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Home My WebLink About2021-06-16 THCA MinutesTRES HERMANOS CONSERVATION AUTHORITY REGULAR BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES DIAMOND BAR, CALIFORNIA JUNE 16, 2021 PAGE 1 1. CALL TO ORDER The Regular Meeting of the Tres Hermanos Conservation Authority was called to order by Chair Marquez at 6:00 p.m. Chair Marquez stated that consistent with COVID-19 regulations, all Directors and staff participated via teleconference and there was no physical location for public attendance and the Public was invited to join the meeting online or by phone at the numbers printed on the agenda. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Director Peter Rogers. ROLL CALL Directors in attendance telephonically Directors Absent: Director Nancy Lyons Director Cory Moss Director Peter Rogers Director Newell Ruggles Director Steve Tye Chair Ray Marquez Vice -Chair Cathy Marcucci Staff attending telephonically: Dan Fox, Executive Director; Ben Montgomery, Deputy Executive Director; Josh Nelson, Industry Director of Public Works/City Engineer/Assistant City Manager; Christa Buhagiar, Treasurer; Cheryl Balz, Filing Officer; Tracy Egoscue, Authority Counsel and Kristina Santana, Authority Secretary. 2. PUBLIC COMMENTS: None 3. CONSENT CALENDAR 3.1 CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES OF THE APRIL 21, 2021 REGULAR MEETING TRES HERMANOS CONSERVATION AUTHORITY REGULAR BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES DIAMOND BAR, CALIFORNIA JUNE 16, 2021 PAGE 2 RECOMMENDED ACTION: Approve the April 21, 2021 Regular Tres Hermanos Conservation Authority meeting minutes. 3.2 CONSIDERATION TO RECEIVE AND FILE THE WARRANTS AND OUTGOING WIRE TRANSFERS FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH AND THE PAYMENT REGISTER FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL 2021. RECOMMENDED ACTION. Receive and file the warrants and outgoing wire transfers for the month of March and payment register for the month of April 2021. 3.3 CONSIDERATION TO APPROVE THE TREASURER'S REPORT FOR THE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2021, AND APRIL 30, 2021. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Receive and file the Treasurer's Reports for the months ended March 31, 2021, and April 30, 2021. 3.4 APPOINT LANCE, SOLL & LUNGHARD, LLP, AS THE CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL AUDITING SERVICES. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Approve as submitted. 3.5 RECORDS RETENTION SCHEDULE ADOPTION. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Adopt Resolution No. THCA 2021-04 entitled: A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE TRES HERMANOS CONSERVATION AUTHORITY, ADOPTING A RECORDS RETENTION SCHEDULE, ADOPTING THE PROCESS FOR FUTURE UPDATES AND DESTRUCTION OF CERTAIN AUTHORITY RECORDS. MOTION BY DIRECTOR ROGERS AND SECOND BY DIRECTOR MOSS TO APPROVE THE CONSENT CALENDAR. MOTION CARRIED 6-0 BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE: AYES: DIRECTORS: LYONS, MOSS, ROGERS, RUGGLES, TYE, CHAIR/MARQUEZ NOES: DIRECTORS: NONE ABSENT: DIRECTORS: VC/MARCUCCI TRES HERMANOS CONSERVATION AUTHORITY REGULAR BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES DIAMOND BAR, CALIFORNIA JUNE 16, 2021 PAGE 3 ABSTAIN: DIRECTORS: NONE 4. OLD BUSINESS There was none. 5. NEW BUSINESS 5.1 IN -PERSON MEETING FORMAT PREFERENCES. ED/Fox presented the staff report. Following discussion, there was consensus to hold hybrid model meetings until September. James Gallagher, Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce, suggested that Zeb Welborn, President, Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce could provide analysis and comments on the success of hybrid meetings. Melanie Schlotterbeck, Hills for Everyone, stated her preference for hybrid meetings. MOTION BY DIRECTOR TYE, SECOND BY DIRECTOR LYONS TO MOVE FORWARD WITH HYBRID MEETINGS UNTIL SEPTEMBER. MOTION CARRIED 6-0 BY THE FOLLOWING ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: DIRECTORS: LYONS, MOSS, ROGERS, RUGGLES, TYE, CHAIR/MARQUEZ NOES: DIRECTORS: NONE ABSENT: DIRECTORS: VC/MARCUCCI ABSTAIN: DIRECTORS: NONE 5.2 INITIAL DISCUSSION OF VISIONING PROCESS. ED/Fox presented the staff report. CC/Santana reported that public comment emails were received from the following individuals: C. Robin Smith, Lee Paulson, Dan Hostetler, Richard Saretsky and Mark Warner, all of which were forward to the Board of Directors prior to tonight's meeting and will be available for public viewing on the City's website. TRES HERMANOS CONSERVATION AUTHORITY REGULAR BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES DIAMOND BAR, CALIFORNIA JUNE 16, 2021 PAGE 4 C. Robin Smith, representing the Sierra Club, Angeles Chapter, urged the Authority to perform a natural resource inventory, using ground truth, protocol surveys as described in the California Dept. Fish Wildlife guidelines. James Gallagher, representing Save the Tres Hermanos Ranch group, expressed his excitement about the authority moving forward with a discussion on what the vision for the property should be which he believes should include a total description of the property, a study on the biodiversity and public notification and public comment workshops. Margee Hills, a supporter of the Puente/Chino Hills Wildlife Corridor, was excited and supportive of the visioning process and looked forward to participating. Melanie Schlotterbeck, Conservation Consultant, Hills for Everyone, supports the visioning process and believes a natural resource inventory must be completed before the visioning occurs, as well as, formation of a community website and public input. Director Rogers referred to a letter he received from Marie Taber who lives in Chino Hills which he forwarded to ED/Fox. He said he would like for the visioning process to take place in person at a location suitable for a traditional workshop prior to the end of 2021 and does not believe it is necessary to do an inventory of the property prior to receiving public input. Director Lyons referred to an email sent to Diamond Bar suggesting a portion of the property would be great for senior housing and living. She would also like to see a public workshop to accommodate the many individuals who are interested in this process. Her opinion is that there is one chance to get it right and she believes it is essential to pick the right consultant and give that person a finite process and finite length of time. She also agrees with Director Rogers that it is not necessary to do an inventory prior to receiving public input. Director Moss said she is looking forward to public discussions and input and also believes it is critical to choose the right consultant to guide the authority on the best uses and process for moving forward. She would like to hear more from professionals about a potential inventory of the property and believes a majority favor keeping the property as open space in its natural state. TRES HERMANOS CONSERVATION AUTHORITY REGULAR BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES DIAMOND BAR, CALIFORNIA JUNE 16, 2021 PAGE 5 Director Tye felt workshops were a good idea as a first step and would like to hear from the retired CalPoly Pomona professor who said he was willing to help. In his opinion, the authority should look into who it can get on a volunteer basis to help it through this process and he believes it is important to have qualified experts and to integrate volunteers into the process as well. He looks forward to the process and workshops such as the workshop held at the Diamond Bar Center which was well -attended by individuals who engaged in robust conversation. Director Ruggles agreed with Director Tye. There are a lot of great resources available in the area, especially at CalPoly Pomona. He does not want to see too much progress because open spaces are dwindling and perhaps this board should try to preserve as much as possible so that future generations will have access to the property. He looks forward to public input. Chair/Marquez said that it is the goal of this authority to be transparent with respect to Tres Hermanos, to seek engagement from the community and provide the best possible plan for this wonderful piece of property. Moving forward, the baseline inventory is important, a community website should be put together, a budget needs to be established, and a timeline needs to be determined. ED/Fox said that staff has been provided sufficient information to define a process and will reach out to CalPoly's School of Environmental Design to see whether they would recommend a class project or whether they have resources the Authority can tap into. Regardless of what happens going forward, the environmental review process will take place as a matter of compliance with CEQA. He suggested the process be treated similar to that of a General Plan process, a Master Plan or Specific Plan for Tres Hermanos, regardless of whether it remains a grazing ranch or something accessible to the public. In addition, money has been set aside in the budget for a website which is important in moving the process forward. To that end, staff will come back to the authority with a plan and include a schedule for public workshops as part of the engagement process. 6. AUTHORITY DIRECTOR COMMENTS: Director Tye was glad to get the visioning process started and looked forward to seeing what opportunities are available for this magnificent piece of earth. TRES HERMANOS CONSERVATION AUTHORITY REGULAR BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES DIAMOND BAR, CALIFORNIA JUNE 16, 2021 PAGE 6 Director Moss was excited about moving forward with the envisioning process and the hybrid model and in -person meetings. Director Lyons agreed with Director Moss. Director Rogers said he was in lockstep with everyone present and looks forward to getting together in person. He is pleased that the visioning process is moving forward and believes that there is no need to rush the process, but that it would be good to take the pulse of the community and protect the property and environment. Chair/Marquez asked if grant funds might be available for this process and ED/Fox said that there may be opportunities for park grants, climate change activity grants, preservation of open space and open space uses grants and others. Chair/Marquez thanked public speakers for engaging in tonight's meeting and encouraged others to reach out to the authority with their input. 7. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, Chair Ray Varquez adjourned the Tres Hermanos Conservation Authority at 6:43 p.m. to dnesday, July 21st, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. Y ARQUEZ CH R A~_ KRISTINA SANTANA AUTHORITY SECRETARY