Big Sur Multi-Agency Advisory Council Congressman Jimmy Panetta and Supervisor Mary Adams, Co-Chairs Virtual Meeting Friday, January 15, 2021 10:00 a.m.- 1:00 p.m. Join online: https://montereycty.zoom.us/j/95749549114 Join via telephone: 1-669-900-6833 or 1-253-215-8782 Webinar ID: 957 4954 9114 AGENDA I. Call to Order II. Roll Call and Introductions III. Approval of the November 6, 2020 minutes IV. Agency Report: 17th District, California State Senate, John Laird V. Public Comment on Non-Agenda Items: Limited to 3 minutes each VI. New Business VII. Old Business- Brief updates on on-going issues: (1-2 minutes per item) a. CA State Parks and Recreations i. CHP Housing ii. Log Jam(s) on Big Sur River iii. Wayland Bridge Replacement iv. Garrapata Restrooms b. US Forest Service i. Restroom Access c. Big Sur Byway Organization: Formation and Guidance i. Martha Diehl, Chairperson VIII: Reports from Member Agencies a. Big Sur Resident, North Coast b. Big Sur Resident, South Coast c. Big Sur Chamber of Commerce d. Community Association of Big Sur e. Monterey Planning Department f. Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District g. California Coastal Commission h. Caltrans i. California State Parks and Recreation j. Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary k. United States Forest Service l. 5th District, Monterey County Board of Supervisors m. 30th District, California State Assembly n. 20th District, United States Congress IX: Report from Other Agencies on Issues Pertinent to Big Sur X: Adjournment- 1:00 p.m. ~Next Meeting: April 9, 2021~ BIG SUR MULTI-AGENCY ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES FOR NOVEMBER 6, 2020 CONDUCTED VIRTUALLY A video recording on the meeting can be accessed online here. Approximate HH:MM:SS start for some agenda items have been noted. I. CALL TO ORDER Congressman Panetta called the meeting to order at 10:00 am. He reviewed the meeting format, features, and processes. II. ROLL CALL and INTRODUCTIONS (00:02:45) Member Agencies Member Name/Representative North Coast Resident Martha Karstens South Coast Resident Anneliese Agren Big Sur Chamber of Commerce Kirk Gafill Community Association for Big Sur Pam Peck County of Monterey, RMA-Planning John Dugan County of Monterey, Board of Supervisors Mary Adams Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District Joseph Narvaez CA Coastal Commission Mike Watson CA Dept. of Transportation Sara Von Schwind CA Dept. of Parks and Recreation Marcos Ortega Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Karen Grimmer United States Forest Service Tim Short CA Assembly, District 30 Spencer Jones CA Senate, District 17 Bill Monning US Congress, District 20 Jimmy Panetta III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES (00:07:02) Kirk Gafill motioned to approve the September 18, 2020 minutes, second by Martha Karstens. Minutes were unanimously approved. IV. SPECIAL RECOGNITION a. Reflections on our State Senator by Members (00:8:52) A video compilation of State Senator Bill Monning’s accomplishments and time during office serving the 17th Senate District was shown. Many comments were made showing great appreciation of Senator Monning and how he will be dearly missed. V. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS (00:27:50) o Rick Aldinger would like to revisit the question he asked at the last meeting regarding CalTrans and directed his question to Sara Von Schwind. Rick is wondering about the proliferation of yellow and black warning signs up and down Highway 1 with the pavement project. He doesn’t know if more had gone up since the last meeting, but between El Paso Creek and River inn had 75 signs. He would like to know the justification of the blight and how it is consistent with the scenic highway designation. o Congressman Panetta gave Sara Von Schwind the opportunity to respond, even though this is during Public Comment. o Sara explained CalTrans had to comply with December 2019 deadline to place curb warning signs across all routes, due to federal law. District 5 is in the process of putting all signs in per federal requirements, and if CalTrans does not comply, there is threat of federal dollars not coming to the State of California for transportation. • Steve Beck expressed concerned about Pampas Grass and thinks after the Dolan Fire, this is a good opportunity to prevent it from growing back. He is concerned for the way the coast will look if the Pampas Grass not contained. VI. NEW BUSINESS (00:33:56) – Big Sur Byway Organization – Martha Diehl a. Byway question is topical. We have had our first official meeting of the Big Sur Byway Organization. First meeting was a public meeting held on zoom, and Martha was elected as Chair while Butch Kronlund was elected as Vice Chair. New organization has appointees representing the following areas; Highlands, Mid-Coast, Big Sur Proper, South Coast, and an At-Large representative. Representatives are also from the Big Sur Chamber, and three agency partners including US Forest Service, CA State Parks, and CalTrans. b. The first question to ask is “how can we be useful”. I’d like to ask a question to those who are present to consider, “is there something a Byway organization should focus on?” The purpose is to represent and interpret the Big Sur Coast Highway Management Plan (BSCHMP), offer opportunity for all stakeholders to provide meaningful input, recommend priorities among the BSCHMP actions, and take action that is not under the purview on any single agency. Highway 1 is the linear link that can hold our community together in one piece. The group discussed efforts of how they will coordinate with stakeholders and how-to best work with one another. There is a process to challenge an individual sign that has been placed based on safety. The byway organization can be used as a tool to address these problems. [email protected] is the best way to get in touch with Chair Diehl of the Big Sur Byway Organization. VII. OLD BUSINESS (00:42:22) a. CA State Parks and Recreation i. CHP Housing – Continues to work on schedule and should be ready in the Spring. Pouring concrete tomorrow and working through the weekend. Becoming very close to a reality. ii. Log Jam(s) on Big Sur River – State Parks continues to monitor the log jams. Site visits are continuing, and meetings are held with CalTrans. St. Francis redwood site and the site close to State Parks wastewater facility are looking good. iii. Wayland Bridge Replacement – Marcos met with the construction crew this week, the same crew who received the first bid. Looking for a project completion of March 23rd. 2 | P a g e iv. Garrapata Restrooms – Beginning to make progress. Application to Coastal Conservancy with planning staff tracking progress. Pleased to announce the project is continuing to move forward and State Parks understands this is an incredibly important project. Staff has been increased to address trash at that park unit. b. United States Forest Service i. Restroom Access – Tim Short said between the COVID issues and fire impacts, the facilities have been largely closed for much of the season. Going back to the earlier conversations with the community to try and provide restroom access where possible, we have been talking to the parks management company to facilitate how can we accommodate the pass through visitation and Big Sur visitors at the same time. They were not designed as highway rest stops. We have worked with PMC and it sounds like Hillcreek and Willow Creek could be better accommodated for the visiting public passing through. Signs have been ordered and arrived but need to be installed that indicate restrooms available. c. Monterey County Board of Supervisors i. Cell Phone Update – Bettye Saxton AT&T provided an update on two major projects in Big Sur. Post Ranch Project was a temporary site, and now the permanent site is being constructed. Panels constructed off-site, bringing them on in the next couple of weeks, November 30th construction begins and on air by December 18th. Will deliver broadband, first net for first responders, and LTE for wireless servers. Complaints about signal that was lost to the North. The Microwave project on Manuel Peak continues to make strides. There was a setback due to fires, and now continued work with US Forest Service. Bettye welcomes Dan Redman on to the zoom call to fill in with the following. 1. Environmental consultants working for AT&T to meet the NEPA requirements. It is difficult to understand the full scope of the NEPA surveys. AT&T has had to bring in outside counsel on NEPA. The NEPA concerns are putting AT&T in jeopardy at risk of losing site. Bettye would like to ask Tim for a permit consideration with the condition that they will complete the study, build site concurrently, and if anything goes awry, specialist will be on site to stop construction. This will help ensure Pt. Sur does not go dark. ii. Kirk Gafill asks: Can you confirm status of the emergency power system at Pt. Sur cell tower? Bettye: Yes, we did put an emergency generator there. iii. Tim Short states: Met internally about Manuel Peak project, and they are trying to work through the process as expediently as they can, but they are required to complete all environmental reviews. We recognize the importance of this facility, and the US Forest Service is asking internally how can this be expedited. iv. Mike Watson: Clarification from Marcos with application regarding Garrapata State Park Restrooms, was the application for the Coastal 3 | P a g e Conservancy or for the County? Marcos wasn’t sure so Mike is going to reach out to the staff working on the project.