P.O. Box 65 Avila Beach CA 93424   (805) 595-2208 www.AvilaValley.org	AVAC                         AVILA  VALLEY ADVISORY COUNCIL   AVAC meets the 2nd Monday of every month, 7-9 p.m. at the PG&E Community Center, 6588 Ontario Road, Avila Beach, CA.  Items for each agenda may be submitted to the Executive Committee two weeks in advance of the meeting.
Officers for 2007   Chair Sherri Danoff/Gooding (San Luis Bay Estates) 805-595-2208 Vice Chair/Treasurer Anne Brown (Avila Beach) Secretary Jayne Morton (San Luis Bay Estates)   Council Members   Avila Beach: Lisa Newton John Salisbury Anne Brown Julie Scott (alt)   Avila Valley: Jan Taylor Boyd Horne Vacancy (alt)   San Luis Bay Estates: Karla Bittner Sherri Gooding Jayne Morton Dusty Palaia Bob Pusanik Ted Ivarie Lynn Walter (alt) Vacancy (alt)   See Canyon: Marylou Gooden Bill Tickell Jack Biesak (alt)   Squire Canyon: Karin Argano John Schug Vacancy (alt)	Minutes of the Monday, April 9, 2007 Meeting   7:00 P.M. Call to Order/Roll Call – a quorum was established Sherri Gooding/Jayne Morton   The Secretary shared she will be recording the meetings which will be used for the minutes.  If someone is uncomfortable being recorded she will put on pause.   There were no objections.   Public Comment    There was a lengthy discussion on the pros and cons of whether genetically engineered BT corn should or should not be labeled by Jackie Crabb of the Farm Control Bureau, a local farmer, Andrew Christie, President of the Sierra Club and John DiVencenzo, owner of the Avila Barn. The corn has been sold at the Avila Barn and seems to be the center of the local labeling issue. Dr. John Devincenzo said that he is going to label the BT corn that he grows, and did not do it last year because there wasn’t any.  This issue was also discussed at the March 12th meeting and the Board did not take a position on it.  Since the corn will be labeled at the Avila Barn the issue seems to be resolved Approval of Minutes –  March 12, 2007 minutes were approved as corrected. 1.0  Treasurer’s Report                                                   Anne Brown        The balance as of April 9, 2007 is $1330.91. We did get credit for the service charge that was done in error this month We received the Grant money from Jerry Lenthall’s office for $960 and the Board extended their thank you. Jerry said we need to get the paperwork in by the 1st of June for that grant again in the next fiscal year. 2.0 County Reports Sheriff’s Department                                     Lt. Ben Hall    He reported that there were 92 calls for service and 13 reports and there were no felonies or break ins last month.  A Board member asked if there will be a bicycle officer at Avila this year.  He said probably not due to short staffing. They are spread real thin because of promotions, retirement, and task forces. They have six openings and 5 are in the academy.  He said if something does happen that needs backup they can use the Pismo Police.  Avila is not without help.  The request was made to please try and have a bicycle officer at Farmers Market because it helps keep things calm.  He said he would try. 2.2  County Supervisor                              Jerry Lenthall    Rosemary Gagalino has received a promotion and is leaving the Dept.  Jerry said they would really feel the loss. However he will be meeting the new person next week.   Mr. Rossi asked when the bridge will be coming out and how long will the project take.  Some feel it will take as long as 2 years.  He said he thought it would start May 15th. He will find out as much information as he can about the completion time and when the public service announcements will begin and let the Board know.   2.3  Planning Department                          Ryan Hostetter    She reminded everyone about the Community Advisory Council Training on the Planning Process April 14 at 8:45 am to 3:00 pm at the SLO County Library Community Room.  The President said because of the conflict with the Fossil Point Committee meeting and other commitments no one from our Board will be able to attend and apologized.     At the last Board meeting she was asked about the grading in See Canyon – it is at 3663 See Canyon and will have three single structures.  A Board member asked why we did not get plans for this project and she said if it needs discretionary comments it will be sent to the Board if it is administerial it just needs permits and will not be sent. 2.4  Parks & Recreation Department           Jan Dileo                 Bike Trail   The deal is done and the money has been approved for the Lupine Canyon/ Blue Heron Dr. bike trail.    The Team has chosen a preferred route from San Luis to Ontario Road.  Landslides are hindering the work in determining the best route for the Cave Landing connection. She said it has been quite a process of bringing a lot of people in all different agencies together.  The Bob Jones Pathway Team meets roughly every 2 to 3 months at around 10:00 to discuss issues that come up. They have been meeting with property owners in order to obtain easements and was very happy that they were very enthusiastic and supportive of the pathway.  She said it has been an unusual and great experience working with them.    Jan presented an extensive and very informative slide presentation showing the Teams preferred route.  It begins at a staging area at the Octagon Barn, follows the creek paralleling Higuera and at one point crossing it and then starts running parallel to Monte Road to the freeway. The path will not interfere with the farmland along the route. In order to get across the freeway the bikers would either have to go under or over it.  Cal Trans said under is not an option so they are considering building a pedestrian bridge over the freeway in order to get to the Ontario Road staging area.    The Commission will meet at the Vets Hall April 26 to determine the preferred route.  After the decision is made a request for proposal, an environmental impact report, etc. will be made and possibly in a year or two the path will be ready to be built.  She said AVAC will have a chance to see the final plans to review and make comments.  Jan also said an AVAC member would be welcome to serve on the Bob Jones Path Team.   3.0 Old Business 3.1  AVAC Web site                                           John Schrug       John showed the Board how he has changed the web site and added a new page for current issues. He said please keep material for the page short, use simple text, nothing extra and give them to Sherri for review.  She will forward them to him.  He has also improved the Minutes page. The Board said it looks wonderful – it is something to be proud of. Everyone thanked him for doing such a great job. 4.0 New Business. 4.1  Updating San Luis Bay Area Plans           Chuck Stevenson, Planning        He said that updating is a big topic and would simplify it as best he could.  In 1980 they adopted a plan that was for 13 areas.  Each were to be updated every ten years and it proved to take a lot longer time to update than they expected.  The problems have been when is a plan ready to be updated; how to balance staffing; fast growth; how to place priorities from supervisors.  The budget is already decided for this year. The Department was given money in order to not have to go through layoffs from the general fund because of the drop of permits issued which is the major funding source. Developers can be a funding source for getting an updated plan by hiring a consultant to assist with 60% and staff 40% to develop the necessary plan for their project.     He said it would be at least two years before they would even begin to update Avila Area and does not feel an area update is really necessary at this time.  The Department is looking at changing to a rural area plan that deals with rural issues. It would have a better consistency in planning.  He recommended that we think about doing a community area plan. A community plan would cover all the issues and can be updated quicker. As a result of the discussion a motion was passed to have AVAC send a letter to the Planning Director to update the Avila Beach urban reserve area plan. MSP 4.2  Parks and Recreation Commission          Terry Eberhardt                          Recommendation     Terry explained that he has been part of the Parks and Recreation Commission which was asked to follow up on the recent Grand Jury report that was critical of County Parks and the Department’s Blue Ribbon Task Force recommendation.  He said that the Commission unanimously recommends that The Board of Supervisors re-establish an independent Department of Parks and Beaches at it was for many decades until the early 1980’s.  As an independent department, Parks will be more efficient, more effective, more accountable and more responsive to stakeholders and community needs.   A motion was passed to have AVAC send a letter to Board of Supervisors supporting the Parks and Recreation Dept. recommendation to become a separate Dept.  MSP Executive Committee Communications – No report   6.0  AVAC Committees & Liaisons Reports              6.3  Avila Beach Committee                      Lisa Newton/John Salisbury        No report. 6.4  Avila Valley Committee                      Jan Taylor       No report 6.5  San Luis Bay Estates                          Ted Ivarie       No reportA 6.6  See Canyon Committee                       Marylou Gooden        No report 6.7  Squire Canyon                                     Karin Argano          Still watching the new housing project. 6.8  Port San Luis Liaisons                         Karla Bittner   She reported that a special Commission meeting was held Thursday regarding the Port’s peace officers wearing side arms.  They have been trained in the use of weapons and will be a very valuable back up in deterring problems and in the case of emergencies.  A motion was passed to support the Commissions recommendation to arm the Port’s peace officers. MSP 7.0 Community Liaisons              7.1  Avila Business Association                Leonard Cohen    He expressed his appreciation at being included in our meeting and feels it is a win, win situation and is looking forward to us working together.  He shared the following: Fish and Framers market starts April 20th. The ABA has taken over the responsibility of cleaning up the promenade. There will be two cart vendors by agreement on the promenade.  They are responsible for keeping their area clean. They are working on generating more money by starting a membership drive and doing more PR and advertising. Their stand on Fossil Point is that they hope whatever is decided it will compliment Avila’s business. In response to the question about the planters in front of Mr. Rick's he said there is something in the works to take care of the issue.   8.0  Meeting adjourned at 9:35.           Respectfully submitted by, Jayne Morton, Secretary