Avila Valley Advisory Council

Minutes of November 13, 2006 Meeting

Call to Order

Ted Ivarie called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m.

Members Present: B. Pusanik, L. Newton, K. Argano, S. Gooding, T. Ivarie, M. Gooden, B. Tickell, J. Schug, J. Morton, quorum

Approval of minutes: postponed until next meeting (K. Argano arrived @ 7:40 PM)

1.0 TREASURER’S REPORT – no report

2.0 COUNTY REPORTS

2.1 Sheriff’s Department: Lt. Ben Hall reported that the Avila Valley Area had 32 calls for service &4 crime reports in the last month. Avila Beach had 31 calls & 4 crime reports. He also shared the total number of calls and reports for the two areas for 2005 and 2006. Not much change over the 2 year period.

2. 2 County Supervisor, District 3: Jerry Lenthall shared that he had requested the crime

data be shared. He attended the groundbreaking for the Avila Civic building and answered questions from the audience. The rest of his report will be given at other points of the meeting.

3. 3 County Planning: Ryan Hostetter reported that there were not a lot of new projects in the

area, several parcel splits and some older projects are still on hold. Update on School House project is that the scoping work for the EIR process is in the beginning stages.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Bill Olmos, Chevron representative, recently learned from John Wallace that Avila CSD would lose their offices for a year during remodel. He worked with Rob Rossi who provided rental space for the CSD at reduced rates. Chevron contributed $6,000 toward rent for the year.

Leonard Cohen suggested that the AVAC’s liaison with the port be changed from Karla Bittner to someone who does business with the Port and that a position on AVAC board is created for a member of the Avila Business Association. The positions would facilitate communication. Ted Ivarie suggested that it could be considered by bylaws committee or one of the current positions on the board could be filled by such members. Leonard Cohen also mentioned the Coastal Commission Meeting to be held on November 16. Attention needs to be paid to a proposal that any parking fee increase of 20% or more would require a Coastal Commission permit. (Note: this specific item is not on the agenda.)

1. 1 OLD BUSINESS

2. 2 Supervisor Lenthall publicly thanked Olmos & Rossi for making the CSD office move

happen so quickly and cooperatively. Supervisor Lenthall also commented that he was strongly in favor of having the Port & Avila Business Association represented on AVAC for ease of sharing information & promoting communication.

Supervisor Lenthall discussed the Vacation Rental Ordinance. He is not in favor of adopting a generic ordinance for Avila because the existing projects are exempt and Avila is a unique community that has different issues than other county areas. He is willing to support the formation of a committee to pursue a plan that is more deliberate and specific to Avila. Ted Ivarie suggested that the matter be referred to the executive committee for further action. B. Pusanik provided background that the ordinance was a suggestion of the Avila subcommittee.

3.2 Bob Jones Bike Trail Update: Supervisor Lenthall happily reports that the Bob Jones Bike Trail will be taken over by the County as of tomorrow morning (one of the biggest events in his 22 months in office.) He publicly thanked Rob Rossi for finally bringing the project (began in 1986) to fruition. $200,000 has been set aside for work on the trail. Supervisor Lenthall also mentioned that we will soon hear of another exciting acquisition from a private land owner to further enhance the trail.

Note: Supervisor Lenthall suggests we email Jan DeLeo for an update on the trail specifics.

3.3. San Luis Bay Bridge Update: Supervisor Lenthall reported that increased building costs created a need to swap funds. Rosemary Gaglione reported that work will start in spring 2007. Some delays were caused by the Federal permit process but they are now resolved. The spring start date allows for an easier traffic management plan than would be needed during winter. Rosemarie will be pursuing some possible grants related to seismic retrofitting.

4.0 NEW BUSINESS

4.1 Cave Landing: Motion: Sheri Gooding moved (Gooding/ Schug) that AVAC encourage the County to support public acquisition of Cave landing property. Passed Discussion by board & audience included comments that the Land Conservancy, ECOSLO and Whale’s Cape Conservancy are in favor of its acquisition. Sheri will draft a letter and send it to Karla for a signature.

Lighthouse Road: Presentation by Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Jones from PG&E about improvements to the road that leads to the lighthouse. PG & E, the Port & the County are working together on the project. Conservation easements are being developed to present at a Coastal Commission hearing on December 14.

4.2 Avila Civic Association Building: Lisa Newton reported that there was excellent attendance at the ground breaking ceremony. Terry Eberhardt worked hard to obtain grants. UNOCAL/ Chevron and the Avila Beach Foundation were also instrumental. More money still needs to be raised for finishing touches.

5.0 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE/COMMUNICATIONS

Parks & Recreation will be presenting the Parks element of the General Plan on 11/14/06.

Motion: Support adoption of Parks & Recreation portion of General Plan (Newton/ Gooding) passed unanimously.

5.1 Nominating Committee: referred to executive committee to appoint a committee to make nominations for next meeting

5.2 San Luis Bay Estates master plan: Information was shared about the County’s response to a letter clarifying the development potential for SLBE.

Chevron’s Tank Farm Property: Supervisor Lenthall introduced B. Olmos to provide late breaking news about the Request for Proposal process started several years ago. 25 RFPs were mailed out nationally. It was just announced that Rob Rossi & RRM Design Group will oversee the project which is now on a faster track for clean up and mitigation. Rob Rossi reported that community dialogue will soon begin in order to get ideas about possible development of the 95 acre parcel (half of which is covered in oak trees).

6.0 STANDING & AD HOC COMMITTEE REPORTS

6.1 Land Use Committee – no report

6.2 Avila Beach Committee - no report

6.3 Avila Valley Committee Sheri Gooding reported that Jan Taylor will have surgery at French Hospital tomorrow. AVAC sends her healing thoughts and wishes for a quick recovery.

6.4 San Luis Bay Estates – question about a downed fence

6.5 See Canyon – no report

6.6 Squire Canyon – the issue of speed bumps will be discussed at the Squire Canyon meeting tomorrow evening