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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20071024 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) i Regional Open Space MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT Meeting 07-23 REGULAR and SPECIAL MEETING BOARD OF DIRECTORS October 24, 2007 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING I. ROLL CALL President K. Nitz called the special meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Memb ers Present: Ken Nitz Jed Cyr,Nonette Hanko, Curt Riffle, Larry Hassett, and Mary Davey Members Absent: Pete Siemens Staff Present: Craig Britton, Sue Schectman, Gordon Baillie, Greg Sam, Camille Tavlian, Matt Freeman, David Sanguinetti, Mike Williams, Michael Reeves, Duncan Simmons and Stella Cousins II. BOARD WORKSHOP A. District General Manager Recruitment—Attributes and Profile Bobbi Peckham discussed the developed design of the recruitment process for hiring the new General Manager for the District. She reviewed the handouts. C. Riffle asked who would be receiving the brochure. Ms. Peckham said anyone who inquires about the job; others that have been suggested to her; and others that to whom she will be doing outreach work. She said that she would also be doing a mass mailing to open space agencies throughout California, as well as other agencies. C. Riffle asked if the information will be available online. She said it would be on her website and she would like to place it on the District's website. She said that she would welcome other suggestions from the Board for places to advertise. She said that she does not list on Craigslist.com or Monster.com. i Meeting 07-23 Page 2 N. Hanko said she had a suggestion to change, "the system of the sale"to "sale system". J. Cyr said he had a wording suggestion to drop the word"and"earlier in the same paragraph. C. Riffle said he would like to add, under"Leadership Style/Visionary,""helps to create a vision for the District's future in addition to implementing one." He said he would also like the phrase, "willing to think big" inserted. L. Hassett said he preferred the phrase, "thinking outside the box." Ms. Peckham said that a lot of the wording is verbatim to words she received by the Board members. C. Riffle suggested that after the word"strong", add"decisive, but inclusive and collaborative"because he wants someone who is able to make decisions, but after they have had an opportunity to talk with people, rather than going along,to do their own thing. Ms. Peckham said that she thought both of these traits were captured under"Styles and Traits". C. Riffle suggested adding the word "respectful" under the second bullet under "Styles and Traits", which other Board members agreed to. He suggested adding another bullet under "Styles and Traits", to be: "Manages by objectives setting clear measurement of results." Further into the document, C. Riffle said that he thought the term"stand firm" was too strong and suggested that it could be phrased as "it is expected that the General Manager will clearly articulate reasons for his or her position." Ms. Peckham said that she worked with S. Schectman on a few changes in the document and this is one of them. S. Schectman gave further explanation, and C. Britton said that the District's influencing skills gives staff the opportunity to give business decisions. Ms. Peckham directed the Board to look at the last page and last column and asked them to review this language. L. Hassett said he did not like the term "stand firm"either in this section. There was further Board discussion about using this phrase. Ms. Peckham suggested keeping the first part of the sentence, deleting the words"stand firm" and ending the sentence with the following sentence. The new sentence reads, "General Manager will partner in a collegial fashion with the Board of Directors treating all equally and providing sound recommendations and alternatives for consideration in policy settings; however, will also understand his or her role in carrying out policy once Board decisions are made." C. Riffle suggested keeping the first sentence as it is, "...for consideration in policy settings. The General Manager will also understand his or her role in carrying out policy once decided." J. Cyr agreed that this sounded fine too. C. Riffle suggested that the first paragraph of the brochure be cut because it can be found on the website. She said she thought it set the stage for what the District is about. Meeting 07-23 Page 3 K. Nitz asked if the District's website is shown on the brochure. Ms. Peckham said that it is listed in the last paragraph about the District. K. Nitz suggested putting the website in another location on the brochure. S. Schectman suggested underlining or italicizing or bolding the text. Ms. Peckham said she could add the website in the place suggested by K. Nitz. J. Cyr said that someone interested in the position would "Google"the information and then would be led to the District's website. N. Hanko said it was not clear to her that"Openspace.org" is the website to go to. Ms. Peckham said that they can make the website clear. L. Hassett asked about the compensation package. C. Britton reviewed his current compensation. Medical is fully paid, there is a car allowance, and he gets 5-weeks vacation, but he said he'd been there 25 years. He said it is entirely negotiable. L. Hassett said that they could scale back on the number of vacation weeks and, depending on the request, delete the car allowance. He said he would like to be as flexible as possible with the compensation package. Ms. Peckham said that she did want to talk about compensation. She said that the brochure shows the current salary of$173,000 which gives candidates an idea of what the pay is, with the understanding that the current General Manager has been at the District for quite a while. This will give the candidates an idea of the budget for this position. The range could be in a range from $160,000 to $185,000. The individual may negotiate a compensation that will meet their economic means. N. Hanko said they should show the current salary. J. Cyr agreed. N. Hanko pointed out that under the photo credits, the name"Deanne" should be spelled with an "e" at the end both times. Ms. Peckham said that the other compensation issue is that the candidate may want to negotiate a number of items and she listed the different possibilities, including housing and/or relocation assistance, and temporary housing assistance, which is different from housing assistance. M. Davey asked what the housing range is. Ms. Peckham discussed a variety of ways to provide financial assistance for housing. C. Riffle asked for clarification about when the housing issue would be discussed with a candidate. S. Schectman explained how this would be negotiated with a candidate. M. Davey asked about the search schedule,which she said is helpful, and who would review the resumes. Ms. Peckham said that this was discussed in the ad hoc committee discussions and said that the resumes will come to her office by January 4Ih. She said she thought she would come back before the Board on January 91h with the resumes in hand and they would go through them. N. Hanko said she would be available on January 9h. L. Hassett asked if the discussion would be in closed session, and Ms. Peckham said that the resumes would be Meeting 07-23 Page 4 looked over by the ad hoc committee to review. Ms. Peckham said that she would typically review the resumes herself and then send out supplemental questionnaires, review those, and then determine with whom she would schedule preliminary interviews. She would then come back to the Board on January 30'h with a recommendation of candidates. She said the Board would receive a booklet containing resumes, cover letters, and supplemental questionnaires of those individuals she would be recommending to them, as well as a full list of everyone who applied with their title and agency. She would also have a stack of those resumes, and then the full Board would go through all of this information. She said the alternative is to meet with the ad hoc committee and show them the information on the recommended candidates. C. Britton said that he preferred the meeting with the Ad Hoc committee to get their input as he was concerned that her recommended method could set them back a few weeks if the full Board had questions with her choices. N. Hanko asked for clarification about rating the candidates. Ms. Peckham said that what they had decided is that the ad hoc committee would work with her to develop the "A's, B's and C's"to narrow down the field of candidates. The Board discussed the method of the ranking and how it would work. Ms. Peckham said that she could do a matrix to help determine the top candidates; although this is not a system she does on a regular basis. Ms. Peckham reviewed the questionnaire with the Board. She said that she typically would like the questionnaire back to her within a week. The Board and C. Britton discussed the questionnaire. Ms. Peckham said these questions were developed from the Sunday workshop. Ms. Peckham reminded the Board that the applications they receive and review are confidential materials. She said she would share all of the information that she collects, but asked the Board to refrain from doing any research on their own to avoid violating the confidentiality of the candidates. The Board thanked Ms. Peckham. The Special Meeting was adjourned at 7:28pm. K. Nitz said there would be a five- minute break prior to beginning the Board's Regular Meeting. REGULAR MEETING 111. K. Nitz called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. IV. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS There were none. Meeting 07-23 Page 5 V. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Prior to the Adoption of the Agenda, C. Britton said that staff would like to table Agenda Item 1. K. Nitz asked if he would like to give a reason, and C. Britton said that it was not agreed upon at this time. Motion: C. Riffle moved to adopt the Agenda. J. Cyr seconded the motion. The motion passed 6 to 0. VI. STAFF INTRODUCTION C. Britton introduced Gregory Sam to the Board as the new Administration and Human Resources Manager. G. Sam said he was pleased to join the District team. The Board welcomed him. VII. ADOPTION OF CONSENT CALENDAR M. Davey stated that she would be recusing herself from Revised Claims numbered 7715 and 7796-R. N. Hanko stated that should voluntarily abstain herself from Revised Claims 7715 and 7796-R. K. Nitz said that he was pulling the Revised Claims. C. Britton said that he had answers to K. Nitz's questions on Claim numbers: 7775, 7761, 7733, 7741, and 7750. Motion: M. Davey moved that the Board adopt the Consent Calendar, including Agenda Item 4, Report on Acceptance of Gift of the Delahay Property as an Addition to the La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve (San Mateo County Assessor's Parcel Number 078-040-030; Adopt the Preliminary Use and Management Plan Recommendations as Set Forth in the Staff Memorandum, and Name the Property as an Addition to La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve; Agenda Item 5, Appoint Gregory Sam, Administration and Human Resources Manager, as District Clerk; Agenda Item 6, Authorize to Change District's Designation of Authorized Signatories for District Checking Accounts and for Access to the District's Safe Deposit Boxes; Adopt Resolution No. 07-25 of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Establishing Signatories for the General, Payroll and Certificate of Deposit Accounts (Mid-Peninsula Bank); Adopt Resolution No. 07-25 of the of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Establishing Financial Instrument Signatories of the District for the County of Santa Clara Account; Adopt Resolution No. 07-25 of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Updating the Authorized Signatories for Entering District Safe Deposit Boxes (Mid-Peninsula Bank); Agenda Item 7, Revised Board Meeting Schedule for November, December 2007 and January 2008; Cancel the November 28, 2007 Meeting 07-23 Page 6 Regular Board of Directors Meeting; Cancel the December 26, 2007 Regular Board of Directors Meeting; Reschedule the Regular Board of Directors Meeting from January 9, 2008 to January 16, 2008; and Reschedule the January 23, 2008 Board of Directors Meeting to January 30, 2008; September 26, 2007 Board Minutes; Written Communications; and Revised Claims 07-17. J. Cyr seconded the motion. The motion passed 6 to 0 on Agenda Items 4, 5, 6, and 7. The Revised Claims 07-17 passed 5 to 0 on Revised Claim numbers 7715 and 7796-R with two refusals; one from M. Davey and a voluntary recusal from N. Hanko, and the remaining Revised Claims passed 6 to 0. VIII. BOARD BUSINESS A. Agenda Item No. 1 —Approval of a Memorandum of Understanding Between the Santa Clara County Office of the Sheriff and the District for the Provision of Law Enforcement Services on District Lands—(Report R-07-85). This Agenda Item was tabled for a future meeting. B. Agenda Item No. 2—Authorization to Amend the Use and Management Plan to Incorporate a Grazing Management Plan and to Solicit Proposals from Potential Grazina Tenants for the Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve; Adopt a Use and Management Plan Amendment to Incorporate a Grazing Management Plan for the Former Big Dipper and Silva/Kenyon Ranches Area of Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve; Authorize Staff to Solicit Proposals from Potential Grazing Tenants for the Implementation of the Grazing Management Plan; Determine that the Project is Categorically Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Based on the Findings Contained in the Report - (Report R-07-107). K. Lenington presented the staff report. He reviewed the different accomplishments staff completed to make the properties ready to solicit proposals from potential grazing tenants. He said staff worked with Warren Sage as a consultant to assist staff. He said the District's Grazing Management Plan establishes the District's goals for the management of the ranch properties and it makes specific recommendations to achieve those goals through a prescribed grazing practice. He said the Plan specifies the number, the type, the rotation of the cattle herd through the property, as well as the infrastructure needs identified to achieve the grazing prescription. The Plan also establishes a monitoring program that staff will use to assess the progress of the grazing in meeting the District's stewardship goals. The Plan is a seasonal grazing program that runs from February through June and will range from 30 to 60 head of cattle, depending on the size of cattle the operator chooses to run. K. Lenington described the types of improvements made to the properties, including fencing, and upgrading the water systems. He said a Use and Meeting 07-23 Page 7 Management Committee meeting was held at Skyline Field Office and included a tour of the property to the community members who attended the meeting. K. Lenington said that the lease term would be five years with five-year renewals. He said that staff has been contacted by at least a dozen different operators who are interested in leasing property from the District. C. Riffle thanked staff for their work and said he is very impressed and in favor of this project. He asked for clarification of the uses on these properties, specifically that hiking or bicycling would not occur, and that the properties will just be used for grazing. K. Lenington said that these properties are currently closed to the public until trail circulation plans are completed as part of Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve. C. Riffle asked if the District would be announcing the grazing plan to the public. K. Lenington said that a press release is prepared and will be sent out if the Board approves this agenda item tonight. C. Riffle asked if something will be on the website to inform the public about the grazing plan. M. Freeman said that he would talk with the website manager to put something on the District's website about this. N. Hanko mentioned that Figure 2, showing a map of the area, does not have the roads outlined. She said she likes having the roads outlined on maps that the District prepares to make it easier to locate areas. She asked a question regarding trails in the area and the expense in developing trails. K. Lenington said that staff has done a lot of work looking at the Old Page Mill Road and have looked into applying for CA Fish and Game grant to do work on the existing road systems. He said part of that work would be to work on the portion of the road that has failed, which is a first step. He described other trail options and he described the trail areas. N. Hanko asked if the alternate trail routes would be outside the grazing lease area and K. Lenington said that was correct; the trails are in forested areas. She asked about the control of the star thistle. She asked if it was correct that star thistle was not found in the areas to be grazed. K. Lenington said that star thistle is in the area, but it may not be very dense. N. Hanko, remembered that, when she first viewed the house on the property, that there was a thick area of star thistle. M. Williams clarified that the heavy star thistle they went through was on the Bach-Bullis property. L. Hassett complimented staff on an excellent job. He said that the meeting at the Skyline Field Office was one of the most successful meetings where there was complete buy-in by the community stakeholders. L. Hassett said his only concern was the actual application process and asked if applicants might get assistance in filling out the applications. K. Lenington said that staff would be available to help applicants with the process and relieve any anxiety they might have. Meeting 07-23 Page 8 M. Freeman suggested that staff could have a pre-application meeting for potential applicants at the Skyline Field Office to review the application process and answer any questions. J. Cyr said there were a couple of typographical errors, and gave the information to K. Lenington prior to the meeting. He said he wanted to echo the other Board members in their commendation of staff. M. Davey said that this was great staff work. K. Nitz also said that this was excellent work by staff. He asked if the cattle would be rotated through certain areas. K. Lenington said that the cattle would be rotated. K. Nitz asked about page 52, number 8, yellow star thistle control, and asked if a weevil or a small beetle was being used for controlling the plant. K. Lenington said he would ask C. Roessler for clarification and let the Board know the answer. K. Nitz asked if rent is being charged and how much. K. Lennington said that the rent would be approximately $2,000.00 per year. Motion: N. Hanko moved to authorize to amend the Use and Management Plan to incorporate a Grazing Management Plan and to solicit proposals from potential grazing tenants for the Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve; Adopt a Use and Management Plan Amendment to incorporate a Grazing Management Plan for the former Big Dipper and Silva/Kenyon Ranches area of Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve; Authorize staff to solicit proposals from potential grazing tenants for the implementation of the Grazing Management Plan; Determine that the project is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), based on the findings contained in the report. L. Hassett seconded the motion. The motion passed 6 to 0. C. Agenda Item No. 3—Approval of a Lease Agreement for the Historic Picchetti Wine Area, Picchetti Ranch Open Space Preserve, 13 100 Montebello Road, Cupertino, CA, Determine that the Recommended Actions are Categorically Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act(CEQA), As set Out in the Report-, Approve and Authorize the President of the Board of Directors to Execute the Attached Lease Agreement, Including a Site Improvement and Implementation Plan for the Historic Picchetti Winery with Picchetti Winery, Inc. (Report R-07-109). M. Williams presented the staff report. He announced that Leslie Pantling was in the audience. He gave some historic background on the original lease agreement from 1983 and amended in 1988. There was a further amendment in 1995 that dealt with the historic structures on the property. Leslie Pantling bought the remaining term of the property lease in 1998 and started her lease with the District. He said that Ms. Pantling has made a number of improvements to the Meeting 07-23 Page 9 property. She received permission from the Picchetti family to use their name for the winery operation and to use the original winery bonding number. She improved the wine tasting area and the public grounds with the picnic area, making it more inviting to the public. He said that she also increased the business hours to seven days per week. She also produces award-winning wines. M. Williams showed a PowerPoint slide presentation, showing pictures of the property, and explained some of the provisions of improvements in the lease agreement before the Board. He said that there is a time-line for maintenanc e and repairs of improvements (Exhibit B to the Lease). He said it also provides improved public access and interpretation and education of the historic facilities. p He showed a slide of the new roof being put on the house and said the roofers did a very good job. M. Williams reviewed the key lease terms. He said this agreement is initially for ten years with options of three five-year terms for a total of 25 years. The rent has been increased to a fair-market rent of$4,250.00 per month with annual CPI increases between 2% and 5%. The lease establishes a partnership between Ms. Pantling and the District by creating a capital reserve fund. Both the District and Ms. Pantling will deposit $5,000.00 annually and these funds will be used for major repairs on the historic structures. The lessee will be required to develop a vineyard management plan within five years on the historic Zinfandel vineyards. The District and Ms. Pantling will share the property damage insurance costs to give a balance to her purpose of running a winery and the District's purpose of having a public historic facility. C. Riffle said he visited the Picchetti preserve in the fall and really enjoyed that experience. He stated that, while he was at the property, it was difficult to find information about the history of the winery. He asked if there are any plans to make the historic information easier for the public to access. A Williams said that staff has done some recent signage and will be developing interpretive signage or plaques. C. Riffle asked about how the repairs would be covered if there were an earthquake or other damage occurred. M. Williams said it would depend on the severity and they would need to work with each other. M. Williams added that significant seismic upgrades have been done to the winery building. He said that Ms. Pantling does maintain a good fire clearance and breaks around the property. He added that the insurance requirements for the buildings has increased so they are covered for reproduction costs under the CAJPIA coverage. N. Hanko said she and P. Siemens worked on the previous lease, prior to Ms. Pantling, and they felt that they look to having more people allowed in the winery building. She said that the 50-person limit does not meet the District's desire to hold events at the property. M. Williams said that he, Ms. Pantling, A. Ruiz and staff from the County of Santa Clara to look at what might be entailed to be able to increase the number of people allowed. He listed many aspects involved. Meeting 07-23 Page 10 Ms. Pantling said that she is planning to go back to the County once the lease agreement is complete. She said it could be a two-phase project to get up to over 100 people. N. Hanko said the previous tenant thought that no damage would occur to the winery building during an earthquake, as it was located on bedrock. She said there was no damage with the last large earthquake. N. Hanko said she was glad to see this lease resolved so well. L. Hassett questioned the fair market rent and asked how it was determined. M. Williams said there was an independent appraisal done. M. Williams said that there is not a property like this one to do a comparable with. The appraiser looked at other winery leases and they looked at it as a triple-net lease basis and they also considered that the public was utilizing it. L. Hassett said that he thought the rent amount was low. M. Williams showed the costs that L. Pantling paid on her own, including a new room and paint job, and that she is maintaining the public restrooms and other public use areas. He agreed that it is a unique situation, but that staff used a professional in the field and he was comfortable with the fair-market appraisal. L. Hassett said he had concern over the amount of public usage and events that could occur and asked if there was a limitation. M. Williams said that the District has a limitation use of 100 people. L. Hassett clarified his question and asked if this winery could become a wedding location with two to four weddings per weekend and his concern on the increase of private use at a public open space. K. Nitz added his concern for parking for preserve users when there is a private event. M. Williams said there is a provision that there shall always be 10 parking spots available for the general public. He said the existing parking area allows for 50 car spaces and that the District will mark spaces for preserve use only. C. Britton pointed out that the Board should review page 8.G, the expansion of the permitted facilities. He said that this section protects the District. M. Davey said that this preserve is in her ward and that she said people that use this preserve are very happy with it and she has never received a complaint. She said that people are happy to have it. L. Hassett said that he agreed with M. Davey; however, he did have a concern as stated. C. Britton added that this is a unique tenant/leasing situation. He said there were not very many people interested in this project and he said that the District is lucky to be working with Ms. Pantling. He said that the lease before the Board reflects a lot of what the staff has learned in managing the uniqueness of this property. N. Hanko said that the lease before them is built on the original lease. She said there were so many things that needed to be covered in the lease, and that the original lessees were unable to achieve. She stated she is happy to be working with Ms. Pantling and her willingness to address all of the issues. Meeting 07-23 Page 11 Motion: M. Davey moved approval of a Lease Agreement for the Historic Picchetti Winery Area, Picchetti Ranch Open Space Preserve, 13 100 Montebello Road, Cupertino, CA; Determine that the recommended actions are categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act(CEQA), as set out in the report; Approve and authorize the President of the Board of Directors to execute the Lease Agreement, including a Site Improvement and Implementation Plan for the Historic Picchetti Winery with Picchetti Winery, Inc. J. Cyr seconded the motion. Discussion: M. Williams said that the attached Site Plan would allow staff to evaluate the lease annually. He said that it would be similar to how the District monitors the conservation easements on an annual basis. He said staff will be looking for compliance and will be visiting the site regularly and talking with Ms. Pantling to make sure both parties are in sync. He said this is a collaborative effort as partners and that there are tremendous benefits. Ms. Pantling said her attorney and she wanted the annual reviews to occur because she does not want to get out of sync with the District. She said her business is selling wine. The winery business hours are I 1:00am to 5:00prn seven days per week, and during those times they don't have private events because they need available parking. The trails are accessible from dawn to dusk. L. Hassett asked if the current parking meets her needs or if she would like an increase in parking for events. Ms. Pantling said increased parking would be for both increasing foot traffic for the winery and for events. She said that she does very little advertising and that most people are aware of the winery by word of mouth. She added that the County would really dictate the parking because they have their own rules about what the parking should be. L. Hassett asked if she operates under the County's use permit. Ms. Pantling said that the County changed the permits a few years ago and that they put all winery into an ABC type permit. He asked if the County puts a requirement on the quantity of events per year. Ms. Pantling said that she did not recall. J. Cyr commented that getting to this point was a long process and he said he is very pleased to have this lease come before the Board. He said he appreciated Ms. Pantling's efforts. Meeting 07-23 Page 12 C. Riffle asked Ms. Pantling what she foresees down the road if her business is planning to grow at 5% per year. She replied that it is early to talk about that. She said there is still a lot of room for weekday increases over a six-hour time frame. K. Nitz asked M. Williams about the kind of restrooms at the preserve. M. Williams said there were flush toilets on a septic system. M. Williams recognized D. Simmons and A. Ruiz for their help. Vote: The motion passed 6 to 0. IX. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS L. Hassett said his compensable meetings included October 19 and October 21, and the La Honda Management Plan Committee earlier today and tonight's meeting(10/24). C. Riffle said his compensable meetings were tonight's meeting (10/24),the October 21 special meeting and the La Honda Management meeting earlier today (10/24). He visited the Grand Canyon Trust and said they have similar issues as the District. He said he shared some of the things he learned with M. Freeman. He said that the previous weekend he went riding with Glenda Smith at Bear Creek Stables and was very impressed. He asked C. Britton if they had a schedule for the budget committee meeting and C. Britton said that he thought it would be in November. N. Hanko reported on the Dick Bishop event on October 20`h, which was well attended. She said that the Sierra Club supported the event and there were about 40 people there, along with Mr. Bishop family members. One of Mr. Bishop sons said that this event was more meaningful to him than the church services because the open space was really Dick Bishop's"church". She commended K. Britt for her work in setting up the event. She said that K. Nitz and she were invited to a potluck dinner by the Sierra Club. She went to the State Parks Foundation event held in Sonoma and she took some nice pictures there and passed those around. She said the photos showed trees infected with Sudden Oak Death and specifically showed a tree with an inoculation a few years ago and now the tree seems to be in good shape. She networked with people at this event about Butanal. She said that the District's 35h Anniversary will fall on November 6, when a special meeting is planned and she suggested that they have a cake to celebrate. J. Cyr said his compensable meetings included the special meeting on October 21 and tonight's meeting(10/24). He hiked St. Joseph's Hill on October 12. On October 19 he hiked at El Corte de Madera. On October 20, he attended the Dick Bishop trail dedication at Pulgas Ridge. He attended a lunch at Hidden Villa. M. Davey said her compensable meetings were October 23 and tonight's meeting (10/24). She reviewed tax issues that could benefit the District in San Mateo County. Meeting 07-23 Page 13 She said that Hidden Villa would be holding a special meeting on sudden oak death. Sudden Oak Death is creeping down the hillside in Los Altos, Portola Valley. The meeting is November 4. She attended the Jean Rushmore event. K. Nitz said his compensable meetings were the October 21 meeting and tonight's meeting (10/24). He said the Dick Bishop event was very nice. He said he met S. Cousin's father who also works at SRI and maintains the Stanford dish. C. Britton mentioned the media training, which will be two four-hour segments in early December. He asked the Board about their availability. N. Hanko volunteered to be left out since only six Board members could attend (three at Board members each training). He attended the Dick Bishop event. He met with Julia Bot on Parks of the Future, but he said it has not been put on the ballot yet. He said he is working with R. Jurgensen on this. He attended the executive committee of the Bay Area Open Space Council and he said they are phoning every member to see if they are supporting AB 967 to support the District's regional debt horizon. S. Schectman stated that the District was served with a lawsuit concerning the water system at Bear Creek Redwood Open Space Preserve. She will give an update to the Board at a future Closed Session meeting. G. Baillie said he enjoyed being the District Clerk. G. Sam said he is looking forward to being the District Clerk and HR Manager. He said he appreciated G. Baillie's tips on being the District Clerk. X. CLOSED SESSION At 9:10 p.m., K.Nitz announced that the Board and certain staff would convene a Closed Session on Items 12 and 3. The Closed Session commenced at 9:10 p.m. and concluded at 9:10 p.m. and concluded at 9:30 p.m. K. Nitz stated that there were no reportable items from the Closed Session regarding Items 1, 2, and 3. XI. ADJOURNMENT At 9:32 p.m., the Regular and Special meeting of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District was adjourned. Lisa Zadek Recording Secretary