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HomeMy Public PortalAbout19730822 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) Mee' g 73-18 MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL PARK DISTRICT Board of Directors Minutes August 22, 1973 Sunnyvale Community Center I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL President Wendin called the meeting to order at 7 :55 p.m. Members present: Daniel Condron, Katherine Duffy, William Peters, and Daniel Wendin. Nonette Hanko arrived at 8 :10 p.m. Personnel present: Herbert Grench, Stanley Norton, Carroll Harrington Audience of nine persons II, MINUTES OF AUGUST 8 , 1973 MEETING President Wendin moved that the minutes of the August 8 meeting be approved. D. Condron seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. III . SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY The talk by William Penn Mott, Jr. , Director, State of California Department of Parks and Recreation, was postponed until later in the meeting because he was delayed in his arrival from Sacramento. IV. REPORTS A. Office Lease Agreement Discussion about this agreement was postponed until later in the meeting in order to give the Board the opportunity to look over the lease agreement. B. Budget Formulation H. Grench explained his budget report entitled "Budget Formulation, " dated August 14, 1973 . Motion: W. Peters moved that a budget subcommittee be formed. D. Condron seconded the motion. D. Wendin amended the motion to add: W. Peters and D. Wendin will form this subcommittee and the Board will hold a special meeting on September 19 to consider the report The consensus was that the regular Board meeting of September 12 would be canceled, that there will be a Special Meeting on the 19th to deal with the report from the budget subcommittee and other matters of urgency, and that the meeting of September 26 would be devoted to the Land Acquisition and Planning Work- shop. C. Land Acquisition and Planning Workshop W. Peters said that he assumed that the agenda for the Land Acquisition and Planning Workshop was acceptable as presented. N. Hanko stated that this workshop should be held on September 26 at 7 :00 p.m. The speakers will be Lawrence Livingston, Roy Cameron, and William Spangle. She would like to see more discussion about the general plan that evening. W. Peters disagreed because discussing the general plan would dilute the approach to land acquisition and planning. He also II . MINUTES OF AUGUST 22, 1973 , MEETING K. Duffy moved that the minutes of the August 22 meeting be approved as mailed. D. Condron seconded. The motion was approved. Meg Lg 73-18 . . . page 2 stated the previous consensus that the focus of this work- shop would be land acquisition strategy. Perhaps there could be another workshop that would focus more on the general plan, D. Wendin stated the consensus that land acquisition would be the primary motive of this first work- shop. Planning is necessary, but the emphasis would be on how the District acquires interest in land to preserve it for open space. Therefore, the agenda as presented by W. Peters will be the primary guideline for the workshop. N. 1`Hanko asked that there be flexibility and time fc questionsL and answers. This was agreeable to the rest of the Board. D. Wendin concluded that the invited speakers will come to the September 26 meeting, and they will be asked to discuss the questions on the Land Acquisition and Planning Workshop Agenda as well as other questions. SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY President Wendin returned to this item on the agenda. H. Grench introduced William Penn Mott, Jr. and Russell Porter, Head of the Grants Section of the Department of Parks and Recreation. Mr. Mott began his talk by stating that it is important not to indicate to any landowner that you wish to buy his property until you are willing to actually buy the property. Before doing any serious negotiations, it is also important to have an appraisal. Get an appraisal, then negotiate with the landowner. Negotiating can be slow and tedious if it is to be done right. He pointed out that when the State purchases property, they pay cash for it. This benefits the landowner by 25% on the average. He suggested that the Board have a good appraiser talk to them. He recommended Hulet ' Hornbeck, the land acquisition specialist for the East Bay Regional Park District, as a good source person. The General Manager or the appraiser should do the nego- tiating, although most appraisers aren't skillful at negotiating. He went on to tell the Board that it is their responsibility to establish rules, regulations, and policies for meetings . These should be kept available and in good order. The minutes of meetings are important so that they can be re- ferred to at any time. The Board should set the policy for land negotiations, but it is not their responsibility to actually do it. These policies can reflect the community and also be the liaison between the Board and the community. The goals and objectives must always be kept in mind. He asked that the Board consider priorities, e.g. , purchase of adjacent lands or buying large acreages concentrating on watersheds. The Board must guide and direct not only the General Manager, but anyone who does general planning for Mee' 73-18 . . . page 3 for the District. He emphasized that the Board sets the policy, and the General Manager is responsible for the operations and management. He stated that the MRPD has a unique program because of providing open space resources without deciding how it will be used. The Board has to decide some policy matters about this open space. For example: Is the MRPD to acquire derelict lands to be rehabilitated? Or buy a canyon to be used by a cut-and-fill dump and possible recreation area in the future? Or set priorities about buying bayland areas as opposed to hillsides? He stressed that it is important for everyone to know how the Board is to proceed. He commented about setting long-term goals (e.g. , for the next 25 years) is vital, but it is also important to set goals for the next five years, and these latter goals should be implementable. They can then be advanced each year as time goes on. He advised that the Board establish these goals, and then tell the General Manager to proceed. In response to questions, Mr. Mott made the following comments: 1. Instruct the General Manager to establish a good filing system on land acquisition, historical documents, and maps. This could be a possible budget item because of the expenses involved. 2. it' s important to learn about Federal grants, but applying for these may be more trouble than it' s worth. 3 . With the passage of the 1974 Bond Act, the MRPD will be able to deal directly with the California Department of Parks and Recreation. 4 . Public interest is more important than special interests, but it' s difficult to provide this kind of balance. 5. It is better to base district size on geographical and topographical features instead of on politics. 6. It is more effective for the MRPD to do their own lobbying directly with the legislators, instead of hiring a lobbyist. the County and 7 . Cooperation between the MRPD and cities is important. The MRPD as a special dis- trict can only have a parks and recreation plan-- it doesn't have zoning power. 8 . it is important to understand what the County is doing and ways in which the MRPD can cooperate, e.g. , the skyline ,parkway program. It is also important to be aware of the programs of the California Department of Parks and Recreation. This would lead to a total project approach. President Wendin called for a recess at 9 :40 p.m President Wendin reconvened the meeting at 10 :00 P.m. Meong 73-18 . . . page 4 After brief discussion, President Wendin thanked Mr. Mott for his presentation, and Mr. Mott had to leave. Mr. Porter then took the floor to describe types of funding available. Mr. Porter described the types of funding that are available; however, this is minimal because of all of the cutbacks in both Federal and State funding. General revenue sharing should be investigated, and there may be some special revenue sharing in the future. Many of these programs are development oriented. Other possibilities for funding and/or cooperation are the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the Youth Conservation Corps (a work-learn pgogram) , the Historical Preservation Fund, and the Environmental License Plate Program. He also suggested looking into SB 36 , Mills' bill on bicycling. In addition, bicycle path grants may be reinstated into the Land and Water Conservation Fund. He advised that the Board itself should not worry about the details of grantsmanship in the future. It's the General Manager's responsibility to keep the Board informed about this, and it would be helpful for the General Manager to attend grantsmanship workshops in order to do so. V. RESOLUTIONS AND ORDINANCES Resolution of the Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Park District in Support of Approving and Adopting a Formula for Allocating the Local Share of State Park Bond Funds Among County, Cities and Park Districts. S. Norton suggested the following change on page 1, last line of the Resolution: before "and, " add "as it establishes a percentage for the division of the share of 'Regional ' funds between the County and the MRPD; " Motion: W. Peters moved the acceptance of Resolution 73-27 amended as above. N. Hanko seconded this motion. The motion passed unanimously. IV. REPORTS President Wendin returned to the previous agenda items. A. Office Lease Agreement Motion: D. Wendin moved that the MRPD enter into a lease agreement with the BLS Co. and that the President be authorized on behalf of the Board to execute the lease dated August 22, 1973 , as signed by Mr. Bakke. D. Condron seconded the motion. After brief discussion, the motion was passed unanimously. President Wendin left for the evening. B. Assistant General Manager The following amendment was suggested for the draft copy of the job description for this position: Under "Education, Experience and Personal Requirements, " line 4 , sentence starting "Position requires. . . " will instead read "Abilities to be considered are: knowledge of tax laws relating to income and charitable contributions, real estate law, and MeE g 73-18 . . . page 5 agricultural economics. " Motion: W. Peters moved the adoption of the job description of the Assistant General Manager as amended above and that the General Manager be instructed to initiate a search for a person to fill this position. D. Condron seconded the motion. The motion passed 3 to 1. Ayes : Condron, Duffy, Peters. No: Hanko; Absent: Wendin. VI. NEW BUSINESS W. Peters reported about the recently passed open space zoning by the City of Mountain View. There was discussion about the preparation of a logo, seal, stationery, etc. N. Hanko asked that this be an agenda item at the first meeting in October. VII . CLAIMS Motion: N. Hanko moved acceptance of the claims as presented. D. Condron seconded the motion. The motion was passed unani- mously with D. Wendin absent. VIII. EXECUTIVE SESSION The meeting was recessed into executive session to discuss a personnel matter. IX. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was reconvened and then adjourned at 11:45 p.m. Carroll Harrington Secretary