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Home My Public Portal About20180201 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD)Board Meeting 18-06 *Approved by the Board of Directors on February 14, 2018 SPECIAL MEETING BOARD OF DIRECTORS MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT Mitchell Park Community Center - Matadero Room 3700 Middlefield Rd. Palo Alto, CA 94303 February 1, 2018 APPROVED MINUTES* CALL TO ORDER President Cyr called the special meeting of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District to order at 9:33 a.m. ROLL CALL Members Present: Jed Cyr, Cecily Harris, Larry Hassett, Yoriko Kishimoto, and Curt Riffle Members Absent: Nonette Hanko and Pete Siemens Staff Present: Acting General Manager Ana Ruiz, Acting Assistant General Manager Brian Malone, Acting Assistant General Manager Christine Butterfield, Chief Financial Officer/Director of Administrative Services Stefan Jaskulak, Controller Mike Foster, Acting General Counsel Hilary Stevenson, District Clerk/Assistant to the General Manager Jennifer Woodworth, Planning Manager Jane Mark, Interim Public Affairs Manager Cydney Bieber, Engineering and Construction Manager Jay Lin, Human Resources Manager Candice Basnight, Information Systems Technology Manager Garrett Dunwoody, Acting Visitor Services Manager Chris Barresi, Acting Land and Facilities Manager Elaina Cuzick, Natural Resources Manager Kirk Lenington, Real Property Manager Mike Williams, Finance Manager Andrew Taylor ORAL COMMUNICATIONS No speakers present. Meeting 18-06 Page 2 BOARD BUSINESS Annual Board of Director’s Retreat – Meeting 1 (Strategic Plan Goals and Objectives Review and Measure AA Optional Project List Prioritization) (R-18-13) Acting General Manager Ana Ruiz provided opening comments summarizing the agenda topics for the retreat. Acting Assistant General Manager Christine Butterfield reviewed various District accomplishments for Fiscal Year 2017-18 (FY2017-18), including the opening of Mt. Umunhum and La Honda to public access, as well as legislative successes. Board members suggested other accomplishments completed during the prior fiscal year, including continued implementation of the Financial and Operational Sustainability Model (FOSM), purchase of new locations for the Administrative Office and South Area Field Office, increasing the number of acres preserved and miles of trail built, progress on major projects at Bear Creek Redwoods, and approval of a new diversity and inclusion policy. Ms. Butterfield and Acting Assistant General Manager Brian Malone presented key elements and takeaways from this year’s environmental scan, including both internal and external strengths, challenges, opportunities, and barriers for the District. Board members also made suggestions for additional strengths, challenges, opportunities, and barriers. Strengths include continued AAA bond rating, FOSM implementation, and an engaged public providing input on projects. Challenges include effective engagement of volunteers to assist with District goals, climate change and the District’s response to it, meeting the needs of increased visitor usage of preserves, and increased construction costs. Opportunities include implementation of new management systems, information technology innovations, staff onboarding, potential acquisitions, leveraging partnership opportunities, and new policy issues, such as predation and agricultural policies. Barriers include the effects of the construction spike in the region resulting in higher construction costs and fewer bids, climate change risks, low regional unemployment, and high cost of living and housing in the region. The Board recessed at 10:46 a.m. and reconvened at 10:53 a.m. with all members present. Mr. Malone and Ms. Butterfield reviewed the current goals and objectives included in the Strategic Plan. Director Riffle suggested the District may choose to place greater focus on external goals as internal processes and procedures are implemented and improved. The Board of Directors reviewed the Strategic Plan and made edits to the language of the goals and objectives. The Board recessed at 11:44 a.m. and reconvened at 12:03 p.m. with Directors Cyr, Harris, Hassett, Kishimoto, Riffle, and Siemens present. Public comments opened at 12:03 p.m. Meeting 18-06 Page 3 Karen Holman reported that the Stanford General Use Permit Environmental Impact Report comments are due tomorrow and suggested Board members may choose to submit individual comments. Additionally, Ms. Holman suggested tracking the impacts on air quality to reinforce the need for open space and its role in climate change resiliency. Finally, Ms. Holman suggested expanding the District’s Automated External Defibrillator program. Public comments closed at 12:05 p.m. Motion: Director Hassett moved, and Director Kishimoto seconded the motion to adopt the proposed changes to the Strategic Plan, as amended by the Board. VOTE: 6-0-0 (Director Hanko absent) Chief Financial Officer/Director of Administrative Services Stefan Jaskulak provided an overview of the budget process, including enhancements to streamline budget development, review, and approval. Ms. Butterfield reviewed the agenda for the afternoon including prioritization of Measure AA projects for FY2018-19 through FY2022-2023. Public comments opened at 12:35 p.m. Walter Moore, President of Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), spoke regarding the District’s accomplishments completed in partnership with POST, including progress at Bear Creek Redwoods and the Purisima-to-Sea Trail, and the proposed Cloverdale Ranch purchase. Mr. Moore urged the Board to move forward with purchasing Cloverdale Ranch in the next five years, which will help enable POST to purchase and preserve land in the Coyote Valley area vital to wildlife corridors for the larger region. Public comments closed at 12:46 p.m. Mr. Malone reviewed the previously Board-adopted prioritization criteria used to prioritize Measure AA projects. Director Riffle suggested an additional criterion related to supporting sustainable agriculture. By consensus, the Board directed staff to include an additional Tier 3 criterion of “Supports sustainable agriculture” with the description including “with an emphasis on agriculture on the San Mateo Coast.” Directors Harris and Kishimoto dissented. Director Riffle suggested the Board may consider including a criterion related to public interest in a project. Ms. Butterfield explained this criterion was incorporated in the criteria related to projects underway and additional language could be included in the description for this criterion. Director Kishimoto suggested a new criterion may be needed related to demonstrated or broad public interest. Meeting 18-06 Page 4 By consensus, the Board decided not to include additional language related to public interest. At 1:13 p.m. Director Riffle recused himself from the meeting and discussion of proposed projects due to a perceived conflict of interest related to his employment at POST. Mr. Malone reviewed the list of optional Measure AA projects to be prioritized by the Board. The Board members prioritized the list of optional projects as high, medium, or low priority. Staff reviewed the prioritized list of optional projects. Directors Hassett and Cyr stated their opinion that the list as prioritized by the Board should not be the only criteria for deciding when projects should be completed because not all Board members were able to participate, and further discussion is needed. ADJOURNMENT President Cyr adjourned the Special Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District at 1:56 p.m. ________________________________ Jennifer Woodworth, MMC District Clerk