TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL

FROM: DIRECTOR OF PLANNING, BUILDING, AND CODE ENFORCEMENT

DATE: DECEMBER 20, 2005

SUBJECT: AMENDED MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY AND THE PALOS VERDES PENINSULA LAND CONSERVANCY (PVPLC)

RECOMMENDATION

Approve an amendment to the existing Forrestal Management Agreement between the City and the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy (PVPLC) that authorizes the PVPLC to begin habitat management on January 1, 2006 of the City properties that are awaiting formal dedication to the NCCP Preserve.

EXECUTICE SUMMARY

By the end of this year, 80% of properties that are proposed to be dedicated to the NCCP preserve will be owned by the City or PVPLC. However, the dedications of land to the preserve are not going to occur until the resource agencies formally approve all of the NCCP documents and all parties sign the NCCP Implementing Agreement. This isn’t expected to occur until sometime in mid-2006, which means that the initial management activities, which typically are performed in early spring, would not occur until 2007. As a result, the PVPLC is requesting City Council authorization to begin management of the preserve properties on January 1, 2006, before they are formally dedicated to the Preserve. The PVPLC believes that initiating the required management activities early will leave a favorable impression with the resource agencies, which could help with future funding requests. PVPLC’s proposal, along with the management agreement that would authorize and fund their management proposal, is being presented to the City Council for its review and approval.

BACKGROUND

On August 31, 2004, the City Council approved the City’s NCCP Subarea Plan, certified the related NCCP EIR and conceptually approved the NCCP Implementing Agreement. However, the City Council stopped short of approving the draft agreement between the City and PVPLC, which spells out the agreements and responsibilities of both parties in managing the proposed NCCP Preserve. After the City Council action, the City-approved NCCP documents were forwarded to the California Department of Fish and Game and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for their review and approval. Formal approval of the NCCP documents by the resource agencies is still pending and is not expected until sometime in 2006. When that occurs, Staff intends to present the revised documents to the City Council for its concurrent approval.

After the NCCP documents were approved by the City Council in 2004, City and PVPLC staff focused their attention on acquiring privately owned open space for inclusion into the Preserve. Working together, the City and PVPLC were successful in securing over $17 million to acquire 463 acres of privately held open space. As a result, the City is set to take title to the 424-acre “Portuguese Bend” property and the 39-acre “Agua Amarga Canyon” property by the end of this year from the Palos Verdes Portuguese Bend, LLC. These properties will eventually be dedicated to the NCCP Preserve.

For reasons explained in the attached letter dated December 12, 2005, the PVPLC is eager to begin management of the properties that will be dedicated to the preserve, which are currently under City/PVPLC control, before they are formally dedicated to the Preserve. In order to allow the PVPLC to begin its early management activities, a management agreement must be executed. The PVPLC’s proposal, along with the management agreement that would authorize and fund their proposal, is being presented to the City Council for its review and approval.

DISCUSSION

Management Scope of work

The City-approved NCCP Subarea Plan includes a section devoted to Preserve Management (Section 6) which identifies the PVPLC as the “habitat manager” responsible for managing the habitat preserve. In addition, the Subarea Plan identifies the framework management guidelines, habitat management and monitoring requirements, reporting requirements and covered species reintroduction requirements (section 6 is attached as Exhibit “D” to the attached Agreement).

Formal management of the preserve is anticipated to begin after the Preserve is formally created, that is, after the City and PVPLC formally dedicate their respective properties identified in the NCCP Subarea Plan into the Preserve and conservation easements are recorded on all the preserve properties. However, the dedications of land to the preserve are not going to occur until the resource agencies formally approve all of the NCCP documents and all parties sign the NCCP Implementing Agreement. Based on the latest feedback from the resource agencies, this is not expected to occur until sometime in mid-2006. Since the preserve management activities are dependent on baseline habitat surveys that are typically performed in the early spring, this means that the initial management
activities would not occur until 2007.

With acquisition of the “Portuguese Bend” and “Agua Amarga Canyon” properties, 1,138.33 acres of the 1,428.27 acres (80%) that are intended to become habitat preserve will be owned by the City (1,118 acres) or PVPLC (20 acres). As a result, the PVPLC is requesting City Council authorization to begin management of the preserve properties on January 1, 2006. The PVPLC believes that initiating the required management activities early will leave a favorable impression with the resource agencies, which could help with future funding requests. In addition, it would allow the public to see progress on the preserve properties. The PVPLC is seeking City authorization to begin management in January 2006 since a major amount of biological monitoring must be performed in the early spring.

The management tasks that the PVPLC proposes to perform on the preserve properties are described in their attached letter. The preserve properties that the PVPLC proposes to manage are listed in Attachment “C” of the attached Agreement and are shown on the attached aerial map.

Funding

In accordance with the City-approved NCCP Subarea Plan, the City will commit $100,000 per year (to be adjusted annually for inflation) and certain in-kind services to fulfill the obligations for management and maintenance of the NCCP preserve. As a result, the City’s current FY 05-06 budget has earmarked $100,000 for management of the preserve. Therefore, if the PVPLC’s early management request is approved and the PVPLC begins management in January 2006, the City will allocate $50,000 to the PVPLC to perform its management duties for the half year period between January 1 and June 30, 2006.

Furthermore, the initial management of the preserve involves a substantial amount of surveys and monitoring to establish baseline data. In order to establish thorough baseline data for the preserve properties, earlier this year the PVPLC applied for and received approval of a $100,000 grant from the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG). The PVPLC’s application and the DFG grant award letter are attached. Since the City is the lead agency for the NCCP and the PVPLC is the City’s habitat manager, the DFG’s grant would be paid through the City. Therefore, if the City Council authorizes the PVPLC to begin its management duties, the PVPLC will also be performing special tasks that will be covered by the DFG grant. A list of the tasks and budget approved by the DFG is attached. Invoices for work performed by the PVPLC will be submitted to the City, which in turn will submit them to the DFG for reimbursement.

Management Agreement

In order to facilitate the PVPLC’s management request, a formal management agreement must be executed between the PVPLC and the City. However, because the NCCP has not

yet been formally approved by the resource agencies and the NCCP Implementing Agreement has not yet been signed, the City Attorney has recommended that the actual NCCP City/PVPLC Agreement that was foreseen to be used for management of the NCCP preserve not be executed at this time. Instead the City Attorney has prepared an amendment to the existing Forrestal Management Agreement between the City and PVPLC that allows the PVPLC to manage the preserve properties in conjunction with the NCCP Subarea Plan (attached). The term of the agreement would be from January 1 to June 30, 2006.

FISCAL IMPACT

The City Council approved FY 05-06 budget earmarks $100,000 for management of the NCCP preserve. If the City Council approves the PVPC’s request, a budgeted expenditure of $50,000 would result.

Respectfully submitted,

Joel Rojas
Director of Planning, Building,
and Code Enforcement

Reviewed by:

Les Evans
City Manager

Attachments:

Amendment to the Forrestal Management Agreement
PVPLC Letter dated December 12, 2005
Information on approved $100,000 DFG grant
Aerial maps – NCCP Preserve Properties

FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE AMENDED AND RESTATED AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES AND THE PALOS VERDES PENINSULA LAND CONSERVANCY, A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION, TO JOINTLY OPERATE AND MAINTAIN A TRACT OF LAND KNOWN AS THE FORRESTAL NATURE PRESERVE AND TO CONDUCT ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, TOURS, AND EVENTS THAT WILL ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION IN THE PASSIVE RECREATIONAL USE OF THE PRESERVE AS AN OPEN SPACE COASTAL NATURE PRESERVE AND AUTHORIZE THE USE OF PRIVATELY AND PUBLICLY RAISED FUNDS FOR THE UPGRADING AND ENHANCEMENT OF THE PRESERVE FOR USE BY THE PUBLIC AND TO ENHANCE AND PROTECT HABITAT AND SPECIES LOCATED THEREON.

This Document is the first amendment to the Operating Agreement (hereinafter, “the Agreement”), by and between the City and the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy (hereinafter “PVPLC” or “the Conservancy”), a non-profit organization and the City of Rancho Palos Verdes (hereinafter “the City”). This First Amendment is effective as of this _________ day of_______________, 2005. Except as expressly amended herein, the Agreement shall remain in full force and effect. Together with this First Amendment, the Agreement sets forth the agreement between the City and the Conservancy regarding the management by the Conservancy of certain properties that are owned by the City.
Section 1. Section 1 of the Agreement is hereby amended to read as follows:

1. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPERTY
The Preserve, (hereinafter “the Premises” or “the Preserve”) is described in Exhibit “A”, which is attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference, and describes the property that is located at the terminus of Forrestal Drive, and Exhibit “C”, which also is attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference, and sets forth the additional properties that are being added to the Agreement between the parties so that the Conservancy will manage these additional properties on behalf of the City, as set forth in the Agreement.
Section 2. Section 3 of the Agreement is hereby amended to read as follows:

3. CONSIDERATION
No rent is required to be paid by the Conservancy to the City for the use of the Preserve. Although the City is not obligated to pay any compensation to the Conservancy to manage the Property described in Exhibit “A”, the City shall pay compensation to the Conservancy for the period from January 1, 2006 through June 30, 2006, in the amount of $50,000, for management of the properties listed in Exhibit “C” in accordance with the Preserve Management section (Section 6) of the NCCP Subarea Plan that was approved by the City Council on August 31, 2004, which is attached hereto as Exhibit “D” and incorporated herein by this reference. It is recognized that the activities of the Conservancy will inure to the benefit of the City and its residents and to the general public, since the City does not have the resources and staff to undertake the maintenance, operation and improvement of the Preserve, which will be performed by the Conservancy, as well as the environmental education programs and passive recreational activities that will be provided or enhanced by the Conservancy.
Section 3. Section 27 of the Agreement is hereby amended to read as follows:

27. EXHIBITS
The following Exhibits are attached hereto and are incorporated herein by reference and form a part of this Agreement:
A. Legal Description of the portion of the Preserve that is located at the terminus of Forrestal Drive (attached to original Agreement)
B. The Forrestal Management Plan (attached to original Agreement)
C. The properties that are being added to the Preserve pursuant to this First Amendment.
D. Section 6 (Preserve Management) of the NCCP Subarea Plan, which was approved by the City Council on August 31, 2004.
Section 4. Section 28 of the Agreement is hereby amended to read as follows:

28. COMPLETE AGREEMENT
The Agreement, as amended by this First Amendment, contains the full and complete Agreement between the parties and may only be amended in a writing executed by both parties. No verbal agreement or conversation with any officer or employee of either party will affect or modify any of the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

Dated _________________ PALOS VERDES LAND CONSERVANCY
By: _____________________________
Its: _____________________________
By: ______________________________
Its: ______________________________
Dated ________________ CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES

By: ______________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_________________________
City Clerk