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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/16/2002, L-1 - LIAISON REPORT - NORTH COUNTY WATER FORUM Converted Document _ Page l of 1 .__cnNGD AGENDA �Ib DATE .- ITEM #. April 5, 2002 To: Council Colleagues , K e n :Ham ' n , L e e P r i c e From: Kenneth Schwartz, Coun Subject: Liaison Report-North County Water Forum The April 4, 2002 meeting of the North County Water Forum we continued our discussions on the recently completed Paso Robles Groundwater Basin Study. The Draft Paso Robles Groundwater Basin Study is to be released the week of April 7n'for public review. A brief summary of the Basin Study was provided by Paul Sorensen of Fugro. The forum,which serves as the oversight committee for the Paso Robles Basin Study,will be asked at the May meeting to recommend to the County Board of Supervisors to; approve the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin Study,initiate Phase II of the Study as soon as possible(Phase II includes the development of a model of the basin for predictive analysis), and,identify items of work to be included in the Phase II study. There was considerable discussion centering on the changes water quality noted in the basin, primarily total dissolved solids and chlorides along the Salinas River corridor, and the possible implications for the agencies both receiving water from that portion of the basin and discharging wastewater to it. There was general consensus that modeling completed in Phase II, should include modeling of the projected changes in water quality as well. If you have any questions regarding this report,please feel free to call John Moss at x205. Note : This Liaison Report was prepared by John Moss who was good enough to sit in for me while I attended a MP "Dog Leg" presentation being held at the same. time . 10�6UNCIL O CDD DIR ❑ FIN DIR 0 ❑ FIRE CHIEF RNEY ❑ PW DIR PCLEOK/ORIG 13 POLICE CHF ❑ T EADS,.rr. ❑ WDIR UTIL DIR ❑ HR DIR RECEIVED 0 n 2Qci2 SLA CITY COUNCIL http://webaccess.slocity.org/cgi-bin/GW5/GW WEB.EXE?MSG-ACTION=READ-ATTACH&.. 4/7/02 MEL_.i AGENDA DATE t f� oZ ITEM# LIAISON REPORT R"� LINCIL .Elle= DIR pZAp ❑ FIN DIR April 1, 2002 p-keAO ❑ FIRE CHIEF 9'AfTORNEY L4fVG01R To: Council Collea t�7-21-ERK/ORIG ❑.POUCE CHF From Ken Schwartz ❑ DEPT HEADS ❑. REG DIR ❑ nLDIRi. IR Copies: K Hampian, rge, J. Jorgensen, J. Mandeville, DIR Re: S.LOCOG/SLO TA meeting April 3, 2002 This was a very intense agenda with at least one "sleeper"that I found of intense interest —a consultant report entitled an "Air Service Market Study"that had been commissioned jointly by the City of Paso Robles, Cahrans, and SLOCOG to "Review and evaluate the Potential for attracting commercial service to Paso Robles Municipal Airport." More later. Our new Caltrans District 5 Director, Greg Albright,pointed out that the shaky condition of the State budget has caused a reassessment of Cahrans projects that were likely to be completed in the remainder of this budget cycle. The only one that has serious impact on SLO is the possible delay of the widening of Santa Barbara Street. Both Albright and COG staff feel that this is an important project to be completed in this cycle and are pushing to keep the project current. Albright also discussed Highway One and the hope for its designation as an All American Highway. He passed out a Cahrans Journal from which I have clipped several pages that should be of interest. (Attachment#1 —The Route 1 Corridor Protection Plan.) "Context Sensitive"is the new buzz phrase for Cahrans. I hope it won't be a passing fad. Another significant agenda item had to do with "2002/2003 Unmet transit needs." As could be expected,the vast majority of requests were for longer nightly service and more frequent bus runs. While these would be`nice,"the evidence was not there to support either ofthese requests and alternatives do exist including Safe Ride Home and Ride On programs. More importantly, fare box returns where experiments had been run have proved far less than the minimums required by law. The answer appears to be more subsidies for which no monies exist. The Overall Work Program and Budget for fiscal year 2002/2003 was adopted. The report included several references to "Sustainability."``Livable Cities,"and"Smart Growth." Staff was requested to bring back to the Board definitions for these currently popular planning phrases so that the Board would have common understanding ofwhat they meant. SLOCOG staff presented for Board consideration a draft letter to be sent to HCD regarding the"Housing Allocation"HCD intends to impose on our County. A copy of that letter is attached(Attachment#2). The Atascadero representative and I voted`NO" believing that we should have asked for an even larger deduction RECEIVED „w i .-"- 20i`2 SLO CITY COUNCIL LIASION REPORT: page 2 Back to the Paso Robles Airport study: Rather than try to summarize this, I have attached a fiill copy of that report for each of you (Attachment#3) I think you will find the implications for our City very disconcerting. I have highlighted a couple of points that concern me. A 20-minute verbal and power point presentation was made by a representative of AH&E consultants. She made the very best "consultant presentation"I have yet to witness. It was direct, it minced no words,it made the research believable, and it left no question in.my mind that,while the time may not be ripe right now, events could happen in the near firture that could alter the circumstances. Those in our community who believe that communities are not competitive with each other need only to read between the lines to appreciate how the worm could turn with devastating impact on SLO. Sunday, April 7th,the Tnb did an editorial. `Tlying in the face of common sense,"that adds a little more information. If you didn't read it,you will find it as Attachment#4. Post Script: The implications of the airport study are moving faster than I could have anticipated. The front page story in the April 11th Tnb (attachment suggests that jets will be here very shortly. A letter to the editor, also in the April I 1 Tnb(attachment#6)gives fiirther insight to a brewing controversy of long-term consequences. Recommendation I strongly suggest that we ask staff and our Planning Commission to initiate a study.of the land use implications of increasing the length of the principal runway of the SLO County Airport from its existing 5;300 foot length to a length that will safely accommodate RJ's —somewhere in the 5,800-6,000 foot range. ATTACHMENT I I CONTEXT- SENSITIVE SOLUTIONS IN ACTION C011DOR ROTECTION ;3 There is a story, possibly apocryphal, that during the heyday of highway development in the 1960s, a Caltrans project engineer trying to secure approval of a State Route 1 bypass of Carmel - became so enraged at one of the project's opponents during a public meeting, he hit her over the head with a rolled-up map. Photos by Jon Hirtz Whether the incident actually happened probably is not as responsibility to take that into account, both in the devel- important as the fact that it is believable.Opposition to the opment and the operation of our system." project eventually became so virulent that one of the pro- The district is planning more than a dozen projects for State ject's opponents, terminally ill, specified in his will that his Route 1 between San Luis Obispo and the Monterey county ashes be strewn across the alignment favored by Caltrans, line over the next 20 years.These projects,vital to the safety giving a new meaning to the phrase"Over my dead body." and continued operation of the route, must be developed The department found itself in a virtual state of war with the within some kind of collegial framework if they are to be built very constituency that had the power to accept or reject the And today, in a gathering of staff from a phalanx of agencies project;the war ended in 2000 when the County of Monterey representing those constituencies, District 5 is taking an voted to move funds allocated for the project to another. approach that is light years away from the we-them fight of Today, District 5,headquartered in San Luis Obispo, is using the 1960s. the concepts of Context Sensitive Solutions, as well as a To a project engineer from the 1960s, the meetings, with number of other community involvement approaches, to representatives of the San Luis County Council of build a collaborative relationship with the agencies and indi- Governments and the cities and counties along the route, viduals who inhabit the pristine coastal area that it serves. would look awfully unfamiliar, and for good reason. "This is a very sophisticated constituency," says Greg 'That project engineer would have seen the problem as one Albright, District 5's new director.'They have a strong view simply of getting the project built,"Greg Albright says. "But of how the central coast, particularly the environment there are differing definitions of the problem, and each along State Route 1, should look and function. We have a stakeholder has a differing idea of what it is.Those of us at Caltrans might see a safety or operational problem. But . I State Route 1 -SLO Cut; _ Segment#4 PM 17.8-28 - 1� inn ATTACHM x000 �o »"e � .d e� nn I e u.o ++e+ma m�Bclun Baa c uo +leaaz s„I,su.m..mmw vul M1 •Y ID slo +av+.z soca WGn&n•r V".di B so( cta Lavaa3my,moo-Porn rvB=B � 7 Pq Pok SB=B _ OOD C1AC W1EontN.i.1) representatives of a city want the character of their downtownCOUP 4 "°°°°'''B' —_ preserved.They are concerned about gateways and walkable �} 22800 cities.The agricultural interests along the way need access to the transportation system. There is a very large and potent constituency for keeping the coastal area pristine." Ba•nonla O tAUi(Y.2M And so the first meetings of the Highway 7 Context-Sensitive L.UI , STIP/SHOPPPmleds .— �"iBdY�a1aBID, Solutions Task Force are not about the project at all,but rather — Ploydn sm B Pa weaacn ----t about the purpose of the task force, how decisions will be a 0 °sOiD Pro1w � made,the roles of the individual agencies and how their needs PMjWD Etr osBe m o a1 will be considered. It's a messy process that lurches ahead a step,then drops back one or two.Albright has seen similar processes at work and has faith that it'll work this time. "The district has made estimable use of the Value Analysis process in these situations,even though at times we have Caltrans District S is confounded the independent facilitators who are supplied to us for VA exercises." applying the principles Albright points to a highly successful mediation between the County of Santa Barbara, the of Context Sensitive city of Goleta,the University of California and several resource agencies to provide access to Solutions to preserve the university while preserving local values. "At the end of each of several days of discus- the scenic Qualities Of sions,the VA facilitator told me we were not going to get a solution but,in the end,we got State Route 1. one that really basically satisfied everyone." The key, Albright says, was in identifying shared and competing values. And in the early meetings of the task force,there is a surprising amount of discussion about values."Caltrans has its own values, and it is very important that we express them," Albright says. "Safety, mobility, on-time delivery, cost effectiveness and others. But we need also to determine, very early in the process, the values of our constituents. It's the only way we're going to ' meet our obligation for improving is mobility across California." CITY or SAN LU CITY LIMIT •, • 42,595 ELEV 230 s � ft.t � itlt� ' r- 3 r HMENT I .� ..� -�...'^ll'•. __ A l Y i 4�i'FrPs � ..:-. �4,w, .+.Z ., f+t.• s Ill �A'- rIi :,��}O,4�1�Y I Ditl NYl\ y a f4 ' 9 y Hig ay Management Plan a a 6 E,, C l 0 Q State Route 1, hugging the Pacific Coastline, skirts one a a� �.. of California's most y precious viewsheds. +- The Highway 1 corridor stretches 120 km through San Luis Obispo County, from the tiny agricultural hamlet of ' w r Guadalupe to the edge of Big Sur. It traces the lazy streets of the beach towns of Pismo and Grover Beach and the urbanized city streets of San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay. It serves as a major commute/commercial route through Y " s Cuesta College and the Camp San Luis Obispo men's colony, snakes alongside the Pacific Ocean through Harmony and Cambria and, at its northern end, provides a misty entree to Big Sur. o m - Within this reach, Caltrans is considering a total of 17 prof- ? ects that include roadway realignments, median barrier, j, _ ?��a pavement rehab and interchange improvements. Not big a _ stuff by the lights of District 4 or Ts multimillion dollar proj- ects but, as Ron DeCarli of the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments will tell you, it is the stuff that contains both the details and the devil. "Those projects will define the character of our communities for a long time," he says. "Our objective is to assure that Caltrans projects along Route 1 consider the needs and desires of the local jurisdic- tions and are sensitive to the viewshed," DeCarli says. 'The e road has been identified as a Scenic Highway and nominat- A•qed as a National Scenic Byway.This applies both to future " planning and to projects'in the queue."' j At today's meeting, even though the assembled govern 1 *°� ment representatives are committed to chewing over the c ff - N` 14 purpose and need of the committee and ways in which A - n 'x• 7 ti ATTACHMENT 9 input gets elicited and treated,the subject of a median bar- rier project soon to be in the pipeline shows the importance of acting collaboratively. Neither the County of San Luis Obispo nor the regional �� �o ✓ planning agency is satisfied with the notion of the 9.6 km, •� �"" `. _ unadorned concrete Jersey barrier that Caltrans proposes. ^M1 5 The area surrounding the project is in the verdant Chorro Yom ? valley, bordered by farms and residences, Cal Poly San Luis -- Obispo, Cuesta College and the California Men's Colony, which provides housing for minimum and medium security q l 'i l i'•' '1 �,'I inmates. It has "self improvement written all over it. A concrete barrier would make this rural scenic highway feel ' like an urban streetscape," says DeCadi. "Caltrans has its own values, and it is very important that we express them,"Albright says. "Safety, mobility, on-time delivery, cost effectiveness and others. But we need also to determine, very early in the process, 4 the values of our constituents. It's the only way we're going to meet a� d our obligation for improving mobility across California." `.`�'Y�`I, � 'M 'yam'. •'. � �I�__ , 'it �-TMJ ' ea a oa ° Q San Simeon, Morro Bay and n' o coastal residents all have an interest in Route 1's future. ,t r aVi b- x z o�o College town, The local agencies would like to see tion has advocated for a long time," DeCarli says. "We are business center, either a textured or a colored bar- interested in how it will be implemented and applied county seat. San vier, which could cost as much as throughout the region." Luis Obispo is a seven times what an unadorned p "Everyone along Route 1 has a stake in its continued oper- one would. Caltrans is concerned major city along ation" Greg Albright says. "District 5 is doing its best to about bringing the project in on the path Of State bring nearby interests in before any decisions are made.We /� schedule and within the scope and need to be both responsive and responsible. That is, we Route 1. cost estimate. need to hear and understand the voices of our neighbors Everyone, though, shares one value, and to take them into account wherever we can." and that is providing safety on a highway "We also need to articulate our own responsibility for that now accommodates 25 000 vehicles interregional mobility. I believe we have plenty of daily and gets busier every day. It is this value that common ground here. This should be low-hanging fruit." provides a basis for discussion and negotiation, and the -Gene Berthelsen participants in the meeting agree to take the discussion off- line to a working group that will consider a range of solu- tions even as far afield as mitigating the"urban"look of the barrier by removing billboards along the route. "We strongly support the new director's Qeff Morales') policy on context sensitivity, something our local jurisdic- I - see State Route 1 passes the sleepy coastal village of Morro Bay, il�1 whose breakwater provides safe mooring for boats. r f � �