December 2008 Board Meeting

Meeting Notice

Douglas Bosco (Public Member), Chairman

Jeremy M. Hallisey (Public Member)

Marisa Moret (Public Member)

Ann Notthoff (Public Member)

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

Patrick Kruer, Coastal Commission Chair; Susan Hansch (Designated)

Michael Genest, Director, Department of Finance; Karen Finn (Designated)

Senate Representatives                                   Assembly Representatives

Abel Maldonado (District 15)                        Loni Hancock (District 14)

Joseph Simitian (District 11)                           John Laird (District 27)

Christine Kehoe (District 39)                          Patty Berg (District 1)

Sam Schuchat, Executive Officer

Pat Peterson, Deputy Attorney General

Elena Eger, Legal Counsel

AGENDA

LOCATION: City of Oakley – Chambers Room

3231 Main Street

Oakley, CA

DATE: Thursday, December 4, 2008

TIME: 1:00 pm

1. Roll Call

2. Approval of Minutes of November 6, 2008 Public Meeting.

3. CONSENT

1. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $1,000,000 of Conservancy funds, which will be reimbursed by the Wildlife Conservation Board, to the California State Parks Foundation to restore and enhance tidal wetlands and other bay shoreline habitat at Yosemite Slough in Candlestick Point State Recreation Area, City and County of San Francisco.

1. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $100,000 to the Association of Bay Area Governments for the purpose of organizing and presenting the State of the Estuary Conference in the fall of 2009.

1. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to accept coastal estuaries grant funding from NOAA and disburse these funds to the Elkhorn Slough Foundation to administer funding for the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, Monterey County.

1. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to revise the Bodega Bay Trails Environmental Document project by redirecting funds to a programmatic environmental document for the Unincorporated Sonoma County Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan, and project-specific environmental review and planning for a 1.2-mile segment of Coastal Trail in Sonoma County.

1. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $76,000 to the San Diego State University Foundation to develop an implementation plan for establishing a data collection and restoration program in the San Diego River Watershed, San Diego County.

1. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $75,000 to Access for All to prepare site designs and complete planning work to develop three public coastal accessways in Malibu, Los Angeles County.

1. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $40,000 to Santa Monica Baykeeper to conduct a community based restoration project adjacent to Malibu Creek and Malibu Lagoon in Malibu, Los Angeles County.

1. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $45,000 to the Coastal Conservancy Association to provide technical, scientific services to the San Francisco Bay Subtidal Habitat Goals Project, within the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

4. Executive Officer Report
5. Dutch Slough Project Update
6. Update on Conservancy’s Climate Change Initiatives
7. Ocean Protection Council Report

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA

5. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $9,000,000, which will be reimbursed to the Conservancy by the Wildlife Conservation Board, to the City of Oakland to widen the Lake Merritt channel, create a tidal marsh along the channel’s edges, and install several pollutant removal technologies, and to adopt a statement of overriding considerations pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act for the project, Alameda County.

6. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $1,500,000 to the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District, toward the acquisition of the 283-acre Sonoma Mountain Ranch, Sonoma County, for the protection of open space, natural resources and for public access consistent with those purposes.

7. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $3,000,000 to the Association of Bay Area Governments to evaluate, select, design and fund implementation of projects to complete the San Francisco Bay Trail within the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

8. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $500,000 to The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District to design improvements to visitor-serving amenities at the Golden Gate Bridge South Visitor Plaza, City and County of San Francisco.

9. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $600,000 to the Tri-Valley Conservancy to acquire the 74-acre Bobba property, located in the South Livermore Valley Area of eastern Alameda County, for the purpose of providing public access and protecting scenic and open space values and preserving agricultural uses.

CENTRAL COAST

10. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $900,000 to the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County to implement Phase 3 of the Integrated Watershed Restoration Program (IWRP) in San Mateo, Santa Cruz, and Monterey Counties.

11. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $538,000 to The Nature Conservancy for the Santa Cruz Island Habitat Restoration Project, to restore natural habitat, eradicate invasive species, and prevent the introduction of new invasive species on Santa Cruz Island, one of the Channel Islands off the coast of Santa Barbara County.

SOUTH COAST

12. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $680,000 to the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy for conceptual designs, technical studies, environmental review, and permit applications for the San Elijo Lagoon Restoration Project, San Diego County.

13. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $600,000 to prepare preliminary engineering and environmental documents for restoration of Buena Vista Lagoon State Ecological Reserve in the cities of Carlsbad and Oceanside, San Diego County.

14. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $275,000 to the Department of Fish and Game for planning, data collection, technical review and other activities associated with the restoration of several State Ecological Reserves, including the Ballona Wetlands, Buena Vista Lagoon, and San Elijo Lagoon located along the coast throughout Southern California.

NORTH COAST

15. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $500,000 to the Northwest California Resource Conservation and Development Council to design, permit, and prepare for implementation at least ten fish passage improvement projects and five associated water quality improvement projects in Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Trinity, and Siskiyou counties.

16. Consideration and possible Conservancy authorization to disburse up to $200,000 to the Sonoma County Regional Parks Department to prepare a feasibility analysis and environmental documentation for coastal trail access through the Timber Cove area in northern Sonoma County.

17. Deputy Attorney General’s Report

18. Board Member Comments

19. Public Comments

20. Possible closed session to confer regarding: United States of America vs. 127.60 Acres of Land, more or less, situated in San Diego County, State of California; the County of San Diego; and Other Interested Parties, U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, Civil No. 06CV1670W NLS; 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).

21. Adjournment

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).

* CONSERVANCY TOUR, DECEMBER 4, 2008, 8:30 AM – 11:30 AM*

Big Break and Dutch Slough Board Tour

9:30 AM

The Conservancy tour will begin at Big Break Regional Park at 71 Big Break Rd. Oakley, CA 94561. East Bay Regional Park District Staff will give a presentation on the history and future plans for the park.

10:30 AM

The tour will continue at Dutch Slough at the end of Sellers Ave., north of the intersection with E. Cypress Rd., Oakley, CA 94561. A presentation will be given by Department of Water Resources, National Heritage Institute, and City of Oakley staff on the Dutch Slough wetland restoration project and associated public use planning.

For more information, contact Dick Wayman at the Conservancy:

1330 Broadway, 13th Floor

Oakland, CA 94612

(510) 286‑4182