HomeMy Public PortalAbout19970108 - Agenda Packet - Board of Directors (BOD) - 97-01 Regional Open S
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MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
Meeting 97-01
REGULAR MEETING
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
AGENDA*
7:00 P.M. 330 Distel Circle
Wednesday Los Altos, California
January 8, 1997
(7:00) ROLL CALL
CLOSED SESSION
The Closed Session will begin at 7:00 P.M. At 7:30 P.M., the Board will adjourn
the Closed Session to the conclusion of the meeting if necessary.
1. Conference With Real Property Negotiator - Government Code Section
54956.8
A. Real Pro , X: Santa Clara County Assessor's Parcel Numbers: 537-
03-013, 537-03-062, 537-04-042, 537-05-010, 537-05-014 and 537-05-
015
Ne og_tiatine Parties: Ho Real Estate Limitd Partnership and Sisters of
Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Under Negotiations: Instructions to negotiator will concern price and
terms of payment.
(7:30) ORAL COMMUNICATIONS -- Public
ADOPTION OF AGENDA
*** ADOPTION OF CONSENT CALENDAR -- N. Hanko
*** APPROVAL OF MINUTES
November 20, 1996 (Consent Item)
*** WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS (Consent Item)
BOARD BUSINESS
(7:45) 1. Election of Board Officers for 1996 -- J. Fiddes
*** 2. Renewal of Controller's Investment Authority and Adoption of Statement of
Investment Policy -- M. Foster
Resolution Adopting a Statement of Investment Policy and Authorizing the
Controller to Invest Surplus Funds Allowed by Government Code
330 Distel Circle . Los Altos, CA 94022-1404 « Phone:41 5-691-1200 . FAX:415-691-0485 - F-mail: nirosd@netcom.com
Board of Directors:Pete Siemens,Mary C.Davey,Teena Henshaw,David T.Srrnernoff, Nonette Hanko, Betsy Crowder,Wien de Wit
General Manager:L.Craig Britton
Meeting 97-01 Page 2
*** 3. Approval of One-Year Consulting Services Agreement with Heim, Noack,
Kelly & Spahnn for Consulting Fee of$1,100 Per Month -- C. Britton
(7:55) 4. Appointment of Administration and Budget Committee for 1996 -- Board
President
(8:05) INFORMATIONAL REPORTS -- Directors and Staff
*** REVISED CLAIMS (Consent Item)
ADJOURNMENT
*NOTE: mimes are estimated and items may appear earlier or later than listed. Agenda is
subject to change of order.
** TO ADDRESS THE BOARD: The Chair will invite public comment on agenda items at the time
each item is considered by the Board of Directors. You may address the Board concerning other
matters during oral communications. Each speaker will ordinarily be limited to 3 minutes.
Alternately, you may comment to the Board by a written communication, which the Board
appreciates.
***All items on the consent calendar shall be approved by one motion unless a Board member
removes an item from the consent calendar, A member of the public via request under oral
communications that an item be removed from the consent calendar.
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Regional Open S4yce
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
Meeting 96-24
SPECIAL MEETING
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
November 20, 1996
MINUTES
I. ROLL CALL
President Nonette Hanko called the Special Meeting to order at 6:36 P.M.
Members Present: Pete Siemens, Mary Davey, Teena Henshaw, David Smernoff,
Nonette Hanko, Betsy Crowder, and Wim de Wit.
Personnel Present: Craig Britton, Sue Schectman, and Jean Fiddes.
II. CLOSED SESSION
N. Hanko stated that the Board would adjourn to Closed Session for the purpose of
discussing Closed Session Agenda Items 1 and 2.
The Board recessed to Closed Session at 6:37 P.M. and the Closed Session
commenced at 6:38 P.M. The Board concluded the Closed Session at 7:25 P.M.
N. Hanko reported that there was no reportable action taken by the Board in the
Closed Session.
III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
Harry Haeussler, 1094 Highland Circle, Los Altos, questioned whether guide dogs for
the visually limited and llamas are allowed on District trails. He was informed that
guide dogs assisting a person are allowed, as are saddled llamas being ridden or led.
Dr. George Goudy, 5070 Alpine Road, Portola Valley, requested that the Board not
allow dogs on the Hamm's Gulch Trail at Windy Hill Open Space Preserve . He
stated that his home and four others use springs in the area and the introduction of
dogs' feces and urine into the spring water could spread disease. He distributed a
packet of information to the Board, including a letter from himself, letters from four
other neighbors and from the San Mateo County Health Services Agency, and
reviewed a 1928 map showing all the springs.
IV. SPECIAL ORDER OF THE DAY
N. Hanko stated that the Santa Clara County Parks Department would be hosting a
reception on December 3 to honor Tony Look for receiving the American Parks and
330 Distel Circle . Los Altos, CA 94022-1404 . Phone:415-691-1200 * FAX:415-691-0485 * E-mail: mrosd@netcom.com F�7
Board of Directors:Pete Siemens,Mary C. Davey,Teena Henshaw, David T.Smernoff, Nanette I ianko,Betsy Crowder,Wim de Wit
General Manager:L.Craig Britton
Regional Open Space
s
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
INTER-OFFICE MEMORANDUM
November 4, 1996
TO: District Staff
FROM: Craig Britton, General Manager
SUBJECT: November 8 Staff Meetings with Art O'Neal
I want to remind everyone that Mr. Art O'Neal of Olympia, Washington will be spending a
day at the District this Friday, November 8. The purpose of Mr. O'Neal's visit will be to
conduct an introduction/orientation session for the Influencing Skills training session he will
be conducting in December and January for all staff.
The November 8 meeting schedule is:
10:00 A.M. - Administrative Office Staff
1:00 P.M. - Skyline Field Staff
2:30 P.M. - Foothills Field Staff
If you are not able to attend the meeting at your regular worksite, please check with your
supervisor about attending one of the other meetings.
I look forward to meeting with all of you on Friday.
330 Distel Circle . Los Altos,CA 94022-1404 . Phone:415-691-1200 . FAX:415-691-0485 . E-mail: mrosd@netcom.com
Board of Directors:Pete Siemens,N4 ^ C.Davey,Teena Henshaw, David T.Smernoff,Nonette— Ao,Betsy Crowder,Wim de Wit
General Manager:L.Craig Britton
f '
Meeting 96-24 Page 2
Recreation Society's Meritorious Service Award. She said Vice-President Mary
Davey would represent the District at the event.
Motion: B. Crowder moved that the Board adopt Resolution 96-42, a Resolution
of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space
District Honoring Tony Look. T. Henshaw seconded the motion. The
motion passed 7 to 0.
V. ADOPTION OF AGENDA
Motion: M. Davey moved that the Board adopt the agenda for the November
20, 1996 Special Meeting. D. Smernoff seconded the motion. The
motion passed 7 to 0.
VI. ADOPTION OF CONSENT CALENDAR
Motion: T. Henshaw moved that the Board approve the Consent Calendar,
including the minutes of the October 30, 1996 Special Meeting and
Revised Claims 96-20. P. Siemens seconded the motion. The motion
passed 7 to 0.
VII. BOARD BUSINESS
A. Agenda Item No. 1 - Continued Review of Proposed Mission Statement and
Revision to Basic Policies of Midpeninsula Regional Open Space
District as Part of Development of Regional Open Space Plan (R-96-123)
N. Hanko noted that the Board had received a letter, dated November 10, 1996, from
Harry Haeussler of Los Altos regarding the alternate introductions that had been
discussed at the October 30 workshop.
Introduction - N. Hanko reported that Mary Stegner preferred that Mr. Stegner's
quote not be changed in any way. B. Crowder spoke in favor of the unedited
version. P. Siemens stated that he still had a problem with the whole quote, adding
that the edited version best represented what the District is.
Motion: B. Crowder moved that the entire Wallace Stegner quote be used. W.
de Wit seconded the motion. The motion passed on the following vote:
Ayes: N. Hanko, B. Crowder, T. Henshaw, M. Davey, D. Smernoff,
and W. de Wit
No: P. Siemens
C. Britton noted that straw votes would be more appropriate since a final document
was not being adopted.
Mission Statement, page one - P. Siemens stated that the mission statement should be
visionary and noted that everything did not have to be qualified in the statement. He
40
MF; ORANDUM
November 1, 1996
TO: Craig, John, Mary, and Malcolm
FROM: Jean
SUBJECT: November 22 Skyline Celebration
I've been rethinking our management team discussion this morning about the November 22
staff event to celebrate the new Skyline field office and the El Corte de Madera trail work. I
now agree with Craig that this isn't the type of activity the Fun Committee normally gets
involved in. I believe overall coordination will be much easier if there are fewer cooks in
the kitchen, and the Fun Committee members can then focus more of their efforts on
planning for the December 13 holiday luncheon.
Let me know if you have any concerns about the Fun Committee not being involved in the
planning/coordination for the November 22 event.
cc:
Julie
Fun Committee members and special guest at last Fun Committee planning meetings (Laurie
Deirdre, Mark, and Ralph) --
Meeting 96-24 Page 3
suggested the statement read: "To acquire and preserve a regional greenbelt of open
space in perpetuity; protect and restore the natural environment; and provide
ecologically sensitive public enjoyment and education."
M. Davey suggested that this alternate wording be included for consideration when
the document was returned to the Board for approval.
District Purpe, page two - N. Hanko suggested that the second sentence be
reworded to read: "Development of traditional park and recreation facilities is the
responsibility of the cities and counties."
Joint Projects, page three - The word "will" should be deleted in the first sentence.
Public Access and Constraints, page four - Board discussion focused on directly
addressing public access. The Board concurred that the first two paragraphs of
section b should be amended to read: "The District provides public access to the open
space lands for low-intensity recreational uses. The District's highest priority is
acquiring land to complete the greenbelt and to protect natural resources on open
space land. Public access will be provided gradually to ensure that the higher
priorities of acquisition and resource protection are maintained."
The Board discussed the use of the word "gradually" in the above statement. D.
Smernoff suggested "in a phased manner" be substituted.
Recreational Use and Improvements, page four - B. Crowder expressed her concern
about group uses, such as mass hikes and rides. S. Schectman suggested that the
statement "In some cases, special use activities may require a permit" be inserted
after the first sentence on page five to address this concern.
N. Hanko requested that the words "but is not limited to" be deleted from the second
sentence in section d. Discussion focused on whether the use on "includes" only is
exclusive. Suggested clarifying wording was "Low-intensity recreation includes
activities such as...."
Agriculture and Limited Revenue-Producing Use. page five - C. Britton and S.
Schectman suggested that the word "limited" be deleted when referring to revenue-
producing activities, and the Board concurred with the change.
Volunteerism, page seven - D. Smernoff requested that "scientific research" be added
to the list of activities in which volunteers provide assistance.
Disclaimer, page seven - The Board concurred that the disclaimer should be a
footnote in smaller typeface at the bottom of the page.
Board of Directors, page seven - The work "legislative" was changed to "governing".
Meeting 96-24 Page 4
Policy Documents. page eight - D. Smernoff suggested adding a note about the list of
District policy documents and a statement that they are available upon request.
R. Anderson stated that the next phase in this project is to present the Regional Open
Space Plan to the Board for consideration. Anticipated timing is before the end of
March.
VIII. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS
B. Crowder and D. Smernoff reported on the El Corte de Madera Open Space
Preserve volunteer workday and Resolution Trail dedication on Saturday, November
16.
B. Crowder thanked staff who contributed to the new trail book she and Jean
Rusmore are writing.
N. Hanko said she and B. Crowder had met with Mr. Severn Ornstein regarding his
public access concerns at La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve.
M. Davey, P. Siemens, and C. Britton reported on the reception honoring the retiring
members of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.
W. de Wit stated that the docents and the outdoor education leaders would be having
a lunch at the District administrative office on Thursday, December 5.
C. Britton said all Board members were invited to Tony Look's reception on
December 3; reported that he and M. Williams had met with Mary Angle-Franzini,
the new director for Save-The-Redwoods League to discuss projects of mutual
interest; and invited Board members to attend either the December or January
influencing skills training being held for all staff.
IX. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 8:53 P.M.
Jean Fiddes
District Clerk
SECRET MEMORANDUM
To: AH Staff
From: Lisa Z.
Re: Lunch for Judy Law's "Retirement" from the District
Date: November 7, 1996
Judy Law is"retiring" from the District, so to acknowledge her contribution to MROSD,
we are planning a lunch for her on November 26, 1996 (her last day in the office is
Nov. 27th). The place is yet to be decided. If you are going to be around and would like
to come, please let me know so that I can make reservations.
Also, at my desk I have a card that is waiting to be signed, and an envelope to accept
donations for a gift for Judy.
If you have any ideas about a place for the lunch, let me know.
Thanks!
Claims No. 96-20
Meeting 96-24
Date: Nov. 20, 1996
Revised
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
# Amount Name Description
1202 156.23 A T & T Telephone Service
1203 48.29 Clark's Auto Parts & Machine Shop, Inc. Vehicle Maintenance Supplies
1204 439.11 Annette Coleman Reimbursement--Field Supplies
1205 192.25 FedEx. Express Mail Service
1206 400.20 Gardenland Power Equipment Equipment Repairs and Parts
1207 442.48 The Home Depot Field Supplies
1208 290.39 Minton's Lumber & Supply Hardware Supplies
1209 1,248.61 The Office Depot Office Supplies
1210 4,204.08 Popish Appraisal & Consulting Appraisal Services
1211 679.27 Orchard Supply Hardware Field Supplies
1212 114.48 Platypus Nature Center Cabinet Parts
1213 1,384.08 R & R Designers Acquisition Rental Repairs
1214 319.68 San Jose Mercury News Advertisement—10/30 Board Meeting
1215 150.85 Summit Uniforms Uniforms
1216R 73.20 Deirdre Dolan Vehicle Expense
1217R 54,476.00 Tag Group Corporation Construction Company--Skyline Office
1218R 342.02 Petty Cash Film, Office Supplies, Local Business
Meetings, Resource Documents, Class
Registration and Field Supplies
Total 64,961.22
Page 1
SOUTH SKYLINE ASSOCIATION
RESPONSE ACTION PROPOSED BY STAFF
December 11, 1996 Board President Acknowledge/Respond
Director Acknowledge/Respond
Staff Acknowledge/Respond
Board of Directors _ Draft Response Attached
Midpeninsula Open Space District Staff to be Directed to Prepare Draft
Reapons• for board Consideration par
330 Distel Circle Board Direc tiv (a)
Los Altos CA 94022-1404 No Response Necessary
Dear Board Members:
The South Skyline Association urges acquisition by MROSD or POST of the
undeveloped land located on the west side of Skyline 1 1/2 miles south of
Highway 92, recently purchased by the Russian Orthodox Church.
When first approached by the Kings Mountain Association to oppose the
project by the Russian Orthodox Church to build a convent and retreat
center, our board members decided to wait to find whether San Mateo
County would stop the project. Since then, the project has grown to have
hotel-type accomodations for 35 or more people, permanent housing for
over 20 people, parking for 24 cars, and operation of a business (bakery
and sale of other retail products). The property is presently allowed only
two density credits, and would require four additional density credits for
the present project. Water requirements for a project of this size may pose
a threat to the existing nearby wells. This issue needs to be addressed. The
principals involved in selling, buying and planning seem to have mislead
property owners in the area and MROSD as well.
Since the 1950's the previous owner claimed that the property would never
be developed and would always remain "open space". MROSD had an
understanding with the previous owner that should they sell, the property
would be first offered to MROSD.
The land is valuable as open space, watershed, wildlife corridor and trail
connection. Don't miss the opportunity to preserve this land before it is lost
to development.
Respectfully,
Cliff Jenkins
President Cliff Jenkins
22400 Skyline Blvd. #25
4;'-_Wfonra,Valifornia 94020
Regional Open S .e
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
January 2, 1997
Cliff Jenkins
22400 Skyline Boulevard #25
La Honda, CA 94020
Dear Cliff:
In behalf of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, I
thank you for your recent communication requesting the District's involvement in the
acquisition and preservation of the 284-acre parcel in the Upper Mills Creek Watershed
owned and slated for development by the Russian Orthodox Church Convent of Our Lady of
Vladimir. At its October 23 Regular Meeting, the Board voted unanimously to authorize the
General Manager to retain an appraiser to prepare an appraisal of the property and authorized
staff to initiate negotiations to purchase the property.
For your information, I have enclosed a copy of the staff report that the Board considered.
You will be notified of any future Board meeting at which the preservation and possible
acquisition of this property is considered.
Thank you again for taking the time to relay your comments to the Board on the property's
preservation as open space.
Sincerely,
L. Craig Britton
General Manager
Enclosure
330 Distel Circle • Los Altos,CA 94022-1404 • Phone:415-691-1200 • FAX:415-691-0485 • E-mail:mrosd@netcom.com (D
Board of Directors:Pete Siemens,Mary C.Davey,Teena Henshaw,David T.Smernoff,Nonette Hanko,Betsy Crowder,Wim de Wit
General Manager:L.Craig Britton
Regional Open ce
1
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
R-96-01
Meeting 96-01
January 8, 1997
AGENDA ITEM
Election of Board Officers for 1997
GENERAL MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATION r
Elect officers of the Board for the 1997 calendar year.
DISSCUSSION
Pursuant to Section 1.22 of your Rules of Procedure, you elect new Board officers for the 1996
calendar year at your first regular meeting in January. The election will be by signed ballots,
and the District clerk will count the ballots. After the election, the ballots will be available for
public inspection.
Your Rules of Procedure list the order of officers to be elected as follows: President, Vice-
President, Treasurer, and Secretary.
Prepared by:
Jean H. Fiddes, District Clerk
Contact person:
Same as above
330 Distel Circle . Los Altos, CA 94022-1404 . Phone:415-691-1200 . FAX:415-691-0485 . E-mail:mrosd@netcom.com
Board of Directors:Pete Siemens,Mary C.Davey,Teena Henshaw,David T.Smernoff,Nonette Hanko,Betsy Crowder,Wim de Wit
General Manager:L.Craig Britton
Regionalc
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
R-97-03
Meeting 97-01
January 8, 1997
AGENDA ITEM
Renewal of Investment Authority and Annual Statement of Investment Policy
CONTROLLER'S RECOMMENDATION
Adopt the attached resolution to extend the controller's investment authority for another year and
adopt the attached investment policy.
DISCUSSION
The controller's authority to invest temporarily idle funds expires on January 9, 1997 according
to the provisions of Resolution 96-01 (see report R-96-02). Currently, all of our cash reserves
not held by a trustee are invested through the Santa Clara County pooled investment fund or are
in U.S. treasury securities held by Santa Clara County. The attached investment policy permits
the District to invest its surplus funds in the Santa Clara County pooled fund, which by policy,
invests in a conservative manner and reports on fund performance monthly, including a full
listing of the portfolio. The pool's investment policy has been reviewed by the controller.
When short-term interest rates rise, we are sometimes able to earn an enhanced return on our
investment funds by investing directly in investments permitted by the Government Code. The
attached policy permits the controller to invest surplus District funds directly in such specific
investments. '
Our District policy does not allow any of the practices which crippled Orange County. First,
investments may not be leveraged. Second, investments may not include derivatives. Third,
the term of new investments may not exceed 180 days.
Prepared by:
Michael Foster, Controller
Sue Schectman, Legal Counsel
Contact person:
Same as above
330 Distel Circle . Los Altos, CA 94022-1404 . Phone:415-691-1200�. FAX:415 691-0485 * E-mail: mrosd@netcom.com
Board of Directors:Pete Siernens,Mary<. Davey,Teena Nenshaw, David T.Smernoff,Nonette I ianko,Betsy Crowder,Wim de Wit
General Manager:L.Craig,Britton
RESOLUTION NO.
RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
ADOPTING A STATEMENT OF INVESTMENT POLICY
AND AUTHORIZING THE CONTROLLER TO INVEST
SURPLUS FUNDS ALLOWED BY GOVERNMENT CODE
WHEREAS, the District needs to maximize the yield on surplus
temporarily idle funds in order to help meet land acquisition objectives; and
WHEREAS, the Chapter 4, Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government
Code authorizes the District to deposit and invest surplus funds in investments which, at
times, yield interest rates higher than achievable through the Santa Clara County Pooled
Fund; and
WHEREAS, the District can often improve its yield on surplus funds
without sacrificing financial safety or flexibility;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED AS FOLLOWS:
Section One. The Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional
Open Space District does hereby authorize the Controller to invest surplus or temporarily idle
funds according to the Investment Goals and Guidelines attached hereto as Exhibit "A" and
by reference made a part hereof.
Section Two. Before any particular investment the Controller shall
consult with the General Manager, or a District employee authorized to act in his/her behalf,
to determine anticipated cash flow needs of the District.
Section Three. This Resolution supersedes Resolution No. 96-01
adopted January 10, 1996. This Resolution shall no longer be in effect as of January 15,
1998, unless extended in time, and inactive funds shall then be deposited in the Santa Clara
County Pooled Investment Fund.
EXHIBIT "A"
Investment Goals and Guidelines
GOALS
Goal 1. Capital Preservation
The primary goal shall be to safeguard the principal of invested funds. Temporarily idle funds shall be
invested in a conservative manner, such that funds can always be withdrawn at, or just above or below, full
invested value. Investments that offer opportunities for significant capital gains and losses are excluded.
Goal 2. Liquidity
Temporarily idle funds will be managed so that normal operating cash needs and scheduled extraordinary cash
needs can be met on a same day basis. Investments will be sufficiently liquid to provide a steady and reliable
flow of cash to the District to insure that all land purchases can be made promptly (within two weeks).
Goal 3. Income
Temporarily idle funds shall earn the highest rate of return that is consistent with capital preservation and
liquidity goals and the Government Code.
GUIDELINES
1. Determination of Idle Funds
The Controller will prepare a complete cash flow projection prior to all investment decisions. This cash flow
projection will be reviewed and evaluated by the General Manager. The General Manager is responsible for
approving the Controller's designation of the amount of funds not required for the immediate necessity of the
District and available for investment.
2. Contingency Reserve
A contingency reserve of between $500,000 and $2,000,000 shall be maintained with the Santa Clara County
pooled investment fund. The General Manager is responsible for approving the Controller's designation of the
size of this contingency reserve. At all times this contingency reserve will be sufficient to satisfy the
requirements for all Note Funds.
3. Non-Invested Funds
Idle District funds not otherwise invested or maintained with paying agents will be deposited in the Santa
Clara County pooled investment fund.
4. Selection of Investments
The Controller is responsible for selecting specific investments that fit within the amounts and maturities
recommended by the Controller and by the General Manager. The Controller is also responsible for directing
security transactions.
&"
5. Investment Instruments
Investments shall be limited to those allowed by Government Code Section 53601 et seq. and 53635 et seq.
Investments shall not be leveraged. Investments, and or "derivatives," that offer opportunities for significant
capital gains and losses are excluded. All investment, other than funds held in trust for noteholders and trust
funds released after posting surety bonds, shall mature within 180 days.
6. Diversification
Investments other than insured or collateralized deposits at banks and savings and loan associations shall be
diversified.
7. Marketability
For investments other than deposits, the breadth of ownership and number of securities outstanding will be
sufficient to establish a secondary market in which investments can be readily converted to cash without
causing a material change in their market value.
8. Acceptable Banks
Bankers' Acceptances and Negotiable Certificates of Deposit may be purchased only from banks and savings
and loan associations with over $1,000,000,000 of deposits and reporting profitable operations.
9. Accevtable Collateral
Securities collateralizing bank or savings and loan deposits must be rated "A" or higher.
10. Investments in Name of District
All investments purchased shall stand in the name of the District.
11. Reporting
The Controller shall report all security transactions to the Budget Committee no later than the next Regular
Meeting of the Board of Directors after any transaction has been made. The Controller shall submit a report
of the District's investments and security transactions to the Administration and Budget Committee by the
fourth Wednesday of each month in accordance with Government Code Section 53607. The Controller will
render a quarterly investment report to the Board of Directors as required by Government Code Section
53646. Such reports shall also be submitted to the General Manager and to the District's auditor. The
Administration and Budget Committee shall act on behalf of the Board of Directors in receiving reports from
the Controller required by Government Code Section 53607.
12. Purchase of Securities Through Bank
The Controller is authorized to purchase securities through the investment department of the District's bank.
The Bank shall be instructed in writing only to purchase securities in the name of the District and that all
matured funds shall be returned to the District's bank account. The Bank shall also be instructed to send
receipts for transactions to the General Manager.
FIELD OPERATIONS SCHEDULE FOR March 25 - April 7, 1 9 9 0
1st Responder Time
change
SKYLINE M T W TH F S S M T W TH F S S
Patrol 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Sanguinetti P� ,R C A 1
Danielson L L XX n S 5 E
Paterson C G L L L E
Hyman (r C L L L
Dawning
Ken X. C L C C C L L L
Phillips E E L L rs s
Malone ><><x L L L T G
Crew
Congdon C- C G C .
Beckman C G G <Z— G C G
McKowan C C C G C-
C G G
Olson C G G G C
Jensen C C C G Q-
molica C-- C, C, C C— G
FOOTH 1 LLS
Tirol
Coleman
Lausten eX X1L L
Newburn XX t� m L L T L S L5
Karnotel E E L L L L
L.Carlson L L5 L5 r
E F . 1
Hearin L L C- C G c C G E _
Randall F— X I Ps ES
Miller M E FS -T
Crew
Kowaleski G G
Covarrubias C-
Jurich C, C C
Hooper C C
Casaretto
Bankosh cd C
PL - Personal Leave; H = Holiday
Beginning April 8:
A&B = 8:00- 4:30 All Days
F = 7:00- 3:00 Saturday thru Thursday
F = a:00- 4:00 Fridays L = 1:00- 9 00 Sun. •Thurs.
C = 7:00- 4:30 All Days except Monday L = 2:00- 10:00 Fri. k Sad.
C = 7:00- 3:30 Monday
M = 9:00- 5:00 All Days
S = 10:00- 6:00 All Days
L = 12 00• 8:00 All Days
Regional Open Soce
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
R-97-04
Meeting 97-01
January 8, 1997
AGENDA ITEM
Consulting Services Agreement for 1997 with Legislative Consultants Heim, Noack, Kelly, &
Spahnn
GENERAL MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the General Manager to execute the attached Consulting Services Agreement with
Heim, Noack, Kelly, & Spahnn for legislative consulting services in Sacramento.
DISCUSSION
The attached Consulting Services Agreement with Heim, Noack, Kelly, & Spahnn is for a one-
year term for legislative consulting services in Sacramento. The terms and conditions of the
agreement remain unchanged from the previous agreement, and the consulting fee of$1,100 per
month, plus a monthly expense allowance of$55, has not increased since 1989.
Heim, Noack, Kelly, & Spahnn continue to provide excellent service at a very modest cost,
especially considering the returns to the District. Ralph Heim has represented the District in
Sacramento for the past 12 years. He has worked very effectively on the District's behalf and has
done an outstanding job of protecting the District's legislative interests.
Prepared by:
M. Smith, Public Affairs Manager
Contact person:
L. Craig Britton, General Manager
H&n, Noack, Kelly&SpAm
G : q E R N V E N T A R E L . I 1 0 N S
Ralph A.Heim
Russell W.Noack
Anne Kelly CONSULTING SERVICES AGREEMENT
Leslie S.Spahnn
Pauli. Lunardi
John Caldwell THIS AGREEMENT, entered into this 1 st day of January, 1997, by and
between MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT, hereinafter
called "District", and HEIM, NOACK, KELLY & SPAHNN, a California
Corporation, hereinafter called "Legislative Consultant", or "Consultant."
The parties hereto do mutually agree as follows:
1. ENGAGEMENT OF CONSULTANT
The District hereby agrees to engage Consultant, and Consultant
agrees to perform the services hereinafter set forth in this Agreement.
2. SCOPE OF SERVICES
Consultant shall do, perform and carry out in a satisfactory and proper
manner, as determined by District, the following services:
a. Become familiar with District's Legislative Program for 1997 and
its special legislative concerns.
b. Advocate legislation and amendments to legislation to
Sacramento legislators and administrators and their staffs with will enhance
District's funding or result in other legislation favorable to District, with an
emphasis on District's Legislative Program for 1997 and related matters, and
other legislative or State administrative matters as may be assigned from time
to time.
C. Monitor and advise of status of pending legislation which may
affect District.
d. Evaluate and advise District as to the political climate in
Sacramento, the best channels for influencing legislation affecting District,
desirable kinds of legislation in light of District's problems, purposes and
goals, and the best strategies for achieving legislation favorable to District.
e. Maintain and improve liaison between District and members of
the Legislature and the State Administration.
1121 L Street,Suite 100
Sacramento,CA 95814
Tel.(916)442-4584
Fax(916)4414925
f. Attend legislative hearings and other legislative meetings on
behalf of District when a District representative is unable to be there or as
otherwise appropriate.
9. When beneficial to District, coordinate District efforts with
advocates of other regional park or open space districts, special district
associations, park and recreation associations, and other appropriate
organizations.
3. RESPONSIBILITIES OF DISTRICT
District shall cooperate with and furnish necessary data to Consultant
in every reasonable way to assist Consultant in carrying out its services under
this Contract. Consultant's principal contact with District shall be District's
General Manager or designee.
4. PERSONNEL
a. Consultant represents that it has, or will secure at its own
expense, all personnel required in performing the service under this Contract.
Such personnel not be employees of or have any contractual relationship with
District.
5. TIME OF PERFORMANCE
The services of Consultant are to commence January 1, 1997 and
continue through December 31, 1997.
6. COMPENSATION
The District agrees to pay the Consultant at a fixed monthly rate of
$1,100.00 plus a monthly expense allowance of$55.00. The expense
allowance shall cover costs of telephone, postage, photocopying, bill service
and other out-of-pocket expenses. If cumulative expenses have significantly
exceeded cumulative expense allowances and it appears this situation will
continue, consultant may request an increase in the allowance which shall be
considered by the General Manager. Compensation for travel expenses,
such as those to the District, which may cause the cumulative expense
allowance to be exceeded, must be authorized in advance by the General
Manager. Said payments shall be prorated for any fractional month at the
beginning and end of the contract period. Such compensation shall constitute
the total amount payable by District under this agreement and shall include all
costs and expenses of Consultant. Consultant shall bill District at the end of
each calendar month, and the District shall remit within 30 days of said
billings.
7. TERMINATION
District shall have the right to terminate this agreement by five (5) days
written notice at any time, with or without cause. Consultant shall be entitled
to compensation for all services rendered up to the date of termination.
Consultant also shall have the right to terminate this agreement by fifteen (15)
days written notice at any time, with or without cause.
8. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
The Consultant shall not willfully discriminate against any employee or
applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, religion, ancestry, or
national origin. Consultant shall take affirmative action to ensure that
applicants are employed without regard to their race, color, sex, religion,
ancestry, or national origin. Such action shall include, but not be limited to,
the following: employment, upgrading, demotion or transfer, recruitment or
recruitment advertising, layoff or termination, rates of pay or other forms of
compensation, and selection for training, including apprenticeship.
9. ASSIGNABILITY
The Consultant shall not assign any interest in this agreement, and
shall not transfer any interest in the same, or any payments to be received
hereunder, without the prior written consent of District.
10. INTEREST OF CONSULTANT
Consultant covenants that is presently has no interest, and shall not
have any interest, direct or indirect, which would conflict in any manner with
the performance of services required to be performed under this agreement.
Consultant shall from time to time advise General Manager of the
District as to the names of other persons and/or organizations that Consultant
represents in legislative matters.
11 . FINDINGS
Any reports, information, data, etc. given to or prepared or assembled
by Consultant under this contract which District requests to be kept as
confidential shall not be made available to any individual or organization by
Consultant without the prior written approval of District.
12. USE OF FUNDS
Consultant shall not expend any of the funds received as
compensation hereunder in support of any candidate for any political office.
Compensation is limited to the cost of services actually rendered and
expenses, and specifically does not include political contributions of any type
whatsoever.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, District and Contractor have executed this
Agreement as of the date first written above.
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
By:
Mr. L. Craig Britton, General Manager
HEIM, NOACK, KELLY & SPAHNN
By:
Mr. RaIp A. Heim, President
Regional Open S#ce
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
R-97-02
Meeting 97-01
January 8, 1997
AGENDA ITEM
Appointment of Administration and Budget Committee for- 7'
GENERAL MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATION ...-
i
The new President of the Board should appoint the Administration and Budget Committee
members for the 1997 calendar year with your consent.
DISCUSSION
Section 1.82 of your Rules of Procedure states that appointments to the Administration and
Budget Committee shall normally be made at the first regular meeting in January and that the
Treasurer shall be one of the three members of the Committee. The appointment of the
Administration and Budget Committee is placed near the end of the agenda in order to allow the
newly-elected Board President some time to contemplate the filling of the two open
Administration and Budget Committee seats; the 1997 Treasurer will have been selected by the
Board earlier in the evening.
Prepared by:
Jean H. Fiddes, District Clerk
Contact person:
Same as above
Circle � Los Altos, CA 94022-1404 330 Distel C' . Phone:415-691-1200 . FAX:415-691-0485 , E-mail: mrosd@rietcom.com
60arr'of Directors:Pete Siemens,Mary C.Davey,Teena Henshaw,David T.Smernoff,Nonette Hanko,Betsy Crowder,Wim de Wit
General.Manager:L.Craig Britton
Claims No. 97-01
Meeting 97-01
Date: Jan. 08, 1997
Revised
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
# Amount Name Description
1376 30.24 ADT Security Systems Burglar Alarm Service
1377 8,180.00 ATC Associates Inc. Asbestos and Lead-Based Paint Surveys-
Mount Umunhum Facilities
1378 160.59 A T & T Telephone Services
1379 438.33 Beck's Shoe's Inc. Uniform Boots
1380 800.00 Body Logic Health Management Back Power Training Sessions
1381 4,188.24 Bofors Incorporated South Bay Brochure Printing
1382 196.50 Mark Brent Electric Repair--Mt. Umunhum Repeater
1383 8,072.55 Brian Kangas Foulk Consulting Engineers Survey Engineering--Teague Hill
1384 197.75 Cabela's Inc. Uniforms
1385 155.07 California Water Service Company Water Service
1386 719.22 Callander Associates Parking Lot Studies--Windy Hill
1387 558.00 Camino Medical Group Medical Services
1388 763.50 *1 Dave Chapman ATV Safety Training Instructor
1389 659.20 Communication & Control Inc. Utilities--Mt Umunhum P G & E Pump
1390 245.66 Patrick Congdon Reimbursement--Parts and Supplies
1391 41.21 DFM Associates Resource Documents
1392 130.00 *2 Econo Page Pager and Service Contract
1393 52.57 John Escobar Reimbursement--Business Meeting
1394 21.53 Film TO Frame Photo Processing
1395 99.08 Flaghouse Nature Center Bench
1396 75.93 Foster Bros. Security Systems Locks and Keys
1397 24.78 G & K Services Shop Towel Service
1398 73.11 GTE Mobilnet Cellular Phone Service
1399 304.89 Guy Plumbing Enterprise Rental Repairs
1400 227.75 Honeywell Inc. Burglar Alarm Service
1401 1,145.04 HMC Group Foothills Shop Building Upgrade
1402 274.04 Jodi Isaacs Vehicle Expense
1403 198.11 Javelco Equipment Service, Inc. Equipment Parts
1404 775.00 Mike Johnson Main Office Building Repairs
1405 953.44 Lanier Worldwide, Inc. Copier Machine Lease
1406 120.00 *3 League of California Cities Workshop Registration--S. Schectman
1407 1,177.76 101 Livestock Supply Company Gates
1408 443.35 Los Altos Garbage Company Dumpster Service
1409 180.00 Town of Los Gatos Construction Management Services--
Skyline Field Office
1410 279.58 Lucent Technologies A T & T Maintenance Service
1411 300.00 Marilyn Manning Ph.D. Team Building Consulting Services
1412 987.35 Julie McCullough Vehicle Expense
1413 184.24 MetroMobileCommunications Radio Repair
1414 48.16 Moffett Supply Company Light Bulbs
1415 65.00 Mountain View Door, Key & Lock Service Garage Door Adjustment--Deer Hollow
Farm
1416 434.39 Navarone Industries, Inc. Winter Newsletter Printing
*1 Urgent Check Issued December 20, 1996.
*2 Urgent Check Issued December 18, 1996.
*3 Urgent Check Issued December 19, 1996.
Page 1
Claims No. 97-01
Meeting 97-01
Date: Jan. 08, 1996
Revised
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
# Amount Name Description
1417 19.50 Netcom Monthly Internet Service
1418 52.81 Northern Energy Propane
1419 511.57 Office Depot Office Supplies
1420 842.08 Pacific Bell Telephone Service
1421 271.49 PIP Printing Volunteer Newsletter Printing
1422 467.64 Pitney Bowes Credit Corp. Mailing Machine Lease
1423 10.84 Pringle Tractor Company Oil Filters
1424 97.00 The Pryor Report Subscription Renewal
1425 150.85 QSP Printing Letterhead Printing
1426 127.65 Roy's Repair Service Vehicle Repair
1427 42.22 San Mateo County Times Subscription Renewal
1428 735.36 Sears Enterprise Rental Appliance
1429 281.74 Shell Oil Company Fuel
1430 2,100.00 George Sipel Associates Planning Organizational Management
1431 100.90 Skyline County Water District Water Service
1432 110.89 Malcolm Smith Reimbursement--Supplies and Vehicle
Expense
1433 1,876-50 Special District Board Management Institute Registrations-C. Britton, J. Cyr & K. Nitz
1434 44.68 Stevens Creek Quarry Baserock
1435 685.29 Summit Uniforms Uniforms
1436 9,373.08 Universal Printing Company Visitor Map Printing
1437 300.00 Roberta Wolfe Recording Services
1438 679.00 The Workingman's Emporium Uniform Expense
1439 135.71 Yardbird Equipment Sales Equipment Repair Parts
144OR 2,280.00 Town of Woodside Teague Hill Lot Line Adjustment
1441 R 566.33 Petty Cash Vehicle Expense, Business Meetings,
Office Supplies, UPS Postage and
Volunteer Event Supplies
Total 55,844.29
Page 2
Claims No. 97-01
MeetinQR7-01
Date: Jan. O8. 18Q7
K8|DPEN|NSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
# Amount Name Description
1376 30.24 ADT Security Systems Burglar Alarm Service
1377 8'180.00 ATC Associates Inc. Asbestos and Lead-Based Paint Surveys-
Mount Unnunhumm Facilities
1378 160.58 AT & T Telephone Services
1379 438.33 Beck's Shoe'mInc. Uniform Boots
1380 800.00 Body Logic Health Management Back Power Training Sessions
1381 4.188.24 Bofors Incorporated South Bay Brochure Printing
1382 196.50 Mark Brent Electric Repair--Mt. Unnunhunn Repeater
1383 8'073.55 Brion Kangon Fou|k Consulting Engineers Survey Engineering--Teague Hill
1384 197.75 Cabe|a'm Inc. Uniforms
1386 155.07 California Water Service Company Water Service
1386 719.22 Ca||anderAnnooiotea Parking Lot Studiea-VVindyHill
1387 558.00 Camino K8edioo| Group K8ed|oa| Services
1388 703.50 °1 Dave Chapman ATV Safety Training Instructor
1389 859.20 Communication Q. Control Inc. Utilities-K8tUmnunhumn PG & E Pump
1380 245.06 Patrick Congdon Reimnburmemmont--Pertm and Supplies
1391 41.21 DFK8Associates Resource Documents
1382 130.00 °2 Econo Page Pager and Service Contract
1393 52.57 John Escobar Reinnburmannent''Bum|neaoW1eoting
1394 21.53 F||rn TO Frame Photo Processing
1395 99.08 Raghoume Nature Center Bench
1386 75.93 Foster Bros. Security Systems Locks and Keys
1397 24.78 G 6k K Services Shop lFovvn| Service
1398 73.11 <3TEK8obUnat Cellular Phone Service
1399 304.89 Guy Plumbing Enterprise Rental Repairs
1400 227.75 Honeywell Inc. Burglar Alarm Service
1401 1'145.04 HK4CGroup Foothills Shop Building Upgrade
1402 274.04 Jodi Isaacs Vehicle Expense
1403 190.11 Jave|oo Equipment Service, Inc. Equipment Parts
1404 775.00 Mike Johnson Main Office Building Repairs
1405 953.44 Lanier Worldwide, Inc. Copier Machine Lease
1406 120.00 °3 League ofCalifornia Cities Workshop Registration--S. Snheotnnyn
1407 1.177.76 101 Livestock Supply Company Gates
1408 443.35 Los Altos Garbage Company [)unnpmter8orvioe
1409 180.00 Town of Los Gatos Construction Management Gervineo-
Shy|ine Field Office
1410 279.58 Lucent Technologies AT &' T Maintenance Service
1411 300.00 Marilyn K8anningPh.D. Team Building Consulting Services
1412 887.35 Julie McCullough Vehicle Expense
1413 184.24 K0atroMobi|aComnnmunicmtionm Radio Repair
1414 48.16 Moffett Supply Company Light Bulbs
1415 65.00 Mountain View Door' Key & Lock Service Garage Door Ad]uatnnent-Deer Hollow
Farm
1410 434.39 Navarone Industries, Inc. Winter Newsletter Printing
°1 Urgent Check Issued Deoemnber2O' 1890.
°2 Urgent Check Issued December 18. 1996.
°3 Urgent Check Issued December 19, 1996.
Page
Claims No. 97-01
Meeting 97-01
Date: Jan. 08, 1996
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
# Amount Name Description
1417 19.50 Netcorn Monthly Internet Service
1418 52.81 Northern Energy Propane
1419 511.57 Office Depot Office Supplies
1420 842.08 Pacific Bell Telephone Service
1421 271.49 PIP Printing Volunteer Newsletter Printing
1422 467.64 Pitney Bowes Credit Corp. Mailing Machine Lease
1423 10.84 Pringle Tractor Company Oil Filters
1424 97.00 The Pryor Report Subscription Renewal
1425 150.85 QSP Printing Letterhead Printing
1426 127.65 Roy's Repair Service Vehicle Repair
1427 42.22 San Mateo County Times Subscription Renewal
1428 735.36 Sears Enterprise Rental Appliance
1429 281.74 Shell Oil Company Fuel
1430 2,100.00 George Sipel Associates Planning Organizational Management
1431 100.90 Skyline County Water District Water Service
1432 110.89 Malcolm Smith Reim bursement--Su ppl ies and Vehicle
Expense
1433 1,876.50 Special District Board Management Institute Registrations-C. Britton, J. Cyr & K. Nitz
1434 44.68 Stevens Creek Quarry Baserock
1435 685.29 Summit Uniforms Uniforms
1436 9,373.08 Universal Printing Company Visitor Map Printing
1437 300.00 Roberta Wolfe Recording Services
1438 679.00 The Workingman's Emporium Uniform Expense
1439 135.71 Yardbird Equipment Sales Equipment Repair Parts
Total 52,997.96
Page 2
Regional Open S$lce
------------------
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
TO: Board of Directors
FROM: C. Britton, General Manager
DATE: January 8, 1997
SUBJECT: FYI
330 Distel Circle . Los Altos, CA 94022-1404 . Phone:415-691-1200 . FAX:415-691-0485 . E-mail:mrosd@netcom.com
Board of Directors:Pete Siemens,Mary C.Davey,Teena Henshaw,David T.Smernoff,Nonette Han ko,Betsy Crowder,Wim de Wit
General Manager:L.Craig Britton
Rqqional Open Alace I
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
MEMORANDUM
DATE: January 8., 1997
TO: Members, Board of Directors
FROM: Betsy Crowder
SUBJECT: Historic article on Woodside environmentalism
Attached is an article of unknown source, but apparently from a newsletter of some sort
in 1965 which I thought you might find of interest. From the controversy noted in the
article grew the strength of the conservation movement that in turn led to the formation of
the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. And, the references to President
Johnson, the Atomic Energy Commission, and the Committee for Green Foothills are
rather amusing, and interesting.
330 Distel Circle . Los Altos,CA 94022-1404 . Phone:415-691-1200 . FAX:415-691-0485 . E-mail: mrosd@netcom.com
Board of Directors:Pete Siemens,Mary C.Davey,Teena Henshaw,David T.Smernoff,Nonette Hanko,Betsy Crowder,Wim de Wit
General Manager:L.Craig Britton
RICHARD REINHARDT
1
' WHERE DO THEY LEAD?
r
1 i THE WIRES
r .
r' OF WOODSIDE
The Town of Woodside, California (population
4,000), is a town only in the legal sense.
\ In reality it is a well-groomed rural village, j
\ fi surrounded by several square miles of more or
r less palatial country estates, in a fold of the blue- t
1 green coastal mountains south of San Francisco.
If you ever have been in Woodside, you prob-
f�� ably associate it with the warm, sweet smell of
dry grass, dusty bridle paths and chlorinated
- swimming pools, with young deer cropping ivy
on the roadside banks, jackrabbits bounding out Y
of toyon bushes, live oaks draped with Spanish
s t moss, and country stopping places where they
serve a bowl of roasted peanuts with a frosted
mug of beer.
Woodside is part suburb, part resort, and it
1-1 owes its open skies, its luxuriant vegetation and
"Mi its freedom from commercial vanities to the pro-
tective solicitude of its wealthy residents. I
J ' It is rather difficult to imagine this privileged,
. > sequestered community in the role of David
among the Philistines. Yet, during the past three
years Woodside has conducted a dogged, expen-
sive, lonely campaign of self-defense that forced
t a national re-examination of the role of govern-
' , 'a
a � ment agencies in preserving scenic landscapes.
Defeated again and again, Woodside persisted in
a legal contest that drew public attention to
serious defects in the development policies of a
t� great university and even more serious flaws in
the conservation policies of the federal govern-
ment.
At issue was an electric power line—not an
ordinary, low-voltage distribution line on wooden
poles, the sort we have suffered to clutter our
highways and neighborhoods ever since elec-
tricity came into general use in the 1890's—but
one of those huge, high-tension transmission
RICHARD REINHARDT, Associate Editor of the monthly
magazine San Francisco, is an alumnus of Stanford
University, an admirer of the AEC, and a stockholder
.. in the Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
ti
complexes carried 100 feet overhead on a row In any case, Woodside was resolutely obstin-
of towering steel ziggurats. ate, and much of the national interest in the case
No one sensitive to his surroundings admires arose from the dilemma that this recalcitrance
power poles. But most of us have taken them as presented; for the power line was to serve a
an inevitable concomitant of technology, as we hypersensitive Federal agency, the Atomic En-
have those squalid black groves of oil derricks ergy Commission, and at every step the conserva-
that we accepted without protest because of the tionists of Woodside were tormented by the
mineral wealth they represented. Although it has warning words of Dr. Wolfgang K. H. Panofsky,
been feasible for many decades to put utility lines director of the Stanford Linear Accelerator proj-
underground, the cost of doing so has appeared ect, that any delay in constructing the power line
to be rather high in relation to the benefit. We would "seriously impede the Nation's nuclear
have buried transmission and distribution lines research program." It is some measure of the
in downtown districts and in high-priced resi- importance Californians are beginning to attach
dential areas and let a growing web of wires to so-called "environment issues" that the coun-
festoon the rest of the landscape. Only in recent try squires of Woodside persevered so long
years have a few communities begun to resist the against so powerful an admonition.
invasion of overhead transmission lines. In a For several years, loosely organized groups of
sense, the Woodside insurrection revealed a lawyers, architects, writers and other Peninsula
totally unprecedented hostility toward wires. residents have been searching for a way to pre-
Perhaps this attitude resulted from the unique serve Skyline Ridge, the graceful line of hills
value of the Woodside landscape, which is one of running along the spine of the Peninsula from
the last, relatively unspoiled areas of natural San Bruno south to Black Mountain in Santa
countryside in the San Francisco metropolitan Clara county. Their campaign has taken several
area. Perhaps it resulted from a realization that forms and led to many skirmishes, but its gen-
the future development of this priceless natural eral object has been to protect the view of the
resource is largely controlled by the three insti- wooded, undeveloped hills from the teeming sub-
tutions involved in building the power line: the urban communities of San Mateo and Santa Clara
Pacific Gas & Electric Company, Stanford Uni- counties.
versity and the federal government. The public was warned of a critical threat to
JEFFERSON --
UBSTATION f
ANFORD
INEAR CELERATOR" ,
WO DE STANFORD •.. 1
UNIVERSITY '- oexLA.vo
�.,.
Said H+��Raab SAP!FRA%CdC0
z
z°
Seareville Lake
.a ��
a
5. MILE AEC TAPLIN o: aREDWOOOjKrrYi MEN 7C
a ` , WOODSILIE• •PALO ALTO
v P°1 Z
SAN LOSE
AREA DI LARGE MAP
A
sfy�
a� EXISTING 220KV LINE
Q MONTA VISTA
SUBSTATION
WOODSIDE AREA
.__.
0 MILlS 1 'j
1I
1
1
this scenic resource in October, 1962, when the wires from the crown to the base of ttie wooded
liveliest of these conservation groups, the Com- slope, over 5.2 miles of open country, past the
mittee for Green Foothills, inserted a full page shores of pretty little Searsville Lake, across a
advertisement in the Palo Alto Times, askine: corner of Woodside, over the fields and furrows
"Must the public accept the scars and conse- to the accelerator. And, because of the voracious
quences of transmission towers in our surround- electrical demands of the laboratory, PG&E had
ing hills?" decided to raise the capacity of the main line and
It seemed that the PG&E was asking the San the tap line from 110 kilovolts to 220 kilovolts
Mateo County Board of Supervisors to activate —an arrangement_ that would quadruple the ul-
a previously granted right-of-way for an over- timate capacity of the line, but would also double
head transmission line along a 19-mile route the width of the right-of-way (from 50 to 100
from the substation at Monte Vista, in Los Altos feet).
Hills, to Jefferson Substation on Canada Road Despite the outcry from the Committee for l
in Woodside. PG&E had obtained the permit ten Green Foothills, the San Mateo County Planning
years earlier. According to company minutes that Commission approved PG&E's application for
have since come to light, officials of the utility a wider right-of-way. The utility company put
felt it might be the last overhead route for trans- its crews to work, with helicopters and hatchets,
mission lines ever to be approved in this area. hacking out the skyline route.
Originally. the towers were to have followed a At this point, Woodside began its prolonged
new freeway, the Junipero Serra, which is now litigation, taking as its basic defense a local ord-
under construction between San Francisco and inance requiring that all new utility lines be
San Jose; but at the insistence of San Mateo placed underground. The portion of the tap line
county planning officials, the route was moved up that would cross Woodside was only about 3,500
to the crest of the hills, where the towers would feet long, with two or three towers. But the town
be hidden from the sight of motorists and from defiantly asserted its local rights, refused to grant
most residential areas. PG&E a permit, and brought the whole project
In 1961. before the transmission line had been to a halt.
installed, the United States Congress authorized This legal tactic, and the stubbornness of
construction of a $1 14 million linear accelerator Woodside's fight, can be attributed in large part
(atom smasher) at Stanford University. The ac- to a young Palo Alto attorney named Paul Mc-
celerator is an important tool of scientific re- Closkey, Jr., who had represented several in-
search—the sort of cosmic plaything that at- formal property owners' groups in combat with
tracts scientists and researchers to a university, builders and developers trying to invade the i
where they, in turn, attract foundation grants, bosky fastness of the hills. McCloskey believes
outstanding students, alumni gifts, light industries that success in conservation thrives on defeat,
and other components of the academic-economic and his gritty thesis was amply tested in the
growth mechanism perfected by Stanford in the Woodside case. His associate, and Woodside's
past 15 ears. Incidental) the accelerator's a
p Y Y� P- chief spokesman before federal courts and Con-
petite for electricity would be prodigious—some gressional committees, was Austin Clapp, a per-
139 million kilowatt hours a year, which would suasive and experienced lawyer, who asserted the
make it the biggest power customer in this part radical notion that the government had a moral 3
of the world. responsibility to protect the beauty of Woodside.
PG&E, the largest public utility company in There was nothing particularly unusual about
the United States, negotiated a contract with the the local ordinance on which they based their
Atomic Energy Commission to supply this elec- case. Stanford University itself has required for
tricity at a price of about $1.3 million a year. several years that all new distribution lines on the
It struck many residents of the Peninsula as campus be buried, and all the towns abutting the
quite a shame that the accelerator building, two campus have similar regulations. Nor does PG&E
miles long, was to be located in the bucolic hills profess any objection to burying its distribution j
west of the campus at Palo Alto; but what lines, so long as the "general rate payer" does not
seemed a much greater disaster was that the get stuck with any extra cost.
electric power to operate the atom smasher would Usually, this increment can simply be passed
be tapped from the skyline route. This meant along to the owners of the property. Tract build-
that the transmission line would plunge down- ers have found in recent years that many buyers
ward in a cataract of steel poles and insulated are willing to pay several hundred dollars per lot
10
F
for underground wiring. Sometimes this cost
takes the form of a special assessment; some-
times it is paid through increased utility rates.
But this simple formula broke down in Wood- .$
side. In the first place, a high voltage transmis-
sion line is considerably more expensive to put
underground than a small distribution line. In ti `< • ''
the second place, the community that was re-
quiring this expenditure was not going to use the
,.
power. Should the town of Woodside be required
to pay to keep itself from being blighted by a
utility line it did not need? Should PG&E pav +;
the cost of undergrounding? Should Stanford?
Should the Atomic Energy Commission?
PG&E maintained that the only possible solu-
tion kvas to charge the extra cost to the AEC. The
figure varied a bit from time to time. At first
PG&E's attorneys said undergrounding would
increase the cost of the tap line from $1,012,000
to $2.632,000. Later, a company official said the
additional cost, as the capacity of the line in- 3`
creased over the years, would be as much as r
$6,440,000. In any case, PG&E figured that the This is a section: of the 19-mile power line running west
Atomic Energy Commission would have to pay of Skyline Boulevard which will carry power to the
an extra $200,000 a year if the line went under- bitterly contested 5-mile AEC tapline.
ground. This would pay back PG&E's added in-
vestment (plus interest, taxes and carrying of one Northern California city presumed the
charges) of about $3 million. reason was that PG&E was "scared to death it
The discussion was moot, however, because might have undergrounding accepted as a normal
the Atomic Energy Commission refused to pick standard."
up the tab. To solidify the deadlock, the State Why this possibility should concern PG&E is
Public Utilities Commission supported PG&E. hard to understand, because this vast company
As the Commission saw it, a utility company exists strictly to serve the public. It is protected
could be legally compelled to invest only in what by the power of the state government from busi-
might be called "normal" production or trans- ness competition, and it is guaranteed by the state
mission facilities. Aesthetic considerations not- the right to a fair yield on its invested capital.
withstanding, it would not be proper to require In return for this privileged, monopoly status,
general rate payers to endure higher power PG&E is required to supply the services that the
rates in order to pay for the preservation of state demands. If the public desires a certain
"amenities." quality or type of service, it is really for the
For several months after this ruling, various public alone, not the PG&E, to decide whether
elected officials offered suggestions on how to or not this is "normal."
pay the difference between "normal" and "amen- In practice, this notion of utility service is
ity" wiring. The late Senator Clair Engle, a great rather Utopian. The public does not know much
adversary of PG&E, thought the utility company about utility operations and tends to accept exist-
ought to pay it all. State legislators from ing standards (and rates) as being "normal."
San Mateo county said the federal government Naturally, the utility exerts most of its energies
should pay it, and Congressmen from the same in developing new sources and users of power,
area suggested that PG&E, the Atomic Energy rather than in improving existing standards,
Commission and Stanford divide up the cost. especially in activities like undergrounding,
Meanwhile, Woodside made a futile but dramatic which cost money but do not contribute to the
offer to quadruple its property taxes for a year growth of the company.
to raise $150,000 for the cause. PG&E never ceases to involve itself in making
As for PG&E, it was apparently in no hurry public policy in California. Its lack of subservi-
to work out a solution. The city planning director ence to the public interest was manifested in the
11
i
t
t
Woodside case: it lobbied and politicked and This, in fact, is what the AEC did. Even before
propagandized on behalf of one large, new cus- Crafts had written his letter, the agency an-
tomer—which happened to be an agency of the nounced that it would take over the power line
federal government—against other, smaller cus- project, condemn the necessary route, and bring
tomers and against the aesthetic interests of the the electricity from skyline ridge to the linear
State of California, which are far more valuable accelerator,
than any capital gain for the stockholders of Woodside threatened counter suits, arrests for
PG&E. trespassing, fines for violation of a local ord-
One of PG&E's few mollifying gestures was an inane. The hat was passed again and again in
announcement that the Woodside line would be the quiet ranch houses off Canada Road; and
strung on tubular steel poles—strange things that Woodside went to court to fight the AEC.
look like giant hat racks. They are green and are In the first round (federal district court), the
considered quite fetching in engineering circles. town was defeated. In the second round (U.S.
"PG&E's aesthetic is back in 1932 with circuit court of appeals), it won a stunning re-
streamlined' power poles," says Oakland Plan- versal. The court ruled that the Atomic Energy
ning Director Norman Lind. "They call these Commission had no legal right to build a power
`modernistic'—they're so far behind the times line nor to condemn a right-of-way for one. As
they don't even know `modernistic' style is out for putting the line underground, the court said:
of date." "Considering the magnitude of the (Stanford
The tubular poles, unfortunately, did not cool Linear Accelerator project) . . . and the fact that
off the people of Woodside. no engineering or other practical difficulty seems
If the attitude of PG&E was predictable and to be involved, the two million dollars or so
explicable, the position of Stanford University (possibly five millions) of additional money 3
was unaccountably mysterious, especially to the which would have to be expended to go under-
many Woodside rebels who were alumni of the ground can hardly be regarded as constituting
university. Stanford refused to pledge a penny a substantial impediment to this AEC research
to put the power lines to the accelerator under program . . . "
ground. The trustees of the university, three of A few days after the court's decision—and
whom are also directors of PG&E (James Black,James Crafts and David Packard) actively di- just a day or two before the opening of the White
N
f Conerence on Natural Beauty—the rected the university away from compromise and House co-
toward a legal showdown. In April, 1964, Crafts chairmen of the Congressional Joint Committee
wrote a letter to the Atomic Energy Commission on Atomic Energy (Senator John O. Pastore of
saying: Rhode Island and Representative Chet Holifield
y g"(From) an intimate knowledge of the Bevel- of Montebello) introduced a bill to nullify the opments and issues that result from my being a court's decision by granting the AEC the con-
demnatory powers it appeared to lack. Hearings $
Trustee of Stanford University and Chairman of on the bill began at once.
its Land Development Committee as well as a
director of the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. . . . I The tone of these deliberations was sarcastic,
have come to the one very convincing conclusion, punitive and demagogic. Some of the legislators
and it is that the Atomic Energy Commission seemed determined to establish a grave culpabil-
should move immediately through the appro- ity on the part of Woodside, the victim, that
priate governmental agency to condemn the min- Would justify its destruction. Wasn't it true that
imum amount of property necessary to construct there were firebreaks on the slopes of Woodside?
this line." Wasn't it true that the glens and fields of Wood-
side were already festooned with wire?That there
ONE WAY TO DO IT were, in fact, 2,488 telephone and electric poles
(from the San Francisco Chronicle) scattered blithely around this sylvan paradise?
"President Johnson, perhaps inspired by the What right had Woodside, then, to protest a
unsuccessful efforts of Woodside, Calif., to get further, more hideous encroachment?
the Atomic Energy Commission to bury its power Senator Pastore drew from Clapp, the blood-
lines, decided the telephone and electric poles side lawyer, an admission that the town had en-
around the LBJ ranchhouse are unsightly. acted its undergrounding ordinance only when
"He ordered them all buried underground." threatened by the transmission line.
"You don't have an ordinance against pig
12
farms," Clapp said lamely, "until somebody
drives a herd of pigs in."
Nor was Pastore moved by Woodside's offer
to contribute to the cost of undergrounding.
"Your plan is this," he said. "That PG&E is
going to pass it on to the Stanford University and
they in turn will pass it on to the AEC, and the
AEC in turn will pass it on to the taxpayers of
this country, who will put up the million dollars.
Then you're going to put up S 150,000. Well, I
am overwhelmed with that generosity."
Pastore's conclusion was that everybody had
to put up with a fair amount of environmental
pollution to accomplish worthy goals.
"There is an airport right next to my home.
There is not a plane that goes up or down that
I don't hear every hour of the day . . . We cannot
have everything the way we want it, because you
have to serve the public convenience as well."
The AEC complained that if the court decision
were allowed to stand, the atomic research pro- la nv sections of the foothills to the south of wood-
gram would be crippled by all sorts of local inter- side already have been festooned by the Pacific Gas
ference. As for the Woodside question—well, and Electric Company.
that was simply a matter of deciding whether a
government agency could justify the expenditure
of all that money to put a power line under- subsequently refused to enter into such an agree-
ground "to accommodate one small group of ment with the town.
citizens." The answer, seen in those terms, On the day President Johnson signed the bill
was No. that sent the wires through Woodside, a friend
It came out, in a 'round-about way, that no of mine said he was glad to see the damn thing
one involved in the linear accelerator project had settled. I suppose his attitude is understandable.
really given much thought to the effect of this To a Californian watching the sky grow brown
project on the surrounding area. In dealing with with carcinogenic pollutants, the mountain lakes
PG&E, the Atomic Energy Commission had blaze up with necklaces of neon, the highways
simply regarded itself as a customer for electric grow foul with heaps of junk and drifts of litter,
energy. One just assumed that the power would the lagoons shrinking with fill, the orchards dis-
be brought in, some way or other. appearing under asphalt, the forests falling, while
And Stanford? Equally vague. When a Wood- from Asia come sobs of anguish from the river
side attorney had asked an official of the univer- valleys and the mountain passes, it must seem
sity how the accelerator happened to be planned that there has been an excess of concern to save
that way, the Stanford man answered: "We were the loveliness of one small patch of earth.
so busy trying to get the project approved that But if the bells are ringing somberly in Wood-
we just assumed that power would be available. side, I'm not going to send and ask for whom
We were not concerned with power." they toll. To me the wires of Woodside stand as
In the end, the Congress, like Stanford, the a warning, a reminder that Stanford has not yet
AEC and the PG&E, was more concerned with grasped the implications of its role in guiding
completing the project than with finding a solu- the future development of the Peninsula, that
tion to a problem of land conservation. It voted PG&E is a pioneer, amongst other utility com-
to amend the enabling legislation to permit the panies, in wrecking the natural landscape, that
Atomic Energy Commission to condemn the the Atomic Energy Commission, having prom-
route through Woodside, and President Johnson ised much, has done nothing to eradicate the
approved the bill. damage it has done, and sadly, that the Congress
The President held out hope that the wires and the President himself, have failed to see the
might later be buried if Woodside would put its broad implication of the issue.
distribution lines underground; but the AEC Woodside's struggle ended in total defeat.
13
t
Much as one may admire Paul McCloskey's twentieth century, it is that there can be no such y
courageous assumption that victory thrives on thing as single-purpose technology. There is no JI
crushing blows, one must acknowledge that technical innovation that is singular in effect, no
despair and indifference also result from failure. matter how singular it may be in purpose. The
A landscape is seldom ruined by one flaw, but car was meant to replace the horse; it also very
ugliness feeds on itself and grows insidiously. nearly has replaced the city.
The one promising result of the affair is that An ultra-modern sewage disposal plant located
it has forced the State Public Utilities Commis- next door to your home would obviously be dis-
sion to begin a comprehensive study of amenities ruptive. A linear accelerator, a traffic route or an
and their effect on utility rates. It is good to be electric transmission line located, designed and
talking and thinking in these terms. But there is evaluated in terms of a single purpose can never
a certain danger in the word "amenities" itself. be anything but disruptive.
It seems to put the crucial problem of environ- In the Woodside case the government ignored
mental conservation into the class of frills and the recurrent problem of environmental pollution
fringe benefits, to direct the debate into the dry that is inherent in single-purpose technology.
old channels of public budget-making: "Shall With Senator Pastore and Representative Holi- '
we have a new library this year or shall we pave field as spokesmen, Congress took refuge in the
`F Street? . . . Shall we have technological devel- populist argument that the taxpayers' money and
opment or shall we have amenities?" the national interest in atomic research should
Actually, the problem of protecting natural not be sacrificed to preserve the visual delights
environment from destruction never boils down of a rich little town in California.
to a simple choice between technology and In truth, the taxpayers are paying for many
nature. It is only in political debates that these amenities at the linear accelerator laboratory—
abstractions are offered as alternatives. indoor toilets, heating, electric lights and other
The real choice, as a rule, is between accepting comforts that were regarded a few years ago
the repulsive side-effects of an installation like the as luxuries.
linear accelerator or insisting that these side- Hopefully, we are approaching a time when
effects be tempered to the environment. It is underground utility lines also will be considered
socially irresponsible—even vicious—for institu- an "essential" amenity. More important, we are
tions like the PG&E, Stanford University and the beginning to recognize the need for some agency,
Atomic Energy Commission to embark on a some court of appeal, that will evaluate single-
scientific project as massive as the accelerator purpose technological developments in terms of
without considering all its effects on the sur- their multifold impact on the environment.
roundings. If the wires of Woodside lead us in this direc-
It we are learning anything about the social tion, they will not have scarred the hills of Cali-
applications of science in the second half of the fornia to a vain end.
f
�t
t
As soon as the President
signed legislation allow-
ing the AEC to build the
five-mile overhead power
line, workmen began
clearing trees opponents
to the project had tried
so stubbornly to save.
This picture taken just
ofj Bear Gulch Road west
i
of Skyline, on October
14, 1965. 1
-distribution! Inc. the private mail company
January 3, 1997.
Mr. Craig Britton
Mid Peninsula Regional Open Space District
330 Distel Circle
Los Altos, CA 94022
Re: Mr. Tom Randall.
Dear Mr. Britton:
It is with great pleasure that I write to you to thank Ranger Tom Randall.
His assistance in providing access through Cattermol Road is sincerely appreciated.
My entire family would like to express our"thanks". Tom Randall, is a terrific example
of positive attitude, cheerful gentleman who is an exemplary employee for the Mid
Peninsula Regional Open Space District.
Best wishes to you and your staff.
Cordially
Manuel Austin Jr.
President
P.O. Box 26991 San Jose, California 95159 (408)436-2300 FAX (408)436-0844
Regional � ce
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
TO: Board of Directors
FROM: C. Britton, General Manager
DATE: January 3, 1997
SUBJECT: FYI
330 Distel Circle Los Altos, CA 94022-1404 . Phone:415-691-1200 * FAX:415-691-0485 E-mail: mrosd@netcom.com 0
Board of Directors:Pete Siemens,Mary C.Davey,Teena Renshaw, David T.Smernoff, Nonette Hanko, Betsy Crowder,Wim de Wit
General Manager:L.Craig Britton
Regional Open Sr ,ce
1
1
January 3, 1997 MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
Mr. Michael Klestoff, Broker
Westend, Praszker Realtors, Inc.
1812 Noriega Street
San Francisco, CA 94122
Subject: Request Information for Russian Orthodox Church Convent of Our Lady of Vladimir
Property
Dear Mr. Klestoff:
I am writing to follow up on our phone conversation earlier this week regarding the information you
requested and the District's public notification and meeting policies. Please find enclosed copies of
the following items:
1) District's Master Plan
2) Visitor Guide map which outlines the District's boundaries or sphere of influence.
3) Peninsula Parklands map published by the Trail Center. This map shows the proposed ridge
trail corridor.
You were previously sent copies of the District's Land Acquisition Policies and Procedures, and
Eminent Domain Policies.
I also wanted to clarify the District's notification and public meeting policies. The District holds
Board of Directors meetings on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month. These meetings are
open to the public. You and/or the sisters are welcome to address the Board of Directors regarding
the 284 acre property owned by the Russian Orthodox Convent. The District will notify the sisters of
any formal action considered by the Board of Directors involving this property. The Convent was
previously notified of the October 23, 1996 Board meeting authorizing the appraisal and initiation of
negotiations to purchase this property. This notification was sent to the following address:
Russian Convent of Our Lady of Vladimir
3365 19th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110-1806
Let me know if this address is correct, or if you would prefer any future notification be sent to an
additional address. I will include your name on our notification list as well.
Sincerely, (�
Michael C. Williams
Real Property Representative
cc: Board of Directors
L. Craig Britton, General Manager
330 Distel Circle . Los Altos, CA 94022-1404 . Phone:415-691-1200 . FAX:415-691-0485 . E-mail: mrosd@netcom.com
Board of Directors:Pete Siemens,Mary C.Davey,Teena Henshaw,David T.Smernoff,Nonette Hanko,Betsy Crowder,Wim de Wit
General Manager:L.Craig Britton
Regional Open Sloce
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
MEMORANDUM
January 3, 1997
To: L. Craig Britton, General Manager
From: Randy Anderson, Senior Planner
Re: Revised Basic Policy - Regional Open Space Plan
Attached is the final draft revised Basic Policy resulting from the Special Board meeting of
November 20, 1996. We will refer to these policies during the formulation of the greenbelt
plan portion of the Regional Open Space Plan over the next few months. The policies will
be finalized along with the finalization of the plan.
Basic Policy Revision (11/20/96) MISSION STATEMENT
INTRODUCTION Alternative 1 (unedited)
"...to try to save for everyone, for the The District's mission is:
hostile and indifferent as well as the
committed, some of the health that flows To acquire and preserve a regional
down across the green ridges from the greenbelt of open space land in
Skyline, and some of the beauty and perpetuity;protect and restore the
refreshment of spirit that are still available integrity of the natural environment; and
to any resident of the valley who has a provide opportunities for public enjoyment
moment, and the wit, to lift up his eyes and education, consistent with ecological
unto the hills." values.
-Wallace Stegner
Alternative 2 (edited version for future
discussion)
Open space:
To acquire and preserve a regional
• Is land area that is allowed to remain greenbelt of open space land in
in or return to its natural state. Open perpetuity;protect and restore the natural
space lands may include compatible environment; and provide opportunities
agricultural uses. for ecologically sensitive public enjoyment
and education.
• Protects areas of scenic beauty and
preserves natural habitats necessary to OBJECTIVES
sustain plant and animal life, especially
native and endangered species.
1. Open Space Land Preservation: The
• Offers opportunities to the public for District seeks to purchase or otherwise
education, recreation, and renewal of acquire interest in the maximum feasible
spirit. area of strategic open space land within
the District, including baylands and
• Enhances public safety by preventing foothills. The District seeks to link its
development of areas prone to open space lands with federal, state,
landslides, earthquake damage, county, and city parklands and
flooding, and wildland fires. watershed lands.
• Establishes boundaries for urban
growth, provides a respite from urban Policies
living, and enhances regional quality of
life. District Purpose
In short, open space is "room to breathe."' a. As an open space agency, the District's
primary purpose is to preserve open space.
Development of traditional park and
recreation facilities is the responsibility of
Page 1
the cities and counties.3 boundaries and sphere of influence, and
only in those instances where all
Strategic Emphasis reasonable attempts at voluntary
negotiations have failed, the property in
b. The District uses its available question is necessary to the District's open
resources primarily to acquire or otherwise space program, and where there are no
preserve land outside the Urban Service feasible alternate acquisitions that would
Area boundaries of cities that has achieve the District's objectives in a timely
regionally significant open space value and manner.'
that might be lost to development if the
District fails to act.' Master Plan, Regional Open Space Plan
The District's goal is to acquire lands d. To guide the District's open space
within its own boundaries and Sphere of preservation efforts, the District produces
Influence. Acquisitions outside the a master plan and a regional open space
District's boundaries will be considered plan. The master plan sets forth
only if exceptional purchase opportunities guidelines for District acquisitions and
arise that clearly support the District's shows the relative desirability of potential
mission.' open space land acquisitions. The regional
open space plan shows the general extent
Open Space Acquisition of lands to be preserved and public access
improvements to be provided to complete
c. The District acquires land most often the District's greenbelt mission. Both
through fee simple interest (outright plans are subject to periodic review and
ownership). Options and installment modification by the Board of Directors
purchases may be employed to this end. after public hearings. Both plans are
To conserve funding for preservation, the submitted to the counties, cities, and other
District may seek to preserve open space conservation-oriented local, state, and
without outright ownership of the land. federal agencies and organizations for
The District may act as a land bank review and comment in order to encourage
through acquisition of less than fee interest consistency with their plans.
to accomplish the same results with less
immediate expenditure of the District's
funds. Examples include acquisition of a 2. Inter-Agency Relationships: The
remainder interest following a life tenancy; District works with and encourages
open space, conservation, or scenic private and other public agencies to
easements; and purchase and leaseback preserve, maintain, and enhance open
arrangements. The District actively strives space.
to acquire open space through gifts and
matching grants. Gifts of land with life
tenancy are encouraged. Other creative Policies
open space preservation techniques are
explored and utilized when possible.' Cooperation
The District desires to acquire open space a. The District cooperates with and
from willing sellers. Eminent domain will encourages cooperation between
ordinarily be used within the District's
Page 2
governmental agencies, community
organizations, and individuals to preserve 3. Open Space Management: The
open space.' District follows management policies that
ensure proper care of the land, that
Participation provide public access appropriate to the
nature of the land, and that are
b. The District participates in the public consistent with ecological values and
review processes of land use plans of other public safety.'
agencies and development proposals that
affect the District's mission.
Policies
Joint Projects
Resource Management
c. The District explores and engages in
joint projects to maximize the a. The District protects and restores the
opportunities for preservation of open natural diversity and integrity of its
space. Examples include interagency land resources for their value to the
management agreements, joint planning or environment, and the public, and provides
research studies, and joint acquisition, for the use of the preserves consistent with
improvement, or resource management resource protection.10
projects.
Public Access and Constraints
Advocacy
b. The District provides public access to
d. In order to better plan, acquire and the open space lands for low-intensity
operate a regional greenbelt of open space recreational uses. The District's highest
preserves and trails, and to further priority is acquiring land to complete the
cooperate in this effort with other greenbelt and to protect natural resources
jurisdictions, the District may encourage on open space land. Public access will be
and advocate preservation of open space provided gradually to ensure that the
by other governmental agencies. The higher priorities of acquisition and
District may support and encourage resource protection are maintained."
community groups, non-profits, and other
conservation oriented groups in their Developing facilities and managing public
efforts to urge other agencies to take use activities while protecting natural
actions which will help accomplish the resources and providing for public safety
purposes and goals of the District. may require limits on access to some open
space lands. Areas found to be vital
wildlife or plant habitats are designated as
refuge areas, and in these areas access will
be severely restricted. In addition to
protection of sensitive natural resources,
factors that may delay or limit access
include the carrying capacity of the land,
geologic features, restoration efforts, the
ability to plan and implement trails,
Page 3
parking, restrooms, mapboards and signs, natural land, do not significantly impact
and identification and mitigation of natural or aesthetic resources, and provide
potential safety hazards.12 benefits such as environmental education,
heritage resource protection, or public
Agricultural, residential, and other limited enjoyment and appreciation of nature. The
revenue producing uses of the land may cost of management and exposure to
limit public access in certain areas. liability of these types of facilities and
Where appropriate, access may be activities may be a factor in deciding
provided on a permit basis. whether to permit them on District lands.
The District strives to provide public Because of the District's commitment to
access to its lands to everyone, regardless maximum open space preservation efforts,
of place of residence, physical abilities, or expenditure guidelines established for the
economic status. (See Access Plan for amount of funding available for
Persons with Disabilities) recreational improvement projects and
restoration activities."
Public Safety
The District works cooperatively with
c. The District monitors and manages its other governmental agencies and
preserves to provide a safe environment community organizations to facilitate
for visitors and neighbors.13 development and management of recreation
facilities and of public use. The District
Recreational Use and Improvements ensures that such development is consistent
with protection of important natural values
d. Improvements on District lands are of the open space.
generally be limited to facilities (ie:
parking areas, trails and patrol roads, Cultural Resources
restrooms, mapboards, and signs) for low-
intensity recreational uses. Low-intensity e. Historic structures and sites may be
recreation includes activities such as nature protected by the District where they are
study, hiking, horseback riding, bicycling, associated with lands acquired for overall
informal picnicking, and photography. open space values. Due to the high cost of
Low-intensity recreation avoids evaluating, managing, and restoring such
concentration of use, significant alteration facilities, the District depends on grant
of the land, and significant impact on the assistance, public-private partnerships, and
natural resources or on the appreciation of outside assistance to support these
nature.14 activities. Sites are evaluated for
archaeological resources prior to any new
Special use facilities, (i.e. nature centers, use or improvement which might impact
historic structures, picnic tables, or the site. Archaeological resources are
backpack camps), and special use activities evaluated, protected, and made known to
(i.e. large recreation events, hang gliding, the public as appropriate to ensure their
or off-leash dog areas), are considered on preservation.16
a case by case basis. In some cases
special use activities may require a permit.
These types of uses may be allowed when
they do not monopolize significant areas of
Page 4
Agriculture and Revenue-Producing Use wildlife and vegetation, and trespassing.18
f. Agricultural use of District land, such
as grazing, orchards, and vineyards may 4. Public Involvement: The District
be allowed when it does not utilize educates and makes clearly visible to the
significant areas of natural land, does not public the purposes and actions of the
significantly impact natural or aesthetic District, and actively encourages public
resources, does not unreasonably restrict input and involvement in the District's
public access, and provides benefits such decision-making process and other
as heritage resource protection, fire hazard activities.19
reduction, or income to the District.
Revenue-producing use of District land,
such as rental residences, communications
antennas, or special commercial use such Policies
as filming, may be allowed when it meets
the above standards." Public Information
Research a. The District works through a variety of
means and media to inform the public of
g. The District supports the development the District's goals and objectives, its short
of scientific knowledge about natural and and long-term plans, the critical need for
cultural resources and management open space preservation, and the
techniques through cooperative appropriate use of District lands. This
arrangements with educational and information is disseminated as widely as
scientific institutions, and by supporting possible throughout the District. land-
research on which to base its management owners and potential donors are adequately
and improvement decisions. Such studies informed of the District's purpose and
shall not unreasonably restrict public goals, and of the possible methods of
access or significantly impact the preserving land as open space.
environment.
Meeting Procedures
Neighbor Relations
b. The District diligently follows the
h. In both the day-to-day conduct of its provisions of the Ralph M. Brown Act
business and in the long-range planning for regarding open meeting procedures, and
public open space preserves, the District will be guided by its enabling legislation
makes every effort to cooperate with under the state Public Resources Code,
preserve neighbors, to take into account Article 3, Division 5, Chapter 3, Section
their perspectives, to fully address their 5500. The District encourages and
concerns, and to engage and involve them welcomes public participation at its
in the process of making decisions meetings and make its actions, intents, and
regarding the preserves of which they are decisions clearly visible to the public.
neighbors. Active management, patrol,
maintenance, and public education are
provided to minimize threats to public
safety, fire hazards, litter, noise, erosion,
unsound use of the land, disturbance of
Page 5
Public Input Policies
c. The District encourages and welcomes Cost Constraints
communication from the public by being
as accessible to the public as possible and a. Because the District is committed to
by regularly soliciting public comments maximum preservation efforts,
about what the District should be administrative expense growth is limited
accomplishing and how it should by following an average annual operating
proceed.20 expenses growth guideline, and by
utilizing the help of other governmental
Participation agencies, private entities, contractual
services, and volunteers.21
d. The District seeks to involve the public
in the operation and decision-making of Professional Organization
the District and in general planning for
acquisition and future use of open space b. The District employs a highly capable
lands through special workshops, and professional staff and provides them
committees and task forces, and public with the facilities and resources needed to
outreach activities. Through staff and run an efficient and responsible
volunteer programs, the District provides organization.
ecological and environmental education
and fosters public appreciation of open Board of Directors
space values.
c. The Board of Directors is the
Volunteerism governing body of the District and
determines all questions of policy. The
a. Through its volunteer programs, the District is divided into seven geographic
District encourages active public wards of approximately equal populations,
participation in the maintenance, each represented by an elected Board
restoration, and protection of its natural member.22
resources. In addition, volunteers assist
the District in scientific research, and
providing cultural, historical, and
environmental education opportunities to
the public.
5. Administration: The staff These policies are intended solely for the guidance
administers the affairs of the District on of the Board in the exercise of its discretion and
are not intended to give rise to private rights or
behalf of the public so as to maximize causes of action in individuals or other persons.
accomplishment of the goals and The Board shall be the final arbiter as to any
objectives of the District within existing question of interpretation of these policies. It is not
financial constraints. the purpose of these policies to adopt any legal
requirements. Failure to comply with these policies
shall not affect the validity of any action taken by
the District.
Page 6
FOOTNOTES:
1. Open Space Acquisition Policies, Pg 3 21. Average Six Percent Growth Guideline for
District Operating Expenses and Annual
2. Open Space Acquisition Policies, Pgs. 2-6. Budget.
3. Master Plan/Open Space Acquisition 22. Public Resources Code, Section 5537
Policies, Pg. 3; Land Acquisition Policies,
Pg. 3, Par. F.
4. Master Plan/Open Space Acquisition
Policies, Pg. 6.
5. Land Acquisition Policies, Pg. 3.
6. Land Acquisition Policies, Pgs. 5 - 10.
7. Polices Regarding Use of Eminent
Domain, Ordinance No. 86-1.
8. Open Space Acquisition Policies, Pgs. 9,
10.
9. Resource Management Policies
10. Resource Management Mission Statement
11. Resource Management Policies
12. Resource Management Policies
13. Good Neighbor Policy, District Land Use
Regulations
14. Resource Management Policies
15. Average Six Percent Growth Guideline for
District Operating Expenses and Annual
Budget
16. Resource Management Policies
17. Resource Management Policies, Goals 10
and 11.
NOTE: The public may obtain policy documents
18. Good Neighbor Policy, Public Notification by contacting District office during regular
Policies, District Land Use Regulations business hours Monday through Friday 8:30am
to 5:00pm.
19. Rules of Procedure, Notification Policies,
Land Acquisition Policies, Pgs. 15, 16
20. Public Notification and Good Neighbor
policies.
Page 7
Regional Open S ce
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
January 2, 1997
Mr. Jeff Peterson
City Manager
Town of Los Altos Hills
26379 Fremont Road
Los Altos Hills, CA 94022
Dear Mr. Peterson:
Thank you for your letter regarding a potential trail connection with the Black Mountain
Trail. We are excited to see the town's trail network expanding. However, at this time, we
do not feel that a connection between the Adobe Creek Lodge Trail and the Black Mountain
Trail is in the best interests of the District.
There are two issues that should be addressed before the District considers expanding the trail
system in the Windmill Pasture area to include trail connections to the newly constructed
Adobe Creek Lodge Trull. Our first concern relates to the lack of public parking for the
regional trail system in the Hidden Villa and Windmill Pasture areas. As the Town's trail
system expands through subdivisions like Quarry Hills and Adobe Creek Lodge, there is an
increasing demand and opportunity to connect trails to the District's regional trail system in
the Windmill Pasture area of Rancho San Antonio preserve. Along with this trail use comes
the need for increasing public parking -which has not been provided for within the two
subdivisions. As a result, the parking area at Rhus Ridge will continue to be overused unless
other parking accommodations can be made. Each trail connection will increase the general
public's awareness of the larger regional trail system and create new parking problems,for the
Town, District and Hidden Villa to contend with.
The second important issue to consider in connecting the Adobe Creek Lodge Trail to the
Black Mountain Trail is trail use compatibility. A conflict exists between permitted trail uses
on preserve and Hidden Villa trails versus those allowed on the proposed adjacent Town trails
(see attached brochure map). Currently, mountain bicycle use is not allowed between Deer
Hollow Farm, Hidden Villa and Black Mountain. Although there is a certain amount of
illegal mountain bicycle use on these trails, the problem is contained primarily because there
are a limited number of access points and our patrol efforts can be effective by stationing
rangers and volunteer patrols at these points. In other words, rangers can easily patrol the
lower portion of Rhus Ridge Trail where bicyclists may attempt to enter or exit the preserve.
This would not be true for the trail connection proposed between Adobe Creek Lodge Trail
and the Black Mountain Trail. If this trail were in place and the lower portion of the Town's
trail permitted bicycle use. our rangers could only be effective in preventing bicycle access to
the Black Mountain Trail by stationing themselves where the Town trail enters the preserve.
This type of oversight would require an inordinate amount of foot patrol and would not be
feasible. As a result bicycle use would increase sharply in the Windmill Pasture area and
Black Mountain Trail, as well as in Hidden Villa.
Parking and incompatible trail use are important concerns that must be resolved before
District staff can support increasing trail use and access points in the Windmill Pasture Area.
District staff-would like to see the implementation of the Town's proposed trail connections to
preserve trails undertaken in a comprehensive manner in an effort to minimize the impacts
addressed above. The District -would be interested in meeting with representatives from the
Town and Hidden Villa to discuss various trail and parking issues in this area.
If you have any questions or would like to set up a meeting, please contact Del Woods in our
planning department.
General Manager
LCB/dw
cc: MROSD Board of Directors
Judith Steiner, Hidden Villa
Save Skyline Open Space
A committee formed by people of Kings Mountain
316Ridge Rd., Woodside, CA 94062
12,17196
Update to the Russian Orthodox Church Proposal
Petitions
Note that there have been two petitions. The original stated opposition to the project,and is directed to the
San Mateo County Planning Commission. The second was directed to the Board of Directors of the
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, asldng them to begin the process of acquiring the land. This
was submitted with 219 signatures. and resulted in a unanimous vote by the board to hire an appraiser to
begin the process. This is no guarantee the purchase will happen,but the initial step has begun.The
original petition is still active,and will be submitted to the Planning Department at the scheduled January
22. 1997 Initial Concept Plan hearing. It will once again be available for signature at the Country Store
for people who did not sign it originally. Please encourage your neighbors,as well as open space users to
sign.
The following are significant happenings to date:
Water
A tabulation of water usage was sent to Planning by the developers.and subsequently sent to Skyline
County Water for their review. Skyline Water's reply, is that their domestic water usage could easily be
double what they have stated and they could support that. They however state that they cannot support
the fire requirements for multi-family or commercial developments. The developers say that the
facility will be served b% well.but at this point it is not known if that is possible. If we read fire
regulations correctly, that would mean a 120.000 gallon tank with a fool proof delivery system. Where
would that be located?
Traffic
One major area which seems to be completely ignored by the representatives. is traffic. There will be
substantial usage of this facility. The distance from the center of the driveway to the top of the hill where
you can first see a car traveling south is 250 ft. To the north, to the curve is 520 ft. The Cal Trans
I-Iighway Design Manual states the sight distance standard for stopping at 55 MPH is 500 ft. At 80 MPH.
which is not uncommon on Skyline. it is 930 ft. It goes without saying,this would be a very dangerous
situation.
Williamson Act
One of the more significant developments, is that this property w•as put under the Williamson Act in 1972
by the Catholic Church. This designates the land as an agricultural and open space preserve,and means
that you waive most development rights. It is done in 10 year increments,which means that it will remain
under the act until the year 2002. This is done for a tax benefit, and there is a fine if you remove it prior to
the 10 Near agreement. If this development is permitted, it would contradict the clearly expressed spirit
and purpose of the Williamson Act. There is also the legal question of the unprecedented transfer of
density credits under these conditions. This could be much more than a local issue. and could compromise
the Williamson Act throughout the State of California. For this reason,Planning will schedule a third
hearing directed toward this issue.
Purchase of Miramontes Ridge(Gilcrest Ranch)
The recent purchase by POST of the adjoining Ridge property should give even more impetus to MROSD
to purchase the land. This means that this parcel is completely connected to Murray State Park. as well as
the 564 acre LcNitt propem recently donated to POST.
14
Please take the time to write San Mateo County Planning expressing your views. Thee have already
received many letters from residents of Kings Mountain. It is certainly not the wish of anyone on the
Mountain to make problems for a group of Nun s. It is also not the people of Kings Mountain's fault.that
the area they have chosen to live in for the past 45 years,is no longer acceptable. Unfortunately,they have
been very ill advised by their representatives,who have not recognized,or simply ignored the fact that
this is a very sensitive area. They state it will be open space,but totally inaccessible,and are already
attempting to subdivide a 40 acre parcel. To do this they must change the line to utilize 6.54 acres of the
RM/CZ. (Resource Management/Coastal Zone). Another question. Is that possible?
Merry Christmas.and hopefully Skyline can remain unchanged in the new year, and the Sister s can find
a location equally to their liking.
If you have any questions,please call Dave Perrone at 851-4370,or Elise Jacques at 529-9521.
Public Hearing January 22nd
San Mateo County Planning Commission to hear
public opinion Re:
1 ) The preliminary Concept Plan for the
proposed development;
2) Transfer of density credits to Williamson
Act designate/open space;
3) Compatibility of this development with
Williamson Act open space.
Mark your calendar! All voices are important!
This Memo to the Mountain Lion, written by Wallace Stegner, was printed inside
the 1997 Mountain Lion Foundation Calendar.
Memo to
the Mountain Lion
NCE,in every corner of this continent,your passing
couId prickle the stillness and bring every living thing to the alert.
But even then you were more felt than seen.You were an imminence,
a presence,a crying in the night,pug tracks in the dust of a trail.
Solitary and shy,you lived beyond,always beyond.Your comings
and goings defined the boundaries of the unpeopled.If seen at all,
you were only a tawny glimpse flowing toward disappearance among
the trees or along the ridges and ledges of your wilderness.
But hunters,with their dogs and guns,knew how to find you.
Folklore made you dangerous,your occasional killing of a calf
put a price on your head.Never mind that you preferred deer,
that your killings of livestock were trivial by comparison with those
by our own dogs.You were wild,and thus an enemy;you were rare,
and elusive,and elegant,and thus a trophy to be prized.Under many
names,as panther,catamount,puma,cougar,mountain lion,you were
hunted to death through all the East and Midwest.The last catamount
in Vermont was shot more than a hundred years ago.You persist
I n the Everglades only because a National Park official quietly released
a pair of you to restore the life-balance of that fecund swamp.
In the mountain and plateau West a remnant population
of you persists,in the pockets of wild country off the edges of settlement
and too rough for off-road vehicles.If you kill a calf or a sheep,
the permit hunters still exact a more-than-eye-for-an-eye vengeance,
but in California,at least,a moratorium on ordinary hunting has let
your numbers stabilize.The Fish and Game people say there are
2400 of you in California.A better guess is i000.But a remnant.
There is a chance you may survive.
You had better.If we lift the moratorium that has helped
to save you,we are insane.Visiting Africa,twentieth-century Americans
are struck by how poor we have become,how poor we have made ourselves,
how much pleasure and instruction we have deprived ourselves of,
by our furIOLI.S destruction of other species.
Controls we may need,what is called game-management
we may need,for we have engrossed the earth and must now play God
to the other species.But deliberate war on any species,especially
species of such evolved beauty and precise function,diminishes,
endangers,and brutalizes us.If we cannot live in harmony
with other forms of life,if we cannot control our hostility toward
the earth and its creatures,how Shall we ever learn to control
our hostility toward each other?
WALLACE STEGNER
LOS ALTOS HILLS,CALIFORNIA
Copyright 1984 by Harold Berliner,224 plain St.,Nevada City,California,and used with
his permission. He offers this in broadside form for sale,size 18'/2 by 12'/2 inches.
i
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE
STATE CAPITOL
SACRAMENTO.CALIFORNIA
95814
TO: Environmental Leaders
FR: Senator John Vasconcellos, Assemblywoman Elaine White Alquist,
Assemblyman Mike Honda
DA: December 17, 1996
Shortly after the election, we met and committed ourselves to working togcthcr as a team
in every way possible, to better serve our constituents in the 13th Senate District and the
two Assembly districts nested in it, the 22nd and the 23rd. This letter marks our first
effort to bring our new team to dialogue with community leaders in Santa Clara County.
As the Legislature prepares for its 1997-98 session, it is essential to further grow the
partnership between the environmental community and us. It is equally critical that we be
made aware of issues and concerns important to you that may be addressed in the new
Legislature.
We invite you to participate in a consultation with us on Saturday, January 11, 1997 at
11:00 a.m. in the auditorium of the Alquist State Building, 100 Paseo de San Antonio,
San Jose.
We ask you
- tell us what you want us to know about you and your interests
- tell us your 3 most burning issues in the coming year
- tell us how we can best help you.
We expect the consultation to last 1 3/4 hours. We encourage you to discuss with your
colleagues -prior to the consultation -what you want us to hear, giving us as much of a
joint presentation as possible.
We also ask you to spread word of our invitation to your colleagues - while we have
attempted to develop as comprehensive a mailing as possible, no list is perfect and
important persons may have been inadvertently overlooked.
If you have any questions,please call Heather Barbour in Senator Vasconcellos' district
office at 408/286-8318.
We look forward to your participation and our partnership throughout the coming
legislative session.
INTER-OFFICE MEMORANDUM
January 6, 1996
TO: Craig Britton, General Manger
FROM: John Escobar, Operations Manager
SUBJECT: MONTHLY FIELD ACTIVITY SUMMARY
Month November Year 1996
VIOLATIONS TOTALS (*) ACCIDENTS TOTALS
Bicycles Bicycle 2
Closed area 27 (27) Equestrian 1
Speed 7 (3) Hiking/running 1
Helmet 20 (16) Other first-aid 1
Night riding 0 Search/rescue (dog) 1
Unsafe operation 1 Helicopter evacuations 0
Dogs
Prohibited area 4 (3) ENFORCEMENT
Off-leash 3 (2) Citations 66
Fishing 0 Written warnings 31
Off-road vehicles 1 (1) Police assistance 0
Closed area 0 Arrests 0
After hours 4 (2)
Weapons CREMES
Actual contacts 2 Auto burglaries 1
Reports only 0 Resisting officer 3
Vandalism 1 False information 1
Parking 17 (5)
After hours parking 10 (6) MUTUAL AID
Dumping/littering 2 Accidents 1
Campfire 1 Enforcement 1
Camping 1 Search & Rescue 1
Grazing 1 (1)
(*) = number of citations issued
SUMMARIES OF SIGNIFICANT INCIDENTS
Nov. 6: A horse fatality occurred at Picchetti. The owner was riding the 12 year-old thoroughbred
gelding at a walking pace on the disc line when he dropped to the ground, had a grand mal
seizure and died. The rider got off before the horse collapsed. The horse was removed from
the area by the owner.
Nov. 5: D. Danielson responded at 1 a.m. to a report of a loud party at Los Trancos. A group of six
young adults with alcohol was contacted exiting the preserve. The leader of the group, a
neighbor, was issued a citation for entering the preserve after hours. He said he frequently
led hikes on the preserve at night.
Nov. 9: A six-year old boy had a seizure on the Lower Meadow Trail at RSA. M. Newburn, P.
Hearin, Central Fire, and paramedics responded. The parents initially refused medical
treatment. The Sheriffs' Dept. was requested to place the child in protective custody. The
parents then agreed to medical treatment and the boy was taken to Kaiser Hospital by
paramedics.
Nov. 10: M. Newburn issued a citation to a bicyclist riding 23 mph on the Canyon Trail in Monte
Bello. T. Karnofel assisted. The bicyclist stated he was a ROMP and IMBA member.
Nov. 10: T. Randall found 238 rounds of spent ammunition at the former Cothran property in Sierra
Azul. The area has a history of weapons discharge and was last cleaned July 28, 1996.
Nov. 10: A person with a dog ran from L. Paterson when she attempted to contact him at Purisima.
She was able to locate the person and issue a citation for dog prohibited. The person
received a warning for resisting a peace officer.
Nov. 11: Two cyclists attempted to flee from L. Hyman at Purisima when she tried to stop them for
riding without helmets and excessive speed. The two stopped when they saw B. Holt, a
West Valley College intern, on the trail in front of them. They were issued a citation for the
helmet violation and warned regarding resisting a peace officer, speeding, and smoking.
Nov. 14: A bicyclist broke his collar bone on the Harkins Ridge Trail at Purisima. The rider told W.
Phillips he was travelling at 28 mph and would only ride 24 mph the next time.
Nov. 15: M. Newbum and T. Lausten responded to a report of a woman screaming and pounding on
cars in Rancho County Park. The subject was contacted and it was determined she had
emotional problems. She was turned over to a deputy.
Nov. 16: Two subjects were stopped and issued citations for riding their bicycles on Zinfandel Trail at
Picchetti. T. Karnofel later found one citation crumpled up on the side of the trail and
someone had spit on the windshield of his patrol vehicle.
Nov. 16: Three bicyclists were stopped by K. Miller on the Black Mtn. Trail at Rancho. One subject
fled. Citations were issued to one for 'prohibited area' and to the other for 'prohibited area,
no helmet, and false information to a peace officer'. M. Newburn and T. Lausten were
unable to locate the bicyclist who fled.
Nov. 14: An adjoining land owner to Russian Ridge was issued a misdemeanor citation for allowing
his cattle to graze on District land.
Nov. 24: An off-road vehicle damaged a District road and property at Long Ridge. The driver, a
juvenile Portola Heights resident, used his Portola Heights key to access the preserve. The
vehicle became stuck in the mud and was left overnight. The juvenile was issued a citation.
Nov. 24: A 55-gallon drum of unknown liquid was found dumped in Sierra Azul. The Central Fire
hazmat unit checked the drum and public works removed it to a holding facility. T.
Karnofel, T. Randall, county rangers and San Jose Fire also assisted on the call.
Nov. 24: T. Lausten stopped a bicyclist at Fremont Older and issued a citation for 27 mph. The
subject stated he was going to buy a radar deflector.
Nov. 27: B. Malone issued a misdemeanor citation for vandalism to a person for cutting a wire fence
along Skyline Blvd. at Long Ridge. The person is a neighbor who said he wanted to gain
access for his bicycle and equestrian use.
Nov. 27, A major search was conducted at Purisima for a 34-year-old male who was reported to be
28, 29: suicidal and whose vehicle was found in the Whittimore Gulch parking lot. The San Mateo
County Sheriff's Dept. coordinated the search, involving over fifty ground searchers and
numerous search dog teams. The District's new all terrain vehicle was used extensively. D.
Sanguinetti, P. Congdon, W. Phillips and L. Paterson participated.
Regional Open S1 -e
�-�--�-
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
December 26, 1996
Ms. Zoe Rappoport
PETA
501 Front Street
Norfolk, VA 23510
Dear Ms. Rappoport:
Thank you for your letter of December 9 regarding the use of padded leghold traps. I can
assure you that the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District shares your concern for the well-
being of the wildlife on these public preserves. An important part of our mission is, in fact, to
preserve and protect wildlife habitat so that these animals may have a place to roam free.
Since 1972, the District has permanently preserved over 41,000 acres of open space land
on the San Francisco peninsula, and now manages 23 open space preserves on behalf of the
public. The District itself does not have the resources to perform any trapping of animals or blood
collection. In the very rare instances where trapping is deemed necessary, we normally request
Santa Clara County Vector Control to carry out the action, and we rely on that agency's expertise
in determining the most appropriate methods. The recent coyote trapping and blood sampling was
a research request made-by the California State Department of Fish and Game.
It is our understanding that the padded leghold trap is among the more humane methods
of trapping, and I understand that County staff checks the traps frequently to minimize the time
the animal is restrained. I would certainly appreciate any information you can offer on other
methods of humane trapping. We are willing to consider alternatives and will discuss them with
the County so that we can agree on the most humane method that best meets our needs.
I appreciate.the objectives and purpose of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals,
and look forward to receiving information on alternative methods of humane trapping.
Sincerely,
Malcolm Smith
Public Affairs Manager
MS/mcs
cc: Dennis Danielson, MROSD Skyline Field Office
Santa Clara County Vector Control
MROSD Board of Directors
t.
DEC i t-31 im- PeTA
December 9, 1996 .
Mr. Malcolm Smith
wq"
Public Information Officer
Mid Peninsula Regional Open Space District +
330 Distel Circle
Los Altos, CA 94022-1404 :.
Dear Mr. Smith:
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is a nonprofit charity "
dedicated to endinganimal abuse with about 500 000 members including
r:-
� g .
70,000 in California. We were recentlytold that the Mid Peninsula Regional
�
Open Space District (MPROSD) issued a permit to the Santa Clara County F zrt k,
Vector Control office to set "padded" leghold traps for coyotes in the .:
Montibello preserve. I have spoken with Park Ranger Dennis Danielson
about this, and he suggested I direct my correspondence to you. We would `
like to hear from you that the MPROSD has instituted a policy which ,
prohibits the use of cruel leghold traps in the preserve. = `
We understand that the purpose of the current program is to trap coyotes, ` t ,
draw blood to test for cat scratch fever, and release the animals. We have
asked Darren Simpson of the Santa Clara County Vector Control not to uses {a` ;
leghold traps if the testing program must continue, and to rely only on
humane capture methods. Even "padded" leghold traps cause painful injuries
and immeasurable terror as the animals struggle to get free.
Leghold traps are banned in more than 70 countries and some states in the
U.S. because they are cruel and outdated. We and our California members
who visit the preserve are appalled that a seemingly enlightened area such as
Santa Clara would continue to allow the use of these devices. A simple policy
which prohibits the use of leghold traps makes sense for a preserve that
purports to protect all wildlife. I can be reached at extension 614 and look
forward to hearing from you.
Very truly yours,
Zoe Rappoport
Cruelty Caseworker
Research, Investigations & Rescue Department
w
Regional Open 5. ce
December 20, 1996 MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
Frank McEnaney, Esq.
Department of Transportation, Legal
595 Market Street, Suite 1700
San Francisco, CA 94105
Subject: Highway 84 Slide, Thornewood Open Space Preserve
Dear Mr. McEnaney:
The purpose of this letter is to demand that, by January 15, 1997, CalTrans obtain from the
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District(District) a Permit to Enter District land to construct the
above referenced project. If CalTrans fails to do so, the District will have no alternative but to
pursue its legal remedies.
For months the District has been, and continues to be, willing to work with CalTrans to issue a
permit upon reasonable terms and conditions to allow this work. Despite repeated efforts on the
District's part, CalTrans has refused to obtain needed District approval to enter its land to do this
work. Our effort to meet today with representatives of CalTrans Right of Way and Engineering staff
was unsuccessful as the meeting was canceled. It appears that our respective agencies are making
little progress in resolving this issue.
The District is extremely concerned about CalTrans' lack of responsiveness and communication
regarding this issue. On October 11, 1996, Barbara Page referred the proposed Right of Entry to
CalTrans legal office for review. We received no response from anyone in your legal department.
On November 5, CalTrans unilaterally informed the District that it was entering District land to
undertake the project without a permit as an "emergency" repair. The project described in the
November 5, 1996 letter went far beyond any definition of "emergency debris removal." It included
grading, compaction, erosion control and, most significantly, the permanent installation of
underground drainage improvements. No "benching" was even mentioned. On November 19, 1996,
the District informed CalTrans that it had no right to enter District land to construct the project and to
cease the project until a permit was obtained. We also have received no response to this letter.
In fact, the project has apparently increased in scope. You informed me on Wednesday that it will
now include an engineered "bench". CalTrans has never submitted any plans for this project to the
District. A permanent drainage project is apparently being designed and installed on our land without
approval from the District. I am sure you can understand that we cannot permit this to occur, as this
would constitute, at the very least, illegal trespass and nuisance.
You contend that the March, 1996 Permit to Enter authorized this project. We strongly disagree.
This Permit was for a specifically identified upper retaining wall project. The described project was
not for grading the entire site, removing all trees, constructing an engineered bench and installing
permanent drainage facilities at the toe.
Even if this Permit had authorized this project, it requires CalTrans to "restore the site to a condition
equal or better to that which was originally found." This has not occurred. Moreover, this Permit
330 Distel Circle + Los Altos,CA 94022-1404 • Phone:415-691-1200 • FAX:415-691-0485 • E-mail: mrosd®netcom.com
Board of Directors:Pete Siemens,Mary C.Davey,Teena Henshaw, David T.Smernoff,Nonette Hanko,Betsy Crowder,Wim de Wit
General Manager:L.Craig Britton
Frank McEnaney, Esq.
December 20,4996 Page 2
expires on December 31, 1996. CalTrans is not authorized to enter the site for any purpose under
any previously issued permit after December 31, 1996.
A principle dispute concerns revegetation. Although we are willing to issue a Permit to Enter upon
fair and reasonable terms, CalTrans has not been willing to agree to a reasonable revegetation plan.
As an open space district, we have an obligation to insure that appropriate revegetation is done and
done with native plantings. We are willing to discuss the nature of site revegetation and maintenance
with your staff. We are willing to discuss deleting the requirement of tree replacement and
maintenance, provided we promptly reach agreement on an acceptable plan for successfully
revegetating the site with native shrubs and grasses. We are even willing to retain a landscape
specialist at our own expense and submit a proposal to you. CalTrans can then do the work itself, or
arrange to fund the work and have it performed by the District. You have no authority to enter the
site to revegetate without the District's permission.
This matter has been dragging on for months. It is well past time to resolve these issues.
Accordingly, I request that, by January 15, 1997, the following steps be taken in order to resolve this
matter amicably and avoid an inter-agency dispute over causation which will not be productive:
1. By January 1, 1997, provide me with a copy of accurate plans and specifications for
the project CalTrans is proposing to construct on this site. Include any proposed erosion
control plans.
2. By January 15, 1997, the District will submit a restoration plan to CalTrans, and its
comments on CalTrans erosion control plan.
3. By January 20, 1997, CalTrans will agree to an acceptable restoration and erosion
control plan, and obtain and execute a Permit to Enter to construct this project.
Please note that, as a separate issue, if CalTrans desires permanent rights to install and maintain
structures or drainage improvements on District land, CalTrans will need separate District approval
since this is dedicated open space land.
We continue to be committed to working cooperatively with CalTrans, but I am sure you can
appreciate that we cannot permit this matter to remain unresolved.
Very truly yours,
Sue M. Schectman
District Legal Counsel
SMS/lz
cc: L. Craig Britton, General Manager
Harry Yahata, Interim District Director
Robert Baxter, Chief, Special Projects
Barbara Page, Right of Way Agent
Kamal Fallaha, Project Engineer
Assemblyman Ted Lempert
MROSD Board of Directors