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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-04-27; Agricultural Conversion Mitigation Fee Committee Ad Hoc; MinutesCorrected MEETING MINUTES Minutes of: Agricultural Conversion Mitigation Fee Ad Hoc Citizens Advisory Committee Type of Meeting: ORGANIZATIONAL Time of Meeting: 1:00 P.M. Date of Meeting: April 27, 2007 Place of Meeting: FARADAY CENTER-ROOM 173-A CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Eric Larson called the Meeting to order at 1:05 p.m. Committee Members Present: Eric Larson, Chairperson/Executive Director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau Julie Baker, Planning Commissioner Richard Erhardt, Chairman of the Beach Preservation Committee Ken Alfrey, Board Member, Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation Hope Wrisley, Community Leader Irv Rosten – Retired Staff Member Present: Scott Donnell (Senior Planner) Chris DeCerbo (Principal Planner) Facilitator: Jim Boylan PUBLIC ATTENDEES: There was a total of 7 people in audience. The Chairperson received “Request to Speak” slips from the following attendees: Name: Ms. Kasey Cinciarelli, Lyons Ct, Carlsbad, CA 92010 Topic: (Farm Worker Housing) Representing: Self Name: Mr. Fred C. Sandquist, 6408 Crossing Court, Carlsbad, CA 92011 Topic: Batiquitos Lagoon – Nature Center (5A) Monitoring & Management (5B) Representing: Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation Name: Ms. Anne Spacie, 1942 Swallon Lane, Carlsbad, CA Topic: (Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation Monitoring & Management) Representing: Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation Name: Mr. Keith Merkel Topic: (Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation Monitoring & Management) Representing: Merkel & Associates Name: Mr. Tom Maddox, Real Estate Attorney, 511 Rudder Avenue, Carlsbad, CA Topic: (Farm Worker Housing) Representing: City Farm Worker Task Force Name: Mr. Eric Preciado Topic: (Farm Worker Housing) Representing: City Farm Worker Task Force Agricultural Committee Minutes April 27, 2007 Page 2 APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairperson Larson proposed a minor grammatical change to the November 18, 2006, Meeting Minutes. The word “Association” on page 1 was changed to “Foundation” with regards to the Buena Vista Lagoon Foundation. Action: Motion by Julie Baker and seconded by Richard Erhardt to approve the minutes of the Agricultural Committee Meeting of November 18, 2007, as amended. Vote: 4-0-1 Ayes: Chairperson Larson, Baker, Alfrey, and Rosten Noes: None Abstain: Hope Wrisley Absent: None 4. Committee Update (Re: November 18, 2006 Meeting) Jim Boylan, Meeting Facilitator, updated the Committee on the last meeting with a quick reference spreadsheet. Jim Boylan also handed out copies of the funding sheet, which provided the current Agricultural Conversion Mitigation Fee balance. Eric Larson would like projection information on anticipated fee funds collected. Scott Donnell said that he did not know exactly how much that would be except for the fact that the funds appear to have grown by approximately $200,000 since the Committee’s last meeting. Scott Donnell summarized the two additional pieces of information that were received from grant applicants and submitted for distribution: 1. Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation in regards to their proposal to update their Nature Center (a January 30, 2007 letter from the Foundation was provided earlier to the Committee). Mr. Donnell suggested the proposal seemed to address Committee concerns with the funding for computer & software. 2. New information provided by Catholic Charities in response to Committee concerns regarding the proposed Homeless & Agricultural Farm Worker Housing. Chairperson Larson confirmed that the Committee had the opportunity to review the material in advance. He then suggested that the Committee first discuss each topic amongst themselves. Once that process has reached a point where they wanted to ask question of the Applicants, the Applicant Representative could then come forward and speak. Due to the possibility of different outcomes, Chairperson Larson recommended to wait for final decision and hold Committees deliberations on all topics until each topic was discussed by the Committee and all the members of the audience had the opportunity to address the Committee on each issue. Prior to proceeding, Chairperson Larson pointed out an Agenda typo for correction. Under Agenda item 5, item #c. should have been “Farmworker Housing” and item #d. would be “Agua Hedionda Lagoon Trails”. PUBLIC COMMENT: Ms. Kasey Cinciarelli spoke about items that were not on the Agenda. Ms. Cinciarelli felt that the Grant Period went too fast with the awarding of $6 million. She had a problem with the overall process and requested that it be made fairer in the future. She felt that a longer Grant Period was necessary and the remaining money be handled more carefully. Agricultural Committee Minutes April 27, 2007 Page 3 Ms. Cinciarelli stated that some people who are still farming in Carlsbad got the word that they could have stayed in farming with the assistance of some of this money. They knew nothing of the work the City was doing here. She mentioned that Kato & Rudalus could really use that money to continue farming. Ms. Cinciarelli reiterated that the Grant Period was too short and requested that the City put the remaining items on hold; reopen the Grant Period for a longer period of time; and direct staff to reach out to under- represented groups. She felt the need to distribute dollars equitably among the four eligible project categories with direct attention paid to people currently farming and habitat. Ms. Cinciarelli questioned whether there was a limit to the amount of money that the City would give to one (for profit) organization. She felt that far too much money was going towards the Flower Fields and that no consideration was being given to how much money they were already receiving from the City (in other grants). Ms. Cinciarelli said that the City failed to find out (& take into consideration), how much money the Flower Fields were receiving from other resources as well. Ms. Cinciarelli brought up the fact that there was an original requirement that applicants needed to have certified, up-to-date Financial Statements. Unfortunately, several applicants gave up on the process at this point due to the inability to (1) afford the additional expenditure; and (2) produce current Financial Statements within a 6-week period. It turned out that this requirement was subsequently waived for applicants who visited the City Office and talked to the staff. She commented that it wasn’t fair that the message that went out to the public was that the Financial Statement requirement was mandatory in order to apply. 5a. Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation Nature Center Improvements (Proposal AGP 06-03) Chairperson Larson reminded the Committee that this item was discussed at the original meeting and it was concluded that there were some questionable “soft” items (software & computer items) which the Committee had requested a breakdown of. As requested, the Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation had returned a detailed breakout of these “soft” costs referred to in the original application. Julie Baker questioned the portable items on the listing… sound system, binoculars, software, computer items, etc. She further confirmed the Committee’s previous discussion and understanding that the City was authorizing “building” improvements, not “soft” items that could walk out the door. Chairperson Larson confirmed Julie Baker’s understanding and the fact that this matter is exactly what the Committee would be discussing and making a decision on considering the short lifespan of these items. He quoted Item B of the Foundation’s application, as stated under the project summary category, which repeats what one of the eligible project categories for funding is: “Improvements to existing or proposed lagoon nature centers.” Hope Wrisley commented that these items are improvements to the accessibility and help the public to utilize the Center better. Name: Mr. Fred C. Sandquist, 6408 Crossing Court, Carlsbad, CA 92011 Topic: Batiquitos Lagoon – Nature Center (5A) Monitoring & Management (5B) Representing: Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation (BLF) Mr. Sandquist introduced himself as the President of the Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation. He started by discussing the software requirements since he realized that this was the main concern. Mr. Sandquist explained that instead of purchasing several microscopes (or bird spotting scopes), he felt that one microscope (with video) could project on an existing plasma display screen. This would enable the public to conveniently view a water sample and see what was actually in there. This scenario made more sense to BLF than having everybody crowding around. The second item that Mr. Sandquist referred to was the electrical line item on the budget that the Committee had lined out. Mr. Sandquist stressed that this line item covered the cost of buying an electrical pole that was Agricultural Committee Minutes April 27, 2007 Page 4 currently a potential safety hazard. BLF has a temporary 440 volts line that provides power to their Nature Center thru two poles that have been temporary in nature since the late 90’s. These poles have fallen down twice and gone into the trees. This remains a huge concern especially since approximately 2,000 school children visit each year. BLF’s tenant (Avina Master Association) who owns the property has requested that BLF bury the pole and eliminate this as a safety hazard. Mr. Sandquist respectfully requested that this electrical line item be approved. SUBSEQUENT COMMITTEE DISCUSSION 5a. Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation Nature Center Improvements (Proposal AGP 06-03) Chairperson Eric Larson expressed his appreciation for the Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation’s effort to rewrite their documentation in great detail and the resubmittal of their request. Chairperson Larson was prepared to support the request of $10,350 to underground the existing electrical service. Hope Wrisley, Ken Alfrey and Richard Erhardt confirmed that they did not have a problem with the software or the $10,350 request for electrical improvements. Julie Baker was opposed to approving this proposal because she felt there were certain inconsistencies with this and previous decisions. Ms. Baker stated that she was against the approval of items that were not physical to the building. Action: Motion by Hope Wrisley and seconded by Ken Alfrey to approve proposal of the Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation. Vote: 5 – 1 Ayes: Chairperson Larson, Wrisley, Erhardt, Alfrey, and Rosten Noes: Julie Baker Absent: None 5b. Batiquitos Lagoon Monitoring and Management (Proposal AGP 06-12) Chairperson Larson recapped the issue that was originally discussed by the Committee. He recollected that the Committee was wondering where the actually responsibility lies for monitoring & management of the Batiquitos Lagoon – considering that it was done as a mitigation project. The question amongst the Committee was “Where does that responsibility lie?” The committee was questioning whether it was the City’s responsibility, Department of Fish & Game’s responsibility, or another agency’s charge. Chairperson Larson reiterated that fact that the question wasn’t the value of the project, it was whether it was an appropriate usage of agricultural mitigation funds -- if there was somebody else that was responsible. Scott Donnell said that he hadn’t had the time to research and obtain specific details with regards to who exactly is responsible. He requested more time to give the Committee a complete answer. He has been able to find out some information about the annuity amount that was initially established about 15 years ago. Name: Ms. Anne Spacie, 1942 Swallon Lane, Carlsbad, CA Topic: (Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation Monitoring & Management) Representing: Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation Ms. Spacie pointed out the importance of having some continuity in the monitoring. They haven’t had an adequate physical monitoring program at all the past 10 years. The only information they have is from Merkel & Associates and their work on an ad-hoc basis. Agricultural Committee Minutes April 27, 2007 Page 5 Good management decisions cannot be made without continuity and proper physical management. If good management decisions aren’t made, you end up wasting money. The bottom line is, either too much money will be spent or the effort will be ineffective – or may be both. Ms. Spacie stressed that despite the temptation to table or delay a project, with this particular type of project – its imperative that they receive the seasonal data. She mentioned that this is a very dry year. They need the measurements and without them, it compromises what they can learn. In summary, Ms. Spacie spoke in favor of continuity so that they can make effective management decisions and avoid wasting money down the road. Name: Mr. Keith Merkel Topic: (Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation Monitoring & Management) Representing: Merkel & Associates Mr. Merkel noted his firm has been doing long term monitoring on the lagoon up to this point. He referred to the Committee’s concerns from the last meeting with regards to lagoon responsibility. Mr. Merkel wanted to bring some information to the Committee’s attention. He noted the Port of L.A. funded the program for the restoration of the lagoon ($62 million). They were responsible thru this long-term endowment for an additional $5+ million that was intended to spin off interest that would maintain the lagoon over time. That endowment was transferred thru a 6 party Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to the Department of Fish & Game (DFG). The principal obligation was the maintenance dredging, and endangered species monitoring and maintenance. DFG now receives $250,000/year thru this endowment. The area is identified as an ecological reverse reserve and the Department is a steward for that land. Under that stewardship program, they are obligated to maintain the lagoon. DFG is spending more than $250K to do that work. The bottom line, Mr. Merkel noted, is that the original endowment that was intended to cover the maintenance doesn’t maintain the specific obligations outlined in the MOU. There is a recapture clause – after 30 years the court & all parties can adjust the endowment as necessary. The Port of L.A. will potentially put an additional $3 million into that endowment. The endowment is just sufficient for the bare minimum and the purpose of this Lagoon Foundation proposal is to bridge the gap. The program is a bridge between what needs to be done to keep the lagoon healthy. Mr. Merkel stressed that the Port doesn’t get any more mitigation credit or value from this point on – there’s no more gain or loss to them. There’s no obligation beyond the $3 million for them to contribute. The City’s obligation is open space management. As Anne Spacey indicated previously, unfortunately the physical monitoring has been neglected. Julie Baker questioned what exactly the costs are to maintain the lagoon (besides the $250K) and Keith responded that DFG is spending about $400,000 but their work is not adequate to do the necessary monitoring. Ms. Baker further questioned whether DFG was spending their money wisely & addressing what needs to be done. Keith Merkel said no, that DFG is meeting what it needs to stay consistent with the MOU. At the present time, DFG is not in a situation where they are in violation of the MOU. Irv Roston questioned where the money would go if they received specific funds for monitoring. Keith Merkel responded that they have no more monitoring funding available as of October 2006. Funding was for biological, not physical monitoring. Physical monitoring may enable a determination regarding best place to put dredged material. Proper physical monitoring may “fix” the problem rather than just buy time and enable the $250K interest to be adequate. Eventually, if annuity principal continues to be dipped into the annuity will disappear. Further discussion was held on the history of the lagoon dredging. Agricultural Committee Minutes April 27, 2007 Page 6 SUBSEQUENT COMMITTEE DISCUSSION 5b. Batiquitos Lagoon Monitoring and Management (Proposal AGP 06-12) Chairperson Eric Larson stressed the need to know who the City believes should be responsible. Julie Baker agreed that there’s no disagreement about the proposal, merely the question on who should be paying for it. Irv Roston felt that they don’t really know what they need to do. Chairperson Larson shared his concern that the lagoon issue was major and a much bigger problem than our little committee can address. He felt that perhaps the City needs to step in & shepard this project. Julie Baker stressed that time is of the essence. 5c. Farmworker Housing (Proposal AGP 06-16) Chairperson Larson outlined the Grant request for $2 million from Catholic Charities to build farm worker housing for single, male farmworkers. The concern the Committee had was they didn’t feel there was sufficient separation in the documents received so the Committee could understand (1) what part of this project was to rebuild the existing farmworker housing; and (2) what part of the application was the creation of new beds for the farmworker housing. So the request was to bring back a rework of the application so the Committee could have some understanding of those two separate items. Irv Roston questioned whether there was specific building specifications for the construction of farmworker housing. Chairperson Larson requested Mr. Tom Maddox to respond to this question and also address any other issues to the Committee. Name: Mr. Tom Maddox, Real Estate Attorney, 511 Rudder Avenue, Carlsbad, CA Topic: (Farm Worker Housing) Representing: City Farm Worker Task Force Tom Maddox introduced himself as a local Real Estate Attorney whose been involved with the City’s Farm Worker Housing Task Force for the past 3 years. He also mentioned that Mr. Eric Preciado (Director, La Posada) was also present at the meeting. Mr. Maddox responded that he didn’t have an answer to Irv Roston’s question of whether there was a “specific” type of construction for farm worker housing. He didn’t think that there was any State or City required architecture. Mr. Maddox reported that Catholic Funding doesn’t still have the funding to hire a development team to start the design work of this project. Even if this grant is approved, Catholic Charities will have to go back to the City Council and obtain a conditional use permit to get full approval for construction. Mr. Maddox referred to the previous Meeting Minutes which indicated the Committee’s concern in terms of how many farm workers there’ll be in the City of Carlsbad in the future. Mr. Maddox wanted to point out that he attended a special meeting of the City’s Housing Commission on Thursday, 04/26/07 and felt it was significant to note that in their draft housing plan, farm workers are still identified as a “special needs group”. Mr. Maddox explained that once the City identifies a special needs group, they are legally obligated to try and develop programs to meet the groups needs. One of the goals (since 1999) will be to continue to work with and assist local community groups, social welfare agencies, farm land owners and other interested parties to provide shelter for permanent and migrant farm workers in the city. They will also coordinate with other regional and State workers to address farm labor housing needs. Mr. Maddox realizes that the City recognizes that the farm workers are still a special housing group. Mr. Maddox referred to the “draft” housing element on the City’s web site which identifies an estimated 101 Farm workers (based on 2000 census data) in Carlsbad. He found that was interesting since Catholic Charities was seeking beds for 72 farmworkers so they’d be able to house practically all the farm workers identified in the draft element. However, he noted the element did point out that the farm worker housing Agricultural Committee Minutes April 27, 2007 Page 7 number was not reliable information and possibly an under-estimate of the total number of farmworkers in the City of Carlsbad. Mr. Maddox confirmed with the General Manager of The Strawberry Fields that they have over 200 workers at peak harvest. He has also been noticing smaller fields popping up around the City, such as near Cannon & I-5 and near the intersection of Palomar/El Camino (approach to the airport). Mr. Maddox stressed that there’s a large universe of farm workers with all the agriculture taking place now. Mr. Maddox cited difficulty in locating farm worker housing, noting constraints such as CC&Rs and previous failed efforts to site housing on property owned by SDG&E. Chairperson Eric Larson requested Mr. Maddox to provide a revised proposal with design costs/plans. Mr. Maddox went into further detail to summarize their proposal & explain the differences between the new farmworker housing from the existing La Posada development. Some of his points were: 1. 72 new beds (in addition, replacing existing 50 beds). They are trying to provide new beds for workers actively involved in providing agriculture for the City. Catholic Charities feels it necessary to replace the existing modular units with a new building on the 3.6 acre site. 2. Mr. Maddox firmly believes that this is the only feasible site for this project. They’ve looked at other properties all over the City but siting farm worker housing on these properties wouldn’t be feasible in this real estate market. 3. Mr. Maddox mentioned that even without funding or City approval yet, they’ve managed to raise $25K so far from local businesses and individuals and are confident that they can raise even more funds. Hope Wrisley questioned what the source of this private funding was and Mr. Maddox responded that it was SDG&E, Milano Brothers (Flower Fields), and the rest was church groups & individual citizens. SUBSEQUENT COMMITTEE DISCUSSION 5c. Farmworker Housing (Proposal AGP 06-16) Hope Wrisley liked the fact that even once farmworkers are no longer here, the facility can still be utilized for the homeless. Julie Baker reminded that the City is not spending dollars on the homeless. Richard Erhardt didn’t feel that this would be an issue and farmworkers will be around for a long time due to The Flower Fields. Irv Roston felt strongly that farmworker employers should also step up and assisting with the funding instead of expecting only the City to do so. Julie Baker and Richard Erhardt both agreed with Irv Roston and noted it is unclear if this can be built. Ken Alfrey said that he supports the project in spirit – but agrees with Eric Larson and would like to see more detail in their proposal as well. Eric Larson was concerned about this application because it had the least detail and specificity in comparison to the other proposal (the BLF Nature Center Improvements, AGP 06-03). He also noted that the farming community has contributed funding either directly or indirectly because properties historically farmed have had to pay the Agricultural Conversion Mitigation Fee prior to their development. Chairperson Larson supports this project but wants to put it on hold until it is clear funds are available. Mr. Maddox expected the grant to be conditional and has no problem with holding funds until the rest of it has been obtained. However, he would like to release approximately $100,000 to allow design work to proceed. He assured the Committee that they will continue contribution efforts and are confident that Milano Brothers (Flower Fields) will make another contribution. This project will have no real estate cost at all since the site has already been established by the applicant (Catholic Charities). The applicant will have to go back to the city Council & amend their Conditional Use Permit. Action: Chairperson Larson suggested a vote of project support Vote: 5 – 1 Agricultural Committee Minutes April 27, 2007 Page 8 Ayes: Chairperson Larson, Wrisley, Erhardt, Alfrey, and Rosten Noes: Julie Baker Absent: None Based on the show of support, The Committee recommended Catholic Charities develop a detailed budget for the planning portion of the project and submit a proposal to fund the planning portion to the Committee for consideration. The Committee will need this information so total project costs are documented; with that detail provided, the committee can comfortably forward a recommendation to the City Council. Additionally, the Committee requested that Catholic Charities include, as an information item, identification of other prospective funding sources and a projection of the amount that might reasonably be obtained from them in its request for a planning grant. Furthermore, the Committee advised Mr. Maddox that it would also entertain a proposal to contribute to construction costs after the planning for the project has been completed and those costs are known. 5d. Agua Hedionda Lagoon Trails (Proposal AGP 06-13) Discussion was held on each trail segment. The Committee had the following questions and comments that should be addressed in a revised application: 1. What assurance will the Committee have that funds granted will be used for trails not yet constructed? 2. What is the rationale for setting aside funds for trails that may never be constructed? 3. If the City built a trail, or required it be built by some other entity, would it not be reasonable to expect that the City would directly or indirectly maintain it as well? 4. What will be the City’s liability exposure if a trail user is injured while on the trail? 5. The Committee feels that future consideration will require a clear, comprehensive presentation of information for each trail segment proposed. Accordingly, that information should answer for each segment: a. Who built it? b. Who maintains it? c. Why its maintenance should be a funding responsibility of the Agricultural Conversion Mitigation Fee fund? 6. Next Steps “Next step” items were discussed as part of the consideration of items in Agenda item 5 above. 7. Approval of Permeable Paving Color for The Flower Fields (Approved AGP 06-07) Scott Donnell passed around sample of Paving Color for The Flower Fields. Irv Rosten questioned whether the City of Carlsbad makes any income from The Flower Fields. Julie Baker responded that the only income derived from the Flower Fields are taxes. Action: Motion by Julie Baker and seconded by Richard Erhardt to approve the paving color for the Flower fields. Vote: 6-0 Ayes: Chairperson Larson, Wrisley, Baker, Alfrey, and Rosten Noes: None Absent: None 8. Set Next Agenda The Committee requested the following reports: 1. Staff report on Outreach to Farm Community. Agricultural Committee Minutes April 27, 2007 Page 9 2. Staff report on available Agricultural Conversion Mitigation Fee funds & projection for future funds 3. Staff report on Batiquitos Lagoon maintenance resposibility The Committee discussed the number of committee members. Eric Larson said he would send a letter to the Mayor requesting a replacement for Julie Nygaard. Scott Donnell should follow-up with Eric Larson in a couple of days to ensure that this letter was submitted to the Mayor. 9. Set Next Meeting Date The Committee discussed the following meeting dates: Tuesday, June 5, 2007: (either morning or early PM) Wednesday, June 6, 2007: (PM only) Wednesday, June 13, 2007: (PM only) City staff noted it would check on room availability and apprise the committee on the feasibility of the discussed dates. ADJOURNMENT MOTION By proper motion, the regular meeting of the Agricultural Conversion Committee of April 27, 2007, was adjourned at 3:45 pm. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: Scott Donnell Senior Planner Dianne H. Millsap, Minutes Clerk