HomeMy Public PortalAbout20090204 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) Midpeninsula Regional
Open Space District
Meeting 09-04
SPECIAL MEETING
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
FEBRUARY 4,2009
MINUTES
I. ROLL CALL
President Hanko called the Special Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Members Present: Pete Siemens, Mary Davey, Larry Hassett,Nonette Hanko, Jed Cyr,
Cecily Harris and Curt Riffle
Members Absent: None
Staff Present: S. Abbors, G. Sam, S. Schectman, D. Simmons, M. Williams, A. Ruiz,
R. Jurgensen, N. Perez, A. Speidel, D. Sanguinetti, B. Hsieh, S. Sommer, and E. Cuzick
11. MEETING DEDICATION—Director Davey asked that the meeting be dedicated to the memory
of Liz Duveneck-Dana. Ms. Dana was a strong supporter of and contributor to Hidden Villa.
111. ADOPTION OF AGENDA
Motion: Director Cyr moved adoption of the Agenda. Director Riffle seconded the
motion.
Vote: The motion passed 7 to 0.
IV. ADOPTION OF CONSENT CALENDAR
Director Riffle asked for clarification about the meeting of January 10, 2009 and asked if
there would be any action from the meeting. President Hanko said there would be action and
that she met with the General Manager to discuss how to proceed.
Motion: Director Siemens moved adoption of the Consent Calendar to Approve the
Special Board Minutes of January 10, 2009. Director Cyr seconded the
motion. The motion passed 7 to 0.
Meeting 09-04 Page 2
V. BOARD BUSINESS
A. Agenda Item 3—Review of Proposed Midveninsula Regional Open Space District
FY 2009-2010 Action Plan—(Report R-09-18)
S. Abbors reviewed the new format and discussed how the Action Plan is now tied to
the District's budget. He said this was a transition year and the Action Plan is a work
in progress. He said that A. Speidel managed the Action Plan process.
A. Speidel gave an overview of the process and said that staff reviewed the core
functions, on-going activities and key projects. She reviewed the overall District
budget. Director Riffle asked how the priorities were determined and S. Abbors
explained the difference between the three ratings of priorities. Director Siemens
asked if staff time would become actual budget numbers. A. Speidel said that
eventually staff time would equal a budget number.
Administration Department
G. Sam presented the Administration Department Action Plan and reviewed the I I
key projects. Director Hassett said he was glad to see projects moving towards
greening" the District and the information technology advances are very good.
Director Cyr said staff involvement in changes is important. Director Riffle asked
about the staff compensation survey and S. Abbors said he wanted to confirm the
Board's compensation philosophy. Director Siemens referred to page 10 and
suggested including grant funding tracking; on page 15, he said that safety should be
added; on page 13, he suggested that the documents be sorted by topic and be stored
on CD. Both Directors Hassett and Siemens, referring to page 18, preferred the high
definition interactive system option. Director Siemens said staff would need a policy
regarding what information and access is permitted on District laptops.
S. Schectman reviewed the Legal Program key projects. Director Siemens asked if
CalJPlA had template documents that the Risk Management function could use.
S. Schectman said that CalJP1A did have some template forms that are useful.
However, these forms are generally drafted for use by city governments. As a special
district, the District needs to tailor forms to comply with District requirements.
S. Schectman added that staff was working with East Bay Regional Parks Risk
Management and their risk management staff has been very helpful. Director Riffle
asked why the project on page 22 was classified as Priority 2. S. Schectman said it
was classified as Priority 2 to be consistent with its classification as Priority 2 under
the Real Property Action Plan section.
Real Property Department
M. Williams presented the Real Property Department key projects. Director Cyr
referred to page 13 and asked why a feasibility study was necessary. M. Williams
said there are two trail alternatives with some obstacles on one of the trails, and staff
needs to determine what the true alignment should be. Director Hassett asked for
more explanation on the proposed annual bid process. M. Williams described the
process to the Director's satisfaction. Director Davey asked if the Lobitos and Blue
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Brush property acquisitions would occur this year. M. Williams said that Blue Brush
would occur first. Director Riffle referred to page 11 and asked if it is an objective to
see the cost of purchasing new property. M. Williams said it was a goal and staff will
improve in this area for future acquisitions. Director Riffle said there would need to
be a discussion about whether the District should enter into the row-crop business.
Planning Department
A. Ruiz presented the Planning Department key projects. Director Hassett
commented it was an ambitious amount of work and he was concerned about staff
workload. He also said he would like to see a streamlined process for the Russian
Ridge Master Plan by establishing goals and then presenting the plan to the public.
Director Siemens asked if the Master Plan needed to be done and A. Ruiz said it was
an outstanding project. Director Siemens suggested putting it on hold and instead
focus on adding MOU's as a project. President Hanko stated that more discussion
was needed with input from the Planning Department. S. Schectman said there is a
LAFCo condition from 2004 creating an obligation to work on the Master Plan and
ROSS. A. Ruiz clarified the scope of staff work on the Master Plan. Director Hassett
said he thought Legal staff should take the lead on the MOD's project. Director
Riffle noted that out of 18 key projects, 12 were ranked as priority"I" and he said he
was concerned about staff bum out and suggested re-ranking the priorities.
Operations Department
D. Sanguinetti presented the Operations Department key projects. Director Cyr asked
what preserve was referenced on page 10 and D. Sanguinetti said it should reference
Fremont Older. Director Cyr referred to page 18 and asked if the budget amounts
corresponded to items 4 and 5. D. Sanguinetti said that was correct, but the budget
also includes projects not yet known about. Director Hassett referred to page 13 and
asked how the grant refers to the project completion. D. Sanguinetti said that the grant
does not refer to a date and A. Ruiz added that the current grant expires this year, but
the grant funds are currently frozen. S. Abbors said the project is within the District's
budget if it turns out that the District needs to pay for it to finish the project. Director
Riffle stated that the Operations staff is the face of the District and this fact is missing
from the Core Functions of the Department's Action Plan. Director Riffle said that
he did not see any mention of the wildlife corridor. S. Abbors made a note of that and
said it is essential for biodiversity planning. Director Riffle referred to page 14 and
asked which type of bums were planned, training or prescribed. D. Sanguinetti said
one of each. Director Riffle stated that certain project funding is tied to state funds,
which are currently frozen, and he asked how the projects are affected. S. Abbors
said that some of the frozen funds will be permanently frozen and that staff does not
know when and what funds will be released. He said that staff would provide the
Board with a list of grant-funded projects.
Public Affairs Department
R. Jurgensen presented the Public Affairs Action Plan and said there were 12 key
projects. Director Hassett referred to page 21 and asked if the ARMS program was
going into hibernation. R. Jurgensen said the volunteers who are signed up could
continue to work. Director Hassett referenced page 19 and suggested reaching out to
local homeowners near the Nature Center. He also suggested "borrowing" ideas from
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health organizations and not spend a lot of time analyzing data for the healthy trails
idea. Director Cyr pointed out a recent Newsweek article regarding changing
demographics and successful outreach efforts. R. Jurgensen said staff is scheduling
outreach opportunities to different cultural communities. Director Harris added that
Healthy Trails would help get a diverse community of different ages and ethnicities
on District lands. Director Riffle referred to page 6 and said that while thinking of
the 2012 financing measure election, District constituents need to understand the
District's core values. R. Jurgensen said staff completely agreed. S. Abbors gave an
example of a recent meeting he attended at El Sereno with the Montgomery
Homeowners Association where they discussed the ecological benefits of living near
District lands. Director Riffle said that as an organization, the District should refer to
"constituents"rather than "public." Director Siemens asked why the OEL's run the
program two days per week and R. Jurgensen explained the reason. Director Siemens
asked if schools outside of the District were invited and R. Jurgensen stated that only
schools within the District were invited. The program has become so popular that a
lottery was implemented to choose which schools would participate. President Hanko
said the District should promote geo-caching to young people to get them excited
about visiting the preserves.
The Board of Directors accepted the Action Plan staff report. No formal action was
required.
VI. ADJOURNMENT
President Hanko adjourned the special meeting of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula
Regional Open Space District at 10:30 p.m.
Lisa Zadek, Recording Secretary