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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20080723 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) Regional Open Space MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT Meeting 08-17 SPECIAL AND REGULAR MEETING BOARD OF DIRECTORS July 23, 2008 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING I. ROLL CALL Vice President Nonette Hanko called the Special Meeting to order at 6:31 p.m. She called the Roll Call. Members Present: Nonette Hanko, Jed Cyr, Mary Davey, Ken Nitz, Curt Riffle and Larry Hassett Members Absent: Pete Siemens Staff Present: Steve Abbors, Sue Schectman, Duncan Simmons, Mike Williams, David Sanguinetti II. CLOSED SESSION The Board adjourned to the Special Meeting Closed Session which concluded at 7:25 p.m. REGULAR MEETING 111. Vice-President Hanko called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:32 p.m., and asked for Roll Call. Vice-President Hanko stated that there were no reportable items from the Closed Session. Members Present: Jed Cyr,Nonette Hanko, Mary Davey, Ken Nitz, Curt Riffle, and Larry Hassett Members Absent: Pete Siemens Additional Staff Present: G. Sam, R. Jurgensen, M. Freeman, T. Hugg,N. Perez. IV. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS—There were none. V. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Meeting 08-17 Page 2 Director Hanko said that she would like to amend the Agenda by changing the order of the Informational Reports by adding staff reports so the change would reflect the following order: Committee Report, Staff Reports and Director Reports. Motion: Director Riffle moved that the Board adopt the Agenda as amended. Director Nitz seconded the motion. The motion passed 6 to 0. VI. ADOPTION OF CONSENT CALENDAR Director Hanko had corrections to the June 11 Minutes. On page 1, under Study Session the name should be"Mort" Levine not"Marty" Levine. Director Hanko requested that the AT&T recusal statement be revised as follows: Director Davey and Director Hanko are recusing themselves from voting on the AT&T claims and Director Hanko on the Verizon claim. The Board vote on the Verizon claim was 6 to 0. The Board vote on the AT&T claims was 5 to 0. She requested that similar rewording be included on the Minutes in the future to correctly reflect the vote. M. Davey had a correction to the June 27 Minutes on page 3 to correct the spelling of 41canope" to"canopy". K. Nitz asked to pull the Revised Claims. He said he had a question on Claim 9447 and staff answer the question to his satisfaction. Motion: Director Cyr moved that the Board adopt the Consent Calendar, including approval of the amended Board Minutes dated June 11 and June 25, 2008; Revised Claims 08-14; and Written Communications. Director Riffle seconded the motion. Vote: The motion passed 6 to 0 except for the AT&T Claims identified on the Revised Claims list. Directors Davey and Hanko are recusing themselves from voting on the AT&T items. The Board vote on the AT&T claims was recorded as passing by a vote of 4 to 0. VII. BOARD BUSINESS A. Agenda Item No.4—Meeting of Shareholders of Guadalupe Land Company to Consider Conveying a Grant Deed of Open Space Easement to Peninsula Open Space Trust for Property Adjacent to the Mt. Umunhum Area of Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve (Santa Clara County Assessor's Parcel Numbers 575-11-004, 575-12-001, 575-12-013) and Determination that the Recommended Action is Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act(CEQA) As Set Out in This Report; Adopt the Written Shareholder Consent Authoriziniz the Execution of the Grant Deed of Open Space Easement to Peninsula Open Space Trust Covering the Guadalupe Land Meeting 08-17 Page 3 Company Property Adjacent to the Mt. Umunhum Area of Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve - (Report R-08-92) M. Williams presented the staff report and showed a map of the area,photos and described the plants and landmarks in the area(Mt. Umunhum, Guadalupe Rock). He said the purpose of this item was to grant an Open Space Easement to POST, which would further protect the property and potentially result in a reduction of future capital gains taxes for the property. He emphasized that no structures were being proposed. He said the easement would be identified as "New Hagen Meadows" and he reviewed the appraisal and fair market value of$3,389,000. Motion: Director Nitz moved to remove section 5.B.ii from the Easement document(page 5). Director Cyr seconded the motion so that the motion could be discussed. Discussion: M. Williams said that staff was not proposing to use that section at this time. S. Schectman stated that, under IRS rules, if a corporation makes a gift of a portion of an asset, sufficient value must be retained in the remaining asset so that the corporation is not conveying the whole value. She said that the District's tax counsel recommended retaining the rights contained in the easement document to comply with IRS requirements. Director Hanko suggested adding a new paragraph 4 stating, "Any such use to be reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors of the Open Space District." S. Schectman said she advised retaining the language as is in the easement. Director Hassett said that legal counsel's recommendation should be followed. Motion: Director Davey moved to vote on the question and to close the debate. Director Cyr seconded the motion. Discussion: N. Hanko said that she would withdraw her suggestion. Vote: On Director Nitzs motion, the vote was I in favor and 5 against. Motion: Director Davey moved to approve the General Manager's recommendation. Director Hassett seconded the motion. Discussion: Director Nitz said the document should clearly state the purpose of the easement and the financial impacts should be clarified. Vote: The motion to approve the General Manager's recommendation passed with a vote of 5 to 1, with Director Nitz voting against the motion. Meeting 08-17 Page 4 Motion: Director Davey moved to approve the Guadalupe Land Co. Board Chairman's recommendation. Director Hassett seconded motion. Discussion: Director Nitz asked if this complies with CEQA. S. Abbors said that there would be additional CEQA analysis in the event any improvements were ever developed on the property. Director Hanko stated that the Board members should be given tours of properties they are being asked to vote on. S. Abbors said that staff is working on a process to have Board members view properties. Vote: The motion passed with a vote of 5 to I with Director Nitz voting against the motion. B. Agenda Item No. 5— Study Session to Discuss Long-term Direction of the Administrative Office Remodel and Determine a Recommended Action S. Abhors introduced the study session and highlighted the timeframe and different possibilities to find the best use of space for District staff. He said staff will be working on a strategic plan to address future staffing and facility needs. T. Hugg gave an overview of the April 15, 2008 study session and reviewed various charts showing different options that staff reviewed based on Board direction. She reviewed relocation options and summarized options of the five remodel goals. S. Abbors reviewed the present options and possible solutions. He recommended building out the vacant tenant space now, complete critical repairs, deal with building health issues, conduct strategic planning and complete an evaluation of space requirements. Director Hassett said he supported the low-cost conversion of the tenant space. He said that staff should look for an option to purchase land and build from the ground up to fit the District's needs. T. Hugg stated that staff could examine this option and report back to the Board. Director Hassett stated that if our goal was to pursue a green building, most existing properties would need to be renovated. Director Davey agreed that the costs are not too different between building a new building verses buying and remodeling an existing building. She said that they should look at rehabilitating the current building and then build a new green building. This would show a commitment to the environment. Direct Nitz followed up on Director Hassett's comments and asked staff to look at the cost involved with Director Hassett's idea and suggested looking at Rancho San Antonio. Director Riffle commented that the Board needs to be fiscally responsible with public funds. He said that staff is the District's most important asset. He acknowledged the crisis of running out of workspace and that they should explore how people do their work and consider satellite offices. With high technology availability,the District Meeting 08-17 Page 5 could place staff in different locations throughout the District looking forward 15 to 20 years. He said they need to agree on a common time range and scope. He said he is currently involved in a green building project. It is very expensive, so Board needs to look at the best use of public funds. Director Hanko said her thinking was closer to Director Riffle's comments. She said she worries about the affect a new building would have on the public. She said she did like the idea of a green building and remodeling the tenant space. The Board asked the staff for their comments. D. Sanguinetti said that his thoughts were similar to Director Riffle's and said that they should think about the cost effectiveness of a new building and being careful using public funds. N. Perez said that it would be difficult to split the staff between buildings. She said that she did like the idea of buying land and building from the ground up. Director Nitz asked if the District purchased a building, will the options to make it green be similar. S. Abbors replied that staff had not looked at that option. This is project is data driven and staff needs to do the planning and report back to the Board. He said the health and safety of the office staff was most important and that the ducting work should be done. Director Hassett asked if the Board should have an Ad Hoc Committee to work with staff on the strategic planning. Director Hanko asked if the Board needed to take any action and S. Abbors said that no action was required. He said that staff will come back to the Board with contracts for approved projects for the building and that an Ad Hoc Committee would be an excellent idea. Director Hanko said they should wait to nominate members until Director Siemens was present. Director Nitz asked S. Abbors to summarize the study session and to send an e-mail to the Board members. IX. INFORMATIONAL/COMPENSABLE MEETING REPORTS A. Committee Reports: Director Riffle gave a summary of the Ad Hoc Board Appointee Evaluation Committee that met on July 16, 2008. Director Hassett reported on the LFPAC Committee meeting on July 11, 2008. B. Staff Reports: D. Sanguinetti gave an update on the Santa Clara County Sheriffs contract and that staff plans to bring the contract before the Board at the August 27 meeting. R. Jurgensen reported on the Good Neighbor Policy brochure. It was presented to the LFPAC members for their comments. Meeting 08-17 Page 6 M. Freeman gave a construction update on the bridge at El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve and that bids are due in August for the Fremont Older Open Space Preserve culvert. G. Sam said that several vacant positions will be filled in August including the two Administrative Assistant and the Communication Specialist positions. S. Schectman said a citizen from Los Gatos had discussed a ballot initiative at a previous meeting and asked the Board for a copy so that it could be dealt with as appropriate. S. Abbors said he went on a trip to Nebraska. He had a meeting with Audrey Rust and will be meeting with Ira Ruskin and Jay Thorwaldson. C. Board Member Reports: Director Davey said that tonight's meeting is her only compensable meeting. Director Cyr said that his compensable meetings included the July 9 and July 23 Board meetings, July 3 and July 16 Board Appointee Evaluation Committee and July 11 LFPAC meetings. He announced he filed his election forms today. Director Hassett said his compensable meetings included July 9 and July 23 Board meetings, and July I I LFPAC meeting. Director Nitz said his only compensable meeting was July 23 meeting. He said he had gathered signatures for his election. He said there is an open space initiative on the ballot in Redwood City. He asked a question about the FYI memo from K. Lenington. S. Abbors said that staff would report back to him with the answer. Director Riffle said his compensable meetings included the July 9 and July 23 Board meetings, and July 3 and July 16 Ad Hoc Board Appointee Evaluation Committee meetings. Director Hanko said that her compensable meetings included the July 9 and July 23 Board meetings, and July 11 LFPAC meeting. X. ADJOURNMENT Vice President Hanko adjourned the Special and Regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District at 10:06 p.m. Lisa Zadek Recording Secretary