package, which is the mitigation monitoring and reporting program. certificate of determination and exemption from environmental review. and a community benefit plan. so we do now have a complete package. we did move this to the general calendar with the recommendation of approval. i would like make the motion to have this project approved. >> commissioner, is it the resolution that you would like to adopt that is in your binder? >> yes. >> thank you. >> commissioner. >> prior to seconding my colleague's motion, i want to say a week ago i was contacted by the head of the union square association karen flood. she said their association was supportive. i think that is and important vote of approval. so with that if there is nothing elsely second commissioner lowe's motion. >> commissioner bonia. >> i just wanted to thank the project sponsors for

preparing the mitigation program. speaking for myself i think it would have been difficult to support it without that program in place. because i know how difficult it is for the community to deal with these types of projects. even with this -- with the program you have proposed, i know it is not going to be easy. i know it is going to cause great inconveniences and hardships for the community residing around the project. >> thank you. it's been moved and second. all in favor, opposed? it is unanimous, thank you. >> item 9, water conservation project. >> good morning commissioners. before you is discussion and possible action to

approve the memorandum of understanding between recreational park department and public commission for implementation for alamo park water conservation project. the p.u.c. extends grant assistance for retrofits and encouraging large water uses to implement necessary retrofits to maximize our ability to realize real water savings through conservation measures and innovative practices. in 2011 the department partnered with the p.u.c. to develop a plan for 12 parks where the most water can be conserved. alamo square was ranked within the top five of the consumer parks but had high potential for water conservation. as a result -- i will use

the overhead here. alamo square will be the fourth park we have been able to implement this in. previous projects include alta plaza, a 900,000 reward, replacing the irrigation controller and install drought tolerant no-month grass and improve drainage. balboa park, 120,000 grant reward. we replaced the booster pump and raised the sunken boxes and improved the irrigation line. lastly, those in jefferson square in the western addition, with over a million in a grant reward replaced the entire system, installed a state-of-the-art system, no-month grass and drought tolerant landscaping features throughout the perimeter of that large

park. have not been through there recently and will take the consensus down the first week in december. it's been a transformative project for us. let's see. in february of this year the department submitted the required application documents for this project. it ranks as one of the highest water using parks of all of our parks in our entire system. the water use is over 7 million gallons, 23.7 acre feet for your water geeks. which covers the 9.4 irrigated acres that comprise over four city blocks of that large and iconic park. the alamo square project that we propose, this mou

would cover anyway would cover this need within the park. the current system there we have a leaking irrigation system that is over 30 years old. more stunningingly we have a corroded coupler line, over 70 years old which far exceeds life cycle of that time. we have low water pressure in the park, which impacts our water distribution in the existing irrigation system. we have an inefficient irrigation system design and layout difficult to maintain lawn and steep slopes and underutilized areas. this is the actual need we have. in june of this year we were awarded by the puc the -- a grant in the amount of 1,318,485 to undertake this

project, which requires the mou before you today. that particular project we have proposed would address these particular items. it would replace irrigation system. replace that completely quick cover line, install a booster pump to increase water pressure, improve irrigation system layout and design, replace unusable turf with drought tolerant plantings, where appropriate in park design, and install a weather-based smart irrigation controller. with this project complete our estimated water reduction would be one-third reduction or $2,545,192 gallons annually, which is very substantive. that being the project that we proposed, the puc has made available this money for the project. it is available to the end

of fiscal year 13-14. their grant funding covers 57% of the total project costs. remaining 43% of the alamo square cost would be subsidized by the department's capital budget in the amount not to exceed 1 million. if you would approve the mou today and once it is executed, the department must complete this particular project within two years or forfeit the grant receipts unless otherwise agreed. so the proposed mou before you is attached to your package outlines and describes the requirements of this particular project that it would govern. the time line, if you were to approve, would be the following. you can see on the slide here -- i'm reiterating how the costs are allocated between the two departments

in our project time line that we would undertake community outreach in january through march. back before you here at the commission with the actual capital project in april. construction documents made through august. award of contract the end of next year with construction in february through july of 2014. then have the project complete and ready to reopen in august of 2014. this project is supported by the alamo square neighborhood association. some of which members are here today. we do not know of any opposition and recommendation before you is approval of the proposed memorandum of understanding between our department and the p.u.c. to implement this project. >> commissioner harrison. >> excuse me lack of familiarity with no mow grass.

is that decorative, like mondo? >> not exactly. it is a california native. if you have been past alta project, you will see it on the steep slopes fronting steiner and clay streets. it tufts and mounds. by the description design not to mow. it does have somewhat of a water quotient but lower than regular turf. of course it is more maintenance-free. we don't have to do the mowing. we propose to put it on the non-usable areas, like at alta plaza we have steep slopes that are difficult to mow and are not really usable for park users because of the grade. you can also see it at cavello park. >> the puc is using it at

sunset reservoir and the medians. i think a little at jefferson. >> there is some along the eddy of the jefferson street project. >> it looks like green uncut hair. >> but beautiful hair, wouldn't you say? >> denny, what part -- >> chia pet. >> what part of cavallo point. on the playground? >> the playground they actually mow but in between murray circle and the main office, then interspersed between some of the -- the hillsides area, there is no mow. >> in other words, we can't use it on a putting green? >> your ball won't go in the hole. >> it would change the game. >> commissioner bonia. >> yes.

the water usage, 7,718,612 gallons we are using in this park. is any non -- poetable water or -- >> all that is poetable. be substantial water conservation. >> you are saying all is -- >> poetable. >> all poetable. so all this time we have been using all this water. >> yes. >> wow. >> irrigation and -- >> that is phenomenal. >> with outright leaks in this. >> i would say this is long overdue. >> thank you. >> is there public comment? please come forward. >> i'm katrina, on the board of the alamo square neighborhood association.

i wanted to confirm dennis's comment that we are very supportive of this. we have been following it closely. we are excited we are going to get a new irrigation system and conserve more water and will work closely with community who's communicate what is going on as the various stages happen and make that go more smoothly. we are meeting with the project manager, marvin ye, and talking about how this will affect replanting and tree removal. what we can do to really take our park to the next level. and make good decisions now as this is designed so we can have a beautiful park in 100 years. thank you. >> thank you. >> any other public comment on this item? >> good morning, commissioners. thank you for having this item on your agenda today. my name is gus hernandez, editor of the alamo square news letter. i also want to offer my support for this irrigation

plant, long overdue. like commissioner bonia said. you know, we are very excited about . this we are going to be partnering with your department and park and rec and puc to mack sure the outreach is done properly. our news letter goes out every other month. we will cover and provide updates in the news letter, thank you. >> thank you. >> is there anyone else? being none, public comment is closed. >> commissioners? moved by commissioner -- >> second. >> seconded by commissioner bonia. all in favor, opposed. hearing none, that is yan, thank you. >> we are now on item 10. the transit center district plan priorities for open space impact fee revenues. >> good morning, commissioners. recreation parks department. apologize for my voice. the fact you got your staff

report late due my sniffles. as you recall in september this commission held an informational hearing on the transit center district plan where you heard about plan developments, transit improvements, planned open space, as well as shadow impacts. in addition you were presented with impact fees with information on impact fees that would be paid by developers within the project. and the next study that was the basis for those fees was presented at that september hearing. during that conversation we talked about the fact that there will be impact fees that will stay within the plan area. then there are a portion of the impact fees, 12.5 million, that can be spent outside of the plan area on open space. on october 9th you probably all remember instead of watching the giants win their league and advance to

the nlcs you had the shadow hearing where we talked about shadow impacts and you jointly approved with the planning commission. but also about the public benefits as well as impact fees. subsequently october 18th the planning commission adopted what is known as transit center district plan implementation document. which intended to summarize the area. this funding was associated. the allocation of types of different infrastructure and implementation mechanisms and process. during that hearing the commission approved and made one amendment to the document. that amendment prioritized the early spending of the 12.5 million on impact fees that could be spent outside of the plan area.

prioritized spending $9 million in china town area. that was done for a couple of reasons, many of which have been discussed in the hearings leading up to this conversation. essentially that china town is the densest in san francisco, the most open space poor, as you often hear in our conversations here, and that the analysis the planning department did indicated much of the spillover from increased density created by the new housing and new office space in the plan area would affect not just the downtown and south of market by china town. what is before you today is affirming and supporting what the planning commission did on october 18th. to prioritize spending those impact fees in the

china town neighborhood. i want to note quickly the ipic committee on which the rec department has a seat is body charged with the actually allocation of those fees. i believe we talked a little about that in the september hearing but happy to answer more questions on that, as necessary. >> is there any public comment on this item? please come forward. >> good morning, aim may chan. i'm a legislative advisor for david chu. i want to express our support for resolution before you that prioritizes impact fee revenues from the transbay improvements in china town. the china town neighborhood, which supervisor chu represents, is as sarah mentioned, one of the densest neighborhoods with the least amount of open space. portsmouth square in particular is the only park in the heart of the neighborhood. it is used daily by

seniors, by children and other low income and immigrant residents from our community for exercise, recreation and community gathering. it is a space heavily used. it is important to the district, to the community and in much need of repair. while there are a few other playgrounds, there is really a great demand for more open space for this very dense neighborhood. it would benefit the health and well-being of the residents. that is why our office urges the commission to support the resolution before you, thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker. >> president buell, commissioners, general manager ginsburg, ms. mcarthur, my name is phil chen. i'm the chair of the committee for better parks and recreation in china town. the committee is a voluntary organization that

has worked with the commission of open space issues over 40 years. we starred in 1969 despite attempt business a developer to turn a playground into a garage. i'm here to speak on the proposed regulation regarding prioritis for the transbay open space impact fees. we are recognized as a es for the transbay open space impact fees. we are recognized as a high needs neighborhood. 40% of our stock in china town is made up of sro units, single room occupancy units that are

eight-by-ten. there is barely enough room for a bed. when there is a bed it is standing room only. there is no bathroom in there. no kitchen. there's no closet. if you need to go to the bathroom you need to take with you a flashlight. take with you toll let paper and towels. maybe you need to take with you alcohol or other cleaning solution to clean the toilet. if you leave your toilet paper or soap, somebody is going to take it or steal it. you cannot cook in your unit because there's no kitchen. you have to use a community kitchen. sometimes it doesn't work or leaks gas. you have to bring your own

lamp in there. you can't leave anything in there or something will steal it or break it. for these people if you indulge me i would like to take a few minutes. >> go ahead. >> to complete my comments. for these people having open space is a lifeline. portsmouth square is overused. overcrowded. not because it is a great park but because people have nowhere else to go. there's a really high incidence of behavioral problems with kids that live in sros. there are over 500 families live in those single rooms. because of that we think it is very important for you to pass this resolution. we think this opens up the

opportunity to identify other open space opportunities and expand open space within the community. i urge your yes vote. thank you. >> thank you very much. >> next speaker. >> good morning. my name is ten chow speaking on behalf of china town community development center. i want to ask you to support the resolution before you. i remember five years ago i was on the task force for the general plan. china town, according to the element in the general plan has china town as high need neighborhood. that mean with list open space per capita in america we have a big population of families with children and senior population with 90%. that means what we have is

what we have. and also immigrant and low income community i think is understatement. if i continue to say how much open space we need and how much improvement we need. but i think the good thing about what's before us is we finally have the opportunity to turn policy into outcome. so i ask you to support that. i also want to commend the department. china town development center. really enjoy working with this department. we have a great relationship working with the community. the people. many more. appreciate the respect and sensitivity to the neighborhood. and work collaboratively with the neighborhoods. whether from open space or

library to chinese rec center. obama says the best is yet to come. we are looking forward to improving in this part. thans. >> thank you. >> any other public comment on this item? being none public comment is closed. >> commissioner lowe. >> thank you, president beal. i would like to echo the comments. my grandparents grew up in an sro. i always wondered why i had to bring toilet paper. many of those descriptions hit my hard during my childhood. would like to make the following motion. first to the make the finding that adopt finding of the planning commission and resolution, prioritizing china town as

high needs neighborhood and prioritize early investment in open space and parks. to also make the finding -- adopt as our own objectives of planning commission in their resolution in improving the open space in china town. would also like to ask the department to seek funding to implement the resolution and our finding so that it is consistent with the transit center district plan. and to hopefully bring all these great things into fruition. >> thank you. commissioner bonia. >> yes. for purpose of clarity, i wanted to -- based on the testimony or public input we received today, it

appears that the moneys will be more earmarked for the improvement of portsmouth square. so i wanted to get confirmation on that. and or whether there are -- will we be looking at a community process of down the road where people from the china town community, all the different groups in the china town community will be making input in terms of open space needs. >> thank you, commissioner for the question. i apologize for not clarifying that in the beginning. we would conduct a community conversation around how to prioritize these dollars. and in the intervening few weeks between the planning commission's action and now, some of the conversations have begun

informally. obviously portsmouth emerging as an important part because it is the largest open space in the area. and is this in many ways a center of the neighborhood. yes, we would conduct a full community process, like we do for other capital colors. >> commissioner, i just want to supplement that a little bit with a reminder of the roll of ipic, which is an inter-agency quasi interest. we have a seat at the table but it is an inter-organizations entity that figures out how to allocate community benefit dollars, so we would be working closely with ipic and the community on that allocation. >> i should also just add that any proposed improvements to existing park would obviously come before this commission for your approval as well. >> yes. i just wanted to make sure

that we, in approving this, this item, that we will be engaging that community and that everyone will have an opportunity to make comment on the needs in the china town community. i know there are many. we have -- my organization has provided para transit services in that neighborhood. i can tell you it's been a very unpleasant experience for my drivers to have -- to have to help or assist child or youth who is blind eight floors -- up eight floors of stairs because there is no elevator. and then just finding parking for the vehicles to provide that assistance has

been difficult for us in the years past. i know it is very challenging for people who live in that neighborhood. i would love for them to be able to be able to be outdoors more and recreating. i'm in favor. >> it's been moved and seconded. all in favor, opposed hearing none. it is yan. thank you. >> we are now on item 12, which is general public comment continued. if you did comment under item four, you cannot comment on item 12. is there anyone who would like the make general public comment? being none this item is closed. item 13 is commissioner's matters. >> maybe this