HomeMy Public PortalAbout19840229 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) Feting 84-5
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MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
375 DISTEL CIRCLE,SUITE D-1,LOS ALTOS,CALIFORNIA 94022
(415)965-4717
SPECIAL MEETING
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
February 29, 1984
MINUTES
I. ROLL CALL
Harry Turner called the meeting to order at 7 : 38 P.M.
Members Present: Katherine Duffy, Teena Henshaw, Nonette
Hanko, Edward Shelley and Harry Turner
Members Absent: Richard Bishop and Daniel Wendin
Personnel Present: Herbert Grench, David Hansen, Charlotte
MacDonald, Mary Gundert and Lea Brown.
II. WORKSHOP ON THE SUBJECT OF DISTRICT PUBLICATIONS
Following a five minute period for Board and staff members
to examine the District' s brochures and other published
materials for comparison with other agencies ' publications,
C. MacDonald reviewed the staff Report R-83-11 of
February 24, 1984 and distributed comparative information about
the District' s publications program as it compares to the
programs of several other public agencies. She asked the
Board to note that the first printing of any published
material is always more expensive than subsequent printings
and discussed the All-Site Brochure and Openspace newsletter
in terms of distribution procedures, costs, and contributions
received,
C. MacDonald stated that methods of distribution of the
newsletter and brochure included library distribution centers,
talks and presentations , city halls, Rangers, Docents, and
our foyer, with emphasis on increasing circulation rather
than limiting it.
C. MacDonald informed the Board that through stronger appeals
in Openspace for donations to the newsletter, contributions
have increased; for example, between July 1 and February 29
$1407 has been donated toward Openspace
H. Turner requested information on the purpose of Openspace.
C. MacDonald stated that the purpose was to inform the public
that the District exists, to let them know what the District
is doing, and to help people feel they are a part of it.
Herbert A.Grench,General Manager Board of Directors:Katherine Duffy,Nonette G.Hanko,Teena Henshaw,Richard S.Bishop,Edward G.Shelley,Harry A.Turner,Daniel G.Wendin
84-5 Page Two
In answer to T. Kavanaugh' s statement that Openspace
sometimes appears to be an "in-house" publication with
picture stories about staff people instead of the land,
C. MacDonald replied that the recent story about Land
Management was to inform the public what our employees
have to do with the preserves.
K. Duffy complemented C. MacDonald on the treatment of
the Hassler story and said she felt it was important
not to avoid controversial issues in the newsletter.
T. Henshaw suggested that the newsletter be sent to school
offices because this is where a lot of new people come for
information when they move into an area.
C. MacDonald turned the discussion to the brochures and maps
describing the individual preserves. D. Hansen stated that
he felt the present format was good because the maps can be
folded easily and put in pockets, and that he had gotten
good feedback on the maps. He indicated it was not practical
to collect donations for the maps at the preserves. He
said his budget was $4000 for site brochures. M. Gundert
stated that a lot of staff time is involved in first doing
a map, but not so with the re-runs unless changes are in-
volved. She said the first printing is usually 500
and that revisions based on feedback from the public were
often made in the second printing.
C. MacDonald compared the policies of the East Bay Regional
Park District and Santa Clara County and San Mateo County
Park Departments in charging for their brochure materials.
H. Turner directed discussion to the question, "To What
Extent Do We Want To Make Openspace or Other Publications
Self-Supporting?" It was the Board members' consensus
that the newsletter and All-Site Brochure continue to be
sent without charge but that efforts to make them at least
partially "self-supporting" be continued by inviting paid
subscriptions and other contributions. N. Hanko suggested
that an explanation of how to get to sites now being
developed be published in next newsletter.
H. Turner asked the Board to consider the second workshop
question, "Does The Board Wish To Put An Upper Limit On
The Distribution Of The Newsletter And/Or Other Brochures
Published by The District?" H. Grench emphasized how
84-5 Page Three
important the question was because of the budget for Openspace
Newsletter. He said the goal this year was to increase reader-
ship 50% without an increase in District costs, and that
contributions so far covered a 50% increase in printing but
not mailing costs. He asked the Board if they wanted to
continue to operate on that kind of basis.
H. Turner stated the Board members' consensus to continue in
the present direction and that they desired expansion of
readership of Openspace and broader dissemination of the
All-Site Brochure. H. Turner also stated the consensus that
staff should evaluate N. Hanko' s idea of disseminating some
form of the All-Site Brochure as an insert in selected news-
papers. H. Grench suggested this come back as an agenda item.
H. Turner asked the Board members if they were generally
satisfied with the appearance , quality and costs of the
District' s current publications. There was agreement among
the Board members that they were generally satisfied.
H. Turner asked the Board members if they wanted to consider
any different types of publications. N. Hanko suggested that
more specific information be put on the map brochures re-
garding the District and how information can be gotten from
MROSD. H. Turner, E. Shelley, and T. Henshaw concurred with
this general idea.
III. BUS TOUR OF DISTRICT LANDS FOR PUBLIC OFFICIALS
C. MacDonald distributed a summary of tentative plans for
the bus tour and reviewed memorandum 83-139. Harry Turner
volunteered to join C. MacDonald and R. Bishop on a Plarch 10
planning excursion for the tour. The Picchetti stop-over
was discussed as desirable, but improbable, for the bus
because of access problems. T. Henshaw suggested a stop
at Windy Hill with an award presentation involving the
Peninsula Open Space Trust. The consensus was that the
date of the tour be May 12 with a back-up date of April 28.
C. MacDonald asked the Board members to give their priority
guest lists to her by March 7.
In response to a question from T. Kavanaugh, C. MacDonald
stated $700 had been budgeted for the bus tour expenses.
IV. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS
David Hansen announced the Windy Hill Open Space Preserve
Development Project had been selected as the 1983 recipient
of the Environmental Planning Award-Regional Park Category
from the California Parks and Recreation Society.
V. CLOSED SESSION
The Board adjourned to closed session on land acquisition and
litigation matters at 10 : 10 P .M.
V1. ADJOURNMENT
The Board reconvened to adjourn at 10: 30 P.M.
Lea Brown
Secretary