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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20101209 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) Midpeninsula Regional f ' ! Open Space District Meeting 10-34 SPECIAL MEETING BOARD OF DIRECTORS MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT Historical Del Monte Building 100 South Murphy Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94086 December 9,2010 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING I. ROLL CALL President Hassett called the Special Meeting to order at 6:34 p.m. Members Present: Jed Cyr, Nonette Hanko, Cecily Harris,Yoriko Kishimoto, Curt Riffle, Pete Siemens, and Larry Hassett Members Absent: None ' Staff Present: General Manager Steve Abbors, General Counsel Sue Schectman, Operations Manager David Sanguinetti, Public Affairs Manager Rudy Jurgensen, Real Property Manager Mike Williams, Administrative Services Manager Kate Drayson, Planning Manager Ana Ruiz, Area Superintendent Michael Newburn, Senior Planner Meredith Manning, Open Space Planner II Lisa Bankosh, District Clerk Michelle Radcliffe, Senior Resource Planner Kirk Lenington, Project Manager Gina Coony, Open Space Planner II Tina Hugg, Open Space Planner I Erica Simmons, Administrative Assistant Jeannie Buscaglia, Planning Technician Zach Alexander, Volunteer Coordinator Paul McKowan, Communications Specialist Leigh Ann Gessner,Network Specialist Benny Hsieh, IT Intern Owen Sterzl, and Natural Resources Intern Janine Bird. a► Meeting 10-39 Page 2 II. BOARD BUSINESS A. Agenda Item 1 —Consideration of Draft Mount Umunhum Environmental Restoration and Public Access Plan, Direction to Proceed with Environmental Review and Related Actions President Hassett welcomed the public for attending the meeting and provided an overview of the meeting procedures. General Manager Steve Abbors gave an opening statement regarding the Mount Umunhum Site Planning and Remediation Plan and introduced Senior Planning Meredith Manning as the Project Manager. Ms. Manning reported that the purpose of the meeting was for the Board to receive a presentation on the Mount Umunhum Draft Environmental Restoration and Public Access Plan as the Project Description for the environmental review process required by the California Environmental Quality Act(CEQA) and to receive public comment on the proposed Project Description as required. Ms. Manning further explained that staff is requesting the Board to provide additional direction regarding the Draft Environmental Restoration and Public Access Plan and to accept the draft plan as Project Description for environmental review under CEQA and other applicable environmental review requirements. Lastly, she reported that staff will need direction from the Board to study the suitability, costs,potential review and public sentiment of charging a fee to access the Mount Umunhum site as a source of funding to help offset operating and/or capital costs such as road maintenance. Ms. Manning presented the Draft Environmental Restoration and Public Access Plan and highlighted the proposed features on the site. She stated that staff worked with the Sierra Azul/Bear Creek Redwoods Ad Hoc Committee(Ad Hoc Committee) on the draft plan. Ms. Manning then introduced Gary Jacobs of Ascent Environmental, who will be preparing the CEQA documents for the project. Mr. Jacobs presented an overview of the CEQA process and explained the reasons for conducting an Environmental Impact Report, stating that the purpose of tonight's meeting is to fulfill the"Scoping"portion of CEQA and to solicit public comment on the project. Director Siemens questioned whether dogs will be allowed on the summit and Ms. Manning responded that the Ad Hoc committee decided not to include dog use at the site under the environmental review due to current and historic poor compliance with leash laws and waste cleanup at a number of other preserves, and impacts to wildlife that may be present in the area, which is currently unknown. Dog use may be considered as an additional public use and if so environmental review would be required should that decision be made at a later time but the Ad Hoc Committee recommended the use be excluded from the project description at this time. i Extensive discussion was held by the Board regarding the draft plan including various options of public access and activities on the summit. Discussion among the Board and staff was held on the costs to maintain the road as well as the cost to restore and demolish the radar tower. Director Hanko requested that staff study ways to enable fundraising to help with the costs. Further discussion continued. r Meeting 10-39 Page 3 Public Comment: The following people spoke in favor of allowing hand gliding at the Mount Umunhum summit: Thomas Low and Charles Nelson, Tony Stebler spoke in favor of preserving Mount Umunhum in its current condition and suggested that the existing buildings be used as youth housing. Andrew Gere of the San Jose Water Company expressed concerns about the proposed back pack camp, equestrian and dog use, and water supply issues. Jeanne-Michele Salander with the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society spoke in favor of restoring Mount Umunhum to its natural habitat and requested that members of the Ohlone Nation Alliance be consulted on the site planning. Jack Nadeau spoke in favor of allowing public access to Mount Umunhum as soon as possible and spoke in favor of demolishing the radar tower and creating a scale model of it to be placed in a museum. Sam Drake spoke in favor of opening the Mount Umunhum summit and having a back pack trail linking Mt. Umunhum to the sea through other public and privately held lands. Joshua Hugg expressed his views about the financial impact of the Mount Umunhum project would have on the District as well as its sustainability. Marty Rosen spoke in favor of having low impact shuttle buses take the public to the summit and stated that fundraising be done to prevent charging public access fees. Robert Garner spoke in favor of restoring Mount Umunhum to its original state, removing the radar and having a scale model of the tower in a museum. Lars Thomsen spoke in favor of removing the radar tower and spoke in support of having a Mount Umunhum to the Sea trail. Chris Valle spoke in favor of allowing hang gliding at the Mount Umunhum summit and discouraged the use of Bald Mountain as a potential landing site. The following people spoke in favor of keeping the radar tower: Basim Jaber, Karim Khan, J.D. Whitaker, Carissa Zenorini Hobbs, and Bryce Reynolds. Dan Zuras urged the Board not to charge a public access fee. Thomas Cooke spoke in favor of demolishing the radar tower but keeping the foundation and urged the Board to open portions of Mount Umunhum to the public as soon as possible. Director Kishimoto asked what traffic impacts are expected at the summit and Mr. Jacobs stated that the Environmental Impact Report will determine what the traffic impacts will be and that staff is looking at other areas similar to Mount Umunhum like Mount Hamilton. Director Kishimoto asked further questions about potential fire Meeting 10-39 Page 4 hazards associated with a back pack camp and Ms. Manning explained that the Ad Hoc Committee recommends following the guidelines currently in place for the back pack camp at Monte Bello Open Space Preserve. Brief discussion was held regarding Mount Umunhum Road and Ms. Manning reported that the five miles of road leading to the summit will require several safety upgrades which include deferred maintenance including removing the ravel that has accumulated to widen the road to its original configuration, creation of safety turnouts, updating the guardrail to meet current code standards,patching of large potholes before and after the site remediation, and if demolition of structures do occur, the road will need to be resurfaced. She explained that the Ad Hoc Committee recommends that the public access fee be used to pay for the road maintenance. Brief discussion ensued on the cost of paving the road and Open Space Planner II Lisa Bankosh stated that preliminary costs are estimated at$3,750,000 and that the federal funding the District received for the project could not be used. President Hassett suggested that staff conduct a thorough investigation of having shuttles transport the public to the summit instead of allowing private vehicles on the road. Ms. Manning thanked the public for attending the meeting and stated that the comments received tonight from the public were sophisticated and indicated an understanding of and were aligned with the District's mission. She further stated that she was pleased to see that the public is aware of the financial issues involved with the project. Motion: Upon motion by Director Hanko, seconded by Director Cyr, and unanimously passed, the Board directed staff to evaluate public fundraising for Mount Umunhum as an addition to the Ad Hoc Committee's recommendations. (Vote: 7-0-0) Motion: Upon motion by Director Hanko, seconded by Director Hassett, and unanimously passed, the Board directed staff to evaluate a possible staging area at the lower portion of Mount Umunhum Road for a shuttle bus system as an addition to the Ad Hoc Committee's recommendations. (Vote: 7-0-0). Director Kishimoto moved to have staff evaluate dog access to the summit and the motion failed. (Vote: 3-4-0;Noes: Cyr, Harris, Siemens, and Hassett) Motion: Upon motion by Director Hanko, seconded by Director Cyr, and unanimously passed,the Board approved the Ad Hoc Committee's recommendations. (Vote: 7-0-0) 1JI. ADJOURNMENT President Hassett adjourned the Special Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District at 8:36 p.m. Michelle Radcliffe, CMC District Clerk