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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20100210 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Meeting 10-05 SPECIAL AND REGULAR MEETING BOARD OF DIRECTORS MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT FEBRUARY 10,2010 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING I. ROLL CALL President Mary Davey called the Special Meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. She called the Roll Call. President Davey stated that the Board would convene a Closed Session for the purpose of discussing Closed Session Agenda Items No.I and 2. Members Present: Pete Siemens, Mary Davey, Cecily Harris, Jed Cyr, and Curt Riffle. Members Absent: Nonette Hanko and Larry Hassett Staff and Consultants Present: Steve Abbors, Sue Schectman, Duncan Simmons, Mike Williams (Agenda Item No. 1), Richard Taylor, Bill Beaman, Gary Black, Ana Ruiz, Tina Hugg, David Sanguinetti (Agenda Item No. 2) 11. CLOSED SESSION The Closed Session commenced at 5:30 p.m. and concluded at 6:55 p.m. REGULAR MEETING Ill. ROLL CALL President Davey called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and asked for the Roll Call. Members Present: Mary Davey, Pete Siemens, Cecily Harris, Curt Riffle, and Jed Cyr. Members Absent: Nonette Hanko and Larry Hassett Additional Staff Present: R. Jurgensen, B. Malone, A. Duong, B. Crowley, G. Baillie, E. Simmons, T. Walz, B. Congdon. IV. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS—There were none. V. ADOPTION OF AGENDA r � Meeting 10-05 Page 2 Motion: Director Cyr moved approval of the Agenda. Director Riffle seconded the motion. The motion passed 5 to 0. VI. ADOPTION OF CONSENT CALENDAR Director Riffle gave a correction on Page 7 of the Minutes. He also asked for an explanation of Revised Claim number 11999, which staff answered to his satisfaction. Motion: Director Riffle moved approval of the Consent Calendar to approve the Board Minutes dated January 13, 2010, Agenda Item 4 Appointment of Maze& Associates as the District's Auditor for FY 2009-10; and Revised Claims 10-03. Director Siemens seconded the motion. The motion passed 5 to 0. VII. BOARD BUSINESS A. Agenda Item 5—Consider Adoption of a Mitigated Negative Declaration and Mitigation Monitoring Program for the El Corte de Madera Creek Parkin Staging Area and Trails Project in Accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act and Approval of an Amendment to the Use and Management Plan for El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve—(Report R-10-35) President Davey said that the Board has received public comments on the project, and she thanked the public for participating. She reviewed how the report would be presented and how the public can participate in providing public comments. T. Hugg presented the staff report. She showed a PowerPoint slide presentation indicating a map and photos of the preserve and the project. She reviewed the existing parking conditions for the preserve. She said that four of the alternative parking sites assessed by staff did not meet the project objectives. She reviewed the proposed site that includes 65 parking spaces and 4 equestrian trailer parking spaces. Staff located a safe Bay Area Ridge Trail crossing, showed the location, and stated that it meets the line of site requirements. A negative declaration under CEQA was released in October 2009 for public review and public comments have been received. All public comments have been provided to the Board. In addition, staff prepared a Response to Comments document that was included with the board report. Public Comments Chuck Fry, Sunnyvale, Vice President of ROMP and volunteer trail patrol participant, said he was delighted with the proposed parking site. He said he was eager to see the project moving forward. Bern Smith, representing the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council, said the Council has been i a long time supporter of the project. They like seeing an emphasis on increased user safety, especially at the crossing of Skyline Blvd. The street/trail crossing alignment change is great and his group is eager to assist with the project. Patty Ciesla, representing ROMP, said she is in support of the project. It will be an excellent improvement, especially in terms of safety in getting to the trails at El Corte de Madera. The safety of people will be increased. She said she is also in favor of the i i Meeting 10-05 Page 3 proposed trail alignment. She said she also supported paving the parking lot due to the weather conditions in the area. Mark Sanders stated he has been using the residential driveway across from the proposed project site for over 25 years. He expressed concern about public using the project driveway. He said the impact of the proposed parking lot on the safety of the nearby driveways has not been considered. He said an independent study said that there are a number of other sites that would be safer, but they were not considered. He said the line of site concern has not been resolved. He said that the District has not looked at the safety of the people who live in the area. At 7:20 p.m. President Davey declared a recess of 20 minutes. The meeting reconvened at 7:48pm. T. Hugg responded to the public comments. She reviewed CalTrans and road safety engineer requirements and how the District's project complies with those rules and requirements. She referred to each comment and where to find the response within the staff report's Response to Comment document. Director Riffle stated that he is in favor of the General Manager's Recommendations and has been working on the Use and Management Committee for the past three years considering this project. He has been impressed with the efforts of the staff and their great work putting together the report. The public have brought up good questions and staff has answered the public's questions. The project addresses safety concerns and makes the most effective use of public funds to accomplish the mission the public has asked the District to do. Motion: Director Riffle moved approval to adopt the Mitigated Negative Declaration and Mitigation Monitoring Program for the El Corte de Madera Creek Parking/Staging Area and Trails Project in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) as set out in Resolution No. 10-05, and approve an amendment to the Use and Management Plan for El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve to construct a new paved parking lot, construct new trail improvements, realign a segment of the Steam Donkey Trail, sign designated roadside shoulders along Skyline Boulevard(also known as Highway 35) as No P� YParking" zones,relocate an existingSkyline Boulevard trail/pedestrian crossin , and close Gate Yg CM04 entrance to public use. Director Siemens seconded the motion. The motion passed 5 to 0. B. Agenda Item 6—Field Enforcement ActivitReport for Calendar Year 2009 and Ten- Year Field Activity Summary—(Report R-10-06) G. Baillie presented the staff report showing the statistics of the monthly field reports. He addressed questions submitted by Director Riffle and G. Baillie showed an updated graph responding to the Director's inquiry. The number of bicycle incidents was up from the previous year,but looking at the overall trends, the bicycle usage has leveled and stabilized. The dog use and violations has increased. He pointed out other trends regarding dog usage at the preserves. Meeting 10-05 Page 4 Director Riffle thanked G. Baillie for answering his questions. He said he will be very interested seeing if the consultant can correlate the costs of opening up new preserves and ranger citations. S. Abbors said it will be one of the consultant's goals. Director Riffle referred to Appendix B and pointed out the parking and after hour use ranking compared to dog and bicycle violations. It is an interesting trend to follow. D. Sanguinetti said that a lot of after hours use happens when daylight hours are short in the winter, especially at Rancho San Antonio. Director Cyr said he was concerned about the misuse of the preserves by bicycle users and the lack of willingness to comply from dog owners. It does not seem that the District is as successful in these two areas as he would like to see. D. Sanguinetti said that he will look for ways his staff can address these issues, especially the increase of dog use enforcement. President Davey asked for a description of an"eye brow". D. Sanguinetti explained what an"eye brow"is and how they are created and used by mountain bicyclists. Public Comment: Patty Ciesla commented on night use and dog use and how these uses are an un-met need of the public. She said that as a docent she would like to lead evening bike rides. The technology for lights has improved with LED lights. She asked the Board to review those regulations. She said there are limited opportunities for bike users to bring their dogs. There is an unmet need. Chuck Fry, Sunnyvale, asked about the large incidents of bicycle accidents. D. Sanguinetti speculated that the accidents may be due to riders who exceeded their abilities or take chances. He said there is an increase this year, and it is a concern. Director Cyr said he noted a fair number of incidents with no helmets and asked if those were violations for riders under 18. D. Sanguinetti said the District requires all riders to wear helmets. The Board accepted the report and thanked staff and the public for the information and their comments. VIII. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS COMMITTEE REPORTS Administration and Budget Committee: Director Riffle said the committee met on February 2 and 4, 2010 and are making great progress. They will meet again on February 17 to finalize the report to the Board. STAFF REPORTS R. Jurgensen pointed out the new logo in the Board room(suggested by Director Riffle). A. Ruiz pointed out a memo in the FYIs on Mt. Umunhurn remediation. The site planning portion of the project is going forward and the team met. They will be scheduling tours of various mountain peaks in the Bay Area and dates will be coming soon and will include Mt. Tamalpais and Mt. Diablo. Meeting 10-05 Page 5 D. Sanguinetti said that field staff is working on the outside of the Administration building. There will be a new trail from the kitchen door to the Planning side of the building that will include a picnic table. The Foothills staff is working on the project. A. Ruiz said they are doing a wonderful job. S. Abbors said that 66 people were screened for the HR Manager position. No one qualified, so they will put the position out again for recruitment. He and R. Jurgensen are going to Washington D.C. to seek additional funding for the remediation project at Mt. Umunhum. He thanked everyone, particularly E. Cuzick and G. Baillie, for their hard work on the budget process. He thanked staff(S. Schectman, A. Ruiz and T. Hugg) for the excellent work they did on the El Corte de Madera Creek Parking Lot project. DIRECTOR REPORTS Director Riffle said he submitted his compensable meeting report to the Clerk. Director Harris said she submitted her compensable meeting report to the Clerk. She said she has been spending time at Pulgas Ridge and asked about the repair status of the Cordelerius Trail. D. Sanguinetti said the crew will repair the trail once the weather improves. Director Cyr said he would submit his compensable meeting report to the Clerk. He attended the Cooley Landing event and said it was fascinating to see that people were choosing lower impact options. Director Siemens said he will be leaving for a vacation,but would be back by the February 24 meeting. He would be working at the Nature Center. President Davey will submit her compensable report. She reported on the Cooley Landing event. She said T. Hugg did a brilliant job. Director Harris was at the event as was D. Simmons. She said it was a lovely event and was community based. IX. ADJOURNMENT President Davey adjourned the Special and Regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District at 8:30 p.m. Lisa Zadek, Recording Secretary