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HomeMy WebLinkAboutpitco.ost.min.joint.02282001 . . . OPEN SPACE AND TRAILS BOARD OF TRUSTEES / BOCC JOINT MEETING OF FEBRUARY 28, 2001 Plaza 1 Open Space Board Members Present: Tom Cardamone, Bill Fales, Hawk Greenway, Rick Neiley BOCC Members Present: Patti Clapper, Dorothea Farris, Jack Hatfield, Mick Ireland, Shellie Roy Others Present: Marie Baker, Brian Pettet, Michael Craig, John Ely, Hilary Fletcher-Smith, Pam Gabel, Temple Glassier, Tom Grady, Jonathan Lowsky, Miles Stotts and Dale Will The meeting was not called to order, as the OSTB meeting was still in order. Personnel Dart Caretaker Position Dale Will has been offered a caretaker position with the Dart Ranch, in return for housing. Dale said the Darts' are ideal conservation-minded landowners and are excited about the possibility of a ranch manager with conservation experience. Under the county's conflict of interest rules for policy-makers, "no county policy maker shall participate in decision-making which affects any entity in which he or she has financial interest". Dale said hypothetical conflicts could consist of a violation ofthe conservation easement by the Darts or requested changes in the easement by the Darts, though Dale doesn't foresee any such conflicts. He feels the caretaking position can be mutually advantageous to the County and OS, and to the Darts. Dale asked the BOCC for permission to enter into the caretaking agreement with the Darts. Dorothea stated "obviously, Dale would not have any input in decision-making with regards to the Darts". Patti asked ifthe OSTB is in favor of Dale accepting the caretaking position. They are. Rick Neiley disclosed that he has a conflict of interest; he has done legal work for the Darts (before their conservation easement was established). Rick stated the Darts have asked him to convey to the BOCC that A VLT is a co-holder ofthe Darts' conservation easement and thus another "watchdog" in the event of a conflict. Hilary asked for clarification regarding who will be the point person for any potential problems with the Dart property. (lfDale accepts the position). Dale said Michael Craig should be contacted for land management issues; the County Attorney's office should be contacted regarding legal issues. Patti asked Michael Craig and John Ely ifthat is acceptable to them; they replied it is. . Jack suggested an aunual BOCC review. Hawk said the OSTB has an annual monitoring of all properties by an independent, A VLT. Bill also suggested the matter can be flagged in Dale's annual performance review. The BOCC gave Dale the go-ahead, with the above considerations. Executive Session Mick made a motion that the BOCC enter Executive Session for the purpose of acquisition; Shellie seconded the motion. Bill made a motion that the OSTB enter Executive Session; Rick seconded the motion. All in favor. The BOCC and OSTB came out of executive session at approximately 12:50 p.m. Structure of Open Space Management/Restructure of Public Works Dale said discussions have been prompted in part by his desire for a ranger position, by Brian's look at the PW assets division and by the restructuring of the Public Works department. Dale favors a ranger position to enforce the newly revised open space use rules. Dale invited Marie Baker and Tom Grady to speak to the BOCC, to give the Sheriffs Dept. and Animal Control's input regarding enforcement on open space lands. Dale mentioned leash laws and uninvited "campers" as two frequent enforcement issues. Dale informed the BOCC of a proposed ranger position, funded Y, by Open Space and y, by Landfill, that would perform Open Space enforcement and bear/wildlife ordinance enforcement. Dorothea said enforcement considerations might also include coordination with RTA in monitoring the 450-acre RFRHA corridor and trails. . Brian said he would like an answer regarding the ranger position. He questioned the value of ordinances with no means of enforcement. Patti asked Miles Stotts ifhe felt a Y, landfill / y, open space ranger position is viable. Miles said he considers it workable; Patti asked Miles to put job details on paper. Dorothea said she'd like to proceed with the ranger concept and asked Miles to come back to both boards with a proposal. Shellie voiced two main concerns with the enviromnental ranger position: 1) approval of the ranger position involves a policy change; in the past, the County has operated on a complaint- driven basis, not a patrol basis. 2) A frequent complaint of taxpayers to Shellie is the County government's growth and thus, tax growth. Mick said it is more appropriate for staff to first present a ranger proposal and then continue the ranger discussion with the BOCC/OSTB. Bill said he shares Shellie's concerns; in the past, the BOCC has directed the OSTB to work with various County departments. Bill suggested the OSTB should have the same rights as other property-owners, to call the Sheriff s Office for enforcement. Bill added he's interested in the Sheriff Office's input on enforcement. Jack supported Shellie's two points; he said the BOCC needs a more detailed proposal from Brian before BOCC discussion. Dorothea said the conversation needs to include all the people . involved and reiterated the need to have a way to enforce ordinances. 2 . . . Mick proposed staff make a presentation at a future meeting; he asked that staff s proposal take into consideration other available resources, concerns voiced at today's meeting, the possibility of finding someone with these kinds of skills, and the appropriateness of creating such a position. Mick preferred the Sheriffs Officers speak to BOCC and the OSTB at a future meeting. Mick also spoke to Shellie's remarks about the County's complaint-driven policy, saying "complaint- driven" is no longer the attitude in many County departments. Patti asked Hilary ifthe ranger position needs to be figured into the budget now. Hilary said a supplemental budget appropriation will need to be done. Brian asked the BOCC for direction in whether to consider Open Space and Trails a customer or another department, in the Public Works restructuring. Brian feels an Open Space department is being formed by default under Public Works. The OS director has no authority over the PW assets team. The situation has worked to date, because the present personalities mesh and work well together. The project manager (of the PW assets team) is 50% funded by OST, the land manager is 80% funded by OST and the wildlife biologist is 50% funded by OST; there are also four summer "field" employees dedicated to OST. Dale does acquisitions and coordinates management; the implementation of management directives are done by Public Works. Brian said ifthere is no decision in today's meeting, OST will be treated as a customer; "you're either in or you're out". Patti asked for OSTB's response. Rick said the OST legislation directs the OSTB to use other County departments and personnel. Rick feels OSTB and PW have worked well together to date, and doesn't see an inherent problem in the present OS/PW working situation, even with different personalities involved. Rick feels Dale's role in the OST program and Dale's ability to go to other departments and boards has worked exceptionally well, and hesitates to make any structural changes in that organization, unless there are specific problems/incidents. The OST presently has some autonomy with property-owners who might not feel similarly well toward the County. Shellie asked Brian the pros and cons ofthe customer/department scenario. Brian explained communication lines between Dale and the assets team seem to work, but are informal. Brian said it is difficult for Temple to balance various projects' effectively, without more formal lines of communication. IfOST was part of Public Works, OST maintenance needs could be balanced more easily. The authority, responsibility and protocol would all be in one group. Mick suggested perhaps the time has come to put the OS operations under Public Works. Those departments should be reporting through the Public Works to the manager; there's a good case for having the OS manager also be the acquisitions manager and continue to report, in the way Dale presently does. Mick added perhaps the OSTB could focus more on acquisition and not focus on maintenance. Temple also expressed a need for a more formal working relationship between Open Space and Public Works. Bill stated he feels the present situation is working "incredibly well". He added the OSTB has tried to be "the best customer we can", giving PW priority lists well in advance. 3 Bill added the OST charter states the Board's responsibilities include both acquisition and . . maintenance of properties. Dorothea suggested the acquisitions part of the OS program could be kept somewhat apart, but feels the maintenance of the OS properties needs to be incorporated into the PW, and in a way that keeps intact the autonomy of the OS program. Temple said it is frustrating to not have Dale included in the PW restructuring steering committee; the assets team would prefer Dale have more input. (Dale presently had one interview with PW's facilitator). Mick asked ifthe OSTB has any objections to Dale's participation in the steering committee and restructure. Hawk said it makes sense for Open Space, as one ofPW's "major customers", to be included, to see what kind of structure will work for OS. "And it might be determined that OS needs a more independent organization". Hilary said the desire "to do an even better job" in meeting customer needs is pushing the reorganization. Hilary added the restructuring isn't changing the home rule charter, just trying to improve the charter's implementation. . Jack said he's tired of the controversy, as a citizen and as a commissioner. He feels "it's time the open space director's position is incorporated or consolidated into Public Works". He feels the decision is ultimately the BOCC's decision and expressed a willingness to be the swing vote, if necessary, to achieve that. Jack also expressed a need for Dale's job to be independent; he feels Dale should still do acquisitions and should still have oversight over the whole program. Bill respectfully dissented. Mick said Dale will be part ofthe restructuring. Other alternatives may arise; the BOCC needs to review those alternatives and see ifthey're workable. Shellie clarified her understanding ofthe discussion, is that PW and the County need Dale to be involved in the restructuring, and the OSTB needs Dale's autonomy preserved. Bill said he's willing to have Dale participate in a PW restructuring; he is not interested in reopening the discussion of Dale's position and of how Dale's position is governed. Bill said enough time has been spent on those issues, a solution was reached and that solution is working very well. Bill is not at all interested in putting Dale's position under Public Works. Hawk seconded many of Bill's sentiments. Hawk feels the OS program is very successful; it works because of its independence. He added the program has been growing very quickly-the acquisitions and thus the maintenance. Hawk said Dale's position is a full-blown management position, a point man for the program; thus Dale needs to be part of the restructuring conversation. Hawk said "we've got a really successful program here; we've got to be really careful how we reorganize the management of this program, to take it on into the future". Shellie said the program is "not working now". Mick said it is unproductive to continue the debate at this time. There are too few OSTB members present, the OSTB has agreed Dale should participate in the restructuring, and "we can debate the restructuring alternatives when they're presented". . 4 . . . Dale sees the role of the OSTB trustees as "fiduciaries of the public to ensure that (Open Space) fund is expended in a way that reflects the purposes for which it was created." Dale said autonomy is a key element in spending the fund as the public envisioned; the fund was not meant to be available for other things. Dale emphasized the OST trustees are very knowledgeable and skilled and volunteer a great deal oftime to OST. (He feels the County is presently getting "six people for the price of one"). Dale asked that the autonomy feature of OST not be lost, regardless ofthe restructuring outcome. Debbie Quinn Dale acknowledged and honored Debbie Quiun for her assistance as a transaction counselor to Open Space. Dale said OST has been able to do 3 or 4 times more acquisitions in the past year than at any other time in its program; Dale largely attributed this success to Debbie. Her transition (to Assistant County Manager on March 26th) will leave a big gap in OS staff resources. Dale stressed the importance of continuing the current momentum of acquisition and trail construction, and hopes the BOCC will consider OS needs in the search for Debbie's "replacement". Mick said John and the BOCC are "aware ofthat gap and will fill that gap". Mick said it's inappropriate to proceed with this discussion now; more information and recommendations are needed in order to proceed. Bill said Debbie Quinn has been invaluable to the OST. Bill requested that OST be allowed to continue to use Debbie's expertise temporarily, until her replacement is found; Bill also requested that Open Space needs be considered in finding Debbie's replacement. Hilary said she would need to defer to John Ely on the matter. Bill said OST is presently working on some real estate deals that may acquire final legal attention and questioned whether John could find a replacement by March 26th. The OSTB was assured it "would not be left hanging". Returning to the PW/OS discussion, Jack asked the group to return to the BOCC with multiple alternatives, before any recommendations. Jack said he is interested in eliminating certain structure now. Jack said he doesn't feel "the OS director's position in this organization is of similar nature and responsibility as County Manager or County Attorney. This is a very specific and critically important part of our organization, but it has a limited scope". BLM Dale informed the BOCC he has prepared a letter to Ann Morgan of the BLM, regarding what he considers the BLM field manager's "inappropriate conduct" in the Ryan land swap. Dale said he'd like to leave today's meeting with said letter signed. Hawk said the OSTB has suggested adding Hawk's signature to the letter. (As the OSTB Chair). The BOCC approved of Dale's letter and of Hawk's signature being added to the letter. Dorothea thanked Dale for drafting the letter. Moore Jack said he doesn't want to pursue the "Moore as Housing" issue, until staff does an evaluation. He feels "it's a betrayal". 5 ---- . Bill said he's "happy not to have the discussion about Moore ifit's a dead issue". Only, ifit's a dead issue. Mick said Chuck needs to bring Moore/Housing to a full discussion, ifhe wants to revive it. Mick doesn't want to go forward with the issue, unless the public wants to move the discussion forward. Dorothea asked ifMick was saying the BOCC is not pushing the Moore/Housing issue forward in any way. Mick said "we're not pushing it right now". Jack asked if the BOCC had reversed its' Ely/Chucklballot question discussion. Mick added the deadline for the May election has passed, so the point is moot. Hawk suggested it may be appropriate to partner Open Space and the Housing Authority to look at acquisitions of other parcels that have conservation values and that might also serve as employee housing sites. Hawk said staff can be directed to develop such ideas and programs. "We recognize we have a housing problem in the County. We're a very successful program in creating real estate transactions; let's create that same sort of success on the housing side". Patti said the idea is "great". Mick said it is appropriate for Dale to approach the Housing Authority with the idea. Jack said such a program might well serve the purpose oflooking at two necessary issues in our community. Jack added he hopes the OSTB is aware oflocal housing criteria and asked that the . OSTB be sensitive to what locations it might consider for such projects. End of Joint Meeting. Approved )'/~ cfi:-" ./ App~ved as to Fa ! \ V) . 6 ------