December 9, 2015, 6:30 PM, Cambria Rabobank, 1070 Main Street
A quorum of directors was present, with Crosby and Laura Swartz, Vari MacNeil, Connie Gannon, Julie Jorgenson, JoEllen Butler, Alan Peters, Christine Heinrichs attending. About 20 community members also attended to hear speaker Daniel Bohlman, Conservation Director, The Land Conservancy of SLO. Dylan Theobold, stewardship manager for the Land Conservancy, also attended. He is the person who drives a black Jeep when he comes to Cambria to maintain the Land Conservancy’s properties.
Mr. Bohlman explained the Conservancy’s function and goals. It is the nonprofit agency that is required for government agencies to operate the Transfer Development Credit Ordinance. The Land Conservancy sells TDCs to property owners to allow them to exceed county development standards when they build on their lots. That money is then used to purchase undeveloped lots and retire them from development, protecting them permanently. The Land Conservancy’s role is to then turn ownership and management of the lots over to the Cambria Community Services District. In 2011, the CSD refused to accept the lots from the Land Conservancy, effectively ending the program. The Land Conservancy continues to maintain the 55 lots it held when the CSD declined to accept its role in the process. It cannot accept additional lots until the CSD or some other agency is able to take over their maintenance.
“The TDC program should be and could be going on still,” Bohlman said. “I hope this is the first of many conversations we have in Cambria to find a way to move forward.”
Crosby Swartz thanked the speaker and allowed the audience to speak with him individually for a few minutes before convening the business meeting. Most of the audience left at that time.
Approval of minutes of the previous meeting was deferred to January to revise the grant section.
Treasurer’s Report: Laura Swartz reported that the account balance is $1051.60, $190 of which remains of the Cambria Community Council grant for the interpretive sign. The Forest Committee is looking for a location to place one additional sign. The bill for the post office box is anticipated, around $100.
Sub-Committee Reports
Education/Planting/Mitigation/Operations
Website Hosting Change: The web site host will be changed as soon as necessary passwords can be ascertained from Amanda Rice.
Post Tree Removal Letter on Website: additional explanatory information is needed to help the public understand how to use the complaint letter.
Historical Society Kiosk: Additional material is needed to display in the kiosk. Julie Jorgenson offered her husband Tom’s photographs of the forest.
Forest Management
Cambria Forest Health Project Grant Implementation (Greenhouse Gas): Alan Peters reported that a co-generation plant may be used to gassify dead wood into electricity, a carbon-negative process. They are exploring the possibilities of a lease agreement with Covell Ranch and Tim Windsor to locate a temporary sawmill to convert dead trees to lumber. Producing products may place the project under the legal status of the Forest Practice Act, which would make it exempt from permitting requirements of the Coastal Act and CEQA. It would have to meet different environmental standards, including biological surveys as specified in that law, but be a faster process because of not having to meet 30-day comment periods.
“It’s more stringent in many ways,” he said. “The goal will be no significant impacts. It’s a different pathway.”
Western States Forestry Grant Status: Alan Peters explained that each of the 16 states in the alliance rates its projects, which are then funded. Cambria’s project is rated first in California and funding is anticipated in 2016.
CDP Permit for CCSD Tree Removal Status: JoEllen Butler reported that Fiscalini Ranch will submit its permit application this week. They have removed a total of 190 trees, 160 from the ranch and the rest from behind the sewage treatment plant. The permit will be reviewed by NCAC’s Land Use Committee.
Fire Safe Focus Group will not meet in December.
New Business
Recommendations to NCAC on New Permit Applications: Mary Webb reported that the Anderson permit application for an addition on Adams Street will remove one oak tree. Crosby Swartz has not yet received that application.
Unfinished Business
Homeowner brochure: Vari MacNeil presented the one-page summary she created for homeowners to inform them of required tree policies and how to fulfill them as property owners. That will be circulated among directors and discussed in January.
Agenda Items for Next Month: Crosby asks that all agenda items be submitted to him for inclusion on the agenda.
Adjourned at 8:53 pm.
Next Meeting January 13, 2016
