Board of Supervisors — 2022-02-15

Good morning. I'd like to call to order our February 15, 2022 Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors meeting here in the Santa Barbara County hearing room. Madam Clerk please call the roll.

Seconded.

And all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Pass unanimously. CEO's report. CEO Miyasato.

There's no report this morning Chair Hartman.

Madam Clerk

announcements. Chair Hartman and members of the board I do have a couple quick announcements this morning. I wanted, I would like to inform the public that the chair will be rearranging the departmental agenda order today and we will be taking them in the following order. Departmental item number one for the LAFCO appointment We'll be first up as previously scheduled and that estimated time is around 930.

Next, we will be taking departmental item number four and this is from the Community Services Department and that's for the Recreation Master Plan and that estimated time is around 10 o'clock And then we will take a lunch slash closed session. That time estimate is to be between 12 and 115, and then we will return for departmental item number three that is from the county executive office regarding chapter 50 cannabis business license amendments and that current time estimate is around 115 And our next item will be departmental item number two, which is from Planning and Development Department. And that is the Codwell Cannabis Cultivation Project Appeal. And that current time estimate is around 2 p.m. today. And lastly, we will be taking departmental item number five from the county executive office regarding our COVID-19 update.

And that current time estimate is around 340. If you have any questions regarding today's schedule or order Please contact the Clerk of the Board at 805-568-2240. I would also like to remind the public that the Board of Supervisors meetings are being interpreted and broadcast live in Spanish. We are broadcasting our meetings in Spanish both for Cox Cable subscribers in South County as well as Comcast cable subscribers in North County. Members of the public can now view our meetings in Spanish by turning on the secondary audio programming, also known as SAP or SAP under their language settings.

That information is currently being provided through the TV scroll. Lastly, I would like to remind the public who are participating in our meeting today of the board's updated methods of public participation for the Board of Supervisors methods of public participation and to provide public comment on general public comment or an item on the board's agenda please see page 2 of the agenda Members of the public can attend meetings in person in both Santa Barbara and Santa Maria Board Hearing Room Chambers. Please note we are following all local and state guidelines, and are currently requiring indoor mask usage for everyone over the two years of age regardless of vaccination status.

If you attend the board meeting in person, you will be required to wear a face covering mask or face shield with drape at all times. Information regarding how to properly wear a mask has been posted throughout both rooms. Additionally, for those unable to wear a mask for any reason we can provide you with a face shield with drape. Lastly public health is encouraging social distancing in both hearing room chambers I would also like to remind the public that if you require any special accommodations please contact the clerk of the board to make that request preferably on the Friday prior to the board meeting Individuals that would like to provide verbal public comment virtually may do so via Zoom by registering in advance via the link available on page 2 of the agenda.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing important information about joining the virtual meeting. Once the chair has announced the item you want to comment on please join the meeting with the information provided and the registration confirmation email. You will be placed on mute until it is your turn to speak. The clerk will call you by name and when removed from mute, you will hear a notification that your line has been unmuted.

If you are using a touchtone phone, you may need to press star six to unmute yourself. Each person may address the board for up to three minutes and this is at the discretion of the chair. If you have any questions, please contact the clerk of the Board's office again at 805-568-2240 that's 805 568 2240. That concludes my announcements for today. Thank you.

Thank You Miss Alexander turning then to our administrative agenda do any board members have any items they'd like to pull Supervisor Lavinino A16? Yes. Any

others?

And Ms. Alexander, any members of the public?

Chair Hartman and members of the board we have no request to speak on the administrative agenda.

Would you please read A16 into the record?

Chair Hartman and members of the board Administrative item number 16 is from the Board of Supervisors and this is sponsored by Supervisor Lavinino it is to approve the appointment of Vincent Martinez to the Planning Commission term ending December 31st 2022 and this is in the 5th district

Supervisor Labanino.

Yes, Madam Chair just wanted to pull this For those of us who have to find somebody to be a planning commissioner it reminds me of the Tremendous job that they do and when you're asking somebody to Perform this service. I had to be forthright and honest with him and talk about the workload that's involved for almost no pay, so I just thought it was appropriate to first off we're definitely going to honor The work that Mr. Blau has done, Mr. Dan Blau who because of redistricting is no longer going to be my planning commissioner spent 14 years on the Planning Commission I inherited him from Supervisor Centeno and we'll have a resolution and do A little ceremony for him when we're back in Santa Maria, but just wanted to Welcome. Mr. Martinez.

He is a attorney with twitch one rice in Santa Maria. He has a lot of land use expertise Graduate of Loyola Marymount School of Law and I'm really looking forward to his time on our Planning Commission.

And I just wanted to add having served on the Planning Commission with Commissioner Blau, I learned a great deal from him and he really gave a lot to the county never missed a meeting and was always prepared and had really good insights that we didn't get from any other source so I surely enjoyed working with him. Okay, may I have a motion then to approve the administrative agenda?

So moved. Second.

And any further discussion? All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Passes unanimously. Turning to

Chair Herman and members of the board, we have four requests to speak on general public comment today. And if you are a member of the public and have signed up for general public comment now is the time to log into Zoom to provide those comments. We will begin on Zoom with Maria Kessler to be followed by Tom Becker. Maria?

Good morning Board of Supervisors. Disagree with government policy? Homeland Security today says you are a terrorist if you speak out. According to journalist and political commentator Kim Anderson, a bulletin actually labels what is typically considered free speech as terrorism. The bulletin reads the United States remains in a heightened threat environment fueled by several factors including an online environment filled with false or misleading narratives and conspiracy theories And other forms of mis, dis and mal information introduced and or amplified by foreign and domestic threat actors.

Remember this is a bulletin about domestic terrorism threats to the homeless. And they're saying that we're in a heightened threat environment because of what they label miss or disinformation Iverson said which they're saying could be spread by American citizens so that's you and me It was originally a conspiracy theory that there would be vaccine mandates. It was misinformation to say the vaccine doesn't prevent spread, Iverson said. According to the DHS bulletin people who spread MDM as they call it are possible threat actors seeking to exacerbate societal friction to sow discord and undermine public trust in government institutions to encourage unrest which could potentially inspire acts of violence So they're saying that if you spread misinformation, do you spread information that undermines public trust in a government institution like the Centers for Disease Control or Federal Drug Administration, FDA or the Pentagon or Congress it could lead to violence.

And I'm just going to say we've gone over this in front of this board that the Supreme Court has ruled that unless speech creates an immediate threat of violence, it's free speech. And the constant coercion of the public that they cannot freely discuss science have rigorous scientific debate and discuss basically any topic you know is just it's just abhorrent we officially live in a police state if this is the position that our government takes just like Dr. Armstrong accused those of us calling in of spreading dangerous misinformation. While he has never had a public square debate with any of us or any of the medical professionals, Dr. Malone's coming in town maybe he can come and show up at this public debate. This is chilling. We live officially in a police state And blackface Trudeau up north already reigned in a full-blown police state.

And I just wanted to bring up that freedom of speech is still open to rigorous debates, contradicting government narratives.

Thank you. We will now go to Tom Becker and we will return to the Santa Barbara Hearing Room for Scott Wentz, who is our final speaker. And I would just like to remind members of the public that we strictly use Zoom for general public comment on general or an item on our agenda. So if you are just viewing the meeting, if you can please use the alternative methods that are outlined on page two of our agenda, that would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

We will now go to Tom Becker.

Thank you, can you hear me? Yes loud and clear. Good thank you this comment is not intended for any specific item on today's agenda it's for general a general issue of conduct of the City Council or a Board of Supervisors meeting if a supervisor receives their request from one of their constituents to ask a question during an agenda item of a department, county department.

You should honor that request from your constituent and ask that question that the constituent wants you to ask of that department. And you should compel that county department to give an answer to that question You have to remember, the public has no power to compel any county department to respond to a question. We have no power at all to compel a response but you do.

The Board of Supervisors have tremendous power to compel department heads and county employees answer questions during agenda items on specific agenda issues Now, I just sent a request to my supervisor, Supervisor Hartman, to ask questions of an issue today during an agenda item. And I'm going to request that she asks those questions word for word as I put them and compel the response from that department that I'm asking the question of.

The 4th District Supervisor Nelson Received a request from one of his constituents to ask a specific question today during one of the agenda items of a department, county department. Mr. Nelson should honor the request of his constituent and ask that question word for word as his constituent intended and compel the response from that department in that county department That's your job, you're supposed to represent us.

And one of the ways that you represent us is that when we have a question of a department, a county department and we give that question to you in writing and ask you to ask that question and get a response, you should be doing that instead of ignoring the questions. So anyway thank you very much I think you kind of get the message of what I'm saying. Honor the request from your constituents And ask the questions they want asked and compel a response from the department, the county department that your that question is posed to. Thank you.

Thank you Mr Becker and if you are able to attend that agenda item and participate in comment then that would also be helpful.

Madam Clerk, Chair Hartman and members of the board. We will now go to our final request to speak on general public comment and that is here in the Santa Barbara hearing room for Scott Wentz. Scott?

Madam Chair, members of the board, Scott Wentz representing Cars are Basic. This request that we're going to place before you has been a request that we've asked the county to implement for the last five years. And unless there's been a change, there hasn't been no implementation. The force multiplier of the use of drones, which is now a mature technology should be used in the County of Santa Barbara particularly with lifeguards and beach patrols. You don't have enough lifeguards basically to handle all of the beach locations. I used to be a lifeguard. I understand the issue.

And to have this force multiplier, to be able to fly out a flotation device or reach someplace that's on a point where the lifeguard can't get to immediately would be a huge benefit to the county. Like I said we've been asking for this for five years and basically we've been ignored. So not only that but to implement this technology which like I said is a mature technology It's being used down in L.A., has been used for over 10 years with their lifeguards.

Would also benefit fire and emergency response personnel if they have to use that technology, and they have to call on it from another department. Thank you.

Thank you for this suggestion. And

that concludes public comment.

All right. Turning to departmental item number one. Ms. Alexander would you read that into the record please?

Chair Hartman and members of the board, departmental item number one is from the county executive office. It is a hearing to appoint two members of the Board of Supervisors to the local agency formation commission for a term of office from March 1st 2022 through March 1st 2026. One appointment is to the regular member position and one appointment is to the alternate member position And I will be providing a brief presentation of the item before the board today.

As seen in attachment A of the staff report, the clerk of the board received a letter on January 12th 2022 from Mike Prater, executive officer of the Santa Barbara County Local Agency Formation Commission also known as LAFCO. Requesting that the Board of Supervisors appoint two members of the board to four-year terms from March 1st, 2022 through March 1st 2026.

To provide a brief summary of the LAFCO membership, LAFCO is composed of two county supervisors, two members of city councils, two directors of independent special districts and one member of the public. There is an alternate member in each category to vote in place of absent or disqualified members in that category. And county members are appointed to four-year terms and serve at the pleasure of the board.

As the Board will recall, on April 10th 2018, 5th District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino was appointed as a regular member and 1st District Supervisor Doss Williams was appointed to the alternate member position. Both terms will expire on March 1st 2022. At the January 11th, 2022 Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisor Lavinino indicated that as a result of the new Santa Barbara County District boundaries, the position of regular member may be more appropriate for Supervisor Nelson who now represents an area of the county that is expected to have more LAFCO related issues concerning jurisdictional change.

The board is being asked to reappoint or appoint one member of the Board of Supervisors to a regular member position for four-year term and one alternate member position for a four year term. Both terms will end on March 1st, 2026. Chair Hartman and members of the board that concludes my brief presentation and staff is available for questions I will now turn it over to the board for further discussion thank

you. Thank You Supervisor Williams your light is on

well I really hate to engender especially belatedly any conflict on the board but I wasn't sort of expecting in and obviously because Brown Act we don't Coordinate ahead of time on meetings with more than one other colleague. And upon reflection, I've been now on LAFCO as the alternate for almost two years. I've only been able to vote on two items in that time because Supervisor Lavenino and Supervisor Hartman are great about being there every time.

So basically, I only get a vote in when one of them's a tad late or has to bump into another meeting And so I just, um, I would like to be able to fulfill that responsibility and its fullness for at least some amount of time. I'm not tied to serving out the whole term. I understand completely you know why a representative from ORCOT would want to have a voice there.

Encourage maybe Bob to be the alternate and you know, I in into maybe that I would Consult with you on orchid issues as a matter of course So that you know we could we could better coordinate and better do work together

supervisor Lavinia. I

Thank you, Madam Chair. Well one of the things that I was able to do with Supervisor Hartman I believe is when you were the alternate was when an item came up that had to do with sending as I step you can just step down from the dais and let the other person I don't know if that's a way to make this work. The reason why I left, actually, I was happy on LAFCO. I enjoyed the work but because I thought Bob needed a vote on ORCID issues that is why I stepped down.

But I think that might be a workable solution. I would like to hear from Supervisor Nielsen as

well. Thank you Chair Hartman and supervisors. The annexations over the next coming years and actually an application went in for an annexation just this week from the City of Santa Maria potentially annexing large parts Thank you. As all of you guys know, I'm kind of a nerd when it comes to some of this stuff. And so as much as I love to work with you and try to push everything that I have in my head into you to represent for us, I think it's really important to my constituency to serve as that regular member.

Ideally, I like to see things... Change in the Santa Maria Valley in an orderly way, but right now it's kind of a hot time. There's there's a lot of annexations on the horizon and some of them that aren't good for the county and not for our valley potentially if they're not done the right way. And so that's the reason why I want to be the regular member So that's why the reason I'm wrestling with this. I'd be glad to step down when it came to issues in the South County for another member to step up, but I think especially with items in the Santa Maria Valley, I do have a good understanding of some of the Lompoc conflicts. Supervisor Adam and Supervisor Farr had negotiated some of those exchange agreements with the City of Lompoc on their last annexation, so I have some history in place.

While I usually defer, I still would like to be the regular member.

So I'll chime in just a moment because I do serve on LAFCO and I think that the practice has been that the alternate on LAFCO whether it be the public member or some other for the special districts or for city or county, the alternate usually moves into the regular position. Alternates usually attend the meetings. They always have the opportunity to speak and I spoke a lot, I have to admit as an alternate And as I mentioned, Supervisor Lavanito mentioned he would step aside and allow me to vote on issues having to do with the district that I represented. So it really is a collaborative. I hear you. I just think that we have a practice in place And I'm not sure that we should disturb that practice because it's kept expectations for us and also for other LAFCO that if you do your diligence as an alternate, you have the expectation that you'll move up.

That is kind of the LAFCO way of doing things. So Supervisor Williams?

Yeah, I understand your position and I respect if we have different votes but I would definitely as a concession to what I think is really important. I would very much consider stepping down in cases of this emerging conflicts in the Santa Maria Valley. But, I definitely still yearn for some of that participation. to do with our other largest unincorporated area.

It is one of the real big reasons that I would love to stay engaged as a voting

member. Well, Chair Hartman, you know, I think we've done a good job as a board over the last You know, 14 months with these types of things. I'm willing to accept the alternate position understanding where I see a commitment from my hopefully my two teammates on LAFCO. And so you know, I think everybody understands where I'm coming from on it. My hope to be able to have that ability to robustly discuss the issues at hand. My concern has been and maybe County Council can help alleviate this for me is The alternate needed to maybe be silent there, and maybe I'm misunderstanding that because of the Brown Act. And so that might be something that can help alleviate my concern. Because I just want to be a part of the discussion. I think that there's good policy decisions that need to be made that need to have the history and the understanding in the community at hand.

And I want to make sure that is not lost at LAFCO. You know, Supervisor Laudanino has done a great job on that for quite some time. I think we definitely need to still have a voice in the Santa Maria Valley on LAFCO representing this board.

Yes, and I would mention that we have city representatives and we have a representative from Santa Maria and from Goleta currently serving. But if you are so gracious, you have my pledge to support your speaking on behalf of Santa Maria Valley. Supervisor

Hartman and myself have chimed in as alternates many times. I try to restrict it a little bit but we've never gotten busted so you know.

Madam Chair and members of the board, we are not actually counsel for LAFCO anymore. But I'm happy to look at just the issues regarding what constitutes a quorum for LAFCO because that would really be the issue and it sounds like with the additional representatives from the city that it's probably okay but we can just take a look at that for you.

Well I think we have some workarounds if it's not with my colleagues so I think we can go ahead

All right, well once again very gracious Supervisor Nelson. I need a motion. I will make the motion that we have Supervisor Williams appointed as the regular member he will no longer be the alternate and that we appoint Supervisor Nelson as the alternate and the terms once again Madam Clerk

Yes chair Hartman and members of the board that would be for four year terms for March from beginning March 1st 2022 through March 1st 2026.

Thank you and may I have a second?

Second.

And all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? All right. Turning then to Madam Clerk, do you think we need a break or do you think we should just keep going?

Chair Hartman and members of the board perhaps we can continue on with our agenda since we are earlier than

expected. We changed the order so we're turning to departmental item number four. Madam Clerk would you please read that into the record.

Thank you Chair Hartman and members of the board. Departmental item number four is brought to you by the Community Services Department. It is a hearing to consider recommendations regarding the Countywide Recreation Master Plan update, Consulting Service Agreement Amendment with Wood Environment and Infrastructure Solutions Inc for the Countywide Recreation Master Plan. And there is a fourth this vote required on this item.

Thank you and Mr. Chapchin.

Good morning Chair Hartman, members of the Board. This morning Community Services will provide the board with a status report on our countywide recreation master plan which your board funded back in May of 2019. The work already done and further work that needs to happen We'll ask for a contract amendment with the consultants to continue the work of the master plan, enhance the outreach to minority communities and we'll propose an innovative approach to streamlining a process for private landowners who are interested in providing recreational amenities on their properties that will also have a public benefit. We're also asking for funding for this process. I want to thank the Planning Department and County Council for being open to this proposed process and working with us on the details and outline of how this process could work With that, I'll turn this over to Jeff Lindgren who's been working on our master plan for the last two years.

Our Deputy Director of Parks, Jeff Lindgren.

Go ahead Mr. Lindgren

Good morning Chair Hartman and good morning Supervisors. Can you hear me okay through my mask?

Yes indeed.

Well, good morning. We are pleased to present the Countywide Recreation Master Plan today with leadership from your board and our director Mr. George Chapjian. We've been able to begin development of a program to create a strategic approach to improving parks trails and recreation facilities countywide as we launch into this I would just like to acknowledge a few individuals who were helpful in getting us to this point Erika Leachman is our project manager from WOOD, our consultant team and she will be joining us in this presentation remotely.

And then their staff at WOOD, Gina Sawaya and Taylor Lane have both worked very diligently on helping to draft the sections of the recreation master plan that we have so far We've been working in the community extensively on community outreach efforts, pop-up events, workshops in the community. Been a very big help to us thus far. Director Lisa Plowman with Planning and Development and Assistant Director Jeff Wilson.

And then I can't forget Planning Commissioner John Park who has been Rigorously out in the community working with folks across the county in various capacities from agricultural Excuse me agriculturalists to equestrians Farmers and lots of folks in various occupations. So thank you to all those folks who have helped us so far I'd like to Just quickly walk through the recommended actions as a framework for how we'll engage in this discussion today.

Very quickly, we're asking your board to receive and file a report on the status of the recreation master plan. What we hope you will get today is kind of a glimpse into the demographic analysis, the comprehensive facility inventory that's been prepared. The public outreach program that has been underway throughout COVID following protocols and the analysis of the recreational planning framework in our county Then we will be asking your board to provide us with some direction regarding expansion of our scope of work on the recreation master plan.

And what that will primarily entail is getting direction from you on making some amendments to the county's comprehensive plan, zoning ordinance and likely community plans so that we can see some real changes in how we plan for and are able to develop recreational facilities across the county. And this is a county-wide plan. The changes here that we're talking about should be able to benefit both cities as well as unincorporated county areas.

To complete this work, we need to request funding from your board. We are asking for $490,000. $40,000 would be equity set-aside funding and 450,000 of that would come from the parks trails and open space funding During the budget deliberations this year. A good portion of that money would go to the public outreach regarding these amendments to the zoning ordinance and comp plan planning for them drafting of those amendments processing and environmental review of those amendments CSD Community Services would act as the applicant submitting a set of amendments to the Planning and Development Department.

The next request would be to approve a budget revision, this is necessary to adjust our appropriations for the remainder of this fiscal year in an amount of $120,000. We would ask that your board approve a contract amendment with wood in the amount of $400,506. This is distinct from the budget request so although the numbers are close please don't get them confused this is a contract amendment of which some of the money from the funding request would be used but some of that funding would come from previously approved projects Uh grant funded projects and it'll be used for additional public outreach and environmental review for the master plan process.

And then finally, we ask your board determine the recommended actions are exempt from CEQA under 15262 and And now that we've completed some of this administrative part of the discussion, we would like to jump to Erica Leachman who is with Wood Environmental and is available remotely to give us an overview of the Recreation Master Plan and the work we've done to date. And some of the implications that we're seeing from the information were finding.

Ms. Leachman?

Thank you so much Mr. Lindgren Thank you, Chair Hartman and to all the board for the opportunity to be here today. To talk about this project bring you up to speed with the work that the recreation master plan team has completed today and also introduce what's coming up some of the more exciting and more arguably fun parts of the project are on the horizon associated with planning for the future of recreation countywide.

Recreation is essential it's an essential part of our communities Access to recreation is an absolutely essential part of a sustainable community. Allowing residents and visitors access to parks and trails fosters community, it fosters friendship. Physical activity is a key aspect of sustainable communities allowing people to exercise and play and get outdoors and connect with nature and parks playing a critical role in that. Recreation supports the local economy from a variety of sources, from real estate values to ecotourism to business and jobs.

Schools sports leagues and special events and lastly recreation is an inherent part of environmental conservation conserving land. In the interest of both public access, but also recreational or natural resource conservation. And so with understanding those incredible benefits of recreation that's been a backbone for this project since the beginning from the original inception of the idea that this could be possible for Santa Barbara County.

The main goal for this project is to provide us a strategic planning program To improve parks and trails and recreation facilities throughout the whole county. Partnering with our cities, with our recreation districts, and then looking critically at the unincorporated areas as well to understand how recreation is provided, where communities are underserved, where improvements are needed, and addressing that comprehensively so we have a vision and a program to guide acquisition expansion and improvements into the future.

Diving into a few of the key objectives of the Master Plan. So how are we going to do this? This is a big goal. First of all, the Master Plan is intended to foster multi-agency cooperation. What's true about recreation is that you don't just stay in your city or your neighborhood or your jurisdiction when you go out to play. You go where the parks are, you go where the trails are. And a lot of times those may exist in neighboring communities, they may exist regionally or they may be in your backyard. But the importance of this project is to foster multi-agency cooperation to break down those barriers and understand how people use recreation more so than how recreation's provided based on boundaries.

As a result, a key goal and a key outcome of the project is to create a unified countywide, we're calling it a rec print Something that can be mapped so we can look visually and understand geographically how recreation is provided both in the existing setting right now, and then ultimately what would be planned in the future to create a connected and interconnected recreational footprint in the county accounting for parks, recreation trails, and the facilities that connect us to those things within the county.

One important aspect and one important task associated with the project is identifying recreation needs Also, the key organizations that meet those needs and any priority projects as a master plan as a tool for recreation planning. It gives the county and the participating jurisdictions The ability to identify key projects that could be implemented in the near term, priority improvements that would be included as part of the project. Those measures would then turn into recreational planning for the whole region and foster efficient improvements to Recreation County-wide.

One other benefit of using a master plan is a tool for recreation planning is the ability to identify and target specific funding so local funding sources certainly but more importantly grant funding from outside sources from the state and other agencies And then lastly, a key objective is exploring collaborative approaches that increase the competitiveness for that funding in Santa Barbara County.

As an anecdote, being a recreation provider and going after funding for specific improvement on your own and making the case But if you have the support and show how that improvement fits into an overall strategy for a region, it gives the grantors more confidence that project is worthwhile and worth supporting to support the overall vision for the community.

So let's talk about steps towards the master plan and in doing so, talk a little bit about what what the team has completed to date and what's coming up. We're about we're about at midpoint in the project right now. So it's a perfect place to provide an update and talk about what's coming up as part of the Recreation Master Plan outreach has been A key component since day one, not only interagency coordination which is a critical component of this but outreach to in a grassroots fashion to the communities within the county. I'm looking, you know, communicating directly with our cities with our stakeholders and recreation providers. And then directly with community members through workshops and pop up events in the park. We'll talk a little bit more about that a little later in the presentation what that's looked like conducting a robust survey.

And then most importantly on a topic we'd like to cover today is approaches to reaching harder to reach communities within the county. So outreach casting the net wide to get input and opinions about what is needed, what is missing, what is great about recreation in the county has been a key part. Another key aspect and a step toward recreation master plan is analyzing the inventory. So actually understanding the physical setting for recreation in the county.

In this case we've defined recreation planning areas and evaluated the existing public parks and open spaces as well as trails and private recreation facilities Such as the YMCA, for example. Throughout the entire county aiming to get a good understanding of how much space we have what types of space we have what amenities are provided and in a way that can be geographically depicted so and ultimately related back to the demographic characteristics of a county and giving us indicators for what's needed where Our next step, and this is really exciting especially for the planning team to be at a point where we're assessing recreation needs is very, very exciting. Assessing the types of facilities, the quantity of facilities, the acreage, adequacy of acreage and where those facilities exist within different communities is an equation, a very flexible equation that our teams embarking on right now.

Later in the presentation will talk a little bit about some preliminary data in that assessment That gives us a bit of a guidebook on where to go next. We're also considering the survey input that we received from the community, considering economic trends and then also factoring in what we've learned from the pandemic. And we'll also talk about that a little later.

Ultimately, the master plan is a long term plan 20-30 years something that sets up the county in terms of long term and near term projects and charts a course forward for those It's also very flexible. It's a document that can be amended, adjusted over time as new opportunities arise so a long-term program that is also accessible and flexible over time. The plan is hoping to address the general plan and zoning amendments to help foster its implementation and then also identifying both public and potentially private recreation benefit projects addressed in terms of criteria and opportunities for those types of projects to help reinforce and expand the public recreation inventory in the county. And lastly, a master plan addresses funding as I discussed.

One last step in the master plan is environmental review. In California under the California Environmental Equality Act this project would be a robust project and subject to environmental review so Taking this as an opportunity to analyze the whole of the project programmatically allows us to look at the whole of the project and pave the way for the projects that are included in the master plan. It's extremely beneficial to prepare a program document that provides that environmental review for smaller projects that could be tiered off of or employed at a later point during implementation, so that's included as part of this project who are present and understand that scope. I just wanted to remind everybody that this project does include the preparation of the environmental impact report.

Great, so as we mentioned this is a multi-jurisdictional project an unprecedented multi-juristictional project never before has the county undertaken a recreation project I want to start by saying thank you for the opportunity to be here today. We are a steering committee that looks at recreation, not just in the unincorporated area but looking at the whole of the county, the role the cities play, the role our recreational districts play and involving those stakeholders in the overall process to the benefit of all.