Minutes September 15, 1999 Meeting:
Meeting brought to order at 5:40 pm by Wade Leschyn. Members present: Richard Izmirian, Gloria Purcell, Carroll Ann Hodges, Mary Paglieri, Keith Mangold, Wade Leschyn, Jerry Hearn. Members Absent: Tim Frahm. Members on Leave: Peggy Becket, Tom Forest.
Temporary Secretary appointment: Gloria offered, but on condition that she would have to leave early. Wade is already prepared to take notes and will be secretary for this meeting.
August 18 Minutes were approved with corrections.
Changes to Agenda: County Supervisor Rich Gordon is here to present his plan
for reorganizing the committee. His presentation will immediately follow the
public comment period. The Fitzgerald Master Plan discussion will be moved
up to first on the subcommittee reports.
Under Public Comment, Menlo Park resident Ann Moser is attending and was introduced again. She is interested in membership in the committee.
Supervisor Rich Gordon presented the draft proposal for restructuring the Fish and Wildlife Committee. The committee that drafted the plan consisted of Parks Commissioners Joseph Scott and Belinda Vega, Supervisors Rich Gordon and Jerry Hill, Park Director Mary Burns and Director of the County Environmental Services Division, Paul Konig. Supervisor Gordon stressed this was a draft proposal and that he was interested in hearing the comments of our committee on the draft and incorporating adjustments. In summary he proposes a change in the name of the committee and its reporting structure from the San Mateo County Fish & Wildlife Advisory Committee, reporting to the Park Commission, to a Technical Advisory Committee reporting to the County Environmental Services Division. The current committee charter for responsibility for county Cal Tip fine monies and comment on resource issues in county parks would be expanded to include Fishnet4C responsibilities. Committee charter would be extended to review and commenting on Fishnet4C. which is a new state mandated responsibility for counties. Park staff is already mandated to provide Fishnet4C support, so this would be consistent with their priorities. Fishnet4C involves all county watersheds which have or could have salmonids... probably every creek and watershed in the county except perhaps for Colma creek which is pretty well cemented in. Regarding staff, instead of general administrative staffing, Sam Hertzberg would be assigned to support the committee. Members of the committee would be appointed by county staff and confirmed by commission, reporting primarily to county staff instead of the Park Commission. Supervisor Gordon is the designated state liaison for Fishnet4C, so there would be some direct reporting of the committee to the Board of Sups through him. Rich passed out a written first draft of the proposal.
Richard Izmirian asked for a clarification of the proposal's distinction between the policy making role of the legislative branch vs. the administrative role of staff, and how converting the committee to a technical advisory committee would impact our role. Supervisor Gordon said he thinks the county needs both policy advice and technical advice and it is difficult to prioritize which the county needs more of. He gave an example of a problem he was having with septic tanks and wells. He went to the public health commission, and a committee was established, which made recommendations, which are now
being approved.
Fishnet4C covers the coastal counties from Mendocino to Monterey. There are two members from each county board of Supervisors (Rich Gordon and Jerry Hill) plus one resource person, (Sam Herzberg). The project is in it’s second year in finding from NOAH and Cal Fish & Game. Each county is responsible for reviewing all rules and regulations in regards to salmonids. This involves initial cataloging, then a review of policies, in regards to their impact on fish. An example would be cataloging county facilities where there are
structural impediments interfering with salmonid habitats or migrations.
There are no immediate target date for changes.
Richard Gordon left.
Wade Leschyn discussed his report to the Park Commission meeting of Sept. 2nd. He reported to the Commission that the kelp harvesting closure request remains on our agenda and will be an action item next month. He said there has been some discussion between our committee and the Trails committee concerning trail maintenance along Alpine road and Los Trancos creek. Lynne Fritz provided and Wade passed out to the Commission a final printed copy of the coyote brochure.
Staff Report by Gary Lockman, Gary looked into the Seymour Bridge question from last meeting. There are plans for limited revegetation around the dump area just to stabilize the bank. Customer survey for park customer brochures, 3-4 weeks ahead, asking about the park visitors experiences and asking for feedback. Coyote brochure will be also produced in a Spanish language version. He is still working on complementary park passes for the
committee. Copies of the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve Master Plan are available. He discussed the public comment schedule. October 7 will be the third public hearing, and Oct. 12 will be the deadline for submission of public comment. This will impact the committee’s ability to comment on the plan because our next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 20th.
Mary Burns added that AB18, a $2.1 billion park bond passed both houses of the state government and it is sitting on the governors desk. If signed, it will appear on the March ballot. The bill is structured for some funds to come as a per capita basis, which isn't the best for the county, but regardless it will create special funding for wetlands, wildlife, cultural, and SF bay conservancy. How to get the word out to encourage support?
Potentially includes a large federal land and water conservation grant. Both are large sources of money. There is a Bay Area Council meeting tomorrow to discuss strategy.
Fitzgerald Marine Reserve Master Plan. A subcommittee was formed of Izmirian, Mangold, Purcell, Leschyn, and possibly Becket and Frahm to review and prepare comments for the full committee’s review next month. We discussed possibly changing our October meeting date to allow for the full committee’s review of the plan before the Oct. 7th third hearing or Oct. 12 deadline as discussed by Gary Lockman. The committee decided to keep our meeting on it’s regularly scheduled date of Oct. 20th, and to ask Jerry to request from the Park Commission an extension for the committee’s comments to be reviewed at our October 20th meeting, and to be submitted to park staff shortly afterwards. Richard questioned the jurisdiction of the Parks Department over the Fitzgerald reef, especially in light of our recent difficulties over jurisdictional issues over our interest in kelp harvesting just off shore of the reef, and how the state legislature would find fit to
recommend to the Fish and Game commission, a regulation change. He is concerned that the plan wants to close two areas to fishing which would shift focus to the Pillar Point Marsh area. The plan seeks reserve status for the park, which would not be directed at one species (eels) but possibly all kinds of fishing. For example would fishing just be restricted on the reef? What about fishing from the beach? Closures should be based on actual data, and be flexible enough to protect endangered species without closing the reef to all fishing. Keith asked about the status of the plan, Gary commented that the Friends of Fitzgerald are discussing the concept of a reserve, but the county has not yet taken a position on this. Basically the county has jurisdiction on land above the mean high tide line, but a reserve status could extend jurisdiction below that line.
Ann asked she could participate in the subcommittee. The committee members answered yes, Carol Ann moved and Gloria seconded a motion to discuss Ann’s application for membership on the committee tonight. It will be added to new business.
Purcell and Hearn left
Richard commented that he would support hook and line fishing and poke poll fishing at Fitzgerald.
Old Business:
Richard Izmerian made the Streams Subcommittee Report. Carrol Ann commented on the Horse Crossings of West Union Creek in Huddart Park. She said state funds are gone, but since this is a salmonid spawning stream Fishnet4C should cover it. Los Trancos Creek / Alpine Trail has suffered washouts at 5 locations. No comment on the Memorial Park Willow sump, since Tim Frahm was absent. Richard provided a Cal Fed Update. Marin board of Supervisors passed a passed a resolution on Cal Fed. resolution # 99-106, which covered three main points: guaranteeing adequate fresh water flow, water conservation by all users, and fair share of funding. The close of public comment is September 23. This will impact the quality of life in S.M. County especially as relates to the county Salmon fishing fleet and opportunities for water based recreation.
Mary Paglieri made the wildlife subcommittee report. She handed out copies of the coyote media package put together by a coalition she organized made up of representatives of the Cal Fish and Game Dept., Mid Penn Open Space, and rangers from the City of Walnut Creek, along with Wade and her representing the f&w committee. COHWI then changed to UWIN was proposed as a name for the coalition and she has created a logo of a hand and paw in a “paw shake”. At a meeting on Aug. 24, attended by participants in the coalition, the coalition participants discussed and concluded that keeping the media package consistent and standardized among the participating agencies would be a good idea, but that the contents could be changed over time. Richard and Wade both asked Mary about the roll of Fish and Wildlife committee in terms of discussing or approving the contents of the media package. Mary said it was a product of her own work with some participation from the wildlife subcommittee. Mary Burns expressed some concern about standardizing the document across agencies, and loosing the flexibility to pick and choose from the recommendations. Mary discussed the reason for standardization, that the coalition participants agreed that there would be an advantage to standardization so that all participating agencies would be distributing the same information, and would thus avoid contradicting each other, and the quality of the package could be improved by a larger range of inputs.
Kelp Harvest Closure - Keith Mangold said he is still awaiting a letter from the fisherman’s association. Tonight’s action item was postponed.
New Business:
Application for membership to the committee of Ann Moser. Committee went into closed session to discuss. Membership recommendation for her was approved.
Meeting adjourned at 7:40 pm.
Minutes respectfully submitted
Wade Leschyn