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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20030312 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) Regional Open Space MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT Meeting 03-06 SPECIAL AND REGULAR MEETINGS BOARD OF DIRECTORS March 12, 2003 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING I. ROLL CALL President Nonette Hanko called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Members Present: Jed Cyr, Larry Hassett, Deane Little, Pete Siemens, and Nonette Hanko Members Absent: Mary Davey and Ken Nitz Staff Present: Craig Britton, Sue Schectman, John Maciel, John Escobar, Sally Thielfoldt, and Fran Buchanan, IEDA H. CLOSED SESSION N. Hanko stated that the Board would adjourn to Closed Session to discuss Closed Session Agenda Item 1. The Board recessed to Closed Session at 7:06 p.m. and the Closed Session commenced at 7:06 p.m. The Board concluded the Closed Session at 7:25 p.m. REGULAR MEETING M. N. Hanko called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. She announced that the Board had discussed Closed Session Agenda Item 1 in Closed Session and that no reportable actions had taken place. Additional Staff Present: Matt Freeman, Mike Foster, Mike Williams, Tom Fischer, Carl Oosterman, and Del Woods IV. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS—There were none. V. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Motion: J. Cyr moved that the Board adopt the agenda. L. Hassett seconded and the motion passed 5 to 0. 3.10 Distel Circle * Los Altos, CA 9402 2-1 404 . Phone:650-691-1 200 Fax: 6.50-691-0485 . E-mail:mros(lr+ol)ensOa(e.org - Web site:www.ol)enst>ace.org Box(]of Oitcctoru Pete Siemens,Mary C Davey,led Cyr, Dcane Little, Nonette Hanko, Larry Hassett, Kenneth C. Nitz . Gener,af Matwp,r:L.Craig Britton Meeting 03-06 Page 2 VL ADOPTION OF CONSENT CALENDAR Motion: J. Cyr moved that the Board adopt the Consent Calendar, including minutes of the January 29, 2003 Special and Regular Meeting; and Revised Claims 03-05. P. Siemens seconded the motion. Discussion: C. Britton noted corrections to the January 29 Minutes as follows: Page 9, next to the last line, T. Carlson should be K. Carlson. Page 10,just prior to the motion for agenda item 6, add, "C. Britton said that if the language for 5561 was different it would require returning to the Board." Vote: The motion passed 5 to 0. VH. BOARD BUSINESS A. Agenda Item No. la—Initial Presentation of the District's Budget for Fiscal Year 2003-2004, Review the Proposed District Budget for the 2003-2004 Fiscal Year: The Proposed District Budget for the 2003-2004 Fiscal Year and the Report and Recommendations of the Administration and Budget Committee will be Presented at the Board's March 26, 2003 Regular Meeting for Final Consideration and Adoption—(Report R-03-27). C. Britton provided an overview of the budget. He talked about the State budget, noting that staff have been very careful about budgeting because of the greater possibility of losing money to the State this year. He said the proposed budget does not include any cost of living adjustments for staff. PLANNING DEPARTMENT M. Freeman presented the report and said that the 28%budget growth was primarily due to increases in the capital improvement projects. He said that in addition to submission of the application to LAFCo for the coastal annexation, they anticipate two master planning projects, three key staff facility construction projects he described, and eight very important public access improvement projects. He said $30,000 had been budgeted to respond to emerging resource issues. OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT J. Maciel outlined the budget and said it was up 1/2 percent. He talked about resource management and fixed assets. J. Maciel explained why the grazing management plan for Big Dipper was in the Operations budget. He outlined where the additional resource management budget would go. Meeting 03-06 Page 3 PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT C. Oosterman presented the report. C. Britton answered questions regarding the budget for the district book, which is at $100,000. C. Britton noted that the District would recover the District's publication costs if all the books were sold. He added that the original estimated cost was $80,000. It would cost more if more copies are printed. Staff has the text and are negotiating with the publisher. He said staff would bring back a more clear picture at the second reading of the budget and that staff will do what they can about the names of the District's founders being included in the book. ADMINISTRATION S. Thielfoldt presented the report. She said the new human resources data system is up and running and staff is very pleased with its performance. Staff has been able to streamline a number of tasks. OPEN SPACE ACQUISITION DEPARTMENT M. Williams was available to answer questions. He talked about how staff will try to recover costs related to encroachment problems. C. Britton said the Board would see the final budget at the next meeting on March 26, 2003. B. Agenda Item No. lb-Controller's Report on the Proposed Fiscal Year 2003- 2004 Budget —(Report R-03-39 M. Foster presented the report including a ten-year cash flow projection. C. Britton noted that any grants are going directly to escrow and are no longer counted as income. Motion: L. Hassett moved that the Board accept the Controller's report on the District's proposed fiscal year 2003-2004 Budget. P. Siemens seconded the motion. The motion passed 5 to 0. C. Agenda Item No. 2 -Proposed Addition of the Hunt Property to Bear Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve;Determine that the Recommended Actions are Categorically Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act as Set Out in this Report, Adopt the Attached Resolution Authorizing Purchase of the Hunt Property; Adopt the Attached Resolution Authorizing Issuance of the Promissory Note for the Hunt Property Acquisition; Tentatively Adopt the Preliminary Use Meeting 03-06 Page 4 and Management Plan Recommendations Contained in this Report and Naming the Property as an Addition to Bear Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve; Indicate your intention to Dedicate the Property as Public Open Space—(Report R-03-28 . C C. Britton introduced the item and talked about the notification of property owners. D. Woods reported on how the property fits in with land the District already owns and pointed out some important attributes. T. Fischer outlined the terms and conditions of the purchase. He explained why the road was purchased in fee instead of being an easement. He said that the field staff area supervisor had looked at the trails and had commented that it looked like the drainage was done very well. He said the mutual water company tank is on a permanent easement. S. Schectman advised the Board that if the Board is interested in this transaction she recommended that they vote tonight, as the offer expires at midnight. She pointed out that the purchase agreement states that the District is aware of the road maintenance agreement for Brush Road, agrees to take subject to it, and will contribute to road maintenance and assessment as any other private property owner. She added that the Hunt use permit is valid for the life of Mr. and Mrs. Hunt, not in perpetuity. Kurt Anslinger, 21105 Old Well Road, Los Gatos, said his major concern is that this is a private road and will be maintained as private road. He thought this was a great parcel and said the wildlife is incredible. He said there are nesting sites for eagles. He said he did not want a staging area on Old Well Road. Another concern was that the road be used by vehicles identifiable as open space district vehicles. He talked about the recorded easement behind his property. Bob Burke, 21103 Old Well Road, Los Gatos, said he did not receive notification of the meeting. He encouraged the Board to vote yes. He said he was representing the mutual water company and himself. The water company needs to access the property occasionally. He was also concerned about traffic. Michael McNamara, 21105 Brush Road, Los Gatos, said he wants to protect their easement to the water tank. He said the road cannot handle lots of traffic or large trucks. He expressed concern regarding the spring house located on Bear Creek Redwoods and said he hoped development of the trails would not impact the watershed. K. Anslinger talked about the history of the road and the fact that the residences are on a former Steinbeck Estate. M. McNamara said his house was built by John Steinbeck. Meeting 03-06 r Page 5 C. Britton clarified that the District has purchased property with private roads in the past and has always respected that. He said staff will meet with the road groups to make sure the District pays its fair share. T. Fischer said staff is aware of all the easements and they are called landscape easements in the documents. N. Hanko asked staff to arrange tours of the property for Board members. L. Hassett responded to the neighbors who had expressed concerns. He said his situation is almost identical to theirs. The relationship with the District for all neighbors has been extremely good. He said there was far less traffic than they anticipated. One of the things beneficial to them was participation in the master planning process of the preserve they border. The people in the audience informed the Board that some neighbors are using the trails on the property with ATV's with permission. C. Britton said some of the use decisions would be made as part of the master plan. T. Fischer repeated that initially the only access would be by the permit with the Hunts which allows one four-wheel drive vehicle. Regarding neighbor permits for hiking, D. Woods said there had been problems with uses being permitted, then having trouble changing them. He said it helps the planning process if they can start fresh. C. Britton suggested neighbor permits for hiking only. Board Members agreed. C. Britton noted that staff may end up closing some trails. L. Hassett said that while he supported the acquisition, he was concerned regarding notification of neighbors. He said it may be inappropriate not to notify every neighbor, even if the District is in litigation with them. C. Britton talked about the notification policy. I Cyr said he wanted staff to have time to plan, but in this case neighbors' use of property was with the permission and knowledge of the owners and they should maintain that pattern. K. Anslinger said that Brush Road had been oiled in the past, but no roads or trails on the property were oiled. Motion: I Cyr moved that the Board determine that the recommended actions are categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act as set out in the staff report; adopt Resolution No. 03-08, Resolution of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Authorizing Execution of the Property Agreement, Authorizing Officer to Meeting 03-06 Page 6 Execute Certificate of Acceptance of Grant to District and Authorizing General Manager to Execute Any and All Other Documents Necessary or Appropriate to Closing of the Transaction (Bear Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve—Lands of Hunt); adopt Resolution No. 03-09, Resolution of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Providing for the Issuance and Delivery of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District 2003 Promissory Note; tentatively adopt the Preliminary Use and Management Plan recommendation contained in the report, including naming the property as an addition to Bear Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve; and indicate their intention to dedicate the property as public open space. D. Little seconded the motion. Amendment: S. Schectman clarified that the Board's intention was to work with the neighbors regarding permit access. Staff would look at whether the permit system for Bear Creek provides a separate process for neighborhood access. She said staff is hearing direction of the Board for a pedestrian permit process for neighbors only, individually, and hiking only. C. Britton said the Use and Management recommendation regarding public access could be amended to add the words, "and a neighborhood permit for hiking purposes only." The maker of the motion concurred with that amendment. Vote: The motion passed 5 to 0. C. Britton congratulated T. Fischer's work on this acquisition. VM. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS P. Siemens talked about his hike around Horseshoe Lake. He and his wife met District open space technicians who were supervising a group from the Morgan Center. J. Cyr had an article from VIA magazine entitled"Head for the Hills" that talked about East Bay parks. L. Hassett: 1. He attended the Dumbarton Access Committee meeting last week. He talked about the discussion that took place at the meeting. 2. He gave a talk and PowerPoint presentation on the coastal expansion at a Kiwanis meeting. N. Hanko: 1. She had an invitation to Don Weiden's retirement party on June 11. She hoped the Board would be represented. 2. She said she took the letter she and C. Woodbury worked on to the county planning commission meeting regarding Stanford zoning. She had learned that the Palo Alto planning commission got that letter and Meeting 03-06 Page 7 supported the District's recommendations. She said she would meet next week with the county planner. L. Hassett: 3. He had a phone call from Doug Winslow saying he had taken a job with Sally Lieber and offering his help. C. Britton: 1. He said there was information in the clippings about the San Mateo County agricultural summit. He thought it was good. N. Hanko and P. Siemens also attended. P. Siemens commented that some of the value of the meeting was getting to meet the people again. N. Hanko agreed that there was value in having new connections. 2. The FYIs included a letter regarding the $30,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Silicon Valley toward the master plan of Sierra Azul. 3. He reminded the Board that a woman named Lois Nelson left the District a gift from her estate. They are trying to find out more about her. There may be a way they can recognize her for her gift, such as naming a trail for her. 4. He had a letter from Avenidas who will honor N. Hanko on May 18. 5. The Special Parks District Forum in British Columbia will be June 9-13. 6. Santa Clara county gave a presentation to the planning staff regarding their strategic plan. 7. He and S. Jensen had taken Jerry Vincent from the Corp of Engineers to Mt. Umunhum. They got a good understanding of what is going on with the cleanup III there. He said they had a program to clean up the containerized contaminants including transformers and underground tanks. They have money this year to complete the process of testing the soil and filing with the Regional Water Quality Control Board. Staff will be coming back to the Board with a permit to enter for them. He talked about other areas they want them to test. IX. ADJOURNMENT At 9:34 .m.� the meeting was adjourned. P J Roberta Wolfe Recording Secretary