HomeMy Public PortalAbout20071205 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) Regional Open Space
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
Meeting 07-26
SPECIAL MEETING
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
December 5, 2007
MINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING
I. ROLL CALL
President K. Nitz called the Special Meeting to order at 6:07 p.m.
Members Present: Jed Cyr,Nonette Hanko, Mary Davey (arrived at 6:10 p.m.), Ken
Nitz, Pete Siemens, Curt Riffle, and Larry Hassett
Members Absent: none
Staff Present: Craig Britton, Sue Schectman, Duncan Simmons, Michael
Williams
II. CLOSED SESSION
At 6:40 p.m., the Closed Session concluded and K. Nitz publicly stated that there were no
reportable items from the Closed Session regarding Item 1.
111. PUBLIC SESSION
K. Nitz called the Regular Meeting to order at 6:40 p.m.
Additional Staff Present: David Sanguinetti, Craig Beckman, Kirk Lenington, Stan
Hooper, Greg Sam, Matt Freeman, Erica Simmons, Stella Cousins and Rudy Jurgensen.
IV. ADOPTION OF AGENDA
Motion: J. Cyr moved to adopt the Agenda. P. Siemens seconded the motion. The
motion passed 7 to 0.
Meeting 07-26 Page 2
V. BOARD BUSINESS
A. Agenda Item No. I —Annual Update of Resource Management Pro-grain-,
Receive an Oral Report on the Status of the Resource Management Program(No
Formal Board Action is Required)—(Report R-07-127).
K. Lenington presented the first part of the staff report and said that C. Roessler
would present the second part. He gave a PowerPoint slide presentation. He said
that the La Honda Master Plan meeting on Skyline received much positive
feedback, and the focus was on fire management, cultural resources, fisheries
management and grazing management. He said that the Bear Creek Master Plan
has similar elements, but it is a larger area with more diverse open spaces.
He highlighted other projects that occurred in the past year, including:
* Small Grants Program, which has awarded funds toward its first project—
the Argentine Ants.
* Resource Management Policies
He said that the staff and Board held workshops on forest management
and wildland fire, and that staff would return the entire document to the
Board for approval.
9 Water Quality Protection. He reviewed the Schilling Lake project.
o Thornewood. He said their focus is on the San Francisquito
watershed.
o Two grants were received. One from Prop 40 money and the other
was a grant to improve trails at Los Trancos.
o El Corte de Madera. He said they are in their fourth year, and he
showed slide pictures of projects and reviewed project
components.
o Alpine Pond.
* FEMA projects.
He said staff completed projects that started two years ago, including the
three sites damaged, highlighting the Upper Alpine Road that failed and
showed pictures of the new rock road.
0 Staff completed the inventory of roads within the San Francisquito Creek
watershed.
0 Staff completed the five-year agreement with California Fish and Game
permit. He said that the Department of Fish and Game is satisfied with the
District's work.
a Environmental Remediation. He reviewed the Pulgas Ridge site, the
Hicks Flat clean-up area, which was assisted with grant funds; RFP's for
the Driscoll Ranch project; the Guadalupe Creek Watershed monitoring
and compliance with the guidelines and regulations.
0 Rare, Threatened and Endangered Species. He gave area updates for the
San Gregorio Watershed, Driscoll Ranch and La Honda Creek Open
Space Preserve. He said that surveys had been done for the red-legged
frog and California garter snake. Staff received proposals for the Wool
Meeting 07-26 Page 3
Ranch Pond; managing the ponds to develop management plans and
looking for recommendations on how to manage ponds. He reviewed the
Santa Clara Water District fish passage project.
• Culture and Historic Resources. He said that staff is working on
inventories and historic structure studies on the Picchetti Winery, the
Stevens Canyon Ranch, and the Alma College site.
C. Roessler began her presentation reviewing the Resources Inventory. She said
that staff has mapped vegetation communities and added areas in San Mateo
County. Staff worked with Peninsula Open Space Trust(POST) on this project.
She reviewed completed botanical surveys done at Bear Creek Redwoods and
Driscoll Ranch. She said that new populations of Leatherwood trees were
located. Other botanical survey areas included Miramontes, Coastal Terrace area,
and the Tunitas Creek area. She said that bats were found at the Driscoll
property; they were surveyed and found in only one garage. She added that their
bat consultant had provided training to staff at the Red Barn.
Under Ecological Restoration, C. Roessler reviewed the following projects:
0 Skyline Tree Farm. She said that staff is planting new trees. They need a
grading permit from San Mateo County, and staff will go to the Planning
Commission in the spring and expect to do the work next fall.
0 Pulgas Ridge. Six Eucalyptus trees were removed and shrubs were
planted. Staff set up an information stand at Pulgas Ridge at three
different times in the past year. District Docents provided information and
quite a number of people stopped by, mostly with comments about what a
good job the District was doing.
0 El Corte de Madera Creek. Staff continued working on the erosion
control; they planted riparian plants.
0 Rhus Ridge. Bay trees fell and staff did plantings in the area the trees had
been.
0 Vegetation Management. Staff worked on conservation management
(grazing) for the Big Dipper, Tunitas, and Driscoll Ranch grazing leases.
0 Invasive Plant Control. She said there were 230 staff events and 33
volunteer events in this regular program. They found a new invasive plant
the Spotted Knapweed—growing at Mt. Umunhum in Sierra Azul Open
Space Preserve.
o She showed a map of the known areas of invasive plants on
District land. Staff uses the weed database to enter new findings.
She said that staff tested other database programs, but the other
programs did not work as well as what the District currently uses.
o Vegetation Bums. The controlled bum at Russian Ridge controls
Harding grass, Yellow Star Thistle and thatch. The planned
training bum at Laurie Stables at Monte Bello was cancelled due to
another agencies (PA Fire) schedule. The Steven's Canyon wild
fire will be studied to see how the chaparral recovers.
Meeting 07-26 Page 4
• Sudden Oak Death. She attended the annual meeting and found out that
this disease is spreading. It is severe in the Los Trancos area on the
canyon oak trees. She said the monumental trees are being affected and
that two trees were taken down because they were a public hazard. The
research is focused on two studies: the Infection Study and the Resistance
Study. She said staff had collected 3,000 acorns for future plantings.
Future studies include the fire effect on Sudden Oak Death. Staff is also
working on public outreach on Sudden Oak Death, and at Bear Creek
Redwoods there was a joint training event.
• Slender False Brome. C. Roessler showed the locations where Slender
False Brome has been found and she said all of the areas have been
checked and the plants have been removed. At Thornewood, 94 acres
were surveyed. She has spoken with neighbors to keep them informed
about Slender False Brome.
• Volunteer Projects. There were 33 volunteer projects to control invasive
plants. Staff is developing a program that will train volunteers to go out
and work on projects without supervision of staff, and this new program
will be called"ARM."
• Wildlife Management. Staff and volunteers did the annual deer surveys,
and maintained the bluebird nesting boxes. Two wild pigs were trapped
since December 2006-January 2007. She said that, due to the large acorn
crop this year, the pig population might reappear. There was a public
relations opportunity with the release of the bobcat found in a bathroom at
Rancho San Antonio. The release of the bobcat was used as a media event
to educate the public. Staff attended a coyote workshop in San Francisco.
C. Roessler concluded the accomplishments of the Resource Management
program and large scope of areas of projects, and she encouraged developing
expertise.
L. Hassett commented on the oak tree at Los Trancos that may be infected with
Sudden Oak Death. He encouraged everyone to go and look at the tree and said
he hoped that the tree would not need to be cut down.
L. Hassett asked for more information about how the staff and public will be
instructed when cattle are encountered on District land. C. Roessler said that staff
will need to develop messages for the public and they are working with the Public
Affairs department. Two important messages will be about opening and closing
gates, and how to act around cowboy's dogs. K. Lenington added that there will
interpretive signing and brochures. He said that they would ask Oren Page to
come back for training staff and docents.
L. Hassett said he is delighted to hear about the new ARM program for the
volunteers.
Meeting 07-26 Page 5
C. Riffle said he is interested in increasing public knowledge about the District's
Resource Management program.
N. Hanko expressed frustration in not being able to attend the La Honda Creek
Master Plan meeting. She said that the full Board should receive the materials
that were given out at this meeting.
In answer to C. Riffle's statement, K. Nitz suggested that the Resource
Management Program update should be used to help inform the public about what
the District is working on.
C. Riffle asked K. Lenington and C. Roessler what their top highlights and low-
lights were about the program. K. Lenington said that one of his highlights has
been the effort of the Master Plan at La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve. C.
Roessler said her three highlights are the Russian Ridge burn, which is an
important tool, the erosion control program at El Corte de Madera Creek Open
Space Preserve, and the conversations about the new Grazing Program. K.
Lenington said this was another of his highlights, as well. She said the low-lights
included the Sudden Oak Death findings at Los Trancos and the Slender False
Brome problem. K. Lenington said his biggest lowlight was the erosion project at
El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve and the frustration in getting
permits from San Mateo County, saying there are too many hurdles in this project.
M. Davey said this program has amazing accomplishments. It is now a cohesive
program from planning to execution of projects. She is pleased that staff is able
to find consultants to give answers to the questions staff do not have answers to.
N. Hanko said she was very frustrated about not being included in the La Honda
Creek Master Plan meeting, and she gave some District historic background on
previous master planning processes. She asked that the Use and Management
plans come before the full Board. M. Freeman said that the La Honda Creek
meeting was an "open house" event. Staff was there to share information they
had learned, and he said he considered this event a"soft" opening. He said there
was no formal public presentation. C. Britton said that this has been a long,
multi-year project. He asked to let the staff work on ways to include the full
Board.
J. Cyr said he liked hearing about the public participation on the land. He said he
liked hearing about the growth of knowledge. He said he supports inoculating the
oak trees at Los Trancos.
M. Freeman said the Resource Management program in complex. It requires
communications, collaboration and coordination, and there are a lot of"behind
the scenes" work. He commended staff on their efforts.
Meeting 07-26 Page 6
K. Nitz asked:
• How many years is the El Corte de Madera erosion project estimated to
last? K. Lenington stated 10 years. M. Freeman said they are working
within the 10-year time frame; it is not an additional 10 years from this
time.
• What is staff doing about Alpine Pond? C. Roessler said that staff is
developing a long-term sediment management plan.
• What is the status of the Windy Hill trail evaluations? K. Lenington said
that staff would reply later about those findings.
• What work is needed for the Wool Ranch pond? K. Lenington said that
some of the many ponds have been lost. He said the pond needs deferred
maintenance and added that there are actually about a dozen complexes of
ponds in this area.
• He asked about the grazing plan, saying that nothing has been done and
that there were no problems in the past. K. Lenington said that there is
always room for improvement.
• What is the type of work happening at Alma College? K. Lenington said
that the bulk of the work is assessment of the area.
• He asked if there were any evaluations completed from the prescribed
bum. C. Roessler said that staff is monitoring the burned area and are
noting sprouting native grasses.
• He asked if it was new that Sudden Oak Death is now on the eastern slope
of the preserves. C. Roessler said that it is creeping down the eastern
slope in new areas that were previously not infected.
• He asked for a quick update on the Slender False Brome project. C.
Roessler said that staff had completed the CEQA work and hired a
contractor.
The Board of Directors accepted the staff report and thanked staff for the
information.
B. Agenda Item No. 2—Study Session on the Working Draft Resource Management
Five-Year Strategic Plan• Review and Discuss the Working Draft Management
Five-Year Strategic Plan-(Report R07-126).
C. Britton gave an introduction to the staff report. He suggested to the Board that
they consider having a one-year transition period between the current 5-year plan
and the proposed 5-year plan, so that the new plan will start in the 2009-2010
fiscal year.
K. Lenington began the presentation, stating that the new five-year strategic plan
will build upon the previous five-year plan. Through involving staff and having a
retreat in April 2007 with about 20 staff from different departments,the new plan
was developed. They analyzed their previous efforts. Their goal was to tie their
plan to the Resource Management Policy and to have a goal-oriented plan. They
developed prioritization of key projects. They evaluated natural resources at the
Meeting 07-26 Page 7
workshop to develop focus areas. Staff has drafted new policies. They have
identified eight focus areas—each with a purpose and goals - with an estimate on
the amount of resources to achieve the goals. Staff formed four to six sub-
committees who met two to three times to write up their focus areas. Then
everyone went through a prioritization exercise.
He said that he and C. Roessler would present and review each focus area.
C. Roessler said that they looked at what is critical to take care of in the Resource
Management Program in the next five years. She said that each focus area is not
exact, individual projects. She asked the Board for their questions under each
focus area and said that she and K. Lenington would answer their questions.
I. Forest Management and Wildland Fuel
P. Siemens asked if the program would pay for itself, if they were
removing fairy rings. K. Lenington said that it should.
N. Hanko asked how much is budgeted for Resource Management. K.
Lenington said that the cost table attached to the report showed the budget
at$3.5 million. He said the table gives a benchmark or scale, and
accounts for the growth of costs.
L. Hassett said he was cautious about the second part/recommendation and
asked if this was not replicating what Fire Safe is doing. K. Lenington
read text from the policy for clarification.
C. Riffle asked what the rationale was about the alternative options. C.
Roessler said that they looked at what is most critical and said that staff
would not make progress on projects if more funds were cut than proposed
in the alternatives. K. Lenington said that staff could reduce the focus
areas from eight to five, but certain projects would not be able to be done.
K. Nitz asked why they are combining fire and forest management. He
said they are each important and have individual focus. K. Lenington said
that staff saw that there is a connection, but each area has a separate write-
up. K.Nitz said he would like them separated into two items.
N. Hanko said she preferred Alternative #2. She said that Resource
Management is relatively new to the District and that they do not have too
much to "show" so far. She asked about pond management. C. Roessler
said that ponds were mentioned under long-term management plan. She
said that ponds stayed in both alternatives.
- __ - ----- ---. i
Meeting 07-26 Page 8
2. Grassland Management and Conservation Grazing
C. Roessler said these two areas are related and it was decided to make
them one focus area. She said that the inventory for all grasslands has
been done and that staff will prioritize two or three areas for restoration.
N. Hanko noted that, in the alternate proposal, they are losing the drill
seeder. D. Sanguinetti said that staff could move money to purchase the
machinery this fiscal year and that it is currently under consideration.
K. Nitz asked if grants were going to happen. C. Roessler said that they
did not specifically identify grants. M. Freeman said that staff is always
seeking grant funds for projects.
K. Nitz asked about the fuel break zones and asked about the evaluation
and what this is. C. Roessler said that staff currently does trail disking and
that this has shown to be the best way.
C. Riffle asked about the staff personnel columns and asked if it shows an
additional position/person. C. Roessler said that there was a new position
proposed. K. Lenington said that they could hire a contract employee, or
it could be a permanent staff position. C. Riffle asked how many full time
employees there were dedicated to the Resource Management program.
C. Roessler said there was at least five full time staff. K. Lenington said
that, including field staff, there were 23 full time employees and the
additional staff would be two additional staff per year. N. Hanko stated
that adding additional staff will be more expensive because of the
overhead costs which were not included. K. Lenington agreed that it
would be a challenge.
K. Nitz noted a typographical error on page 17, GRA, I A, the term"2 to
3" should be struck out.
3. Vegetation Management
C. Roessler said that staff plans to expand the invasive plant control to
support the Sudden Oak Death problem and the Slender False Brome
problem.
J. Cyr asked if$500,000 would be enough to get rid of the Slender False
Brome. C. Roessler said that staff has been documenting what is being
done, and that what is before the Board shows expansion to the program
over 10 years.
J. Cyr said he agreed that spending $8,000 for vegetation maps was a
reasonable expense.
Meeting 07-26 Page 9
L. Hassett said that they should be careful about looking at watching
evolutionary events happening and doing nothing about them. N. Hanko
said it is helpful to have specific projects to show progress. K. Lenington
said that the Board would see specific projects through the budget and
Action Plan processes. The plan before the Board is a guideline for the
staff to follow.
J. Cyr said that within the five-year process, staff will need to demonstrate
progress to show to the public, and he suggested using the web site to
show pictures about projects.
K. Nitz asked a question relating to page 19, VEG 1, which staff
answered. He asked about VEG I(c) and asked what"reduce cover" is.
C. Roessler explained that it is an area they don't want to spread. K. Nitz
said he would like to see more bio-control (i.e., weevils) on invasive
plants and he asked about partnerships. C. Roessler said that staff does
have partnerships, and she said the new volunteer program ("ARM")
would also be a resource. C. Roessler said that staff will and does work
with neighbors and they make maps available on the website for the public
(page 20).
K. Nitz asked why this section is not called"Invasive Control
Management". C. Roessler said that this section includes more vegetation
than only invasive plants; other vegetation is listed. K. Nitz said that the
main focus is invasive control or reduction. He asked where agricultural
issues fell. C. Roessler said that agriculture was not specified in this five-
year plan.
4. Rare, Threatened and Endangered Species
C. Roessler said that the effort and focus should be in the ponds on
District property.
K. Nitz asked if the word "management"could be changed to
"Stewardship". K. Lenington said they could change that word.
K. Nitz asked why Windy Hill's pond and Cherry Springs were not
shown. C. Roessler said that they were not identified as the Driscoll
ponds were due to the appearance of the red-legged frog.
K. Nitz referred to page 25, RTE 2(b) and asked about this section. C.
Roessler said that they have information available to the public.
Meeting 07-26 Page 10
5. Water Quality Protection
J. Cyr asked if staff would verify the money being spent to reduce
sediment. K. Lenington said that photo monitoring is the best way to
show how sediment is being reduced. He said that quantitative measures
are riskier to see results. He said there is robust"before" data, and they
are waiting for the"after"data to determine the costs benefit. K.
Lenington reviewed the focus of this section.
P. Siemens asked if staff had evaluated renting heavy equipment versus
purchasing equipment. K. Lenington said that staff has looked into this
and has found that there are no additional maintenance costs to rent
equipment, and generally larger equipment is only used about six months
per year.
N. Hanko noted that the change between Alternative I and Alternative 2
was not for equipment, but a decrease in staff from six to two. K.
Lenington said that was correct. L. Hassett said that it makes sense to
look at the full recommendation in this case. He said that dollars are just
being traded for similar results with outside contractors versus in-house
staff.
J. Cyr said that he strongly supported WAT-2(a) (page 27).
K. Nitz asked if the pond at Thomewood was included. K. Lenington said
that staff did not focus on specific projects. K. Nitz asked several
clarifying questions about WAT-2(b), WAT-3, and WAT-3(b),which staff
answered to his satisfaction. K. Nitz noted that he favored LIDAR. K.
Lenington said that San Mateo County has a data set available which
identifies gullies and landslide areas.
C. Riffle asked if WAT-2(a) would expand to evaluations on newly
purchased properties. C. Britton said that staff had thought about this a
lot. He said that this is a question that the Board and staff need to grapple
with. He said they need to consider if properties should be purchased with
the knowledge that the District will need to correct problems, or should
the properties be passed over. P. Siemens said that they should factor in
known problems when deciding to purchase properties.
C. Beckman said that he served on the committee that worked on this
focus area. He said he thought hiring six full time people was bare bones
and asked K. Lenington if this is what the other focus area committees
thought too. K. Lenington said"yes." Each committee identified
measures to hit projections, including adding staff.
J. Cyr noted that GPS cameras would be a great tool for staff.
Meeting 07-26 Page 11
6. Cultural Resources
K. Lenington said that staff would like to develop a database of cultural
resources on the District properties. He said that currently there is no
organized source for this information. He said that a consultant could
begin the work on building a database and library.
N. Hanko said that she thought all of the ideas in this section
should be
done.
C. Riffle asked if this database will help the Board decide what to preserve
or what not to preserve. K. Lenington said that the database would allow
the Board to make informed decisions.
K. Nitz asked what type of artifacts are included. K. Lenington said that
historic structures, equipment, fence lines, stagecoach routes, grinding
stones, logging camps are all included. N. Hanko stated that a lot of
things have been lost over the years and that it is about time the District
does this.
K. Nitz asked if there is a lot of artifacts and K. Lenington said that there
were. K. Nitz asked what the Northwest Information Center is. E.
Simmons said that it is a clearinghouse.
7. Public Outreach and Involvement
K. Lenington said that their goal is to increase public outreach with the
desire to using the District's volunteers and adding one full time staff
position.
J. Cyr said that public outreach is critical. K. Lenington said there are
quite a few items to involve the public. C. Riffle said that the District
should highlight and show what has been achieved in each given year or
period of time. R. Jurgensen said that they need to use visual aids to help
whenever possible. He said that they could choose certain areas to show,
as in grazing areas,prescribed burns, and more. He added that it is easier
to focus the media on specific projects and noted that, in the past six
weeks, his staff had sent out reports on recent successes. R. Jurgensen
said their role is to communicate and interpret.
N. Hanko said that the press releases that are faxed to the Board are
helpful.
C. Roessler said that public outreach is not just press releases, but that it is
about talking with the public. She said that Public Affairs needs to think
Meeting 07-26 Page 12
carefully how to inform the public. K. Nitz suggested using the website
and list-serve. R. Jurgensen said that list-serve is being worked on. M.
Davey said the District's preserves are now shown on GoogleEarth. R.
Jurgensen said that staff will work on an overlay showing trails and roads
within the preserves.
P. Siemens noted that staff has responded to the Board's wish to grow the
Resource Management program and said that this is a responsible
approach. N. Hanko agreed that this plan shows what is happening now
and what will be going on in the future.
8. Interdepartmental Coordination
K. Lenington identified the purpose of this focus and said that the
objective is to have an integrated program and having a rolling five-year
program.
N. Hanko said she was in favor of this.
J. Cyr said he appreciates the efforts of staff over the past six years. He
said that planning is very important to having the coordination between
departments to work together. He said he sees the plan as a working tool
for staff.
L. Hassett said that, since the Board is not voting on this item, he would
comment on it. He said that he likes what is in the plan. He appreciated
the attention to the critical needs of the District, even when sometimes the
numbers don't make sense. He said that staff should look for assistance
from grants and other sources. He said that, in his business, the more
merchandise equals more money, but that without shelves to display the
goods, it is difficult to sell the merchandise.
C. Roessler said that focus#8 looks at if resource management is part of
job descriptions, or if working on resource management projects was over
and above the job description. K. Lenington said that in a lot of the job
descriptions,the Board would see resource management in the job
description. C. Roessler said that it is important that staff be evaluated on
resource management, and she agrees with C. Beckman that this document
shows the minimum staffing needed to be successful.
K. Nitz said that he agrees that they need to prioritize and that there are a
lot of great things to do. C. Britton said that the Board and staff will need
to make decisions, including whether to purchase additional properties, or
work on existing properties.
Meeting 07-26 Page 13
J. Cyr said that he likes the idea of having a transition year, especially with
the pending change of the General Manager.
K. Nitz thanked C. Roessler and K. Lenington and the staff that worked on
the plan.
The Board of Directors accepted the staff report and thanked staff for the
information.
VI. ADJOURNMENT
The Special meeting of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space
District adjourned at 10:30 p.m.
Lisa Zadek
Recording Secretary