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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20080325 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) Meeting 08-08 SPECIAL MEETING BOARD OF DIRECTORS March 25, 2008 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING I. ROLL CALL President P. Siemens called the Special Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Members Present: Jed Cyr,Nonette Hanko, Mary Davey, Ken Nitz, Curt Riffle and Larry Hassett Members Absent: None. Staff Present: Craig Britton, Sue Schectman, Duncan Simmons, Greg Sam, Rudy Jurgensen, Mike Williams, Matt Freeman, Kirk Lenington, Paul McKowan, Sandy Sommer, Brian Malone, Michael Reeves 11. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS—There were none. 111. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Motion: J. Cyr moved that the Board adopt the Agenda. M. Davey seconded the motion. The motion passed 7 to 0. VI. BOARD BUSINESS A. Agenda Item No. I —Approval of Proposed Purchase of Peninsula Open Space Trust (Mindego Ranch) Property(San Mateo County Assessor's Parcel Numbers 080-320-060, 080-340-010, and 083-310-060, Located Near Alpine Road) as an Addition to Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve; Adopt the Preliminary Use and Management Plan and Name the Property as an Addition to Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve; Authorize the General Manager to File forWilliamson Act Nonrenewal; Approval of Proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration and Mitigation Monitoring Plan in Accordance with the California Environmental Qualily Act(CEQA); Adopt the Resolution Approving the Purchase Agreement for the Peninsula Open Space Trust(Mindego Ranch) Property and Approving the Meeting 08-08 Related Documents• Indicate Your Intention to Dedicate the Property as Public Open Space - (Report R-08-38 C. Britton said he was happy to see this property purchase come before the Board. It had been one of his fifteen priority parcels, and with the purchase of Mindego Hill, there are just three remaining. He gave some historical background about the District and its interest in this spectacular piece of property. S. Sommer presented the staff report with a PowerPoint presentation. M. Davey asked about where the first picture was taken and S. Sommer said it was taken from Borel Hill on the Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve. S. Sommer showed a map to show that the property was located near La Honda Creek and Russian Ridge Open Space Preserves. She said that this was an important addition to Russian Ridge and that it fell in the Coastal Protection Area. Access to the property was through an easement across private property. S. Sommer said that the property contained two creeks, two lakes and some seasonal ponds. She showed pictures of the types of vegetation, including grasslands and oak woodlands. From an aerial view, she showed the two residences, a riding ring, and a barn. She said the barn area was near a comer of Mindego Creek. She showed slides of the corral area, Mindego Lake, views toward the coast, and a picture of Russian Ridge taken from Mindego Hill. S. Sommer said that there was no fence boundary between the property and adjacent San Francisco Log Cabin Ranch property. The creek is a spawning ground for steelhead trout. Other flora and fauna include the red legged frog, San Francisco garter snake, frogs, old growth Douglas fir trees, and oak woodlands. There are also invasive plants including star thistle. S. Sommer reviewed the CEQA process. A mitigated negative declaration was prepared, with a mitigation monitoring plan. She said that staff had received two last minute comment letters from regulatory agencies, and had amended the Resolution attached to the report to address the matter. The Use and Management considerations include extending the standard invasive plant management program, and allowing docent-led hikes even during the site assessment and planning process is occurring. The True residence(cabin)will be retained for leasing purposes. Staff proposes to remove the trailer site, barn and corral. K. Lenington reviewed in more detail the Use and Management considerations. He said that Mindego Ranch is a working ranch and it has been a cattle ranch since 1859. There are 330 acres for grazing and pasture land and it serves several Page 2 Meeting 08-08 kinds of cattle. Currently there are 120 cow/calf pairs, 15-20 horses, and 10 rodeo bulls. He said the one-year lease agreement with the Trues, who continue to ranch there, expires in October 2008. K. Lenington said that there are several invasive weeds such as thistles, and grasses. He said the interim grazing plan for this property would be similar to the Big Dipper Ranch. He said that cattle will be introduced in February and would remain on the land until June. He estimated there would be 50 cow/calf pairs, or 65-70 steers. The interim grazing period would last two to three years. Although there is not a lot of fencing, what is there needs to be fixed or repaired. He said the pastures are delineated by natural barriers (ie: forest). He said this property would bring the grazing acreage to 450 acres if parts of Russian Ridge are incorporated. K. Lenington said that they were planning to "non-renew" the Williamson Act contract. K. Lenington said that POST (Peninsula Open Space Trust) had contracted with a hazardous material contractor and that they found DDT in the corral area. K. Lenington said that main residence area contained the riding ring which was created with fill material. By purchasing the property the District will be assuming responsibility for an agreement to remove the landfill. There were 36 soil samples collected, including core samples. The composition of the land fill is an overlay over the slope of the property and the majority of the land fill contains inert material, including 30-40%concrete rubble, vehicles and other items. He said the District will oversee the clean up. K. Lennington said that staff will begin a comprehensive Use and Management Plan, including a conservation grazing management plan, cultural resource and natural resource assessments. They will maintain the natural resources. N. Hanko asked about marks on the last slide. K. Lennington said the contractor was unable to dig deep enough to reach native soil. N. Hanko asked if more work would be done there and K. Lennington said there would not be any additional work at this time. L. Hassett asked if there would be immediate remediation to correct the septic systems for the residence that remains. S. Sommer said that they need to wait until there is a tenant to find out what is needed. L. Hassett asked if staff could foresee any problems with the Trues signing off on the remediation phase. M. Williams said he spoke with Chris True and was told they will cooperate fully. M. Williams said there may be an issue with another Page 3 11 Meeting 08-08 family member, but he expected that to be resolved. POST also said they would cooperate. L. Hassett asked if the Trues were going to relocate their cattle in October when their lease expires. He said there are many generations of wild cattle and he asked who would deal with those animals. M. Williams said that they had done an extensive evaluation of the property and could not substantiate that there were wild cattle on the property. M. Williams said that Mr. Pratt had left some cattle that were wild, but staff has not seen evidence of these cattle. L. Hassett asked if the property would be considered to be included in any prescribed bums and if the new leases for cattle grazing between February and June would allow for bums. K. Lennington replied that if a bum is determined to be used, portions of the lease area can be removed for resource management purposes. C. Riffle asked what the plan was to get people on the property. S. Sommer said one of their goals is to allow docent-led hikes on the non-sensitive areas of the property as soon as it will be possible and that the most logical place would be Mindego Hill. M. Freeman added that the key project is to develop a comprehensive Use and Management Plan, and they would do this in two phases, including(1) roads and trails, habitat, and other resource assessments, and(2) develop the public access phase. M. Freeman said they were working with POST on the public access plan. C. Britton added that they planned to start the docent- led hikes after the close of escrow. P. Siemens said it would be set up on a request basis system. C. Riffle asked when the comprehensive Use and Management Plan would be completed. M. Freeman estimated that it would take two years, and that the expected approval of the final plan by the summer of 2010. They will need to have neighbor meetings and Use and Management Committee meetings, but the property is similar to Russian Ridge, so a lot of the information is known. C. Riffle asked if the grazing would begin in February and K. Lenington said it would. C. Riffle asked where on Russian Ridge the grazing would occur. K. Lenington said it would just occur in one corner of Russian Ridge and he added that no grazing would occur there during the interim grazing plan, but may occur in the comprehensive plan. C. Riffle asked if the grazing would be seasonal or year round and K. Lenington replied that his term of"interim"equaled seasonal. He could not say what the future plan would be until they had completed the comprehensive plan. P. Siemens asked who the new grazing tenant would be when the Trues lease expired in October. K. Lenington said that between October and February staff will advertise for a grazing tenant. Page 4 Meeting 08-08 K. Nitz asked if the cattle eat the thistles. K. Lenington replied that they do eat young thistle growth. K. Nitz referred to page 4 of the document and asked about the Farm Bureau concerns. K. Lenington said the Farm Bureau had two main concerns that were (1) the public mixing with the cattle, and (2)predator control. K. Nitz asked about the land fill area and asked if the water had been monitored for lead. K. Lenington said that to his knowledge the water had not been monitored because the consultants did not find or reach the ground water as it was dry. K. Nitz asked if staff was planning to monitor the water. K. Lenington said they would be working with the regulatory agencies. K. Nitz asked if the water goes to the La Cuesta area. K. Lenington said it is in the headwaters. S. Sommer showed a map and indicated the distance between the stream and the land fill. K. Nitz asked if the trailer would be removed and S. Sommer said it would be. K. Nitz referred to page 9 and asked if the Good Neighbor Policy procedures were being followed. S. Sommer said that staff was working off of the Good Neighbor Policy and the Coastal Plan procedures too. K. Nitz asked what a Negative Declaration was. S. Sommer replied that it is a determination by a public agency that a project will not have a significant effect. L. Hassett said that this Negative Declaration was just for the acquisition phase of the property. S. Sommer added that the document included the purchase of the property, the grazing plan, docent-led hikes, and building demolition. She said it does not include removing the land fill area as this will be subject to future environmental review once the remediation alternatives have been evaluated. K. Nitz referred to page 20 and asked if the bats would be protected, and he asked why the house(s) are not being replaced, adding that he thought they should be replaced. P. Siemens asked if that was a motion and K. Nitz said it was. S. Sommer said that there is not an impact on the bats, but they do not want to injure them. J. Cyr said that they don't even know if bats were present. L. Hassett asked if it is an issue to the bats if their house is destroyed. He asked if they wouldn't be able to find new housing. S. Sommer said that they could add a clause to the Resolution as a mitigation measure to replace the bat housing. S. Schectman said that they can do a survey to determine if the bats are there and if they are there, staff will follow up with a recommendation from a bat expert. J. Cyr said that they should consult with a bat expert who understands if replacement housing is necessary, but staff does not need to add language to the Resolution. K. Nitz asked that the information be added to the mitigation measures. S. Schectman said that they can amend the Mitigation Measure Biology I for the bat structures. Page 5 Meeting 08-08 K. Nitz referred to page 27 and the core samples and asked how big the area was and if there were "closed" signs posted. K. Lenington said that staff did not know the size of the area and that they will retain the services of a qualified consultant. K. Nitz asked if the dust on the surface should be of concern and K. Lenington said it should not be of concern. K. Nitz said that if the dust contained DDT he would worry about the dust. K. Lenington said they did not know and were not told there has been a concern. P. Siemens asked how big the corral area was. K. Lenington said it was approximately 40' x 8'. P. Siemens asked if it should be covered up until its removal. K. Lenington said that it is not a risk right now. He added that they had received a letter from the regulatory agency, and the agency had no comment about the corral area. K. Nitz asked if the dust blows to Mindego Lake. K. Lenington said that the samples from the lake were below levels of concern. K. Nitz asked if the land fill area was in a landslide area. K. Lenington replied that based on the topography, they did not notice any landslide indications. K. Nitz asked if they cap the area it might need stabilization and K. Lennington said that might be possible. M. Williams reviewed the Terms and Conditions of the purchase. He said that the District would be acquiring the 1,047 acre property from POST for$22,500,000. He said the District would be receiving a gift of$6 million based on what POST paid, and they were expecting approval of a Coastal Conservancy grant by April 24'h. The cost to the District if the grant funding is approved will be $14,436,000. He said that POST wanted to have a donor recognition site, located east of the existing barn and livestock corral area. This location was chosen because of the views to the ocean, hill and lake and will recognize significant donors. He said that POST has asked for a schedule for the public to access the site. M. Williams reviewed the POST assignments from the purchase. They will assign the True lease, which expires October 10, 2008, to the District,the land fill removal agreement; and the Escrow Agreement. He said the District will deposit funds to replace the POST funds already in the escrow account. M. Williams said that the District will budget $30,000 to hire a consultant to evaluate remediation alternatives, the costs of which could be between $500,000 to $2 million. He said additional fees included the coastal service fees of the San Mateo County fire services and the La Honda/Pescadero School system. K. Nitz asked about the POST donors and asked if they could rename Mindego Hill. C. Britton said the hill could not be renamed because it is a USGS name, adding that any common names cannot be renamed. Page 6 Meeting 08-08 K. Nitz pointed out some typos on page 6 of the staff report. K. Nitz asked for clarification of the Escrow deposit and C. Britton explained the procedure and how it works. L. Hassett asked if the Coastal Conservancy grant was an absolute certainty and M. Williams said that it was not guaranteed, but he had seen their staff report recommendation for approval. He added that one condition of the sale with POST is the approval of the Coastal Conservancy grant. P. Siemens asked if the escrow money should be displayed under a new land line item budget. M. Williams said that the funds were budgeted and would be out of the New Land category. C. Britton further clarified how the budget will work for this purchase. K. Nitz referred to the final paragraph and asked if this purchase would require an increase in staff. M. Williams said the purchase would not, but they would hire consultants. C. Britton said that they will need to analyze, adding that the property will cost more money and staff time. J. Cyr said that the Mitigated Negative Declaration document was the equivalent of a doctorial dissertation. He said it is a very thorough document and that staff had done an outstanding job. He said it was sophisticated work on a gorgeous piece of property. M. Davey seconded J. Cyr's comments. Walter Moore, Vice President of POST, spoke about this piece of property and gave extensive history about the ownership and the location. He said that Audrey Rust, the President of POST, had been working on this project for 20 years. He said that Admiral and Corrine True had a great love of the land. He said that the District's staff had been very impressive during the purchase process, and he thanked the Board. Georgia Stiegle, California Native Plant Society, thanked District staff. She said the Native Plant Society supported this purchase and will plan for the docent led hikes. She said that they also support the grazing plans. She offered her help if they needed it for mitigating the bats. Motion: N. Hanko moved approval for the approval of proposed purchase of Peninsula Open Space Trust(Mindego Ranch) property (San Mateo County Assessor's parcel numbers 080-320-060, 080-340- 010, and 083-310-060, located near Alpine Road) as an addition to Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve; Adopt the Preliminary Use and Management Plan and name the property as an addition to Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve; Authorize the General Page 7 Meeting 08-08 Manager to file for Williamson Act Nonrenewal; Approval of proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration and Mitigation Monitoring Plan, as amended, in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act(CEQA); Adopt Resolution No. 08-15 as amended, approving the Purchase Agreement for the Peninsula Open Space Trust (Mindego Ranch) property and approving the related documents; Indicate your intention to dedicate the property as public open space. L. Hassett seconded the motion. Discussion: S. Sommer read the amendment to the Resolution regarding the Mitigation Measure of Biology 1. P. Siemens said he was impressed with the Negative Declaration and thanked the staff for their work. C. Riffle thanked the staff and Mr. Moore from POST. He said a special thanks to Ms. Rust and C. Britton for their 20 years of work to acquire this beautiful property. M. Williams acknowledged the work that S. Sommer, K. Lenington and M. Reeves did in preparing the documents and staff report. C. Britton said that as he is about to retire from the District, he was thrilled to bring this item to the Board. He said the staff was superb and complemented the Management Team. He said this is an amazing property and he was proud to be working with POST. Vote: The motion passed 7 to 0. P. Siemens called a ten minute recess at 8:39 pm. P. Siemens reconvened the meeting at 8:49 pm. B. Agenda Item No. 2—Authorization to Amend the Preliminary Use and Management Plan for the Tunitas Creek Open Space Preserve to Incorporate a Grazinp,Management Plan; Authorization to Award a Graziny,Lease for the Tunitas Creek Grazing Unit; Determine that the Project is Categorically Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act(CEQA), Based on the Findings Contained in this Report; Adopt an Amendment to the Preliminary Use and Management Plan for the Tunitas Creek Open Space Preserve to Incorporate a Grazinp,Management Plan; Approve the Resolution Authorizing the General Manager to Award a Five-Year Grazing Lease to Doug Edwards for the Tunitas Creek Grazing Unit on the Terms and Conditions Set Forth in the Attached Grazinp,Lease - (Report R-08-40) Page 8 Meeting 08-08 M. Reeves presented the staff report. He said the Tunitas Creek property was purchased from POST in February 2007. He said the property came with a coastside grazing tenant. He showed the boundary of the property, and that it aligns with the creek adjacent to El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve. M. Reeves reviewed the Grazing Management Plan. He said the plan was put together with the current tenant,the Farm Bureau and a consultant. He said there are four grazing areas. He said the plan is consistent with the District's Grazing Policy and the Coastal Plan. The Grazing Management Plan for this property was designed for year round grazing of 41 cow/calf pairs. K. Nitz asked how many acres were available. M. Reeves said there were 260 acres of available grassland and shrub land. M. Reeves said that there are some springs on the land and that it may be possible to increase the water supply once they identify new locations. He showed slides of the property. There is steep topography that keeps the cattle away from Tunitas Creek. J. Cyr asked if there were Eucalyptus trees on the present property and A Reeves said there were. M. Reeves showed slides of where the cattle grazed. P. Siemens asked if coyote brush was present and M. Reeves said it was. P. Siemens asked if there was a plan to remove it. M. Reeves said that the present Grazing Plan called for the coyote brush removal. He showed a slide where the tenant under the existing lease had done some brush clearing. K. Nitz asked if the lease specified what the tenant does with the brush. K. Lenington replied that he believed the tenant made piles and burned them, but he added that he would need to look at the lease. The District wants to reduce the amount of brush and staff will supervise what the tenant will clear. He said that this property has had hard land use, and that there is not a strong native plant community existing on this site. The site mostly contains non-native plants. K. Nitz asked if they will use a drill seeder. K. Lenington said they could possibly use a drill seeder, but not necessarily on this property although it could be a candidate. M. Reeves reviewed the terms of the lease. He said they planned to retain the current tenant for a five-year term that will be renewable for an additional five years. The lease would allow year-round grazing. The rent would be $1,900 annually and adjusted every year thereafter. The lease provides for the tenant to do in-kind services in lieu of rent. Grant programs would also be applied for. Page 9 Meeting 08-08 C. Riffle said he was interested to hear about the grant possibility and asked who would apply. M. Reeves said the tenant, with the District's assistance, can apply for grants. C. Riffle asked if once staff received data back regarding the resource management needs and how the grazing fit in, would there be something in the lease to direct how the tenant grazes the land. M. Reeves said that there would be, but staff needs to develop the process and the annual review. He said that they will need to look at each pasture. He added that there will be provisions in the lease to pull sections of property from being grazed if there is a resource management project. I C. Riffle said he was a big fan of the grazing lease and asked if the public was happy with it. M. Williams said that he and K. Lenington went to the Farm Bureau and Agriculture Advisory meetings. He said that as time goes by the relationship with these groups grows stronger. J. Cyr asked why they are planning a full year of grazing on this property and only six months on a similar property. K. Lenington said that the Tunitas property can support year-round grazing. In the late summer and fall the tenant needs to supplement the feed because the nutrients are no longer in the grasses or plants. He said the grazing period has to do with the structure of the grassland population. He added that this property is remote and is currently closed to the public. J. Cyr asked if its proximity to the coast was a contributing factor. K. Lenington said he was not sure, and added that the current tenant is a good land steward and manages the cattle operations under the District's guidelines. L. Hassett asked how staff measures the success of the grazing program, other than staff observations. K. Lenington said there is a monitoring component in the plan that includes photograph monitoring. The photograph stations are used year to year and can be used as a measurement guide. K. Nitz asked what they look for. K. Lenington said that each property will have different goals, and at Tunitas one goal is to reduce fuel and invasive weeds. The photographs will assist in assessing how well the goals are achieved. K. Nitz asked what the two or three things he should look at in these types of leases. K. Lenington said that the leases will look very similar. Each lease is a binding agreement; will include how many cattle can be on the land; how to rotate the cattle as well as other factors. He said that the Big Dipper lease focuses on native grasses. The Tunitas lease focus is on fuel reduction because there are no native grasses. M. Reeves added that they should look for the lease to have a more active role for the District than a standard grazing lease. K. Nitz asked when the public might be allowed on the property. N. Hanko said the trail to the coast would be an opportunity for the public to be on the property. Page 10 I Meeting 08-08 C. Britton said that Tunitas is an"island"now and that there is no plan to allow the public there in the present time. K. Nitz asked about the water tanks and if opening new springs would affect the Red-legged Frogs. K. Lenington said it could. The plan identifies water upgrades and suggests installing a well. The current springs are not highly developed. He did not think any Red-legged Frogs are on the site, but will need to research that to make a determination. K. Nitz asked if the cattle would be organic. K. Lenington said that the cattle are destined for the feed lot and the calves would be sold. The tenant had not spoken about having a certified organic process. J. Cyr said he likes that the grazing plan is site specific. He added that the urgency for public use of this property is not high. C. Riffle asked if there would be a press release about this lease and R. Jurgensen said there would be. Motion: J. Cyr moved approval for authorization to amend the Preliminary Use and Management Plan for the Tunitas Creek Open Space Preserve to incorporate a Grazing Management Plan; Authorization to award a Grazing Lease for the Tunitas Creek Grazing Unit; Determine that the project is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), based on the findings contained in this report; Adopt an amendment to the Preliminary Use and Management Plan for the Tunitas Creek Open Space Preserve to incorporate a Grazing Management Plan; Approve Resolution No. 08-18 authorizing the General Manager to award a five-year Grazing Lease to Doug Edwards for the Tunitas Creek Grazing Unit on the terms and conditions set forth in the attached Grazing Lease. K. Nitz seconded the motion. The motion passed 7 to 0. V. ADJOURNMENT The Special meeting of the Board of Directors of the Mid peninsula Regional Open Space District adjourned at 9:25 pm. Lisa Zadek Recording Secretary Page 11