HomeMy Public PortalAbout19790822 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) Meeting 79-21
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MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
Regular Meeting
Board of Directors
M I N U T E S
August 22, 1979 7 :30 P.M.
I. ROLL CALL
The meeting was called to order by Vice President Barbara Green at
7 :40 P.M.
Members Present: Daniel Wendin, Richard Bishop, Barbara Green and
Nonette Hanko
Members Absent: Katherine Duffy, Edward Shelley and Harry Turner
Personnel Present: Herbert Grench, Craig Britton, Charlotte MacDonald, Jean
Fiddes, Del Woods, Eric Mart, Cynthia DiGiovanni, Stanley Norton and Sue Herda.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A. Minutes of July 11, 1979
N. Hanko requested that on page 5, the statement "N. Hanko expressed
concern regarding the structure of the committee and referred to past
Palo Alto City Council experiences. She also said she felt a woman
should be represented on the committee;' be placed after the vote on
the motion. She also requested that the following be added; "N. Hanko
stated that unless the committee is only to gather information, she
opposed the committee concept and stated her concern that the entire
Board be responsible for the review of appointees. "
B. Green stated Board consensus that the minutes of July 11, 1979 be
approved as corrected.
H. Turner arrived at 7 :45 P.M.
B. Minutes of July 25, 1979.
B. Green stated Board consensus that the minutes of July 25, 1979 be
approved as presented.
Meeting 79-21 Page Two
III. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
H. Grench advised the Board that the District received a $100 con-
tribution from Lawrence Breed of Palo Alto and suggested that the
Board send a Resolution of Appreciation. The Board concurred.
IV. ADOPTION OF AGENDA
B. Green stated Board consensus that an item, "Appointment of Sec-
retary Pro Tern, " be added to the agenda under the category of NEW
BUSINESS WITH ACTION REQUESTED.
V. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
Mark Schneider, 12100 Skyline Boulevard, Los Gatos stated that he
concurred with the concern expressed by Robert Mark at the meeting
of July 11, 1979 regarding an environmental impact report (fourth
page, first paragraph) . M. Schneider asked for the time scale in
relationship to generating an EIR, who would be requesting the
documents and who would provide the EIR.
D. Woods stated that an EIA was submitted along with the Monte Bello
Plan to the City of Palo Alto. The EIA is a worksheet form which
the City of Palo Alto is evaluating to determine if an EIR is neces-
sary.
VI. NEW BUSINESS WITH ACTION REQUESTED
A. Proposed Land and Water Conservation Fund Applications
H. Grench introduced report No. R-79-32, dated August 16, 1979 re-
garding the proposed Land and Water Conservation Fund Applications
by the District for two matching grants. One application is for the
development of the Monte Bello Open Space Preserve and the other for
acquisition of the proposed Sandstone Caves Park.
Motion: R. Bishop moved adoption of Resolution 79-39, a Resolution
of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open
Space District approving the application for Land and Water
Conservation Funds - Monte Bello Open Space Preserve Develop-
ment Project. H. Turner seconded the motion. The motion
passed unanimously.
There was general discussion wherein the Directors unanimously agreed
upon their pleasure in the District' s decision to apply for Land and
Water Conservation Funds towards the proposed Sandstone Caves project.
Beverly Carter, Controller, Rancho Canada de Verde, 16060 Skyline
Boulevard, Woodside asked when the matter of application for grant
monies first came up as a District matter, and when the resolution
was drawn and passed.
Meeting 79-21 Page Three
B. Green stated that this was the first time that the matter was up
for Board consideration and that the resolution was available for
her viewing.
B. Carter noted that Rancho Canada de Verde is very selective about
whom they let enter the property, and have placed logs across the
trail to discourage hikers. Generally they only allow school groups
to view the Sandstone Caves. She stated that they do have a patrol
on the weekends, and she suspected that a lot of the deterioration
was natural due to the harsh climate. Regarding the proposed pur-
chase of 540 acres, she expressed concern about how many of those
acres are specifically along Skyline Boulevard.
D. Woods stated that the distance along Skyline Boulevard was a
little more than one mile.
Motion: R. Bishop moved adoption of Resolution 79-40, a Resolution
of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open
Space District approving the application for Land and Water
Conservation Funds - Sandstone Caves Park Acquisition Pro-
ject. B. Green seconded the motion. The motion passed
unanimously.
B. Joint Project with San Mateo County on Surplus Edgewood State
College Site
H. Grench reviewed memorandum M-79-116 and recommended that the Board send
a letter to the Board of Supervisors of San Mateo County reaffirming the Dis-
trict' s involvement in the Edgewood State College Site project.
Motion: R. Bishop moved that the Board authorize the Vice President
of the Board to send a letter to the San Mateo Board of
Supervisors. N. Hanko seconded the motion. The motion
passed unanimously.
C. Filling of Positions
H. Grench reviewed memorandum M-79-118 , dated August 15, 1979 from
E. Mart regarding the filling of two temporary Ranger Aide positions
and memorandum M-79-121, dated August 17 , 1979 regarding the filling
of a :Ranger vacancy. In addition, he noted that as an urgency mea-
sure, he had to fill the vacant part-time Drafting Aide position on
a temporary basis, and asked that the Board concur with his action.
D. Wendin stated that there appeared to be some issues that the Bud-
get Committee had not taken into consideration. One of them related
to the effect of the CETA budget, or the lack of it, on the Land
Management guidelines. He stated that he felt that after the new
Land Manager was appointed, the Budget Committee should review the
matter and determine whether or not an adjustment of the policy is
necessary at the present time or whether to wait until next year.
Meeting 79-21 Page Four
Secondly, D. Wendin noted that the Budget Committee never considered
the question of a recommendation to the Board on the policy relative
to the Budget Committee reviewing staff replacements. He felt that
it was intended that it was no longer necessary for the Budget Com-
mittee to review all staff replacements. He stated that the Budget
Committee should meet and review the situations and make recommenda-
tions to the Board.
Motion: B. Green moved that the Board approve filling the two tem-
porary ranger aide positions and the regular ranger position,
and that the clarification of the policy for Procedures for
Hiring Regular and Temporary Employees be referred to the
Budget Committee. R. Bishop seconded the motion. The motion
passed unanimously.
Motion: D. Wendin moved that the questions of the effect of the CETA
budget on the Land Management guidelines and the analysis of
the Board Policy for Procedures for Hiring Regular and Tem-
porary Employees or Staff Replacements be referred to the
Budget Committee, for consideration after the appointment of
a new Land Manager. H. Turner seconded the motion. The
motion passed unanimously.
D. Personnel Services
H. Grench reviewed Mr. Foss' activities with the District and expressed
the District' s need to retain Mr. Foss for further personnel related
services. He stated the necessity of having Mr. Foss available to aid
the new Administrative Assistant in interpreting the new personnel sys-
tem developed by Mr. Foss. He felt there was a need for ongoing consul-
tation requiring someone with professional experience to handle the type
of questions that wouldn' t be expected of an Administrative Assistant.
He expected that the contract with Mr. Foss would be renegotiated in
approximately four months.
B. Green asked if the consultant was to be the Board' s consultant or
the General Manager' s consultant.
H. Grench stated that on a day to day basis, Mr. Foss would be a con-
sultant to the General Manager, but would be available to the Board
as the Board needed services and would do assignments directly for the
Board also.
N. Hanko expressed concern with the process the District was using.
She said that at the time that the District chose the consultant, the
District had an advertising procedure that it used, and it now seemed
that the work being suggested for Mr. Foss was somewhat different from
the original position. She wondered if the public resources code re-
quired any specific type of advertising for such a position.
H. Grench stated that he believed that the code does not require
advertising for professional services, and Mr. Norton concurred.
Meeting 79-21 Page Five
N. Hanko continued, stating that she did not notice any date speci-
fying when the work was to be completed. It appeared to be an open
ended agreement which could imply Mr. Foss would be kept on as a full
time employee, when in fact he is a consultant.
H. Grench commented that he was anticipating 16 hours per month ini-
tially. After that he said he thought it would equal about one day
per month, on an ongoing basis. He pointed out that there are pro-
cedures within the agreement for terminating it and that it will also
be controlled in part through the budget process.
N. Hanko made reference to a section referring to the District engaging
the contractor and the District terminating the agreement, and asked
for clarification concerning "who is the District, the General Manager
or the Board?"
H. Grench stated that under the agreement the General Manager is re-
sponsible, however, the Board is always able to direct him.
N. Hanko stated that the funds, at least for this year, were to come
out of services, supplies and salaries and benefits budgets, but there
is no mention as to where these funds are to come from after the new
year.
H. Grench stated that it would be a budget item and would have to be
put in priority with other items as part of the budget process.
N. Hanko stated she wasn' t sure what the District is expecting the
personnel consultant to do. She noted that there are no special guide-
lines as to what he' ll be doing or how the District can evaluate how he
is performing his services.
H. Grench stated that the guidelines were given in a general way as
part of exhibit A, third paragraph down, where it mentions the person-
nel services and lists various typical areas that would be covered
under the agreement. He suggested that she refer to H. Grench' s report
on implementation of the original study, which would give an idea of the
details.
N. Hanko expressed her view on the matter, stating that the District
certainly needs to have the implementation of the study, but she'd
like to see the Administrative Assistant trained and then have the
District rely on the Administrative Assistant as the personnel person.
Also, she stated that she would like for the Board to have more influ-
ence in hiring a District consultant. She said she would prefer that
the consultant be hired by the Board rather than the General Manager,
and if the Board didn't agree, at least have the consultant report to
the Board on a quarterly basis.
D. Wendin suggested that H. Grench periodically report on the con-
sultant' s progress.
Meeting 79-21 Page Six
N. Hanko stated she felt it would be valuable for the Board to
retain a consultant for handling such matters, who is not otherwise
working for staff.
R. Bishop said that under the terms of the agreement with Mr. Foss,
he did not feel there would be any conflicts.
H. Grench stated that it was anticipated that the Board would be
able to contact Mr. Foss at any time.
Robert Mark, 725 Cowper, Palo Alto stated that there was an apparent,
if not very real, impropriety surrounding the issue. Referring to
the fact that Mr. Foss had just completed a review of the General
Manager' s compensation, he questioned the fact that the General Manager
was now recommending that the Board hire Mr. Foss for further work.
He said he felt that if that sort of an arrangement were contemplated,
then Mr. Foss should have declined the job of reviewing the salary of
the General Manager.
B. Green noted that Mr. Foss doesn' t review H. Grench, he merely
distinguishes areas the Board needs to consider when they review
the General Manager.
G. Foss stated that his position was to provide the Board with
technical information which was in conjunction with the report that
he provided for all other District employees .
Harry Kallishan, 59 Alma Court, Los Altos stated that he agreed with
Bob Mark and that the District should be concerned about how outsiders
see it. He suggested that the matter be viewed "at arms length. "
Motion: D. Wendin moved that the Board authorize the General
Manager to enter into the agreement with Wolf, Murphy
and Foss for personnel services, with the proviso that
the General Manager report to the Board on an every
other month basis on the activities of the consultant.
H. Turner seconded the motion.
Ayes : D. Wendin, R. Bishop, B. Green and H. Turner
Noes: N. Hanko
N. Hanko stated her no vote reflected her opinion that the Board should
hire the consultant and that he report to the Board rather than the
General Manager.
E. Appointment of Secretary Pro Tem to Sign Documents
H. Grench stated that the Board needed to appoint a Secretary Pro Tem
to handle signature of documents.
B. Green stated the consensus of the Board that R. Bishop be appointed
Secretary Pro Tem.
Meeting 79-21 Page Seven
VII. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS
H. Grench noted that the District has agreed to the Town of Los
Gatos' request to provide 50% funding on the Novitiate property
appraisal. The original agreement anticipated that Los Gatos
would fund all of the cost, but under the circumstances, he felt
it seemed like a reasonable request.
H. Grench stated that the San Carlos City Council passed the necessary
resolutions scheduling a protest hearing for September 24th to
determine whether or not the Hassler assessment district is to be
formed. He also noted that he had sent the Board materials on
Housing After Proposition 13. The information was relevant to a
special assessment district that was set up and the legality of that
following Proposition 13.
Beez Jones, 19 La Vuelta, Vallejo asked if the District is anticipat-
ing purchasing the Novitiate property.
H. Grench stated that the project that the District is involved with
is where the Novitiate winery is located, although the winery would
not be included. Los Gatos secured a Land and Water Conservation
Fund last year for the project which consists of approximately 300
acres, and the District Board agreed to put up 50% of the local share
of the project.
D. Wendin said that he noticed a barricade at the 280 Freeway entrance
to the Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve, which could cause
parking to backup into the neighborhood making the whole issue more
visible. He asked how Santa Clara County was progressing on the fence
bid.
D. Woods replied that the county has finished their design specifica-
tions, and after funding is approved by the Board of Supervisors, the
county will go to bid and expect construction of the fence within six
weeks.
S. Norton recommended that the Board send a letter to the adminis-
tration of the St. Joseph' s High School/St. Patrick's College stating
the Board' s position on the barricade. The Board concurred with Stan' s
recommendation and asked that he send the letter.
VIII. CLAIMS
Motion: R. Bishop moved that the Board approve the Revised Claims
No. C-79-17 , dated August 22, 1979. H. Turner seconded
the motion. N. Hanko abstained from item No. 187. The
motion passed unanimously.
IX. EXECUTIVE SESSION
The Board recessed to Executive Session at 9 :00 P.M.
X. ADJOURNMENT
The Board reconvened to adjourn at 11:35 P.M.
Sue Herda
Secretary
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CORRECTIONS TO MINUTES OF , /� :.21
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A. Minutes of August 22, 1979
E. Shelley stated Board consensus that the minutes of August 22,
1979 be approved as presented.
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CORRECTIONS MINUTES OF
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