particularly the people who come to public comment, and you're help us keep an eye on things. you are our additional eyes andeers, and we take the safety of the park users very seriously and particularly, the safety of our children. if you see something that seems amiss, i hope that you will continue to contact us. i know that we have looked into the civic center playground issue very seriously. you know, if you have a question about it, i invite you, when you leave city hall, to go out there and take a look. you know, if you have anymore comments, let us know, but we take it very, very seriously. myself is a mother of two children, and i would never want anything to harm any of us using the parks or anywhere. >> thank you. >> okay. we are now on item five, the consent calendar. as noted at the beginning of the meeting, item 5-e has been removed from the consent calendar, so is there any

public comment on the consent calendar, with the exception of item 5-e? come on up. >> item f, i spoke at the capital committee in support of this resource evaluation project -- not project, but authorization, and i may have been not clear, and commissioner buell may have felt that i inferred that i was looking and supporting and looking forward to this being implemented as a source of funding for neighborhood groups. as the district three has two landmark parks, washington square and also at pioneer park, coit tower, having access to historical resources for the department is very important. unfortunately we didn't have those sensiblities back when we

destroyed union square and portsmouth square, so i really do appreciate the fact that the department is looking forward in this way to having access when it comes up that we may need historical resources. they've been very important to both washington square and to coit tower in the past, and so this will help stream line that. i just wanted the commissioner to know i did -- i may have misstated the way i put my support behind it. >> totally understand. thank you. >> is there anyone else who would like to speak on the consent calendar? seeing none, this item is closed. commissioners? >> entertain a motion. >> so moved, with the deletion of item 5-e. >> second. >> moved and seconded. all those in favor? [voting] >> so moved. [ gavel ]. >> okay. we are now on item 5-e, 807 franklin shadow on jefferson square park. >> good morning, commissioners, and general manager.

as was noted, this item was heard at capital committee with recommendation to approve and was pulled offer the consent calendar to verify two changes. the first change is the height of the building. it hasn't really changed. the change is in the reference point from which the building height is being measured to comply with planning commission practices and terminology, so the height has been changed to 96 feet rather than 93'4", but again, this does not reflect in the actual building design or height and does not affect the shadow on the park in any way? the other change is the inclusionary housing requirement would be met by paying in lieu fees rather than providing below market rate units on-site and as was previously noted. just to remind you, the project would shadow -- i'm sorry.

franklin -- sorry. jefferson square park, and it's a very, very small shadow load. it would add -- it would bring the shadow loads to a total of 1.361% to the total annual available sun light, and it would shadow the southeastern area of the park affecting some paths and grassy areas. i'm available for any questions as is mary woods from the planning department who is the project manager. >> thank you. >> is there any public comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. >> entertain a motion. commissioner low? just a quick question. so the adjustment -- the adjustment of the reference point to height doesn't otherwise change the findings in the shadow report. >> that's correct. >> okay. >> entertain a motion. >> so moved. >> second.

>> moved and seconded. all those in favor? [voting] >> thank you. [ gavel ]. >> we are now on item 6, san francisco zoo. >> good morning, tanya peterson, director of the san francisco zoo, and we have a powerpoint. and i attempted to leave my whole presentation just on this one slide. the twin snow leopard cubs. they have just made the critical two month mark, so they'll be on exhibit with their mother from noon to two-ish. she's a protective mom, first time mom, but they're doing great. i'm sure that they will be named at our next fundraiser. >> maybe mark and susie. >> mark and susie have a ring. speaking of a naming, we also have three penguin checks. they come to our penguin

island, which is the largest outdoor penguin exhibit in the u.s. here, we are welcoming waddles, foster, and sylvia to their new exhibit. they were named by members and donors, and i thank commissioner anderson for supporting and attending the event. it was a lot of fun for our members and a great day. we have over 25,000 members of the zoo, and we asked them to name our juvenile mandrill, and he was named pride in african. i told joe this is his offspring. >> similar hair. >> adorable. >> conservation at the zoo, but conservation off grounds. we are highlighting three local species in crisis, frogs,

turtles, and here, the san francisco damsel fly. we've named her dahlia, after the name sake of the san francisco zoo. the importance of the damsel fly and they actually eat mosquito larvae, and actually a beautiful insect, as well. so come see them at the zoo. we are conservation organization. we are starting to put in these refill station, six in total, with a hope that we, too, will eliminate single use plastic bottles at the san francisco zoo. right now we've asked our vendor to stop selling the small ones, only the large ones, and eventually no plastic bottles sold at san francisco zoo. we are closing our programs at

the san francisco zoo. [inaudible] >> -- but also, public speaking skills with the public. we also had over 1700 zoo campers this summer, which was a record for us. the zoo does offer scholarships and other financial aid for families who need help with transportation or other costs associated with our programs for the summer. and speaking of volunteers, the does are turning 50. some of them are retiring. i think they're pleased to hear that 50 is the new 40. they're mainly volunteers that -- retirees that volunteer their time. many of the docents are retire teachers, so we'll get a chance to celebrate them in september, so thank you to our docents. we have over 25,000 members, and on tuesday, september 18, i

invite them to come speak with me, and we have a one-on-one -- it's a long day for the zoo director, but a lot of fun as well as i get comments from our members. i invite all who are a member of the zoo to come visit us on september 18. with that, i conclude my report. >> thank you very much. >> is there any public comment on this item? >> i really appreciate the report, and i do appreciate the zoo. i was a long, long time friend of delia who often said that as a kid, she was asked, do you live in a zoo, because it was her uncle who put his name on it. i believe it's delia, not dahlia, which is a flower. if i'm mistaken, i apologize, but i believe it was del

delia ehrlich. >> thank you. >> is there anyone else who would like to make public comment on this item? okay. being done, public comment is closed. we are now on item 7, india basin parks concept plan approval. >> good morning, commissioners, general manager ginsberg, i'm the project manager with the capital division. item 7 before you is discussion and possible action to adopt ceqa findings for the india basin mixed use project and approve the concept design for

900 innes and india basin shoreline park. this park is consistent with the department's strategic plan, specifically, strategies one, two, three, and four. i'll highlight only a few. the project inspires public space by developing more open space to address population growth in high needs areas and emerging neighborhoods and strengthening the quality of existing parks and facility. the project also inspires play, stewardship, and investment. in 2014, rec and park acquired 900 innes at india basin, located in the bayview-hunters point neighborhood. the department in partnership with the bayview-hunters point community, the trust for public land and the san francisco parks alliance seeks to build a park that is essential to the health of san francisco's southeast communities. the proposed plan combines 900

innes with existing india basin shoreline park to create a cohesive ten acre waterfront park. the project also aims to close a gap in the san francisco bay trail through the development of the 900 innes site, which serves as the midpoint of the 1.5 mil contiguous shoreline. just for a little bit of background, the india basin and bayview-hunters point community was an economically thriving industrial center between 1985 and the 1950 -- 1875 and 1950's. it included military ship building, boat building and repair. these left a history of contaminated sites and blight resulting in disproportionately high levels of environmental burden, and since the closing of the war time shipyard, the community has suffered a high set of challenges.

this investment, hire rates of crime and violence and lack of access to recreational amenities and programming. in 2015, mayor lee and supervisor cohen asked over 30 bayview community leaders and regional stakeholders to guide the development of these new parks while taking into consideration previous planning efforts by the india basin neighborhood association. in 2016, an international design competition was held for the design of these parks. it resulted in the selection of renowned architectural firm, g.g.n. known for award winning projects such as the smithsonian. recently they were the recipient of the 2017 american society of landscape architects national landscape architecture

firm award. led by t.p.l. and apri, more than two dozen public outreach meetings were held. the community led process resulted in seven programming priorities which were captured in an elegant design. the preliminary design was presented to the commission in march 2017, though in response to feedback from community members, environmental groups and regulatory agencies, the designs were modified. staff most recently presented the concept design to the commission for discussion in march 2018. the input received from the community process resulted in programming priorities which include gathering areas, concessions, picnic areas, open spaces, active and passive recreation, conservation of natural resources, preserving history, and sea level rise resiliency. the design resulted in the creation of six zones. the first is the neighborhood

edge, which focuses on community connectivity by creating vital connections, the design seeks to integrate surrounding public housing and residential areas on the hillside to the park. the garden shore walk features a design of california native drought tolerant plantings lined with benches, porch swings, and areas for picnic tables and barbecues. the marine way -- the marine way is an expansive lawn which will accommodate casual recreational activities and special events and provide open space. the lawn will terminate in a gravel beach where park users can get in the water and launch kayaks, canoes and paddle boards. it will feature an out rigger building that will provide opportunities for park users and visitors to rent equipment. it features a 480 foot long pier. from the marine way park, users can access the bay trail.

the sage slopes and marsh edge found throughout the site will feature native beach scrub planting, a large adventure play area, adult fitness stations, a quarter mile recreation loop, basketball courts, walking trails and smaller hiking trails for bird watching and observation. sloping down towards the water, the sage slopes transition to a restored marsh edge that replaces the hard rip rap that provides foraging and natural habitat for birds. at the center of the india basin shoreline is the bode yard at 900 innes. at 900 innes park users are welcomed by the historic ship wright's cottage. it will be repurposed as a welcome and education center

and will feature a cafe on the lower level looking out over the water. the overlook perfectlyian will provide a space for bayview based food vendors to operate providing local concessions to the surrounding community and activating the neighborhood edge the ship wright's cottage -- which are located safely not to interfere with the sidewalk traffic and view, provide a nod to many residents' southern routes. from innes, park users can access the site using the a.d.a. accessible guard path or griffin street stairs, and both would bring guests to where the pathway and existing trail meet. lastly, very important to note that the portions of 900 innes constitute the india basin scouts men or boat yard

cultural landscape. we have taken the site's history very seriously and are retaining 75% of the significant contributing features of the cultural landscape. the project is divided into two phases. phase one includes the construction of the boat yard and the bay trail; phase two includes the remainder of the work at the india basin shoreline park. prior to developing the site into a public park, the department would remediation hazardeous building materials which contain elevated concentrations of chemicals, and the department will undertake the work under a voluntary cleanup program over seen by the regional water control board. the department and through public grants have raised and contributes close to 15 million

for acquisition, preliminary planning and design, remediation, site preparation, and interim activation. we anticipate to submit permit applications for the remediation work in the fall, which brings estimated remediation start date to early 2020. and rec and park is collaborating with hunters point family who through an e.p.a. brown field workforce development grant has trained resident of the bayview-hunters point community in things such as planting and lead and asbestos safety. the concept design has been analyzed and an environmental impact report for the india basin mixed use projects which includes the four sites, innes shoreline park, india basin open space, and 700 innes. the san francisco planning department published the draft

e.i.r. in july 2017 and responded to public comments in july 2018. on july 26, 2018, the planning commission approved the final e.i.r. enclosed in your packet. individuals and organizations have come before the rec and park and planning commission to support the project in the past, supporters included epri, hunters point family, india basin neighborhood association, parks 94124, office of supervisor malia cohen, san francisco parks alliance, and the trust for public land. there's been no organizational or institutional opposition to the overall park development, though there remains some specific opposition to specific design features such as elimination of the tool shed and office building, the inclusion of the porch swings, and the overlook pavilion.

>> so to wrap up, staff will be back in september to include two india basin related item. this is related to build of the city, and staff will present the public trust exchange and m.o.u. between the port and rec and park whereby the california state lands -- [inaudible] >> that concludes my staff report, and i'm available for any questions. >> is there any public comment on this item? richard? richard, come on up. >> good morning, commissioners. i had a little trouble trying to get information on a lot of things, but i did have a final

talk with the e.i.r. coordinator, mr. michael lee, and it went through another person before him. i had to go through allison, and through planning and parks. i looked it over, in other words, everything that i thought i needed to look over, regarding hydro, and water, and how the sewer system would be. currently there's maybe only one central drain out from the sewer part. i'm not all that interested in the sewer, but i'm looking at the water that some of the stuff was dumped out into, and there's going to be a very complex big, big building on the similar plot of land that's -- i was talking it over with mike. he tells me they're going to either dump into the harbor after treating or they're going to connect the sewer through the main line that leads over

either to north point or southeastern side. there are two water treatment places. so if the water getting all in the ground there, i've been trying to get that entrance on the salinity content where they have pools of waste water, if they can bring it up to normal salinity. it doesn't take much more than adding sod. 'cause currently water samplings throughout the san francisco bay area do not have the normal salinity, and this is all different. this is something at a later time that might need to be brought up before state people to preserve the normal habitat. now, india basin itself, when they fi they finally had to comply with everything on the e.r. i. that

i looked over, i sent an e-mail that included almost everything that i thought was very important, and mike lee sent to me. i read it over, so that's a point in fact i want to be sure i get across. one of the things that i looked at had to do with i don't see very much dredging. you know, all that water, all that runoff into an -- and the alliance of 1849 in the current shoreline doesn't have much dredging of cleanup in there. it's going to be cleanup, it's going to be continual runoff, and i think that's an important point to bring in. another important point is the pier that goes out there. are they going to have a rock wall under it so you can have a safety code for recreational use that kids don't have to

look after each other. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker. >> hello. i'm jill fox, a resident of india basin since 1992, and an advocate for the parks of india basin since at least 1999. you guys were still meeting at the lodge, and you couldn't find india basin on a map of the city. so we've come a long way, and as you can imagine, i'm very thrilled to see our park planning going forward. i am also the chair of the india basin neighborhood association, and we have generally approved this. we do have concerns. some were mentioned, but i wanted to make sure that these don't fall off the list. we are concerned about the lack of a dog area in all of these parks, and we need to confirm that. it was mentioned at herron's

head but it's a really long way to assume that that's going to to be our community dog park. for the boat launch, we really want a boat launch there, but one that really works. i open my neighborhood blinds, and that's what i see everything morning. we're not convinced that the tides are being taken into consideration. we're really worried that this beautiful pier is going to be in the mud much of the time. we understand that research has been done, but we want to make sure, you know, please do something that we can see, put flags out, watch the tide, time lapse photography something so

we can be assured before all this expense goes in that that pier is really going to work for boating. and the overlook and swings pavilion are concerns there on innes avenue is being redesigned for m.t.a. and planning commission issues, and we need to make sure that this is a coordinated design. i am not convinced that that's a good place for swings and for a pavilion. right now, we have an open view to the water for people driving by, walking by. it's a wonderful access point to the new park, and we don't want to block that. we have plenty of water walls on the waterfront. don't put one where we don't need it. [please stand by]

>> the coordination of the design of the pavilion and swi swing. >> sure. i will start with the boat launch and ramp and -- at india

basin shoreline park. if i may, i may go back to some of the diagrams. the boat launch is intended to meet elevated pier instructor. we do not believe the elevated pier would be bottomed out on the mud, given the 480-foot extension into the bay. >> vice president low: and it didn't move from one original location to another to address that? >> since the original 2017 concept design, it didn't. >> vice president low: ok. >> so we are confident and we are working with marine engineers and coastal engineers on this project. they have determined that this is the best solution. the floating dock or the platform would extend far enough into the bay that it would not bottom out. so the elevated pier structure

would need a floating dock. with respect to the other question about the pavilion, i want to, again, pull up another diagram as a reference. the pavilion is right here in the cottage is right here. the goal is to leave the pavilion as a narrow structure. the space between the cottage and the overlook pavilion is approximately 110 feet. with the intent of preserving the shed in the corridor. >> vice president low: and the dog park? >> my understanding is the big green built-in can speak to the plans for the dog area.

>> vice president low: that's right. thank you. >> i just want to comment briefly on the project, and first is to think that many, many, many partners. i want to remind everyone this has been in the works for well over five years. the planning for this project. an extraordinary number of community meetings and extraordinary amount of community participation. the theme of this process is to serve communities that are there now while acknowledging that growth will need more open space and more functional open space. will be -- what we have before us is a rather remarkable opportunity to connect the dots on 1.7 miles of continuous waterfront open space. there's not another opportunity like this in the city and county of san francisco. we have had a tremendous amount of sport and nicole is either

out of town or even out of the country this week, so she couldn't be here. she has been driving this along with charlene. on our behalf, i want to thank the mayor process office of workforce development. they have been a driver in the partnership. build inc. has prior to eyed george prioritized open space. they understand the lengths could -- the landscape literally. of the real benefit here is to develop this waterfront for everyone and accessibly. they have taken that responsibility very seriously. at the the end of the day, this is an underserved neighborhood. it is a community that has not had extraordinary open space and we have welcomed hunter's point family. we have welcomed the institute. they have guided us through a lot of community conversations and how we make sure the park serves communities that are there now.

we are really proud of this effort. it is a low-key day today as we are looking at this. there are many more steps in the process. yes, we have an enormous lift to fund this project, but i want to make two final points. one is, this is, essentially, a brownfield. environmental justice is very much of the top of our list in accomplishing this project. it is park space that we own. india basin shoreline park is not a brownfield but it is an underutilized and under program space that we own. we have an opportunity now to make it healthier and more utilizable and healthy for everyone. if i am going to put this in context, when i started speaking, we don't get opportunities like this. i mean, in generations.

it's a really exciting moment and we are here to take the next step. >> president buell: thank you. commissioner low? >> vice president low: i just want to commend to the general manager on this project. this is a generational opportunity. we are making a transformative investment in this area. this is outside our jurisdiction, but perhaps to come up with the development plan comes up, this is probably more of a question to planning, what can be done when we make this transformative investment for the detent residents, for those who were making investments will still be there? gentrification is an unintended consequence when we make this large investment. we put in $100 million to create the christie field to the east. and he said property values

gives opportunity for more development. we cannot stem the tide of gentrification, but what can planning do to try to keep the residents that are -- that we are building the park for, to stay and enjoy that part? i would like to hear when the development agreement comes forward, may be a response to how to keep residents who are there now to enjoy the park. >> commissioner, if i could just -- thank you. thank you for raising that point. that was very much a topic of the extensive community planning. that is a concern. it was not a concern that we tucked in a corner. it is a concern that we discussed honestly and openly and head on through the community process. i think you'll see, if you dig into the details of the design and what we have intended to do, is really listen to the community that is there now and try to develop amenities for people who are in that

neighborhood now. that is why the porch swings were a community requested feature of those who are there now. that is why expanded active recreational opportunities were doubling. our basketball courts are there. with that is why we made some changes to decide to add more picnic and community space and barbecue space. you are right. we can't necessarily solve that issue, but in the park design process, i can't say that we try to deal with that issue as openly and honestly and directly as we could through the community planning process. >> vice president low: i'm not necessarily saying its something related to the park design, but is there something else -- a planning tool that is then -- a toolbox that can help stem the tide? there is a great article that came out that talked about some of the transformative projects like the high line in new york and rail at 66 in chicago cacao

that created this gentrification at the unintended consequences of displacement. how do we address -- it is we as a safety, but it is more for planning. how do we try to do our part to stem that gentrification? >> one of the things that we've talked about during this project, at i think charlene mentioned it, is working with hunter's point family on having the community involved in the remediation phase and making traders economic opportunity that flows with communities that are there now, in the creation and storage of the park. it is also worth noting that while there is build in this area, there is transformational hope s.f. projects that this park will serve. some of the requirements that the board of supervisors and the mayor of the planning department have alluded to with respect to affordable housing ratios, i

think, actually, our efforts to try to make sure that communities can afford to stay in this neighborhood and i think some extensive discussions about transportation equity and transportation access. that's also playing a role. of those are things that i have observed as we have gone through the park planning process and have been participants, if not drivers, in the larger development conversation. >> vice president low: may be when the development agreement comes before us, that could be highlighted in the presentation. >> president buell: thank you. i would like to add a comment that i sat on the jury for the selection of the landscape architects. i just want to complement staff that we have come a long way and it is very encouraging. it is a job very well done. with that, i don't see any other comments. we would entertain a motion. i believe we have two items in front of us. >> vice president low: we could bring it up as one motion?

>> president buell: so moved. moved and seconded. so moved. thank you. >> clerk: we are now on item eight. washington's -- washington square water conservation project. >> good morning, commissioners. my name is levi connover. the item before you today is about action and possible action for concept design of the watch -- washington square water conservation project. approval of this action by the commission is the approval action as defined by s.f. administrative code, chapter 31. under the strategic plan, we seek to inspire public space, strengthen the quality of existing parks and facilities and inspire stewardship and

natural resources and continued water conservation plan with fixtures, pathways, landscape, irrigation and modernization. washington square is located in north beach at the intersection of columbus and palace street. it is one of the city's old as parks and was issued landmark designation in 1999. and 2012, we partnered with sfp you see. of the 12 parks surveyed, washington square was the highest user of water on an annual per acre basis with a total use of 3.3 million gallons of water a year. contributing factors are age, the current irrigation system was installed in 1950. there is a poor layout of the irrigation zone controllers, inefficient spengler heads and insufficient water pressure regulation. in addition to the irrigation system, the park suffers from

oversaturated soil on the main lawn and deteriorating pathways that do not meet current a.d.a. standards. the scope also seeks to address these issues through replacement of the sub drain infrastructure beneath the main lawn and full replacement of the pathways with new a.d.a. compliant concrete pathways. the department has worked closely with friends of washington square to develop the water conservation project from its early inception in 2016. the advocacy for the project and support from supervisor peskin was central to obtaining the sfp grant award for the irrigation improvement scope and attaining -- obtaining the funding for the pathway improvement scope for the project. our larger community outreach project began in february 2018 f. messaging the project and obtaining community feedback. outreach has included presentations and continued engagement with community groups and meetings with community members, meetings with business owners on the square and an online survey, which at last

count, had received approximately 225 responses. flyers passed out at the north beach festival in june, at a community meeting this last ju july. the north beach community is highly engaged and very well networked. through our outreach, the department gratefully accepted support from community groups to help circulate project updates through their e-mail distribution list and newsletters. this collaborative effort helped ensure that the neighbours received up-to-date project information from sources they actually read. we estimate that this shared effort helped to the department move the project to over 1,000 people that we otherwise may not have been able to reach without their assistance. neighborhood groups who assisted with this project messaging include the north beach neighbors, friends of joe dimaggio playground, and friends of washington square. additional outreach included updates to the chinatown community development centre and chinese press, north beach

business association and the community meeting that i referenced in july. the department is working with supervisor peskin's office on continued outreach through the chinese community, and lastly, we sent snail mail notifications to all of the businesses and properties on the square and have been meeting in person on site with business owners to hear their feedback and concerns. letters of support from friends of washington square, north beach neighbors in russian hill neighbors are included with the staff report for your reference. community feedback obtained during our outreach had a direct impact on the project today. at it's inception, this project was solely irrigation improvement project with the goal of conserving about 2.2 million gallons of water per year. the community raise concerns and advocated for the additional park scope items which resulted in the inclusion of the pathway, improvements on the drainage improvements on the main lawn. a significant focus of the

community feedback we received was on overall project delivery and related neighborhood impacts to the construction. we feel that we have achieved a project scope that is -- that the community is overall supportive of. with this understanding, we have focused a significant effort on the planning and implementation of construction to reduce impacts that are the greatest areas of concern that we've heard from the community. the proposed project scope includes installation of new whether sensing eric -- weather instigation -- irrigation cactuses up from a current system that has two irrigation zones. we were able to direct water exactly where it needs to be and be much more efficient with the use of the water. will be planting new drought tolerant and landscaping, installation of new sub drain infrastructure, and replacement of the topsoil on the main lawn to reduce a saturated soil conditions, repaving the pathways and making a.d.a. site

access improvements. pruning throughout entry maintenance and removal and replacement of 11 trees and maintenance to the existing benches and in-kind replacement of those benches only when necessary. the community was almost unanimously concerned with the duration of the park closure. and requested either a phase project delivery or a reduction in the duration of the closure. additionally, the community and local businesses advocated for formal plans to reduce neighborhood impacts related to the construction activity, to address these concerns, the department is concerned -- has said they will take the following measures. for construction duration, the construction contract will specify a closure of duration of six months. we believe we can achieve this based on larger irrigation projects that have recently beak -- been completed or about to be completed such as alamo, which were twice the size and were done in approximately seven or eight months. the department will utilize best value bidding, which is to ensure a qualified contractor is selected.

this is a new contracting method which is a new contracting method which we used that includes a noncost component for rating the contractor. it ensures we get somebody who we will be able to work with. we will also be offering an early completion bonus to be used as an incentive to shorten the completion date, even beyond the six month duration and liquidated damages will be encouraged to discourage late completion. the contract middle period will be planned prior to the park closure to ensure the project has been planned fully before closing the park to the public. homeless outreach is a major concern. the department is coordinating with the san francisco department of homelessness at supportive housing and the police department to engage with the homeless population prior to your -- prior to and during the park closure. they will undertake a large pest control and route eroded eliminn effort prior to the construction start. ongoing monitoring of traffic will also occur during construction. a plan will be provided to business groups and community

groups for review and comments before we commence with the construction contract. parking specifications will require the contractor use the vallejo street parking collage -- garage and parking equipment and debris will be stored on site at all times. we will also be hiring an archaeological consultant and have an as needed contract in place to eliminate any potential schedule inc. plot -- impacts of any unforeseen archaeological items. local businesses, the department will be working with local businesses to develop signage at the square to remind people businesses are still open around the square. lastly, we would be providing space near joe dimaggio park for informal uses such as tai chi and other uses at the park. to address the project budget a bit, i referenced earlier that we had done an initial assessment in 2012. this led to a report that was

done for us in 2015 by the landscape technical assistant program. this was a high level report used to help get a basis for the irrigation project. this included -- of this report included an estimate of $180,000 for the irrigation improvement scope. as we have developed the project, we found that the scope has come closer to about $360,000. our overall project budget right now is $3.1 million with construction estimated at $2 million, at ten% contingency is allocated and we have $800,000 in soft costs. to address it by metal review park the project has been reviewed by the planning department and was heard at the historic preservation commission at -- in may of this year. it was issued an exemption under class one existing facilities. following this commission and appeal was filed in june.

the plenty department rejected the appeal it issued a determination that the appeal was not timely. lisa gibson is here to answer any additional questions you might have on the status of the appeal. upon approval of a concept plan, the department the department will continue development of construction documents and bid documents and anticipated construction start is in early 2019, with a plan six month park closure. therefore staff recommends the staff approves the design for the washington square conservation project. i am happy to take any questions. >> president buell: thank you. >> clerk: do you want to go to public comment now? >> president buell: ,yeah. commissioner anderson? >> commissioner anderson: i just had a question. do we actually pay for the wat water?

i didn't think that we did. >> i believe so. yes. >> commissioner anderson: i had a little talk with our favourite meal and i am curious as to -- i was a -- i thought we are supposed to get the water for free. how does that work exactly? >> president buell: we pay. >> commissioner anderson: ok. >> clerk: other comments? i have one card. amanda, would you like to comment. and after amanda, if there's anyone else who wants to make public comment, come on up. you will each have three minutes. >> commissioners, hello commissioners. >> president buell: good morning. >> clerk: into the mic more. >> hello. i am a resident of the neighborhood around washington square park for a long time. i use it every day. as i watch it, i see that it's

not only the heart of my neighborhood, but so many tourists use it and so many people come from other parts of the city to eat and play. so i'm just very supportive of what i consider a restoration project. the park is perfect and wonderful, but it needs a lot of maintenance and care to make it better and to save water. thank you. >> president buell: thank you. >> clerk: next speaker? i do not have any more cards. if you want to speak, please come up now. >> hello. ken. maley friends of washington square. i am in total support of this project as the department has put forward and i would commence the department and a long-term relationship with friends of washington square on various projects in the past. from tree maintenance, to

landscaping, into benches, to lighting, friends of washington square, for the last almost 20 years has supported projects in the square. this project as proposed today, is the first attention paid to washington square since the first bond issue for recreational park was passed in 1957. in the amount of $50,000. [laughter] >> president buell: wow. geez. >> that grand plan, fortunately, hard elements, not only that happened, but did not happen. which is often the case with master plans. i don't believe, nor does friends of washington square, believe that there's any reason to delay this project. it is the first time we have had an opportunity, as i said, since 1957 to address long-overdue issues in the square, and recognizing it is one of the most historic parks in our city. fortunately, it did escape the

fate of union square and portsmouth square with the installation of underground garages, due to the late mayor, jack shelley jack who unfortunately lost his bid for reelection by vetoing that project for washington square. is one of the few in the city which is the ground for the first woman born in san francisco. it was her atlanta that the city traded for washington square. there is no reason in my view to delay or phase out this project. the department has worked as diligently as they are able to address community concerns and to ameliorate impact on the square. i really strongly encourage a direct approval of this plan and set the department free to begin this project in the beginning of next year. thank you very much. >> president buell: thank you. >> clerk: next speaker. richard.

>> good morning, again. commissioners, i went back to walk around washington square park. i found tom harrison and he is doing fine. it is much bigger. [laughter] >> i have a problem -- when i looked at the tree of my interest is cyprus. they are right. they will have to do a tremendous time. on the top, it is way off into one park. one of those branches went way off too much. i hope i didn't downplay that. i brought up another question about the woman, we have a bench for her. i am not sure if they are able to move it around.

it does not face the corner. i thought it would be nicer under the big bigotry. the cypress tree and get the big view of all the park activities across the street. you would get a nice view. and you don't just look a restaurant. mama's on the corner there. the satellite type system, i think they're doing weather or something. one of the sprinkler systems was missing. all it does is keeps on pumping out the water. i asked a question about it in community, and i hope they have a way of monitoring what is going on. i have seen that and they do have that *-asterisk type of irrigation system. i can't understand how a park such as washington square park uses so much water. i can't believe the amount of

water used. and if it is water saving, how else can they save water and at the same time, have the available hydration we like i said, commissioner harrison, i watched him planting and he did a great job. [laughter] >> on that particular park of the -- part of the park area, there is supposed to be other trees similar to the one that would have been planted. i don't see them around. i see may be a few. if any of the other commissioners ever drop by there and want to get their tree going, be sure to get there, ok? they need you guys. i will see you all later. >> president buell: thank you. >> clerk: next speaker.

good morning -- >> good morning, commissioners. i live in the street polk area. i go over to north street -- north beach a couple times a week. i work as a gardener and i worked in central park and the shakespeare garden. my question, or my concern with some of the renovations to the park, is the conversion of asphalt to concrete. especially in south park, which sort of change the park from a park land to an urban plaza. it is successful, but it has changed the look quite dramatically. also, the upper level, which had an asphalt, sort of, trail circling, now is a rather hard

concrete circle. it's kind of overkill. otherwise, the renovation of the park seems to be very sensitive. in this case, i was concerned with the conversion of concrete asphalt paths to concrete. asphalt, again, is more trail like. it has a very soft edge. it is dark. it blends in with the soil. concrete reflects the light, even when it is tinted. you are shooting it, you would use a different exposure. i think that is as any change to existing type of paving materials should be addressed in the procedures for review of alterations.

and the second thing is, if you are using concrete, why not use hermia's concrete, which i believe the parks was talking about five years ago and mayor newsom signed a go-ahead with the use of that material. so that was my concern. thank you. >> president buell: thank you. >> clerk: next speaker. >> my name is mark bruno. thank you all for letting me reappear here. as was pointed out by levi connover an appeal filed by me and the association was submitted to the clerk of the board of supervisors on june 15th. this is a copy of the front page of the appeal. this appeal, this piece of paper here, was resubmitted this morning because at the

commission hearing on august 1st of this year, which was on the budget, three of you were there, three of you were there, you might recall that mr connover noticed that that meeting was the action item for this project. it means that somebody could appeal from that day forward. we were told today, that today is the action item for the appeal. i want to point out there has been three stated action items on this appeal. that is confusing to the public because as you keep having to reappeal or resubmit what you're objecting to, things are constantly changing. the project has been diligently pursued by rank and park with full-time employees. those of us in the neighborhood who are not full-time employees are simply trying to respond to a project that is already in its very nature, complicated. to have three different action items, three different dates, is very confusing. i want to point out,