to san diego to help protestlet business of the circus and i want let you know there are a lot of people that believe this is what needs to be done, this ban that we're talking about today, because there's large amount of people believe that this is the time to do it and even though this room is too small to have the people here today this is really important for all of the people, and not only in san francisco as somebody mentioned, but for the whole state. we travel all the way from san diego to san francisco and this is really important for us. thank you for doing this. >> good afternoon supervisors. my name is philip gary and a former commissioner on the animal control and welfare commission for six years and i am very familiar with all the

issues concerning animal welfare i guess. i was moved to come here to speak today because i am in full support of what is being proposed. i am just surprised to me this is my personal opinion that public entertainment and amusement reads to me zoos which i was trying to many years ago become just a rescue zoo but the powers that be didn't happen, but in my mind on a lesser degree -- not cruelty but ongoing policy of entertainment and amusement is what zoos are -- at least our zoo is about and again that's a side line but i do fully support this legislation and i am glad that you are proposing it. thank you very much. >> thank you and if there are

any other members of the public that wish to speak on item 1 if you can please come up. if not i will ask the chair to close public comment on this item. >> excuse me supervisor. >> oh i just want to say there are no more speakers so i wanted to close public comment. >> thank you. public comment is closed. >> thank you for everyone that came out to speak on this item. again there is more work ahead of this and so appreciative because it was really all of you that brought it to us and why we're here today so with they just want to encourage my colleagues to support the legislation. thank you very much. >> thank you supervisor. so colleagues is there a motion? >> i make a motion to approve. >> can we do that without objection? thank you. [gavel] >> sorry supervisor what was the motion and we did receive an amendment from supervisor tang. >> [inaudible] >> okay. >> [inaudible] >> on the amendment and can we approve the amendment without

objection? [gavel] and support and move forward the item with a positive recommendation as amended. >> so moved. >> thank you. without objection. [gavel] thank you. next item mr. evans. >> item two is an update to receive public access to the public utilities commission peninsula watershed and requesting the public utilities commission to report. >> thank you and this is sponsored by supervisor avalos and scott wiener. we expect to have supervisor avalos. he is running in as we speak. and let me just take the moment to thank sfgtv for televising us and jessie larsen and jennifer lowe for staffing us so supervisor avalos we're now on the energy on public access to public utilities commission peninsula watershed that you cosponsored with supervisor wiener. >> great thank you chair mar and i want to thank my

cosponsor for this hearing, supervisor wiener, for coming forward on opening up our watershed in san mateo county that's under the public utilities commission jurisdiction. this is actually an area of land that i am very well familiar with from my travels down on the peninsula but not necessarily familiar with by having the access i would love to see as i look out to the west from 280. the peninsula watershed is 23,000 acres and it's land has incredible bio-diversity, incredible sources of fanna that is protected but also very important that we recognize that it's there, and there is a real growing need to actually have access to this area, so that people can really enjoy what's

there, but at the same time responsible access that we can really protect the sensitive wildlife and plants and trees that are there. i want to thank the members of open the watershed for bringing this issue to the attention of the board of supervisors here in san francisco as well as the board of supervisors in san mateo county, i think santa clara county as well, and there are multiple jurisdictions that are also going to be involved from the golden gate recreation area and other federal and state jurisdictions as well and i think we have some speakers here from some of them. but most of all i want to thank the public utilities commission for their work in planning the opening of the water front, watershed area in san mateo county. it's something that they have been working on for years and it

just so happens we're seeing the confluence of the desire from people who want to have access to the watershed and the public utilities commission having made some solid planning. i think today in this hearing we will explore what the plans are, what needs to happen in terms of environmental review, and where are the gaps that are still needed to be able to fill in the plan, and i think overall we. to be create access and we want to see if we can expedite access but be responsible to take care of the watershed and everything that is there and the sensitive habitats there so i want to thank everyone for coming out and i know i will give time for the cosponsor of this hearing supervisor wiener to have some words before going on to our speakers that we have from

various jurisdictions. supervisor wiener. >> great thank you very much supervisor avalos and thank you for your leadership on this issue and i am happy to cosponsor the hearing request with you, so the bay area is -- we're a densely populated region and we are growing and adding population, not just san francisco, but the region as a whole, and we're also a region that really values open space and recreational access, and as the region grows it becomes more and more important to make sure that we are having good open space recreational opportunities for our residents. we want to make sure people can get outdoors and really take full and responsible advantage of the natural majesty of the bay area and we in san francisco we fight

hard for our parks. we're always in robust discussions with the national park service about access and recreation and the golden gate recreation area and the peninsula watershed in my view is an area that bay area residents and visitors should be able to enjoy and should be able to access for responsible recreation, and so i am really glad we're having this discussion and moving forward to make sure that we have that recreational access. and obviously as with any recreational access it has to be responsible. we have to do it in an environmentally sensitive way. this watershed is very important. we want to make sure that it is safe and secure and pristine and i know that we can balance the need for recreational access with that need for good environmental stewardship so i look forward to the conversation today and i

look forward to working with our colleagues in san mateo county and i want to thank the president of the san mateo county board of supervisors dave pine for being here today as well other groups and people in the community to make sure that we make this a reality. thank you. >> thank you supervisor wiener. so would you like to call up your speakers before we open up for public comment? >> right. i have a list of speakers i want to call up and i want to thank supervisor wiener for recognizing san mateo county supervisor dave pine and i have tim ramirez from the public utilities commission but we actually have -- join us a little letter. public utilities commission -- after that will be howard lefet from the golden gate recreational area. dave pine from the san mateo county board of supervisors and is here to speak as well and then we

can go to public comment. >> thank you good afternoon chairman mar and members of the board. i am the assistant manager of water at the san francisco public utilities commission. if we can bring up the slides please. i have a number of slides to present here. as was mentioned i will be joined by tim who is the manager of our natural resources and land management's division, the division that only existed for less than 10 years now to make sure we're really properly managing all of our natural lands in our watersheds. as you mentioned previously our peninsula watershed is about 23,000-acres perfected from 1930 and owned and managed by the puc. there are two watersheds in the peninsula area. they are actually the drainage area that feeds in many different reservoirs in the area so one of the things about the land here as mentioned is the need to

protect the water quality in the peninsula and accounts for a significant part of the water source and we want to make sure it's of high quality and it's a state designated wildlife roughage and has easements administered by the group that is important and part of the golden gate reserve and this has been protected for a long time. we want to make sure it's continued to be protected but at the same time open up to recreation. i have a photo here. this is the canyon that is part of the peninsula watershed so that gives a flavor for it and as you can see a lot of it is heavily vegetated and close to structures so one of the key things about the management is make sure we're protected from fire. this area we work very hard every year to make sure that good fire protection is in place. with that i would like to turn it

over to tim ramirez to talk about how we manage the lands and the educational opportunities. >> thank you. mr. ramirez. >> thank you for the opportunity. i very much appreciate it. i will ask steve to leave the slide up and a new picture that the public did take from the ridge trail last summer and the [inaudible] private and private property on the trail that we own and part of the plans as well that he wool talk about it. how do we manage the watershed? before my arrival we had a plan and have a context to consider proposals rather than dealing with them 111. the document provides specific guidance and broad guidance in some cases how we manage the property day to day and how we consider new proposals. the primary goal is maintain water

source quality and protect public safety and preserve ecological resources and provide educational resources as well. the document was adopted by the planning commission. all proposals, puc proposals, caltrans, pg&e, anything in the property considered goes through environmental review. in addition to that in 2006 we adopted the environmental stewardship policy and calls for us to go over the basic regulations and protects the species and habitats in the property that we own. a quick overview of the plan on the watershed. there are currently 31 miles open trails to the public on the watershed and the crystal springs trail and managed by san mateo county and

have ease mentds on the property and -- >> are both of the trails open now for access? >> correct. different restrictions. [inaudible] program three days a week, three trips a day, horses, bikers, runners and hikers and crystal springs is managed by the county and i am sure they can speak about that trail system. >> very good. thank you. >> sure. >> and when we get to the map if you can spend a moment just tracing where they are so people can see. >> absolutely. the map is the next slide. i just wanted to mention three things on the map that we're have been working on as steve mentioned for several years. the extension of the ridge trail from the 92 and no trail there but the council has long planned for a connection to close that gap and we want to connect the crystal springs ridge trail to the trail itself and we're doing that with the connector here and of course

the crystal springs regional trail on the east side of the watershed, so here's the map and i am sorry it's not easily read for folks watching or here but we're happy to talk about it off line and provide the map. everything shown here in black on the trail system is currently open to some extent. sometimes more restrictive than the others but it's open for the public to use. [inaudible] kay hill is the black line in the middle and that is our do sant program and we run that, the staff does and crystal springs is along the reservoirs of 280 and the reservoirs themselves. we wanted to show the neighboring public lands. it's important to make sure we're working with the neighbors to accommodate interest so that the trail system integrates with everybody else and we have good relationships with san mateo county and the golden gate recreational area so that is

the case and there are things that changed in the last years and one that we're showing on the west side to the north in a different color the connector here. this wasn't covered in the plan in thing that was recently described and covered and analyzed as part of the [inaudible] general management plan 2014. we worked with the staff on that description to make sure it was something that was forward looking but going to be consistent with our efforts as well and we're excited about that proposal and we will talk about that as well. everything in red is also in the watershed management plan to some extent but not open due to various reasons and that is consistent with the san mateo county plan for master trails and we're working on the county trail system, specifically crystal springs to close the gaps and there is a connection on the properties. i will talk about these in terms of updates and in the planning quickly. so on

the ridge trails itself highway 92 south. this is about 6-miles of gap in the bay area ridge trail and as most folks know the ridge trail around the bay area is a long plan, very big effort with all of the open space districts in the bay area and we're happy to be moving forward on this. we have been working on it as long as i have been with the puc, tennessee -- 10 years now and we hope to build it in 2016. >> >> and ideally open it at the end of the calendar year in 2016 so hopefully in less than a year that trail which doesn't consist now would be constructed and open and south from 92 and down to the [inaudible] state and managed by the [inaudible] and basically on the east side of the skyline highway down slope. it would be a new trail and then

likewise on the san andreas connector we're trying to connect the crystal springs to itself and running behind the extension and ideally constructed in 2017. just one more picture here of the existing trail. these are bike riders out. that is the reservoir in the background. this is looking to the south on the ridge. this is sort of the same area but the same direction from the picture steve showed. a couple more up dates on the trail system. the county just this year was able to wrap up the section from crystal springs down to the dam and the dam was a big project wrapped up and we need to work with the county to get the bridge back. the bridge is the gap itself and the plans was to put the back and connect them to the trail systems to the north. south of 92 there is another gap in the trail system and

unfortunately held up with permitting issues now and we're hoping to work san mateo county to overcome that and provide the trail system. we were able to provide funding for the construction. >> could you describe the permitting issues are and what you expect it would take to get through? >> sure. i can do my part of it. my staff were part of the discussion with san mateo county and the state and federal committees and comes down to the endangered species act and there is a lot of fanna and [inaudible] in the area and this was a concern to the resource agencies and i think the county wanted to pause and how they would wrestle with that as part of their design and operation. >> great. maybe mr. pine can speak about that. >> i am sure they would

provide more detail. all of the capital projects have some of the very same issues and we work with the same people and do our best to work it out as best we can. this wasn't on the plan but in the short time with the puc everything has turned and waterways and land west has been purchased in some cases by the open space trust, a nonprofit organization and [inaudible] and folks heard most about [inaudible] and currently open to the public and if you often don't see where the boundaries are but some of the roads on the property go right to our property and right now there is a gate and it's closed and we're talking with them and the san mateo county about the responsibilities to take care of the roads and this is the great

interest to the people and the puc and we want to do our part to make that happen. >> so is there a way to cobble together a sing trail out of the roads and trails or is there a lot of work to build part of the trail to link the land together. >> i think from our perspective and i think this is shared from others as well we don't need to build anything. this is a management responsibility for fire control and these are fire roads that have been there for a long time and before the puc bought the property. >> great. and this involves environmental review. do you know what level that would be at? >> i can't speak to everybody else and on our side because it's on our property we have to provide an update to the plan and it's a seeky document.

it's -- ceqa and one document analyzes everyone's impacts and talks about mitigation measures for anyone that is part of the connection. >> would that be a full eir or some other ceqa document? >> we haven't talked to planning yet and they're the lead agency, the san francisco plning commission. we have a pln for the eir and the plan and we think about that first and it was a project level analysis for the ridge trail so we would work with city planning and what they think needs to happen within the context for ceqa compliance and whether we would do something different from the document that we have. i can't speak to the details today but it's something we're working on and talking about. >> thank you. so they will have to do their own environmental review? >> we haven't talked about this but in general i would hope we

do a ceqa document that everyone can make use of so if the county -- if we're the lead agency they could use it and -- we would reference that to make a change in the watershed management plan. >> okay. that seems like a good way to go and that coordination and i hope that could be expedited. there's a lot of interest in this trail and to open up the crystal springs area to the ocean it would be a tremendous thing to do and have a tremendous impact on access. >> agreed and the san andreas connector is part of that as well and crystal springs you have to go through there which is the next construction project to get to the ridge and get to whiting ridge and trying to do in an efficient way. >> great thank you. >> on the ridge trail itself part of the extension project and with city planning we're

taking the perspective this is one big project for us. we want to build the southern extension and change the way the trail is managed currently. we have been running the [inaudible] program for 11 years now three days a week and no more than three days a week and the dose ans run the program itself and i can speak to all that they provide and the operation of it and we can't do it without the volunteers and our staff trains them to be part of the family and manage the ridge strail as part of the plan and we want to build the extension and change the management so if you're hiking on the ridge trail itself you don't have to go from a dose an program and to the south and open without restrictions or worth and get to this section and open dawn to dusk and then get to the deatd and it's dosen

lead and the plan is do it seven days a week from dawn to dusk and an permit system and that trail users are aware of the responsibilities and accessing the trail in a responsible measure and provide use for us. this is something that a lot of monitoring on the [inaudible] trail system and not impact on the trail system when it was opened 11 years ago. >> so that would be -- the annual permit but without dosens. >> east mud has a similar program and have the permit and carry it while on the property. there are details but that's the general proposal and make it less restrictive and easily accessible for the public. >> do we have a fee for it? >> we haven't talked about it. most folks charge a minimal fee and we don't want it a barrier

to using the trail. >> i think the process can be an educational experience and being responsible in accessing the area. >> yeah, we talked about that as well at the staff level and not like online and check the box and not allow people to check the box without reading something, a quiz, some way to make sure they know what their responsibilitys are. we agree. so just wanted to wrap up in closing the three projects we're have been working on for a long time and there is staff at the puc in our group that deserve credit and we do a lot of workday to day and this is part of our portfolio but try to keep it on the front burner as much as we can and we have good relationships with our neighbors and we want to continue that and whitening ridge is part of the proposal and not part of the plan but we hope to make it is at some point and done

responsibly. the last comment the ridge trail itself we hope to manage as a puc trail system and for us it really is the way that we bring education opportunities to the public and to our customers. we're talking about a building on the alameda watershed, a public watershed building to bring kids out and experience the watershed, get to know the resources. we don't have that proposal for the peninsula right now. for us the proposal is the watershed. that's the draw. that's the way to get people there and really important to to do it that way and part of the educational effort. i am happy to answer questions. >> thank you. i don't have anymore questions except the ones i want at the end of the presentations but if my colleagues have any questions they want to ask. >> we will be here. >> thank you. we will go on to the next speaker who is mr. levit from the golden gate

recreational area. >> thank you very much. it's a pleasure to be here and it's a pleasure to talk about something other than off leash dogs. >> just wait. >> it's a pleasure to walk about the watershed. as mentioned we do hold a scenic easement and recreational easement over the watershed lands and we manage as also mentioned we manage three parcels that directly abut the watershed, sweeney ridge, rancho [inaudible] and the property that he call [inaudible] estate. they adjoin the watershed in different locations. >> >> we have supported different uses on the watershed and have an excellent working relationship with our colleagues at puc for ways that

can be done. i want to invite christina and she's our san mateo coordinator and will explain in-depth how the general management plan envisions access to the watershed. >> thank you howard and thank you for having us here today so as mentioned we have a scenic easement and recreation easement over the entire watershed and the contiguous lands adjacent and important to have connectivity to the trail systems. as part of our management plan the alternative approved in january of this year the title was really for connecting people with the parks. we know that a lot of the visitors of the parks live on the bay side of the peninsula and don't have access to the open space lands so as part of our general management plan i would like to read one sentence of what we leaded as part of --

we included as part of the ease ment area. "we will continue to work with groups and improved access on trails." we know there are concerns about people have in opening up the water shed and related to fire management and education management and of course the security of the watershed itself. we also feel we have a responsibility in administering this easement and that we're providing reasonable access to our visitors so part of that we have a great working relationship with puc and the ridge trail and working on opportunities to make sure that all of the trails are connecting. we find that the [inaudible] ridge in particular would offer access between the other trails and support the connections down to the [inaudible] estate and the san