public comment. we are an item number five, the consent calendar. is any public comment on the consent calendar? public comment is closed. >> i would like to entertain a motion. >> so moved. >> all of those in favor. the motion passes. >> we are on item number six, the san francisco zoo. >> good afternoon, the executive director of the zoo. we received a letter from president obama.

this is the first time the president actually responded to. bank you for your thoughtful letters i am moved by the time and effort that you put into them. they are doubled in their efforts -- will become a more frequently. it has been seven years since we have had it flamenco nast. we not only have nests but we have eggs. they are starting to chip away. the zoo is on schedule to open one of the restoration's of south america buildings with a temporary reinforce maze.

we plan to return some of the south american animals to be exhibit including the anaconda plant dow. in july, we had a 50% of favorable spring and summer.

august attendance is holding up. we hope the variable in july was caused by some transit issues. we are adopting some green practices and we are converting our membership letter to an on- line version print out -- online version. we have a pullout and the special feature on the conservation efforts. we will send some of these

impose cars to those that do not have computers. with that, i finished my report. >> are there questions? >> good afternoon. there's the issue of trying to bring about minor changes that would enhance the zoo. i'm trying to get this clear. this issue has spoken. we have talked to bob jenkins. this is one of the areas where i can point things out. one of the biggest things i had to do, i had to do an

enhancement. this has to change the structures of something even closer. they want to tear no walls, make it larger, and have access. there was something about changing.

i did not agree with that. if we have already lost some pieces, we should just keep them. this is still a pretty popular show. i don't see affirmative action in the advertisements. >> is there any other public comment? public comment is closed. >> any questions? thank you very much for the report. a good luck. >> we are an item number7 which is still lake.

penn -- stow -- which is stow l.

>> commissioners, i am the concessions but cheer for the department. i am presenting the recommendations in response to the -- published by department. in 1991, the department and the current concession company entered into a 15-year agreement for the operation of the boat house. that agreement expired in 2006 and since that time, the tenet has occupied the boat house on a month-to-month basis. the department has four times

issue competitive bids but we were unable to get a long-term contract for the operation. on december 17th, 2009, the commission approved the solicitation for the boat house and one that would perform capital improvements to the boathouse. prior to the commission directed staff to convene a series of public meetings. on january 12th, 2010, the department staff conducted a key town hall meetings at the county fair building so that seniors could attend. there were more than 100 people

who attended the meeting in total. staff met with various leaders regarding this and this is pending publication. the leaders of the boathouse commission, the boat house program, volunteers,, they bid on the most recent project for the operation of the boat house. during that process, staff received a lot of feedback from the committee and a lot of it was well thought out to and was incorporated into rfq. some of the amendments that staff inc. after meeting and discussions the issues or

requiring that all respondents continued to have the favors that week in choice out there. no change would be proposed that would impact the recreation that occurs there so that the joggers, people walking, people and to perform a tight cheat each morning -- tai chi each morning. we stipulated there would be no increase to the footprint of the building in any way that such proposals would be deemed non responsive. we prohibited any proposal containing a fine dining option. white linen and upscale food was not the goal, we were looking for something more simpler the

limited to counter service. we also included facility conditions in speaking with the community, they had concerns about what the composition would be and we agreed with committee members to teach with this thing to expertise and skill set. those were a person with experience managing boat rental operation and familiar with boating center regulations and a person with historic preservation experience, a small provider and a member of

the recreation department. having met the direction that the commission gave the staff, we published the rfq. we solicited an operator who is experienced in boat rental, managing food and beverage, managing capital projects on historic buildings, and the 2x. additionally, we were looking for an operator looking to purchase a new fleet of boats and making improvements to the

boathouse, to create a simple indoor seating area to provide a warm and comforting place for people to relax and to offer a healthy menu. faugh staff commenced another notification process which entailed placing an advertising in the fit your edition of the "san francisco chronicle," alerting people of the opportunities. we also put it on the web page. we have listed the opportunities in this is fixed -- city's office of contract is administration. also all parties expressed interest and working with

editors to have a posting regarding a out -- opportunities. the department received 03 responses. perhaps a charge the coaster a brief comparison. on the first couple of questions, we see that all of the respondents were committing to selling the favorites and they were including building

third forecast a parent o. the boats vary between electric, there are paddle boats, some solar powered. the stipulation is that they would purchase more boats if demand dictated. for the snow lake corp., they would replace the paddle boats and purchase all new ropes --

boats. one of the applicants had six years' experience leading tours in golden gate park. ortega, 20 years experience of preconceptions and public park lance. for the snow lake, 67 boats operating. for boat rental, one firm sites experience of one other principals working in all aspects of boating such as public safety, rental.

67 years' experience for the still lake corporation. experience managing capital projects, one of the principles was an architect and had 15 years of project management experience for that work. for the ortega families, they have managed 11 properties including your wouldst -- including muir woods. lastly, the stow lake corporation has done

improvements to the boathouse, they have rebuilt the boat quist system. the proposed improvements, they propose a cafe, outdoor patio seating, the existing snack bar window would be retained and the existing office where it would be converted into a kitchen. for or take it, they proposed to run as a sense all portions of the building. -- for ortega, the proposed to renovate all portions of the building. they would make the available to

the public as a lounge area, comfortable seating for people to read or relax. they would also build an accessible bathroom. also the creation of a new indoor dining area and this would upgrade existing kitchen and also replace the floor. there was not too much disparity between the different respondence for the meal prices. as for the proposed menu, we

have order established that all of the respondents error error. -- fair out there. this would feature predominately soup, salad, sandwiches. the ortega corp. would model their services on another salad bar that they operate which would have freshly made food from foods grown or raise to 40

miles away. consistent with what was made to the community, the department convened the following selection panel to review the proposals that were received. after reviewing the proposal,,

the panel selected the ortega family enterprises as the highest ranked responding to and there was a gap between them and the second or third rank respondents. someone to give a brief overview on what we chose. the chart we see here is a list of their experience operating businesses. you can see that there is extended experience operating in public parks.

you can see that one of the department's primary goals of soliciting a partner whereas experience managing reservations -- renovations on historic buildings. i have a significant number of historic buildings on which they have undertaken capital renovation projects including a home that was built in 1610 which is the oldest house in the united states. they undertook substantial renovation of this home. moving on to the boating operation, they propose to have the operation manage with their legal partners that have

operated carnival cruise line for the past 22 years and there is an on the fleet of boats including 30 paddle boats, 15 rowboats, more votes than was dictated. they would follow all applicable boating safety regulations and they would train all staff members in cpr basic or general first-aid and the use of operated -- and the use of external defibrillators. we would see the existing boats be upgraded so that they would go from this to this.

the proposed capital improvements were significant and substantial. they did propose to retain the snack bar as well as all external features of the boathouse. the traditional paint color scheme, they have proposed to keep those, the value of their improvements were a little bit over $230,000. they would require the approval of the recreation and park commission as well as the historic preservation commission. additionally, they would include the creation of the indoor seating area including historic repair memorabilia and

historic pictures of the lake and furniture made from reclaimed materials such as old peers and boats. they would propose to of great the existing kitchen necessary to operate a full commercial kitchen on site. they propose creating a lounge area with comfortable seating to provide patrons and a little bit of rest by from the weather that we have been joined. -- a little bit of respite from the weather we have been enjoying. this is an overview of what the proposed floor plan would look like. if you can take a look at it, you can see in joining the existing snack bar.

moving to the far right corner, you can see all looks aside as part, this is the lounge area where there would be comfortable seating and a proposed including a library on golden gate park so that part of visitors can know about the wildlife.

this was to the exterior of the building and the charm. the existing snack bar, if the capital improvements were implemented as proposed, it would go off from looking like this to looking like that. we have seen this dark elements still retained and frankly from the exterior, not much of a difference. where the dominant change would be is on the inside, on the top floor where it currently have the area used as a maintenance shed. veeco from this to this if the proposed plans were approved by the commission.