Open Space and Ecology Committee

December 12, 2007

Page 4

OPEN SPACE AND ECOLOGY COMMITTEE

December 12, 2007

MAIN CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL

140 VALLEY DRIVE, BRISBANE, CA

CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL

Committee Chairperson Bouscal called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

Committee Members Present: Gutekanst, Miller, Liu, and Chairperson Bouscal

Committee Members Absent: Whitten-Greenlee

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

* MC = Member of Committee

ADOPTION OF AGENDA

MC Miller proposed adding under “Other Committee Matters” a follow-up discussion of the “University of Brisbane” speaker series.

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

PRESENTATION BY JONATHAN SCHARFMAN ON SUSTAINABILITY MEASURES IN THE BAYLANDS

Chairperson Bouscal noted that Jonathan Scharfman was not present. Assistant to the City Manager Smith said he was told Mr. Scharfman had a last-minute scheduling conflict. He suggested rescheduling the presentation for January.

MC Miller indicated he had a number of questions for Mr. Scharfman and looked forward to his presentation.

OTHER COMMITTEE MATTERS

Habitat Restoration Day Update

Open Space and Ecology Analyst Pontecorvo noted this topic was continued from the last meeting. She suggested established a subcommittee to work with the Parks, Beaches and Recreation (PB&R) Commission on this year’s Habitat Restoration Day event at the water tank.

Assistant to the City Manager Smith advised that the PB&R Commission has established a subcommittee.

Chairperson Bouscal noted that his term on the committee was expiring, and he recommended waiting until after the vacancies are filled to organize a subcommittee.

MC Gutekanst volunteered to serve on the subcommittee with MC Whitten-Greenlee. Chairperson Bouscal and MC Liu said they were willing to assist as needed.

Ms. Pontecorvo said she would contact the subcommittee members to arrange a meeting with the PB&R Commission’s subcommittee.

HCP Amendment Update

Open Space and Ecology Analyst Pontecorvo noted that the committee had requested a number of items as a follow-up to Sam Herzberg’s presentation at the last meeting. She drew attention to the timeline provided to the trustees at their meeting of October 16, 2007 and the fire protection plan.

Ms. Pontecorvo stated that in response to the comments and questions raised about impacts on the Northeast Ridge development, the City Council scheduled a special study session for Monday, January 14, 2008, to provide background information on the Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) and clarify the status of the HCP amendment.

MC Miller noted the committee’s next meeting is scheduled for January 9, 2008, and he proposed revisiting this topic at that meeting in case there are any questions or issues the committee wants to bring to the City Council’s attention.

MC Gutekanst reported that she attended the last meeting of the Technical Advisory Committee for the HCP and had an opportunity to articulate a number of concerns about the draft plan.

Chairperson Bouscal said he was pleased the County had taken over as HCP manager. Committee members discussed their dissatisfaction with the work done by Thomas Reid Associates, the previous management firm.

MC Gutekanst suggested proposing to the City Council that the Open Space and Ecology Committee review the amendment documents, and that the Council work with the County to extend the comment period for the City. Assistant to the City Manager Smith noted that once the draft amendment documents are disseminated, there will be a 60-day public comment period. He expressed skepticism about the County’s willingness to extend that deadline for the City of Brisbane. Mr. Smith advised that the purpose of the City Council’s January 14 session is to provide an overview of the HCP and the amendment process.

Committee members agreed to discuss this topic again at the January 9 meeting.

Chairperson Bouscal drew the committee’s attention to the draft Fire Management Plan for San Bruno Mountain. Mr. Smith said he thought the plan had been adopted. He offered to check on the status of the plan.

Chairperson Bouscal observed that the Fire Management Plan has a number of inconsistent and inaccurate statements, particularly regarding fire severity and flame length. He said the fire severity map for San Mateo County, which is used to justify funding requests, excludes San Bruno Mountain and the area around Brisbane, and this hampers the community’s ability to do vegetation management to prevent fires. He observed that fire roads and mandated fire buffers are not being maintained, and they are not accessible for emergency vehicles. Chairperson Bouscal recommended following up with the County and the North County Fire Authority to provide clearer information about what parts of the plan are being implemented.

Chairperson Bouscal emphasized that vegetation management has habitat restoration and fire protection value.

Chairperson Bouscal noted that the plan omits major portions of Brisbane Acres and areas to the west and north of Brisbane. He commented that the plan is a good start, but it is not enough. Mr. Smith said he would find out if the plan had been adopted.

MC Miller recalled Mr. Herzberg explaining that San Bruno Mountain was omitted from the plan because a separate plan was being developed, and he stressed the need to coordinate the vegetation management activities of both plans. He observed that some of the land east of Brisbane was not addressed.

MC Miller advocated investigating overlay legislation to enable the City to deal with fire risk and habitat protection on adjacent private property. He said City Attorney Toppel recommended tying in habitat and fire protection activities and using public safety as the basis for enforcement.

Chairperson Bouscal noted that the report does not talk about the difference in temperature between the leeward side of the mountain, where Brisbane is located, and the western side of San Bruno Mountain.

MC Miller expressed support for working with the Fire Department on vegetation management activities. He said eucalyptus trees can provide a source of fuel for wildfires, and the City can help abate this hazard with trimming and tree removal.

MC Gutekanst asked if the consultant’s urban forestry report was available on the City’s Website. Other committee members indicated the staff report was posted on the Website. Assistant to the City Manager Smith said that the consultant’s urban forestry report is 150 pages; he indicated he would work with the City Clerk to get the document posted.

Mr. Smith noted that possible vegetation management funding sources include the Open Space Fund, grants for habitat restoration and fire prevention, donations, and volunteers. Committee members talked about use of brush clearing and grazing as tools for both purposes.

Chairperson Bouscal said existing laws and regulations are clear that property owners are responsible for clearing brush and removing fire hazards. MC Miller noted that Page 30 of the excerpts from the Public Resources Code Section states that no individual trees have to be removed. Mr. Smith clarified that the brush-clearing regulations only apply to dwellings.

Guadalupe Canal

Chairperson Bouscal said that in reviewing his files, he learned that Civil Engineer Karen Kinser had developed a plan to landscape the area around the Guadalupe Canal drainage channel between Bayshore Blvd. and the Lagoon. He suggested that the Open Space and Ecology Committee organize an effort to restore native plants and remove invasive species along the shoreline of the creek.

Assistant to the City Manager Smith said he understood the channel was going to be realigned in the future, as reflected in the contour lines on the map. Chairperson Bouscal commented that he was unaware of those plans. He proposed following up with Civil Engineer Kinser to check on the status of the landscaping project. Mr. Smith added that Brookfield Homes is paying for the landscaping work as part of its drainage project.

Committee members reviewed a map of the Guadalupe Canal and the surrounding area.

Solar Rebates

MC Miller proposed writing an article to educate citizens about new alternative energy programs for various kinds of residential systems. He said there are state rebates, federal tax credits, and solar-thermal rebates from the PUC.

Committee members expressed support for this idea. MC Miller volunteered to work with the staff to draft an outline.

Sustainability Cost Analysis for the Baylands

Assistant to the City Manager Smith said the subcommittee met on December 11 and expressed support for the concept of factoring sustainability into a cost analysis, although there are still uncertainties about how the City should proceed. He indicated that Councilmember Conway planned to call MC Miller to discuss some of the underlying issues and possible approaches.

MC Miller reported that he spoke with Councilmember Conway, who indicated that the subcommittee was having a difficult time arriving at a clear consensus as to how sustainability should be incorporated. MC Miller advocated exploring different approaches and gathering information to bring to the attention of the staff and City Council. He said he had a clear idea of the questions that need to be asked, and he recommended that the committee attempt to find answers.

MC Miller suggested determining first what questions the committee wants to investigate, and then ascertaining how to obtain the information. Mr. Smith stated that finding a qualified person to do this kind of work has been challenging. MC Miller pointed out the scope of the inquiry needs to be defined first.

MC Liu noted it might be helpful to invite the Council Liaison Subcommittee to attend a committee meeting to discuss the committee’s concerns.

MC Miller commented that although the City Council subcommittee members have expressed support for the concept, the Council has not authorized the committee to proceed with further investigation or study of the issues. Mr. Smith recommended that MC Miller bring this to Councilmember Conway’s attention. MC Miller said he would keep committee members apprised of the results of the conversation.

MC Gutekanst questioned the feasibility of placing a dollar value on sustainability, and she expressed concern that attempting to do so would undervalue Brisbane’s natural resources. She noted it might be more useful to just raise the issues than to try to assign economic values to intangible factors like health and a clean environment.

MC Miller agreed that a benefit-cost analysis has inherent weaknesses, and the market system is not the best way to evaluate a project’s feasibility. On the other hand, he noted, the City needs quantitative information showing long-term benefits to counter the traditional short-term, market-driven financial analysis the developer is providing.

Mr. Smith noted that it was unrealistic to expect the City would impose these requirements on developers; rather, sustainability features might be negotiated as part of future development agreements. He said the benefit for the City in doing a study would be to identify the kind of quantifiable information that could be used in an alternative feasibility analysis.

Open Space and Ecology Analyst Pontecorvo observed that some of the lack of clarity about an alternative approach may be because the Baylands project alternatives have not yet been analyzed.

MC Gutekanst noted that life-cycle costs and renewable energy may be quantifiable, but there are other factors that cannot be analyzed in this way. Mr. Smith pointed out that open space is one such resource. He noted a study of alternative economics could help the City prioritize possible benefits.

Chairperson Bouscal proposed that MC Miller meet with Councilmember Conway to discuss this matter further. MC Miller said he would keep the committee informed.

Mr. Smith suggested conveying to Councilmember Conway that the committee proposes proceeding to develop a list of questions and then finding out who could conduct the study.

At 9:00 p.m., MC Gutekanst indicated she would have to be leaving soon, and she recommended dealing with approval of the minutes before other items. MC Miller advised that he had a number of corrections to the minutes. After some discussion, committee members agreed to proceed with the agenda as approved and defer approval of the minutes if insufficient time is available at this meeting.

Expiration of Committee Members’ Terms

Assistant to the City Manager Smith said the City Council will probably begin recruiting people to fill the vacant seats on the committee sometime in January.

Speaker Series

MC Miller informed the committee that the entire City-sponsored Baylands speaker series will be broadcast on the cable channel at the end of December. He suggested that the committee consider possible follow-up items. Assistant to the City Manager Smith added that a schedule is posted on the City’s Website.

UPDATE ON CITY COUNCIL MATTERS

Green Building Ordinance

Open Space and Ecology Analyst Pontecorvo reported that the second reading and adoption of the green building ordinance is on the City Council’s December 17 meeting agenda.

Assistant to the City Manager Smith said the City Council deleted provisions requiring post-construction certification and decided to rely instead on as-built drawings and regular inspections to ensure that a building is constructed according to specifications.

Brisbane Acres Acquisitions

Committee members commended Assistant to the City Manager Smith for his assistance in arranging the purchase of five more open space parcels in Brisbane Acres. Mr. Smith referred to a map showing the parcels. He said the total price was $243,000, and noted that the City will contribute a 50 percent match for a Coastal Conservancy grant.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

October 10, 2007 and November 7, 2007

Committee members decided to defer approval of the October and November meeting minutes until the next meeting.

NEXT MEETING DATE

Chairperson Bouscal noted the next committee meeting was scheduled for January 9, 2008.

PUBLIC COMMENT

None.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business, MC Gutekanst made a motion, seconded by MC Liu, to adjourn. The motion was carried unanimously and the meeting was adjourned at 9:40 p.m.