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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20090422 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Meeting 09-12 SPECIAL AND REGULAR MEETING BOARD OF DIRECTORS MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT APRIL 22,2009 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING I. ROLL CALL President Nonette Hanko called the Special Meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. She called the Roll. Members Present: Jed Cyr, Nonette Hanko, Mary Davey, Larry Hassett, Cecily Harris and Curt Riffle. Members Absent: Pete Siemens Staff Present: Steve Abbors, Sue Schectman, Duncan Simmons 11. CLOSED SESSION At 6:35 p.m., the Board recessed to the Special Meeting Closed Session for the purpose of discussing Agenda Item Number 1. The Closed Session concluded at 7:00 p.m. REGULAR MEETING 111. President Hanko called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:05 p.m., and asked for the Roll Call. President Hanko stated that there were no reportable items from the Closed Session discussion item 1. Members Present: Jed Cyr, Nonette Hanko, Mary Davey, Larry Hassett, Cecily Harris and Curt Riffle. Members Absent: Pete Siemens Additional Staff Present: A. Duong, A. Ruiz, D. Sanguinetti, R. Jurgensen, C. Cleve, L. Maze, C. Roessler, C. Koopman, K. Lenington, A. Speidel, M. Casterman, N. Perez, J. Andersen, G. Sam, and A. Jatczak. IV. ORAL COMMUNICATIONs There were none. Meeting 09-12 Page 2 V. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Motion: Director Riffle moved adoption of the Agenda. Director Cyr seconded the motion. The motion passed 6 to 0. VI. ADOPTION OF CONSENT CALENDAR Director Cyr suggested the word"were"be deleted from Director Davey's compensable meeting report on page 7 of the March 25, 2009 Board Minutes. Director Riffle referred to page 3 of the Minutes and said the third sentence in the first paragraph under item C needed to be re-worded to read, "He said he was pleased at the rate of decrease in the 7% guideline." Director Hassett asked about Revised Claim number 10158. Staff answered the question to his satisfaction. Motion: Director Cyr moved adoption of the Consent Calendar to approve the March 25, 2009 Board Minutes as corrected; and Revised Claims 09-08. Director Hassett seconded the motion. The motion passed 6 to 0 except for Revised Claims 10 179 & 10287 (AT&T). Directors Davey and Hanko,recused themselves from voting on the AT&T claims. The vote for Revised Claims 10179 & 10287 (AT&T)passed with a vote of 4 to 0. VIL Bomm BUSINESS A. Agenda Item 4—Demonstration of the District's Preserve Finder Web Tool—(Roort R-09-38) V. Gou demonstrated a new feature, the translation tool, recently launched on the District's website. She then reviewed and spoke about the Preserve Finder tool. She demonstrated a comparison between the previous and current version. She recognized Newton Chan, a Google Maps guru, also a teacher at Foothills College, for his contribution. She also recognized C. Cleve for her work on data processing and incorporating the GIS information into the tool. C. Cleve gave a brief overview on the steps it takes to update the Preserve Finder. V. Gou also reviewed possible future capabilities for the Preserve Finder tool. President Hanko thanked staff and said that she thought the tool was very enlightening. She said she could see the site being used by language departments at schools. Director Riffle said staff did a great job. He asked if staff had tested the translations. V. Gou said staff did,but there were limitations due to the tool being provided by a third party. Director Riffle asked if it is possible to track the number of times the translation tool is used and V. Gou said it is possible. Director Riffle asked if the tool can be used to identify certain vegetation on a trail. C. Cleve said they could see if this is possible. Director Hassett complimented the teamwork on this project. He asked if it would be possible to have the Operations staff to add trail closures. C. Cleve said it would be Meeting 09-12 Page 3 possible, especially notating the yearly seasonal trail closures. They could not do weekly updates. Director Cyr suggested adding a button so people can check the status of a trail. He said the map link and the translation tool are tremendous improvements. The Board accepted the report information and thanked staff for their work. I B. Agenda Item 5— Status R ort on Grassland Management at Russian Ride � g GPen Space Preserve—(Report R-09-39) C. Roessler said there is a link on the District's website about the plants and animals on the preserves. She said the K. Britt is working with a site called E-Nature and !I researching the possibility of a link to the District's website. C. Roessler introduced M. Casterman, the District's Natural Resources Intern, who worked on this project. She presented the report and reviewed the general goals for grassland management at the preserve. There are now about 3,000 acres in the preserve. She said her presentation addressed the 400 acres of grasslands along the ridge, but not the grasslands on the Mindego portion of the preserve. C. Roessler said that there have only been four burns in the past ten ears and explained p Y p the reasons more burns could not be held and what was learned from those that were held. She said one of the biggest lessons staff has learned is that a combination of techniques and methods are needed for successful grassland management. C. Riffle asked if there is a Russian Ridge Grassland Management plan, and C. Roessler said that there is a plan from 2001, but it is now out-of-date. C. Riffle asked when there will be a plan, which C. Roessler answered to his satisfaction. Director Hassett asked why burns did not happen more often. D. Sanguinetti said that was due to either other agencies' availability, or the political climate which prevented burns from occurring, and he gave some examples. S. Abbors gave an example of East Bay Regional Park District's excellent prescribed fire program. He said it is a very expensive endeavor,requiring specialized equipment and agreed with D. Sanguinetti that District staff faces significant challenges to consistent implementation of prescribed burns. He said that C. Roessler's report was excellent. Director Cyr said that Mindego Ridge has a huge thistle problem and asked if lessons learned at Russian Ridge would be transferred to other ridge areas, e.g. Mindego Ridge. C. Roessler said there's a difference between the types of thistles in these two areas. She said control methods being g used at Russian Ridge won't ne cessarily work at Mindego Ridge. Director Cyr interrupted and said he meant Montebello and not Mindego Ridge. C. Roessler said that the control g S methods would be similar on Montebello as they are on Russian Ridge. { I Meeting 09-12 Page 4 President Hanko said this is a very good report and that she enjoyed the field trip to see the plants. The Board accepted the report information and thanked staff for their work. C. Agenda Item 6—Approval of an Amendment to the Contract with Northgate Environmental Management, Inc., in the Amount of$30,000 to Provide Environmental Services and Oversight of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Cleanup Investigations at the Former Almaden Air Force Station and Determination that the Recommended Actions are Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act—(Report R-09-50) K. Lenington presented a PowerPoint presentation. He said he did not see the funds being spent all at once. The District's work is in support of the Army Corp's work. The Army Corps work under the Formerly Used Defense Site(FUDS)program is almost complete However, once all of the work under the FUDS program has been completed, substantial remedial work still need to be accomplished before the site will be safe enough to allow public access. Motion: Director Davey moved to amend the contract with Northgate Environmental Management, Inc., for an additional $30,000 for a total amount not to exceed $55,000 to provide environmental services and oversight of the U.S. Army Corps of p investigations Engineers' cleanup investi ations at the former Almaden Air Force Station in the Mt. � Umunhum area of Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve and determined that the recommended actions are categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) as set out in this report. Director Harris seconded the motion. The motion passed 6 to 0. D. Agenda Item 7—Approval of Contract with Go Native, Inc.,Not to Exceed $78,000 for Herbicide Application and Invasive Species Control at Mindego Ranch and Approval of Mitigated Negative Declaration and Mitigation Monitoring Program in Accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act— Report R-09-20) S. Abbors said he would request that the Board continue this item to the first meeting in May. He said this was a complicated project. He said that staff received a number of comments from the Cuesta La Honda Guild that require technical answers. He said that staff wants to meet with the community and explain the District's strategy for addressing the thistle infestation, while protecting their water supply. President Hanko asked if the Board should be present when staff meets with the Cuesta La Honda group. S. Abhors said that was not necessary. Director Hassett said there were two water intake structures on Mindego Creek, and he asked if any communication had occurred with the City and County of San Francisco . S. Abbors said that staff would follow up with San Francisco. i jC. Koopmann reviewed the staff report and spoke about the thistle problem and ways to control these invasive plants. He said staff selected a number of BMPs (Best Management Practices) for the property, and reviewed these items with the Board. He Meeting 09-12 Page 5 also reviewed the bidding process and said only two bids were received. He said that staff would be recommending award of contract to Go Native Inc. Director Hassett asked why and how the purple star thistle ruins grazing. C. Koopmann said that purple star thistle grows rapidly and outgrows native grasses. Director Hassett asked how much water was being extracted by the City and County of San Francisco and where the water was going. K. Lenington said that the City's log cabin boy camp was adjacent and that the well water was probably going to that site. Director Hassett asked about a winery and if staff knows what the winery is doing. K. Lenington said he heard that they desired to move to an all-organic operation. President Hanko asked about best management practices (BMPs) and if there is a regulatory agency that looks at BMP lists. K. Lenington replied that various agencies do review the District's BMPs. He said that they are reviewed and have been modified when required. He said all public agencies basically use the same BMPs. Director Riffle asked if infestations like these have been treated in the past. C. Koopmann said that this is the first time an infestation on a large scale has been recommended to be treated on District property. Director Riffle asked if there were a way to use biological controls. C. Koopmann said that goats and cows won't eat the thistle, and he gave a further explanation on the herbicide information he has gathered. Director Riffle asked when the District can start grazing the area and asked if they would need to wait up to seven years. C. Koopmann replied that the seed bank lasts 5-7 years and that the District should be able to have cattle on the land within 2-3 years. Director Riffle asked how the District will monitor their success. C. Koopmann said they would have a photographic history and a GIS monitoring of the treated areas to watch the progress. Motion: President Hanko moved to continue this item to the May 13, 2009 Board meeting. Director Hassett seconded the motion. The motion passed 6 to 0. E. Agenda Item 8— Informational Report on La Honda Creek Qpen Space Preserve Master Plan Project - (Report R-09-54) A. Ruiz presented the informational report on the draft master plan recommendations. She gave background history of the master plan project and reviewed focus group discussions. K. Lenington spoke about the conditions of the property, including a grazing lease, residences on the Driscoll Ranch property, sensitive biological resources on the property, the creation of conservation management units and specific planning and operations projects. A. Ruiz continued the presentation and discussed the public access analysis. She said staff had received many comments from the public. She reviewed the management of the preserve and said it would be unique to the District because they would be integrating public access into an actively grazing area. They would provide educational signage and provide additional training to docents and including information in the District newsletters. She showed four proposed parking areas at the preserve. She reviewed the proposed preserve access and trails which would increase the current trail Meeting 09-12 Page 6 mileage to over 30 miles of trails at the preserve. She said the trail density is in the lower range of the District's average trail density on other preserves. She said there would be hiking and equestrian trail use and limited bicycle use. A. Ruiz reviewed the four phases of the master plan, a thirty-year plan. She said staff looked at long term costs to manage the preserve, and she acknowledged that projects on this preserve will be competing with other projects on the District's overall preserve projects list. The draft master plan will be presented on May 19, 2009 in Half Moon Bay at 6:00 pm. President Hanko said that this is the best master plan she has reviewed and complimented A. Ruiz and staff. Director Hassett congratulated A. Ruiz. He said adding Driscoll Ranch mid-way has been a struggle for the whole master plan but staff has done an excellent job. He asked how much financial responsibility the District will hold to in regards to Mr. Driscoll's lease, specifically regarding public access. S. Schectman replied and said she would review the compatibility of the plan with the lease activities and return to the Board. A. Ruiz reviewed proposed dog access to the preserve, which is a concern to Mr. Driscoll. Director Davey said that the Board appreciated all of the work staff had done. She said this is the first time there has been an executive summary of the master plan and presentation. She said it will be important to listen to the public comments,but to remember that the neighbors in the area are not paying taxes toward the costs of the management of the preserve. President Hanko thanked the committee. Director Harris asked M. Williams to point out the Prop 12 grants on the wall map. M. Williams showed her the area. Director Cyr said the master plan was a fantastic document and very thorough. Director Riffle said he was the third member on the committee, and he has enjoyed working on this project. He said that this will be the first preserve opening up in the coast side area. He asked the Board to think about the significance of this plan and the amount of public input received. He asked A. Ruiz how staff reached out to the different user communities. L. Maze explained how the District reached out to various user groups. Director Hassett commented on the public outreach, but said that the typical hiker group was not contacted as they are not as organized as a group. R. Jurgensen said that their goal is to have a cross-section of users at the meeting,but he said they cannot predict who will attend. Director Harris asked why Half Moon Bay was chosen for the site of the hearing. A. Ruiz replied that part of the preserve is in the coast side protection area, and they want to reach out to that community. She said that an additional meeting could be on the bay side. Meeting 09-12 Page 7 Director Riffle said that the committee has received a lot of feedback and he encouraged Board members to review the feedback from the public. A. Ruiz said that staff is compiling the comments and plans to send them to the Board on a regular basis. S. Schectman replied to Director Hassett's question about the District's financial exposure in regards to Mr. Driscoll's lease and answered the question to his satisfaction. The Board accepted the report information and thanked staff for their work. VIII. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS COMMITTEE REPORTS LEGISLATION,FUNDING AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: Director Cyr, chair, gave a report on the recent committee meeting on April 10. He referred to the installation of a plaque for the airplane crash site, consideration of a picnic table and refinement of the District's policy on site naming. He presented a memo prepared by staff about memorial benches. He said they also reviewed the Good Neighbor Policy brochure. STAFF REPORTS S. Abbors indicated that tonight was G. Sam's last District meeting, and he thanked him for his work at the District. He introduced Anna Jatczak as the Interim Human Resources and Administration Manager, and he gave some background information about her. A. Ruiz reported that the District received a grant in the amount of$315,000 for the Sierra Azul mine site, the Hicks Flat site. The funds will cover the erosion control and staff time. The work will begin next fiscal year. DIRECTOR REPORTS Director Riffle said his compensable meetings included the Special Meeting on April 2, the Use and Management meeting on April 6, Regular Board meeting on April 8 and tonight's meeting (4/22). He said he took a docent led bicycle tour at El Corte de Madera, and it was a great experience. He also hiked at Russian Ridge that was also a great adventure and visited the Daniels Nature Center. He said there was a lot of activities there. Director Harris said her compensable meetings were the Special Meetings on April 2 and April 6, the Regular Meeting on April 8, the meeting on April 10, and tonight's meeting(4/22). She announced the government's announcement on bond sales in the news, and the bond acts are un-frozen. She said 5,000 projects are un-frozen. She visited her favorite preserve and enjoyed the tour of Russian Ridge and Mindego with C. Roessler and S. Abbors. Director Davey said her compensable meetings included the Special Meeting on April 2, the Use and Management Committee Meeting on April 6, the Regular Meeting on April 8, and tonight's meeting(4/22). She said today was Earth Day. She met the president of the Land Trust Alliance at Sernpervirens, and she said that he said it is a good time to purchase land. She spoke with Joe Simitian who thanked the District for going to Sacramento. He said he will support the District's effort to not annex a portion of Ward 2 to Santa Cruz County Open Space District. Meeting 09-12 Page 8 Director Cyr said his compensable meetings included the Special Meeting on April 2, the Use and Management Committee Meeting on April 6, the Regular Meeting on April 8, and tonight's meeting(4/22). He said it was a wonderful tour at Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve with C. Roessler and S. Abbors. Director Hassett said his compensable meetings included the Special Meeting on April 2,the Use and Management and Special Meetings on April 6, the Regular Meeting on April 8, and tonight's meeting(4/22). He said that staff should add"Facilities Ad Hoc Committee"to the Board Committee Form. He handed out invitations to an open house at Wisnom's store on April 30. President Hanko said her compensable meetings included Special Meetings on April 2 and April 6, the Regular Meeting on April 8, the meeting on April 10 (sitting in for Director Siemens), and tonight's meeting(4/22). She attended the Tall Tree Award because Carol Harrington was being honored. Ms. Harrington was the original Public Affairs Manager at the District. She reminded the Board about the Artemis Gintzon event on May 16 and she said May 11 was the deadline to RSVP. She told how she spent Earth Day thanking the League of Conservation Voters via her computer. IX. ADJOURNMENT At 10:43pm, President Hanko adjourned the Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. Lisa Zadek, Recording Secretary