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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20091118 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Meeting 09-30 SPECIAL MEETING BOARD OF DIRECTORS MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT NOVEMBER 18,2009 MINUTES CLOSED SESSION MEETING I. ROLL CALL-President Nonette Hanko called the Special Meeting to order at 5:34 p.m., and asked for the Roll Call Members Present: Pete Siemens,Nonette Hanko, Curt Riffle, Larry Hassett, Jed Cyr, and Cecily Harris Members Absent: Mary Davey Staff Present: Steve Abbors, Sue Schectman, Duncan Simmons, Mike Williams, David Sanguinetti, Sandy Sommer 11. CLOSED SESSION At 5:34 President Hanko announced that the Board was recessing to a closed session for the purpose of discussing Agenda Items Numbers 1, 2 and 3. PUBLIC SESSION MEETING 111. President Hanko called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:05 p.m., and asked for the Roll Call. Members Present: Pete Siemens, Jed Cyr, Nonette Hanko, Curt Riffle, Larry Hassett, and Cecily Harris Members Absent: Mary Davey Additional Staff Present: R. Jurgensen, A. Speidel, A. Ruiz, A. Spiegel, B. Congdon, G. Baillie, Z. Alexander, B. Crowley President Hanko stated that there were no items to report on for Closed Session Agenda Items 1, 2 and 3. Meeting 09-30 Page 2 IV. ORAL COMMUNICATION—There were none. V. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Motion: Director Riffle moved adoption of the Agenda. Director Siemens seconded the motion. The motion passed 6 to 0. VI. NEW STAFF INTRODUCTION A. Ruiz introduced two new Planning staff. She introduced Zachary Alexander, the new Planning Technician, and Brian Crowley, the new GIS Intern. She gave background information about each. The Board welcomed them to the District. VII. ADOPTION OF CONSENT CALENDAR Director Cyr referenced Revised Claim numbers 11511 and 11514. He thanked staff for arranging the transportation for the students of San Miguel School to visit the Nature Center. Motion: Director Cyr moved adoption of the Consent Calendar to approve the Revised Claims 09-19, and Written Communications. Director Riffle seconded the motion. The motion passed 6 to 0. VIII. BOARD BUSINESS A. Agenda Item 4—Authorization to Execute a New Communications Site Lease Agreement with the United States of America, acting through the Federal Aviation Administration of the Department of Transportation—(Report R-09-94) M. Williams presented the staff report on behalf of E. Cuzick, whom he said did the work along as with D. Simmons. He reviewed the terms of the 25-year lee with the FAA and showed slides of the area. Director Hassett asked for clarification about the defensible space surrounding the communications site. M. Williams provided further information. Director Siemens asked if District staff did the work and M. Williams said that staff coordinates and oversees the work. Director Hassett said he did not want to see the area denuded. S. Abbors said that fire equipment couldn't access the site if the roads are not cleared. President Hanko said that the whole Board shared Director Hassett's concerns and did not want the site denuded. Motion: Director Cyr moved approval to adopt Board Resolution No. 09-32 authorizing the Board President to execute a new Lease with the FAA. Director Riffle seconded the motion. The motion passed 6 to 0. Meeting 09-30 Page 3 B. Agenda Item 5—Extension of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Santa Clara County Office of the Sheriff and the District to Provide Law Enforcement Services on District Lands—(Report R-09-107) G. Baillie reviewed the staff report and said that the agreement would extend to March 31, 2010 and that the funding would cover multiple fiscal years. Director Riffle said he was in support. He asked how success is measured. G. Baillie said that a log is kept to record response times. He said that staff wants to review the data. He said that they also look at the patrol presence, especially in the Mt. Umunhum. area. Director Riffle asked how the rangers feel about the relationship. G. Baillie said that they are still studying whether it can be successful,but they do support extending the agreement through the end of the fiscal year. Director Riffle said that he would like to have a review before launching into the next phase. Director Siemens asked if there was any data prior to the contract they could review. G. Baillie said there was no data prior to the contract; however, he could ask the Sheriff's office to look at their records. Director Hassett said that the additional presence was important. He asked if the rangers could confirm seeing a presence in the area. G. Baillie said that staff knows they are physically present. S. Abbors said that at the Good Neighbor Policy meeting, neighbors commented that they have seen the Sheriff's patrol cars. Motion: Director Siemens moved approval to authorize the General Manager to approve the Amendment to the Memorandum of Understanding between the Santa Clara County Office of the Sheriff and the District for the provision of law enforcement services on District Lands extending the term until March 31, 2010 and authorizing additional costs for services in an amount not to exceed $50,000.00. Director Harris seconded the motion. The motion passed 6 to 0. C. Agenda Item 6—Approve Midyear Amendments to the Fiscal Year 2009-10 Action Plan and Budget—(Report R-09-122) Director Riffle, as chair of the Administration and Budget Committee, introduced the report and reviewed the committee's three recommendations. He said that all of the guidelines were met. S. Abbors said that the object is to tie the budget and the action plan together and to make the information as clear to the Board as possible. Director Riffle acknowledged the amount of work the Department Managers did. President Hanko thanked Director Riffle and the other committee members for their work and said that the information is much more inclusive than in the past. A. Speidel thanked staff, especially G. Baillie and E. Cuzick. She reviewed the process and showed slides of by-department budget changes. Director Hassett asked about the transfer of the Hawthorne property and asked if the endowment funds were received and how the funds were being accounted for. S. Schectman said the trust assets had not been distributed yet and that staff was talking Meeting 09-30 Page 4 with the Trustees. M. Williams added that when the funds are distributed, they will be given a separate budget code and the funds would be used specifically for that property. Director Hassett said he had a concern and question about spending on staff facilities and that there were large-ticket items coming up and how the District was budgeting for upcoming expenses. S. Abbors said that staff is looking at all expenditures over time and that he understood Director Hassett's concerns. Director Hassett said that he has thought about this issue and asked if the Board could look at these large expenses as acquisition-type funding. Director Riffle said that was an excellent suggestion and said that the Committee could work on this challenge. President Hanko said that this is a big concern and the next Committee members should address it. S. Abbors said that he would be meeting with M. Foster in January and said that borrowing can be used for these sorts of capital improvement projects. Director Siemens asked about the Planning limited term position for the site remediation project at Mt. Umunhum and asked if the staff would be added between now and April. A. Ruiz said they would be hiring a full time employee for a 2-year term focusing on the remediation project. Director Siemens asked if it was problematic to hire staff if funding is not received, and A. Ruiz said it would be, however, there are a couple of remediation projects that also need attention. Director Riffle said he liked the idea of a 2-year position. Director Siemens said that there needed to be a specific cut off date. Motion: Director Riffle moved that the Board accept the District Controller's Midyear Financial Report; approve Resolution No. 09-30 implementing amendments to the FY2009-10 Action Plan and to the FY2009-10 Budget in accordance with the Administration and Budget Committee Recommendation; and approve the Administration and Budget Committee's recommendations for department's Action Plan and Budget adjustments as described in the report. Director Siemens seconded the motion. Discussion: Director Siemens said that the report was very understandable. S. Abbors thanked the Board and said that this was the first time the midyear Action Plan and Budget were"married". He also complimented staff on adapting to this change. Vote: The motion passed 6 to 0. D. Agenda Item 7—Approval of a New Position of District Clerk in the Administration Office and Amend Fiscal Year 2009-10 Position Classification and Compensation Plan —(Report R-09-121 S. Abbors reviewed the staff report. He said that he looked at the organization's positions to see what was working and what was not. He reviewed the job duties for the Administration and Human Resources Manager position and said that the District Clerk part of this Manager's job description made it unusually difficult to successfully recruit for this position. He said the District Clerk is a specialized job and held its own critical functions. He said that funds for this position were approved in the mid-year budget adjustment. . .. ... .. . .... ... Meeting 09-30 Page 5 Director Riffle asked about the Assistant General Manager position. S. Abbors said that he wanted to hold off on looking to fill the Assistant General Manager position when he started and said he would not bring that position to the Board until the next fiscal year. Motion: Director Riffle moved approval of the new position of District Clerk in the Administration Department and to Amend the Fiscal Year 2009-10 Position Classification and Compensation Plan accordingly. Director Hassett seconded the motion. The motion passed 6 to 0. IX. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS i COMMITTEE REPORTS Administration and Budget Committee—Director Riffle, Chair, said that the Committee prepared the staff report for Agenda Item 6. Cooley Landing Ad Hoc Committee—Director Harris, Chair, said that they met at the site and looked at features and reviewed concepts that East Palo Alto is working on. Use and Management Committee—Director Hassett, Chair, said they met on November 17 at Monte Bello ridge. They looked at relocating the White Oaks trail. He said that staff did a wonderful job. He said remediating the old road systems would open up the area. STAFF REPORTS D. Sanguinetti reviewed an incident that occurred on November 17 on the PG&E Trail at Rancho San Antonio Count Park. He said the re ere was a good response from the Sheriffs department. R. Jurgensen said that on November 23 there will be a staffed table to provide information about the Sudden Oak Death treatments at Los Trancos. There will be signs and information available for the public. He said that the"elbow"tree will be sprayed. He said that photos for the photo contest are being received. He pointed out in the media clippings that seven press releases had been translated into seven different languages. Director Riffle asked if staff had received any feedback about the La Honda project, and R. Jurgensen said that he had not seen or heard any feedback. B. Congdon reminded the Board about the upcoming holiday lunch being held at the Portola Valley Town Center on December 9 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:30pm. A. Ruiz said that the Fletscher clean up was completed and a memo was included in the late FYIs. She acknowledged that G. Lausten did a wonderful job on this project. S. Abbors added that the Fletscher demolition was completed under budget and on time. A. Ruiz said that a volunteer is working on putting together a CEQA checklist to facilitate environmental review of District projects. S. Abbors pointed out several informational items included in the late FYIs, including the monthly field activity report, the Administration Office remodel project and the Skyline project update. He noted that the Administration Office project is nearing completion. i i I Meeting 09-30 Page 6 ` DIRECTOR REPORTS Directors Harris, Siemens, Riffle, Cyr, Hassett and President Hanko reported that they turned in their compensation sheets to the Clerk. Director Siemens said he attended the Use and Management Committee meeting at Monte Bello and said he appreciated staff's work. Director Cyr said he attended the Cooley Landing Ad Hoc Committee meeting and spoke with a member of the public who attended the meeting. President Hanko said she has been impressed and amazed at the organization of all of the committee meetings. X. ADJOURNMENT President Hanko adjourned the Special Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District at 8:25 p.m. Lisa Zadek, Recording Secretary