we're on time and on budget so with little disruption there will be disruption we've been doing a lot of outreach with the community to best manage and might mitigate one of the unique

aspects of this project as you heard most of us feel like van ness is a san francisco city street that is our street and while that themselves that way technically this is the state highway so the street didn't belong to us this street belongs to the state of california so we're very grateful to have as we do with the federal government a great partner in the state government maneuvered in the leadership of the district 4 director of caltrans who with his staff we work closely at the levels of detail to make sure that design will work for the state highway so i want to thank him and his staff for the great work and please join me in welcoming for caltra

caltrans. >> thank you, ed good morning mayor and supervisors and distinguished guests and agencies and staff and members of the public it is a pleasure to be here today to join all of you as we break ground for the first brt project in san francisco we've been wanting to reach this milling and reaching this point in the project is reflective of the tireless work for the federal and state and redeeming level those who had the vision for the project those who helped fund it can and the great staff of all agencies that naektd in through the maze of approval necessary for us to reach this point as was stated earlier van ness project brt utilities the dedicated places separated from the paragraph on

the u.s. 101 will be used by muni and golden gate transit route 101 and then van ness is a regional important route serving 45 thousand people driving on this road everyday and helps navigate those people from the peninsula to the south side and to the north and also obviously the main street in the city of san francisco lined with mixed use and other mixed use spaces that will enhance the traffic separation within the two mile corridor that will separate transit from auto and stations between traffic times reduces the delays and increase the ridership and improve the safety and increase the transit reliability on behalf of caltrans we thank you for inviting us to be here to

celebrate 24 event this project when completed will make van ness more important to these who will use it more efficient and sustainable transit system moving more people and helping to improve the quality of life of the residents for this great city i'd like to recognize and thank all the agencies staff that working hard on this project to deliver this and especially i'd like to thank my staff another caltrans can i see all caltrans people stand up please and be recognized. >> (clapping.) >> as ed said you'll all the agencies working hard to solve the problems and the issues that were raised to us and the development of the project congratulations to the city and let this project get started thank you thank you so from federal so state to local that the

partnership is expensive one throughout the many government agencies as mentioned but again really the led agency that gave birth to the project really got the process going back in the 2000 was the community transport authority they lead the initial planning and our as the chair said a funder of the this project we're pleased to be joined by the executive director of transportation authority tilly chang. >> (clapping.) >> good morning, everyone sew so much and ed and for all of you for being here on this happy day mayor ed lee, supervisors and director brinkman and -- excuse-me. supervisor peskin thank you for mentioning the state and local partnership the

whole vision we've had to transform this street that deserves a great transportation design here we are can you believe that congratulations to you this is a team in the region and the state and the federal government that will build the first full featured brt line in san francisco the van ness corridors improvement project is going to do nothing less than transform this corridor into a world-class complete street and a model nation wide and in the world and sets standards of fast reliable trait for muni our vision was codified by voters in 2003 when they approved the citywide rapid transit buses that turned into this as long as and muni forward approved by 75 percent of voters thank you to the transportation bond and prop a and prop b and thank you for

your support for great transit and transportation in the city local funds in fact, comprise a walk e whooping 52 percent 52 percent are we're so grateful for the federal transit administration for the $75 million for the caltrans providing active transportation and highway maintenance and operation fund but 52 percent local providers through the transportation measures as well as the puc are really the anchor the anchor for the project and the support and the trust they've pla they've placed i want to recognize the team the cac the advisory committee that convenes 27 times to offer 6 years thank you so much i'll not name you but cross 4 district thank you.

please give them a hand that work is led with the advisory committee and any group providing that important outreach and input into the project a including the business advisory committee all over the place thank you candice and your communication team for leading that vertebrae robust outreach we want to thank, of course, the board members of the agencies past generations to the point they guide the work as well our staff director reiskin thank you for your partnership and the puc and mohammed nuru and director kelly and john haley the city traffic engineer and others working with teams with the staff on district 4 we had endless discussions many debates buses also including the collaboration go compromise in

some cases it came down to interest is that; right? and speaking of the p.m. the project managers peter where are you. >> (clapping.) >> you're our hero. >> thank you for your leadership and ♪ phase and the prior phase working with bob and sherry and others michael and rachel you lead the project design and development for the past 10 years and the team that peter and others assembled you'll take us into the future thank you for your consideration and in and the robust design for the construction effort going forward for future generations to come >> thank you, tilly if we

tried to acknowledge all the folks that put their blood, sweat, and tears we could be here all day truly so many people from the agencies that have worked hard to get us to where we are one that is worthy mentioning jose was someone i remember mohammed and i went up to sacramento he did a lot of work in his tenure and acknowledge him as well and lots of folks go no longer with the city or state of federal government had a hand in that within our agency not a part of the organization that was not part of this from the traffic engineers to the finance folks communications assessable services, safety, of course,

traffic folks an incredibly strong team effort working across the agencies water and sewer and puc the great planning and financial folks at the transportation authority, the arts commission not too many city agencies have not touched this project and ultimately with all that good work it came down to the sfmta disorderly conduct to put together this funding and approve the project after that the environmental document was finalized wouldn't have been possible without the without sfmta and i see a couple members of the board (calling names) and currently now under the great leadership of the chair of the board of sfmta please join

me in welcoming cheryl brinkman thank you, thank you i'm excited this project includes the benefits for all road users and practice the goals of sfmta transit we're helping not only muni but go not only golden gate riders as well as this project will improve both frequency and reliability for all the transit users for people walking we'll have safer and friendly streets to achieve a citywide vision zero goal at circulations improvements and smoother pavement there is a high need for this project not only the 16 thousand muni riders that supervisor president london breed references but 8 house golden gate riders use that with 24 development coming online

those riders will be joined with people on foot and on buses thank you all very much. >> (clapping.) >> thank you cheryl brinkman the shoves shovels are being sharpened but thank you to my partner in the streets of san francisco our public works director to say a few words they're the partner in delivering projects there are unique aspects of working with the public works support we're using a unique mechanism it is called the contract approach different than your typical lump sum low cost build public works has had a lot of experience with this bringing to our support that experience for this long horizontal project as well as

great design support and support in many ways please help me welcome the director of the department public works mohammed nuru. >> thank you. >> (clapping.) >> ed and thank you for your speakers as you can see are true testimony on everybody working together to make a project come through and in public works how rare do we get an opportunity to do a lot of things it in one project new sewer lines and water and bus platforms but also the beauty of project it's the landscaping the sidewalks and the adu the connections from the ramps all making one cool project so many people with the design especially i want to thank caltrans it is their highway and all the agreements and new york city and the possible words we had to do yes

louis was instrumental i remember one day at 4 o'clock in the morning we went to sacramento and fighting over just to make that project come through today is a reality we're already started the work i'm excited and happy that the project is moving forward it is going to make a huge difference and commissioner london breed made that clear it is a different time our city is growing we need accommodate the growth from public works i want to thank our engineering staff (calling names) they've been on the project making sure that everything is happening because some of the work and from the landscape team (calling names) they have been part of landscape will be new trees and new plants

night connection itself when you walk or ride you're bicycle so we appreciate all that and for the environmental compliance and everyone that worked hard to make that project it is a great example of rapid transit and it is first here in the bay area i'm excited about it, too so thank you very much and thank you, everyone. >> (clapping.) >> thanks mohammed when he was talking about agreements what comes with agreements lawyers a lot of legal work with the funding agreement and the permitting i want to announce the city attorney's office a number of firms with the h ac b and others and, of course, our construction general contractor will be a public-private effort

but kind of last but more for the voice for the community for all this great work and all the great work for all the levels of government this project is not for us but for the people we all serve the people that live and work on the corridor and travel two or more and the corridor those are the beneficiaries of this i mentioned because alcohol, tobacco & firearms scale and complexity we have two advisory committees and a business committee their guidance is important so ultimately it is they are serving we're pleased to have the chair of the citizens advisory committee here to join us please join me in welcoming alex wilson km. >> thank you for the construction workers wouldn't

have been possible without the group thank you for making this happen i'm a little bit surprised was under the impression 3 van ness was my road in any neighborhood and the voters have you approved this i see that as definitely all our roads when i moved to san francisco in 2009 traveling van ness was a part of route i radioed it and craved critical upgrades to van ness for the major corridors and because it is a part of my neighborhood i wanted more efficient buses and safer sidewalks august's a clear crosswalks and better traffic lanes so the traffic can move for efficiently we're all here today throwing paper because we love and care about our city a city of doers we index what is broken and strive for

improvements from tech and corporate to the nonprofit we're the epic center of solutions the van ness project is a small example what it means to be a san franciscan to fix and improve by a what is not working our neighborhood will serve as an example to other neighborhood and drivers and pedestrians and businesses and residents me all of us, will benefit from the van ness improvement project our road will be savor your buses will run more efficiently and our pedestrians will have beautiful sidewalks to stroll down as a neighbor i look forward to more trans investigating van ness i look forward to the journey thank you very much. >> (clapping.) >> thank you alex's and thank you for the correction the state owns the street but the streets belong to the people of san francisco and the people of california that's a good reminder we're ready now if you

didn't get a goody bag grab one ask the folks the leaders to dawn their helmets we'll move and break ground ready set go. >> okay. >> ready get set, let's get to work. >> yeah. >> >> (clapping.) >> let the work begin thank you,

>> there are kids and families ever were. it is really an extraordinary playground. it has got a little something for everyone. it is aesthetically billion. it is completely accessible.

you can see how excited people are for this playground. it is very special. >> on opening day in the brand- new helen diller playground at north park, children can be seen swinging, gliding, swinging, exploring, digging, hanging, jumping, and even making drumming sounds. this major renovation was possible with the generous donation of more than $1.5 million from the mercer fund in honor of san francisco bay area philanthropist helen diller. together with the clean and safe neighborhood parks fund and the city's general fund. >> 4. 3. 2. 1. [applause] >> the playground is broken into three general areas. one for the preschool set, another for older children, and a sand area designed for kids of

all ages. unlike the old playground, the new one is accessible to people with disabilities. this brand-new playground has several unique and exciting features. two slides, including one 45- foot super slide with an elevation change of nearly 30 feet. climbing ropes and walls, including one made of granite. 88 suspension bridge. recycling, traditional swing, plus a therapeutics win for children with disabilities, and even a sand garden with chines and drums. >> it is a visionary $3.5 million world class playground in the heart of san francisco. this is just really a big, community win and a celebration for us all. >> to learn more about the helen diller playground in dolores park, go to sfrecpark.org.

. >> (clapping.) >> good morning my name is phil ginsburg the great pleasure of service as the general manager of your rec and park department i want to welcome those of you to performing arts so today is valentine's day a lot of us have a little bit of a red accent for us there is really no better day to love our parks then with this amazing groundbreaking of the helen diller playground at the soefshg there is a lot of love in the air and long beach special people that have made today possible you'll hear from several of them i want to start allergy primarily acknowledging the tremendous generalist of the helen diller foundation represented by zach here and the

incredible partnership of the trust for public land represent by the adrian and alex but a lot of people in the house. >> (clapping.) >> give it up p t l. >> (clapping.) >> so love; right? so you know there is no better day to love our parks than valentine's day that is the day that really celebrates the love that jackie and her family not city and playground for the pc location who home-based in san francisco as this city and it's parks are the love that civic center needs and deserves and the degree to which our children will love the playground with what in their built i want to give thanks and

i'm going to turn it over to a couple of my bosses again want to thank the hundred foundation for frustrate for public land and my team in this project and i want to thank so many partners and institutions that are here that support this plaza dr requester our city larger than and many people have a vested stake in the amazing plaza so we are this is the day of celebration a day of love and my boss will introduce the mayor is saying history has many, many, many parent today celebrating this victory our president mr. brutal beautiful.

>> thank you it's nice to talk over kids having a wonderful time in the playground in 2, 3, 4 challenging country i thank phil for arranging that prop behind me parents there are two particular parents ♪ crowd today they've been acknowledged but i want to say that again, the helen diller foundation and jackie have done a marvel thing great benefactors of the delores park if you been to another park now you'll see one most represents 3 different parts of the city that will serve all the community and kids that's something to be proud of you thank you for the work the family fountains and the memory >> (clapping.) >> and yes, please.

>> (clapping.) >> our other partner is the trust for public land they've done a remarkable job with the rec and park department in all aspects of open space and public space in the city from hunters point to here and today and everybody in between i thank the trust for public land for on steering wheel job. >> (clapping.) >> new it's my pleasure i'll introduce the mayor let me tell you about the mayor one of the great benefits in san francisco our mayor came up during the system and knows how it work and public works gets done and build something in the city and knows how to hold people accountable to none knows the job better and i was going from the p t l

partnership and chatting offscreen he said you know mr. mayor the country looks to you because of what you did with the park system no, no and not kidding won awards it is a great pleasure to introduce you to the green mayor, mayor ed lee. >> (clapping.) >> thank you, mark and phil as the president of the rec and park commission said we've got two great parents with been the helen diller and the trust for public land i can be a kid again (laughter) ii time to say thank you it's a pleasure to join supervisor jane kim who was worked with me and when the board works with the mayor you get free city college that's what you get. >> (clapping.) >> wonderful whole things we're back together on this stage for something i know is

dear to here i'll say this the best gift we can get on valentine's day is to be with our kids i can't be of a better gift than the kids of tenderloin school right here the greatest gift. >> (clapping.) >> that keeps on giving you pay taxes when you get bigger (laughter) but i want to say thanks a great thanks to rec and park commission for just providing leadership of you're talking earlier with the trust public land and working with the nation we brought a sense a real sense of quality when it comes to open space everyone needs to grow up and really have the escapes for them that's why we're here at the civic center and the heart

of city in front of the city hall were here next to the tenderloin and by the way, randy planning says this area because of tenderloin and all the changes with that because of central market and market van ness and all those kids we're growing at a 72 percent rate right here in the civic center 72 percent rate people want to come back and enrich their lives how could be better from the asian art museum and the museum is here when you have people that want to dedicate things library the economic trade off like putting those lanterns and last year that was rabbits i don't know if interpret moving he swear they were move the

exploratorium and the foundation plaza you got another one in april the asian museum and the teen centers that working hard and all of them combined in inviting kids to come and invite and spend the day and afternoon i know with supervisor kim's office and the mayor's office and the police department we have people that are here all day long have to help them get them off the streets with the navigation center and the people helping to clean the streets like downtown streets work on yes - downtown streets in the house. >> (clapping.) >> no, of course, we have to help people to pick up the needles not just confined to the playground but welcomed environment we're doing that is with a hundred foundation and rec and park and all the plazas

lovers in the city we're reclaiming this area for everybody and it is great that is sun is coming out it will be warmer and i know that we have to work hard if we don't then different forces will work themselves and have bigger challenges those are great times to invest i know randy he knows with the investment in the tenderloin and invest in the public spaces and invested in areas that have been overlooked for many years i suggest to you the the united nations plaza that plaza and central market are over looked now we see all the attributes of it coming to the forefront that is one the greatest community that is growing and attractive and those investment are coming in and the foundations are having evictions visions for everyone to use the spaces and

families to feel welcome thank you to everyone and particularly to all over the place but public and private entities that come together with the random reply commission and all the people that love our families and youth to say we have more restrictive things to do and creating new relationships we have a new relationship with the hunters point folks that will help us to transform people's lives they're here thank you foundation. >> (clapping.) >> you know their looking at for people that use public amenity to make sure the amenities and we're monitoring things to have extra eyes and later on one of the things that phil was reminding me about three or four years ago we are talking about redoing the mraudz plaza i want more restrictive the people work all day long and so i think the worst places

are the places we are taurt if you have more restrictive new light that's part of new redesign particularly in between the museum and the library and this area and you are more restrictive welcome a lot of the small businesses and dan's diner are expanding on their own dime they want to do more restrictive for themselves we're investing and keep on working hard to make sure that people work together and when we all work together the vision can come about let's keep the city working together and do the right thing and always honor the traditions of the city a diversity city a city of inclusion that welcomes everyone and works for everybody thank you very much. >> thank you, mr. mayor. >> (clapping.) >> thank you, mr. mayor a few more restrictive acknowledgements of folks that

serve the civic center love hydra mendosa-mcdonnell from the school board and alex and alex walker rep assembly and jen and the entire office of assemblyman chiu came down and commissioner jim one the civic center historians that is a fabulous partner and by the way, sits open is civic center cd board i want to acknowledge the civic center braid for your participation and the vice president allen low who is here. >> (clapping.) >> and no doubt a few more restrictive to come as we hear from more restrictive speakers the civic center is an interesting case that is both a

neighborhood park and our next speaker a champion for the paperwork in the tenderloin and south of market and together with her passion and her leadership we're doing a lot with the bodecker park we're working together for other parks and things in the tenderloin rec center and a new piece of open space not south of market area that we're working on and the next speaker supervisor kim is for front a pleasure to bring up scomplm. >> you stole my talking points speaking of what the mayor brought up thanks to randy shaw we are going we'll be initially

the tenderloin new street lights program and it is going to make an incredible difference in our neighborhood to lit up the streets i'm proud to be here where the community that is actually, the second project that the city hesitate partnered with trust for public land in the district i represent a few years ago we reopened bodecker park in the heart of tenderloin and most amazing thing about bodecker park not how beautiful but it is still beautiful and activated today wouldn't have been possible without the generous contributions and partners like the trust for public land. >> (clapping.) >> but also all the community-based organizations that activate the park every single day and insure that the park didn't turn into a place that was unsafe but a place for seniors and children to joy in

experiencing and planting i see some of the partners here i see the center and david and i see kate robison from the state passages that organize the volunteers in the afternoons when the kids are let out of school only corners when watching children for the after-school programs to make sure they're walking safely through the neighborhood the boys and girls club as well as many others this playground i have to thank jackie and the helen diller playground it is the most important playground if you've not seen the design it is amazing and beautiful with the incredible families of the tenderloin and mid market but for all the families the asian art museum and the library and

all the employees stfl of but represent a park in the city the open space is so incredibly important we're growing in residents but also growing in families ancestry with you reopen bodecker park with the rec and park and to renovate the parks in the tenderloin as and open new playground in mission bay their parks that welcome our residents but help the residents to stay and raise their families again, thank you very much for the trust public land (calling names) who working closely with our office on those two projects and want to recognize our bodecker folks jan and others that have been fierce advocates for the district and finally thank the staff of rec and park i see

steve is offers many of the parks thank you so much thank you for all your hard work and for commissioners, if there's nothing further, we'll move on to and our president and vice president i come to many of the commission meetings you've respond and advocated understanding that was a credible lead but a ready community that engaged and wants to activate all of the playgrounds and parks so thank you very much. >> thank you jane. >> (clapping.) >> a few more restrictive acknowledgements it is amazing to see how many partners showed up representing planning department who is involved if this phrase and guatemala the

planning department with a longer plan has set it off and joaquin and from the mayor's office of economic workforce development thank you for your support and partnership in this. >> (clapping.) >> so supervisor kim you're doing something right the p t l loves this district in addition to that amazing park and bodecker work on the less play to renovate our 13 work playgrounds and p t l with the park alliance are incredible partners and in jane's district they're helping us to raise money for and also got great planning at the rec center another partnership as jane is right more restrictive families and more restrictive kids and density in the south of market this is one of the busiest rec

centers and 80 excited to tackle that one, two that's my way of saying thanks to you all you're amazing with the 21st century government we need partnerships and we don't have a healther more restrictive committed and partnering with the trust for public land you're always there for us and in the success of this private-public partnerships can represent i'm absolutely thrilled to bring up adrian and others that will talk about the actual playground and want to acknowledge andy and emily here such an amazing job with the design? in my mind the most ambitious project no america truly a park it is extraordinary and wouldn't have been possible without the folks so adrian all

years. >> thank you phil good morning san francisco i flew out from new york i heard that was sunny all the time thank you you're using things about the folks that represent you i'm here to reaffirm those and i really can do that with the senior vice president and former parks director for the new york city our goal is the trust public land all resident should have a park within 10 minutes a high quality park so we work with the parks directors and the mayors and the private partners across the country to find the money to build this their expensive engagement to make sure they're beautiful and

so let me tell you what where san francisco stand we know they're in a sector whereby we ranged in the americans cities san francisco is number 5 but you're ahead of of boston and staeltd and chicago and and so forth here's something. >> (clapping.) >> you're ahead of all the other cities the most for all the factors is the score how many people live within a 10 minute walk of a playground in san francisco 95 percent of you live within a 10 minute walk of a playground so the tenderloin is close (laughter) so close and i have to say that was mayor ed lee's leadership and we're

all hoping soon to be celebrating 100 percent to parks and playground that's pretty fabulous. >> (clapping.) >> another thing we measure your progress with parks and grounds something else that san francisco is way ahead of other cities the whole issue of entity so great to build parks and who gets the best parks a tough questions cities across the country are wrestling with the news that san francisco is well ahead of cities in the entity and analysis but acting on that the city of san francisco has dedicated with the rec and park department directing addressing this first and foremost so thank you to phil ginsburg leadership. >> (clapping.) >> that is setting a new standard in the entities the

trust for public land is proud to be a long time partner we said 6 that is the shortest walk (laughter) we walked over here but worked there are names that you may recognize balboa park and hayes valley and, of course, bodecker in the new tenderloin going back 45 years in san francisco but saved the best for last the greatest and coolest and most beautiful playground in the america those two playground right here thanks to the municipal transportation agency gift of the helen diller foundations jackie your building the greatest playground in america

it is the vision that supports beauty first and foremost and it is the playground and the helen diller playground in mission delores park and now the cool itself playground in america thank you very much. >> (clapping.) >> al i didn't. >> thank you and thank you phil well, thank you everyone for being here i can't wait to see that but i want to say even though we've not broken ground yet but brought you us together here to this beautiful day valentine's day to be together outside that brought a wonderful community it together so many people for the design in so many ways into the process going

forward i want to give a few shout outs i'll not get everyone but try first of all, jackie and phil i'm very i'm in. >> i think you always you raised the bar with excellence thank you they're both involved with the design of this personally so to the park and to the staff i see so many of you many came from the other side of the city and many from the office and phillip and helen putting together this our california board thank you for your support and dedication i want to really thank our consultant team andy and emily are here

they have been such a great designer and their work attention it details you know the way we started this process working with a community and saying which picture do you want started asking people when you were a child what experiences do you remember in that made an impression on you that's how the design evolved and thank you corey will be doing the interacting lighting and be amazing it is hard to explain but will be amazing i think that as mayor ed lee said that originated four years ago you should do something with light and now it's happening i want to thank compton for making the beautiful structures and not being front

yard of this. >> (clapping.) >> the boston the construction team they're committed working partners and not afraid of challenge and greases city officials and supervisor kim the mayor's office the planning department 5 and the public works the community benefit district all the neighboring institutions the museum and the library and another plan and many more restrictive that have participated in this process last but not least lots of community members that came to meetings and the bayview of women and children with the boyer school and last but not least all the children from the tenderloin are here a break from their busy day. >> (clapping.) >> and many of them actually gave the ideas for the design so

they're here and going to say a little bit about what they look forward to thank you. >> thank you al i didn't one final special speaker but a couple of quick announcements supervisor safai from district 11 another champion and want to echo and thank you to supervisor kim for acknowledging my staff not the easiest place in the word but with dedication they everyday they pour their hearts out to stay safe and clean and joyous i want to thank the entire team from the park rangers to the recreation staff to the permit staff that provides assess first amendment to the women's march to everybody that helped on my team and a special

acknowledgement to supervisor courtney representing the people of local 261 with all due respect the most important speaker alexander who is 11 from the school. >> (clapping.) >> she's the most important she's our consumer. >> good morning ladies and gentlemen, my name is. >> 457b8d a fifth at tenderloin i know this will be worth our time i'm looking forward to coming to this park again and again that's not the only thing i'm looking forward to i'm looking forward to making this park i'm looking forward to playing on the swings and sliding down the slides and looking forward to getting exercise this new project is important to my

family and i this is also important because it is cleaner and safer and much more restrictive modern so i come to this because - it is guaranteed to be safe and clean it is also important for the family and i, we, get a little bit of exercise it would be a family park and get exercise i spent a lot of time in my backyard the reason why it is because i feel safe and comfortable and increase a lot of space i also sometimes go into the tenderloin parks called bodecker park and spent a lot of time in south park walking any dog i'm so glad the city of san francisco has places to harangue out in we harangue in school at the same time i love to exercis

so i'm okay that that carbon monoxide i play outside on the sidewalk i have a friend that environmentalist every saturday and live next door and they they play hopscotch thank you for this amazing opportunity we look forward to community parks thank you. >> (clapping.) >> future generation with the rec and park department alexandra superintendant guerrero that's all there is we'll gather over here and break ground. >> we'll count ready 3, 2, 1. >> yeah. >> do it today.

>> (clapping.) >> i've been working in restaurants forever as a blood alcohol small business you have a lot of requests for donations if someone calls you and say we want to documents for our school or nonprofit i've been in a position with my previous employment i had to say no all the time. >> my name is art the owner and chief at straw combinations of street food and festival food and carnival food i realize that people try to find this

you don't want to wait 365 day if you make that brick-and-mortar it is really about making you feel special and feel like a kid again everything we've done to celebrate that. >> so nonprofit monday is a program that straw runs to make sure that no matter is going on with our business giving back is treated just the is that you as paying any other bill in addition to the money we impose their cause to the greater bayview it is a great way for straw to sort of build communicated and to introduce people who might

not normally get to be exposed to one nonprofit or another and i know that they do a different nonprofit every most of the year. >> people are mroent surprised the restaurant it giving back i see some people from the nonprofit why been part of nonprofit monday sort of give back to the program as well answer. >> inform people that be regular aprons at straw they get imposed to 10 or 12 nonprofits. >> i love nonprofits great for a local restaurant to give back to community that's so wonderful i wish more restrictive places did that that is really cool. >> it is a 6 of nonprofit that is supporting adults with autism

and down syndrome we i do not involved one the wonderful members reached out to straw and saw a headline about, about their nonprofit mondays and she applied for a grant back in january of 2016 and we were notified late in the spring we would be the recipient of straw if you have any questions, we'll be happy to answer thems in the month of genuine we were able to organize with straw for the monday and at the end of the month we were the recipient of 10 percent of precedes on mondays the contribution from nonprofit monday from stray went into our post group if you have any questions, we'll be happy to answer theming fund with our arts coaching for chinese and classes and we have a really great vibrate arts program. >> we we say thank you to the customers like always but say 0

one more thing just so you know you've made a donation to x nonprofit which does why i think that is a very special thing. >> it is good to know the owner takes responsibility to know your money is going to good cause also. >> it is really nice to have a restaurant that is very community focused they do it all month long for nonprofits not just one day all four mondays. >> we have a wall of thank you letters in the office it seems like you know we were able to gas up the 10 passenger minivan we were innovate expected to do.

>> when those people working at the nonprofits their predictive and thank what straw is giving that in and of itself it making an impact with the nonprofit through the consumers that are coming here is just as important it is important for the grill cheese kitchen the more restrictive i learn about what is going on in the community more restrictive people are doing this stuff with 4 thousand restaurant in san francisco we're doing an average of $6,000 a year in donations and multiply that by one thousand that's a lot to - >> san francisco is known worldwide for its atmospheric waterfront where spectacular views are by

piers and sight and sounds are xhanl changing we come to the here for exercise relax ball games entertainment, recreation market, exhilaration a wide variety of contributions easily enjoyed look up the bay the waterfront is boosting for activities boosting over 25 visitors every year the port of san francisco manages 7 may have million dollars of waterfront from hyde street and fisherman's wharf to the cargo terminals and name shoreline the architecture like pier 70

and the ferry building is here for the embarcadero and a national treasure the port also supports 10 different maritime industries alongside with the recreational attractions making san francisco one of the most viable working waterfronts in the world but did you think that our waterfront faces serious challenges if earthquake to damage the seawall and the embarcadero roadway rising seawalls will cause flooding at high tides and major repairs to a safe many of the piers the port is at a critically turnl point time to plan for the future of san francisco's waterfront

this year the port is updating it's marts plan the plan working group to invite a wide variety of poichdz from the city and bayview and other advisory teams to share their expertise if intense and maritime operations the waterfront land use plan has guided the use and development of the lanes for the last 20 years major physical changes take place along the waterfront and now is the time to update the waterfront plan to continue improvements that will keep our waterfront vibrate, public and resilient the biggest challenges facing the waterfront are out the site an aging seawall along the embarcadero roadway and seawalls that will rise by 21 hundred to provide and productivity of

tides seawall is built over weak soils and mud the next earthquake will cause it to settle several feet without the urgent repairs that will damage the promenade and other things we've been fortunate over the last hundred years less than one foot of seawall over the next hundred years scientists say we'll have 6 feet of seawall rise imagine the pier 30/32 will be floated, the embarcadero will be flooded our transportation system is fog to be heavy impacts unfortunately, the port didn't have the financial resources to repair all the deteriorating piers let alone the adaptations for sea level rise. >> it is clear that the port

can't pay for the seawall reinforcement or deal with the sea level rise on its own needs to raise money to take care of the properties at take care of the maintenance on the properties no way absent anti funding the issues of sea level rise or the schematic conditions of seawall can be development. >> as studies talk about the seawall challenges the working group is look at the issues please come share our ideas about recreation, pier activities, shoreline habitat, historic preservation and transportation issues and viral protection. >> we know this planning process will not have one question and one answer we need the diversity of the opinions how people feel about san francisco waterfront and want to hear all the opinions. >> the challenges call for big

decisions now is the time to explore now and creative ideas to protect and preserve san francisco waterfront. >> now is the time to get involved to help to shape the future of our waterfront. >> we need the debate please come forward and engage in the process. >> this is your waterfront and this is your opportunity to get involved be part of solution help san francisco create the waterfront we want for the future. >> this is really to dream big and i think about what our waterfront looked like for all san franciscans today and generations to come. >> get involved with the planning process that will set the fraction for what is coming at the port. >> find for in upgrading dates on the ports website.

>> (ship blowing horn in distances) >> madam secretary? >> roll call, commissioner willie adams. >> here. >> kimberlee brandon. er >> commissioner woo ho. >> item 2, approval of the minutes of the february 14, 2017 meeting. er >> all in favor, say aye. er >> aye. >> opposed? >> item 3, public comment on

executive session. >> is there any public comment on executive session? hearing none, public comment is closed. >> executive session >> >> so moved. >> second. >> all in favor, say aye. >> aye. >> opposed? we are now in executive session. er >> conference with legal counsel regarding existing litigation matter, and conference with legal counsel and real property negotiator. >> executive session. >> seconds. er >> all in favor, say aye. er >> oppose? ed madam secretary? >> pledge of allegiance. (pledge of allegiance). >> i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> please be advised the the

use of cell phones and electronic devices are prohibited at this meeting, please be advised the chair may remove the order of the person any person of the ridging of, pager or sound electronic device, please remember that a member of the public have up to three minutes unless the committee adopts the shooter period. >> is there any public items on any items not listed on the agenda? going once, going twice, public comment is closed. next item? >> 9a, executive director's report. >> good afternoon, president adams, vice-president brandon, i'm elaine, the port director, today i have one item to report. tomorrow, this port of san francisco is hosting a contracts opportunity open house which will be at pier 1

from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m., this event is to let business and trades know about upcoming contract opportunities with the port and with our development partners. the port's project managers will be on hand to explain upcoming contracts in areas of construction, engineering architecture, real estate development, environment and communication services. this is an excellent networking event to establish partnerships and to learn more about navigating the city's bidding process, we will have the contracts monitoring division on hand. the event will feature 9 tables with representation from port communication, engineering, environmental, real estate x the city's contract monitoring division and we'll have partners for the city and the san francisco giants. each solicitation, upcoming solicitation will have a fact sheet that will include the synopsis of the scope of work, the schedule of the rfp, the lbe goal and is the port staff

contact. upcoming contracts have a big dollar value, we have crane cove park construction valued at 20 million dollars t sea wall resiliency program valued at 30 million dollars, and of course for city development, 200 million in infrastructure improvements, mission rock phase 1, 100 million in improvements, the sea wall resiliency project communications consultant, 1.7 million and other as need contracts. last year we distributed 44 million in contracts and this year, we expect 50 million in contracts. last year, if you don't include dredging, 65% of all contract dollars went to lbe businesses and we hope to do just as well this year, so please come tomorrow from 10 a.m., from 8-10 a.m. to pa*er 1 if this is an area of interest to you, i would like to thank willie

adams and kimberly brandon for jienbacker joining us tomorrow and the commission's support. thank you, that concludes my report. >> is there any public comment on 9a, executive director's report? seeing none, public comment is closed. >> item 9b, port commissioners' report. >> anyone have anything to say? commissioner brandon? >> i would like to thank director forbes and the staff for hosting the contract opportunities open house. i heard there was a huge response and i think it's a great way to get out the word of what opportunities are available at the port, so thank you. >> i also thank you and i want to report to my fellow commissioners and to the public and to director forbes what i've been up to since the last meeting, after our last port commission meet, i went up to sacramento on the 15th and 16th for the california maritime leadership symposium at the

citizen hotel, we talked about transportation, real estate, that wednesday night, had dinner with senator pro tem o'donnell and state senator mendoza, the four most cities in the world with the most congestion and they rank like this, los angeles is number one in the world with congestion, moscow is number 2, new york city is number 3 and san francisco is number 4. and on the 16th as the conference concluded, we went to a port commission meeting and had lunch, [inaudible] was also there with me from the port and brandon [inaudible] from maritime, and we talked about money and transportation, there's close to a billion dollars in transportation projects that stand at the state level that we have to go after as we all know that jerry brown only has two more years, but the state senate and si amiably, they're working on

long after governor brown is going on, so we have to look forward to going after those dollars. the afternoon of the 16th after that, i flew up to see a*lts, i had a meeting with elected officers friday the 17th and went to olympia washington to have a meeting with governor jay hence lee, governor jay and kate brown have met several times with mayor ed lee, they are also a sanctuary city, they had to deal with sea level rising, i've known the gofrn nor for many years and he sends his best to mayor lee, he said he'd like to stop by the port and say hi to attorney general bob ferguson, he took on the trump m*irns ration on the travel ban, he went up to the federal district cart up to washington state and came to the 9th district court and was victorious, he is still

prepared if he has to go to the supreme court to defend that travel down up in washington state, i've known bob for a long time, i think he has a great career in politics if he should chooses. and i flew back to san francisco on tuesday the 21, i had a special guest here, united states senator angus king of main, he's an independent, he and susan collins are the two u.s. senators for maine, senator king was a two term governor, he joined elaine and byron and myself and naublt and the labor council for breakfast, he worked with senator fine tien stein in the u.s. senate and myself and byron took the senator out to a tour of the bay, he was impressed with what the port is doing here, he works closely with the port in

maine and is supportive of some of the issues we have, i think elaine gave a good explain nation of what we're trying to do on sea level rise, he's an environmentalist, i look forward to visiting with senator king in washington dc, that night after the meet, i flew to cape town, south africa, my god daughter got married there on saturday but i landed friday morning, i met with the port of cape town, the port of cape town is a lot like our port, i met with the top officials, hopefully one day we can inform of a sister city and a city port with the port of cape town, they are now just starting to get into ferries, they're trying to build their cruise business, they roughly within their port get about 26 million visitors a year and they would like sometime to come out and see how we do. they're very impressed that what we have out here that you can walk down the pier down

here and you can go to the explore y*um, you can go on the cruise ship, we have the park, and no waterfront is tied into the port at one time, it was, they have since sold their port off to dubai world and they're investing more money in containers, l and g and other products, the water taxis and ferries and infrastructure really -- they really seem to like that. i got in this morning after a 40 hour flight from cape town and made it here today for my port commission meeting and then i talked to my lobbyist today on the phone on the way and in front of president trump right now is a wish list for governors, right now there seems to be at the top of the list that governor brown wants his high speed rail for california, not much for ports but the two states na are really pushing for ports are virginia and south carolina,

senator lindbacker lindsay graham and senator scott are pushing for ports and south carolina, so i wanted to give my commissioners and everybody an update what i've been doing as the president, it's been pretty full on and i'm glad to be here. thank you. >> i got tired just listening to your report. thank you for everything you've done. >> item from the consent calendar, item 10a, request approval of travel for a san francisco port commissioner to travel with port staff to fort lauderdale, florida for the sea trade cruise global conference on march 14-17, 2017, item 10b, request approval to issue a request for qualifications soliciting as needed public relations, communication, media s*ftses and related professional services. >> so moved. >> seconds. >> any public comment on 10a,

resolution 1709 or resolution 1710, is there any public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. colleagues, all in favor of resolution 1709 and 1710, say aye. >> aye. >> opposed? resolution passed unanimously, 1709, 1710, next item, please. >> item 11a, information presentation regarding the proposed lease renewal with golden gate scenic steam ship corporation located at piers 43.5 in fisherman's waf. >> good afternoon, jay edwards, senior property manager division, i'm joined with demeet ri o moral, he's our m*irns creative analyst and also we'll have joe bigord, the vice-president of residents for the red and bhiet fleet presenting some background challenges from their existing site as well as their proposed improvements they hope to make

at pier 43.5 and at fisherman's hater f, so as amy read, this is the first step towards a long term lease with red and white fleet at their current site, pier 43.5 and they're currently on a month to month month lease and they have been spending a lot of energy and effort developing plans, hiring consultants, going through all the steps necessary to really get their project to a point where they can come up and make this presentation to you today and seeking your input and guidance on how we move forward. so, the goal of these improvements is to secure the long term lease and they're going to make approximately 4.6 million dollars of improvements into water and shore side floats, ramps, a new ticket pavilion and joe is going to describe that in more detail, and in exchange for that, they

are requesting a long term lease that we enter into and that with a couple of goals in mind, they would like to -- this project, they believer and we believe will enhance the business efficiency of the operations, it will provide improved aesthetics and circulation of the site and it will also hopefully increase the capacity in ridership and that has been growing rapidly here for red and white fleet, they've almost doubled the ridership in the last six years i believe, and now it's currently up to approximately 500 thousand passengers that are going out enjoying these excursion cruises, the bay and has really been a very well received -- they bought new vessels, they're investing in environmentally good stewardship in terms of some of the new vessels, joe is going to talk about that as well and all of these improvement ares going to flow back to the port

in termser of increased percentage rent to us as we're paid on the gross sales and really help keep this long term tenant, they've been at this site for many, many years and it will keep their future here tat port of san francisco and that's our goal too. as you see, i've also included the maritime excursion lease renewal policy which adopted in 2010, and that policy was developed specifically to help retain our maritime excursion operators and just to -- there's a lot in that policy, i'll give you a couple of highlights here on why we think this pertains and the relationship to red and bhiet's project in this policy, so there are numerous conditions and obligations and in terms of the conditions, the improvements can't be amortized within an existing term, that's one of the conditions and they're on a month to month lease, so clearly that couldn't

happen. the use is to remain relatively consistent, this is primarily a maritime birth, this is what they do, this is their specialty and that's what their intent is to continue on with. they have -- must be a tenant of good standing which they are, the improvements will be done at the tenant's expense which that's what red and bhiet is proposing and that the lease renewal must be reviewed and approved by the port commission and the board of supervisors as necessary. and then in terms of the obligations on the tenant, they must be an excursion operator, so they are, they must be -- the lease will be at market rent and that's what we're going to take on in our next step is negotiating the term sheet. the port will see participation rent on all sales. the tenant will disclose gross revenue and the port will have audit rights. the port will participate in proceeds from the sale,

transfer or assignment of the lease. the tenant will comply with all ceqa provisions, and then finally the port has a right to renew -- not to renew the lease if we have proposed projects that would be in conflict with this and this site as you may recall at one point was being considered by the national parks service for the alcatraz embark kaition landing and we have now through a number of efforts refocused and are moving forward on pier 31 and a half, so this site is free to move forward with this long term lease and with that background, i'll have joe come up and provide his project overview. >> good afternoon and thank you for the opportunity to address you with some information on our project. i'm going to start with a little background on the red and white fleet, i manl that many of you are familiar with who we are but i'm not sure you all know that our roots go back

to 1892 when thomas crowly first rode out, his grandson, thomas usher purchased the company in 1997 and throughout that time, it's been a san francisco family owned and operated company and we continue to be that today. we're in the sightseeing business as jay mentioned, i believe you see a slide that shows some of our history in the upper left corner, this is our original ticket booth, pier at pier 43.5 where we are today, you see the cost of bay cruise with one dollars, we're charging a little more today, it gives you context of our site and the ticket booth, you could see that ticket booth did evolve, but stayed the same from sometime in the 1950's to the 1960's when the picture in

the lower right hand corner shows the francis can and an older stage and the ticket booth with the iconic red and white fleet signage there which we plan to continue. today we have a ticket booth located there, you can see how it came in about 1980 on a forklift, it has three windows, this is the same ticket booth with operate today, we've seen considerable bro*et and ridership and revenue and we're really stretching our abilities to continue to offer an efficient and good service with the current infrastruck xhur so we like to incorporate infrastructure improvements with our lease renewal. a little bit about who we are, we're in the business of selling memories, our product is really of the experience,

our passengers have on board are boats and they get to take pictures of the garden gate bridge and lots of scenery but what they always remember and what they tell us they enjoy most is our employees. we value our employees greatly, that's who we are, and you can see the diversity of our staff. we promote people from within, up there is a picture of one of our ticket agents who is now a captain of our fleet, we're unionized with ibu and our ticket agents are unionized, all of our employees get 100% of their health care premium paid for by the company which is quite generous in today's climb massachusetts -- climate, we employ veteran and is we're committed to our folks, they are who we are, that's what we sell. we also are committed to the

environment and have been throughout our tenure as operators in the bay, we're making our living off the bay, we want to make sure that is a safe place. in the report, there's many of the initiatives that we have done throughout the years, and this slide shows a new vessel that we signed to have billed just a few weeks ago, it will be delivered in may of 2018, this is very forward-leaning in its technology, it will be the first vessel this size in the united states to be lithium ion plug-in hydrogen -- excuse me, this one is not hydrogen, this is more of a plug-in prius type hybrid vessel and some of the vendors there are shown oup there. this will be built in bellingham washington, a u.s. builder with u.s. parts, and we're expecting to see a 20%

fuel efficiency with this. there's other -- this is phase 1, we'd like the get our fleet starting with this vessel to full electric operation. this puts us in context of the location of our operation, we're right in the heart of fisherman's wharf, these pictures were sited where our booth ares today, you can see the san franciscan along the waterfront where the pier 43 promenade project was complete in 2013, you can see the ticket booth there, and this is a top down view of what we're intending to do, i'll speak to the water side first which is the area in blue. the area in light blue shows our current water side lease area and the white infrastructure there, those are our current float, there's two floats and two gang ways, that creates three births, we're proposing to move our eastern float to the east about 40 feet, that will remain with two

floats but four girthbacker births, this will increase our capacity, serve our guests, great access for the public to get out on the water and also will be -- this is a functional site for the water emergency transit so it serves as expanding the port's ability in order to respond to emergencies as well. on the short side, the area in light orange is our current -- you'll have to connect the light orange with the gray area to the right of the area, that's our current lease line, you can see the gray aware abut it is san franciscan, there's not really a clear walkway providing access for the pier 43 promenade, with the port staff input, we thought that if we gave up some of the shore side area and moved it to west side, we could extend our queuing to better reflect its

current usage, disburse our crowds during peak time improving access there, and it shows the new ticket pavilion as well which is slightly larger than our current footprint but not significantly so. we are at about 430 square feet and this ticket booth was 580. this next slide shows some of the shore side improvements we plan to conduct, we would like to enhance the queuing for peak summertime on the weekends in july and august, we have large crowds, we're doing 18 departures a day in the summertime, and this arrangement would allow us to basically what's being provided today is the queuing only on the eastern side of the ticket booth, if we split that, we can sort of shrink the congestion and disburse the crowd somewhat. we're looking at doing surface treatment to make our area unique, it will continue to be

public access. this image kind of shows the expanded view at peak times but all the equipment that's shown for queuing and barriers are movable and would be able to be retracted during winner time and off-peak times. i think that covers it. there's a proposal there in the lower corn e we'd also like to provide some shade, we can provide additional information on that request that we're proposing some limited umbrellas along the perimeter of our lease. >> this is a good depiction of the queuing status and in the wintertime, so basically november through march, we're in a more -- much smaller ridership profile so we would probably just use the eastern boarding area, we can board out of gates -- both gates that

way, there's an ordinary queuing line for that, we can -- as ridership increase, we can move to the west side and do do* simultaneous boarding. part of the improvement includes the sea wall or excuse me, that's the wrong term, it's really the handrail, the access area for the public to make improvements to the railway, you can see in some of the images, there's chain link fence and an old timber rail we'd like the update to both reflect the improvements to our infrastructure in the way the building and also continue with the improvement nas the port has made at the promenade. this next image gives you a sense of the massing change of the building itself, it is slightly larger, but if you can see, we're proposing removing part of the -- there's a

disused non-accessible platform in the tripod, just above the build ining the upper image, you can see a view blockage, that would be remove and had the building essentially stays the same size, same position, the signage remains, and part of the height that we're include lg in the building is to contain the ac equipment which is currently exposed so this would improve views from both the san frin scan and the [inaudible] which is the neighbor to the south of us. here's inspiration for the design of the ticket booth, this is the standard oil gas station located at jefferson and taylor some years ago, and you'll see in the design of the building as i bring it up a little closer we're harken back to that art deco time, this is

consistent both with the wharf's history as well as red and white fleet's history along the area. that concludes my presentation and we're available for questions. >> great, thank you, joe, i would also like to let the commission know that tom usher is here, the owner of red and white sitting over there with his red and bhiet shirt and his red socks. so, thank you, joe, for the presentation, the next steps are really two-fold, one, red and white is going through all the regulatory approvals, they're listed here in the report and they've been actively and diligently pursuing those with some very great competent help from ellen jonk and cle and mk think, so they've got a good team and we had hoped to also in the -- pursuing those regulatory approvals working on a term sheet and getting all the business terms here back to the

commission and present our term sheet and finalize the project scope and of course based on your feedback today, so that concludes our presentation. thank you. >> okay, is there any public comment, tom, why don't you come on up? with tom, i got a chance to see tom up in sacramento in the leadership symposium at the citizen hotel, tom gave a presentation, one of the guys was on the panel, so tom, welcome. >> thank you, i just wanted to thank the port staff at this stage, i'll thank the port commissioners after we get a signed agreement, the port staff has been very helpful and cooperative and it's very frustrating for an operator or tenant to deal with the port staff because they're stretched very thin, we've been very pleased with the support they've given us so i'm available to answer any other questions or anything else that we can do but we basically want to improve our facilities so

our workforce can be more efficient so that the public still has access to the port and access to the water. >> is there any other public comment? anyone else on 11a? seeing none, public comment is closed. tonl, why don't you stay there, commissioners might have -- commissioner woo ho. >> thank you, i don't have a lot of questions but i guess i just want the know the direction of the term sheet because this is now having going from month to month to a 20 year lease and what are we -- are we -- the base rent is going to be reconsidered or is -- is it basically fixing this for 20 years or are there other terms that you think are going to be changed? >> so, right now, red and white pays a base rent and percentage rent, so we have recently

through -- i exercised and instituted an increase in the percentage rent so that has been brought up to be consistent with our other maritime operators, and we are reviewing the base rent, what that appropriate level should be, we've had some preliminary discussions but, yes, everything will be looked at in terms of market value and market rent. >> okay, so then my question now, this is very helpful to have the informational background but it seems if the next step is to bring us the terms and approve it, i might suggest that we want an informational presentation on the terms so we can consider them before we finalize. >> if that's the way you wish us to do that, we'd be happy to did that. >> -- do that. >> thank you. >> i think i agree because it's kind of hard to understand what you're proposing without the terms, and understanding how long it's going the take to amortize the 4.6 million and what exactly we're getting in return for that. >> agreed.

today's item was really an informational on the project itself and to seek any feedback from the commissioners about the proj, and to seek any feedback you all have about deploying the maritime policy on this lease, staff is recommended that we deploy the maritime policy on the lease, and other than that, we will come back with a full report and recommendation for approval of the lease and it sounds like the commission referencebacker preference is an info item and followed by an action item which is not a problem at all. >> right, and i think the policy because what it says is sort of in line with what you just said, the policy said we should be treating all of our maritime clients on this basis, so that get tos the market value, right? >> that's correct. >> okay. but i appreciate and i don't want the take away the thund e we appreciate that red and white is going to improve the facility and make it a better experience for all those who are coming to the waterfront, so that is the purpose i think of today is to appreciate that

and ix e i guess we should say we appreciate that >> >> yes, we do. >> well, i think it's incredible that you have in your hands a half a million people a year who go and board your ships and your staff tours them around the beautiful bay of san francisco, so thank you for providing that service and helping to contribute to san francisco being one of the most important tourist destination ins the united states, and i also just want to commend you for giving your employees full health benefits in this day and age, i suspect that's not something you agreed with us or anybody else, that's something that you do as a matter of your business practice and i think it's incredibly important to acknowledge companies that are willing to do that and provide that. and then i also just want the see the terms as they get negotiated.

the other thing i would be interested in seeing is what the cost is to the port over the 20 years, what we're expecting that we're going to need to contribute, so for instance, if we're getting an estimate of how much we're going to be compensated for the use of the port property it will also be important for me to have an idea of what we are budgeting for expenditures to maintain it or where that is in the negotiation. and then i guess i have one more question for you. you've been operating for -- since 1980, you're looking at operating for another 20 years, why three births, why four boats? is that the the sweet spot, do you think about doing more, is it that there's competition within the bay? is that the 20 year plan to continue with the three boats

or do you look at the opportunity as a partner of ours to do -- to expand? >> yes, so we're currently at two berths and three vessel, we have three vessel ins the fleet and we're buying a fifth vessel, and we're keeping the number of floats there, that is the least amount of fill that we can do and we get 25% more, we get a fourth berth in there, so there is increased ridership, the arrangement allows for simultaneous boarding and disembarking which we don't have today, so there is -- it's designed to accommodate the growth we've seen over the last 40 years but most recently even the last six years, we've doubled our ridership but it looks further out, so it's a