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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/03/2004, BUS2 - REPORT ON THE ROLE OF THE CITY BIOLOGIST IN THE NATURAL RESOURCES PROGRAM council M�f,n 3 j agcnaa izEpoat h.N.A� C I T Y OF S AN L U IS O B I S P O FROM: Wendy George,Assistant City Administrative Officer Prepared By: Neil Havlik,Natural Resources Manager SUBJECT: REPORT ON THE ROLE OF THE CITY BIOLOGIST IN THE NATURAL RESOURCES PROGRAM CAO RECOMMENDATION Receive a report on projects and activities of the City Biologist in the Natural Resources Program. DISCUSSION In 1993-94, the Council appointed the Environmental Quality Task Force (EQTF) to make recommendations on the possible development of a Natural Resources Program for the City. The EQTF recommended that two positions pen Space Manager and City Biologist—be created to establish the program. However,the City was experiencing financial difficulties,and ultimately,the Council authorized one position, Natural Resources Manager, in 1995. The Natural Resources Manager, Dr. Neil Havlik, was hired in February 1996 and the initial focus of the program was on open space land acquisition. Over the next several years, the City's acquisitions grew, and involvement of several departments with State and Federal regulatory agencies increased. Responding to concerns expressed by members of the community that the City needed the technical expertise of a biologist to assist with the Natural Resources Program, and recognizing the City's need to centralize its ever growing biological mitigation responsibilities, in May 2000 the Council approved the addition of a City Biologist. This forward-thinking action made the City of San Luis Obispo one of the few cities of any size to incorporate a trained biologist into its Natural Resources Program. Primary responsibilities of the City Biologist were proposed to be: 1. Development of an improved mitigation program; 2. Finalization of the Natural Resources Inventory; 3. Development and implementation of restoration plans; and 4. Development of a formal set of policies for land management of City-owned open space lands. The Biologist position subsequently was filled by Dr. Michael Clarke, who began working for the City in October 2000 and who quickly moved to establish a centralized mitigation program. As discussed more fully in the attached report, since that time Dr. Clarke has made great strides, often with the assistance of outside partners like the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo, the Environmental Center of San Luis Obispo (ECOSLO) and Central Coast Salmon Enhancement, A_i f Council Agenda Report—Role of the City Biologist Page 2 Inc., in fulfilling the role originally envisioned for the City Biologist. In addition, Dr. Clarke has developed good relationships with a number of the City's operational departments, specifically, Public Works, Utilities, Parks and Recreation and Community Development, as he has moved forward with his mitigation programs and evaluation of biological resources. Recently, Dr. Clarke's presence has also allowed the City's Natural Resources Program to expand its offerings, in particular, by assuming responsibilities in the area of additional biological monitoring and project management that would otherwise have to be contracted to outside consultants. As a result, the Natural Resources Program has been able to provide significant cost savings to the City during these difficult fiscal times. Because the City is somewhat unique in having such a strong biological aspect to its Natural Resources Program, staff has felt a responsibility to assure the Council and community of the wisdom of the innovative addition of the City Biologist to the Natural Resources Program. The staff's purpose in bringing this report forward is to provide an update on the high "return on our investment"that has occurred over the past three years. Attachment Three Years Later.—The Role of the City Biologist in the Natural Resources Program, prepared by the Natural Resource Manager r ATTACHMENT Three Years Later.........The Role of the City Biologist in the Natural Resources Program Introduction In May 2000, the City Council approved the addition of a City Biologist to the Natural Resources Program, reporting to the Natural Resources Manager. After a lengthy recruiting process,Dr. Michael Clarke was hired in October 2000 as the City's first City Biologist. This paper is intended to review Dr. Clarke's role in the Natural Resources Program and his accomplishments since he began working for the City of San Luis Obispo just over three years ago. When the addition of a Biologist was proposed, several primary duties were put forward: • Development of an improved project mitigation program including mitigation plan development,project oversight, and long-term mitigation monitoring and reporting; • Finalization of the natural resource inventory with a combination of consultant assistance and direct involvement, and participation in reconciling identified land use-sensitive resource conflicts through the specific planning process; • Development and implementation of restoration plans; • Development of formal policies for open space land management; and • General support and assistance to the Natural Resources Manager The following provides a summary of Dr. Clarke's success in fulfilling these and other responsibilities that have developed. Early Proiects Centralizing the City's Mitigation Effort. In recent years, City staff recognized that it was becoming increasingly critical to have central coordination by a knowledgeable person of the numerous mitigation projects and programs being conducted by individual departments on an ad-hoc basis. Monitoring requirements following construction were perceived as particularly troublesome. The Public Works Department's construction inspectors, for example, were not equipped to follow up on planting and in-stream habitat enhancements, sometimes for years, following the installation of such structures. To remedy this situation,Dr. Clarke quickly assumed control of a wide variety of mitigation projects that were underway for monitoring and reporting purposes. These included (1) over 30 sites where mitigation plantings or in-stream structures had been undertaken along San Luis Obispo Creek, (2)the steelhead monitoring project previously undertaken by the Utilities Department, and (3) several smaller projects on Stenner, Brizziolara, and Old Garden Creeks. By 2003,most of these mitigation projects had been successfully completed and the remainder were within a year or so of success. Bringing these projects under control at first consumed a significant investment of Dr. Clarke's time, often requiring him to work weekends or long days trapping and counting fish or � 3 ATTACHMENT overseeing the watering and care of plantings. At the same time, however, he relieved Public Works inspection staff to perform their primary work responsibilities, thus allowing other City projects to go forward in a more timely manner. As a result of the addition of Dr. Clarke to City staff, we now have two staff persons with biological expertise dealing with biological projects being imposed by biologists from other agencies. This means that there is clearer understanding of what is being mitigated and why, and also that there is opportunity for better and more realistic mitigation. In addition to the cost effectiveness of relieving Public Works staff from the monitoring responsibility, we have also avoided hiring expensive monitoring consultants. We anticipate that Dr. Clarke's work has saved the City in excess of$125,000 since inception of the program. The Natural Resources Inventory. Creating a Natural Resources Inventory was one of the highest priority recommendations of the Environmental Quality Task Force. However, early emphasis of the Natural Resources Protection Program was on land acquisition, and time and resources to commit to the Inventory was limited. In addition, there was concern that the City might end up "doing the developers' work for them", were the Inventory to encompass private property-in and around the City. This problem was resolved by the concept of"Species of Local Concern", wherein City staff, using Statewide data bases and input from knowledgeable persons, prepared a listing of species not threatened or endangered on a Statewide or Federal basis, but rare, declining, or otherwise locally notable. This list included about fifty species of plants and animals. It was also considered appropriate that the City's knowledge of its own lands should be as complete as possible. Dr. Clarke has proven to have excellent computer skills, and within the space of a year he had transformed the list of Species of Local Concern into a functional, interactive part of the City's web pages. Inventory work on City owned lands has also advanced, and species lists for many of the City's open space lands (including the Irish Hills, Bishop Peak, Cerro San Luis, and the Johnson Ranch) have been developed and "ground- truthed"; that is, checked for completeness by biological surveyors whose work was supervised by Dr. Clarke. This effort will continue in Reservoir Canyon, the South Hills, and Stenner Springs properties. Creation of the species lists have provided a valuable input to the individual Conservation Plans for our open space properties. Another parameter of the Inventory has been public outreach. The City of San Luis Obispo has produced numerous brochures about the natural resources of the community and its surroundings. These have largely been the work of Dr. Clarke, with input from knowledgeable citizens and other interested parties. Additional information has been made available on the City's website. All has been generated to better inform citizens of the richness and value of the natural world which surrounds our community. Development and Implementation of Restoration Plans. At the time of Dr. Clarke's hiring, the City was considering a project to breach a non-functional dam on City-owned property on upper San Luis Obispo Creek, in order to restore access to steelhead and "1 TTACHMEN other native fishes of the reaches of the creek above the dam. This project required development of the concept, creation of contract documents to specify how the project would be accomplished, and necessary permitting. The project, which was fully grant- funded, required about two years to reach the point of construction. The project was actually constructed in the fall of 2002, with Dn Clarke taking the lead in moving the project forward. Since that time Dr. Clarke has been involved in the planning for several other significant restoration projects, including the Coon Creek restoration project (mitigation for the City's Water Reuse Project), and the Froom Creek jeep road decommissioning project, which will stabilize an abandoned jeep road in sensitive habitat along Froom Creek in the City's Irish Hills Natural Reserve. Both of these projects are complicated ones,requiring interdisciplinary skills and the perseverance to see through the numerous permitting and other environmental considerations. Both projects are expected to be undertaken in 2004, and several additional projects of this nature on City- owned lands or on private lands are also in early planning stages. The "Conservation Guidelines for Open Space Lands of the City of San Luis Obispo". After getting the mitigation program and Natural Resources Inventory underway, Dr. Clarke and Natural Resources Manager Dr. Neil Havlik turned their attention to the issue of consistent land management policies for the City's growing open space system. City staff and Council members felt that, given the growth of that system—which had reached 10 units by 2001—there was a need for a set of policies that would govern resource management activities on those lands in a consistent manner. To do this, City staff first looked at how a variety of other agencies and non-profit organizations undertook such efforts. The result led to the decision that the City should establish a set of guidelines that would control natural resource management activities on all City-owned open space lands. Based on those guidelines, individual management plans would then be developed for each open space area. A draft set of guidelines was prepared under the leadership of Dr. Clarke and presented to both the Parks and Recreation Commission and to the Planning Commission for review and input, ultimately leading to recommendations to the City Council. The "Conservation Guidelines for Open Space Lands of the City of San Luis Obispo" were adopted by the Council in September 2003, and the first actual management plan developed under those guidelines has been approved(Irish Hills Conservation Plan), with several more currently in various stages in the review and approval process. These plans will give guidance to both the City's Natural Resources Program and its Ranger Program in providing appropriate maintenance, restoration and use of our open space resources. General Supportfor the Natural Resources Manager. Dr. Clarke has provided invaluable assistance and technical support for activities which remained in the purview of the Natural Resources Manager. This assistance has included research into the biological resources of various properties, interpretation of creek setbacks, and reviewing and responding to environmental documents such as environmental impact reports. Dr. Clarke's capabilities in this regard have grown as the responsibilities and involvement of the Natural Resources Protection Program has continued to become more fully integrated into the City's community development programs. a.r� ATTACHMENT Recent.Projects and Future Directions As the City of San Luis Obispo's budget concerns manifested themselves in late 2002 and early 2003, Natural Resources program staff looked to ways to improve its support to other departments and to generate staff funding support in a way that would ultimately save the City money. What came out of that effort was a focus on several major City projects that would require biological monitoring or have significant biological components. With the experience of the mitigation program behind them, Natural Resources staff were able to develop a role supporting the Utilities and Public Works Departments, addressing major projects such as the Coon Creek Restoration Project, Old Creek Habitat Conservation Plan, and Froom Creek Road Decommissioning. In addition, Natural Resources staff have taken on the monitoring requirements for several City projects involving local waterways (most notably the Mission Plaza Walkway Repair project) and have provided significant savings to the City in these services in lieu of hiring outside consultants. (See Attachment ). It is anticipated that the Coon Creek project will require about 33% of the City Biologist's time and 5-10% of the Natural Resources Manager's time in 2004. The Old Creek project was expected to be another major time-consumer,but recent delays caused by requests for new information from the National Marine Fisheries Service may postpone this project, possibly into 2005. The Froom Creek project, which is grant- funded and has an administrative component to the grant, is expected to require about 10% of the Natural Resources Manager's time in 2004. Finally, a contract now being developed with the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County, to continue the watershed-wide steelhead surveys undertaken last summer, is expected to improve our knowledge of this important feature of the local environment and provide outside funding support for the City Biologist position. Other Activities of the Biologist In addition to the work responsibilities that he has assumed since being hired,Dr. Clarke has become a Certified Wildlife Biologist and a Certified Fisheries Biologist by attending courses and passing a challenging peer review of his qualifications for such certification. As a completely new benefit, the City now plays a significant role in regional and statewide environmental issues, for example being represented by Dr. Clarke on the National Marine Fisheries Service's South Central California Steelhead Technical Recovery Team, the Tri-Counties' F.I.S.H. Team, and having been a major organizer of the Salmonid Restoration Conference, held last February in San Luis Obispo. Because of recent studies on steelhead populations within the San Luis Obispo Creek watershed, our watershed is quite likely the best understood watershed in this regard anywhere on the Central Coast, and several papers have been developed for publication in the scientific literature. Staff is certain that the Council shares our pride in these accomplishments. a- � aE HA CD3'?AEkII Dr. Clarke has also brought other acknowledgement and honor to the City, being a speaker to local civic organizations and to classes at Cal Poly, being a judge of the San Luis Obispo County Environmental Awards program, and(together with Economic Development Manager Shelly Stanwyck and other administrative staff) sponsored the City of San Luis Obispo's Green Business Award program. Dr. Clarke is active in other professional activities and is a volunteer in several local environmental organizations. Summary The Natural Resources Protection Program has become an integral part of City operations since its inception in 1995. It has gone through fat times and lean times in terms of outside funding support. It has created a system of open space lands that can be enjoyed by our citizens, and has established consistent rules for the use and management of those lands. It has provided advice and expertise to private, outside parties, to other agency personnel, and to other departments within the City hierarchy. The City Biologist has greatly expanded the program's capabilities, particularly with regard to the centralizing of the City's mitigation efforts, to restoration and enhancement efforts to San Luis Obispo Creek, and to the development of better working knowledge of the plants and animals of the City and its environs. Attachment: Estimated In House Mitigation Project Savings for 2003. ATTACH M ENT Project& Duties Hours City Total Cost Consultant Total Cost Savings Department. Biologist In-house Rate External Rate/Hour+ Overhead Apple Farm Pre- Sewer construction Replacement Surveys; pre- -Public Construction Works Training; Site Dewatering & 58 $37.00 $2,146.00 $92.50/hr $5,365.00 $3,219.00 Fish Removal; Monitoring; Completion Report Coon Creek Biological Permit Assessment; 140 $37.00 $5,180.00 $45,000 $45,000.00 $39,820.00 Application— permit Utilities Application SLO Creek Electrofishing $55.65/hr Steelhead survey of + survey— SLO creek 120 $37.00 $4,440.00 $115/day $9,693.00 $5,253.00 Utilities expenses (City Biologist) $600 airfare SLO Creek Electrofishing Steelhead survey of survey— SLO creek $55.65/hr Utilities (Natural 320 $20.00 $6,400.00 $115/day $23,008.00 $16,608.00 Resources expenses Sub + Contracted $600 airfare with Local Biolo ist Mission Plaza Pre- Walkway construction Repair—PW Surveys; pre- $36,250- Construction total Training; Site (estimate Dewatering& 270 $37.00 $9,990.00 adjusted to $36,250.00 $26,260.00 Fish assume Removal; 270 hours) Monitoring; Completion Report Mitigation Writing up Monitoring mitigation Reports monitoring reports and Stenner Creek Biological 6 $37.00 $222.00 $700.00 $700.00 $478.00 —PW assessments SLO Dam— 6 $37.00 $222.00 $700.00 $700.00 $478.00 Admin a _g AT SLO 6 $37.00 $222.00 $700.00 $700.00 $478.00 Creekwalk— PW SLO Creek 6 $37.00 $222.00 $700.00 $700.00 $478.00 Repair sites— PW Tank Farm RD Bio Ass. - 12 $37.00 $444.00 $1,400.00 $1,400.00 $956.00 PW Total Savings for 2003 $947028.00 a -9 Barbara Ehrbar- Natural Resources Prop- -n __ 7Page_1 From: <jbennett@calpoly.edu> To: <slocitycouncil@slocity.org> RECEIVED Date: 2/2/04 5:49PM Subject: Natural Resources Program FEB 0 VQ 2004 Dear esteemed City Council Members, Due to prior commitments, I regret l will SLO CIN CLERK be unable to attend the presentation about the Natural Resource program to be given at the City Council meeting tomorrow night. I have read the documents by Dr. Havlik and Dr. Clarke, and I wanted to respond to you regarding this issue. Many local citizens disagree with the trend towards more shopping centers, and especially'big box' stores. I feel the things that make San Luis unique is what IT DOES NOT have in common with every other coastal town in California. The most valuable asset we have is the natural beauty of the area, and a nice amount of designated open space. This, in turn, draws many people to visit and stay in our town. I realize the majority of open space that has been acquired is directly due to your and our Natural Resource Manager's efforts. Management of these areas is one of the reasons we have a City Biologist, and I applaud the City Council's support in keeping these programs and positions viable. San Luis Obispo sets a shining example to the rest of the State and the Nation with it's forward-thinking ideas regarding Natural Resource protection. I see from the reports generated,the City Biologist and Natural Resource Manager are actually saving the taxpayers money due to their efforts and abilities to take over tasks other City employees or outside contractors would normally do. If asked which City programs I would support with MY tax money, THESE PROGRAMS WIN MY SUPPORT! Being a Natural San Luis docent and educating the public about the value of our local natural resources led me to volunteer as a Board Member for ECOSLO and become more involved in my community. I urge you to continue to fund and support both the City Biologist's efforts and Natural Resource Program in any manner possible.Thank you for your continued efforts. Sincerely,Jodee Bennett(15 year resident) CC: <mclarke@slocity.org>, <nhavlik@slocity.org> re COUNCIL ZCDD DIR Ir CAO 2 FIN DIR is ACAO 2� FIRE CHIEF RED FILE ETATTORNEY ZPW DIR 6 CLERKIORIG Z POLICE CHF MEETING AGENDA ❑ DEPT HEADS 0(REC DIR oYl 6 UTIL DIR DATE- ITEM #� Z'hli Dl