2007-03-12 Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission Minutes

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Mr. Gilmartin added one possibility would be to take our title and categorize things in those areas. For example, public access, open space, natural resource, preservation and list them in those categories because there is the additional sub - category of conservation easements too; it's not just access or purchase. Mr. Yada replied that he thought it was worth considering. It had a logical categorization in the acquisition part. Mr. Flores suggested maybe there should be a listing for acquisition, one for conservation easements and one for public access. They are distinct. Mr. Flores stated in times we don't have money; we could focus more on conservation easements. Mr. Gilmartin responded that the easement category would probably include access. It doesn't necessarily have to be a separate thing. Ms. Springer stated in the December 2006 report, the Commission recommended County actions as our third column and that was where we discussed whether we were going to have acquisition, easements, or access; so what we are suggesting was to do away with this column and organize our list in the category that was in this column. Mr. Flores recommended they call it "Recommended actions ". Ms. Springer stated she had some reservations about this because the Commission may be giving themselves more work to do if they were going to be grading in three separate categories. However, if the Commission included in the narrative, a greater emphasis of the third column, they might be able to accomplish the same thing, without having to add another analysis. Mr. Gilmartin added that the Commission could keep the single list but have something that symbolizes "E" for easement or "P" for purchase. Mr. Gilmartin stated realistically not many people read beyond page one of these reports, so they needed to put it somewhere up front. Or, highlight it with some code that was very clear for what the need was, for example, need for "purchase" or need for "easement ". Ms. Springer stated she didn't think that the Commission needed to draft three separate lists. She agreed with Mr. Gilmartin's idea. Mr. Gilmartin suggested that the Commission should code it right next to the title of the property name, instead of in the third column. Mr. Yada stated that he didn't think the Commission needed to separate it out. It should be prioritized if the owner wanted to sell. If there was a possibility of buying, then it would boost the priority because of having consensual agreements on how to structure an acquisition. However, if you are trying to acquire an easement from someone that doesn't want to give you one that would be a more difficult situation; those issues would handle themselves if the owner was willing to cooperate.