Coastal Conservancy Public Zoom Meeting – May 27, 2021
Meeting Notice
Douglas Bosco (Public Member), Chair
Ann Notthoff (Public Member), Vice Chair
Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš (Public Member)
Joseph Alioto Jr. (Public Member)
Wade Crowfoot, Secretary for Natural Resources; Bryan Cash (Designated)
Stephen Padilla, Coastal Commission Chair; Alison Dettmer (Designated)
Keely Bosler, Director, Department of Finance; Gayle Miller (Designated)
Senate Representatives
Benjamin Allen (District 26)
Josh Becker (District 13)
Assembly Representatives
Mark Stone (District 29)
Lorena Gonzalez (District 80)
Sam Schuchat, Executive Officer
Amy Roach, Chief Counsel
AGENDA
Teleconference Meeting
DATE: May 27, 2021
TIME: 10:00 A.M
Pursuant to Executive Order N-29-20 issued by Governor Gavin Newsom on March 17, 2020, certain provisions of the Bagley Keene Open Meeting Act are suspended due to a State of Emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Consistent with the Executive Order, this Conservancy meeting will be conducted by internet and teleconference, with no public physical location. Members of the public may join by internet with Zoom or dial into the teleconference with the following steps:
Join the meeting using Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/94218504281?pwd=eXQ1ekdNUFF3V2JZSFRnWE5Nb2ZiQT09
Password: 407508
Or iPhone one-tap: +16699006833,,94218504281#,,,,*407508# or +13462487799,,94218504281#,,,,*407508#
Or Telephone: US: +1 669 900 6833 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 929 205 6099 or +1 301 715 8592
Webinar ID: 942 1850 4281
Password: 407508
Members of the public can make comments during the meeting by using the “Raise Hand” function in Zoom at the appropriate time(s) in the meeting, or if joining by teleconference by pressing *9 to “Raise Hand” to be called on. Public comment will be taken during each agenda item and near the end of the meeting on non-agenda items. Additional information on ways to provide public comments on agenda items, including in advance by email and voicemail, is available on the Conservancy’s website on the Meetings & Notices tab here: https://scc.ca.gov/2020/04/22/participating-in-conservancy-meeting/
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1. ROLL CALL
2. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES of the Conservancy’s March 25, 2021 meeting.
3. CONSENT ITEMS
A. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $60,000 to the California Department of Parks and Recreation to prepare plans, environmental review documents, and permit applications for two new restrooms in Garrapata State Park in Big Sur, Monterey County.
B. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $1,123,000 to the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County for the Integrated Watershed Restoration Program to conduct planning and prepare designs and permit applications for 23 high priority watershed restoration projects in San Mateo, Santa Cruz, and Monterey Counties.
C. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $700,000 to the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains to augment a previously authorized Conservancy grant of $460,000 for planning for the Topanga Lagoon Restoration Project at Topanga State Park and Topanga Beach in Los Angeles County.
D. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $255,000 for environmental review and community engagement to support the Malibu Coastal Access Public Works Plan for seventeen sites in the City of Malibu.
- Addendum: Malibu Coastal Access Public Works Plan
E. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $950,000, to be reimbursed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program, to the California Invasive Plant Council for the planning, management, treatment, monitoring, restoration, and permit compliance activities of the San Francisco Estuary Invasive Spartina Project.
F. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $1,300,000 through one or more contracts to prepare environmental compliance documents and related technical studies for the Ormond Beach Restoration and Public Access Plan.
G. Consideration and possible authorization for the City of Chula Vista to remove use restrictions on 1.86 acres of the Conservancy-funded, City-owned Faivre Street property in the lower Otay River Valley in exchange for the City’s acquisition and restriction of a property of equal size and equal or greater value in the Otay River Valley.
4. EXECUTIVE OFFICER REPORT PART I
A. Consideration and possible Appointment of an Interim Executive Officer
SOUTH COAST
5. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $1,692,360 to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for design and permitting of the restoration of the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve in Los Angeles County and further authorization to disburse up to $500,000 to the Prevention Institute to support broad community engagement in planning for that restoration; and the adoption of findings under the California Environmental Quality Act.
- Addendum 1: Ballona Wetlands
- Addendum 2: Ballona Wetlands
- Addendum 3: Download of Poland report (blank pages on Addendum 2)
6. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $1,200,000 to Riverside County Regional Park and Open Space District to prepare plans, designs, and environmental documentation for the 3.4-mile segment of the Santa Ana River Trail known as the Rincon to Prado Spillway segment in the County of Riverside.
7. Consideration and authorization to disburse up to $10,000,000 to the County of San Diego to implement the Tijuana River Valley – Smuggler’s Gulch Improvements Project, and adoption of findings under the California Environmental Quality Act.
- Addendum: Smuggler’s Gulch Improvements Project
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
8. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $500,000, including $74,000 in funds from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, to the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department to realign and improve the existing trail network at Twin Peaks in San Francisco County, part of the Bay Area Ridge Trail alignment, to control erosion, increase public safety, restore native plants, and provide interpretive and directional signs.
9. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to: 1) $7,605,000 to Ducks Unlimited, Inc. for construction, monitoring and modeling of Phase 2 South Bay Salt Pond (SBSP) Restoration Project actions at Eden Landing Ecological Reserve in Alameda County; 2) $720,000 of in-lieu fee funds awarded to the Conservancy from the California Department of Transportation for development of the public access trail as part of the Phase 2 project at Ravenswood in San Mateo County; 3) $3,500,000 to the Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District to conduct studies and prepare designs and a 408 permit application for alterations to flood control facilities at Eden Landing; 4) $460,000 to the Aquatic Science Center for a lead scientist, the SBSP Restoration Project website, and applied studies to support implementation of the SBSP Restoration Project in Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties; 5) $385,000 for executive project management of the SBSP Restoration Project; and 6) $800,000 to the California Wildlife Foundation for monitoring and applied studies that facilitate ongoing adaptive management of the SBSP Restoration Project.
10. Consideration and possible authorization to amend an existing Project Partnership Agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Santa Clara Valley Water District for construction of the Shoreline Project in the City of San José, Santa Clara County.
NORTH COAST
11. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $269,318 to the Yurok Tribe for planning and to prepare designs and permit applications for instream salmonid habitat enhancement projects in the Elk Meadows Cabin reach of lower Prairie Creek, a tributary to Redwood Creek, in Humboldt County.
12. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $413,000 to Save the Redwoods League to construct approximately 4.5 miles of new trails extending the coastal trail on the Shady Dell property near the Usal Beach area of the southern Lost Coast in Mendocino County, and adoption of findings under the California Environmental Quality Act.
13. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $505,000 to the City of Healdsburg for their Fire Department to conduct wildfire fuel management, create defensible space, and update the management plan for Fitch Mountain Park and Open Space Preserve in Sonoma County, and adoption of findings under the California Environmental Quality Act.
14. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $2,000,000 to The Wildlands Conservancy to acquire approximately 7,480 acres of the Lone Pine Ranch property at the confluence of the Eel River mainstem and North Fork Eel River in Trinity and Mendocino Counties for the purposes of preserving and restoring fish and wildlife habitat, public access and recreation, open space, and natural resource protection.
- Addendum: Lone Pine Ranch Property
15. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $2,000,000 to the County of Humboldt to complete designs and permits and construct the Humboldt Bay Trail South, a new 4.25 mile stretch of the California Coastal Trail linking the Cities of Arcata and Eureka, and adoption of findings under the California Environmental Quality Act.
16. Consideration and possible authorization to disburse up to $940,000 to the Smith River Alliance, Inc. to acquire beach, dune, wetland, upland and forested parcels in the vicinity of the Pacific Shores subdivision, adjacent to Lake Earl, Del Norte County.
17. EXECUTIVE OFFICER REPORT PART II
B. California Coastal Trail Data and Mapping Viewer
D. Prop 68 Inclusive Coastal Storytelling Grant Program
18. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS
19. CONSERVANCY MEMBER COMMENTS
20. CLOSED SESSION
A. To confer regarding Defend Ballona Wetlands, et al. v. California State Coastal Conservancy, et al., Los Angeles County Superior Court, Case No. 20STCV29911. Session will be closed to the public pursuant to Government Code Section 11126(e)(2)(A).
B. To confer regarding Pappas, et al. v. State Coastal Conservancy, et al., Santa Barbara County, Superior Court, Case No. 1417388. Session will be closed to the public pursuant to Government Code Section 11126(e)(2)(A).
C. To confer regarding Lebolt v. City and County of San Francisco, et al., San Francisco County, Superior Court Case No. CGC-19-581761. Session will be closed to the public pursuant to Government Code Section 11126(e)(2)(A).
D. To confer regarding City of Trinidad v. Tsurai Ancestral Society, et al., Humboldt County Superior Court Case No. DR180684. Session will be closed to the public pursuant to Government Code Section 11126(e)(2)(A).
Please note: If a closed session is needed, the closed session of the meeting will be conducted on a separate conference line, after announcement of the convening of a closed session on the weblink identified above. The board will reconvene on the weblink provided above to make any reports, provide any documentation, and make any other disclosures required by Section 11125.2 of the Government Code.
21. ADJOURNMENT
Note: Agenda items may be taken out of sequence at the discretion of the Conservancy. At any time during the meeting, but prior to the adjournment of the open session of 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 Sections 11126(a), (c) (7), and (e).
Any person who has a disability and requires reasonable accommodation to participate in this public meeting should contact Taylor Samuelson no later than five days prior to meeting.
Any person who has a disability and requires reasonable accommodation to participate in this public meeting should contact Taylor Samuelson no later than five days prior to meeting.
Questions about the meeting or agenda can be directed to Taylor Samuelson at (510) 286-4182 or Taylor.Samuelson@scc.ca.gov or at the Conservancy:
1550 Clay Street, 10th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612