HomeMy Public PortalAbout20190626 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD)
June 26, 2019
Board Meeting 19-17
*Approved by the Board of Directors on July 10, 2019
SPECIAL AND REGULAR MEETING
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
Administrative Office
330 Distel Circle
Los Altos, CA 94022
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
APPROVED MINUTES*
SPECIAL MEETING – STUDY SESSION
President Siemens called the special meeting of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District
to order at 6:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Members Present: Jed Cyr, Larry Hassett, Karen Holman, Zoe Kersteen-Tucker, Yoriko
Kishimoto, Curt Riffle, and Pete Siemens
Members Absent: None
Staff Present: Chief Financial Officer Stefan Jaskulak, Assistant General Counsel
Mazarin Vakharia, Assistant General Manager Brian Malone, Assistant
General Manager Susanna Chan, District Clerk/Assistant to the General
Manager Jennifer Woodworth, Natural Resources Manager Kirk
Lenington, Climate Resiliency Fellow Hayley Edmonston
1. 2018 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report (R-19-81)
Climate Resiliency Fellow Hayley Edmonston presented the staff report reviewing the 2018
Greenhouse Gas Inventory findings, including that the District is ahead of schedule to reach the
first Climate Action Plan goal with a decrease in administrative emissions by 14%, and described
changes already implemented in 2019.
Director Holman spoke in favor of including the amount of staff hours in the cost of
administering the Climate Action Plan to understand the full cost of the program.
The Board members commented on the need to increase District efforts to further reduce
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the coming years because many of the already implemented
changes were not caused by changes to District processes but by purchasing flight offsets,
reduced employee commuting, and using renewable electricity and renewable diesel.
Meeting 19-17 Page 2
Director Kishimoto commented on the need to increase the percentage of waste diversion.
Assistant General Manager Brian Malone described the systems currently in place for waste
diversion at the field offices, and explained the systems will likely need improvement in the
future. Additionally, waste is further sorted by waste companies.
Directors Hassett and Holman spoke in favor of selecting local contractors to reduce GHG
emissions.
Director Riffle spoke in favor of the District moving towards more energy efficient equipment to
create true reductions in District energy usage.
Public comments opened at 7:00 p.m.
No speakers present.
Public comments closed at 7:00 p.m.
No Board action required.
President Siemens adjourned the special meeting of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula
Regional Open Space District at 7:01 p.m.
REGULAR MEETING
President Siemens called the regular meeting of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District
to order at 7:05 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Members Present: Jed Cyr, Larry Hassett, Karen Holman, Zoe Kersteen-Tucker, Yoriko
Kishimoto, Curt Riffle, and Pete Siemens
Members Absent: None
Staff Present: Chief Financial Officer Stefan Jaskulak, Assistant General Counsel
Mazarin Vakharia, Assistant General Manager Brian Malone, Assistant
General Manager Susanna Chan, Controller Mike Foster, District
Clerk/Assistant to the General Manager Jennifer Woodworth, Budget &
Analysis Manager Carmen Narayanan, Finance Manager Andrew Taylor,
Natural Resources Manager Kirk Lenington, Visitor Services Manager
Matt Anderson, Planning Manager Jane Mark, Land & Facilities Manager
Michael Jurich, Engineering & Construction Manager Jay Lin, Human
Resources Manager Candice Basnight, Information Systems &
Technology Manager Casey Hiatt, Public Affairs Manager Kori Skinner,
Real Property Manager Mike Williams, Budget Analyst I Lupe
Hernandez, and Budget Analyst I Elissa Martinez
Meeting 19-17 Page 3
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
Rhoda Fry spoke in opposition to the expansion of Lehigh Quarry and Lehigh’s ongoing
pollution of air and water.
ADOPTION OF AGENDA
President Siemens suggested moving item 10 before item 9.
Motion: Director Cyr moved, and Director Riffle seconded the motion to adopt the agenda, as
amended.
VOTE: 7-0-0
CONSENT CALENDAR
Public comment opened at 7:12 p.m.
No speakers present.
Public comment closed at 7:12 p.m.
Motion: Director Riffle moved, and Director Hassett seconded the motion to approve the
Consent Calendar, as amended.
VOTE: 7-0-0
1. Approve June 12, 2019 Minutes
2. Claims Report
3. Approval of an Agreement with Chavan & Associates to provide Financial Auditing
Services for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018-19 through FY2020-21, for a Not-To-Exceed Total
Amount of $70,500 (R-19-87)
Controller’s Recommendation: Appoint Chavan & Associates as the District’s financial auditor
for FY2018-19 through FY2020-21 and authorize the General Manager to execute a three year
contract and engagement letter agreement for a not-to-exceed amount of $70,500.
4. Contract Amendment with Phytosphere to Continue Sudden Oak Death Research
(R-19-83)
General Manager’s Recommendation: Authorize the General Manager to amend a contract with
Phytosphere Research, in the amount of $10,000, for a total not-to-exceed contract amount of
$86,500, to continue monitoring treatment methods to suppress the spread of Sudden Oak Death
in Open Space Preserves through the end of Fiscal Year 2019-20.
Meeting 19-17 Page 4
5. Written Response to Frank Bakonyi
General Manager’s Recommendation: Approve the written response to Mr. Bakonyi
6. Authorization to contribute a $2 Million payments of FY2018-19 budget savings to
the District’s Section 115 Trust administered by Public Agency Retirement Services
(PARS) (R-19-88)
General Manager’s Recommendation: Authorization to deposit $2 Million into the Midpeninsula
Regional Open Space District’s (District) PARS account established under a Section 115 Trust
as further funding of the District’s strategy to pre-fund its pension obligations.
7. New Board Policy 3.02 – General Accounting, Internal Control and Capital Assets
Policy and Annual Review of Finance Policies for 2019 (R-19-89)
General Manager’s Recommendation: Recommend Board approval of the proposed new Board
Policy 3.02 - General Accounting Policy, approve changes to 3.07 - Fund Balance Policy and
3.08 - Statement of Investment, and reaffirm 3.09 - Debt Management Policy.
President Siemens suggested amending policy 3.08 Guideline 1 to read as follows:
The General Manager or CFO are is responsible for approving the Controller’s designation of the
amount of funds available for investment for longer than one year.
BOARD BUSINESS
8. Fiscal Year 2019-20 Budget and Capital Improvement and Action Plan (R-19-82)
Budget & Analysis Manager Carmen Narayanan provided the staff report describing the
proposed Fiscal Year 2019-20 budget by fund and the proposed staffing changes.
Public comments opened at 7:17 p.m.
No speakers present.
Public comments closed at 7:17 p.m.
The members of the Board spoke in favor of the proposed budget and commented on the
thorough process used to develop the proposed budget.
Motion: Director Riffle moved, and Director Kishimoto seconded the motion to:
1. Adopt a Resolution approving the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019-20 Budget and Capital
Improvement and Action Plan.
2. Approve two and a half new full-time equivalent positions (FTEs) in the Visitor and Field
Services business line.
3. Approve one new FTE in the Finance and Administrative Services business line.
4. Approve one new classification in the Visitor and Field Services business line.
5. Adopt a Resolution approving the Classification and Compensation Plan.
VOTE: 7-0-0
Meeting 19-17 Page 5
9. La Honda Public Access Working Group Appointments (R-19-85)
Item 9 was heard after Item 10.
Director Kishimoto suggested appointing an alternate for the community stakeholders to serve on
the working group in the event that one of those stakeholders were unable to attend a meeting.
Motion: Director Kishimoto moved, and Director Cyr seconded the motion to appoint the next
highest ranked applicant as an alternate for the community stakeholders to the working group.
Director Cyr spoke against the motion stating that an alternate may disrupt the balance of the
membership of the working group.
Director Cyr withdrew his second.
Public comments opened at 8:49 p.m.
Barbara Hooper commented on the impact of preserves on the neighboring communities.
Public comments closed at 8:52 p.m.
Director Riffle left the dais at 8:51 p.m.
Director Kishimoto withdrew her motion.
Motion: Director Kishimoto moved, and Director Cyr seconded the motion to:
1. Appoint members to serve on the La Honda Public Access Working Group as listed in the
staff report.
2. Approve a preferred method to fill a vacancy for the La Honda Public Access Working
Group in case one arises:
a. If a vacancy is a La Honda Area Representative, appoint a new member to the Working
Group from the interviewee list established by the Board on June 19, 2019; and
b. If a vacancy is a ward representative, the Director for that ward would select a new
representative to serve on the Working Group.
VOTE: 6-0-0 (Director Riffle absent)
The Board recessed at 8:54 p.m. and reconvened at 8:56 p.m. with Directors Cyr, Hassett,
Holman, Kersteen-Tucker, Kishimoto, and Siemens present.
10. Rancho San Antonio Multimodal Access Study (R-19-86)
Item 10 was heard after Item 8.
Planner II Leialani Hufana provided the staff report describing the public use of Rancho San
Antonio Open Space Preserve and County Park and the management agreement the District has
with Santa Clara County where the District agrees to manage, patrol, and maintain the park. Ms.
Hufana reviewed ongoing parking challenges at the park and previous actions taken to address
parking challenges for the site. Ms. Hufana outlined the proposed scope of work for the
Meeting 19-17 Page 6
multimodal study, which includes a parking and transportation demand analysis, and the
proposed short-term measures to address parking challenges. Medium- and long-term measures
are not currently being proposed for Board approval. Following completion of the parking and
transportation demand analysis study, staff will return with a revised list of medium- and long-
term measures to the Planning and Natural Resources Committee and Board for further
discussion and consideration.
Director Holman suggested including information on the District’s website regarding peak traffic
times.
Director Holman suggested moving partnering with other cities to establish new bike-friendly
routes to the Preserve to a short-term solution.
Planning Manager Jane Mark reported that this measure was considered medium-term by staff
due to the time it may take to coordinate and collaborate with representative of nearby cities.
Director Kersteen-Tucker requested clarification regarding potential metered parking.
Director Holman commented that the Planning and Natural Resources Committee was opposed
to metered parking due to the visual disturbance meters could create, but additional information
on this and other medium- and long-term measures would be further studied in the parking and
transportation demand analysis study.
Director Kishimoto suggested including a timeframe to initiate partnership conversations with
neighboring cities regarding new bike-friendly routes to access the preserve.
Public comments opened at 7:50 p.m.
Rhoda Fry spoke in opposition to parking meters. Additionally, Ms. Fry spoke against Lehigh
Quarry’s operations that occur near Ranch San Antonio. Finally, Ms. Fry spoke regarding
potential access from the Oak Valley neighborhood.
Betty Ka yton spoke regarding an entrance to Rancho San Antonio near Rhus Ridge and spoke in
favor of District helping to pay for repaving the road there. Additionally, Ms. Kayton spoke
against including parking near the Rhus Ridge entrance on District brochures.
Leigh Stevens, neighbor to the preserve, spoke regarding the impact of preserve visitors
impacting her street. Ms. Stevens spoke in opposition to metered parking. Finally, Ms. Stevens
spoke in favor of partnering with the Silicon Valley Bike Coalition to open a connection to the
bike path near the Hammond-Snyder Loop Trail following completion of the Santa Clara Valley
Water District project.
Jerry Wittenauer, a member of the equestrian community, spoke in favor of the horse trailer
parking at the park and continued equestrian use of the site. Mr. Wittenauer spoke against use of
a large shuttle bus and in favor of a potentially smaller shuttle van.
Evelyn Horng spoke regarding the negative impact of parking and foot track on her street in a
neighboring community and requested the impacts on nearby communities also be considered
during the impact study.
Meeting 19-17 Page 7
Bud Cristal spoke regarding the increased number of visitors to the preserve in recent years. Mr.
Cristal spoke in favor of considering a parking garage on the site.
Hal Feeney spoke in favor of collecting data related to the impacts on neighboring communities
outside the preserve and not only the number of visitors to the preserve. Mr. Feeney spoke in
favor of looking closely at alternate access points.
Mary Jo Feeney spoke regarding the use of Mora Drive as a walk-in entrance only.
Rich Redelfs spoke in favor of making the preserve and its trails more bicycle friendly, including
potential construction of additional bicycle trails. Mr. Redelfs spoke in favor of using technology
to notify visitors of parking availability.
Ry Smith spoke against installation of parking meters.
Charles Bodine spoke against installation of parking meters or use of shuttles in order to
maintain the character of the neighborhood and the preserve.
Teresa Baker commented on the increased population in the Bay Area and spoke in favor of
increased parking for the preserve, including building a parking garage, to allow more people to
visit to the preserve.
Public comments closed at 8:20 p.m.
Director Riffle requested additional information regarding the scope of the parking and
transportation demand analysis study and suggested including scope tasks that list specific areas
for counting visitors that access the preserve in various ways.
Director Hassett spoke in opposition to a metering system and in favor of additional parking
within the parking boundaries.
Director Kersteen-Tucker commented on the impact of increased visitors at many of the
District’s preserves and suggested convening a working group for Rancho San Antonio similar to
the one being convened for La Honda.
Director Holman suggested including neighbors in the current stakeholder group.
Director Kishimoto spoke regarding potential visitors that may not visit the preserve due to a
lack of parking.
Director Holman suggested including as a short-term solution to use technology to monitor
parking.
Motion: Director Kishimoto moved, and Director Holman seconded the motion to:
1. Approve the proposed scope of work related to the Rancho San Antonio Multimodal Access
Study: Phase 1 Parking and Transportation Demand Analysis.
2. Approve the recommended short-term measures that can be initiated within Fiscal Years
2019-20 and 2020-21.
Meeting 19-17 Page 8
3. Authorize the Board President to appoint two Board Members to assist staff in pursuing
coordination and partnership opportunities (described in Attachment 2) with other
jurisdictions.
VOTE: 7-0-0
11. Award of Contract for Forest Inventory and Management Planning, La Honda
Creek Open Space Preserve (R-19-84)
Senior Resource Management Specialist Matt Baldzikowski presented the staff report reviewing
the La Honda Creek Master Plan and resource management policies that address forest
management in the District. Mr. Baldzikowski described the geographic area included in the La
Honda Forest and Management Plan pilot project. Finally, Mr. Baldzikowski described how
forest management can be utilized for natural resource protection and preservation and provided
several examples.
Director Hassett inquired regarding the purpose of studying historic logging roads within the
preserve’s conservation management unit areas.
Mr. Baldzikowski reported the study would be to determine if the roads should be removed for
restoration purposes.
Director Holman requested clarification regarding forest inventory because tree count
information may be helpful in calculating carbon sequestration.
Mr. Baldzikowski provided a definition of forest inventory and reported that the information may
potentially be used to support carbon sequestration data.
Public comments opened at 9:36 p.m.
Dennis Danielson spoke in favor of the General Manager’s recommendation and in favor of
using this project as a successful template for future similar projects.
Public comments closed at 9:40 p.m.
Motion: Director Kersteen-Tucker moved, and Director Holman seconded the motion to:
1. Authorize the General Manager to enter into contract with Sicular Environmental Consulting
and Natural Lands Management of Berkeley, California for $79,993.
2. Authorize a 15% contingency of $12,000 to be expended only if necessary to cover
unanticipated conditions or needs, for a total contract amount not-to-exceed $91,993.
VOTE: 6-0-0 (Director Riffle absent)
INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM
• Legislative Actions Update to Board
Meeting 19-17 Page 9
INFORMATIONAL REPORTS
A. Committee Reports
Director Kishimoto reported the Action Plan and Budget Committee met on June 18, 2019.
Director Siemens reported the Board Appointee Evaluation Committee met on June 18, 2019 to
set the schedule for the annual evaluation process.
B. Staff Reports
Real Property Manager Mike Williams provided updates on the following projects: purchase of
an addition to the El Sereno Open Space Preserve, exchange agreement with Caltrans for a
portion of the Ravenswood Bay Trail, and closing escrows on the Giusti and Woodruff
Redwoods properties.
District Clerk Jennifer Woodworth reminded the Board of the open house being held at the
administrative office on June 27, 2019 regarding Bear Creek Stables.
Assistant General Manager Brian Malone provided an update on the covered walkway at the
Mount Umunhum radar tower allowing the trail to be reopened. Mr. Malone reported that he
provided an update on the radar tower to the Santa Clara County Historic Heritage Commission
who recommended interim roof repairs and applying for historic designation of the radar tower.
C. Director Reports
The Board members submitted their compensatory reports.
Director Kersteen-Tucker reported on a recent event honoring Lennie Roberts for her work on
the Devil’s Slide tunnels.
Director Kishimoto reported on recent conversations with Portola Valley regarding the
Hawthorns property.
Director Holman suggested examining artifacts gathered by Ken Fisher to determine if any may
be displayed in the District’s new office building.
President Siemens attended a meeting with legislative representatives and their staffs to discuss
the Highway 17 crossing project.
ADJOURNMENT
President Siemens adjourned the regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula
Regional Open Space District at 10:03 p.m.
________________________________
Jennifer Woodworth, MMC
District Clerk