Minutes August 18, 1999
Meeting brought to order at 5:40 pm by Wade Leschyn. Members present: Tim Frahm, Richard Izmirian, Gloria Purcell, Carroll Ann Hodges, Mary Paglieri, Keith Mangold, Wade Leschyn. Members Absent: Jerry Hearn. Members on Leave: Peggy Becket, Tom Forest.
Temporary secretary appointment: Wade Leschyn
June 16 minutes accepted as written. July 21 minutes accepted with corrections.
No changes to tonight's agenda.
Steve Kennedy reported he has received a letter of endorsement from Congresswoman Anna Eshoo.
Gary Lockman made the staff report: He discussed issues affecting Coyote Point because of the SFO airport expansion, issues regarding the effect of the airport expansion on the Peninsula Humane Society facility are not included in the Park report. Federal Aviation Administration San Francisco Office of Planning Sam is preparing a letter covering a broad range of potential issues to be included as part of the aviation scoping session preparation of the EIR.
The Seymour bridge permit is issued. There will be minor grading. There is no impact on the dump which is under Public Works jurisdiction. The City of HMB will be developing some trails through the area, project should be done by the end of October.
$32,000 of last years County budget was transferred into a fund for stream restoration fund. $24,000 is available for CRMP funding, $8,000 has already been allocated to the RCD. Sam is working on updating application forms.
Dennis Hanley was presented with a certificate for his work on the F&W committee at the last Park Commission meeting.
First step in the Vegetative Management plan is to find stake holders in order to define scope of a project for all SMC park lands. Lynne Fritz is taking the lead on this.
Passed out a schedule of interesting events.
SM County fair has started. Mary, Wade, Belinda have volunteered for staffing the Parks booth.
Leslie Oyoneck is executive secretary for Mary Burns currently, but the permanent position is still open.
Nick Ramirez is promoted to Ranger III.
Priscilla Alvarez and Leon Souza are the new joint Supervisors of the Huddart Park, Wunderlich Park and the Alpine Trail units following David Moor’s promotion.
Ranger Bob Breen has had some angioplasty work on his heart. He is expected back to work soon at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve.
The Fitzgerald master plan group met last Friday. The public draft should be released soon. The public comment period will begin immediately following it’s release and will last for one month.September 13 and end October 12.
The Coyote Brochure is at the printers now. A 1000 copy run should be in by Monday.
Carroll Ann asked about status of the bridge rebuild at the end of Ramundo Road in Huddart park. This is the same issue raised by Adda Quinn at the June meeting. Status of project is uncertain. Gary will look into it.
The issue of the front doors of 455 County Center getting locked during our meeting was discussed. The current schedule for front door lockup is 6 pm. This prevents late arrivals from getting in to our meeting.
Carroll Ann left.
Old Business
Richard Izmirian opened the Streams Subcommittee Report. There are no action items for tonight.
Keith made a report on SF watershed. He talked to the person in charge of the SF Watershed EIR regarding water release for Pillarcitos Creek and how it affects the steelhead trout. He was told that the plan will not address preexisting conditions. He was told that the watershed legal council concluded that since there are federally prescribed regulations regarding threatened species, that the steelhead would not be addressed in the Water District’s EIR. Committee discussion centered on why the Water District should be allowed to exclude reporting on the status of steelhead in the creek and the impact of water release from the Water Districts lakes and ponds.
Tim Frahm reported on the Pescadero Creek Park willow sump wetland. He has contacted Dr. Jerry Smith an associate professor at SJ State and a well known fisheries expert. He is filing for a permit for a frog study, and would be interested in extending his research to this area.
Richard discussed a water rights meeting for Shaw Gulch Creek and Bradley Creek. Many water users are using water without permits. The plan includes extending some retroactive permits for existing reservoirs. These reservoirs capture some of the early rainy season flows, possibly significantly reducing the flushing action of the early season storms. Preferably reservoirs would be “off-stream” that is outside of the main flow of the creek, but some of the existing reservoirs are in-stream. Reservoirs discussed included ones at Shade Ranch, Jacobs Ranch, and Steeles Ranch.
Mary Paglieri made the Wildlife Subcommittee Report. The subcommittee is working on a media package covering the do's and dont's for residents living in the vicinity of wild areas. Interested agencies also participating in developing the package with the subcommittee are the CA Fish and Game, the City of Walnut Creek, and Mid Penn Open Space and the SMC rangers. There will be an urban wildlife meeting next month sponsored by the City of Walnut Creek. Mary has been asked to be on their panel.
Wade Leschyn made the Parks and Rec. Commission report. Wade attended the last Park Commission meeting and presented the letter drafted by Jerry Hearn and the Committee concerning our interest in Park staff planning for much needed Alpine Trail maintenance next to Los Trancos Creek. Our letter requested that Park Staff, the Trails Committee and our committee, work together to jointly develop a plan that would address the issue of stream impacts from any proposed trail maintenance. Park Commission chairperson Joe Scott commented that he hoped a motion by the Commission would not be required in order for our respective groups to work together. The trails committee people and Mary Burns seemed to nod their agreement.
Keith commended the committee for their discussion last month on the Kelp Harvest Closure issue. Discussion now centered on where we should go from here. Requesting a moratorium on harvesting until F&G reissues their department EIR is a possibility. Another option would be to push forward with existing closure request letter. The third option would be to continue to discuss the issue within our committee and possibly work to get some additional stake holders to address us. A possible stake holder might be the Pacific Fisheries Association, and their opinion regarding the cutting of the kelp canopy on fishing. The beds in question are small, less than 1/100 a square mile in one bed and 6/100 square mile in another. Discussion also included questions on harvest methodology and just what did “hand harvesting mean? One man in a boat reaching over the side with a knife in one hand grasping the kelp with his other hand... or something more involved and capable of greater harvests. A letter to F&G was proposed requesting clarification of harvest methodology. Committee agreed to continue the item till next month, with the drafting of a new letter to be forwarded to the Park Commission, clarification of differences of moratorium vs. closures, and making contact with the Half Moon Bay Fisherman's Association.
New business: Gloria is interested in urban creek restoration. In Belmont, there are two creeks. College of Notre Dame is expanding their campus and Belmont Planning Commission has asked the college to make stream restoration a condition of granting of a variance for building construction.
Motion to adjourn made by Richard, seconded by Tim at 7:25.
Respectfully Submitted
Wade Leschyn