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HomeMy Public PortalAbout19810708 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) AA. ting 81-17 MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT 375 DISTEL CIRCLE,SUITE D-1,LOS ALTOS,CALIFORNIA 94022 (415) 965-4717 Regular Meeting Board of Directors M I N U T E S July 8, 1981 I . ROLL CALL President_ Richard Bishop called the meeting to order at 7: 39 P.M. Members Present: Katherine Duffy, Barbara Green, Edward Shelley, Nonette Hanko, Harry Turner, and Richard Bishop. Member Absent: Daniel Wendin Personnel Present: Herbert Grench, Steven Sessions , Charlotte MacDonald, Jean Fiddes , Stanley Norton, and Michael Foster. II . APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. May 27 , 1981 Motion: E. Shelley moved the approval of the minutes of May 27, 1981. N. Hanko seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. III . WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS J. Fiddes reported the Board had received a letter, dated June 19, 1981, from Senator Alan Cranston in response to the resolution passed by the Board regarding the cuts in Land and Water Conser- vation Grant funds . IV. ADOPTION OF AGENDA H. Grench requested the addition of a new agenda item to New Business with Action Requested following Item 5 on the agenda. He stated S. Norton would present the new agenda item which dealt with the possible reissue of the Windy Hill notes . R. Bishop stated the Board' s consensus that the agenda was adopted with the addition of the new agenda item to New Business with Action Requested. V. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Harry Haeussler, 1094 Highland Circle, Los Altos , expressed his appreciation to the Board for the new trail that had been con- structed at the Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve and en- couraged the construction of similar trails . Malka Kopell, Conservation Director for the Peninsula Conservation Center, and Michael Rigney, a wildlife biologist, gave a slide presentation on Bair Island in Redwood City and noted the Peninsula Conser- vation Center was opposed to Mobil Oil ' s proposed development on the island because of the impact of wildlife in the area and the traffic that would be generated from the project. VI. OLD EUSINESS WITH ACTION REQUESTED A. Approval of Interim Use and Management Recommendations for Addition to Long Ridge Open Space Preserve (Bean Property) R. Bishop, summarizing memorandum M-81-71, dated June 30 , 1981. He stated the purchase of the Bean property had been authorized at the meeting of June 24, 1981 and noted the Board had deferred the Meeting 81-17 ge Two adoption of the interim use and management recommendations , pending additional public input. There were no comments from members of the public. Motion: R. Bishop moved the Board approve the use and management recommendations recommended by staff for the Bean property addition to the Long Ridge Open Space Preserve. K. Duffy seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. B. Presentation by Midpeninsula Trails Council S. Sessions reviewed memorandum M-81-73 , dated July 1, 1981, noting staff did not object to the concept of a Trails Council, but a significant amount of staff time might be consumed if the Board directed staff to serve as a liaison to the Council. He said an alternative approach would be to recognize the Council as an organized special interest group and to solicit input from the Trails Council for the biennial reviews of use and management plans and to utilize the Council as a resource during the planning process. D. Hubbard, Acting Chairman of the Mid-Peninsula Trails Council, explained the history of the organization, its purpose, and its benefits to the District. She noted the primary focus of the Trails Council was trail development and maintenance within the District' s preserves and those public areas which have the possi- bility of linkage with open space lands and said the Council ' s members would aim for specific knowledge of the plans and imple- mentation of trail plans by the District, local, county, and State governments. She requested the Board appoint an advisor to the Council, whose duties would be to advise the Council and keep them informed on all matters of interest to the Council in which the District is involved and to keep the Board advised of the interests and actions of the Council. The following individuals spoke in favor of the Council and its recognition by the Board: Fran Stevenson, Chair of the Los Altos Hills Pathways Committee and member of the Trails Council; Francis Spangle; Larry Farber; Carolyn Lemper, who represented the Cali- fornia Roadrunners; Janie Killerman, President, League of Women Voters, Los Altos-Mountain View Area; and Bob Doyle, vice-president of the East Bay Area Trails Council. A letter, dated June 9, 1981, from Artemas Ginzton, 28014 Natoma Road, Los Altos Hills, was read into the record in support of the Council. B. Doyle explained in detail the function of the East Bay Trails Council, how it economically benefited local agencies, and re- sponded to various questions posed by Board members. H. Haeussler suggested substituting the word "liaison" for "advisor" in the Council ' s By-Laws and expressed his support for the letter distributed by J. Killerman from the League of Women Voters, dated July 8, 1981, regarding the building of citizen participation into every step of the planning and management of land resources and encouraging the Board to establish a periodic public review pro- cess for land acquisition and use planning. Meeting 81-17 Page Three D. Hubbard read a letter from Hewlett Hornbeck, Chief, Land Acqui- sition Department, East Bay Regional Park District, on the history of the East Bay Trails Council. Bob Emert, Chief of operations and Maintenance of San Mateo County' s Parks and Recreation Department, commended the Board on encouraging the Trails Council, explained the various ways citizen advisory groups function in San Mateo County, and said the County would have, to the best of their ability, County staff members at any Trails Council meeting where San Mateo County issues were discussed. Dave Christy, Director of Parks and Recreation, Santa Clara County, noted the District would have an inter-county special interest group with the Council and said, due to current budgetary cutbacks, he could not at this time offer. Santa Clara County staff support to any voluntary group or commission. Motion: K. Duffy moved the Board appoint a staff member as liaison to work with the Trails Council. N. Hanko seconded the motion. Discussion: H. Grench stated S. Sessions had determined land management staff would probably have to commit a range of 8-12 hours per month to the Council, and since this was a new task being assigned staff, either priorities would have to be shifted or possibly additional staff added. E. Shelley noted it was important to compare staff sizes when comparing the District to the East Bay Regional Park District since they had more staff to commit to their trails council. He said it would be useful for the Council to coordinate meeting items and that the Board might want to consider the time lapse between approving an acquisition and interim use and management plans for the acquisition so that the Council would have the opportunity to review the use and management recommen- dations. Discussion centered then on having a representative from the Council at all Board meetings. Motion to Amend: H. Turner moved that the motion be amended to state the General Manager or his designee as a liaison to work with the Trails Council was contingent upon the Council appointing a representative or representatives to attend District Board meetings. B. Green seconded the motion to amend which passed unanimously. The main motion, as amended, passed unanimously. D. Hubbard stated the Trails Council would meet the first Monday of each month at the District office, beginning at 7 : 30 P.M. The Board recessed for a break at 9 : 30 P.M. The Board reconvened for the public meeting at 9: 43 P.M. Meeting 81-17 Page Four C. Position Statement on Monte Bello Open Space Preserve R. Bishop stated, with the Board' s concurrence, this agenda item would be considered before the item on the Monte Bello Open Space Preserve Parking Lot Approval Process. He commended Director Duffy for the position statement she had prepared for Board consideration (memorandum M-81-77, dated July 2 , 1981) . Discussion centered on the deletion of the second sentence in the conclusion paragraph which referred to the District as having been put in an uncomfortable posi- tion of being the "Dirty Guy Developer" and despoilers of open space. Motion: R. Bishop moved the Board approve the position statement on Monte Bello Open Space Preserve as drafted by K. Duffy with the deletion of the second sentence in the conclusion Para- graph. H. Turner seconded the motion. The motion passed on the following vote : Ayes: K. Duffy, B. Green, N. Hanko, H. Turner, and R. Bishop Noes: E. Shelley E. Shelley requested the record state he only opposed the modification made to the report, not the report itself. D . Follow-up ,on the Monte Bello Open Space Preserve Parking Lot Approval Process S. Sessions reviewed memorandum M-81-74 , dated July 1, 1981, containing criteria the staff would ask the Board to adopt at the July 22, 1981 meeting for the evaluation of potential parking lot locations for the Monte Bello Open Space Preserve. He noted four criteria had been added to the list which re- presented concerns expressed by the Board, the Palo Alto Planning Commission and City Council, and members of the public. He stated staff was requesting the Board to approve an expenditure of approximately $1800 to complete necessary engineering studies to be used in the evaluation and site selection process . H. Turner, noting he would not be in attendance at the meeting of July 22, 1981 , requested that a criteria be added to the list that categorized initial size of lot to be studied and expansion potential. S. Session stated staff at the City of Palo Alto was in agreement with the parking lot approval process adopted by the Board at its previous meeting and noted Palo Alto staff had suggested a joint field trip as part of the approval process . Motion: E. Shelley moved the Board authorize the expenditure of up to $1800 to complete necessary preliminary engineering studies . N. Hanko seconded the motion. Discussion: H. Haeussler requested that the provision of horse trailer parking be taken into consideration in the engineering studies . The motion passed unanimously. K. Duffy suggested staff investigate the amount of soils testing required for the parking lot locations to be evaluated. Meeting 81-17 Page Five VII. NEW BUSINESS WITH ACTION REQUESTED A. Approval of Short-Term Loan M. Foster reviewed memorandum M-81-76, dated July 2 , 1981, re- garding the Board's authorization for a six-month $1,500 ,000 tax anticipation loan from First Interstate Bank of California. He noted a copy of the July 7 , 1981 letter from S . W. Pickard, Vice President and Manager, First Interstate Bank of California, 176 Main Street, Los Altos , had been distributed to the Board and said the letter indicated the tax anticipation note would bear interest at a rate of 9 . 95% per annum. M. Foster and S. Norton answered questions regarding the note posed by Tom Kavanaugh, 1726 Spring Street, Mountain View. Motion: B. Green moved the adoption of Resolution 81-17, a Resolution of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Authorizing the Issuance of Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Tax Anticipation Note, Series 1981-82A. K. Duffy seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Motion: B. Green moved the adoption of Resolution 81-18 , a Resolution of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Awarding Sale of Tax Anticipation Note. K. Duffy seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. J. Fiddes stated she had provided the Board with incorrect motion numbers prior to the moving of the two motions and said the motions should have been numbered 81-38 and 81-39 respectively. Motion: B. Green moved the number of Resolution 81-17 be changed to 81-38 and the number of Resolution 81-18 be changed to 81-39 . K. Duffy seconded the motion. The motion to correct the clerical error passed unanimously. B. Reissue of Windy Hill Notes S. Norton distributed a draft letter to the Board, dated July 8, 1981, from Wally H. Leynse & Associates requesting the Board consider adopting a resolution that would allow for the reissue of the five $100 ,000 Windy Hill notes to a smaller denomination. He said Wally H. Leynse & Associates , the owners of the notes , had been unable to sell the larger denomination notes and had requested the notes be reissued into $5 ,000 denominations . He noted the District was under no obligation to accomodate the request and that Leynse & Associates would pay any and all expenses incurred by the reissue of the notes . Motion: N. Hanko moved the adoption of Resolution 81-40 , a Resolution of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Supplementing Resolution No. 80-51 to Provide for the Issuance of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Negotiable Promissory Notes (Windy Hill Open Space Preserve - P.O.S .T. Property) . B. Green seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Meeting 81-17 Page Six C. Follow-Up on Issues and Questions from Site Emphasis and Program Evaluation Workshops H. Grench, referring to memorandum M-81-75, dated July 2 , 1981, noted this agenda item had been deferred from previous meetings and asked the Board to approve the summary on Board positions on issues and questions from site emphasis and program I evaluation workshops discussed at previous meetings and to adopt the publicity guidelines related to site emphasis policy. E. Shelley pointed out an inconsistency between the response to question five on establishing classifications for each site and the criteria listed in question six. N. Hanko suggested the Board delete the words "which is consistent with classification" in the eighth criteria listed under question six. R. Bishop stated the Board's concurrence to delete the words . Motion: N. Hanko moved the Board adopt the statements, as amended, made in memorandum M-81-47 , dated May 7 , 1981, up to and through the statement onsite stewardship, as a statement of the policies the Board has adopted on site emphasis. K. Duffy seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. N. Hanko explained she had proposed some wording changes to the publicity guidelines relating to brochures since she felt the emphasis of the brochure should be placed on providing the public with information on what properties the District had acquired and how to reach them, rather than discussing why certain sites were emphasized. She said she would like the brochure to include a very clear map showing where all District land was located. Discussion centered on the practicality of having one large map showing how to reach all preserves . Motion: H. Turner moved the Board adopt the originally proposed publicity guidelines related to site emphasis policy contained in memorandum M-81-47 , dated May 7, 1981. E. Shelley seconded the motion. Motion to Amend: N. Hanko moved to amend the motion by striking the word "Ideally" at the beginning fifth sentence of paragraph Al under Brochures and beginning the sentence with the word "The" . B. Green seconded the motion. Discussion: C. MacDonald requested the phrase "an area that for one reason or another" in the third sentence of the paragraph be changed to "where for one reason or another" to correct a grammatical error. The motion to amend, including C. MacDonald' s correction, --passed unanimously. Motion to Amend: N. Hanko moved to amend the motion by adding the sentence "The kind and availability of specific site brochures will be considered at the adoption and biennial review of individual land use plans . " at the end of paragraph A2 under Brochures . B . Green seconded the motion. The motion to amend passed unanimously. Meeting 81-17 Page Seven Motion to Amend: N. Hanko moved the motion be amended to include the statement "With the exception of press releases used to encourage public involvement in site planning, " at the beginning of the first sentence in the paragraph on press releases. Discussion: Discussion centered on the need to include the proposed statement, and N. Hanko subsequently with- drew her motion. Motion to Amend: N. Hanko moved to amend the motion by adding the word "informational" before the word "tool" in the first sentence of the paragraph on the Openspace newsletter and deleting the word "potential" from the same sentence. R. Bishop seconded the motion. Discussion: H. Grench suggested substituting the word "device" for "tool" in the first sentence. N. Hanko and R. Bishop agreed to include the substitution in their motion to amend. The motion to amend passed unanimously. The main motion, as amended, passed unanimously. VIII . INFORMATIONAL REPORTS H. Grench reported the informational signs to be installed at the Monte Bello Open Space Preserve would cost $125 . He stated staff had received favorable reports from the staff of the California Coastal Conservancy on the approval of the District' s joint grant application with the City of Mountain View. He reported on the recent Special District Conference he had attended in Du Page County, Illinois . C. MacDonald reported on the recent San Francisco Bay Area California 2000 Conference that the District had co-sponsored. S. Sessions reported on the status of the Black Mountain fire tower, noting the tower had not been completed,and stated fire danger signs had not been placed on Page Mill Road since the road was outside the jurisdiction of the California Division of Forestry. He reported the mitigation of hazards on the Monte Bello Open Space had been delayed since staff had received some incorrect bids on the project. He stated Santa Clara County was in the process of in- stalling a fence at Rancho San Antonio County Park and reported on two incidents that had occurred on District land on July 4 . He informed the Board of an arson fire on Windy Hill earlier in the day and another fire in the Long Ridge area which was not on District property. IX. CLAIMS Motion: E. Shelley moved the approval of the revised claims, C-81-14 , dated July 8 , 1981. B. Green seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Meeting 81-17 Page Eight X. CLOSED SESSION The Board recessed to Closed Session for land negotiations and per- sonnel matters at 11 : 26 P.M. XI. ADJOURNMENT The Board reconvened to adjourn at 11 :59 P.M. Jean H. Fiddes District Clerk