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