HomeMy WebLinkAboutDecember 9Next meeting: January 13. 2006
2 PM Town Hall
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Los Altos Hills Open Space Committee
Minutes of December 9, 2005
(Actions Items Printed in Bold)
Present: Roger Spreen, Chair, Patty Ciesla, Nancy Couperus, Mary Davey, Karen
Lemes, Barbara Mordo, Alice Sakamoto, Jean Struthers, Susan Welch
Regrets: None
Guests: Michele Korpos, Live Oak Associates
1. Call to Order:
Roger Spreen called the meeting to order at 2 PM. The minutes of the November
11, 2005 meeting were approved.
2. Introductions/Presentations/Guests: Michelle Korpos will comment on the wildlife
study. Barbara Mordo brought refreshments in honor of our newest member, Alice.
3. New Business:
Monthly Planning Project Reviews:
27500 La Vida Real – The Malivalli project is a very large home being built on
an 8+-acre parcel. A large portion of the property (4.8 acres) has been dedicated
as open space easement. The Planning Commission received comments (pro and
con) concerning a proposed pathway within the 20-foot easement that runs along
Deer Creek which runs across the property. The Planning Commission decided
not to eliminate the path but instead to limit it to a low-impact native path two
feet wide or less.
26411 Eschner Court & 26300 Silent Hills Lane – The Perrell project off Silent
Hills Lane and Altamont Road contains three open space easements. The owner
wanted to erect a 6’ fence along Silent Hills Lane to protect a vineyard planted
four years ago. The fence as planned would effectively seal off the open space
easements from all wildlife. The 6’ fence would have required an exception. The
request was denied by the Planning Commission.
4. Follow-up actions from previous meeting:
Wildlife Survey
Sue Welch passed out the database – approximately 220 surveys received so far
out of 2800 that were sent out. 59 of the respondents indicated interest in being
Next meeting: January 13. 2006
2 PM Town Hall
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kept informed. Most of the survey responses are positive. Sue also prepared a
map of the Town showing the location and frequency of deer sightings. Roger
agreed to present the map showing where the wildlife has been reported at
the next Council meeting, along with some of the interesting comments from
respondents. Alice and Sue will continue to enter the data from the surveys.
Barbara Mordo and Mary Davey offered to call the individuals who requested
that they be kept informed.
Wildlife Study – Michele Korpos, wildlife ecologist
Michelle explained the hold-up with the project – the lack of success in securing
GIS vegetation layers with a 30-meter on a side resolution (the preferred data for
creating map models.) As a result, aerial photos will be used in conjunction with
the wildlife subcommittee’s map (Michele indicated our map would help greatly
with their effort). The use of aerials and our map will result in a coarser grain end
product, but one that will be useful nonetheless. The next step in the process will
be “ground truthing” – looking at existing conditions (culverts, creeks, drainages,
fences, etc) to determine areas that should remain as they are (i.e. remain open
and unimpeded) and to determine problem areas – things that could impede
movement through corridors.
Herbicide Recommendation
Roger reported that the herbicide resolution was on the agenda of the next
Council meeting. He will attend the meeting to suggest that the OSC work with
staff on alternatives to spraying. January or early February is when the next
spraying is scheduled. Our goal will be to try to stop the spraying by that time.
Byrne Preserve
No report at this time.
Pathway Committee Update
Roy Woolsey, Chair of the Community Relations Committee, has stated strong
opposition to putting on any Town Committee (as a voting member) individuals
who do not reside in Los Altos Hills. An application for a Pathway Committee
position was submitted by a resident of Los Altos and the applicant was chosen on
a 4-1 vote by the City Council. Roy requested that other Town Committees make
a similar statement as Community Relations. The OSC voted unanimously that
committee members must reside in town to qualify for a Town committee. Roger
will put a statement together.
Open Discussion:
The OSC decided that it needs to identify at least four areas of concern – for
example, slopes, wildlife areas, fences – and invite Mike O’Malley and Breene
Kerr to attend our Committee meetings to hear our perspective on these matters.
Next meeting: January 13. 2006
2 PM Town Hall
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The meeting was adjourned at 4 PM.
Recorded by: Nancy Couperus