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HomeMy Public PortalAbout19790627 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) A Meeting 79-18 i MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT Regular Meeting Board of Directors M I N U T E S June 27, 1979 7 :30 P.M. I. ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order by President Shelley at 7 : 30 P.M. Members Present: Edward Shelley, Katherine Duffy, Richard Bishop, Barbara Green and Nonette Hanko. (Harry Turner arrived at 7 : 40) Members Absent: Daniel Wendin Personnel Present: Herbert Grench, Craig Britton, Charlotte MacDonald, Eric Mart, Sue Herda, Stanley Norton, Pat Starrett, Cynthia DiGiovanni and Phyllis Lee. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Minutes of May 23, 1979 E. Shelley stated the consensus of the Board that the minutes be approved as presented. III . WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS H. Grench advised the Board of the following written communications: 1) a letter from Geri Albers dated June 26 , 1979 , expressing re- cognition and appreciation of Anne Crosley' s contribution to the District, and 2) A letter dated June 23, 1979 from Marlene Testa- guzza of Sunnyvale, commending the District on the District ordi- nance which prohibits dogs on District preserves. IV. ADOPTION OF AGENDA E. Shelley stated the consensus of the Board that an item be added to the agenda under the category of New Business With Action Requested, for Board consideration of "Authorization to Fill Staff Vacancies" . V. SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY - BOY SCOUT TROOP #31 E. Huggins introduced John Bettendorf of Boy Scout Troop #31. She said that John and his troop, as part of an Eagle Scout project, completed a major clean-up task on the Monte Bello Open Space Preserve. She said this project required that all planning, supervision and completion of the job be done entirely by the Scouts without adult-leader intervention. Meeting 79-18 Page two She said that an exemplary job had been done by John and the Scout troop. Motion: B. Green moved that the Board send a letter to Scout Troop #31 and John Bettendorf, expressing the appre- ciation and thanks of the Board for the completion of this project and the fine quality of the work. R. Bishop seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. H. Turner arrived at 7 :40 P.M. VI. EXECUTIVE SESSION The Board recessed to Executive Session at 7 :55 P.M. to discuss Land Negotiations. The Board reconvened at 8 :35 P.M. VII. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Mr. Stanley Peterson, 24737 Prospect Avenue, Los Altos Hills , said that at the meeting of June 13, 1979 he was advised by his attorney not to speak to the Board on the matter of acqui- sition of his property regarding determination of public necessity. He said he has since decided that he should have spoken to the Board at that time, and he had requested that the item be con- sidered by the Board at the meeting tonight. He told the Board that when he originally purchased the land it was for the purpose of a private residence, not a developed subdivision. He said that he questioned the District staff report concerning this property, and that some statements made in the report were erro- neous. He asked the Board to rescind the condemnation process so that negotiations could be reopened. He said that if an agreement could be made between the Board and himself, large attorney' s fees could be avoided. He asked the Board to place consideration of this item on the agenda for the next Board meeting. R. Bishop said that although the Board may not decide to place consideration of this item on a future agenda, Mr. Petersen should feel free to express any arguments he may have at this meeting, and he encouraged Mr. Peterson to do so. E. Shelley said that because the Board had considered the acqui- sition of the Peterson 'property at the last Board meeting and the item was not on tonight' s agenda, the Board could not take any action on the matter. He suggested that Mr. Peterson could sub- mit a written communication to the Board so that if an indivi- dual Board member desired to place the matter on a future agenda he or she could do so. Robert Mark, 720 Cowper Avenue, Palo Alto expressed concern about the resignation of District staff members Anne Crosley and Jon Olson. He told the Board that he had received a notice of violation from St. Josephs Seminary regarding park- ing near Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve . He urged Meeting 79-18 Page three District staff to work with Santa Clara County Parks Department to develop alternative parking to provide access to the preserve as soon as possible. Linda Stuckey, 22600 Prospect Road, Cupertino told the Board that the "grey house" on the Fremont Older Open Space Pre- serve had been rented to friends of the former tenants. She said she felt that District staff did not use a fair process to select a tenant for the house. E. Mart said that District houses are rented based upon the order in which the District receives the request and on the ability of the applicant to meet rental qualifications. He said the grey house was rented to the first qualified appli- cant, and that he was not aware of their relationship with the former tenants at the time of the initial contact. He also stated that the availability of the house for rental had been advertised in the newspaper. He said he felt the rental pro- cess used for this house is consistent with Board adopted pol- icy. K. Duffy said that perhaps the Board committee on structures and improvements should reevaluate the adopted policy regarding rentals. VIII. OLD BUSINESS WITH ACTION REQUESTED A. Revised Annual Claims List Fiscal Year 1978-79 M. Foster introduced memorandum M-79-100 dated June, 18, 1979 regarding Revised Annual Claims List Fiscal Year 1978-79 . Motion: B. Green moved that the Board approve the Revised Annual Claims List Fiscal Year 1978-79 . H. Turner seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. B. Regnart Road - Eminent Domain Procedure: Report and Request for Instructions to Staff S. Norton introduced report No. R-79-28 dated June 25 , 1979 regarding Regnart Road - Eminent Domain Procedure: Report and Request for Instructions to Staff. He said that the pro- posed Regnart Road improvement project requires that the City of Cupertino acquire 1/4 acre of the District' s Fremont Older Open Space Preserve. He said that an Order of Immediate Posses- sion had been served to the District which provided for the taking of this property within 20 days of June 11, the date of service. H. Grench referred the Board to memorandum No. M-79-103 dated June 25, 1979 regarding Regnart Road - Eminent Domain Procedure. He said that his recommendation is that the Board take the re- quired steps in order to prevent the taking of dedicated Dis- trict land. He said that he wanted to emphasize that this action is not meant to delay or stop the road improvement pro- ject. Meeting 79-18 Page four R. Bishop said he felt that the taking of this small portion of property would not have substantial impact on the open space value of the preserve. R. Mark said that he felt that the Board as holders of the Public Trust, should attempt to have the Order of Immediate Possession set aside. He added that be-cause of the "rebuttable presumption" clause in the Public Resources Code which favors park and open space usethe expense of a court proceeding would not be too great, if it could result in the protection of public open space land. Kathy Nellis, 22322 Regnart Road, Cupertino told the Board that an Environmental Impact Report had been prepared for the road project in conjunction with the initial report for the develop- ment of the subdivision. She said that only one area of Dis- trict property along the creek is involvedand that rip-rap is required for protection of the area. N. Hanko stated that only 1/10 acre of the property is used for park landand the remaining portion is currently used for roadway purposes. Robert Nellis, 22322 Regnart Road, Cupertino said that the rip- rap along the creek is proposed primarily to maintain the exist- ing road. Joanne Gholson, 22125 Regnart Road, Cupertino, said she felt the District could have prevented the current proposed taking of District land when the road improvement project first came before them over a year ago. She said the compensation which was offered to the District for the 1/4 acre is not a fair amount in light of the property' s purchase price. She said that the proposed road improvement project states that there is a 20 foot right-of-way along the road, and that this measure- ment is incorrect. She said she felt the District should have opposed the original subdivision development in Regnart Canyon which would have negated the need for road improvement. S. Norton told the Board that within 20 days of the date of summons it would be necessary for the District to respond to the order of Immediate Possession or the property could be taken by default and no compensation could be negotiated. He said the response could be filed by staff and no Board action is required. E. Shelley stated that since the Board desired to take no action on this item, staff should proceed with a response and negotiations for compensation with the City of Cuper- tino. S. Norton made it clear that staff would take all necessary steps to ensure that the District would receive a fair price for its property. Meeting 79-18 Page five A. Appointment of Auditor for 1978-1979 Fiscal Year M. Foster reviewed memorandum No. 79-101 dated June 20, 1979 regarding Appointment of Auditor for 1978-1979 Fiscal Year. He told the Board that aside from the specific reasons given in the memorandum, it is common for public agencies to change auditors every four to five years. Motion: K. Duffy moved that the Board appoint Deloitte, Has- kins and Sells as the District' s auditors for the fiscal year 1978-1979. B. Green seconded the motion. The motion passed on the following vote : Ayes: E. Shelley, R. Bishop, B. Green, N. Hanko and K. Duffy. H. Turner was absent at the time the vote was taken. Authorization to Fill Staff Vacancies H. Grench reviewed the Board' s policy for filling vacant staff positions. He said that currently staff vacancies exist in the following positions : Assistant General Manager, Land Manager, Land Management Secretary and Ranger. He recommended that the Board authorize staff to fill these vacant staff posi- tions. Motion: R. Bishop moved that the Board authorize staff to proceed with the filling of Assistant General Manager, Land Manager, Land Management Secretary and Ranger staff vacancies. K. Duffy seconded the motion. Discussion: E. Shelley said that he felt the number of staff vacancies which have occured simultaneously is an indication that the District is "getting older and more mature" . H. Grench said that District staff so far has been committed to the goals of the District and the turnover rate has been low. N. Hanko said she would abstain from voting on this item because she felt the Board should take some time to look into the staff vacancy problem. E. Shelley said he felt the District should act as soon as possible to fill the vacant staff positions. The motion passed on the following vote: Ayes: E. Shelley, K. Duffy, B. Green, R. Bishop and H. Turner. Abstain: N. Hanko. X. NEW BUSINESS WITH NO ACTION REQUESTED A. Annual Report of the Volunteer Program Fiscal Year 1978-1979 E. Huggins introduced report No. R-79-27 dated June 22 , 1979 regarding the Annual Report of the Volunteer Program Fiscal Year 1978-1979. She said that volunteer service for the District last fiscal year included docent walks, office help, mapping, preparation of newsletter mailing lists, field projects and special research projects. She said that docents -have taken Meeting 79-18 Page six approximately 1,200 people on tours of Los Trancos Earthquake Trail which represents about 3, 000 hours of volunteer service to the District. She said that requests for docent tours, increased during periods when articles appeared in local news- papers about District sites and also that the use pattern corres- ponds with usage of Palo Alto Foothills park. She said that any future expansion of the docent program is dependent on develop- ment of parking facilities at more District sites. XI . INFORMATIONAL REPORTS A. H. Grench told the Board that he and Barbara Green attended the California Parks and Recreation Society /NRPA Legisla- tive Conference on June 20-21. He said the primary topic of discussion was future funding. He said although the funding outlook is not good there are indications that public support for parks and open space is good. B. Green added that be- cause of this contradiction, it has been suggested that perhaps the public did not intend to cut park and open space services through passage of Proposition 13. She said that there is some consideration of a proposed measure which would give voters an opportunity to clarify their intentions regarding parks and open space to be placed on the ballot in November of 1980 . B. C. Britton told the Board that a check for $50 had been donated to the District by Ralph Samuelson of Stanford. He suggested that Mr. Samuelson be sent a Resolution of Appreciation on behalf of the Board, and the Board agreed. XII . CLAIMS Motion: N. Hanko moved that the Board approve the Revised Claims List No. C-79-14 dated June 27 , 1979 . E. Shelley seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. ADJOURNMENT The Board adjourned at 10 :05 P.M. Phyllis Lee Recording Secretary CORRECTIONS TO MINUTES OF c� �� P? J f A. Minutes of June 27 , 1979 E. Shelley stated Board consensus that the minutes be approved as presented. I CORRECTIONS MINUTES OF • l i