Open Space and Ecology Committee

August 17, 2005

Page 12

OPEN SPACE AND ECOLOGY COMMITTEE

August 17, 2005

MAIN CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL, 50 PARK PLACE, BRISBANE, CA

CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL

Committee Chair Miller called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

Committee Members Present: Barnes, Bouscal, Court, Gutekanst, Lentz, Richardson, and Chair Miller

Committee Members Absent: Tysen

Staff Members Present: Open Space and Ecology Analyst Pontecorvo, Assistant to the City Manager Smith, Principal Planner Swiecki

* MC = Member of Committee

Committee Chair Miller welcomed Mayor Sepi Richardson, the City Council’s newly appointed representative.

ADOPTION OF AGENDA

Chair Miller proposed taking the sustainability initiatives discussion after approval of the June minutes.

Chair Miller said he had an announcement under “Other Committee Matters” about the Sol Fest, and he suggested adding that item.

MC Richardson made a motion, seconded by MC Gutekanst, to adopt the agenda as amended. The motion was carried unanimously.

RECOGNITION OF COUNCIL MEMBER JOHNSON’S SERVICE

Open Space and Ecology Analyst Pontecorvo noted that at the last meeting, the committee authorized a letter and gift to recognize Clara Johnson’s service to the committee. She said MC Barnes suggested a gift from the Real Goods catalog, and Paul Johnson identified a charge controller with a meter as a useful gift. She drew attention to the draft letter and information about the charge controller.

Ms. Pontecorvo also noted a copy of a thank-you letter from Clara Johnson is included in the meeting packet.

Ms. Pontecorvo distributed copies of a revised version of the draft letter to Clara Johnson, with changes proposed by MC Barnes.

MC Gutekanst observed the fourth paragraph, about the committee’s arduous work on the Open Space Plan, does not apply to all members of the committee. MC Bouscal clarified that the committee as an entity worked hard. MC Gutekanst proposed changing “We” to “The committee.” Chair Miller noted “were inspired” should be changed to “was inspired.”

Chair Miller commented that the letter does not refer to Ms. Johnson’s in-depth understanding of ecological issues, which added to her contributions to the committee. He suggested adding a mention of this. After the word “involvement” in the second paragraph, MC Richardson proposed adding “and your in-depth understanding of ecological issues.” Committee members approved this revision.

MC Court offered to print and frame the letter after it is signed by committee members. Committee members thanked MC Court for volunteering this service.

Committee members agreed to split the costs of the gift. Chair Miller asked the staff to collect the funds.

Chair Miller suggested inviting Ms. Johnson to attend the next meeting so the gift can be presented in person.

ANNUAL OPEN SPACE REPORT

Chair Miller drew attention to the draft report and welcomed comments from committee members.

Chair Miller noted the document talks about vegetation management on San Bruno Mountain. He suggested mentioning the efforts along Quarry Road as well. MC Barnes said most of that work was done as a Public Works project, and considerable volunteer labor was used to help clear the site. Chair Miller commented that this activity seemed a bit different from the other vegetation management programs.

MC Bouscal noted that a couple years ago, he brought up the possibility of using prison inmates to do vegetation management for fire control purposes. He suggested looking into that possibility. He recommended contacting Fire Safe and the North County Fire JPA about their experience with this kind of labor force. Chair Miller noted this option might be something to consider for next year, but it would not be appropriate for the annual report. MC Bouscal agreed.

Assistant to the City Manager Smith advised that the California Department of Forestry controls most of the vegetation management and controlled burning on San Bruno Mountain.

Referring to the third paragraph on the last page, first sentence, Chair Miller recommended changing “make adjustments” to “recommend adjustments.” Committee members agreed.

Chair Miller questioned the purpose of the fourth sentence in the paragraph under “Trails.” Ms. Pontecorvo clarified that the City can use easements as opposed to acquiring the land. Mr. Smith added that for this reason, trail corridors have not been included in the City’s open space acquisitions.

Ms. Pontecorvo advised that the “Pending Acquisitions” section on Page 2 will need to be revised because four parcels closed escrow that morning, and two more are likely to close in the next month or so. Committee members congratulated the staff.

MC Gutekanst noted some of the information and maps from Mike Forbert, the vegetation mapping consultant, might be of interest to the City Council. MC Barnes suggested including a simple “before” and “after” comparison showing the protected species. MC Richardson expressed support for the approach suggested by MC Barnes.

Ms. Pontecorvo noted the committee will be preparing a report on its accomplishments later in the year, so the information could be presented at that time.

Mr. Smith said he was not sure “before” and “after” maps were available in a GIS format. He noted Mike Forbert’s work was intended to establish a baseline for future comparisons.

After some discussion, committee members agreed it would be helpful to refer to Mr. Forbert’s report in the text and provide copies as an appendix.

MC Gutekanst made a motion, seconded by MC Court, to approve the annual report with the revisions discussed and forward it to the City Council. The motion was carried unanimously.

UPDATE ON CITY COUNCIL MATTERS

Appointment of Mayor Richardson as Council Representative on Committee

Chair Miller noted this item had been addressed earlier in the meeting. He welcomed MC Richardson again.

OTHER COMMITTEE MATTERS

Community Festival

Open Space and Ecology Analyst Pontecorvo said this will be the third year the committee will have an information booth at the Community Festival on Saturday, October 1, 2005. She noted MC Gutekanst spearheaded efforts to select publications and organize a schedule for staffing the booth. Ms. Pontecorvo drew attention to the form from the Parks and Recreation Department and welcomed direction from the committee.

Committee members expressed support for participating in the Community Festival. MC Gutekanst volunteered herself and MC Bouscal to staff the booth. She noted past efforts were successful in promoting Habitat Restoration Day, and the photo displays helped attract people to the booth.

MC Gutekanst suggested having another photo display this year. She also recommended printing the T-shirts for this year’s Habitat Restoration Day and notifying participants they can pick the shirts up at the Community Festival. She offered to provide the staff with her list.

Assistant to the City Manager Smith said a second run of T-shirts might be expensive. MC Gutekanst noted the City ran out of T-shirts last year and more were ordered. She suggested doing the same thing this year.

Mr. Smith added that he was only aware of a few people who had not received T-shirts this year, including some students from Jefferson. Ms. Pontecorvo advised that she contacted the teacher and explained the situation, and the teacher was very understanding.

MC Richardson asked about the source of funds for the T-shirts. Ms. Pontecorvo noted past amounts for T-shirts came out of the Open Space Fund. Mr. Smith said funds can be used for special events.

MC Bouscal recommended ordering 200 T-shirts for next year’s event. MC Court proposed creating a generic T-shirt that can be used every year. After some discussion, committee members agreed a generic T-shirt would be a good idea. MC Lentz noted the same design can be printed on different colors at no additional cost.

MC Gutekanst said she would consult her list and determine how many people still needed shirts. She recommended going ahead with a second run this year if funds are still available. MC Richardson and Mr. Smith disagreed, noting a second run should be avoided because of the extra expense. MC Gutekanst noted the City promised volunteers they would receive a T-shirt.

Chair Miller suggested talking about this topic again at the next meeting. He asked MC Gutekanst to provide a count so the committee can decide on an appropriate course of action.

MC Gutekanst made a motion, seconded by CM Lentz, to approve the committee’s participation in the Community Festival as proposed. The motion was carried unanimously.

Ms. Pontecorvo said she would submit the application form on behalf of the committee.

Sol Fest

Chair Miller noted the Solar Living Institute in Hopland is having its annual Sol Fest-X this weekend, the largest solar festival in the U.S. He said more information is available on the Website.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

June 29, 2005

Under “Adoption of Annual Budget for FY 2005-06” on Page 8, MC Gutekanst asked for clarification of the wording regarding the $25,000 in matching funds. She proposed changing that part of the sentence to read, “except that $25,000 was advanced from the 2005-06 budget last year.” Open Space and Ecology Analyst Pontecorvo explained that the funds were used for the City’s contribution for a grant for open space parcel acquisition. Assistant to the City Manger Smith stated that the budget allocation was reduced by $25,000 this year to make up for the advance last year from the general fund. He said the staff will reword that sentence.

MC Gutekanst made a motion, seconded by MC Court, to approve the June 29 minutes as amended. The motion was carried unanimously.

SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES DISCUSSION

Discussion

Chair Miller proposed that the committee review Mr. Zinner’s recommendations as a starting point. He noted Mr. Zinner identified a series of goals, and then made specific recommendations for City facilities, Citywide initiatives, and the Baylands. He suggested first identifying the issues on which the committee agrees, and then discussing the more controversial items. Chair Miller drew attention to the goals described on Page 16 of Mr. Zinner’s report.

Referring to the last item, regarding the City leading by example, MC Barnes stated that he believed in green building and sustainability, but was not convinced that government leads by example, especially in the field of building. He expressed his opinion that leadership was a noble goal, and sustainability makes sense in the long run, but questioned whether many people look to governments for guidance on how to build better and more efficient buildings. Rather, he observed, government agencies are viewed as the sources of regulations.

MC Barnes noted the expensive installation of solar panels on City Hall is an example. He pointed out that forward-looking people are looking at energy efficiency and sustainability, but people who are not yet convinced are unlikely to be inspired by the City’s example. He objected to passing ordinances that force people to behave a certain way; instead, he advocated offering incentives to reward people for making environmentally sound decisions that are cost-effective in the long run.

MC Court said she offered to assist with designing xeriscape landscaping around the City Hall facilities about four years ago, but the City rejected that option and decided to keep a more traditional look, in keeping with the rest of Crocker Park.

MC Richardson expressed support for imposing requirements on City facilities that set a good example.

Open Space and Ecology Analyst Pontecorvo said her research indicated that about 50 percent of LEED certified buildings are owned by government agencies, about 25 percent are for nonprofits, and the remaining 25 percent are from the profit sector.

MC Gutekanst said she had comments about nearly all of the goals identified by Mr. Zinner. First, she noted, rather than focusing on minimizing impacts, the City should work to optimize and improve environmental impacts. She suggested rewording the first three goals to say “improve” or “optimize” rather than “minimize.” MC Gutekanst recommended expanding the fourth goal to include the quality of San Bruno Mountain views in addition to Bay views. She proposed revising the fifth goal to say, “Ensure that the City behaves responsibly with respect to the environment.” Other committee members expressed support for these revisions. MC Bouscal recommended adding a brief description of what the goal is intended to accomplish, like the notations for the other goals.

Chair Miller recommended adding a goal about the City developing sustainability policies.

MC Barnes noted the common thread throughout the discussions so far has been the importance of establishing sustainability in the development at the Baylands. He suggested identifying this as an immediate goal, with subheadings about optimizing impacts of infrastructure and other issues. He expressed his opinion that the City’s primary goal should be to define sustainable development standards for the Baylands, and then establish sustainable development standards for central Brisbane.

Chair Miller agreed that the goal should be for the City to have an overall set of sustainability policies covering the City itself, existing development, and new development. He noted impending development at the Baylands underscores the need for the City to have policies in place.

Chair Miller said the first step will be to agree on a general vision and a set of goals, and then define the specifics of how they are implemented.

MC Barnes suggested identifying two separate goals for the Baylands and central Brisbane. Other committee members agreed. MC Barnes noted each goal would have its own subheadings like buildings, indoor air quality, energy and water use, and environmental concerns.

MC Bouscal noted Mr. Zinner recommended building houses in increments of fours to reduce waste and construction disturbance. MC Barnes pointed out there are other ways to address waste, such as encouraging use of manufactured components.

Chair Miller observed that Citywide initiatives would apply to new developments at the Quarry and other areas as well as the Baylands. He suggested following Mr. Zinner’s structure, looking at the recommendations for City facilities, the Citywide initiatives, and then the Baylands, but he proposed taking Citywide initiatives first, that is, an overall sustainablity policy, as it would apply everywhere, including the Baylands, and then moving to the more specific recommendations for the Baylands.

MC Barnes said he did not necessarily agree with Mr. Zinner’s structure and thought his goals and recommendations were incomplete. For example, he noted, Mr. Zinner mentions green roof, but does not specifically identify a number of other green features.