City of Sunnyvale

Meeting Minutes - Final

Parks and Recreation Commission

Wednesday, November 12, 2025

7:00 PM

Online and Redwood Conference Room,

City Hall, 456 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale,

CA 94086

CALL TO ORDER

Chair Kesting called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m.

SALUTE TO THE FLAG

Chair Kesting let the salute to the United States flag.

ROLL CALL

Present: 4 -

Chair David Kesting

Vice Chair Dona Mason

Commissioner Daniel Bremond

Commissioner Prakash Giri

Absent: 1 - Commissioner Prashant Gattani

Commissioner Giri (arrived at 7:24 p.m.)

Commissioner Gattani (excused absence)

Council Liaison Cisneros (absent)

STUDY SESSION

25-1048

Sports 2025

Veronica Torrez, Interim Recreation Services Manager; Gary Brown, Recreation

Services Coordinator II; and Viresh Patel, Sunnyvale Youth Basketball League

Director, presented an update on the recreation services 2025 sports programs.

Their presentation highlighted current sports offerings, classes, camps, adult sports

leagues, and provided an update on the outdoor sports assessment. Additionally,

Veronica announced that the Outdoor Sports Assessment Study is ready for the

next steps, which include updating the City’s website and conducting community

outreach regarding pickle ball striping on select tennis courts. This outreach will

help determine which parks will receive the striping.

The commissioners asked why many instructors are contractors rather than City

employees, whether scholarships are available and how staff determines eligibility,

how staff decides which programs to offer, and whether staff has considered

rotating badminton and basketball at the Indoor Sports Center.

Staff responded that many of the programs—such as sailing—are specialty sports

and therefore require specialized contractors. Scholarship eligibility is based on the

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development income statistics. Staff

determines programming by reviewing enrollment numbers, survey results, and

overall demand. At this time, demand for basketball has not been sufficient. Staff

also noted that the Columbia Neighborhood Center offers indoor drop-in basketball,

but participation has historically been low.

Commissioners and staff discussed the Outdoor Sports Assessment in more detail.

Commissioners asked whether there were updates on other components of the

assessment, including cricket and field lighting, and requested clarification on which

parks and courts are being considered for court re-striping. Commissioners also

asked whether basketball courts would be excluded from re-striping as mentioned in

their recommendation to Council.

Chip Taylor, Director of the Department of Public Works, explained that the only

project currently funded based on the assessment is the re-striping of courts to

accommodate pickle ball. Other assessment recommendations will be addressed

through future projects. Chip noted that the Las Palmas Renovations Project

includes consideration of cricket pitches as an option, and this topic will be included

in upcoming outreach efforts for that project. The specific parks and courts under

consideration for re-striping for pickle ball will be determined through upcoming

community outreach, with some potential locations referenced in the Capital

Projects budget.

Staff confirmed that when the recommendation from the outdoor sports assessment

went to Council, it included a memo to Council that recommends avoiding basketball

courts when selecting which courts to re-stripe. The next step is public outreach,

including a survey, to identify which courts should be re-striped. Staff encouraged

community participation to ensure broad representation.

25-1049

Aquatics 2025

Kelsey Christian, Recreation Services Coordinator II, presented an update on the

recreation services 2025 aquatics programs. The presentation highlighted staffing,

conferences and education, partnerships, staff trainings, aquatics programs, and

program scheduling.

The commissioners asked about wait times for the Washington Park pool, if there is

a way staff could allow more patrons in the popular pools over the summer, and if

the City can operate recreation swim at other pools in Sunnyvale.

Staff responded that the number of patrons in line for Washington Pool during

recreation swim depends on the weather, and the amount of patrons allowed on

deck depends on the required lifeguard-to-patron ratio. To increase capacity,

additional lifeguards would need to be staffed. Staff also noted that Fremont Pool is

primarily focused on swim lesson programming. However, staff is always willing to

explore whether operating recreation swim at other pools would be feasible.

25-1065

Youth and Teens 2025

Carmen Villegas, Recreation Services Manager, presented an update on the

recreation services 2025 youth and teens programs. Highlights included a summer

program overview, 2024–25 school-year programs, the Columbia Neighborhood

Center, teen programming, and recruitment and expansion efforts.

The commissioners asked how staff determines which programs to offer. Staff

responded that programming decisions are based on trial and error, allowing staff to

identify which programs perform well and respond to community interest and

participation trends.

ORAL COMMUNICATIONS

None.

CONSENT CALENDAR

Commissioner Bremond moved and Chair Kesting seconded the motion to approve

the consent calendar as submitted.

The motion carried by the following vote:

Yes: 4 -

Chair Kesting

Vice Chair Mason

Commissioner Bremond

Commissioner Giri

No: 0

Absent: 1 - Commissioner Gattani

25-1051

Approve the Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting

Minutes of October 8, 2025

Approve the Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes of October 8, 2025 as

submitted.

PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS

25-0836

Approve the 2026 Master Work Plan

The draft 2026 work plan was presented and discussed. Commissioners and staff

considered removing the ranking of study issues due to changes in the process,

adding park tours where feasible, including facility or program tours when possible,

and providing updates on ongoing projects such as the dog off-leash issue and

Lakewood Park renovations.

The Chair inquired about the heavier agendas in October and November and

whether items could be redistributed; staff explained that some items cannot be

moved earlier because they depend on data not yet available. Staff noted that park

tours will be scheduled based on staff availability and weather, then agendized

accordingly.

Staff shared anticipated updates, including the Lakewood Library opening sometime

in summer (exact date TBD), a future update on Plaza Del Sol when information

becomes available, and a tentative update on the Las Palmas Park renovations

around June or July, pending confirmation. Staff also announced that the

Community Center grounds are expected to open in late spring and will be

agendized when possible.

Following discussion, the Commission agreed to defer approval of the 2026 work

plan until December to allow staff additional time to review and confirm timelines.

25-1050

Discussion and Possible Recommendation of one Council

Priority Project Idea to City Council

Staff announced that any previously identified study issues that have not yet been

advanced to City Council could be voted on by the commission as a recommended

Council Priority Project. Additionally, any new project ideas not previously discussed

could be brought forward for consideration and voting by the commission.

The commission discussed potential options to recommend to Council, including

evaluating the expansion of City-funded and facilitated cultural events in City parks

and facilities, synthetic turf fields, late-night field lighting, and improved field-use

data collection. Staff explained that late-night field lighting presents challenges due

to nearby residential properties and applicable ordinances, though staff noted that if

Council wished to proceed, an additional survey regarding late-night lighting could

be considered.

The commission discussed prioritizing projects that would support increased

community use of parks and fields and noted that evaluating need would require

collecting data on field usage beyond permitted reservations.

Chair Kesting made a motion to recommend to council, a comprehensive collection

of field and park usage data as a priority project. The motion was seconded by

commissioner Giri.

The motion carried with the following vote:

Yes: 4 -

Chair Kesting

Vice Chair Mason

Commissioner Bremond

Commissioner Giri

No: 0

Absent: 1 - Commissioner Gattani

NON-AGENDA ITEMS AND COMMENTS

-Commissioner Comments

Commissioner Giri asked if there would be an ice rink this year in downtown. Staff

did not have an update on an ice rink downtown.

-Staff Comments

Jesus Raygoza, Deputy Director of Recreation Services, announced that a new

vehicle has been secured for the Fun on the Run program. He also noted that

Recreation Services may collaborate with the Arts Commission on an art wrap for

the vehicle.

Jim Stark, Deputy Director of Parks and Golf, encouraged the commission to attend

an upcoming Las Palmas Park outreach meeting. He also confirmed that ESD

24-01: Evaluate the Use of Artificial Turf versus Living Ground Covers will come to

the Parks and Recreation Commission with an update once the study issue is

further along.

ADJOURNMENT

Chair Kesting adjourned the meeting at 9:19 p.m.