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MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
Meeting 03-16
SPECIAL AND REGULAR MEETINGS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
July 23, 2003
MINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING
L ROLL CALL
President Nonette Hanko called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m.
Members Present: Jed Cyr, Mary Davey, Larry Hassett(arrived at 6:50 p.m.), Deane
Little, Ken Nitz, Pete Siemens, and Nonette Hanko
Members Absent: None
Staff Present: John Escobar, Sue Schectman, John Maciel, Cathy Woodbury, and
Mike Williams
IL CLOSED SESSION
N. Hanko stated that the Board would adjourn to Closed Session to discuss Closed
Session Agenda Items 1 and 2.
The Board recessed to Closed Session at 6:35 p.m. and the Closed Session commenced at
6:35 p.m. The Board concluded the Closed Session at 7:25 p.m.
REGULAR MEETING
III. N. Hanko called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:33 p.m. She announced that the
Board had discussed Closed Session Agenda Items 1 and 2 in Closed Session and that no
reportable actions had taken place.
Additional Staff Present: Sandy Sommer, Sally Thielfoldt, Mike Newburn, and Ana
Ruiz
IV. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS—There were none.
V. ADOPTION OF AGENDA
330 Distel Circle . Los Altos, CA 94022-1404 • Phone: 650-691-1200
Fax: 650-691-0485 • E-mail: mrosd@openspace.org • web site: www.openspace.org
Board of Directors:Pete Siemens,Mary C.Davey,Jed Cyr, Deane Little, Nonette Hanko, Larry Hassett, Kenneth C. Nitz - General Manager: L.Craig Britton
Meeting 03-16 Page 2
Motion: J. Cyr moved that the Board adopt the agenda. P. Siemens seconded and
the motion passed 7 to 0.
VI. SPECIAL ORDER OF THE DAY
• Resolution for John Escobar
N. Hanko read Resolution No. 03-24, honoring J. Escobar. M. Davey and J. Cyr talked
about his career with the organization. L. Hassett told of his relationship with J. Escobar
in the Skyline area early in his career.
VIL ADOPTION OF CONSENT CALENDAR
N. Hanko noted a change in the draft response: change the word"train" to "trail" in the
second line of the second paragraph.
Motion: L. Hassett moved that the Board adopt the Consent Calendar, including
draft response to Honorable Thomas J. Davids, Cecily Harris, Parks and
Recreation Commission Chair, City of San Carlos, 600 Elm Street, P. O.
Box 3009, San Carlos, CA 94070-1309, as corrected; Agenda Item 3,
Half Moon Bay Coastside Foundation v. Midpeninsula Regional Open
Space District: Authorize the General Manager to Enter into a Retainer
Agreement with the Law Firm of Shute, Mihaly and Weinberger to
Provide Legal Services for the Coastal Annexation Project in an Amount
Not to Exceed $50,000; Agenda Item 4, Authorization to Purchase Four
Fire Pumpers for District Patrol Vehicles, Authorize the General Manager
to Execute a Purchase Contract with Cascade Fire for Four(4)Fire
Pumpers for District Patrol Vehicles at a Total Cost of$46,885; and
Revised Claims 03-13. K. Nitz seconded the motion. The motion passed
7 to 0.
VHI. BOARD BUSINESS
A. Agenda Item No. 1 —-Appointment of Benjamin Guzman as a Peace Officer-,
Adopt the Attached Resolution of the Board Appointing Benjamin Guzman as a
Peace Officer—(Report R-03-68).
M. Newburn introduced B. Guzman.
Motion-, J. Cyr moved that the Board adopt Resolution No. 03-25,
Resolution of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional
Open Space District Appointing Peace Officer. P. Siemens
seconded the motion. The motion passed 7 to 0.
J. Escobar presented him with his badge.
Meeting 03-16 Page 3
B. Agenda Item No. 2- Consideration of Staff's Recommendation to Award the
Contract for Construction of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(EEMA)-Funded Old Page Mill Trail Repair Project at Skyline Ridge Open Space
Preserve, Authorize the General Manager to Execute a Contract with Casey Y
Construction for the Bid Amount of$258,158, Plus a Contingency Amount of Up
to $27.842. for a Total Amount Not to Exceed $286,000 for Construction the
FEMA-funded Old Page Mill Trail Repair Project at Skyline Ridge Open Space
Preserve=(Report R-03-70).
S. Sommer presented staffs recommendations. She talked about the bid process
and why she felt staff had only received one bid out of the five who attended the
pre-bid meeting.
L. Hassett said he was uncomfortable with having only one bid.
S. Schectman explained why staff could not re-open the bidding period so the
contractor who missed the deadline could submit his bid. She said that would be
improper. The Board could reject the bid, re-advertise, and put it out to bid again.
S. Sommer said that would probably add another 2-3 weeks to the process.
N. Hanko spoke against re-opening the bidding, stating she did not think it was
appropriate. She said it always places the bidder who was chosen in a very
difficult position.
S. Sommer talked about why staff is rebuilding the trail, even though it dead ends.
She showed the trail route through to Portola State Park. She said this is one of
the important trail links in the San Mateo County trail plan. J. Escobar said it was
built as an oxen trail and was built at a ten percent grade. He said staff would use
every segment of the road to complete the trail to Portola State Park that they can
because the grade is good and it is already established. S. Sommer said that it
would require a lot of work to re-route around the area.
Tim Odin of TKO said he had worked with the District on quite a few projects.
He said he had been low bidder on three projects that were later rejected and re-
bid. He was underbid on each one. He talked about his performance in
completing projects on which he had successfully bid and said his bid was well
within the original estimate.
L. Hassett noted for the record that this project was close to his home but was
outside the 500 ft. limit so had no direct impact on his property, and therefore he
had no conflict of interest in voting on this item.
Motion: L. Hassett moved that the Board authorize the General Manager to
execute a contract with Casey Construction for the bid amount of
$258,158, plus a contingency amount of up to $27,842, for a total
amount not to exceed $286,000 for construction of the FEMA-
Meeting 03-16 Page 4
funded Old Page Mill Trail Repair Project at Skyline Ridge Open
Space Preserve. M. Davey seconded the motion
Discussion: D. Little commented that it had been hard to convince staff to
commit $30,000 for an additional invasive plant study. He said
now they are dramatically increasing this project. He expressed
frustration and said it seems that the argument that the budget is
tight is used selectively. He thought it would have been easy to get
at least two bidders.
J. Escobar felt staff had done everything they could to get the
number of bidders up. He said staff had needed to consider that
this project has been on the Board's work plan for a number of
years since the damage occurred. He thought staffs concern about
the resource management issues were just as much the work load
issue of getting these projects done that had been around for
awhile. He said staff are still not sure how they will be affected by
the State budget.
S. Sommer said the FEMA money had been available since July
1998. J. Escobar said FEMA money is primarily for repairing
damages resulting from a declared emergency.
Vote: The motion passed 5 to 0 with Directors Nitz and Little abstaining.
N. Hanko asked the abstaining directors if they wished to state the
reason for abstaining.
D. Little said he felt the money had been around for awhile and the
Board was being forced to accept the single bidder because staff is
going to lose the FEMA money.
P. Siemens raised a point of order regarding discussing an item
after it had been voted on. D. Little responded that he had been
invited by the Board President to talk about his abstention. K. Nitz
declined to speak.
J. Escobar thanked Mr. Odin for attending.
IX INFORMATIONAL REPORTS
M. Davey talked about the scoping meeting in Palo Alto a week ago Wednesday
regarding trails on Stanford land.
Meeting 8 03-16 Page 5
K. Nitz: 1. He said the District booth was in a bad location at the Los Altos Art and
Wine festival. 2. A lot of people attended the Use and Management meetings at Pulgas
Ridge and Saratoga Gap. 3. He mentioned the item in the FYIs giving District web stats.
D. Little: 1. He hiked at Big Basin, and it was beautiful with nice trails. 2. He pointed
out that in some of the areas where trail widening occurred, hundreds and hundreds of
plants that are coming up are definitely star thistle. 3. He said the work done on Rhus
Ridge Road was very top quality. 4. He asked J.Maciel if staff had caught the rogue
cyclist. J. Maciel said no.
P. Siemens had spent time in the gold country at Indian Grinding Rock. He said the park
is inundated with star thistle. He did see weevils. He talked to a ranger who said they
did not know what to do. He said it was discouraging to him that so little is being done.
J. Cyr said that Tuesday before last, J. Escobar had done a presentation at the Sunnyvale
City Council meeting. The Council gave them a proclamation. He sent Council
Members a letter thanking them for their support.
L. Hassett: 1. He had a phone call from Sue Boynton of Woodside apologizing for the
incident at the Town Council meeting. 2. He invited Board Members to the South
Skyline Association picnic scheduled for the following Sunday. He pointed out an article
in the newsletter by Janet Schwind written in response to some criticisms of the District.
3. He thought the Use and Management Committee meeting was great.
N. Hanko said she and L. Hassett attended the Palo Alto City Council meeting. At that
meeting they recognized Tucher for pro bono work. She talked about the cases she
worked on. The Council passed the District's resolution. 2. Regarding the County trails
plan, she and L. Hassett met with Stanford people to discuss trails. They agreed to ask
District staff to choose a good trail because of their experience. D. Woods came back
with recommendations. The planning staff listened but came back and said they were not
going to consider them. She told them they should be considered as alternates because
the two Stanford chose were not going to work because there are no connections
regionally. The consultant said what her position would be was that the county should be
required to study alternates.
J. Escobar: 1. C. Britton was not there tonight because he was attending the annual
CJPIA meeting in southern California. 2. C. Britton attended a Bay Area Open Space
Council meeting at which the State parks manager made a presentation. He said the State
is operating at 30%of what they would like and that the State is in difficult financial
status. 3. On July 9 he attended the Portola Valley Town Council meeting. The Council
unanimously approved the District resolution. 4. He pointed out upcoming events in
August, September, and October on a calendar and asked Board Members to let L. Zadek
know their vacation plans so the information could be added to the calendar. 5. The
FYIs contained some articles from the HatfMoon Bay Review that told about District
activities.
Meeting 03-16 Page 6
J. Maciel: 1. Staff had heard from the CDF captain who is working on the burn at
Russian Ridge and was told that the burn was on hold pending evaluation of the San
Bruno fire. They still consider it a viable burn, perhaps in mid-August. 2. He mentioned
the email copied in the FYIs regarding appointment of Michael Jurich as Maintenance
and Construction Supervisor for the Foothills Area. 3. He invited Board Members to
Warren Phillips' retirement party. 4. He hiked Bella Vista trail and will meet with D.
Little regarding what staff is doing there.
X. ADJOURNMENT
At 8:42 p.m., the meeting was adjourned.
Roberta Wolfe
Recording Secretary