December Board Meeting 2004

MEETING NOTICE

Douglas Bosco (Public Member), Chairman

Jeremy M. Hallisey (Public Member)

Gary A. Hernandez (Public Member)

Paul Morabito (Public Member)

Tom Campbell (Director, Department of Finance); Fred Klass (Designated)

Mike Reilly (Chair, California Coastal Commission); Susan Hansch (Designated)

Mike Chrisman (Secretary for Resources); Karen Scarborough (Designated)

Senate Representatives                Assembly Representatives

Wesley Chesbro (District 2)                          Hannah-Beth Jackson (District 35)

Betty Karnette (District 27)                           John Laird (District 27)

Bruce McPherson (District 15)                     Fran Pavley (District 41)

Sam Schuchat, Executive Officer

Pat Peterson, Deputy Attorney General

                AGENDA

LOCATION:         Palo Alto City Council Chambers

Palo Alto City Hall

250 Hamilton Avenue

Palo Alto, CA 94301

DATE:    Thursday, December 2, 2004

TIME:    1:00 p.m.

1. Roll Call
2. Approval of minutes
3. Presentation by Audrey Rust, Peninsula Open Space Trust
4. Report by Nadine Hitchcock on the San Francisco Bay Area Conservancy Program

Southern California

1. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $12,972,000 to the Nature Conservancy for the acquisition of approximately 276 acres at Ormond Beach in Ventura County for restoration of wetlands and related habitat. [Removed from agenda.]
2. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $750,000 for technical studies, planning, data collection, and other analysis associated with planning the restoration and enhancement of the Ballona Wetlands.
3. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $200,000 to the City of Port Hueneme to implement the fourth phase of the Hueneme Beach Fishing Pier restoration project.
4. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $400,000 to the Santa Monica BayKeeper and up to $200,000 the California CoastKeeper Alliance for the Southern California Bight Regional Kelp Restoration Program to initiate the second three-year phase of the Southern California Bight Regional Kelp Restoration Program, restoring kelp resources within Santa Monica Bay and other locations within the Southern California Bight marine ecosystem.
5. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $9,700,000 to the Nature Conservancy to acquire property within the San Diego River watershed in order to implement the San Diego Multiple Species Conservation Plan (MSCP), as part of California’s Natural Communities Conservation Planning (NCCP) Program.

San Francisco Bay

1. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $1,500,000 for the acquisition of Lauff Ranch in Napa County.
2. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to: 1) accept $989,477 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States Department of Commerce for the acquisition of historic tidelands and watershed lands draining to the San Pablo Bay, 2) disburse up to $500,000 available under the NOAA grant to the Sonoma Land Trust (SLT) to acquire the 1,679-acre North Point Joint Venture property in Sonoma County for wetland restoration, open space preservation, and public access, and 3) disburse up to $25,000 of Conservancy funds to SLT, for acquisition related expenses.
3. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $250,000 to the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department to assist in the completion of the Bay Area Ridge Trail at the Coyote Hellyer County Park.
4. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $1,200,000 to the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council to carry out planning necessary for completing gaps in the Bay Area Ridge Trail.
5. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $100,000 to the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council for construction of approximately 1.6 miles of Ridge Trail at Tuteur Ranch and the Skyline Wilderness Park in eastern Napa County.
6. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse to the Center for Ecosystem Management and Restoration up to $125,000 to evaluate the potential of San Francisco Bay’s streams for steelhead restoration and to identify restoration projects in at least seven of the watersheds most critical for steelhead fisheries.

Central Coast

1. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse an amount not to exceed $285,000 to the Coastal San Luis Resource Conservation District to plan and implement erosion control projects, and to prepare a watershed enhancement and flood management plan for Arroyo Grande Creek in San Luis Obispo County.
2. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $2,000,000 to the American Land Conservancy to acquire for public access purposes 20-plus acres west of Highway 1 currently occupied by the Piedras Blancas Resort in northern San Luis Obispo County.

North Coast

1. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $1,000,000 to the Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) to acquire an agricultural conservation easement over the 1,125-acre Pozzi Ranch in the Walker Creek watershed in west Marin County.
2. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $650,000 to the Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District for the implementation of ranch resource restoration projects in the Estero Americano watershed in Marin and Sonoma Counties.

• Consent Items

1. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $109,000 to the Mendocino Land Trust to construct access improvements and open to the public Navarro Point in Mendocino County.
2. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $600,000 to the City of Fort Bragg to construct access improvements at Pomo Bluffs Park, Mendocino County.
3. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to adopt updated California Environmental Quality Act findings for the City of Eureka’s Phase IA enhancement activities at the Palco (Eureka) Marsh, Humboldt County.
4. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $5,200 to the Redwood Coast Land Conservancy to repair and maintain the Gualala Blufftop Trail, Mendocino County.
5. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $38,000 to Marin County to obtain surveys of 11 public access easements around Tomales Bay, Marin County.
6. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $35,000 to Access For All for a variety of site design tasks necessary to develop public coastal accessways in Malibu.
7. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $40,000 to the Community Environmental Council to prepare engineering designs, environmental documentation, and permit applications for the removal of three barriers to fish passage on Gobernador Creek in Santa Barbara County.
8. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to delegate authority to the Executive Officer to accept coastal estuaries training grant funding from NOAA and disburse these funds to the Elkhorn Slough Foundation to develop and manage the coastal training program for the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve in Monterey County.
9. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $75,000 to the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department for the development of a Trail Master Plan for Sanborn County Park, to include the planning of a six-mile segment of the Bay Area Ridge Trail in western Santa Clara County.
10. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $2,000,000 of Conservancy funds, which will be reimbursed by the Wildlife Conservation Board, to undertake work associated with the South San Francisco Bay Salt Pond restoration planning effort.
11. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $300,000 to the Heal the Bay to prepare a final restoration plan and final site plans for Malibu Lagoon, using a portion of funds provided by the State Water Resources Control Board.
12. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $188,250 to the Wishtoyo Foundation to implement the San Nicholas Canyon Creek Restoration Project in order to implement the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Plan, adopted by the Conservancy on August 2, 2001.
13. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $200,000 to the Solano Land Trust toward its acquisition of the 905-acre Vallejo Swett Ranch in Solano County, in connection with acquisition of the adjacent Eastern Swett Ranch, as authorized by the Conservancy on May 27, 2004 and for possible extension of the Bay Area Ridge Trail.

21. Executive Officer’s Report
22. Long Term Financial Strategy Update
23. Legislative Report

22. Deputy Attorney General’s Report
23. Litigation Summary

23. Board Member Comments

24. Public Comments.

25.    Possible closed session to confer with counsel regarding Balkanski v. State

               Coastal Conservancy, Monterey County Superior Court Case No. M59080; City

              of Malibu and David Geffen v. Access for All, California Coastal Commission,

              California Coastal Conservancy, et al., Los Angeles Superior Court Case No.

BC277034; Serra Canyon Co. LTD v. California Coastal Commission, California Coastal Conservancy, et al., Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. SCO 73699; Colony Beach Preservation Assn. v. California Coastal Commission, Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. BS 083683; California State Coastal Conservancy and California Coastal Commission v. City of Trinidad and John Frame, Humboldt County Superior Court No. CV030643; and other pending litigation; and/or to consider the initiation of litigation. Session will be closed to the public pursuant to Government Code Section 11126(e).

26.    Adjournment.

* In the morning of the December 2^nd Board meeting, Conservancy members will have a field trip to look at some of the recently acquired salt ponds in the South Bay, as well as nearby native marsh at Greco Island. The trip will begin at 9:30 a.m. at Bayfront Park in Menlo Park near the west end of the Dumbarton Bridge. Members of the public may attend, but must provide their own transportation.

N.B.:   This Meeting Notice and Tentative Agenda may be found on the Internet at:

www.scc.ca.gov/Meetings/meetings.htm

N.B.:      Following or at any time during the meeting, the Conservancy may recess or adjourn to closed session to consider personnel matters, prices and terms of real estate transactions and possible and pending litigation. Session will be closed to the public pursuant to attorney‑client privilege and statutory authorization under Government Code Section 11126(a), (c)(7) and (e).

For more information, contact Dick Wayman at the Conservancy:

1330 Broadway, 11^th Floor

Oakland, CA 94612

(510) 286‑4182