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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20080514 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) Regional Open Space MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT Meeting 08-12 SPECIAL AND REGULAR MEETING BOARD OF DIRECTORS May 14, 2008 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING I. ROLL CALL President P. Siemens called the Special Meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. Members Present: Pete Siemens, Jed Cyr, Nonette Hanko, Mary Davey, Ken Nitz, Curt Riffle and Larry Hassett Members Absent: None Staff Present: Steve Abbors, Sue Schectman, Greg Sam, Duncan Simmons, Matt Freeman, David Sanguinetti, Rudy Jurgensen, Kirk Lenington, Stella Cousins, Cindy Roessler, Gretchen Laustsen, Erica Simmons, Andrea Christenson, Tina Hugg and Casey Cleave IL STUDY SESSION A. Agenda Item 1- Study Session to Review Draft Habitat Connectivity Policy (Report R-08-75) S. Abhors gave an introduction to the study session. He introduced M. Freeman. M. Freeman said that S. Cousins and K. Lenington would make the presentation. He said that natural ecosystems transcend political boundaries. He said functional ecosystems can only be protected by a regional and multi jurisdictional planning process to achieve a network of protected preserves and parks. He said this policy codifies the interagency approach to habitat planning. He said that staff will welcome questions from the Board. S. Cousins reviewed the structure of the meeting discussion. She reviewed ecological principles rinci les and definitions of the basic ideas of biodiversitY. Page 1 of 12 Meeting 08-12 K. Nitz asked what a homogeneous meant. S. Cousins said that there is a certain common characteristic within a patch, typically plant life, and could include the presence of water or geology. S. Cousins said there are areas that are called patches and that the size of patches are very important and form the basis of what ecologists call the species area relationship. The species area relationship states that larger patches contain more species and have more biodiversity. A larger patch also has greater ecosystem stability over time and an increased resilience. S. Cousins reviewed population dynamics within patches. She said there are exchanges and connections by populations. She discussed the problem in inbreeding within plants and animal species. She said that connecting patches makes a smaller, more isolated patch, more similar to a large patch, and therefore, more resilient. She added that not all habitat connections are equal; however, depending on the environmental conditions and the species requirement the best connections might be stepping stones, or they may be tunnels or bridges, or follow seasonal migrations, streams or ridgelines. She gave several examples. S. Cousins said that the strongest system is one with multiple connections and interdependence. She said that habitat fragmentation is something that is always occurring in our environment, especially areas close to urban areas. Habitat fragmentation is the opposite of habitat connectivity. She explained that habitat fragmentation are patches that are split, made smaller and are subdivided, leading to more edge per area. There is a higher ecosystem risk with habitat fragmentation. She reviewed examples of habitat fragmentation and how animals maneuver through these areas. N. Hanko suggested that they include information about how staff would deal with diseases that are spread as a result of connectivity. K. Lenington said that a population that had inter-connectedness to a large gene pool would have a better chance of a disease outbreak, should it occur, rather than a small, isolated population. N. Hanko referred to the sudden oak death disease. K. Nitz said that is a good point and gave an example of animals that are sick entering areas and spreading disease. K. Lenington showed a map of the District showing the approximate 55,000 acres of protected habitat. He said their goal should be to have inter-connectiveness for the habitats the District protects, so they have the most diversity and healthiest populations possible. He showed a high-resolution map of the Santa Cruz Mountains. He said that the District land is connected to the rest of the state of California by the Diablo range and the Gavilan range. He explained the importance of these linkages to the rest of the state. The mountain lion is the best example of the wide-ranging animals. Page 2 Meeting 08-12 K. Lenington said that the Nature Conservancy worked with the California Wilderness Coalition to identify the corridor and habitat linkages within the entire state. K. Lenington spoke about the importance of mountain lions as their usefulness as an umbrella species for staff s thinking and planning. Protecting an umbrella species enables protection and maintaining habitat for a wide range of other species. An adult male mountain lion has a home range of about 64,000 acres. In areas of high deer population, there can be about 10 adults per 100 square miles of habitat. K. Nitz asked how many square miles the District has within its boundaries. K. Lenington said there are 550 square miles. He referenced a mountain lion expert who said he found a minimum patch size for a population of mountain lions is 850 square miles. The Santa Cruz mountains as a bioregion is only 780 square miles. C. Riffle asked if mountain lions would ever adapt to a smaller area. K. Lenington said he did not know the answer, but that he suspected the answer was not based on population genetics. S. Abbors added that in breeding could occur and then genetic diseases crop up when that happens. K. Nitz asked if, based on the District's acreage, if its lands could support two mountain lions. K. Lenington said that the District's boundaries cannot sustain a viable population. He said they need that connection, not only to the rest of the Santa Cruz mountains, but also to the rest of the state. K. Nitz asked if mountain lions would cross grazing land. K. Lenington said that they would. K. Lenington said that if 10 adult mountain lions can be sustained in 100 square miles, and the District has 550 square miles, then the District could have 50 adult mountain lions within its boundaries. However, he added, that this is not a population size that would persist. That population would be at a high risk of going extinct. L. Hassett said he thought it looked like the District land was more like an island and did not have connectivity. K. Lenington said that currently they have two remaining connections to the rest of the state that are adequate habitat for mountain lions. He said the connections are through Coyote Valley in the north and the Pajarro Valley in the south. Coyote Valley connects to the Diablo range, a large habitat area that is connected with the rest of the state. Pajarro Valley connects to the Gavilan range, which also connects with the state. P. Siemens stated that, by working on these types of policies, they should look for corridors that work, the District should do what it can to enhance those corridors. K. Lenington said that they have a policy statement that reflects what P. Siemens stated. Page 3 I Meeting 08-12 K. Lenington reviewed the possible path of mountain lion within developed areas and said that more studies should be done to think about habitat connections. He showed a video taken from inside of a culvert. K. Lenington discussed fish and streams and showed a map of the watershed. He said that with the purchase of the Mindego Hill property, the District now has approximately 13 miles of stream habitat, that is either through District lands or adjacent to it. The map showed barriers to the fish. He said that part of staff's focus is to remove the barriers to enhance fish passage and accessibility. C. Riffle asked about other agency lands that the District will need to work together. K. Lenington said that he looks at the protected land cumulatively in the Santa Cruz Mountains and it includes much more than the District's land. He said that the District's focus should be on connectivity on its land or existing blocks and patches of existing habitat and do some studies to determine if the District does have connectivity and all of the different scales where it would apply. C. Riffle asked about other agencies looking at the same subject. K. Lenington said that there is a nexus of different organizations and work products that are ongoing right now. He described a project he has been working on with the Bay Area Open Space Council in Oakland. This project is something that the District can tap into right away for looking at its strategic planning on connectivity. L. Hassett commented about the mountain lion habitat, the crisis area, the area that is most threatened, which is outside of the District's boundaries. He said he thinks that what the District has done for mountain lions has been fairly successful, but the critical areas of concern are outside the District's jurisdiction and asked if that was accurate. K. Lenington said he agreed with that comment. M. Davey stated that staff has worked a great deal on this subject. She said she liked that the staff was looking at the grand design and that connectivity is the trigger to show the District's responsibility to work with other agencies and jurisdictions. N. Hanko said that the District should work with other groups throughout the state and let them know what the District is doing and what they should be doing. J. Cyr said that the District should take a leadership role. He said that within the District's boundaries it should move forward to encourage connectivity. Secondly, he said he agreed with N. Hanko in terms of encouraging a macro- scale, by maintaining the contacts and support of that network with other groups within the state, because each group has a different focus and role. He said he appreciated the work staff had done and thinks they should go forward. Page 4 Meeting 08-12 N. Hanko said that a logical conference to discuss these issues would be at the Annual Special District Conference. She gave past examples of where the District took a leadership role for discussing subjects at that conference. K. Lenington credited C. Cleve for the map and putting a lot of work in to developing it. He said it was interesting when the map was developed, the standard maps did not cover the area staff was interested in looking at because there was not a need to have a map that looked at the region. P. Siemens asked if there were people in the audience who would like to speak. Stewart Weiss, a resident within the District who lives near Alpine Road, said he is a scientist. He said that the connectivity issue will discussed in the context of mammals, at the Open Space Council meeting next week. He said connecting the Santa Cruz Mountains to the rest of California and the world is a"no brainer." He said they have been able to lay out the procedures and have identified the Highway 17 corridor to do a wildlife passage study. He described how the study would be done. He said a similar study was done along Highway 1. He said the District could contribute resources to make sure these types of studies get done along key corridors. J. Cyr asked if CalTrans has maps about where the culverts are located. K. Lenington said he was certain there would be such information available as a public record. P. Siemens said he was curious about the impact of the widening of the Highway 92 project. He said he wondered if there were plans to provide corridors across that area. He said that since the District is adjacent, it should talk with CaltOrans about our interest in making sure they provide the proper passageways. He said he would like to see the staff and Board communicate to other agencies to indicate the District's interest and concerns to keep the corridors open for the habitat because our interest is keeping corridors open. K. Lenington said that what P. Siemens was speaking about relates to the policy. Tanya Diamond said she started working on this subject with her thesis work. She said she found that Coyote Valley was a critical corridor for North American badgers. Badgers need a very large corridor. She handed out a map to the Board. She said her group is also looking at a regional scale beyond Coyote Valley. She said that her students/group have recently partnered with POST in terms of using wildlife tracking techniques. M. Freeman said that the District has a small grants program that should be of interest to her group to apply for funding. N. Hanko mentioned a television show she saw on PBS about wildlife corridors. K. Lenington now focused the discussion on the policy. Page 5 Meeting 08-12 J. Cyr said he had a comment about page 9.1 in the comment notes and suggested changing the last sentence to read, "Connected habitats help protect the species respond to changes in their environment." K. Lenington reviewed the goal statement of the policy. He said there were five subjects within the policy, which he read. He asked the Board if they had any comments or thoughts about section 9.1. P. Siemens said that staff has worked up various areas within the District when a property is being considered for acquisition. He said there is a scale to determine how a piece of property might fit and it is given a score. He said he thought this should be included in this section, that a bullet should be added stating that connectivity as one of the values when purchasing a piece of property. K. Nitz asked if there is a checklist of what the District considers as connectivity and is it prioritized in some way. K. Lenington said that they do not have a list they go through. K. Nitz said he thought that in terms of acquisition, there should be some sort of checklist of the connectivity value. There was further discussion about how the District determines the value of possible land acquisitions. S. Abhors gave a examples of different sorts of acquisitions and the basic principles. He said that this is a relatively new area of science and that much is being learned about it now and staff will be working with it closely. He said that staff has taken the scientific information and has condensed it in a form to help with policy decisions. K. Nitz asked how they would define "identify and include habitat connectivity" as a policy. M. Freeman gave an example of regional planning and said it is a core scale, and one of the most effective core scale planning documents staff plans on developing is would be the updated master plan. He said there are some GIS techniques that are widely used now and he explained what they were. Referring to the second bullet under 9.1, C. Riffle asked the other Board members if they want staff to spend their time in leading in this effort. S. Abhors said this becomes a discussion the staff has with other agencies and it becomes part of its interest. He said there are some local and regional areas where it would be important for the District's staff to participate. N. Hanko said language should be added to both sections 9.2 and 9.4 that addresses the type of uses that are associated with the preserves. She gave an example of species found on trails that were killed by certain uses and said it would be good to know where the places are that special species are found so that people can be aware of them. K. Nitz said he agreed with N. Hanko. He said that the District wants to open its areas to the public, but by doing so it is creating its own barriers or own destruction paths. He said the language in the policy were good macro-goals, but that they should have goals for themselves. M. Freeman said that the third bullet under 9.4 came close. S. Abbors said staff can add the language per the Board's request. Page 6 Meeting 08-12 K. Nitz said he didn't know if grazing is a barrier to wildlife movements. S. Abbors said that it largely depends on the species and he gave an example from his previous agency. K. Nitz said they should look at their grazing studies with regards to installing fences and determine if they are causing problems. M. Freeman said that they do have a policy that encourages wildlife friendly fencing within their grazing policies. P. Siemens gave examples he knew of where cattle grazing and wildlife seem to get along. P. Siemens commented on section 9.3 and said that they should include language about collaborating with public agencies, such as Caltrans and the County. J. Cyr said he appreciated all of the work that went into creating the policy and he thanked the guests for sharing their time. K. Nitz said that section 9.5 was stated in a different policy. P. Siemens said that he thought it was okay to state this subject again and that did not hurt for it to be in two places. K. Nitz agreed, but added that he wanted to make sure both sections on the same subject were consistent. S. Abbors said that often times the plants will use the animals to move from place to place. He said that with connectivity, plants can seed across a corridor over time. K. Lennington said that climate change affects plant movement too. K. Nitz added that invasive plants can cause a barrier to native plants. K. Nitz replied that especially Harding grass, which he did not think deer ate, and he said he did not think anything went through yellow star thistle, so those are the District's own Yt g g barriers they have to address and he asked if the policy responded to the problem of invasive plants that need to be removed. K. Lenington said they could cross- reference to their invasive species policy. M. Freeman said staff will add a bullet addressing plants because they do want the policy to be comprehensive. K. Nitz asked if the District would plant plants to expand the plant's area so that there is a better biodiversity. M. Freeman said that they would incorporate some language about that. M. Freeman said that staff will incorporate the Board's comments and will bring a revised draft back for a tentative adoption. M. Freeman made an announcement about Planning staff. He acknowledged S. Cousin's work on this policy. She and K. Lenington did a lot of work. He said that S. Cousins has been accepted into Yale's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and will be leaving the District in July to pursue her graduate studies at Yale. The Board congratulated her. M. Freeman said that the District will miss her. Page 7 Meeting 08-12 K. Nitz, going back to the policy, asked if they should be concerned about succession planning in this policy. K. Lenington said that he would be sure in their succession policies. He said he would check that policy. P. Siemens adjourned the Special Meeting at 7:28 p.m. for a short break prior to the start of the Regular meeting. REGULAR MEETING III. P. Siemens called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:37 p.m., and asked for the Roll Call. Members Present: Pete Siemens, Jed Cyr, Nonette Hanko, Mary Davey, Ken Nitz, Curt Riffle, and Larry Hassett Members Absent: None. IV. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS—There were none. V. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Motion: J. Cyr moved that the Board adopt the Agenda. L. Hassett seconded the motion. Discussion: C. Riffle asked about the new format of the consent calendar for the meeting agenda. G. Sam explained the new format and the reasons for the change. Vote: The motion passed 7 to 0. VI. ADOPTION OF CONSENT CALENDAR J. Cyr said he had some corrections to the April 23, 2008 Board Minutes, including: • Page 1.0, Informational Reports, under his paragraph, he said the language should change to "He said an elk was seen by a fellow hiker." • Under S. Abbors' report, he said the correct spelling for the lake was "Vasona." N. Hanko gave a correction to page 4, paragraph 4 of the April 23, 2008 Board Minutes, asking the word "showed"be replaced with the word "shared"on the last line of the paragraph. C. Riffle said he also had some corrections to the April 23, 2008 Board Minutes, including: Page 8 Meeting 08-12 • Page 6, second paragraph from the bottom of the page, and change the word "road" to "creek" so that the phrase would read, "the southern bank of Hicks Creek." • Page 7, first paragraph, change the words "rather than at"to the phrase"in addition to" so that the phrase would read, "at this property in addition to Bear Creek Redwoods." • Page 10, Informational Reports, under his paragraph, he said that he rode his mountain bike up Alpine Road and not a horse. Motion: J. Cyr moved that the Board adopt the Consent Calendar, including approval of the April 9, 2008 Minutes, and the corrected April 23, 2008 Minutes; Written Communications; Agenda Item 1 Calling of District Elections in Wards 3, 4 and 7, and Requests for Election Consolidation Services from Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties; Adopt Resolution No. 08-xx of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Calling an Election and Requesting Election Consolidation Services— Santa Clara County Wards 3 and 4; Adopt Resolution No. 08- xx of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Calling an Election and Requesting Election Consolidation Services—San Mateo County Ward 7; Reconfirm Section 2.12 of the Board's Rules of Procedures Regarding a Maximum of 200 Words per Candidate Statement and Payment of Candidates' Statements Pursuant to the Elections Code of the State of California, in Those Wards Where Two or More Candidates Have Qualified to Appear on the Ballot; Adopt Resolution No. 08-xx of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Authorizing Not Listing Any Unopposed Candidate for Election on the November 4, 2008 Ballots of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties; and Revised Claims 08-09. L. Hassett seconded the motion. The motion passed 7 to 0 except for the AT&T and Verizon Claims identified on the Revised Claims list. The list contains a written disclosure that Directors Davey and Hanko are recusing themselves from voting on these items. The Board's vote on the Verizon and AT&T claims is recorded as passing by a vote of 5 to 0. VII. INFORMATIONAL / COMPENSABLE MEETING REPORTS M. Davey said she attended the Save the Bay event. On June 10, 2008 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., there will be an event celebrating the 15'h anniversary of the building that currently rents to conservation groups as tenants. She said that the featured speaker for this event will be Larry Kline, a former District founder. The address is 3929 E. Bayshore Blvd., Palo Alto. On June 28, 2008, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., the Committee for Green Foothills will host a trip to faun country in Santa Clara County in conjunction with the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority and the Santa Clara County Water District. She stated that tonight's meeting was her only compensable meeting. Page 9 Meeting 08-12 J. Cyr said that his only compensable meeting was tonight's meeting. He said that the previous Thursday he met with Larry Blackstad, Board Chairperson from the Three Rivers Park District in Minnesota. He said that the Three Rivers Park District covers seven counties, 27,000 acres and has a staff of over 300 including six full-time naturalists. He said that he and Mr. Blacksted were given a ride-along tour by District Ranger Tracy Hammond and that they saw several preserves and District properties including: Rancho San Antonio/Foothills office and shop facilities, Mills Creek, Purisima Creek, El Corte de Madera, La Honda(including Red Barn), Windy Hill, Russian Ridge, Skyline Ridge, Long Ridge Saratoga Gap, Fremont Older, Picchetti Ranch, Bear Creek and stables located there and Sierra Azul. He said that Mr. Blackstad was very impressed with the District staff, Along the tour, they visited the David Daniels Nature Center. Mr. Blackstad said that it is illegal to cut cattails in Minnesota. J. Cyr commented that the staff letters were thorough and well thought out. He said he liked the memo by C. Roessler regarding the Russian Ridge grasslands. N. Hanko said that she agreed with J. Cyr that the staff letters and memos were well done. She said that she submitted her compensable meeting report to the District Clerk. L. Hassett said that the meet and greet with S. Abbors and his wife, Carlene, was attended by several people and that it was very nice. He added that Carlene was a terrific ambassador for the District. He mentioned several events associated in San Jose and Half Moon Bay. K. Nitz asked a question about the pond memo written by S. Abhors. His question or request was to move up to the number one position, the safety and structures issues. S. Abbors said that that change would be made by staff. D. Sanguinetti gave some more background information about the pond memo. K. Nitz said that his compensable meetings included the May 5 meeting and tonight's meeting. C. Riffle said that his only compensable meeting was tonight's meeting. He said he went horseback riding on Priest Rock Trail and he noted the parking issue there. On May 9, he attended the California League of Conservation Voters event. On May 10, he went on a docent led mountain bike ride led by Struther Smith. On May 13, he attended the Mountain View City Council meeting and spoke for about 10 minutes about the District. He thanked R. Jurgensen and V. Gou. On May 15, he said he would be attending the AB 1234 ethics training in Los Altos. He asked that the full Board workshop tentatively scheduled for May 22, be postponed and instead suggested scheduling an Administration and Budget Committee meeting first, prior to the full Board workshop. P. Siemens said that his compensable meetings included the May 5 meeting and tonight's Board meeting. He said the May 5 master plan meeting was well structured and he complimented A. Ruiz. He said it was a very productive meeting. S. Abhors said that he and R. Jurgensen met with Anna Eshoo and Jackie Spier's offices regarding Mt. Umunhum. He said he received a telephone call from the new Board chair of the Sempervirens Fund. He said he wants to establish a strong working relationship Page 10 Meeting 08-12 with the Sempervirens Fund and would attend their meeting on May 30. He said he attended the Foothills field staff meeting. He announced that R. Jurgensen will begin to give monthly legislative reports to the Board. He said that there will be additional changes made to the Board's packet and reviewed the changes the Board should expect to see. There was a discussion between S. Abbors and the Board members on what information is useful to the Board. The Board members agreed that they do not want to overload staff. M. Davey thanked B. Hsieh for his assistance regarding a computer question she had. S. Schectman gave an update regarding the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority case to the Board. She gave an update on the Santa Clara County Sheriff contract. She said they have two options to look at including analyzing the cost for each option. She said that the Santa Clara County Counsel's Office is redrafting the Sheriffs contract. G. Sam said that the Bay Area Open Space Council meeting in San Francisco will be held on Wednesday, May 21 at 9:00 a.m. Carpools were arranged. M. Freeman said that the attended C. Cleve's Master Thesis defense. The presentation was made at San Francisco State University and her Master's project was approved. He said that the Request for Proposals for the Small Grants Program proposals were due in late June. He said that staff had notified all Bay Area colleges and universities. K. Nitz asked if the small grants program can provide funds to provide rides up to the Nature Center. R. Jurgensen said that a trial plan is in place called an Assistance Fund. He said that staff will have a report to the Board explaining the Assistance Fund. R. Jurgensen gave a legislation update. • State Budget. He said that on Monday, May 12 he was in Sacramento regarding the state budget. He said the state had a $15 billion deficit. He said that the Governor was not planning on taking funds from local agencies, but that could change. He reviewed other concepts the Governor was considering to raise money to get out of the deficit. • AB 697. He said this was a District initiated bill, which would allow payment of debts to increase from 20 years to 30 years. He said it passed unanimously in committee, but it was now stalled and why it is stalled. He said that the District will need to work with committee staff on this. S. Abbors added that staff will work with committee staff to approve or move this bill along. • AB 2537. This bill is to extend public works prevailing wage exemption for volunteers. He said that staff has written letters to the committees and that the bill has passed in committees and is expected to be passed by the full floor. Page 11 Meeting 08-12 • AB 2954. This bill is to approve the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority, a regional special district that would cover seven counties (all counties that touch the San Francisco Bay). He said that the District's concerns about the formation of this new authority included the creation of a new bureaucracy and a new agency competing for funding. He said that issues about the formation of this new Authority have been discussed by the Executive Committee of the Bay Area Open Space Council. S. Abbors added that they are trying to understand the upsides and downsides of the issues involved with the creation of this new special district authority. N. Hanko asked D. Sanguinetti about the gate closing at Ravenswood Open Space Preserve. D. Sanguinetti said that staff was working with S. Abbors on this issue. N. Hanko asked what happened to the dredge. D. Sanguinetti said that the dredge was partly burned up. Staff had rented an excavator and had knocked down the concerned areas. M. Newburn is requesting bids to remove what is left of the dredge. They cannot determine what caused the dredge to bum. N. Hanko said that she was contacted by Jim Steinmetz, a District tenant, letting her know that his recycling business is taking down the nearby Elk's building and that he wanted staff to know that he will have a lot of materials they might be able to use. IX. ADJOURNMENT At 8:55 P.M., P. Siemens adjourned the Regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District and stated that the Board would convene the Special Meeting Closed Session to discuss items 5 and 6. At 10:05 P.M., P. Siemens stated publicly that there were no reportable items at the conclusion of the Special Meeting Closed Session and the Special Meeting Closed Session adjourned. Lisa Zadek Recording Secretary Page 12