HomeMy Public PortalAbout20181010 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD)
October 10, 2018
Board Meeting 18-35
*Approved by the Board of Directors on October 24, 2018
SPECIAL AND REGULAR MEETING
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
Administrative Office
330 Distel Circle
Los Altos, CA 94022
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
APPROVED MINUTES*
SPECIAL MEETING – CLOSED SESSION
President Cyr called the special meeting of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District to
order at 5:32 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Members Present: Jed Cyr, Nonette Hanko, Cecily Harris, Larry Hassett, Yoriko Kishimoto,
Pete Siemens, and Curt Riffle
Members Absent: None
Staff Present: General Manager Ana Ruiz, General Counsel Hilary Stevenson, Acting
Assistant General Manager Brian Malone, Acting Assistant General
Manager Kirk Lenington, Chief Financial Officer/Director of
Administrative Services Stefan Jaskulak, Senior Real Property Agent
Allen Ishibashi
Public comments opened at 5:32 p.m.
No speakers present.
Public comments closed at 5:32 p.m.
1. CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL – EXISTING LITIGATION
(Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(1))
Name of Case: Burkhart v. Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District; Santa Clara
County Superior Court Case Number 18CV334473.
2. CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL – INITIATION OF LITIGATION
Initiation of litigation pursuant to Government Code section 54956.9(d)(4): (one potential
case)
Meeting 18-35 Page 2
ADJOURNMENT
President Cyr adjourned the special meeting of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula
Regional Open Space District at 6:59 p.m.
REGULAR MEETING
President Cyr called the regular meeting of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District to
order at 7:06 p.m.
President Cyr reported the Board met in closed session, and no reportable action was taken.
ROLL CALL
Members Present: Jed Cyr, Nonette Hanko, Cecily Harris, Larry Hassett, Yoriko Kishimoto,
Pete Siemens, and Curt Riffle
Members Absent: None
Staff Present: General Manager Ana Ruiz, General Counsel Hilary Stevenson, Acting
Assistant General Manager Brian Malone, Acting Assistant General
Manager Kirk Lenington, Chief Financial Officer/Director of
Administrative Services Stefan Jaskulak, District Clerk/Assistant to the
General Manager Jennifer Woodworth, Human Resources Manager
Candice Basnight, Governmental Affairs Specialist Joshua Hugg, Climate
Resiliency Fellow Hayley Edmonston
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
No speakers present.
ADOPTION OF AGENDA
Motion: Director Kishimoto moved, and Director Harris seconded the motion to adopt the
agenda.
VOTE: 7-0-0
SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY
• Proclamation Honoring Director Cecily Harris
CONSENT CALENDAR
Director Hassett pulled Item 3 from the Consent Calendar.
Director Riffle pulled Item 4 from the Consent Calendar.
Public comment opened at 7:22 p.m.
Meeting 18-35 Page 3
No speakers present.
Public comment closed at 7:22 p.m.
Motion: Director Kishimoto moved, and Director Hassett seconded the motion to approve the
Consent Calendar, except for Items 3 and 4.
VOTE: 7-0-0
1. Approve September 12, 2018 and September 26, 2018 Minutes
2. Claims Report
3. Award of Contract to Gradetech Inc., to Replace the Purisima Creek Redwoods
Vault Toilet (R-18-113)
Item 3 was heard after Item 4.
Director Hassett commented on the bidding process suggesting staff should solicit bids from
contractors that are local to the District rather than outside of the District’s boundaries, which
could also reduce the District’s carbon footprint. Awarding contracts to businesses within the
District will also help the District be a good neighbor by investing in District communities.
Capital Project Manager III Sean Smith reported that he contacted numerous contractors within
the District and on the coast, and none were interested in bidding on the project.
Director Hassett suggested including that information in the staff report and to educate local
vendors regarding the District’s contracting and bidding process.
Director Harris suggested the District might want to research options for giving preference to
local businesses when awarding contracts.
Director Siemens suggested the District may want to pursue a legislative solution related to the
bonding requirements for contractors.
General Manager’s Recommendation:
1. Award a contract to Gradetech Inc., of San Ramon, California for a not-to-exceed base
contract amount of $80,000 to replace the single vault toilet restroom with a double vault
toilet restroom at lower Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve.
2. Authorize a 15% contingency of $12,000 to be reserved for unanticipated issues, thus
allowing the total contract amount not-to-exceed $92,000.
Motion: Director Hassett moved, and Director Harris seconded the motion to approve the
General Manager’s recommendation.
VOTE: 7-0-0
Meeting 18-35 Page 4
4. Approve a Correction to the Classification and Compensation Plan and a
Corresponding Correction in the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District
Memorandum of Understanding with the Field Employees Association (R-18-117)
Item 4 was heard after approval of the Consent Calendar.
Director Riffle requested clarification of the error that is being proposed for correction.
Human Resources Manager Candice Basnight explained the formula calculation error for the
hourly salary rates for staff members and explained no staff members were paid incorrectly.
General Manager’s Recommendation:
1. Adopt a resolution approving a corrected Classification and Compensation Plan for
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Employees.
2. Adopt a resolution approving the corrected Salary Range Chart in the Memorandum of
Understanding with the Field Employees Association.
Motion: Director Hassett moved, and Director Harris seconded the motion to approve the
General Manager’s recommendation.
VOTE: 7-0-0
5. Resolution to Oppose California State Proposition 6 (R-18-116)
General Manager’s Recommendation: Adopt a resolution to oppose California State Proposition
6, which seeks to repeal the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, and require voter
approval for future increases or extensions of fuel taxes and vehicle fees.
6. Board Response to Written Communications from Ken Lucchesi, Maggie Tides,
Stephen Wassather
Director Kishimoto requested the following change to the draft response:
“However, Midpen manages the county park in part because our current Currently our policy is
to provide Board of Directors want to ensure that visitors have free access to open space
preserves 365 days a year, as they do to at all 24 Midpen open space preserves that are open to
the public.”
General Manager’s Recommendation: Approve the proposed response to Ken Lucchesi, Maggie
Tides, Stephen Wassather.
BOARD BUSINESS
7. Climate Change Policy and Climate Action Plan (R-18-114)
Climate Resiliency Fellow Hayley Edmonston provided the staff presentation summarizing the
feedback previously received from the Board and how these recommendations were incorporated
into the Climate Change Policy and Climate Action Plan.
Meeting 18-35 Page 5
Director Harris inquired if staff has a plan for notifying the public of the District’s progress on
implementation.
General Manager Ana Ruiz stated Public Affairs staff will prepare press releases, make social
media announcements and pursue other methods of communication to notify partners and
members of the public of our progress.
Additionally, Ms. Edmonston reported there are associated awards for progress on efforts
addressing climate change, which the District may be interested in pursuing and will explore.
Public comments opened at 7:54 p.m.
No speakers present.
Public comments closed at 7:54 p.m.
Director Kishimoto spoke in favor of Option 2 and spoke regarding a recent report from the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change related to the impact of climate change and the
positive effect of even small changes, and spoke in favor of future goals.
Motion: Director Kishimoto moved, and Director Riffle seconded the motion to:
1. Determine that the recommended actions are categorically exempt from the California
Environmental Quality Act.
2. Approve the Climate Change Policy as a chapter to the Resource Management Policies,
including Option 2 to set greenhouse gas reduction goals.
3. Adopt the Climate Action Plan.
4. Direct the General Manager to begin implementation of the Climate Action Plan, identifying
new budget and project implementation items as part of the Fiscal Year 2019-20 Capital
Improvement and Action Plan and Budget development process.
VOTE: 7-0-0
8. Options to Fill a Vacancy Resulting from the Resignation of Director Cecily Harris
(R-18-115)
District Clerk/Assistant to the General Manager Jennifer Woodworth provided the staff
presentation describing the process for filling the vacancy for Ward 7 either by appointment or
by calling a special election. Additionally, the Board may authorize the Board President to
appoint Board members to serve on the Planning and Natural Resources, and Legislative,
Funding, and Public Affairs Committees
Directors Hanko and Siemens commented on the high cost of a special election and spoke in
support of filling the vacancy by appointment to save funds for future District projects.
Public comments opened at 8:11 p.m.
Lennie Roberts spoke in favor of the appointment process and spoke in favor of considering a
resident of the coast as a factor for selection.
Meeting 18-35 Page 6
Public comments closed at 8:13 p.m.
Director Kishimoto spoke in favor of voter outreach to encourage applicants.
Motion: Director Hanko moved, and Director Hassett seconded the motion to:
1. Determine whether to fill the Ward 7 Board Director vacancy for the term ending January 4,
2021 by either appointment or special election.
Motion: Director Riffle moved, and Director Siemens seconded the motion to:
1. Fill the Ward 7 vacancy by appointment and approve the following recruitment procedure for
the Ward 7 vacancy:
a) Approve the application form, as amended;
b) Approve the general criteria for appointment to the Board of Directors, as amended;
c) Approve the procedures for interviews; and
d) Approve the proposed timeline for filling the vacancy.
2. Authorize the Board President to appoint Board members to fill the vacancies on the
following committees: Planning and Natural Resources and Legislative, Funding and Public
Affairs Committees.
VOTE: 6-0-0 (Director Harris recused.)
President Cyr appointed Director Kishimoto to serve on the Planning and Natural Resources
Committees.
President Cyr appointed Director Riffle to serve on the Legislative, Funding, and Public Affairs
Committee.
INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM
• Administrative Office Remodel Project Update
INFORMATIONAL REPORTS
A. Committee Reports
Director Harris reported the Planning and Natural Resources Committee met on October 9, 2018
to discuss the use of glyphosate as part of the District integrated pest management program.
B. Staff Reports
Ms. Ruiz reported she met with Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese.
C. Director Reports
The Board members submitted their compensatory reports.
Meeting 18-35 Page 7
Director Riffle reported he will be attending the 100th Anniversary event for Save the Redwoods
League.
Director Kishimoto reported her attendance at a meeting of the Sierra Club and an event hosted
by Menlo Spark related to climate change.
Director Siemens reported he met with Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese.
Director Harris reported her attendance at the POST Global Action Summit.
ADJOURNMENT
President Cyr adjourned the regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula
Regional Open Space District at 8:58 p.m.
________________________________
Jennifer Woodworth, MMC
District Clerk