, plus a handball court, a climbing wall, and possibly a parcourse area.
Matz said the paths will allow people easy access and the ability to move through the park “holistically.”
“Now that we’re through the concept and layout plan, our next step is to take the opportunity to define the character and nature of what McCarthy Park wants to be,” she said. “For us as designers this is where we see the input and value of talking to community members, because this is your park. We want it to be an extension of what the community of Hollister is all about.”
She said the goal is to allow families to come together to build memories. With that, she showed everyone pictures of the various features under consideration.
“One of the biggest features will be the splash pad. We see this element as something that’s iconic to the park. We like the idea of looking at something like a water tower or some sort of tall feature that has an emblem that relates back to the community with a logo and park name as an identifying feature.”
As second major element is what Matz called the “stage and skate spot.” She said when the feature was being considered BFS wanted the space to be as productive and profitable as possible. BFS partnered with skate park designer Zack Wormhoudt of Santa Cruz to design it.
“What he brought to the table was the idea of leveraging this stage component as an opportunity to host music concerts, but when it’s not being used for that, how can we make that a skate feature,” she said. “It’s going to be the perfect element, with ramps, steps, and railings, something that’s actually pretty exciting for skateboarders.”
She said there has been an effort to design the park to be sustainable by using native, drought tolerant plants and water conservation capabilities with dry “riverbeds.” Natalie Gallion asked Matz about the number of trees planned for the park. Matz said approximately 40 trees would be included. Ellen Hansen wanted to know what species would be used. Matz said that had not been decided yet, but would most likely be a mix of evergreens and ornamentals to create barriers and shade.
Enrique Luna said while he favored putting money into parks he questioned the expense of the water feature. He said in concept it might seem really cool, but when it comes down to dollars and cents, something much less than planned for is often the result. He wondered if Matz knew the quality rather than cost of the features the city was asking for.
“Concerns I’ve heard from parents, like in the playground areas where they have cut-up tires as the mulch versus the padded carpeting, it seems like the cost is the key thing,” he said. “What tier are we going for? Are we talking super high-end, like Los Gatos, or something else?”
Chambless said the designers were being directed to design a top-level park with a potential price of $2.4 million.
“Their task was to design a basic park and make the other features as components, so the council can decide those they want to plug in,” he said. “The basic park is going to run a little less than $1 million. We have a $700,000 grant already. There is money in the park development funds the city is prepared to use. If you pull the trigger on the splash pad, it’s $1 million for it and the bathroom.”
Chambless told the group he had attended budget meetings that morning and had submitted the budget of $2.4 million to the city manager and finance director. He said whether or not that amount makes it through the process is up to the residents of Hollister.
“When we do the boring budget meetings you folks need to be here to stand up for what you want,” he told them. “You need to be talking to your council members and telling them you really want this feature or you don’t want it. You need to talk to me.”
As he looked around the room with just a dozen or so people, he described it as a, “tremendous turnout,” and “way more than what we had at our first meeting.”
“You need to talk to your neighbors and get people to participate,” he said.
Asked whether the project might be held up if the Parks and Recreation Commission continues to have less than a quorum, Chambless said the commission fills an advisory function only and that he cannot wait for it to meet because he has a February 2019 deadline to use the $700,000 or lose it. He said he intends to submit it to the City Council for consideration by April 16.
You must be logged in to post a comment.