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HomeMy Public PortalAbout19790214 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) eeting 79-4 MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT Regular Meeting Board of Directors M I N U T E S February 14 , 1979 375 Distel Circle Los Altos, CA I . ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order by President Shelley at 7 :30 P.M. Members Present: Richard Bishop, Katherine Duffy, Nonette Hanko, Edward Shelley, Harry Turner and Daniel Wendin. Member Absent: Barbara Green Personnel Present: Herbert Grench, Jon Olson, Anne Crosley, Craig Britton, Stanley Norton, Del Woods and Cynthia Di- Giovanni. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Minutes of January 10, 1979 Motion: R. Bishop moved approval of the minutes of January 10 , 1979, with the inclusion of a statement on page two of the minutes indicating that Resolution No. 79-2 would allow certain investments while the Budget Committee studied proposed Investment Policy guidelines. H. Turner seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. III . WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS A. Crosley referred the Board to a letter dated February 8 , 1979 from Toni Casey, 23600 Ravensbury, Los Altos Hills, asking for Board discussion of the problem equestrians have gaining access to Rancho San Antonio Open Space Pre- serve. J. Olson said staff would contact Ms. Casey and try to resolve the problem. IV. ADOPTION OF AGENDA E. Shelley stated the consensus that the agenda be adopted as presented. Meeting 79-4 Page two V. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Robert Mark, 725 Cowper, Palo Alto, asked if the Board was aware of what he felt to be unsightly cylinder and cable barriers installed by the Catholic Church to stop people from parking on their property, next to the District' s preserve. J. Olson said the problem has been discussed between the District and Church officials. R. Mark said he hoped the "No Parking" signs by Long Ridge Open Space Preserve would be removed soon. He also commented that he hoped E. Shelley's intent to conduct Board meetings in a more efficient way would not change the spirit of the meetings. VI . SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY A. Volunteer Recognition and Award to Sarah Shoolery A. Crosley introduced Sarah Shoolery, a volunteer who has given many hours of work to the District over the past two years, assisting in the office two mornings each week. She presented Mrs. Shoolery with a plaque from the California Parks and Recreation Society which was awarded to Mrs. Shoolery in recognition of her work. She said Mrs. Shoolery' s help was invaluable to the office staff. Mrs. Shoolery accepted the award and said she enjoyed working at an agency that preserves land, and felt that it was good for young and old people to work together. VII. OLD BUSINESS WITH ACTION REQUESTED A. Resolution of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Stating District' s Willing- ness and Intention to Purchase City of San Carlos Assess- ment District Bonds for Purchase of Hassler Property S. Norton presented a resolution for Board consideration which would state the District' s willingness to purchase $300, 000 worth of bonds sold by an assessment district created by citizens of San Carlos for the purpose of helping to purchase the Hassler Health Home property, to be repaid to the District at an interest rate of about 5 . 5% . He said the best interest rate available from other sources to such an assessment district would be about 7 .5% to 8 . 0%. R. Bishop pointed out this resolution, if passed, would reflect District Board policy if the assessment district is formed and if the District acquires the property. Meeting 79-4 Page three J. Olson advised that the San Mateo County Sheriff' s Department has said a normal part of their patrol is to check the Hassler parking lots. D. Wendin and E. Shelley said they felt the District would be essentially committing itself to acquisition of the property if the assessment district succeeds. Motion: N. Hanko moved adoption of Resolution No. 79-10 , a Resolution of the Board of Directors of the Midpenin- sula Regional Open Space District Stating District' s Willingness and Intention to Purchase City of San Carlos Assessment District Bonds for Purchase of Hassler Property. R. Bishop seconded the motion. Amendment to Motion: D. Wendin suggested the words "in the event the property is purchased by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District" to the title of the resolution. N. Hanko and R. Bishop agreed to the amendment. The amended motion passed unanimously. Gordon Jennings, 3611 Woodside Road, Woodside, expressed his concern that the Board, as a political body, was making a deci- sion on Hassler through "creeping commitment. " He said he felt the Board had avoided discussing the merits of the acqui- sition. He said he believed there was a risk in assessment districts and that they may not be appropriate for park or open space purposes. R. Mark said he agreed that the Board should have more discus- sion of the merits of the acquisition, but that he felt the use of an assessment district to help raise local funds was an imaginative and commendable approach to leveraging the District' s limited financial resources. R. Bishop said he felt the District has been open regarding the consequences of each step taken in regard to the Hassler property, and there have been discussions about it at many public meetings. VIII . NEW BUSINESS WITH ACTION REQUESTED A. Waiver of Right of First Refusal - Pacific High School Property (Long Ridge Open Space Preserve) C. Britton introduced report R-79-6, dated February 9 , 1979 , regarding the proposed Waiver of Right of First Refusal ;.-; Pacific High School Property (Long Ridge Open Space Preserve) . He said Bodhi, a Buddhist community wishing to acquire the Pacific High School site, will give the District a trail easement from Long Ridge to Skyline Boulevard in exchange for the District waiving its first right of refusal on the property. He recommended the Board adopt a resolution agreeing to this request. Meeting 79-4 Page four Artemis Ginzton, 20814 Nahoma Road, Los Altos Hills , said she hoped a trail on this site would connect with State trails Motion: K. Duffy moved adoption of Resolution No. 79-11 , a Resolution of the Board of Directors of the Midpen- insula Regional open Space District Approving Agree- ment for Waiver of Right of First Refusal , Authorizing Officer to Execute Said Agreement, Authorizing officer to Execute Restriction Agreement and Authorizing General Manager to Execute Any and All Other Documents Necessary to or Appropriate to Closing of the Trans- action (Long Ridge Open Space Preserve/Pacific High School Property) . H. Turner seconded the motion. Discussion: C. Britton asked the Board to delete words "granting of" from Section Two in the resolution. K. Duffy and H. Turner agreed to the change. The amended motion passed unanimously. B. Dedication of Acquired Lands to Park and Open Space Purposes S. Norton and H. Grench introduced memorandum M-79-34 , dated February 6 , 1979, regarding the Dedication of Acquired Lands to Park and Open Space Purposes. S . Norton said that existing law is somewhat unclear about the dedicated status of lands used for park and open space purposes. He recommended that the Board adopt a resolution which would clarify the District 's policy regarding the dedication of its acquired lands . This would provide for automatic dedication of a site two years after acquisition unless expressly dedicated before that or expressly not dedicated through an extended planning study period. G. Jennings and R. Mark said they felt two years was too long a time before land is dedicated as open space . S. Norton pointed out that once land is dedicated, an election would probably have to be called before a transfer of land could be permitted. Motion: D. Wendin moved the addition of the following words to paragraph 2 (b) in the proposed resolution: 116t the time of acquisition the Board would decide whether or not the acquired parcel of land shall be dedicated land. " H. Turner seconded the motion. The motion passed on the following vote: AYES - D. Wendin, H. Turner, R. Bishop, K. Duffy and E. Shelley; NO - N. Hanko. Motion: D. Wendin moved adoption of Resolution No. 79-12 , a Resolution of the Board of Directors of the Midpen- Meeting 79-4 Page five sula Regional Open Space District Establishing a Policy for the Dedication of District Lands, with the following sentence inserted before paragraph three: "or as of the date of the adoption of this resolution, whichever is later. " H. Turner seconded the motion. Discussion: G. Jennings cautioned the Board against binding future Boards to this procedure. R. Mark urged them to change the resolution to one year rather than two. The motion passed on the following vote: AYES - D. Wendin, E. Shelley, K. Duffy, H. Turner and R. Bishop; NO - N. Hanko. J. Olson introduced his memorandum (M-79-35) dated February 9 , 1979 regarding the Dedication of Acquired Lands to Park and Open Space Purposes. He recommended adoption of a reso- lution which designates 97% of all lands owned by the District as dedicated lands. Only 3% of such lands are being withheld since they are being considered for transfer to other park agencies. Motion: N. Hanko moved adoption of Resolution No. 79-13 , a Resolution of the Board of Directors of the Midpen- insula Regional Open Space District Dedicating Certain District Lands to Public Open Space Purposes, changing the resolution number referred to in sections one and two to 79-12 and inserting the word "acquired" at the beginning of the last column on Exhibit 1. The motion passed unanimously. C. Development Categories for District Lands. J. Olson introduced report R-79-5 dated February 9 , 1979 , regarding Development Categories for District Lands. In order for the District to continue responsible land management of acquired sites with limited post-Proposition 13 resources , he recommended the District concentrate available development and management funds on a group of selected sites which are chosen for their geographic distribution and which offer a broad range of open space experiences of the type provided by the District. He asked for Board concurrence with this con- cept and that the Budget Committee be directed to study this concept with staff. A. Ginzton said she hoped youth hostels would still be con- sidered as a use of District sites. G. Jennings said he regretted seeing Hassler on the list of sites. He also expressed his concern with resistance to the idea of using volunteers to build, maintain and patrol trails . E. Shelley stated the consensus that the Budget Committee examine cost estimates for developing the Monte Bello Open Meeting 79-4 Page six Space Preserve as prepared by staff, review the budget guide- line for land management costs , and report back to the Board. D, Coordinator of Volunteers Contract. H, Grench introduced a report (R-79-4) dated February 7 , 1979 from the Land Manager regarding approval of the Coordinator of Volunteers Contract attached to the report. The Coordinator manages the volunteer docent program of the District and finds other volunteers and interns to help with various Dis- trict activities. The contract would provide a total of $3 ,000 for the last half of the current fiscal year for 500 hours of service at $6. 00 per hour. He recommended approval of the contract and authorization to transfer up to $1,700 in budget contingency funds from Fixed Assets - New Land Commitments to Services and Supplies for this contract. Motion: H. Turner moved approval of the contract agreement between the District and Coordinator of Volunteers as set forth in report R-79-4 . N. Hanko seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Motion; K. Duffy moved that the Board authorize the transfer of up to $1,700 in budget contingency funds from Fixed Assets - New Land Commitments to Services and Supplies for the purpose of fulfilling the contract provisions. R. Bishop seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. IX. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS R. Bishop advised that the Legislative Committee would plan to meet on the third Wednesday of each month, and would advise people during the second week of the month whether or not the meeting would be held. X, CLAIMS Motion: D. Wendin moved approval of the revised claims (C-79- 3) dated February 14 , 1979, with the exception of Claim No, 651 for $303 ,000, which staff requested be removed, H. Turner seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. XI, EXECUTIVE SESSION The Board recessed to Executive Session at 10 :55 P.M. to dis- cuss land negotiations. XII. ADJOURNMENT The Board reconvened to adjourn at 12 :05 A.M. Anne Crosley District Clerk i i I I ( III ...,. B. Minutes of Februar 14, 1979 E. Shelley stated the consensus minutes of Februar mi at the I 14 be adopted with the addition R. e mi seconding y the motion made by N. Hanko on page three, g II I I I I