more boarts from all around the bay. there's so much that has already happened that we have to really think through all the planning issues. maybe not every single square foot of land or structure, but what is going to happen here? many of the things we are concerned about, improving some of the areas, think about the historic status of the agriculture building, etc. the ferry building area when it had a freeway in front of it, is transformed quite a bit. a lot of things have happened. eop has done a wonderful job inside the ferry building itself, and the farmer's market has become an anchor building outside of it. there is a lot going on, and there is a lot that still needs

to happen. right now, this is an area that i think we have already improve in the area. there has been a lot of improvement that has happened. there is a lot already under long-term leases, something we need to consider. there is a lot of public usage. a lot of pedestrian and public access flows, but there are things that need to be added. there is a continuation of the walkway behind the building that we should think about. we should think about through connections that connect the whole area, and more eastward connections that need to be made to bring people to the water, especially bring new ferry passengers out to the water. finally, as i mentioned before, there are italy will areas in for condition. -- there are two areas in poor condition.

that said, i'm going to talk about the landside improvements first and then talked a little bit about the ferry building. this iswhat we call sketch conc. we want to engage with the board and the public about these things. on the north portion is pier 1/2, and there is a question of what will be left for public usage. there are also areas surrounding the ag building. i am going to start with very plaza. we have a wonderful walk with your about half of the area. there is an orange area that does not have the same area and connection. a lot of pedestrians moved through that space. it is often occupied by other important area uses and allowed usage, to load and unload things going on in the ferry

building. ferry plaza has suffered somewhat. as the beginning thought, extending that walkway for pass- through uses could relate activate that building and extend the connection you were talking about. the next area we are going to look at is pier /12. -- 1/2. under the current land use plan, this should be used for ferry use for public access, and that is in all our vision, but what configuration? will its rectangular format be demolished and returned to the day? of the configurations are something we are considering. -- returned to the bay? other configurations are something we are considering. the ag building and the lagoon

at next to it -- i have an arrow of carry riders moving right through that. i think that will be where people will embark or disembark for treasure island. that could be very many people once it is fully built out. we will need to solve the that is done. finally, the ag building itself has a number of issues related to its historic restoration, not least of which is that even without sea level rise it is a structure which currently floods, which inhibits our ability to maintain it. if you see the red area around it, we are talking about moving its lightly and raising it so that flooding issue will be contained. there are probably as many parts of the building that are really important with preservation and maintaining its historic values, but there are certain parts shown in the back portion that give less to the overall

historic fabric. whether those are renovated, demolished, or replaced with things, we will study as part of this preservation strategy. moving on to the ferry service, the shows were current services are. gates c and d are doing their own work, planning work and engineering work to renovate the water site facilities. we are not really working with them fully. gates d and e services on the north and south. thinking forward, in yellow it shows a number of services that staff has identified 2 bad from treasure island and ready city on the south basin, and a number of services for the north basin -- berkeley, richmond, hercules, martinez,

and antioch are under consideration. berkeley is the furthest along. the locations have to do with where they are in the planning process and how the actual physical connections are. those boats are coming from the north bay or the south bay. this is where we are today in terms of ferry service. the primary dates are gates -- gates are gates e and b. a future phase built between 2012 and 2013 will add gate a, which is currently pier 1/2. we do not know what will remain of that, but what has to be there. gate e will be joined by gate f as part of the new treasure island service. this shows the lagoon being filled, a new concept. it is needed both for

circulation issues to get people out there and also emergency gathering issues. if there is an emergency and we need to activate this, where are those people going to wait in a safe manner as they get out during the workday? president fong: kenya toggle back and forth? >> i am going the wrong way. president fong: before and after. >> ok. here is existing. here is face to. phase three ads on -- two things change to phazese three, 2015to 2025. that is protected once treasure island is built out with these front loading boats like the staten island ferry, very large boats. you can open the gate and many people can get on and off very

quickly. that is one reason why we are considering are those people are going to go and how the circulation patterns are going to work. another gate will be added to the south, behind the ag building, to accommodate existing services for the duration. the ag building will be moved back slightly to add for a plinth that allows for delays in did of circulation space in front of it. these are zero considerations for when we move forward. -- these are considerations for when we move forward. the more dairy passengers there are in -- the more ferry passengers there are in san francisco, the more we have to make trouble attractive. one thing weta has considered is

whether protection -- is weather protection so that you can travel during the winter or the rainy season. we're talking about conceptual ideas of how you provide that protection. the provided on the float, -- do you provide it on the flow come off the flow, or attached to the building? -- do you provide it on the float, off the float, or attached to the building? finally, this takes us back to the concept, we are calling a sketch concept starting point as we reach out to the commission and the weta board as well as the public interest groups and tenants in the area. >> questions, commissioners?

president fong: exciting. >> will start talking to stakeholders first. we will begin a series of workshops and meetings, showing different options. we will ultimately come back to the port commission with a range of options, an environmental clearance exercise, and ultimately negotiating a lease or other negotiations with weta to build this facility. i07 frame. commissioner brandon: i have a question about funding. who is paying for this project? >> that is a good question. i know that from the very first weta itself -- the agency comes with some deep sources of funding. these are very expensive

products, but they have regional tax dollars as well as some of the monies that were done for water transportation. there are remarks from those sources of funding, which are pretty good. they are funding this joint planning exercise for the most part. when it comes to the red planning areas, these are grayer areas of who is responsible for funding. some improvements in those areas, such as the demolition of pier 1/2 and pier 2, are called out in the plan as linked to expansion of the ferry terminal. in our mou, there is some contemplation that is a project expense. but there are other areas where it is not as clear. improvements to ferry plaza

intersect with leasehold issues we have. a lot of these areas are currently under long-term lease, so there is negotiation not just between the agencies but the other leaseholders. ultimately, if we were in 2008, i would say this would be a public-private partnership in our traditional model and bring in a user or developer. right now, we are trying to plan this in such a way that the -- that this that thdoesn't interfe with the ag building, but that this is not about restoring that building. we have not resolved that as yet. president fong: we will look forward to hearing more. thank you. public comment. i am sorry. any public comment on this item?

ok. thank you. >> item b -- request authorization to award a grant for literacy for environmental justice, for environmental education programs at heron's had park and india basin open space in an amount not to exceed $415,000. >> i am here today asking your authorization to award a grant for environmental education services to be provided at heron's head park and in the abyss and open space for a term of up to four years and not to exceed $415,000. before i get started with that, i want to thank you, of port commissioners, foreboding every year when you adopt the -

operating -- i want to thank you, port commissioners, for voting every year when you adopt the operating budget. we have grown into a comprehensive education program that is well utilize and very well loved. it has enabled us to develop an active and supportive constituency for heron's head park. i think it has been a very good investment. you will recall that when i was here in july i was asking for your approval to advertise the grant opportunity and to solicit grant proposals from non-profit organizations to provide education programs at heron's head park and in the adjacent open space, which is owned and operated by the recreation and parks department. the reason we wanted to partner with rec and park is that they

owned a small area along the shoreline at india basin that has a complementary habitat to heron's head park. it gives us an opportunity to geographically expand the program, which will enhance them, and to offer support opportunity to access the recreation and parks department existing infrastructure for public outreach, such as the work conducted by the director of volunteer services and her staff, and their use your chip program, which involves urban you -thought- an -- and their yh stewardship program, which involves urban youth in the programs. with port commission approval at the meeting on july 13, we advertise the grand opportunity on august 3 -- we advertized the

grant opportunity on august 3. we advertised on the agency website and by the milling directly to the staff network of professionals -- and by e- mailing directly to the staff network of professionals who have the ability to conduct this work, and on websites where environmental education services would look for opportunities. in addition, the grant announcement was sent to all the certified nonprofits in the city. we assembled a selection committee comprised of the recreation and parks department director of volunteer services, a port gardener who has years of experience working at heron's head park, and a community

member in the south east two is a member of our waterfront advisory committee -- who is a member of our waterfront advisory committee. we thought it was a good panel of experts. we had a conference on august 18. representatives from four organizations attended. we got a lot of good questions at the meeting, by phone, by e- mail. it seemed there was a lot of interest. but for proposal review we received only one, from literacy for environmental justice, or lej. i can tell you that it was an excellent quality of response. lej submitted an outstanding proposal that was responsible to our needs as they were described.

interestingly, lej's proposal partners with two nonprofit organizations that had previously competed on a contract. those are the golden gate audubon society and the marine science institute. i think that is a win for everyone involved, especially the small nonprofits. we get much more value when the collaborate to make their services funded and available -- when they collaborate to make their services funded and available. we believe this will enhance the quality of the program and give an opportunity for other organizations to get involved and participate in the park. lej added the exploratorium teachers institute and the

stewardship and environmental education collaborative, a group of service providers who served san francisco schools. their proposal includes one subcontractor, a for-profit p.r. and communications consulting firm. it is a small and woman-owned business. the selection committee reviewed lej's proposal and unanimously agreed it was responsive to the rfp and should be recommended for award. commissioner brandon, you asked what $110,000 gets you. considering the proposal, what it would get us is one full-time equivalent park staff. that includes hours for both the

park ecologist and an environmental education leader. 10 community trips with seven kids each led by the marine science institute. a year-round teacher training program for 25 middle and high school teachers who will impact 800 students. a branding and communications plan for the port to highlight its efforts on the southeast waterfront and the benefit of the parks that are there and the port role in environmental education. family-focused birding activities led by the golden gate audubon society. approximately 400 native plants and a limited number of hours for a habitat restoration technician to tend to those plants. and various education materials and supplies. an effective presentation for $110,000, i think.

however, although matching funds or not a requirement of the rfp, because lej has a track record, it was able to secure financial commitments from other funding organizations outside of the city -- the u.s. fish and wildlife association, the u.s. epa, and others. considering the financial commitment that those organizations have made to the environmental education programs, lej is bringing another $110,000 worth of services. what does another $110,000 in matching funds get you? it increases the funding for park staff so you would have 1.6 full-time equivalent employees working at the park every day. it gets you a full-time

americorps member for six months. they are recent college graduates trying to get started in their careers and they bring an amazing amount of energy and ability to these programs. talk about bang for your buck. it does not get better than that. you also get 40% of the ecocenter program management time. a full-time staff person will be managing the ecocenter, planning and implementing programs there. 40% of her time will be devoted to the education program funded by the board. you get additional funds for tools and supplies and partnerships. with the port investment of $110,000 a year, all told, lej will provide $220,000 of services annually.

port staff recommends that the grant be distributed in two phases, the first from october 2010 through september 2012 based on the funding that has been allocated for the next two years and the program of services lej has presented in the proposal, and then a two- year extension for the subsequent period october 2012 through september 2014 for additional services. that two-step process allows us to make any changes we need based on changes in availability of funding or the discovery of services we might want to make, changing the site or the program needs. with that, i am requesting your authorization to award the grant for up to four years and an amount not to exceed $415,000 to

lej. i would like to have representatives from lej and some of the partners introduce themselves. then i will be available to answer questions. i would like to introduce the executive director of lej, the ship program manager from the marine science institute, the chair of the san francisco conservation committee of the golden gate audubon society, and i believe we also have the director of the teachers' institute. i will let them speak with you briefly and then i can answer any questions you all have. >> good afternoon, commissioners. you heard the presentation. i thought it was detailed.

i do not think i can add more, other than to say i really appreciate your investment in the waterfront, especially the southern area of the waterfront. we look forward to building -- are eager to build with you all. we have partners with us. we believe our proposal will be a wise investment into the waterfront. >> i am karen peluso. good afternoon, commissioners. i would like to thank you guys for the opportunity to collaborate with them. we are going to be offering new programs to actually get people out onto the water, which is something not everyone in the bay area gets a chance to do. i am really excited about this opportunity.

>> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is marin wheedon. i am with golden gate audubon. we are dedicated to the creation wñ heron's head park. we worked with lej for many years, supporting them in the community. we look for to pertinent -- to partnering at the ecocenter. thank you for this opportunity to participate in an important part-funded program. -- port-funded program. >> i want to thank the commission for allowing me to speak. my name is linda shore. i am the director of the teacher institute at the exploratorium. i wanted to talk briefly about

de7ht lej has been tofly about our work. you probably know that in our near future we will probably be moving our location to an area just down the road. an important part of what we do in my program is teach teachers uz engage in the environment, engaged i in place- based ;á the waters of the bay. we have used their facilities to test some of the ideas we want "ç#mñ carry out when we move,t more importantly, what is exciting about working with lej is that our teachers have been able to learn about that part of theidwóvcity, learned about howo use their building, how to use their facilities, and how to bring environmental justice back into their science classrooms. qx heard, fr

we serve, at least 150 students in san francisco are directly served by what they learn. your support leverage as a locked -- a lot. you are, basically, and helping our youth. i want to thank you and i strongly urge you to find this incredible program and this incredible project. thank you. >>-n6c35÷ commissioners, do youe any questions? 9@ i do not have any questions. i want to make sure we get public comment at this time. commissioner brandon: i just have a comment. first of all, i want to thank you for a wonderful presentation and for doing such a wonderful job and collaborating with so many organizations. az!

we are looking at expanding the entrance to heron's head park,-5 i hope while we are in that process we will also look into additional funding so that this wonderful group can activate that area also, so there is funding available once it is complete. hopefully, if i can support you in any way with that, i am going to. >> thank you. we intend for this program to include the expansion, buto6y]5r point is well taken about looking for additional opportunities. that is one of the reasons we included that p.r. and communications plan peace. we feel there is so much going greeny and the park expansion and the ½ educatn programs that we want to highlight for people that opportunities are there. that will help with future opportunities. president fong: