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� Meeting 75-2
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL PARK DISTRICT
Regular Meeting
Board of Directors
M I N U T E S
January 22, 1975 745 Distel Drive
Los Altos, CA
I. ROLL CALL
President Duffy called the meeting to order at 7 : 33 P.M.
4 Members Present: Katherine Duffy, Barbara Green, Nonette Hanko,
Edward Shelley and Daniel Wendin.
Personnel Present: Herbert Grench, Edward Jaynes, Jon Olson,
Anne Crosley, Stanley Norton, Carroll Harrington and John Melton.
Audience of four persons.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The Board agreed to amend the minutes of January 8, 1975, on page
four, paragraphs 2 and 3, by inserting the sentence "S . Norton
said this was unclear. " at the end of the second paragraph, and
eliminating the third paragraph. K. Duffy stated the consensus
that the minutes of January 8, 1975 were approved as amended.
III . ADOPTION OF AGENDA
H. Grench asked that Urban Service Area Boundaries be discussed
under Old Business Not Requiring Action. K. Duffy stated the
consensus that this was acceptable.
IV. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
There were no oral communications at this time.
V. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
There were no written communications.
VI . PUBLIC HEARINGS
A. Black Mountain Open Space Preserve
H. Grench referred the Board to his memorandum (M-75-16) dated
January 15, 1975, which recommends adoption of a resolution
Meeting 75-2 Page two
to authorize the District' s legal counsel to take whatever ac-
tions might be necessary to acquire the remaining interests in
the Black Mountain Open Space Preserve, including the use of
the power of eminent domain. He said he believed the acquisi-
tion of the remaining interests was key to the District' s
open space program. He added that negotiations would continue
in the hope of reaching an agreement.
S. Norton advised that a demurrer had been filed on behalf of
the District in the suit entitled Alan S. Ligda, et al. v. Mid-
peninsula Regional Park District, a Public District, et al.
He said there was no decision at this time as to whether a con-
demnation action would be filed as a separate action.
D. Wendin said the adoption of the proposed resolution would be
the final step of the Board in its efforts to acquire the Black
Mountain Open Space Preserve.
K. Duffy opened the public hearing at 7 : 45 P .M.
Mr. Robert Mark, 725 Cowper, Palo Alto, said he supported the
adoption of the resolution by the Board in order to acquire the
remaining interests in the Black Mountain Open Space Preserve.
K. Duffy closed the public hearing at 7 : 47 P.M.
Motion: N. Hanko moved adoption of Resolution No. 75-1, a Reso-
lution of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula
Regional Park District, Finding and Requiring that the
Public Interest and Necessity Require the Acquisition
of Certain Properties for Public Use, to Wit, for Pub-
lic Park, Recreation and Open Space Purposes, Describ-
ing the Properties Necessary Therefor and Authorizing
and Directing its Retained Legal Counsel to Do Every-
thing Necessary to Acquire All Interests Therein (Black
Mountain Open Space Preserve) . K. Duffy seconded the
motion. The motion passed unanimously.
VII. OLD BUSINESS REQUIRING ACTION
A. Agenda for Goals Workshop
K. Duffy suggested the Board consider items of special interest
they might want discussed under the five main categories to be
covered at the February 2, 1975 Goals Workshop, and then choose
moderators for each of the categories. It was agreed that par-
ticipants at the Workshop would bring their own lunches and
that the District would supply beverages. Following discussion,
the Board members agreed on the following agenda:
Meeting 75-2 Page three
(9:45) Coffee
(10: 00) Introduction - H. Grench
(10: 05) Land Acquisition
Review
Short-term Financial Management
Acquisition Policies
(11: 00) Governmental Liaison
Review
Future Directions
Board Involvement
(12: 00) Lunch
(1: 00) Land Management
Land Use
Maintenance and Patrol
Trails
Relationship to Overall District Program
Recess
(3: 00) Public Communications
District Visibility
Newspaper Advertising of Elections and
Meetings
Two Term Limit
Conflicts of Interest
Fundings of Candidates ' Statements
Future Directions
(4 : 00) Administration
Board-Staff Relations
Long-term Financial Strategies
(5: 00) Adjournment
The following discussion leaders were chosen by lot:
Land Acquisition - Daniel Wendin
Governmental Liaison - Katherine Duffy
Land Management - Nonette Hanko
Public Communications - Barbara Green
Administration - Edward Shelley
VIII. OLD BUSINESS NOT REQUIRING ACTION
A. Master Plan of the Midpeninsula Regional Park District
H. Grench introduced his memorandum (M-75-13) dated January 14 ,
1975, regarding the revised Draft of the Master Plan Policy
Statements submitted by the Board' s Subcommittee. The memo
advised that some policy statements, particularly trails and
agriculture, might be discussed further at the upcoming Febru-
ary 2, 1975 Goals Workshop.
N. Hanko said she was impressed with the excellent work of the
Subcommittee, and suggested the Trails Task Force might be
interested in reviewing the policies regarding trails.
Meeting 75-2 Page four
Motion: N. Hanko moved that the Master Plan Policy Statements
Draft, as amended, be referred to the Trails Task Force
for comments. D. Wendin seconded the motion.
Motion to Amend: D. Wendin moved to amend the motion
to add "recognizing that Acquisition Policy No. 1,
under Trails, was not recommended by the Subcommittee
to be the policy of the Board, but was put forth for
discussion purposes only. " N. Hanko said the amend-
ment to her motion was acceptable. The motion, as
amended, passed unanimously.
Following discussion by Board and staff members and L. Anderson,
the following changes in the Master Plan Policy Statements Draft
were adopted by consensus of the Board:
Outline of Acquisition Policies, Page 1:
Under V. OPEN SPACE FOR SCENIC PRESERVATION, item B
should be changed from "VIEW FROM SCENIC HIGHWAYS" to
"VIEW FROM SCENIC ROADS AND HIGHWAYS"
Under IX. OPEN SPACE FOR THE PROTECTION OF PUBLIC
HEALTH AND SAFETY, items A through E should reflect
the following order:
A. AIR QUALITY
B. WATER QUALITY
C. GEOLOGIC HAZARDS
D. FIRE RISK
E. FLOODING
(I.) OPEN SPACE FOR THE PROTECTION OF NATURAL VEGETATION, Page 2 :
In paragraph two, line three, the phrase "by unregulated
logging and grading" should be changed to "by logging,
grading, " .
(II.) OPEN SPACE FOR THE PROTECTION OF WILDLIFE, Page 3:
In paragraph one, line one, the word "inestimable" should
be changed to "intrinsic" .
( III.) OPEN SPACE FOR OUTDOOR RECREATION, subcategory C. WILDER-
NESS EXERIENCE, Page 7:
Under Acquisition Policy No. 1, the policy should read
"THE DISTRICT WILL ACQUIRE, THROUGH PURCHASE AND DONA-
TION, LAND OR RIGHTS IN LAND TO PROVIDE FOR THE WILDER-
NESS EXPERIENCE. "
( IV.) OPEN SPACE FOR GUIDING URBAN FORM, Page 9:
In paragraph one, line ten, an "s" should be added to
the word "regulation" to change it to "regulations" .
Meeting 75-2 Page five
In paragraph one, line six, the phrase "by careful plan-
ning, proper land use regulations and the phased exten-
sion" should be changed to read "by careful planning
and proper land use regulations, and by the phased ex-
tension" .
(V. ) OPEN SPACE FOR SCENIC PRESERVATION, subcategory B. VIEW FROM
SCENIC HIGHWAYS, Page 11:
The subcategory heading should be changed from "VIEW
FROM SCENIC HIGHWAYS" to "VIEW FROM SCENIC ROADS AND
HIGHWAYS" .
In paragraph one, line five, the words "against deface-
ment" should be eliminated.
In paragraph three, line three, the word "billboards"
should be changed to "roadside advertising" .
Under Acquisition Policies No. 1, line one, the words
"ACQUISITION OF" should be changed to "ACQUIRING" .
Under Acquisition Policies No. 1, line three, the words
"ROADS AND" should be inserted between "SCENIC" and
"HIGHWAYS" .
Under Acquisition Policies No. 2, line three, the words
"ROADS AND" should be inserted between "SCENIC" and
"HIGHWAYS" .
(VII . ) OPEN SPACE FOR THE PROTECTION OF AGRICULTURE, Page 14 :
In paragraph two, lines one and two, the phrase "that
agricultural areas with prime qualities for production
should be identified" should be changed to read "that
lands with value for agriculture should be identified" .
In paragraph three, line two, the words "and other agri-
cultural lands" should be inserted between the words
"orchards" and "within" .
Under Acquisition Policies No. 1, line one, the words
"ACQUIRE, THROUGH PURCHASE AND DONATION, " should be
changed to read "CONSIDER ACQUIRING" .
(VIII. ) OPEN SPACE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF MINERALS, page 15 :
It was noted that a typographical error made it appear
that this category was numbered "III" . The category
is "VIII" .
Meeting 75-2 Page six
(IX. ) OPEN SPACE FOR THE PROTECTION OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY,
Page 16 :
It was noted that a typographical error made it appear
that this category was numbered "VIII" . The category
is "IX" .
It was decided that the five subcategories under this
heading should be regrouped as follows:
A. AIR QUALITY
B. WATER QUALITY
C. GEOLOGIC HAZARDS
D. FIRE RISK
E. FLOODING
It was agreed that the heading "Summary" should precede
the final paragraph before the Acquisition Policy to
clearly separate it from the previous five subcategories.
The Board agreed that trails and agriculture should be discussed
in greater detail at the Goals Workshop on February 2. K. Duffy
suggested the Board reconsider a previous report on urban open
space of regional significance at that time. The Board also agreed
to give further attention to the question of whether or not there
are many orchards left which are economically viable.
E. Shelly said he thought salt ponds should be considered a type
of farm as far as open space value was concerned.
L. Anderson and D. Weden verified that the County and other agencies
defined "highway" to, -include rural -roads.
H. Grench said he thought it was important to stress the District' s
willingness to accept gifts of land in a few categories such as
"View from Scenic Highways" and "Geological and Topographical
Features" , even when they did not have other significant open space
values. D. Wendin disagreed, stating he would prefer that all
categories repeat the same language as in the first acquisition
policy statement.
H. Grench showed the Board members several maps which had been
colored in to reflect information contained on computer printouts
regarding the importance of lands within the District under the
different open space categories. He explained that staff had
experimented with three-color and six-color maps to determine
which would be more readily understood. D. Weden advised that
the District' s Master Plan brochure would use three shades of
green. The Board agreed that the use of three colors was appro-
priate.
Meeting 75-2 Page seven
H. Grench distributed to the Board a Master Plan Composite Survey
sheet to be filled out by assigning points to different open
space categories in order of their importance in the directors'
opinions. He explained the information would be helpful to the
Master Plan consultants in determining how much weight should
be given to the open space categories. The Board was asked to
.return the composite survey no later than Wednesday, January 29,
to the District office.
IV. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS (continued)
Ms. Diana Miller, Los Altos Hills Councilwoman, distributed a
questionnaire to the Board which she said had been circulated
to Los Altos Hills residents for their opinions on possible
actions by the Los Altos Hills Town Council, including a 62-acre
parcel of land owned by the Palo Alto Unified S&hool District.
N. Hanko suggested the Town of Los Altos Hills consider a study
on the costs of development versus the cost of maintaining
property for open space use.
VIII . OLD BUSINESS NOT REQUIRING ACTION (continued)
B. Costs for Newspaper Advertising of Board Meeting Agendas
H. Grench referred to his memorandum (M-74-185) dated December
19, 1974, which listed the costs of advertising Board meeting
agendas in various newspapers.
K. Duffy stated the consensus that this matter be considered
at the February 2, 1975 Goals Workshop.
C. Changes in Rules of Procedure
H. Grench advised the Board that the next regularly scheduled
Board meeting was February 12, 1975, also a day when the Dis-
trict office was officially closed. He suggested the Board
might want to consider a policy for the scheduling of Board
meetings when such meetings occurred on holidays. He noted
that the public and press might be unable to obtain informa-
tion on the day of a meeting if it were an official District
holiday.
Motion: D. Wendin moved that the meeting of the Board of Direc-
tors which was regularly scheduled for Wednesday,
February 12, 1975 be cancelled. E. Shelley seconded
the motion.
Discussion: The Board agreed to decide whether or
not to cancel the February 12, 1975 Board meeting
at the Goals Workshop on February 2, 1975. The
motion was withdrawn.
Meeting 75-2 Page eight
H. Grench advised the Board that Mr. Peters ' proposed changes
in the Rules of Procedure were in the Board members' meeting
folders. He referred to his memorandum (M-74-19) dated Janu-
ary 17, 1975, which suggests the Board study the proposed
changes and form a subcommittee to draft the details of the
changes.
Motion: N. Hanko moved that the proposed changes in the Rules
of Procedure be studied and placed on the agenda of
a future Board meeting at the discretion of the
President. B. Green seconded the motion. The motion
passed unanimously.
D. Urban Service Area Boundaries
H. Grench said it appeared that a compromise was being worked
out as the result of meetings between Los Gatos and the County
regarding Los Gatos' request for an extension in its Urban
Service Area boundary. He said the County had hoped Los Gatos
would withdraw its request to have a large piece of remote, in-
corporated area included in the Urban Service Area request, but
it did not appear that Los Gatos would do so. H. Grench said it
L was his opinion that the compromise was not enough, and that the
Urban Service Area boundary extension should only include those
areas near Los Gatos which are already urbanized. He said he
would like direction from the Board whether to urge LAFCo to
approve extension to the urbanized areas only, and asking Los
Gatos to return to LAFCo next year for any further requests.
i N. Hanko said it was important that Los Gatos realize that by
including this land in their Urban Service Area, the District' s
interest in the area was substantially reduced.
K. Duffy said LAFCo should be encouraged to act on the basis of
the five-year growth definition of an Urban Service Area.
Action: K. Duffy stated the consensus that H. Grench be direc-
ted to continue discussions with LAFCo, Los Gatos and
Santa Clara County to explain the concerns of the Dis-
trict, and that any further action be taken at H. Grench' s
discretion.
IX. NEW BUSINESS REQUIRING ACTION
A. Resolution Authorizing Signing and Endorsing Checks and
Other Instruments (Wells Fargo Bank)
Motion: D. Wendin moved adoption of Resolution No. 75-2, a
Resolution Authorizing and Endorsing Checks and Other
Instruments (Wells Fargo Bank) . B. Green seconded the
motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Meeting 75-2 Page nine
B. Resolution of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula
Regional Park District Establishing Financial Instrument
Signatories of the District for Santa Clara County Accounts
Motion: D. Wendin moved adoption of Resolution No. 75-3 , a
Resolution of the Board of Directors of the Midpenin-
sula Regional Park District Establishing Financial
Instrument Signatories of the District for Santa Clara
County Accounts. B. Green seconded the motion. The
motion passed unanimously.
N. Hanko advised that, as a result of her presentation to the
League of Women Voters on what made the Midpeninsula Regional
Park District a "special" special district, Mr. Diridon had
stated that he would probably not include the District in his
plans to consolidate special districts within Santa Clara
County. She said the League indicated it would strongly sup-
port the Midpeninsula Regional Park District from being con-
solidated.
X. CLAIMS
Motion: N. Hanko moved acceptance of the revised claims (C-
75-2) dated January 22, 1975. E. Shelley seconded the
motion. The motion passed on the following vote:
AYES - K. Duffy, N. Hanko, E. Shelley and D. Wendin;
ABSTAIN - B. Green.
XI. EXECUTIVE SESSION
The Board recessed to Executive Session at 11: 55 P.M. to discuss
land negotiations.
XII. ADJOURNMENT
The Board reconvened to adjourn at 12: 05 A.M.
Anne Cathcart Crosley
Administrative Secretary
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A. Minutes of January 22, 1975
Motion: N. Hanko moved approval of the minutes of January 22 ,
1975, with the following change on page nine in the
paragraph beginning "N. Hanko advised. . . " : .
"N. Hanko advised that, as a result of
her presentation to the League of Women
Voters on what made the Midpeninsula
Regional Park District a "special"
special District, Mr. Diridon had
stated that he was not intending to
include the District in his plans to
consolidate special districts within
Santa Clara County because of the Dis-
trict' s truly regional nature and po-
tential of extending across County
boundaries into San Mateo County. She
said League members indicated support
of the Midpeninsula Regional Park
District. "
K. Duffy stated the consensus that the minutes of January 22 ,
1975 be approved as amended.