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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20200311 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) March 11, 2020 Board Meeting 20-06 *Approved by the Board of Directors on April 6, 2020 SPECIAL AND REGULAR MEETING BOARD OF DIRECTORS MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT Administrative Office 330 Distel Circle Los Altos, CA 94022 Wednesday, March 11, 2020 APPROVED MINUTES* SPECIAL MEETING – CLOSED SESSION President Holman called the special meeting of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District to order at 6:05 p.m. ROLL CALL Members Present: Jed Cyr, Larry Hassett, Karen Holman, Zoe Kersteen-Tucker, Yoriko Kishimoto, Pete Siemens, and Curt Riffle Members Absent: None Staff Present: General Manager Ana Ruiz, General Counsel Hilary Stevenson, Real Property Manager Mike Williams, Senior Real Property Agent Allen Ishibashi Public comments opened at 6:05 p.m. No speakers present. Public comments closed at 6:05 p.m. 1. CONFERENCE WITH REAL PROPERTY NEGOTIATORS (Government Code Section 54956.8) Property: 330 Distel Circle, Los Altos, Santa Clara County APN: 170-04-051 Agency Negotiator: Allen Ishibashi, Senior Real Property Agent Negotiating Party: Diane New, Santa Clara County and Chris Jordan, City of Los Altos Under Negotiation: Purchase Terms Meeting 20-06 Page 2 ADJOURNMENT President Holman adjourned the special meeting of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District at 6:58 p.m. REGULAR MEETING President Holman called the regular meeting of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District to order at 7:02 p.m. President Holman reported the Board met in closed session, and no reportable action was taken. ROLL CALL Members Present: Jed Cyr, Larry Hassett, Karen Holman, Zoe Kersteen-Tucker, Yoriko Kishimoto, Pete Siemens, and Curt Riffle Members Absent: None Staff Present: General Manager Ana Ruiz, General Counsel Hilary Stevenson, Assistant General Manager Susanna Chan, Assistant General Manger Brian Malone, District Clerk/Assistant to the General Manager Jennifer Woodworth, Engineering & Construction Manager Jay Lin, Capital Project Manager III Leigh Guggemos, Planning Manager Jane Mark, Public Affairs Manager Kori Skinner, Governmental Affairs Specialist Joshua Hugg District Clerk/Assistant to the General Manager Jennifer Woodworth confirmed with Director Kishimoto that there is a meeting agenda posted at her location, that the location is reasonably accessible to the public, such that any member of the public could participate, and that no members of the public are currently at the teleconference location that would like to participate in the public comment portion of the meeting. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS No speakers present. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Motion: Director Cyr moved, and Director Kersteen-Tucker seconded the motion to adopt the agenda. ROLL CALL VOTE: 7-0-0 CONSENT CALENDAR Public comment opened at 7:06 p.m. No speakers present. Meeting 20-06 Page 3 Public comment closed at 7:06 p.m. Director Cyr pulled Item 4 from the Consent Calendar. Motion: Director Cyr moved, and Director Riffle seconded the motion to approve the Consent Calendar, except for Item 4. ROLL CALL VOTE: 7-0-0 1. Approve March 3, 2020 Minutes 2. Claims Report 3. Approval of the Funding and Acquisition Agreement between the County of Santa Clara and Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District to support the Purchase of the former Gupta-Khan Property as an Addition to El Sereno Open Space Preserve located at 17045 Bohlman Road in unincorporated Santa Clara County (Assessor’s Parcel Number 517-24-030) (R-20-24) General Manager’s Recommendation: 1. Determine that the recommended actions are categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) as set out in this report. 2. Adopt the attached Resolution authorizing the General Manager to negotiate and execute a Funding and Acquisition Agreement with the County of Santa Clara for a County contribution of half the purchase price of the former Gupta-Khan Property, or $192,500, in exchange for the conveyance of a conservation easement. 4. Award of Contract for Remediation Design of a ranch debris cleanup site at the former Madonna Creek Ranch located in Miramontes Ridge Open Space Preserve (R-20- 23) General Manager’s Recommendation: 1. Authorize the General Manager to enter into a contract with Rincon Consultants Inc., for hazardous materials consulting services and remediation plan development to implement the Madonna Creek Ranch Debris Cleanup for a not-to-exceed base amount of $63,365. 2. Authorize a 10% contingency of $6,337 to be reserved for unanticipated issues, thus allowing the total contract amount not-to-exceed $69,702. Senior Resource Management Specialist Aaron Hébert explained that the changes to the General Manager’s recommendation reflect the recommendation by the auditor that the project is not eligible for Measure AA funding at this time. Director Kersteen-Tucker spoke in favor of the item and shared comments of support of the item from Lennie Roberts. Director Hassett inquired if a past property owner could be responsible for the costs of the cleanup. Meeting 20-06 Page 4 Mr. Hebert reported that the District cannot confirm when the materials were deposited, so would be unable to recover costs. Motion: Director Kersteen-Tucker moved, and Director Cyr seconded the motion to approve the General Manager’s recommendation. ROLL CALL VOTE: 7-0-0 5. Adoption of a Records Retention Schedule (R-20-06) General Manager’s Recommendation: Adopt a resolution approving the records retention schedule and authorizing destruction of certain records consistent with California law. BOARD BUSINESS 6. Approval of Basis of Design recommendations to complete the Deer Hollow Farm White Barn Structural Stabilization Project at Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve (R-20-27) Capital Project Manager III Leigh Guggemos described the structures and their purposes and detailed the proposed modifications and repairs to the various structures on the site. Director Siemens suggested the District may want to consider painting the entire barn to support long-term maintenance. Director Hassett inquired regarding the total costs for restoring the Deer Hollow Farm White Barn. Ms. Ruiz reported on the various costs being funded by contributions from the City of Mountain View, as well as a generous outside donation from the Tindall Family that came to the District and the Friends of Deer Hollow Farm. Director Siemens spoke in support of conducting additional repairs to prevent water intrusion. Director Hassett commented on the proposed metal roof. Mr. Guggemos reported that the metal roof is more fire resistant and would likely be less expensive than a wooden roof. Director Hassett suggested alternative options for replacing the staircase that may be more practical than an attic ladder. Ms. Ruiz suggested the Deer Hollow Farm staff could test out various ladder options to determine which would be most appropriate for their use. The Board members discussed various options for replacing the current staircase. President Holman inquired why another firm was contracted to complete the historic assessment instead of continuing with Page & Turnbull, who had completed an initial assessment. Meeting 20-06 Page 5 Mr. Guggemos reported the additional assessment was needed to determine if the White Barn was individually historically significant. Planning Manager Jane Mark reported Page & Turnbull is not currently under contract with the District but is a subcontractor for other District consultants. President Holman questioned the rationale for assessing the White Barn separately from the entire preserve. Director Siemens commented on the District’s response to the historic assessment and spoke in favor of staff’s selection of repairs to preserve the current appearance of the White Barn. Director Hassett suggested interpretive signage to explain the significant partnership involved in making the repairs. Director Kishimoto spoke in support of the current staircase. Ms. Ruiz reported staff can look at ladder options Public comments opened at 8:14 p.m. No speakers present. Public comments closed at 8:14 p.m. Motion: Director Kersteen-Tucker moved, and Director Riffle seconded the motion to approve the structural stabilization measures for the Deer Hollow Farm White Barn as recommended in the Basis of Design Report prepared by Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc., dated December 18, 2019. Friendly Amendment: Director Hassett offered a friendly amendment to add signage to inform the public of the repairs and the funding contributions. Directors Kersteen-Tucker and Riffle accepted the friendly amendment. ROLL CALL VOTE: 7-0-0 7. Legislative Action Recommendations (R-20-26) Governmental Affairs Specialist Joshua Hugg described the District’s legislative program, its purpose, and reviewed the District’s legislative priorities for the upcoming 2020-21 legislative session, including supporting efforts to eliminate the use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, effective guidelines for wildland fuel reduction, and supporting wildlife and trail corridors. Additionally, the District seeks to strengthen organizational capacity and long-term financial sustainability to fulfill the mission, such as through a potential climate change bond, Proposition 68 implementation, and issuance of green bonds. Mr. Hugg reported regional priorities include seeking grant and funding opportunities through implementation of several regional funding measures, such as San Francisco Bay Restoration Meeting 20-06 Page 6 Authority Measure AA and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Measure B. Federal priorities include advocating for fully funding the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, supporting policies that protect and designate national monuments within our region, and supporting habitat connectivity projects. Public comments opened at 8:32 p.m. No speakers present. Public comments closed at 8:32 p.m. Motion: Director Riffle moved, and Director Siemens seconded the motion to approve the recommended list of legislative actions for the 2020 state legislative session. ROLL CALL VOTE: 7-0-0 INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM • Interest on Measure AA Bond Proceeds • Implementation Update: Rancho San Antonio Multimodal Access Study & Short-Term Measures INFORMATIONAL REPORTS A. Committee Reports No Committee reports. B. Staff Reports Ms. Ruiz reported the La Honda Public Access Working Group met on March 5, 2020 and voted to forward a recommendation to the Planning and Natural Resources Committee. Staff was interviewed by Doug McConnell from Open Roads to discuss the Ravenswood Bay Trail Connection and the importance of active land management to protect and preserve regional open space lands and the sensitive natural resources. C. Director Reports The Board members submitted their compensatory reports. Director Kersteen-Tucker reported her attendance at the March San Mateo County Farm Bureau meeting. Additionally, she recently toured the Figone farmlands to learn more about historic farming on the property. Director Kishimoto reported she attended a forum on Lehigh Quarry hosted by Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian. Meeting 20-06 Page 7 ADJOURNMENT President Holman adjourned the regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District at 8:42 p.m. ________________________________ Jennifer Woodworth, MMC District Clerk