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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20150311 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) *Approved by the Board of Directors on March 25, 2015 Meeting 15-06 REGULAR MEETING BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT Administrative Office 330 Distel Circle Los Altos, CA 94022 Wednesday, March 11, 2015 APPROVED MINUTES* I. CALL TO ORDER Director Siemens called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Members Present: Jed Cyr, Nonette Hanko, Cecily Harris Larry Hassett, Yoriko Kishimoto, Curt Riffle, and Pete Siemens. Members Absent: None. Staff Present: General Manager Steve Abbors, Assistant General Manager Kevin Woodhouse, Assistant General Manager Ana Ruiz, General Counsel Sheryl Schaffner, Operations Manager Michael Newburn, Operations Project Manager Aaron Hebert, Planning Manager Jane Mark, Management Analyst Gordon Baillie, and Interim District Clerk Kim Marie Smith. III. CLOSED SESSION Director Siemens announced that a closed session had been held but no reportable actions were taken. IV. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Motion: Director Hanko moved, and Director Kishimoto seconded to adopt the agenda. VOTE: 7-0-0 IV. CONSENT CALENDAR 1. Approve Minutes of the February 25, 2015 Board Meeting Board Meeting 15-06 Page 3 Directors Harris and Cyr said they had forwarded minutes corrections to the Deputy District Clerk Maria Soria, and Director Riffle asked that the Interim District Clerk listen to the recording to verify his vote on one item. Approval of the minutes was postponed to the next meeting. 2. Approve Claims Report 3. Amendment to Vegetation Management Agreement with Ecological Concerns Inc. for a Total Authorized Amount of $142,970 (R-15-37) Staff Contact: Cindy Roessler, Senior Resource Management Specialist General Manager’s Recommendation: Authorize the General Manager to amend the existing agreement with Ecological Concerns Inc. to increase the agreement amount by $50,000 for a total not to exceed amount of $142,970, for an additional year of vegetation management services on multiple District preserves. 4. Harkins Bridge Selection and Award of Purchasing Contract (R-15-42) Staff Contact: Aaron Hébert, Project Manager, Operations Department General Manager’s Recommendation: Authorize the General Manger to enter into contract with Excel Bridge Co. for an amount not-to-exceed $71,170 to design, manufacture, store, and deliver a vehicle bridge, which includes a 5% contingency to cover any changes in fuel costs at the time of delivery and any minor modifications to the final design. Motion: Director Kishimoto moved, and Director Harris seconded the motion to approve the Consent Calendar items 2 through 4. VOTE: 7-0-0 IV. BOARD BUSINESS 5. Adoption of Employee Compensation Guiding Principles (R-15-43) Assistant General Manager Kevin Woodhouse reviewed a PowerPoint presentation that gave an overview of the purpose of the policy, the background of the development process, and a summary of the recommended policy including its purpose and principles. Director Hanko referred to Principle 8, Competitiveness, about the District being willing to explore innovative ideas to improve the regional challenge. She asked if staff had some ideas at this point of what approaches might be tried. Mr. Woodhouse said that the District is fortunate to have some housing available to employees, and would also be exploring the feasibility of telecommuting policy. He said that the cost of living is a significant regional challenge and was again a topic of discussion at the recent Joint Venture Silicon Valley conference. General Manager Steve Abbors noted that the topic of the cost of living was discussed at yesterday’s Planning and Natural Resources Committee meeting. He said that district facilities would be more dispersed as build-out occurs, and also there would be different reporting structures. These changes may allow staff to live in more affordable areas. Assistant General Manager Woodhouse reviewed the preliminary estimate of cost implications Board Meeting 15-06 Page 4 for three options. He said that Option C allows the Board the most flexibility to decide on competitive benefits, has lower and more sustainable costs than the other options, and allows for staff capacity to complete Measure AA projects sooner than in the other options. He said the cost estimates for Option C, Year 1, with the current workforce, would be $460,000, rising to $685,000 in Year 10 with the estimated future workforce. Mr. Woodhouse next gave an overview of the benefits package, and clarified that the three types of benefits listed (commonly-used, one-time or individual monetary benefits, and non-monetary benefits) were used to compare District employee positions, not other agencies. Director Hanko asked what the District provided in the way of growth opportunities for employees. Mr. Woodhouse said that a core principle of the Financial and Operational Sustainability Model (FOSM) study is to build an organization that provides a hierarchy for employee growth, but there are some small departments with only one employee or one type of employee, and the District is committed to workforce development opportunities so those employees can develop professionally so they can compete for positions that are not in their own chain of command. Some examples of those development opportunities include the Leadership Academy, the Management Talent Exchange Program, and many other types of training. Director Riffle asked how this study would be used and updated. Mr. Woodhouse said it would be used as the Board’s policy direction in compensation matters, such as when new classifications are created or salary schedules are changed. For example, when staff reports for the Board for a decision, it could be noted if changes are consistent with the provisions of the policy. He said that one trigger for review and update would be if the General Manager’s recommendations began to vary frequently from the policy. Director Kishimoto asked if there was any compelling reason to delay until the FOSM study is complete. Mr. Woodhouse said that was not recommended because the FOSM study is about function and number of staff, and there will not be a lot of variability that would affect this policy. Also, a thorough cost analysis and benefits analysis for all salary ranges is a significant undertaking, and a lot of that research will be done during labor negotiations. The public hearing was opened at 7:45 p.m. Mr. Don MacKessy, Lead Open Space Technician in Foothills, asked for clarification of the slide about Option C, Preliminary Estimate of Cost Implications. Mr. Woodhouse explained that it is more of an internal calculation, and refers to higher salary ranges than are currently in place. The public hearing was closed at 7:47 p.m. Director Riffle said that the District needs a total compensation package, and this document is an attempt to start defining that. He felt it was important to push the organization to always be looking for ways to make the compensation package as competitive as possible to attract and retain top people. Motion: Director Kishimoto moved, and Director Riffle seconded the motion to adopt the Employee Compensation Guiding Principles Board Policy provided as Attachment 1 to the staff report. Board Meeting 15-06 Page 5 VOTE: 7-0-0 The Directors all offered their thanks and congratulations to Mr. Woodhouse and all the staff for the hard work done on this project. 6. Proposed Purchase of the Burton/Robinson Property as an addition to Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve located off of Mt. Umunhum - Loma Prieta Road in unincorporated Santa Clara County (Assessor’s Parcel Number 562-20-023). (R-15-39) Real Property Manager Michael Williams reviewed a PowerPoint presentation describing the purpose of the purchase for the property and showed images of various views from the property and the existing structures, vehicles and debris, and the horses that will be relocated. He reviewed the terms and conditions of the purchase. He said it was listed on the open real estate market at $400,000, and the District will withhold an escrow of $50,000 to allow one of the sellers to remain on the property up to six months to complete the cleanup of all vehicles, trailers, debris, trash, and personal property, but not necessarily the structures or horse corrals. He explained the next steps in the process, and said they anticipate a cost of $243,000 for ultimate cleanup and site restoration, planned for 2016. At 8:05 p.m. the public hearing was opened. There were no speakers and the hearing was closed. Motion: Director Hassett moved, and Director Cyr seconded the motion to adopt the General Manager’s recommendation to: 1. Determine that the recommended actions are categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) as set out in the staff report. 2. Adopt a Resolution authorizing the purchase of the Burton property. 3. Adopt a Preliminary Use and Management Plan for the property as contained in the staff report. 4. Indicate the intention to withhold dedication of the Burton/Robinson property as public open space. VOTE: 7-0-0 7. Calendar Year 2014 Field Enforcement Activity Report and Ten-Year Field Activity Summary (R-15-22) Management Analyst in Operations Gordon Baillie reviewed a PowerPoint presentation which highlighted trends in violations over the last 10 years; differences in data collection methods which are continuing to evolve; and the top five district violations, which included entering locations after hours, entering temporary/regular closed areas, dogs in prohibited areas, dog leash violations, required helmet violations, and trail use speed limit violations. He also reviewed staff promotions and training programs. Emergency Response activities included 3 fatalities in 2014, 46 bicycle accidents, 24 vehicle accidents, 23 running/hiking accidents, and 16 fire incidents. Director Hassett asked about data collection methods. Operations Manager Michael Newburn said entries are still done by hand, using paper citations and incident reports, but administrative assistants in each office now type the data into a database. He explained that data entry could be done directly by supervisors into a laptop but only in locations where there is a strong Wi-Fi Board Meeting 15-06 Page 6 signal. He said that the IT strategic plan would explore these issues in more depth. Currently the ranger has no way of knowing is someone has been previously cited for another violation unless the dispatch center is able to access local records. Discussion followed about some apparent trends in reckless driving at the Skyline Ranch horse trailer parking, and trespassing on Mt. Umunhum Road. Mr. Newburn said that District has a 20- foot wide easement on that road and staff is now enforcing the ordinance on that easement. The Board received the report and no action was taken. V. INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM • Informational Report on the Accessibility Plan Update No discussion was held on this item. VI. Committee Reports Director Riffle reported that the Planner and Natural Resources Committee met yesterday and discussed progress on the Hawthorn Structures Renovation and began discussions on facilities planning. VII. Staff Reports None. VIII. Director Reports Director Harris reported that she attended the Farm Bureau meeting, and also that she had been getting a lot of requests for trash cans at Pulgas Ridge, which is a popular dog-walking area. She also reported that the San Carlos City Council turned City Hall Park into a dog park, and voted to continue community outreach about a bond act in November to buy land, particularly 25 acres in town that could be a nice park. Director Harris said that the County through Measure A has also been acquiring some land through a conveyance of Pedro Point Headlands in Pacifica. Director Riffle reported that the Planning and Natural Resources Committee would have two interesting meetings next week kicking off the Bear Creek Stables and planning process. Director Kishimoto said she attended the Special Districts meeting with Director Siemens. Director Cyr asked about the schedule for required Ethics Training. General Counsel Sheryl Schaffner said she would verify which Directors needed to take the course and would notify them. Director Cyr also reported that he had visited the Pulgas Ridge and saw many people walking dogs, most on leash. There were some people walking dogs off leash, but they complied without objection when he mentioned it. He also went to Ravenswood for the first Walk with a Doc, and also hiked San Pedro Valley north of the tunnel. Director Hassett said he hiked with General Manager Steve Abbors at Russian Ridge and saw the Integrated Pest Management program in action. Board Meeting 15-06 Page 7 Director Siemens reported he attended the County’s Special Districts meeting, and said he shared that the District thinks regionally and is very interested in wild land corridors, and Mayor Liccardo was very responsive to those comments. IX. ADJOURNMENT Director Siemens adjourned the Regular Meeting at 8:43 p.m. _________________________________ Kim Marie Smith Interim District Clerk