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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20000508 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) Open ,Regional ice ilk MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT Meeting 00-10 SPECIAL MEETING BOARD OF DIRECTORS May 8, 2000 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING I. ROLL CALL President Kenneth Nitz called the meeting to order at 7:05 P.M. Members Present: K. Nitz, M. Davey, B. Crowder, J. Cyr, P. Siemens, and D. Little. Members Absent: N. Hanko. Staff Present: C. Britton, S. Schectman, M. Williams, and D. Woods. II. CLOSED SESSION K. Nitz stated that the Board would adjourn to Closed Session for the purpose of discussing Closed Session Agenda Item 1. The Board recessed to Closed Session at 7:05 P.M. and the Closed Session commenced at 7:05 P.M. The Board concluded the Closed Session at 7:30 P.M. REGULAR MEETING III. K. Nitz noted that no reportable action had taken place in Closed Session, and called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:35 P.M. Additional Staff Present: D. Dolan, T. Fischer and J. Escobar. IV. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS There were none. V. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Motion: B. Crowder moved that the Board g adopt the agenda. J. Cyr seconded the motion. The motion passed 6 to 0. HO FAX: b,50-6)1-0485-F-rnail�:Am os(i@oE e94pa((,.org4* Website:w w-ol)tisl c r )ace.org f3o.3rc1 of 011-1ctorti.Pete`siemens,Mar C:. (>avev,led Cvr, Deane Little, Nonette Itanko, Bet Crowder, �y y �r, Kenneth C. Nits � tieneral M,�na};er:l Craig t3ritton Meeting 00-10 Page 2 VI. BOARD BUSINESS A. Agenda Item No. 1 - Approval of the Revised License Agreement to Enable the Town of Portola Valley to Perform Repairs to Alpine Road Adjacent to Windy Hill Open Space Preserve; Determine that the Recommended Actions are Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) as Set Out in the Report; Authorize the General Manager to Execute the Letter to the Town of Portola Valley Approving Your Concurrence ("Letter of Concurrence") With the Revised Programmatic Section 4(F) Evaluation for the Alpine Road Downslove Repair Project; Authorize the General Manayzer and the Board President to Execute the Revised License Agreement with the Town of Portola Valley For Repairs to Alpine Road Adjacent to Windy Hill Open Space Preserve. The License Agreement is Conditional on the Town of Portola Valley Subsequently Approving a Conservation Easement in Favor of District Upon the Town's Properly Identified as Assessor's Parcel Numbers 080-241-430, 080-250-080, and 080- 250-160 in Exchange for District Approval of a Permanent Slope Easement in Favor of the Town for These and Future Road-Related Repairs; Authorize the General Manage and General Counsel to Approve Minor Revisions to the Letter of Concurrence and the Revised License Agreement That Do Not Involve Any Substantial Change to the Agreements as Set Forth in the Report. C. Britton gave a brief introduction. This agenda item was a matter that was continued from the previous meeting of April 26, 2000. He explained the two parts of this item: T. Fischer will present the staff report and the Town of Portola Valley will also give information on the project itself. T. Fischer explained that this agenda item was a follow-up to the previous meeting regarding the repairs to Alpine Road. He explained the repair project involves a two-mile section of Alpine Road, basically between Willowbrook Road and the confluence of Coal Creek and Corte de Madera Creek. He explained the District owns a section of land that is adjacent to Alpine Road of approximately 3/10ths of a mile. He explained that the Board received three basic documents: (1) A License Agreement, which enables the Town to submit their application for federal funding for the road repairs. The agreement also incorporates environmental protections that are found in the Section 4(F) document; (2) The Programmatic Section 4(F) document, which is an environmental document required by the Federal Government when seeking federal funding that affects public parks and open space lands. The environmental protections found in the document apply to the entire project area, to both District and Town of Portola Valley lands; (3) An Easement Exchange document, which is a draft. He explained that the vote this evening would be on the License Agreement, which anticipates a potential Easement Exchange, to be presented at the Board meeting scheduled for May 24, 2000. This Easement Exchange would be the way the Town would obtain permanent rights to the roadside area to do the slope improvements and maintain the drainage structures in the future. T. Fischer explained that Alpine Road is the main transportation route for residences off Lauriston Road, other residences along Alpine Road, and it is one of the two access routes for Los Trancos Woods. He explained that the License Agreement prohibits Meeting 00-10 Page 3 construction prior to the Easement Exchange. The environmental protections are defined in the Section 4(F) document dated 5/3/00, which has been made a part of the License Agreement and also the anticipated Easement Exchange. Within that, the District has incorporated further protections, for example there is a position identified in that document called a Project Biologist Restoration Specialist. This position will ensure that the guidelines are being followed throughout the entire project. The District and the Town of Portola Valley have also included a set of qualifications and performance criteria for that position. T. Fischer noted that a new item added in the Section 4(F) is that no small dozers or bobcats will be in the creek. Overall, the environmental protections for this project will be coordinated with the California Department of Fish and Game, the Army Corp. of Engineers, the District, and the Regional Water Quality Board. The anticipated Easement Exchange would continue these protections in the future so that any work being done in the conservation easement area would require design review approval by the District before any activity can be done. Kirke Comstock, Vice-Mayor for the Town of Portola Valley, spoke on behalf of Ted Driscoll, the Mayor, who was away on a business trip he couldn't reschedule. He said with the outstanding staff and directors of the District, and the Town's planning commission, the Town is aware of doing the right thing. He said the Town, "wants to do the right thing and to cooperate with the District." Alex McIntyre, the Town Administrator, apologized for not being at the District Board's previous meeting. He said the presentation would include the impact the project has had on the Town, talk about the history of the project, discuss the proposed restorations, and explain some of the environmental concerns. He introduced the additional staff present: Kevin Rohani, Public Works Director, Rod McHale, Construction Supervisor, and Rob McCann, Environmental Consultant, who has been on the project since late 1998. A. McIntyre explained that the 1998 El Niho storms were the single, greatest community disaster resulting in the largest public works project in the Town. To give some perspective, he said the project was a $10 Million complex project federally funded, with federal mandates. By contrast, Portola Valley's annual Town budget is $2.5 million dollars. He stated that Alpine Road serves the Town residents and also serves two communities as well: Los Trancos Woods and Viste Verde. And more directly, the Viste Verde residents use Alpine Road as a main thoroughfare. Kevin Rohani, Public Works Director of the Town of Portola Valley, introduced pictures that were taken in February 1998 that showed some damaged sections on Alpine Road. He explained that in order to get the road passable in the short term, the Town worked with Caltrans and Federal Highway Administration. The second part of this project involved doing the downhill slope restoration along Alpine Road, which involves completing the storm drainage improvements, replacing culverts, construction of some retaining walls on some downhill side of the project, and doing some pavement repairs. K. Rohani explained that he and R. McCann had a walk-through with some Board members on this project. The purpose of this walk was to show the Directors the Meeting 00-10 Page 4 measures the Town has implemented as a part of this project. He explained the Town will use plastic cylinders that are filled with sand to prevent construction materials from getting into the creek. All the construction work will be done either on the roadway or will work on the slopes along side the creek. There is no intention of running any equipment into the creek. R. McCann introduced himself and his company. He is the project manager for the Town with respect to making sure the Town complies with state and federal environmental laws, and with all the applicable permit regulations. The firm of LSA has been in this business for 25 years, on both public and private projects. R. McCann explained what a "4(F) evaluation" is and why it is important to this project. Section 4(F) of the Dept. of Transportation Act states: "There should be no expenditure of federal transportation funds where it impacts public park lands, wildlife refuges or other natural public lands or historic sites ... all efforts should be done to avoid those types of impacts." If one cannot avoid these lands, one should minimize the harm. The final step in the 4(F) process the federal government says that "there shall be no expenditure of federal transportation funds for these type of projects without the concurrence of the agency having jurisdiction over those lands." This is why the Town of Portola Valley is at the Board meeting: to obtain the concurrence of the District to go forward on the project. R. McCann stated that since he started working on this project in 1998, he has seen an evolution from the original design concepts to the designs that are being discussed today. For example, the change from a hardscape rip-rap to a much more bio-engineered type of design. Also, initially the first plans called for removal of more than 200 trees, now the design call for a removal of 50 trees, and that number of trees may be minimized further. He noted that one of the key elements in this project is having a Project Biologist Restoration Specialist. K. Comstocke mentioned that the Town of Portola Valley has never done a project like this before. He said this project was a pretty exciting learning process for them. He said they did need the District's help. He commended District staff working with them. P. Siemens asked about the use of heavy equipment in the creek, specifically noting page two of Report R-00-63. T. Fischer noted the new language in the report took into account the Board's previous concern with heavy equipment in the creek; there would be no bobcats or dozers in the creek. P. Siemens asked about the creek's condition after the root ball rots out. R. McCann and K. Rohani answered that the root balls would be anchored in the ground and through time it would be the source of vegetation as it takes years for these to decompose. P. Siemens voiced his concern regarding mining of the creek. K. Rohani explained the use of plastic sandbags, further described the retaining walls and mesh on the walls. M. Davey inquired about the underground covers to be used in the open areas. K. Rohani explained that the open areas behind the walls would be hydroseeded. He said he would work with Jodi Isaacs of District staff regarding the composition of the hydroseed. She Meeting 00-10 Page 5 suggested including wildflowers. R. McCann noted the proposed seed mix on page 13 of Exhibit C. D. Little inquired which rare and endangered species are on site. R. McCann responded that the red-legged frog was not present in the proposed project site of Corte Madera Creek. In addition, this portion of the creek was not a critical habitat designation for the steelhead fish. R. McCann said that an exhaustive study was done of the area in regard to rare and endangered plant and animals species and none were found in this area. D. Little questioned whether Eagle Trail would be restored as an access to the higher canyon. K. Rohani answered that repairs would be done to the trail. J. Cyr stated that a number of the concerns he had regarding this project were addressed in the 4(F) report. He trusts that both District staff and Town staff would work together to make this an exemplary project. K. Nitz inquired about the monitoring of the project's construction. K. Rohani replied that this monitoring is part of the regular Town maintenance schedule and would be observed on a regular basis. In the Agreement for Exchange of Easements, Section 5.1.2. refers to "damage on site." He asked who defines the damage and what happens when damage is seen. S. Schectman answered that the District has a continuing right per the Easement Agreement to enter, inspect, and demand repair. K. Nitz inquired about a rumor that the Federal government got into the project because, "Alpine Road goes all the way to the ocean?" R. McCann answered that the government would likely remove Alpine Road from the Federal registry of highways, which would result in the Town losing its funding source. He said that down the road the project would likely lose the federal funding, and that it would then hopefully be funded by FEMA. B. Crowder referenced her memo of May 7, 2000 to Craig, et al, regarding this item. She reviewed some of the items. The memo was distributed to the Board members. Referring to a qualified biologist, R. McCann stated that the biologist needs to meet the requirements and qualifications of both the U.S. Fish & Wildlife and State Dept. of Fish and Game. T. Fischer had suggested specific criteria which would be made part of the requirements needed. In reference to Exhibit C, B. Crowder wanted to add Italian thistle to the invasive weeds list. She was delighted to receive the revised documents, particularly Programmatic 4(F). She suggested that the Town communicate with CRIMP and was advised the Town of Portola Valley staff regularly attends their meetings. K. Nitz invited comments or questions from the audience present. Doug Akins, 5933 Alpine Road, Portola Valley. He commended the level of detail as admirable and exquisite and extensive. He said repairing the road obviously benefits several constituencies: not only the residents but also the large recreational constituency who use the road to get to the preserve. Another perspective to keep in mind is that the creek bed is a violent, and ever-changing environment. Charles Pilfard, 460 Old Spanish Trail, wrote the letter from the Viste Verde Community Association that was distributed to the Board. He asked about the voting number needed to pass the agenda item. He was told the action tonight required four votes. It's the Meeting 00-10 Page 6 Exchange Easement which would require unanimous vote of all seven Board members and that would be considered on May 24. P. Siemens said he was very happy to see the level of cooperation between the Town and the District. J. Cyr commended the Town of Portola Valley for their responsiveness and cooperation, particularly at the earlier afternoon tour of the area. K. Nitz thanked them for making the changes the District requested. Motion: B. Crowder moved that the Board approve the General Manager's recommendations 1-4 on the staff report of May 81h. P. Siemens seconded the motion. The motion passed 6 to 0. C. Britton stated, if the Board so instructed, staff could propose alternatives in case the Board did not reach a unanimous decision on this issue. P. Siemens stated it would be useful to the Board. C. Britton wanted to acknowledge T. Fischer and the Town of Portola Valley for their good work. K. Nitz suggested that a Portola Valley Town Representative would be helpful at the next Board meeting regarding this issue. B. Crowder and the Board thanked the citizens who came to listen to this issue. VII. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS D. Little stated that Russian Ridge is absolutely spectacular and he encouraged everyone to go there and take a look at the wildflowers and the diverse flora and fauna. J. Cyr and B. Crowder concurred. J. Cyr said he and M. Davey went to the Resource Conservation District at Half Moon Bay so that they could attend the District annexation process presentation. They were able to answer questions while present. J. Cyr is extremely thankful for the District's competent staff. M. Davey stated that Stanford Management is going to suggest and eventually enforce no dogs at the dish area. She concurred with their decision as she feels the area is being overused and is at risk. She noted that the EIR is due on June 23,d K. Nitz received a couple of calls regarding a foot race at Russian Ridge OSP that took place Mar. 6"' from 12-2 PM that included about 150 people. Apparently runners mowed down some people. Also, there was a sight-seeing group with a speaker using a microphone. K. Nitz wondered whether they had a permit for this. J. Escobar promised to get back to K. Nitz regarding these incidents. VIII. ADJOURNMENT At 9:15 P.M., the meeting was adjourned. Jenny Preciado Recording Secretary