essentially complete with the street crossings -- the shoring wall work. the next major change in the site will be the continuing excavation and implementation of the traffic bridges at first street, and then fremont and beale street to follow later in the year. we've had over 200,000 kraft hours on the project to date. there were no incidents or injuries. we are following a great safety record. this slide gives you some idea of what is going on right now. there is a little bit of existing transbay terminal demolition left to do along first street. they cannot take that out until they put in the traffic bridge and start the excavation at that end, but essentially, the underground foundations are completely gone now that were left over from the earlier

transbay terminal, and we are well into the level of excavation. the buttress work continues. but you haven't -- to give you an idea of how the site has changed a little bit, it is hard each month to see a lot of noticeable change on the overhead from the buttress, but we are moving along. we have completed as of+ last week 40 buttress shafts. the work continues this week on new shafts with 167 remaining. some highlights of the buttress work -- in the picture on the upper left, you can see some of the sound and attenuation in the material we have put up to try to cut down on the noise. the rest of the site is progressing into the excavation phase, as you can see in the far west end of the project.

the difference between where we were at the end of december and now where we are at the end of january with the excavation. specifically, we are down to the first layer, so the next step is to install the first of four or five layers of horizontal bracing across the entire lot. they are prepping for that. they were removing some existing woodpiles that previously supported the former transit center in preparation for installing the pin piles that will support their work trestle, which is a 30-wide trestle that runs the length of the project, where they will continue the excavation from. here's the beginning of the cross lot bracing in the far west end. archaeology continues in that zone. they continue to find additional items, and they are working

closely with the excavating contractor and rescuing all the material they can find. the remaining utility relocation is the of sillery water system -- auxiliary water system, primarily on mission street. they continue to do puddling. the amount of materials in the area have required them to do a lot of exploratory work and some redesign on this, but thh well under way, and we expect work to get started shortly. then it -- there is an example of some of the part: that was then. the phase two pg&e infrastructure continues now on fremont street in preparation for the final cut overs so that the traffic bridges can be installed. speaking of traffic bridges, that is the next major activity out on-site in addition to the continuation of the excavation and buttress work. beginning in march, there will be some intermittently in

closures on first street -- intermittent rain closures on first street. then, on memorial day weekend, a prefabricated bridge will be set in place of first street over a closure for that three-day weekend. a lot of preparation goes into that, including completing the small pieces of the cds and shoring wall, as well as a structure that attaches to that area, and then the placement of the traffic bridge. then, the future traffic bridges are scheduled to go in on the long labor day weekend for fremont street and the veterans day in november. when the bridges are in place, this will be the access to the area. there will be three lanes of traffic on each of the bridges

and one pedestrian walkway on each bridge. to continue to keep you up-to- date, the construction budget remains the same. this comes out of the report that is provided to the board each month and, again, focus on the schedule right now, the critical passage running through the excavation and buttress work is indicated on the summary schedule. as i said, 210,000 kraft hours to date with about 139,000 of those or 66%, being part of the local area. here's the breakdown on that. it is pretty much continuing the trend along the same lines as we have seen before. i would be happy to answer any questions. director kim: directors, and the questions? i did have one question about first street. so there's going to be a bridge

that private vehicles can continue to use, or is this just for construction vehicles? >> in the east-west direction, there will be what they call the access trestle bridge about 30 feet wide, and it will go in in pieces. a crane and other equipment will be able to fit on it to continue the excavation because of the deaths and the number of cross braces making it impossible to drive the truck into the hole -- because of the debt -- because of the depth. the first street, fremont street, and beale street bridges are for the general public, for the traffic to keep those streets open throughout the remainder of the construction. director kim: so members of the public will be able to continue using the streets? >> absolutely, with the example -- with the exception of the shutdowns. anything else?

thank you very much. >> one other thing, directors, i did want to report that we are in the process of setting up our upjac meetings. i will be bringing the board the quarterly report, as promised, to let you know how we are doing. to date, we have been working closely with the carpenters on john o'connell. we are working on turner, and there's a donation as well for the school. we will be bringing a more full report after our first meeting in march next month. thank you. that concludes my report. director kim: thank you. could we please call item 6, public comment? >> yes, public comment is an opportunity for members of the public to address the authority on matters that are not on today's calendar. we do have a speaker card.

director kim: thank you. if there are other members of the public that want to speak, please line up. >> good morning, board. my name is gilbert. i work for the carpenters' union. but a carpenter for 33 years. i also went to john o'connell. you're sort a graduate -- i am a graduate of john o'connell. i want to let you know we're working very closely with john o'connell as far as keeping them in the loop in training their students to possibly come to the carpenters' union or some of the other unions that exists here in san francisco. we have been also working with dust. maria mentioned that we donated books to the class for the future, all donated by local 22, so we are very happy we are working together with john o'connell, because as you know,

it is a trade school. when they got rebuilt, they took all the trades out of it, and now, it is more of a technical school. it is good, but we see there is a need to train our kids for the future, to help the demand of all the work here in san francisco. i am very happy to say we donated the books. webcor also has donated some tools. i think we are waiting for turner and some other companies to donate tools, so that is a good thing. also, i volunteered as a teacher. anything we can do to help, we are happy to work with them on that. in ending, i just wanted to say that we look forward to working with john o'connell in the future and providing apprentices and carpenters for the future of san francisco. thank you very much. director kim: thank you. is there any other public comment? seeing none, public comment is

now closed. >> with that, we can go ahead and hear the regular calendar, which now only consists of the minutes of the january 12 meeting. director kim: thank you. is there a motion on item 8? we have a motion to approve the minutes for the january 12, 2012 meeting and a second. >> no members of the public have indicated they want to comment on that item. with that, all in favor? >> aye. >> any oppose? we will go ahead and reflect that the minutes have been approved. that does in your regular calendar. at this time, you are scheduled to go into closed session. i have not received any indication that any members of the public wish to address you on the items listed, but they have an opportunity to do so now. director kim: if any members of the public would like to speak on our close session item?

seeing none, we will now recessed into closed session. if we could just ask members of supervisor kim: we are now back in session. >> regarding the portion of parcels, the tpnja board unanimously authorized the agreement with hines. >> that does conclude your agenda for the day. supervisor kim: cnn, we are adjourned. -- seeing none.

>> i am very pleased to welcome

our newest board member. he will be introduced in just a moment. we have one seat on the board that is currently vacant. the board made hold a meeting when there is a vacancy. the board may overrule an action by the department by a vote of three members. go for votes are not required. -- four votes are not required. i am the executive director. we are also joined by representatives of some of the department's who have matters before the board. joseph duffey is the senior building inspector. he is representing the department of building inspection.

carlos short is representing the bureau of urban forestry, and john fong thiis representing a district mapping. if you would please go over the guidelines and conduct the swearing in process. >> the board request that you turn off all cellphone and pagers so they will not disturb the proceedings. please carry out conversations in the hallway. appellants, permit holders, and department representatives each have seven minutes to present their cases and three minutes for rebuttals. people must include their comments within that time. members of the public who are not affiliated with the party have up to three minutes each to address the board and no rebuttal. members of the public who wish to speak on an item are at but not required to submit a speaker

cards to board the -- are asked but not required to submit a speaker cards. speaker cards and pans are available to the left of the podium. there are survey forms to the left of the podium. if you have questions about requesting a rehearing or hearing schedules, please speak to the board staff during a break or after the meeting or call the board office in the morning. this meeting is to broadcast live on sentences go government to television, -- san francisco government television. these are available for purchase. we will conduct our swearing in process. if you intend to testify and

wish to have the committee give your testimony wait, please stand, raise your right hand, and say, i do. any member of the public ney speak -- may speak pursuant to the ordinance. do you solemnly swear the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, whole truth, and nothing but the truth. >> we have two housekeeping items. the parties have jointly requested this be continued on august 15. they are continuing to undergo efforts to resolve the matter of side of the board. good we do need a motion to move

this matter. >> so moved. >> is there any public comment on this item? if you could call our role. >> we have a motion to continue item seven on august 15. [calling votes] the vote is 4-0. this is continued on august 15. >> the other item has to do with item #8 from on a withdrawal came in before the board meeting, so about will not be heard this evening. we are moving on to item number one, public comment. for anyone wishing to speak on an item that is not on the calendar year ago -- on the

calendar. >> i want to apologize for being late. >> i will take this moment to exercise a distinct honor to introduce our newest commissioner. he was appointed five miserably. he has had a wide ranging service to the city -- he was appointed by mr. lee. he is currently part of the cultural center located on the waterfront. prior to this, he served as a public director to the -- as deputy director to the department of economic and work- force development, where he oversaw a acquisition and development of treasure island as well as creating a strategy for development of octavia

boulevard. additionally, he served in senior management positions with the assessor's office and the mayor's office. he holds a master's degree in public policy from the university of chicago, and he lives in nova with his wife and three kids, and we welcome him to our born during your -- to our board. good >> is there any public comment on this item and? seeing none, we will move to item three, which is the adoption of minutes. before you are the minutes of january 18, 2012. >> i see so comments, so i move that we adopt a comments five written during your >> any comments? simenon, if you can call the roll please. >> -- seeing none, if you can

call the roll please. [calling votes] >> the vote is 4-to zero, those votes are adopted. >> we will call item no. 4. gothe subject is that commonweah avenue, and it is appealing of permit to remove and replace one treat your ego -- one tree. we will start with the appellant, or the appellants agent year ago -- the appellants agent. >> i am married to linda. i am here to talk about the two trees in front of the house.

it was approved for removal of the country. the other is not approved, and we are protesting but it was not approved for removal. our reasons are threefold in. one is safety. the tree does helene 20 degrees towards our neighbor's driveway. good and -- it doesn't mean -- it does lean 20 degrees towards our neighbor's driveway. our neighbors to put up a wire to hold it up, and they are in a lawsuit as a result. good we have had significant new sidewalk damage from the tree. dpw marked our sidewalk. and we do not want to go through that again. from of beauty point of view, we would like to put trees in.

there are a lot of trees on the block. cbc suggest we have a pear tree. these do not do well in front of the house. we do not believe this one is safe. we would like to start over with two new trees. that is my presentation. >> you might not want to make a point about if the tree were trimmed it would be below a size that would require permission. >> that is correct. we knew about in the beginning. good and we went to the people we would have hired. we have not trimmed it to your good region we have not trimmed its. it is over the size, when it comes to the canopy.

the trunk and the measurements of the trunk are well within the boundaries. g>> 3 you have a picture? >> yes. >> would you put it on the overhead? >> yes. is it faceup now? you can see the lean of the treat your gut -- aline of the tree. the sidewalk was done within the last few months, so it looks really nice right now. >> the other tree, what was the reason for granting approval? >> the tree is diseased. gooyou can see in this picture f

the tree on the left is very small compared to the tree we are asking for. there is agreement it is diseased and should be removed. the one on the left has been approved for removal. >> is a disease contagious? >> i have no idea your gut >> i assume that is the neighbor's driveway. an -- i have no idea. >> i assume that is a neighbor's driveway. have cars hit it, or has there been any issues? >> there has been. we had to cut off of brownish -- a branch because it was hitting the car is going into the driveway. there has been an issue. what perturbs us is not so much inconvenience but possible safety problems.

>> you mention a wire that your neighbors put up. >> our neighbors to the south had issues with the trees, and they put a wire to hold the trees oup, reading it in the ground some distance to have the leverage they need it, and a person got out of the car at night, a trip, and sued them. over the years we have done all lot to try to get the trees to go correctly. we have made an effort, but clearly unsuccessfully. >> were these trees planted by you? >> they were planted by us in 1997 during a -- in 1997.

a >> thank you. >> should i wait to be called? good evening, commissioners. i do not have too much to add a. i want to clarify, i am not sure when the question of the wire came off. and we do not think the tree is going to fall over. give we think it has grown into the lean. there is plenty to work with. you can prune to get necessary clearances. i did not mention of wire.

if it was mentioned, it may have been mentioned by someone. if you have concerns the tree might fall over, you could cable ... to reassure property owners. the tree that was approved had decay of the base. it is not a contagious disease, but it should be removed. you heard me say larger trees provided more benefits in the form of environmental service, so we tried to preserve mature trees. the highest mortality rate as during the first five years of planting. granting removal of a tree that does not need to be removed reduces the benefit from those trees and increases the likelihood the new tree may need to be replaced before we get

those benefits. the department's policy is to look for more solutions. we of the tree could be pruned to get necessary clearances. we thought they could correct the form of the tree, so we deny the application to remove it. if they want matching entries, -- matching trees, they could plant another pair. i am looking at everybody. the aesthetics should be considered during your they can -- should be considered. they can keep the tree. i think the benefits outweigh the aesthetic benefits. i am available for questions.

>> and when you address the issue president garcia out and the appellants to discuss -- of the appellant to discuss, which is should be pruned it would get to a size where permit for removal would not be required. >> there is question about a significant tree and a street tree. any tree planted in the right- of-way is protected by code. those signs relate to trees on private property. if there are trees on private property within 10 feet of the right of way, in order to be protected, they must meet one of three size criteria, but any tree in the public right of way. it requires a permit for it requires a permit for removal and is protect