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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20090610 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Meeting 09-18 REGULAR MEETING BOARD OF DIRECTORS MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT JUNE 10,2009 MINUTES REGULAR MEETING I. ROLL CALL President Nonette Hanko, called the Regular Meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. and asked for the Roll Call. Members Present: Nonette Hanko, Mary Davey, Larry Hassett, Cecily Harris, Pete Siemens and Curt Riffle. Members Absent: Jed Cyr Staff Present: S. Abhors, S. Schectman, D. Simmons A. Duong, A. Ruiz, D. Sanguinetti, R. Jurgensen, A. Speidel, A. Jatczak, M. Williams, A. Spiegel, D. Danielson, K. Lenington, E. Simmons, G. Baillie, L. Paterson, T. Hugg, J. Mort, K. Carlson, R. Perry and J. Jones. 11. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS There were none. 111. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Motion: Director Riffle moved adoption of the Agenda. Director Hassett seconded the motion. The motion passed 6 to 0. IV. NEW EMPLOYEE INTRODUCTION A. Spiegel introduced the new Training and Safety Officer, Jeffery Griffith-Jones, and gave some background information about him. The Board welcomed J. Griffith-Jones to the District. V. ADOPTION OF CONSENT CALENDAR Motion: Director Siemens moved adoption of the Consent Calendar to approve the May 13, 2009 Regular Meeting Board Minutes and the May 19, 2009 Special Meeting Board Minutes; Agenda Item 4: Resolution No. 09-18 Meeting 09-18 Page 2 Commemorating the 20'h Anniversary of the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council's First Trail Dedication, and Revised Claims 09-10. Director Hassett seconded the motion. The motion passed 6 to 0. VI. BoARD BUSINESS A. Agenda Item 5—Determination that the Recommended Action is Categorically Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act(CEQA) and Authorization for the General Manager to Execute a Contract with Knapp Architects, Inc. for Historical Architectural, Landscape, and Engineering Consulting Services in an Amount Not to Exceed $51,400 to Complete the Programming and Existing Conditions Data Collection Phase of the Alma College Conditions Assessment Project—(Report R-09-47) E. Simmons presented a PowerPoint presentation, including photos of the Alma College area. She gave a brief history of the property and specifically discussed the three main structures of the focused assessment. She reviewed the RFP process and said that staff recommends Knapp Architects, Inc. Director Riffle commended E. Simmons on the presentation. He asked if the first step is the creation of a vision for the property. E. Simmons said that the consultant will help provide information that will assist staff in creating the vision. Director Riffle asked if there were any partners to assist the District. E. Simmons said that they will apply for funding, specifically grant programs for historic preservation. She added that staff did apply for a grant from the Santa Clara County Historical Commission in 2007,but funding was not granted at that time. Director Riffle noted that this property is close to Los Gatos and an asset to that area and he asked about a letter the District received assessing the area. S. Schectman replied that staff has cured an error noted in the letter and that they had not received any further communication. Director Hassett asked about the timing of this project and how it relates to the Master Plan process. A. Ruiz said that this project remains consistent with the recommendations coming before the Board relating to the Master Plan. Director Siemens asked several questions about the definition of terms used and E. Simmons answered his questions to his satisfaction. Motion: Director Davey moved to determine that the recommended action is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) as set forth in the report; and authorize the General Manager to execute a contract with Knapp Architects, Inc. for historical architectural, landscape, and engineering services in an amount not to exceed $51,400 to complete the Programming and Existing Conditions Data Collection Phase of the Alma College Conditions Assessment Project. Director Riffle seconded the motion. The motion passed 6 to 0. B. Agenda Item 6—Presentation of Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District's Employee Retention Survey Results—(Report R-09-79) Meeting 09-18 Page 3 S. Abbors introduced the staff report and said the staff survey was completed in January 2008. He noted that Sara Tickler, one of the consultants that analyzed the survey results would review the findings of the survey. He noted that District staff did not edit the survey report. A. Speidel reviewed the background of the survey. She said that the response rate was very high with 94%of staff participating. Sara Tickler reviewed the structure of the survey. She said that the District's staff has a level of engagement that made analyzing the survey very exciting. She pointed out specific elements to look at, and she summarized the employee comments by showing graphs and examples of the analysis. Ms. Tickler said that the survey revealed heartfelt responses by staff, and she suggested that focus groups would use the survey as a baseline to start communications. She said that staff had a lot of creative ideas. President Hanko said that the Board had waited a long time for this report. Director Riffle asked if this would be an annual survey, or if it would be done on a regular basis. S. Abbors said that management had not yet considered doing another survey,but that staff was focusing initial efforts on interpreting and acting on the information received from this survey. Director Davey thanked staff and she thanked Ms. Tickler for the presentation. She said that the survey showed that staff was engaged and added that the Board should always call for an exchange of information. She said she wanted staff to know what is going on. S. Abbors said that staff will group information together and present recommendations to the Board. He said the District had established ab shed a Team Think Tank"that might possibly be involved in some way. He also indicated that any efforts resulting from the survey would need to be introduced into the Budget and Action Plan process. Director Riffle asked when the Board will know what is happening. S. Abbors said that there will be a Board report and that he would plan a timeline with staff with the goal to have information to the Board this summer. Public Comment: Kerry Carlson, President of the Park Rangers Association, said he is a 24-year employee. He said staff is skeptical because past comparisons were with other agencies that were"cherry picked". He said to get more staff engaged, a time line needs to be developed and given to staff and that will lead to more buy in. He said he appreciated the fact that management did not edit the survey. Rick Parry, President of the Field Employees Association, thanked management and the Board for the information. He said he receives a lot of questions from staff. He said he is a 5-year employee. He thanked management for listening. Jim Mort, Director at Large of the Field Employees Association, said he is a 7-year employee. He said that some staff does feel like they are over worked. He said he knew of staff that left the District specifically because of the District's salary and benefits Meeting 09-18 Page 4 package. He said the large number of staff participation was due to the fact that employees believe in the purpose of the District. No formal Board action was required. The Board accepted staff's report. C. Agenda Item 7—Presentation of FY 2008-09 Action Plan Year-End Report—(Report R-09-65) S. Abbors said there was a revised format of the Action Plan. A. Speidel thanked the managers and said the new name for this report is now the Action Plan Year End Report. The Board decided that in order to save time, they would ask staff questions, if they had any. Director Riffle referred to the Legal section, page 6, and asked when the revision of the entire Use and Management Planning Process would occur. S. Schectman said that it will be in the 2010-11 Fiscal Year Action Plan. Director Riffle asked if there was a way to track items so they are not lost. A. Speidel said that she is working on a tracking system. S. Abbors added that staff tracks all Board assignments. He said that they are adjusting how the District looks at the budget and action plan. He said there would be quarterly updates, especially to show projects that"Walk-in-the-door." President Hanko suggested adding tabs for each department's section. She said that the Board should review the complete Board policies. Director Harris said it was a great report. She referred to the Planning section, page 2, and was concerned that staff did not loose track of the Accessibility Plan for Trails. A. Ruiz replied that this was an active project. Director Siemens said he liked the new format because it was organized and succinct. He did suggest some minor changes to show the progress of projects. He said it would be great to have a master list of projects. Director Hassett said he agreed with the Board's comments. He added that he would like to see consecutive page numbering rather than each section having individual page numbers. Director Riffle said that staff has accomplished a great deal in fiscal year 08-09. Director Davey agreed that an amazing amount of work had been completed. No formal Board action was required. The Board accepted staff s report. D. Agenda Item 8—Approve the Draft Good Neighbor Brochure"A Guide for Our Open Srace Neighbors" and the Accompanying 1-page Mailer—(Report R-09-8 1) R. Jurgensen reviewed the sections of the Good Neighbor Brochure and the one page mailer to be sent out. Meeting 09-18 Page 5 President Hanko asked if staff had solicited any feedback on the draft brochure from constituents. R. Jurgensen said he had not received anything. Director Harris asked if the brochure will be available for the annual meeting and R. Jurgensen said it would be and that the meeting would be specifically about the Good Neighbor Policy. Director Riffle said he was concerned about the brochure becoming out of date and asked how expensive it was to produce. R. Jurgensen said the cost was $900 for 500 brochures. Director Siemens asked if there had been any thought to print fewer brochures. R. Jurgensen said that the price was negligible for reducing the amount of brochures being printed. Director Hassett asked some questions about the one-page mailer that R. Jurgensen answered satisfactorily. Director Hassett asked about the last sentence of the brochure and asked if it needed to be there. S. Schectman said that she recommended that the brochure contain that note and that a similar statement is in other District policies. Motion: Director Siemens moved approval of the final draft Good Neighbor Brochure, "A Guide for Our Open Space Neighbors"and the accompanying 1-page mailer. Director Harris seconded the motion. The motion passed 6 to 0. VII. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS COMMITTEE REPORTS—There were none. STAFF REPORTS S. Abbors announced that A. Ruiz had been appointed Planning Manager, adding that she is very organized and is good at anticipating the needs of the department and the District. He said he had a positive meeting with Audrey Rust of POST and said they talked about on-going projects, possible funding opportunities and the potential creation of a foundation. He said that the Mindego issues regarding the Council Circle had been resolved. He said he spoke with Mike Potter, an Open Space Authority Board member regarding a funding measure. He said Mr. Potter was receptive to having a joint meeting with their two Boards. Director Siemens asked if the District Board can only meet within its own District. S. Schectman said that if there is proper noticing of the meeting under the Brown Act, then a Board can meet outside of its boundary. S. Abbors said he met with City Manager Carl Cahill of Los Altos Hills and had a tour of their facilities and walked some trails. Mr. Cahill asked about management around the barn and S. Abbors; told him that D. Sanguinetti would be in touch. A. Ruiz said that an agenda item for a future Board meeting would be about the staging of the new kitchen and phase 2 of the construction project. She said the second public hearing for the La Honda Master Plan was being held on Tuesday, June 16 at the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos. Director Harris asked how the Hiller Museum was chosen and A. Ruiz said it was available. D. Sanguinetti said that 8,000 marijuana plants were located near Sierra Azul by the Santa Clara County Drug Force. He said District staff was working with the agency. He said he sent a Meeting 09-18 Page 6 contract extending the Santa Clara County Sheriff offices services and the extension would go through November 30. He said there will be a report to the Board in October about the contract. G. Baillie said the prescribed bum was very successful at Rancho de Guadalupe. It was the first bum in three years and the weather was perfect. He thanked the Board and said that the neighbors thanked staff for the notification. He said that the Russian Ridge bum was scheduled for July 8. Director Riffle asked for an update on the radio situation. D. Sanguinetti said that the situation was still in turmoil and explained how staff was working to keep the project moving forward. Director Riffle requested updates at each Board meeting. M. Williams said that the June 24 meeting would be held in Half Moon Bay at 6:30 pm and the main agenda items would be the POST-Blue Brush and Roberts's properties. He pointed out a late FYI letter addressed to M. Davey and said that a draft response would be available at the next meeting. He said he attended the Agriculture Advisory meeting and said that the relationship is improved. He announced that he completed the California Aids Ride and that it was a lot of fun. Director Riffle asked about the Bear Creek stables tenant. M. Williams said that staff met with the tenants, including former staff member Del Woods, and he said that E. Cuzick was the project manager. He said that the tenants were happy to have a main contact in E. Cuzick. R. Jurgensen attended the California Special District and League of Cities joint meeting and he met with the delegations. He reviewed the state budget and said it was a serious situation. D. Sanguinetti said that he and C. Koopmann attended the Farm Bureau meeting. He said the Farm Bureau meets once a month and that the District is committed to having a representative at each meeting. President Hanko said she received a call from Jack Olson asking if a Board member could attend their meeting and she said that Director Hassett was willing to attend and Director Harris was also available. S. Abbors said he spoke with Mr. Olson and asked for a schedule of the Farm Bureau's meetings. A. Jatczak said that President Hanko needed to appoint a Secretary pro tem. President Hanko appointed Director Harris. DIRECTOR REPORTS Director Davey attended a memorial for Liz Duveneck and said it was a celebration of her life. She said that negotiations were going on between Hidden Villa and the District and that time will tell if it works out. She asked if the District Board should send a communication in support of the County to take over the management of the Henry Coe State Park. S. Abbors said that he was working with the County supporting it. Director Davey said that the District should be on the record to keep parks open. She said she turned in her compensable meeting report to the District Clerk. Director Hassett congratulated A. Ruiz. He said he would attend the August 9 South Skyline Association meeting. He said he turned in his compensable meeting report to the District Clerk. Meeting 09-18 Page 7 Director Riffle said he would be missing the next two Board meetings. He said he turned in his compensable meeting report to the District Clerk. He asked if there was any change in the format for the second reading public meeting for the La Honda Creek Master Plan. A. Ruiz said the meeting would be in basically the same format and the purpose was to receive public comment. S. Abbors added that the follow-up meeting will be at the Administration Office to deliberate over the public comments. He said that staff will then prepare the CEQA documents and then the Board will certify the plan. Director Harris attended the Bay Trail anniversary event and presented the Board's resolution. In return the Bay Trail group gave the District a certificate. She said a few hundred people attended and that there was talk to rename the trail. She said she turned in her compensable meeting report to the District Clerk. Director Siemens said he turned in his compensable meeting report to the District Clerk. President Hanko told about her recent trip to Hawaii. She said she turned in her compensable meeting report to the District Clerk, V111. ADJOURNMENT At 9:35pm, President Hanko adjourned the Regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. Lisa Zadek, Recording Secretary