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
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...,. 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
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the motion made by N. Hanko on page three, g
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