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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20060322 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) t ` Regional Open Space MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT Meeting 06-10 REGULAR MEETINGS BOARD OF DIRECTORS March 22, 2006 MINUTES REGULAR MEETING I. ROLL CALL President Jed Cyr called the meeting to order at 7:32 p.m. Members Present: Jed Cyr, Ken Nitz, Pete Siemens, Deane Little, Larry Hassett, Mary Davey and Nonette Hanko Members Absent: None Staff Present: Sally Thielfoidt, Sue Schectman, Matt Freeman, John Maciel, Brian Malone, Michael Newburn, Jennifer Naber, Greg Smutnak, Brendan Downing, Rich Carlson, Rudy Jurgensen and Mike Williams II. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS There were none. ILI. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Motion: K. Nitz moved that the Board adopt the amended agenda. M. Davey seconded and the motion passed 7 to 0. IV. ADOPTION OF CONSENT CALENDAR K. Nitz removed Revised Claim number 4530 from the Consent Calendar. He asked for an update of the Pulgas Ridge project and M. Freeman gave a summary of the project. N. Hanko abstained from Revised Claim numbers 4504 and 4610. Motion: K. Nitz moved that the Board adopt the remaining Consent Calendar items, including Revised Claims 06-07, the February 8, 2006 Board Minutes; and the Written Communication; and Approval of the Annual Claims List, Including Debt Service Payments for Fiscal Year 2006-2007; —I and Approval of District General Counsel to Assume Full Time Position and Adjust the Position's Annual Salary to $146,201.12 and Adoption of Resolution Amending District General Counsel's Employment Agreement to Reflect Full Time Annual Salary and Corresponding Full Time Benefits; and Approval to Join in an Amicus Brief in Support of the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority in the Matter of Silicon Valley Taxpayers Associations, Inc v. Santa Clara County Open Space Authority; and Cancellation of the April 12, 2006 Regular Board Meeting. M. Davey seconded the motion. The motion passed 7 to 0. V. BOARD BUSINESS A. Agenda Item No. 1 —Appointment of Jennifer Naber and Greg Smutnak as District Peace Officers; Adopt the Attached Resolution of the Board Appointing Jennifer Naber as a Peace Officer; Adopt the Attached Resolution of the Board Appointing Greg Smutnak as a Peace Officer—(Report R-06-43). J. Maciel introduced the staff report. M. Newburn then introduced Jennifer Naber, stating that she will be working at the Foothills Field Office. He gave some background information about her. J. Maciel presented J. Naber with her District Ranger badge, followed by picture taking. J. Naber stated that she was excited about becoming a District ranger and she thanked the Board. B. Downing introduced Greg Smutnak and gave some background information about him. J. Maciel presented G. Smutnak with his District Ranger badge, followed by picture taking. G. Smutnak said that he, too, was excited to be working for the District as a Ranger. He added that he had worked for the District previously as a Seasonal Open Space Technician. Motion: M. Davey moved that the Board of Directors approve the General Manager's recommendations to adopt Resolution No. 06-11 to appoint Greg Smutnak as a Peace Officer; and adopt Resolution No. 06-10 to appoint Jennifer Naber as a Peace Officer. K. Nitz seconded the motion. The motion passed 7 to 0. B. Agenda Item No. 2 —Adoption of the 2006-2007 Action Plan for the Implementation of the Basic Policy of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District—(Report R-06-39). S. Thielfoldt presented the staff report. She suggested the Board consider a change to the wording regarding the polling project (page 4, Item #16 of the Public Affairs portion of the Action Plan). She recommended that the item be moved to Item #I under the "Other Projects" heading to reflect the heightened importance of this project to Resource Management and the additional $50,000 reflected in the budget. K. Nitz asked that the RFP for the survey go before the LFPAC Committee and R. Jurgensen said that it would. Meeting 06-10 Page 2 D. Little asked if there were other budget issues and changes regarding Resource Management, and if so, why weren't they brought before the Board tonight. S. Thielfoldt replied that staff is not ready for any additional budget changes at this time. Management Team is discussing possible Resource Management budget changes and a comprehensive plan will be brought before the Board at a later date. D. Little asked why the polling was being fast-tracked and not other resource management projects. S. Thielfoldt recalled that C. Britton presented this item before as a result of the Resource Management workshop. She understood that the Board was in favor of the polling. M. Davey stated that this is one simple item whereas Resource Management is a lot more complex and takes a lot more time, L. Hassett recalled that the Resource Management budget would come back at the mid-year adjustment. The initial budget would not restrict what the Board might or could do with an interim adjustment. P. Siemens said if the District ends up altering priorities on how the it will spend money, then it needs to know what the constituents think. Particularly if the District ends up in the situation where it might be balancing "access"versus resource management." He added that it is difficult to go forward with the Resource Management planning without conducting the polling process. D. Little responded by stating (as he said he did at the workshop) that he does not care any more on what the public thinks about Resource Management than he cares about what they think about acquisition. The District has a clear mission statement that supports resource management. The bottom line is the Board needs to do the right thing. And the right thing is not only buying the land, but paying for the native biology. If the public comes back with the opinion that they don't care about resource management and they care more about access, that just suggests that the District has not educated the public sufficiently. He would like to see the request for proposals for polling go before the LFPAC and the full Board. L. Hassett added that he had similar thoughts to D. Little's. If he thought that the polling was going to hold up on some of the decisions on Resource Management program, he would not have supported the polling project, He wanted to be sure that this project did not hold up going forward with the Resource Management plan. S. Thielfoldt stated that polling would not hold up other aspects of Resource Management. D. Little said he was worried that polling would be presented to the public as an "either/or" situation. M. Davey said that polling was not an"either/or" Meeting 06-10 Page 3 situation, but a "both" situation. She said that the District wants to do it in an inclusive and rational way and the polling will give insight. K. Nitz said that he finds polling disturbing and a waste of money. He does not want to see money spent for polling when a more important project could use it. N. Hanko ended the discussion by acknowledging that the Board was having a good debate on the issue of polling, but this is a project that was already approved. It is understandable that Board members get impatient, but staff has a limited amount of time for projects. Motion: M. Davey moved that the Board adopt the 2006-2007 Action Plan, with the recommended changes, for the Implementation of the Basic Policy of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. L. Hassett seconded the motion. Discussion: J. Cyr asked if the added outreach included the Woodside area. R. Jurgensen said that it did. Vote: The motion passed 7 to 0. C. Agenda Item No. 3a—Approve the Proposed Fiscal Year 2006-2007 Budget as Presented in Agenda Item 3b (Report R-06-40), and Adopt the Administration and Budget Committee Recommendations Contained in this Report - (Report R-06- 39). K. Nitz reviewed the report from the Administration and Budget Committee (ABC) and pointed out the 14.3% increase, not including COLA increases. He pointed out the action items for future ABC meetings, including increasing public access improvements from $500,000 to $700,000 over a five-year period. Motion: M. Davey moved that the Board approve the proposed Fiscal Year 2006-2007 Budget as presented in Agenda Item 3 (Report R-06- 40), and adopt the Administration and Budget Committee Recommendations contained in this Report. P. Siemens seconded the motion. The motion passed 7 to 0. D. Agenda Item No. 3b — Adoption of Budget for Fiscal Year 2006-2007; Adopting the Resolution for the Budget for Fiscal Year 2006-2007 — (Report R-06-30). S. Thielfoldt pointed out that the land purchase line item had a jump in the projection due to land purchase commitments not purchased in the previous fiscal year. Motion: K. Nitz moved adoption of Resolution No. 06-12 for the Budget for Fiscal Year 2006-2007. P. Siemens seconded the motion. Meeting 06-10 Page 4 Discussion: M. Davey pointed out that staff put together the Resource Management figures in the itemized budget equal to $3.5 million dollars. L. Hassett thanked the ABC and staff adding that he appreciated their hard work and the number of meetings they attended. M. Davey acknowledged K. Nitz for his leadership as the Chairman of the ABC and she added that staff did a wonderful job. K. Nitz said that staff did a superb job, pointing out the superb job done by M. Jespersen and other staff—he appreciated everyone's efforts. D. Little said he also wanted to express his thanks to staff and the ABC members. S. Thielfoldt appreciated the Board's acknowledgement to staff. She added that literally the entire District staff worked on the budget. J. Cyr acknowledged that the budget process has gotten more effective annually, and he, too, appreciated the work staff and the Committee members did to prepare the Budget and Board Reports. Vote: The motion passed 7 to 0. E. Agenda Item No. 4—Authorization to Extend Contracts with Design Concepts for Graphic Design Services, Patsons Press for Printing Services, and Post Haste Direct Mail Services for Mailing Services for Fiscal Year 2006-2007, Authorize the General Manager to Extend the Contract for Graphic Design Services with Design Concepts for an Amount Not to Exceed $53,305; Authorize the General Manner to Extend the Contract for Printing Services with Patsons Press for an Amount Not to Exceed $122,090-, and Authorize the General Manner to Extend the Contract for Mailing Services with Post Haste Direct Mail Services for an Amount Not to Exceed $46,410 for Fiscal Year 2006-2007—(Report R-06-35). R. Jurgensen reviewed the staff report and described the working relationships with each company. He reviewed the higher costs, which include the Sierra Azul Master Plan and mailing invitations for the District's 35 th Anniversary. K. Nitz wanted to know the amount of each increase. R. Jurgensen replied that for Graphic Design Services, the cost went up from the previous year of$42,000 to the $53,305, an increase of$11,305; the cost increase with Patsons Press is $17,365 ($122,090 - $104,725 = $17,365); and the cost with Post Haste Direct Meeting 06-10 Page 5 Mail Services is increased from $35,000 last year to an amount not to exceed $46,410 this fiscal year, or a difference of$11,410. S. Schectman added that there was an option to extend all three contracts. D. Little said that the Claims showed a breakdown of amounts paid to Design Concepts and he asked why the District consistently returns to this company. R. Jurgensen replied that staff works very well with Design Concepts and that this company does a fine job and has a consistently high level of customer service. S. Thielfoldt added that there were not many replies to the RFP. D. Little said that the proposals looked good. Motion: P. Siemens moved that the Board authorize the General Manager to extend the contract for graphic design services with Design Concepts for an amount not to exceed $53,305; authorize the General Manager to extend the contract for printing services with Patsons Press for an amount not to exceed $122,090; and authorize the General Manager to extend the contract for mailing services with Post Haste Direct Mail Services for an amount not to exceed $46,4 10 for Fiscal Year 2006-2007. N. Hanko seconded the motion. The motion passed 7 to 0. F. Agenda Item No. 5—Authorize the General Manager to Execute a Purchase Contract with the State Department of General Services for Five Vehicles at a Total Cost Not to Exceed $150,000—(Report R-06-37). J. Maciel reviewed the staff report stating that the District would purchase five vehicles through the State bid process. L. Hassett asked what type of vehicle would be purchased for the District Administration office. J. Maciel said that D. Topley had test driven the Ford Escape (a hybrid) and was happy with it. Motion: P. Siemens moved that the Board authorize the General Manager to execute a purchase contract with the State Department of General Services for five vehicles at a total cost not to exceed $150,000. L. Hassett seconded the motion. Discussion: D. Little noted that he spends a lot of time on District land and has never seen a District field staff"slacking off' in their truck. He feels the field staff do a great job. L. Hassett wanted to follow-up on D. Little's comment by adding that he sees District vehicles several times a day, noting that often times District vehicles are the first responders if there is a road Meeting 06-10 Page 6 problem or other situation. He did say that his comments were Skyline specific. Vote: The motion passed 7 to 0. VI. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS J. Cyr commended staff on creating calendars for the Board to list meetings they attended. K. Nitz attended the Sierra Azul/Bear Creek Redwoods Master Plan Committee meetings on March 9 and March 22, the Administration and Budget Committee meeting on March 14, the Good Neighbor Policy meeting on March 15, and the Legislative, Finance and Public Affairs Committee meeting on March 21. He noted that Britton Heights neighbors adjacent to Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve were mailed a notice of a meeting from San Mateo County to discuss the 15 trees that were planned to be cut in the next three years. He asked if staff went to the meeting. J. Maciel replied that staff did not attend this meeting; however, C. Roessler was in contact with the group and that staff would come before the Board if more trees were planned to be cut. He added that there were no complaints made to C. Roessler. N. Hanko asked that the Board be advised of the result. M. Davey attended the Administration and Budget Committee meeting on March 14. She went to Ken Fisher's home presentation of monumental trees in Humboldt County and that the presentation was an eye-opener about Redwood trees; she attended the Ethics Training and said it was well done and that it was in a marvelous setting full of elected officials. P. Siemens attended the Sierra Azul/Bear Creek Redwoods Master Plan Committee meetings on March 9 and March 22, and the Administration and Budget Committee meeting on March 14. He attended the Ethics Training. L. Hassett attended the Legislative, Finance and Public Affairs Committee meeting on March 21, and the Ethics Training. D. Little stated that he had attended no Committee meetings, but did attend the Ethics Training; he went to the lone Madrone tree at La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve and expressed thanks to D. Danielson. N. Hanko attended the Good Neighbor Policy meeting on March 15, and the Legislative, Finance and Public Affairs Committee meeting on March 21; she said no public showed up for the March 21 meeting; she also attended the Ethics Training. She was sorry she missed the K. Fisher event and asked if there was some way to get in touch with the professor in Humboldt to put on another event. J. Cyr attended the Sierra Azul/Bear Creek Redwoods Master Plan Committee meetings on March 9 and March 22, and the Good Neighbor meeting on March 15; he also Meeting 06-10 Page 7 attended the Ethics Training and was pleased that all seven Board members were there along with several staff members; he hiked St. Joseph's Hill and saw overflowing rivers, including Lexington Reservoir; he attended the Ken Fisher event, and on March 20 he attended the San Francisco Refuge meeting and introduced himself to Senator Feinstein and others. S. Thielfoldt told the Board that C. Britton would be back in the office on April 5. S. Schectman thanked the Board for attending the Ethics Training and referred to the new law passed, AB 1234, which requires reporting compensable meetings, and requires ethics training, and requires updating certain policies—all of which the District is in the process of doing to comply with the new law. R. Jurgensen said that the District was mentioned in Hemisphere Magazine because the author who wrote the District book "Tales and Trails" is also the author of the article in the magazine. J. Maciel said that C. Roessler was in Monterey attending the Sudden Oak Death Committee meeting pointing out that she was asked to participate; he attended the Bay Area Open Space Council meeting and handed out packets to the Board from that meeting. M. Newburn reported on a situation at Sierra Azul regarding an attempted suicide stating that Jason Coll, a new Open Space Technician, saw something suspicious and called Ranger Lausten to assist and together they were able to save the individual. He added that J. Naber had also been present. M. Williams said that the District received a Habitat Grant in the amount of$500,000 for the Rapley Ranch property and that this grant covered half of the purchase price of the property; the other half was covered by a gift from POST. VII. ADJOURNMENT At 8:40 p.m., the Regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Mid peninsula Regional Open Space District was adjourned. Lisa Zadek Recording Secretary Meeting 06-10 Page 8