job of making great strides to make this program a huge success. the two calendar items before you today represent two key elements requiring your approval to maintain the momentum on the program. as mr. ford has spoken earlier, calendar item 12 requests your authorization for the agency program controls, and item 13 requests your approval of the central subway relocation impact study. we have staff here today, and so we will be happy to answer any questions with either of the two calendar items or the brief i just gave you. >> thank you mr. rohan. a couple of questions about the actual tunneling. in the double slide, it seems like the construction there has been about three years as well. are you familiar with that project? >> no, sir, i'm not.

>> it appears to be a much easier project than going under all the stuff in the city. >> that is the complexity, doing a subway in a city that has utilities, sewer, water, electric, you name it. there is a whole host of things in this city, and in some cases we have found some of it as we have gone on. we have had to find ways to deal with that, which are far outside the engineering realm when it comes to remains and things of that nature. it is very complex when we are talking about a tunneling job under a major urban city. >> do you have a time frame? >> they are doing samples, but you are always at risk of something that is not there in the drawings or the historical documentation. there is some risk in terms of crog across something that we didn't plan to. i think we have built in a

certain amount of contingency there, and hopefully that is enough to cover it. >> chairman, we are very comfortable with the schedule. i would submit to you that the greater risk is going to be on the time lines of actually constructing the underground stations. the tunneling itself is going to go very smooth. if we hit something like an arc logical find, it will stop us in our tracks until we clear that. >> so the last things that goes in is the tracks? >> we are staging the contract that most of the material can be removed through the tunnel. so there will be subbays and temporary track put if for those contracts. >> and those projects could go on? there is nothing to preclude that? >> the actual exit is in north beach. >> this contract includes a

tunnel bore machine retraction shift. we go all the way to washington square, and that is where we take the machine out. and all we have to do is close the door over it. if we ever decide there is a phase three, it will be able to spring from that. >> when there is a phase three. >> you mean spring from that, building a washington square station? >> anything that is designed. >> director? >> i think you forth greats presentation. it is very helpful to see this all laid out. a couple of service-related questions. the south terminus at king and 4th. does the t lee keep going down the existing line? >> no. it is going to connect both phases. the terminus would be visitation valley for the t-line. the t-line would continue

straight, not make that right-hand turn. >> so someone there chinatown could keep going to what is the current end of the t-line? >> yes. >> and is the current t-line around the embarcadero going to continue as well? >> no. >> so that is the end of that one? >> yes. >> so then my next question is -- and i am sure you guys have thought of this, but my limited exposure to this in my real job suggestion -- suggests any time you go to digging up a gas station, there is a lot of remediation? that is part of it? >> yes. that is in our plan. we have that contingency in our plan. >> you touched a little on this, about the laying down of temporary track to remove

debris. what is the sort of anticipated disruption for the union square area associated with this project, and how much of it can be done underground to avoid strupting what is obviously a commerce center? >> actually, each of the three stations will be excavated differently. mosconi will have the more surface disruption, because it is a cut and cover. we'll bore down and then squa videogate back up. there will be a lot of disruption around that one. our utilities contract that is going to be going out in september will uncover and reroute major utilities, and then place back so that we can restore traffic on a temporary means. then we are going to mine from there down and then build back up. now the struppings will be mitigated considerably, but there will be some surface

disruption to make the final closure and initially to make the utilities opening. the chinatown station is going to be mined completely. we'll bore through and then set up and mine inside. >> so we could probably come back to you with specific time lines in terms of how much disruption at each location, if any. for example, minimal at chinatown, but definitely at union square. we have a very healthy community relations group as part of this project. there are a lot of elements that are working with the union square merchants and dealing with those issues. but we can come back with more of the details on that because those are questions that we had to answer a couple of years ago when we went through this process. but i don't recall the exact -- >> one would be to minimize it during the christmas season, obviously a busy season for them. as long as you are doing the outreach with the community,

that is excellent. the one thing i note on this map which is an excitement to me, you have in here a possible future line which appears to be running along eerie. am i reading the map correctly? >> which page is that on? >> possible future muni line. >> this map was taken from some of the earlier preliminary engineering drawings, which had geary in the concept stage. at that time we didn't know if it would be a connection to the subway or a b.r.t. this man shows that potential. >> all right. >> but it is not part of the program now. >> i understand that. great next idea though. and the stations, the connection between powell

street and union state stations will be at subground level so someone can walk from station to station? >> no connection at the platform. >> are there still plans for moving side walks? >> we actually abandoned those ideas about two years ago when the cost of the moving sidewalks became an issue. when we went through our risk mitigation program -- f.t.a. has a risk program you go through where you take a look at enhanced elements and what they would cost. when we went through that, we threw it out because of the huge cost. >> another item we need to follow up with this because this has come from the public in terms of the length of time of transfer from our platform to the bart system. carter, i don't know if you have that in front of you, but

i want to make sure we give you as much as we can in terms of potential issues. that was hot button a few years ago. >> we are not talking about a major league distance. >> maybe not for you and i? >> but it's about a block's worth of distance? >> yes. where someone of my age would ben at this time from moving sidewalks. >> and you are the one who threw it out, >> and you are not going to be any younger when it gets through. that concludes that. >> no one has registered as a speaker card, and i don't see anyone in the audience who is appearing to desire to address you. >> so we can take both at once? >> ma i -- you may. >> any discussion? the ayes after it.

>> number 14, fixing the wage schedule for transit operators at $29.52 per hour as of july 1, 2010. >> what is the pleasure of the board? >> move the staff recommendation. >> second. >> all in favor say aye. the ayes have it. >> i'd 15, discussion and vote whether to go to closed session and invoke the attorney-client privilege. prosecutor moved. >> seconded. >> all in favor say eye. >> for the close the session, we >> the board met in closed session. the board of directors took no action. directors, do you want to disclose or not disclosed? director nolan: i think is

important that we may be just indicate who was the present -- who was present at the meeting. and yes, mr. chairman. in the minutes, we are required to reflect who is involved in the closed session, the minutes will reflect that. director nolan: on the basis of that, is there a motion to disclose or not disclose? director oka: move to not disclosed. director nolan: all in favor? we were not disclosed. with that, we are adjourned. -- we will not disclosed. with that, we are intent. -- adjourned.

>> please direct your eyes to the water out over the bay. just a quick note -- the 5:30 to net the lawn is not canceled -- to nebulon is not changed. for those wishing to change rocket ships, you can talk to spot. we have another rocket ship on the way, but this one is where they take off, any minute now. we have a couple of speakers here today. the first one is an lazarus from the port. public art like this is not done without partnerships, and the partnership that we have with the port of san francisco turned this space into an art space and has been spectacular. thank you, ford of san francisco. if you are representing the whole commission and some staff,

though, ann if you want to say few words, that would be great. our boarding up is right here. >> thank you all for being here today. i would like to thank mike for wearing his seersucker suit so we were sure to get some sunshine today. i'm assuming there is a cause and effect there. it takes a village to accomplish something like this, just as with everything else in life. as mike said, this has the complete, wholehearted endorsement of the port commission, all of us, of our staff, our planning staff, even all the way across to our maintenance staff, led by tom carter. i just want to say in closing and thanking everyone, who says we do not have ships down at this waterfront? [laughter] thank you. [applause]

>> i also want to thank the opportunity thank thebcdc who helped us -- bank -- thank bcdc, who helped us get a permit for this. i told people that the cost of putting something up like this cost the city about the cost of a billboard for one month, and they had a greater ability to create community and space, and it has been a fabulous addition to the port of san francisco. people will talk about this rocket ship forever. the next person we have is our district supervisor, david chiu. when david first came to the board of supervisors, he had a conversation with the cultural affairs director for the city and county of san francisco, and he made art in san francisco a priority. he wanted to make sure the money we were spending was spent on artists from the bay area. it was very important to him that this happened. as many of you may or may not

know, san franciscans -- san francisco is one of the city with the most artists per capita. our government agencies spend more money on arts than any other government agency per- capita, and the foundations that work in san francisco spend more of a percentage of their money on art in san francisco, so with that -- for them, we're all grateful, and we will talk more about them. without further ado, supervisor david chiu. >> hello, fellow travelers. i go to a lot of events every day, and i have to say, this was the event i was looking forward to all week. yes, and one feel that way? happy friday, by the way. i'm going to say a couple of things that elected officials probably should not. when i was a kid, one of my favorite pastimes was to launch off bottle rockets. and if i had gotten some better grades in physics, i might be helping to build these things as opposed to major in political

science and becoming a politician, but at the end of the day, this is part of what is so special about san francisco, and one other thing that i'm going to say that i probably should not say -- i have never gone to burning man, but i think it might be about time. i want to thank all of you who are part of this amazing community that has helped to move forward not just the arts community, but to really improve upon community collaboration, improve upon how we think about living together as san franciscans, as californians, as citizens of the universe. i think the last thing i want to say is, as someone who represents much of the waterfront here, this is obviously what i hope is just one of a number of amazing installations that i know that the local artist community is so incredibly capable of developing, and i look forward to future installations like this so that we can make sure that our art remains not just

burned in our minds, but burned in the minds of everyone throughout the world and throughout the universe. congratulations. thank you. [applause] >> this fabulous relationship that the city and county have started in about 2005, and we had some very creative project that had happened since then, and it all started with the executive director than coming into the mayor's office and saying that we want to do more public art. put more public are on the streets and the community of san francisco, and start trying to build community. then, it changed to melissa. she carried over, and we had more projects, and we kept coming back, and then, it started to go national. started happening in detroit and reno.

if you want this to continue, you have to go and give. it does not happen without your support and supporting your community. i know we all do it in different ways, but you have to try to find a way to do more so that stuff like this can continue happen. with that, tomas is going to talk a little bit about the project and the people responsible for it. [applause] >> he just said everything i was going to say, except when we saw this ship last year -- i do not know how many of you were there -- and friday night, when the incredible thing happened that nobody thought could happen -- this rock actually launched, and as it was out there, i had a feeling that it would probably land right here. thank you all for coming out.

i do need to thank a number of people that made this possible. chad, andrea lesser l --ester -- lester, thank you all so much, and also, to alex rosenthal who pulled together this event, thank you. have a good time. [applause] >> one of the great things about this art and the other art from the desert that has come to san francisco is to see how much the art changes in a different environment and how our perception of where we are at in our space and how this has changed -- it will change before. it is interesting looking at the perspective here. it is a really great day.

i do want to bring up sean orlando, who is representing the artist. it is so great to have him here. he represents a team of many people, and i'm sure he is going to talk about those people. it is a great to see -- many times, artists have communities that follow them out there, but oftentimes, you do not have artists where community is the process. do you want to talk a little bit about your piece? . -- [applause] >> thank you all for coming out. this is really incredible. thank you to the port of san francisco for clearing the air space to allow us to crash land on pier 14. it is really quite an honor. this has been an incredible experience for us, working with brad and lesley trichet and the port and city to allow us to place this amazing work of art that was designed and built as a group project in a collaborative

manner by artists and engineers and programmers from all round the bay area, and i'm really proud to work with them. it is incredible that -- even more so, that this is the first ever rocket stop in the united states. virgin galactic, you have nothing on us. one of the new elements that we have added to the rocket, which you will notice in the background is the rockets thought, is our intergalactic bay area rocket transport or ibart. [laughter] thank you all for coming out. we have the phenomenon coming on in a little bit. we have the space cowboys, gastronaut and all their amazing food. thank you to all the volunteers. [applause]

i want to go over couple of things. first off, braf has a table over there, so if you can, and get more information about what they're doing across san francisco, across the country, and get them to try to dedicate a little bit of time, money, and cash to try to help them succeed in putting art like this together. here is the reason why -- if any of you have a chance, leslie wrote a piece about why flocked matters, which was a piece we put out in city hall a little while ago -- i guess three or four years ago. basically, it said that public art is art that you own. no one can tell you what to think about it. there's no one telling you how the field or believe is possible with this art. it is art that any opinion matters. one of the highlights for me was went 35 grammar school kids came up and tried to tell different people what they thought that

that was, and it was so fascinating. with each piece, there is a different story and a different tale that the community is telling. with david best's piece that went in his brain, some guys said thank you for that piece, and some guy said definitively without a doubt, but " this is a bird house", right? and everybody in the community saw an argument start between people in the community about a debate about what it was. another thing, the art that was created there has created another space, which is dedicated to art. out of that came the hayes valley coalition that continued to put up piece after piece and are committed to continue to bring artists into that space to show their work here in san francisco, which is really great. i'm trying to string a little bit of time out here before i introduce the mayor of san francisco, and i'm trying to get an indication of how far out he

is. any indication? >> [inaudible] >> laugh i do not know any jokes, but we do have someone here who wants to do some poetry. no poetry and no jokes, but what many of you may not know is that we built this rocket ship in 1944 and launched it in 1944. we got lost, so we -- throughout our travels, we have been traveling through space and time, picking up passengers, dropping them off, upgrading our rocket ship, collecting specimens and aliens, and some of the specimens and aliens are actually amongst you. we landed in san francisco because we thought you would not notice them as much, but the problem is that the customs agent approached me, and you all forgot your cards, your id cards, so aliens, if you could please come here and collect your cards, because you will get stock. there is one. thank you.

thank you. they just blend right in, don't they? thank you. great, here he is. ladies and gentlemen, the mayor of san francisco. gavin newsom thank you all for coming out. -- mayor newsom: thank you all for coming out. i want to thank all of you for being willing to once again allow the city to try new things. it was not that many years ago that we could not put a peace sign up at the panhandle. we could not put a spider on top of city hall, and we could not even put a giant foot down at the embarcadero.

folks, in san francisco, for all our progressive politics and our aggressive policies, there's just something about public art where we are not always as progressive as we should be. i made the distinction "public art." there is something about putting something on the streets and sidewalks that is incredibly personal to san franciscans, and as a consequence, incredibly controversial. when i came into office, one of my firm commitments was to break the rules. and i say that in a loving way, that the idea was that if we could not win by the current rules of the game, we either had to challenge those roles or change them. so what we did is we tried to reinvent our focus on public art by finding a loophole, and this was it. temporary public art.

that has been the big differentiator. we went in, and we said, "don't worry. it will just be here for 30 days." 60 days. 90 -- was it a year ago? i thought it was just 60 days ago. the point was once people got used to it -- in fact, we found the spider right here. she was here. and people started to say, "what is that?" and then, two months, they would ask why we were taking it away. that has been the narrative and partnership with the black rock arts foundation and all those incredible artists that you guys represent, all those artists that are here that are represented in this extraordinary piece. we have done that 20 significant public arts installations in this city in the last couple of years, and that is pretty good.

those are significant. thousands of others significant, but at a smaller level. we did the arts in the store front. people thought we were crazy, and now that has been replicated and modeled all across the country. we had a budget with $500 million deficit, and they thought we were crazy when we said there would not be any cuts to arts programs and arts investment in the city, but we were able to do that as well. so we are moving in a different direction. i will just end by saying i think an exciting direction. i think we have raised the bar once again. the bar was always high in our city with our 40 years of our neighborhood arts program and all that contribution at all of you make with a set aside on every new public projects, but this is one of my favorites, and that is really what i was coming here to say. i think this is just incredible. this is going to get a lot of

attention, appropriately, and deservedly. it is good attention. you have the new span on the eastern side of the bridge that is being done. you have the most environmentally friendly development in the history of this country that will happen next year on treasure island. you have a revitalized waterfront that slowly is evolving. organic produce, organic farming, our values being advanced here every single week. a lot to be proud of. a lot to be thankful up. in that spirit, great job. keep up the great work, and i am a proud san franciscan today. thank you all very much. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, the phenomenon will be here shortly. they are still trying to land. they weren't the late