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HomeMy Public PortalAbout19830423 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) Meeting 83-10 V ay AA MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT 375 DISTEL CIRCLE,SUITE D-1,LOS ALTOS,CALIFORNIA 94022 (415) 965-4717 SPECIAL MEETING BOARD OF DIRECTORS APRIL 23, 1983 MINUTES I . ROLL CALL President Barbara Green called the meeting to order at 9 : 01 A.M. Members Present: Katherine Duffy, Daniel Wendin, Barbara Green, Edward Shelley, Nonette Hanko, Harry Turner, and Richard Bishop. Staff IMembers Present: Herbert Grench, Craig Britton, David Hansen, Charlotte MacDonald, Michael Foster, Jean Fiddes, John Escobar, and Dennis Danielson. Members of the Public Present During the Meeting: Robert Augsburger and Tamra Peters of the Peninsula Open Space Trust, 11larion Blukis, Robert Fisse, Sylvia Ferguson, Chris Pechini, and Betsy Crowder. BLUE SKY SESSION Following a brief introductory statement by B. G.reen, members of the Board, staff and public individually presented their "blue sky" comments on their vision of what they would like the District to be in ten years . B. Green noted the reality session called for comments on what the Dis- trict will be in ten years based on present policy and budget guidelines . The following is a summary of those comments : K. Duffy: Vast District lands with a connecting trail system; a hike 'n but system; one or two people-active centers; public transportation to District sites; a larger land and field staff; and a staff communica- tions problem because of the larger field staff size. She expressed concerns about not becoming an officious bureaucracy, about direct urban access to preserves, and the District' s relationship with cities and counties, and said that realistically the next ten years would be similar to the District' s first ten years . H. Turner: Actively adopt as a style perpetual addressing of what are n..ew, different, unimagined ways of using open space, such as hostels, horsemen ' s camps, and search and rescue training areas for dogs; intro- duction of some developments and programs not currently in existence; recognition of some preserves as non-wilderness areas and have three broad categories of open space areas that would be regional wilderness, regional open parkland, and regional shoreline, and seeking ways to broaden the District ' s clientele so as to deal with the mid-peninsula ' s political conservatism and to maintain the District ' s constituency. E. Shelley: Continuous public land or public trails along the Skyline Corridor and the Bay; campgrounds and hostels on District land, but not managed by the District; three or four "Monte Bellos" but with the same amount of development as Monte Bello; no picnic tables unless on District lands where other agencies are operating; wants District to remain an open space district, a special district, rather than being some Meeting 83-10 Page two more of the county park system; and placing a limit on District expan- sion. He said he sees a much more politicized Board and the Board trying to respond immediately to special interest groups as pitfalls. N. Hanko: Board could use public more - create public committees of special interest; address needs of the elderly on open space; encourage- ment of the private sector to join with District in establishing hostels; and, in terms of land acquisition, the District would come to grips with Stanford' s land ownership. R. Bishop: Competition for money getting more difficult; therefore, the District would build -constituency support; challenge of getting political support; get new groups of people to have openspace experience, while preserving pristine openspace; enjoy and nurture interested young people in openspace; more short, interpretive trails; more programs like those at Rancho San Antonio; and pressure for expansion of District boundaries . D. Wendin: more optimistic about future of the District; have balanced program of acquisition and facilities expenditures, but feels tilt will still be toward land acquisition; sees District as a facilities district, but clarified the programs at these facilities would not be run by the District. B. Green: Noted that 1986 was the last year of Santa Clara County bond funding for parks acquisition and maintenance. H. Grench: "Stay the course" ; likelo see same kind of conservation- oriented—Board; significant new sources of funding; doubling of District land; completion of Bayland.s Trail in District; site development according to site development plan; an expanded volunteer program; and some adjust- ments of District boundaries. C. Britton: Provided a series of humorous anecdotes on the next ten years. D. Hansen: Envisions land uses as being very similar to present uses; sorting out with Counties on which lands will be open space; a nature center; campgrounds or hostels; completion of the Skyline and Bayfront Trails; completion of other connecting trails; extensive day camp programs; public transportation to District sites; 30 -rangers taking care of 40, 000 acres with rangers broken into safety officers, interpretivd /general rangers, and construction rangers; full time volunteer coordination staff and expanded volunteer program; a living history program; and a dump truck. C. MacDonald: Monthly newsletter to everyone in the District; an adopt-a-preserve prograra with corporate sponsorship; some specialized preserves ; more focus on demands of special interest groups; and weekly Cable-TV program. J. Fiddes: Close to 35 employees; greatest growth in Open Space Manage- ment section (another planning position, at least three more Rangers; at least three to five permanent Ranger Aides; and an Assistant Land Manager) ; a new regular position of Assistant General Manager and Director of Administration /Personnel; District would be self-insured and have a purchasing agent on the staff; at least one employee union; combination of the Public Communications and Volunteer Programs; and an interpretive center that might be part of a multi-use facility that generates income for the District. D. Danielson: Provide an open space experience for everyone and not necessarily provide for the special needs of groups; District will not become a park district like East Bay Regional Park - District; in twenty years will be part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Meeting 83-10 Page three J. Escobar: Bayfront and Skyline Trails will be completed; District will look for ways to lessen use of sites; difficulties in responding to special interest groups; become a unifying agency for all park agencies in the Santa Cruz Mountains; finance will be a real question, and a pitfall will be trying to get involved in too many programs and special uses at the expense of land acauisition. Robert Augsburger: Extend District boundaries south of Santa Clara County to Monterey, County; make a distinction in both land acquisition and management policies between resource protected lands and recreational land; broaden base of people involvement in District activities. Tamra Peters: Do a community needs assessment survey on what people want done with land; more volunteers; P.O.S.T. would take over much of the District ' s volunteer coordination and assist the District in fundraising and development. Marian Blukis: Would like to see a few changes on the Board that is strong, balanced, and interested in long-term planning; have a good development and maintenance program; an aggressive Land Manager; more education of public on how to use open space; and a refined volunteer program. Robert Fisse: Sees no changes on the Board within next ten years; developing District office on District land; an improvement of good neighbor policies; rehabilitate some recreational areas like Searsville Lake and Stevens Creek Reservoir Area; District will take a pro-active role in nature-type activities such as stocking and/or developing ponds for fishing; a pressure for expansion of District into Santa Cruz County and resistance from people in area who would be involved; less use of eminent domain. Chris Pechini: Would like to see more areas for use by the handicapped and more acquisition of agricultural land. Sylvia Ferguson: Would like the District to improve its public relations image. B. Green summarized general topics that had been introduced consistently during the blue sky session, including 1) uses of the land - ways of using land and various degrees of involvement of the private sector in managing the land; 2) the need and use of volunteers; and 3) public relations with the District 's constituents and preserve users. E. Shelley noted that expanding the District' s constituency did not mean having to cater to special interest groups ' needs; rather, he noted, the District should work to educate the public as to why they would want the District to be what it is. N. Hanko stated the need to provide for the handicapped and the elderly and to begin to provide ways for people to get to preserves. She noted the Public Transportation Committee would play an important role in this matter. D. Hansen noted the District needed to look at itself from a regional perspective and have more interaction and cooperation with the East Bay, -Monterey, and Marin Districts . B. Green asked how the District could get involved in and benefit from the national events of the Democratic Convention, Olympics, and Super Bowl. R. Augsburger discussed "Areas of National Interest" and noted Meeting 83-10 Page four he'd like to see the District involved in preserving the coastline south of San Francisco through this program. III. REALITY H. Grench introduced this portion of the workshop. He noted he did not think the Land Management Budget Guidelines could be maintained as they currently exist. M. Foster reviewed various charts he had prepared on District funding and expenditures in the future. He said he projected, based on various cash flow assumptions, that $53 million would be available over ten years that would purchase 9,000 - 10,000 acres. He also discussed expenses versus land purchases, each program's share of operating expenses, and operating expenses by department over the next ten years. He discussed the recent growth in the Public Communications Program as compared with other District programs. C. Britton stated he felt the bulk of the greenbelt concept would have to be completed over the next ten years. He said he thought the District would be getting into more open space easements, and projected that 25,000 acres of land would have been acquired within the District boundaries, either by public agencies, including the District, and non-profit groups, such as P.O.S.T. and the Sempervirens Fund. He said the District would contribute about 15,000 acres to this total. D. Hansen discussed the benefits of the site emphasis program and noted the land management budget guidelines were too restrictive for the land management program because of the bulk of funds spent on salaries and benefits. He discussed looking to outside sources for funding; increased volunteer efforts; increasing the field staff by ten people; leasing vehicles; satellite field yards; and specialization among the Ranger staff. He said Skyline Ranch would receive major emphasis, as would the "extremes" of the District (area south of Highway 17 and Whittemore Gulch area). He foresaw a volunteer mounted patrol and a ranger residency program in full swing. H. Grench noted that in ten years the Whittemore Gulch, Long Ridge, and Russian Ridge sites, although not highly emphasized, would have good public access and signing. E. Shelley noted land management costs were related to development of District land, rather than acreage. C. MacDonald discussed changes in the Public Communications Program, including a full-time media person, more articles about the District, more media coverage, an expanded speakers bureau, and a full-time receptionist. Discussion focused on the portion of the Basic Policy relating to public relations. H. Turner stated the District had fallen short of informing the public about the District, and D. Wendin said one of the challenges for the next ten years would be to meet the objectives of the public relations portion of the Basic Policy. Betsy Crowder asked the Board to consider campgrounds on District preserves. A recess was called at 11:09 A.M. and the meeting reconvened at 11:22 A.M. IV. FUTURE DIRECTIONS B. Green stated more emphasis should be placed on public transportation in the future. Meeting 83-10 Page five R. Bishop discussed a new "Blue Sky" idea of the District having a mini-bus that would serve different groups of people each day and stated the District needed to investigate the growing group of people who were early retirees as potential volunteers. N. Hanko suggested private industries provide the buses for groups to use. K. Duffy stated the District needed to think of the rasic Policy in terms of what steps needed to be ta.ken over the years to build a core of volunteers. D. Wendin listed five areas he felt should be future directions: 1) do more relative site emphasis planninq; 2) public transportation - solving public access to District lands by means other than private vehicle; 3) office location; 4) volunteer program; and 5) adjustment of the Basic Policyand Master Plan since the emphasis had been on the District's first ten years. E. Shelley stated he felt the Basic Policy and Master Plan should be reviewed, but not necessarily revised. N. Hanko stated a committee should be formed to review the documents, and H. Turner stated the Budget Committee would be asking the Board 's permission to conduct a review of the Land Management spending guidelines. E. Shelley noted the budget guidelines could be changed without changing the Dasic Policy, the District' s "constitution" , and said , with reference to volunteer programs , that there are staffing and other costs that are associated with expanded volunteer programs. Discussion centered on how volunteer programs could be organized. D. Hansen and Tamra Peters discussed the Appalachian Mountain Club volunteer project, expanded Trail Days, certificates for volunteers, organized solicitatio� of volunteers, and a volunteer brochure. H. Turner suggested the Basic Policy be amended to include a specific statement regarding volunteer activity to the effect the District encourages creative projects carried out by private and/or not for profit organizations. Discussion then centered on what would happen when Santa Clara County' s parks bond expired in 1986 and intergovernmental activities in which the District should be involved. H. Grench stated he did not see the District taking a leadership role in Almaden Valley activities. B. Green summarized discussion points requiring follow-up: 1) estab- lishment of a committee to review the Basic Policy; 2) review the Land Management budget guidelines, perhaps in the fall; 3) pursuing the topic of volunteerism; 4) have the Dog Committee examine specifically the training of dogs on District property in search and rescue tech- niques; 5) having the Public Transportation Committee meet. H. Grench noted items for which the Board felt follow-up was necessary could be included in the Action Plan. K. Duffy stated another topic requiring Board follow-up was more complex forward planning for expansion of site emphasis planning. E. Shelley noted this item was tied closely to the Land Management budget guideline review. B. Green stated the Board ' s concurrence that the items concerning establishment of a committee review of the Basic Policy, review of the Land Management budget guidelines and forward planning for expansion Meeting 83-10 -Page six of site emphasis planning, and pursuing the topic of volunteerism should be discussed by the Board at the first regular meeting in June. She noted that, at that meeting, the Board could determine how to deal with each item. Discussion then centered on how to promote the District and use of the recent Sunset article as one of the measures of the public ' s interest in the District. V. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 12: 28 P.M. JE!an H. Fiddes District Clerk