HomeMy Public PortalAbout20050810 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) Regional Open Space
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
Meeting 05-18
SPECIAL AND REGULAR MEETINGS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
August 10, 2005
MINUTES
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SPECIAL MEETING
I. ROLL CALL
President Larry Hassett called the meeting to order at 6:31 p.m.
Members Present: Nonette Hanko, Ken Nitz, Pete Siemens (arrived at 6:32 p.m.) and
Larry Hassett j
Members Absent: Jed Cyr, Mary Davey and Deane Little
Staff Present: Craig Britton, Sally Thielfoldt, Duncan Simmons, Rudy Jurgensen
John Maciel, Mike Williams, Cathy Woodbury, Matt Freeman, Kirk Lenington and Del
Woods.
II. CLOSED SESSION
L. Hassett stated that the Board would adjourn to Closed Session to discuss Closed
Session Agenda Item 1.
The Board recessed to Closed Session at 6:32 p.m. and the Closed Session commenced at
6:32 p.m. The Board concluded the Closed Session at 7:30 p.m.
REGULAR MEETING
III. L. Hassett called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:33 p.m. He announced that the Board
had discussed Closed Session Agenda Item 1 in Closed Session and that no reportable
actions had taken place.
Director Little arrived at 7:33 p.m.
Additional Staff Present: Chris Baressi, Brendan Dolan, John Lloyd, Ken Miller,
Julie Norton Loro Paterson, Cindy Roessler, Carrie Sparks-Hart, Thomas Valterria and
Doug Vu.
Meeting 05-18 Page 2
IV. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
Jenny Whitman, Bear Creek Stables, gave a PowerPoint presentation and presented the
stable's mission statement and gave some background information about the stables.
At the Board's request, C. Woodbury gave a brief overview of the Master Plan for Bear
Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve.
K. Nitz asked if staff was working with the stables, especially with regards to
environmental concerns.
C. Woodbury replied that the Real Property Department had negotiated a lease and is
working with the stable representatives. C. Britton added that staff has suggested
corrections to the stable owners and that they have responded and made the corrections.
The working relationship between District staff and the stable owners is on good terms.
V. ADOPTION OF AGENDA
C. Britton announced that the California Coastal Conservancy had called to cancel their
presentation planned for this meeting(Agenda Item 1).
Motion: K. Nitz moved that the Board adopt the amended agenda canceling
Agenda Item 1. D. Little seconded and the motion passed 5 to 0.
VI. ADOPTION OF CONSENT CALENDAR
K. Nitz pulled Revised Claim numbers 3183 and 3209. S. Thielfoldt explained the
reasons for these two claims to the satisfaction of K. Nitz. N. Hanko abstained from
Revised Claim number 3224.
N. Hanko removed the Approval of the Minutes for the June 1, 2005 meeting and
removed the Written Communications.
Motion: K. Nitz moved that the Board adopt the remaining Consent Calendar
items, including Revised Claims 05-14. P. Siemens seconded the motion.
The motion passed 5 to 0.
VII. MINUTES
N. Hanko noted that the Agenda listed the incorrect date for the June 1, 2005 Board
Minutes to be approved and requested that the date be corrected for the record (the
Agenda stated the incorrect date of June 22, 2005).
N. Hanko referred to pages 2 and 3 of the June 1, 2005 Board Minutes and asked if the
Use and Management Committee would discuss scheduling the trail connection at Windy
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Hill located near The Sequoias. K. Nitz asked if there was a need for this discussion. C.
Britton replied that the trail in question was the road for the construction of the Kabcinell
driveway and suggested that a discussion would be appropriate to decide on whether the
need is for a temporary fix or for a larger project. K. Nitz stated that there was a need to
put a trail connection in place. L. Hassett suggested that K. Nitz wait until the
Committee meets to continue the discussion.
Motion: P. Siemens moved that the Board approve the Minutes dated June 1, 2005
and June 29, 2005. N. Hanko seconded the motion. The motion passed 5
to 0.
VIII. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
N. Hanko asked to discuss the response to the letter addressed to Mr. Gruver. She
expressed her concern that staff should have noticed these flowers. The role of the
District should be educating the public. She suggested that the letter should tell where
the flowers are located. C. Britton stood by the letter and felt that it contained the facts.
J. Maciel gave background information on the procedure staff follows when brushing
trails. He said that two staff members are spotters to minimize visual impacts, but that
they cannot avoid cutting some flowers. C. Roessler has done walks with staff to make
sure staff is knowledgeable of the plants adjacent to trails. The Fire Marshall is strict
about keeping trails the proper width. The equipment that staff uses has a boom that is
over 8' wide and has a weight of 1,500 pounds.
N. Hanko stated her appreciation of J. Maciel's comments. L. Hassett suggested that Mr.
Gruver be given a telephone call by staff prior to the letter being mailed.
D. Little acknowledged that brushing trails and roads is a difficult task. However, there
are ways to minimize destruction of plants, including flagging and the timing of mowing
when practical. He asked if the Use and Management Committee should discuss the
practical ways to minimize brushing damage to plants.
C. Woodbury stated that the Resource Management Policies would be developed at a
future workshop with the full Board.
N. Hanko asked if the Resource Manager, C. Roessler, could address this issue. C.
Roessler said there are hundreds of Leopard lilies at Purisima Creek Redwoods Open
Space Preserve. She meets with staff annually to remind them about species. Staff does
its best to avoid flowering plants, but sometimes it is not possible to keep from cutting
them. She added that she has witnessed staff avoiding cutting flowers or other plants
when possible.
L. Hassett directed the conversation back to the letter being discussed and asked that both
J. Maciel and C. Roessler re-draft the letter to Mr. Gruver.
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Motion: P. Siemens motioned the approval of the Written Communications,
including the pending re-draft of the letter to Mr. Gruver. N. Hanko
seconded the motion. The motion passed with 4 affirmative votes and I
abstention.
VIX. BOARD BUSINESS
A. Agenda Item No. 2 the
Memorandum of Agreement with Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District
Field Employees Association for the Period of April 1, 2005 through March 31,
2006• Award a 2.6 Point Salary Increase for Members of the Midpeninsula
Regional Open Space District Field Employees Association, Effective April 1,
2005• Appropriate an Additional $48,500 for Salaries and Benefits in the 2005-
2006 Budget from the Land Purchases Account with the Budget to be Adjusted at
Mid-Year• Approved the Attached Amended Position Classification and
Compensation Plan—(Report R-05-87).
S. Thielfoldt reviewed the staff report. She said that the Side Letter Agreement
with the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Field Employees
Association(the Association) would extend the existing agreement through April
2006. In addition, there will be a 2.5% salary increase for the members of the
Association retroactive to April 1, 2005.
K. Miller, president of the Association, stated that the group voted to accept the
side letter with a vote of 18 affirmative and 10 against. He added that there are
two concerns of the Association which are (1) the base pay rate is behind
compared with the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department and (2)
the Association disagreed with the statement in the report that the District fully
met the requirement of the Side Letter Agreement.
K. Nitz encouraged K. Miller to speak to S. Thielfoldt right away whenever there
is an issue of concern. It is important to keep the lines of communication open in
both directions.
Motion: D. Little moved that the Board approve the extension of the
Memorandum of Agreement dated April 1, 2003 through March
31, 2005 for the period of April 1, 2005 through March 31, 2006;
Award a 2.5 point salary increase for members of the
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Field Employees
Association, effective April 1, 2005; Appropriate an additional
$48,500 for salaries and benefits in the 2005-2006 budget from the
Land Purchases Account with the budget to be adjusted at mid-
year; approve the attached amended Position Classification and
Compensation Plan P. Siemens seconded the motion. The motion
passed 5 to 0.
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B. Agenda Item No. 3—Accept the Informational Report on the Online Visitor
Satisfaction Survey—(Report R-05-89).
J. Norton presented information about the on-line survey posted on the District's
website. She acknowledged R. Jurgensen and P. McKowan on their work
developing the survey based on input from the LFPAC Committee. She reviewed
the staff report stating that the results are not quantitative.
L. Hassett asked about the three main communities (Los Altos, Mountain View
and San Jose) represented on the survey. J. Norton said that the zip codes were
very wide ranging.
N. Hanko said that LFPAC has a number of questions and suggestions for
additions to future surveys that will encourage more response by the hiking and
equestrian communities.
D. Little suggested that this survey be re-sampled to reflect accurate portions of
user groups. He also added that future surveys could be built into the website—
making it a random-type survey. K.Nitz said that a certain question could be
asked on each page of the website to get a random sampling. J. Norton reminded
the Board that this survey was not quantitative.
L. Hassett presented J. Norton with a collage of pictures.
Motion: N. Hanko motioned that he Board accepted the report. P. Siemens
seconded the motion. The report was accepted by a vote of 5 to 0.
[Prior to the next agenda item, C. Britton introduced a Santa Clara County Grand Civil Jury
representative, Sylvia Head, and welcomed her to the District.]
C. Agenda Item No. 4—Authorize the General Manager to Execute the Notice of
Contract Completion for the Demolition Services and Construction of a Parking
and Staging Area Project at Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve - (Report R-05-
74).
D. Vu stated that the blue copy of the staff report contained corrected and updated
information from the staff report previously mailed and handed out prior to this
meeting. He gave an overview of the revised staff report and showed a
PowerPoint slide presentation showing the finished project at Pulgas Ridge Open
Space Preserve.
K. Nitz asked if it was possible to rotate the Pulgas Ridge sign 45-degrees so that
it was readable from the road. D. Vu said that he would request that the sign be
adjusted.
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K. Nitz asked when the lot would have a public opening. D. Vu stated that the lot
could be open the next day, but there won't be an opening ceremony until the trail
projects are completed.
Motion: K. Nitz moved that the Board authorize the General Manager to
execute the Notice of Contract Completion for the demolition
services and construction of a parking lot and staging area project
at Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve. P. Siemens seconded the
motion. The motion passed 5 to 0.
D. Agenda Item No. 5—Recommendation for Referring the Issues of Controlling
Sudden Oak Death and Slender False Brome to the Use and Management
Committee; Discuss and Direct the Use and Management Committee to Address
these two Important Management Issues on District Lands—(Report R-05-90).
D. Little handed out a sheet with questions about resource management issues,
specifically Sudden Oak Death (SOD) and Slender False Brome (SFB). He
reviewed the questions listed on the sheet. Regarding SFB, D. Little spoke of the
current problem in the State of Oregon and asked if SFB would spread to
California. He expressed frustration in the District not taking resource
management issues serious enough.
K. Nitz,stated that he supported the content of the report, but said that some of the
items listed were beyond what the District can control or contain. He asked D.
Little if he had specific ideas regarding the issues contained in the report. D.
Little stated that he did not have specific ideas, but would bring his ideas to the
Use and Management Committee, including qualifying the problem and setting a
plan. An example would be to have a consultant take an active look at tanoak
trees. He also cited the chestnut tree blight.
N. Hanko said she would like to see some goals identified. D. Little replied that
these issues were not on the agenda for the Use and Management Committee
scheduled to meet the next day, but that he would draft a report and bring it to the
Committee the next time it met. He said he would suggest engaging in a study
about losing tanoak trees.
P. Siemens asked if these issues didn't fall under the General Vegetation
Management Policy. C. Woodbury said that staff planned to have a workshop
with the full Board in the winter of this fiscal year to discuss resource
management issues. C. Britton added that he had spoken with C. Roessler about
these questions, specifically regarding SFB, to get a specific plan and figure out
the cost and plan site visits. C. Britton also said that there is a California state
mortality task force looking at the SOD issue and suggested contacting them for a
presentation about the problem at a future Board meeting, specifically showing
how the District fits into the State's plan.
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D. Little acknowledged that SFB does fall under the Vegetation Management
Policy, but the SOD problem is a bigger issue. He urged that questions should be
addressed now and not postponed. He would draft a report that was action
oriented.
N. Hanko found C. Britton's comments interesting and said that these are serious
issues that need to be addressed; however, noted that the District was not a
research agency. She would like to see what staff could develop.
Eartha Benton, of Bear Creek Stables, suggested using the District's website to
ask the public to help find solutions to the problem.
C. Roessler stated that these are important issues, and that the Board and District
constituents deserve accurate information. She referred the Board to a"white
paper" she wrote in January 2005 and offered to prepare another"white paper" on
SFB.
N. Hanko said that educating and community involvement are necessary. She
asked if the Use and Management Committee make recommendations to have the
full Board hear the State's presentation.
C. Britton said that the Committee could start right away to discuss SFB. He also
would ask Cindy to contact the State's representative to schedule a presentation.
D. Little said that the full Board should be kept in the information loop, but the
Use and Management Committee needs to start looking at these issues.
L. Hassett supported sending these issues to the Use and Management Committee.
Motion: P. Siemens moved that the Board recommend referring the issues
of controlling Sudden Oak Death and Slender False Brome to the
Use and Management Committee. K. Nitz seconded the motion.
The motion passed 5 to 0.
X. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS
L. Hassett: (1) will be giving a presentation to the Palo Alto Kiwanis Club on October 25,
2005, discussing what the District does; (2) on August 21, 2005 he led a group of 20-30
people on a hike at Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve.
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K. Nitz saw an article on Mares Tail indicating it was becoming resistant to Round-Up.
N. Hanko advised staff that Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will be taking up
the Stanford trails on September 13 or 18`h and asked that staff be present.
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C. Britton: (1) said that the newsletter, Ridgelines, featured an article on the District; (2)
POST's"Under the Harvest Moon" fundraiser cost $500/seat; (3) he said that Hidden
Villa was hosting a starry night party; (4) referred to an e-mail he had sent to the Board
asking if anyone would be attending the September 22 State Parks Commission reception
from 4:00pm— 7:00pm. N. Hanko said that she could attend if the LFPAC meeting could
be rescheduled.
J. Maciel gave an update on the previous Friday event on District property regarding the
marijuana plant seizure. He said that the Santa Clara County eradication team made the
raid on the marijuana plots. Ten thousand plants on 2-3 acres were seized. The area is
adjacent to the closed portion of the Rancho de Guadalupe area of Sierra Azul Open
Space Preserve. Staff is very concerned with this activity. One District field employee
was present with the eradication team. J. Maciel had met with the supervisory staff and
reviewed the standard procedures currently in place and he debriefed about the incident.
Additional training was recommended.
C. Britton said that he was most concerned about District staff s safety and that there
would be continued training for both field staff and office staff.
L. Hassett moved not to continue the Closed Session following the adjournment of the Regular
meeting. The motion passed 5 to 0 to adjourn the meeting and not continue to Closed Session.
XI. ADJOURNMENT
At 9:53 p.m., the Regular meeting was adjourned.
Lisa Zadek
Recording Secretary