Minutes of
Monday, October 13, 2008
7:05 P.M. Call to order/Roll Call Sherri Danoff/Jayne Morton A quorum was established. Present: Lisa Newton, Jan Taylor, Boyd Horne, Sherri Danoff, Ted Ivarie, Jayne Morton, Bob Pusanik, Ken Thompson, Sandy Keller, Bill Tickell, , John Schug, Karin Argano. Excused: Anne Brown, Rick Rowe, Lynn Walter, Steve Johnson Public Comment - None Approval of Minutes Sherri Danoff
Minutes for July 14 were approved as presented. Minutes for August 11 were approved as corrected. Treasurer’s Report Anne Brown No activity- Balance is the same as last month, $1067.27. County Reports 2.1 Sheriff’s Department Lt. Ben Hall No report 2.2 County Supervisor Jerry Lenthall Supervisor Lenthall said he had talked to Lt. Hall and he reported things have slowed down. There were two bad accidents but otherwise no real issues. A map was distributed to the board showing where the lights on the Bob Jones Trail at the San Luis Bay Drive Bridge will be installed by December. PG&E has generously donated the lights. He reported the SLOCOG approved 1.8 million dollars to be distributed to three projects one of which will go to the Bob Jones Trail and $300,000 was approved to purchase the Avila Ranch. He was not sure when the projects will start but made it clear the money is there despite the economy. Supervisor Lenthall reported that traffic slowdown at the crosswalk in front of the charter school is working well due to the periodic presence of a motorcycle officer. He has had confirmation of this because he received two calls from unhappy people complaining about receiving speeding tickets in front of the school. He was very pleased to report that the County using public facility fees has purchased 5 acres near the SLO Bay Dr. Bridge and 27.3 acres at Pirates Cove for 1.5 million dollars, which will be, preserved areas for public use. He is not sure just what the use will be and will give us more information at our next meeting. Escrow should be closed by then. The Avila Beach Clean Up Day was very successful. The street sign at Bay Laurel Dr. has been installed but the landscape issue is still pending. A Board member said that the SLB Estates Home Owners Assoc. is very frustrated with the delay. Bob Pusanik agreed to call Mike Britton to help expedite getting something done. 2.3 Public Works Dale Ramey/Ryan Chapman No report 2.4 Planning Ryan Hostetter No report 3.0 Old Business 3.1 None 4.0 Community Liaisons - 4.1 Avila Business Assoc., Avila Beach Civic Assoc., Avila Beach Foundation, Port, Diablo ABA- Karin Argano A ‘Shop Local Discount Card’ is being discussed to help encourage people to shop locally. The membership drive is going well. They have several new members. October 25th Concourse planning is going well. There will be a few of the beautiful cars on display on the Avila Promenade on Saturday to help bring business to the town. Hospice, the sponsor, has been making sure all the concerns of the community are addressed so all goes well. A family friendly event is planned for sometime in Feb. It will be a very festive event with a special theme such as a Mermaid Festival at the promenade. The new sign for Avila is confirmed. It will cost $8031 and there has been $4999 donated by Avila’s various community organizations and Supervisor Lenthal. They are looking for donations to cover the balance. They are also planning to put landscape around the sign to protect it. Karin attended the San Luis Obispo Economic Vitality Group, SLOEVC, which she found very informative. They discussed such issues as keeping the airport, the need for a conference center, and the completion of the Botanical Garden in Chorro Park that is worth seeing. The complete economic report can be viewed on the Internet – SLOEVC.org. ABCA- Lisa Newton They are continually getting more programs for everyone who is interested to enjoy. There will be a Halloween party with a haunted house. It will start at 6:00 October 31st upstairs in the Community Center and there will be food, games and prizes for all. There will be advertising and they would like adults who can donate their time to help and they need blank sheets. The Civic Association is planning a reception for newly elected Supervisor, Adam Hill, November 23 at 2:00. ABCF - Boyd Horne The recruitment for the new director will be decided on November 3rd and they expect to have a new director by November 10th. Who will receive grants will be decided on November 3rd. Boyd will let us know who the new director is and who will receive the grants at our November 10 meeting. Port San Luis – Steve McGrath The improvement of the lighthouse access is continuing hope to have it completed next spring. October 24th there will be a public study session meeting on the development of Harbor Terrace and campsites - How can we move the project forward. It will be at 2:00 at the Cliffs. The Avila Ranch will have a bay to bay connection – Avila Bay to Morro Bay and visitors will have nice camping facilities close by with easy access to the trail when completed. They have a new business manager, Patrick O’Riley (sp). PGE Diablo – Patricia Wilmar There is another outage planned with starting preparations in November and December. Delivery trucks will once again use the lot across from the gate to eliminate traffic problems. They will have buses again to bring workers in. It will start at the end of January and end in April. 5.0 New Business- 5.1 The Chairman reminded the Board that it is audit time and the need for an audit committee. Karin Argano and Sandy Keller volunteered to be on the committee. Yahoo is raising our web site rates from $9.00 to $12.00. After a brief discussion a motion was made and passed to agree to pay the increased rate of $12.00. MSP 6.0 Executive Committee Communications – The Executive Committee recommends we elect Bob Pusanik for the vacant Vice Chairman position. A motion was made and approved to accept Bob as Vice Chairman. MSP The Chair attended a meeting sponsored by the County Planning Dept. for Advisory Councils Chairpersons. She pointed out at that time that the council makes recommendations on projects and they are not always included in project requirements. She was wondering if a copy of the staff report or some communication could be made available when the report is ready. Supervisor Lenthall pointed out that the Planning Dept. is really short handed and this would be an extra burden on them. It appears the only real option is when we receive a referral each committee will need to check the Planning website to find out the status of the project. We could check with Ryan each week to see if there are any plans we need to be aware of. It was suggested that the Council could reinstate the meeting between the Supervisor and the Chairman or Vice Chairman once a month to help set the agenda for the monthly meeting. The Chairman of the Los Osos Advisory Council called and wanted to know if we had any interest regarding the proposed fees at Montana de Oro. They wanted to know what we thought, as they do not think there should be any. It was agreed no recommendation would be made. 7.0 AVAC Committees Land Use Committee Bob Pusanik The Committee has received photos from the Port San Luis Harbor District which shows the Port’s parking area and the town’s storm drainage system that uses the Ports drainage ditch and the outlet value that is owned and operated by the County’s Public Works. They also contacted Planning Department for access to any documents pertaining to the Calif. Coastal Commission’s designation of the drainage ditch as a wet lands. They also contacted County Health Department for their assessment of the drainage ditch, especially with adjacent future housing on the old RR Row. The County Health Department regularly monitors the ditch and currently it poses no public health risk. There has been no confirmation the ditch is a “wet lands” but assuming it is they made some recommendations to AVAC: 1) Port San Luis Harbor District to post signs explaining the ditch’s wet land status and any trashing of the ditch would result in fines. In addition, the Port should be required to routinely police and remove debris from the ditch. 2) The County’s Public Works Department should also routinely remove debris from the outlet value and ensure that it is working properly. (This begs collaboration between the two agencies.) 3) Since the Planning Department and Public Works failed to recognize the status of the drainage ditch during the Certificate of Compliance Hearings on the lot line adjustments and development plans for the Old RR ROW properties, it would be appropriate that building permits for the 14 lots require appropriate landscaping on the common area adjacent to the ditch that would include plants that would enhance the wet land habitat and the HOA for these 14 lots be required to maintain this landscaping. The conclusion is if we are going to have a ditch that is called a “wet lands” lets treat it like it is a one and enhance it. A motion was made and approved for AVAC to recommend that measures be taken to enhance the “wet lands”. MSP Diablo Committee – Sandy Keller The tour of the facility was great. For those who did not get to participate there will be more tours next year. 7.3 Port Committee – No report Darryl Armstong 7.4 Avila Beach Committee Lisa Newton Still considering and reviewing the Custom House proposal for remodeling. The committee objects to the parking lot for the old Gorman property project of 8 units. It is not currently being discussed. 7.5 San Luis Bay Estates Committee- No report Ted Ivarie 7.6 Avila Valley Committee – No report Boyd Horne 7.7 See Canyon Committee – Bill Tickell The Land Conservancy recently sold a 250-acre parcel to the State. 7.8 Squire Canyon – Karin Argano Howell project is still pending – Karin will check on status. Speed bumps have been reduced. 8.0 Meeting Adjourned at 8:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted by Jayne Morton, Secretary |