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HomeMy WebLinkAboutShipley Nature Center Environmental Board Subcommittee for R�2I?A - CITY OF HUNTINGTON BEACH ►�-n - 1 City Council Interoffice Communication To: Honorable Mayor Pro Tern and City Council Members From: Debbie Cook & Shirley Dettloff, Council Liaisons, Shipley Nature Centert�l Board Date: December 6, 2001 Subject: "C" ITEM FOR DECEMBER 17, 2001 COUNCIL MEETING — NON-NATIVE TREES AT SHIPLEY NATURE CENTER STATEMENT OF ISSUE: The Shipley Nature Center Subcommittee has found a buyer for several non-native palm trees in the Nature Center. The committee is now engaged in a program for redesigning the various habitat areas found at Shipley and is doing all of this work through grants. Currently, much of the non-native specimens found at the Center are being removed through the efforts of the California Conservation Corp. The committee became aware that there were several palms that landscapers were interested in buying. We have a landscaper who wishes to purchase these trees and remove them. It is appropriate for the money to be used for additional work at the Nature Center since we will need funding for, non-native plant removal and the design of habitat areas that reflect Southern California habitats. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Our request of Council is that the money obtained from the sale of these trees remains at Shipley Nature Center so that the work we have started can continue. It will be used to rent a chipper for the non -natives and the design of a Master Plan for Shipley Nature Center. SD/DC:cf o o Xc: Ray Silver rn Connie Brockway Ron Hagan Howard Zelefsky m o Ricky Ramos w .� � D (P— �_ 4lN o ,• _Z s CITY OF HUNTINGTON BEACH CITY COUNCIL COMMUNICATION == TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: Background Honorable Mayor and City Council Members Shirley Dettloff, City Council Member, Environmental Board Li isonJ' Debbie Cook, Mayor Pro Tem, Environmental Board Liaison 01_ January 8, 2001 "C" Item for the January 16, 2001 City Council Meeting j �T. Pam ` 2 Recommendation to form a Shipley Nature Center Subcommittee to Environmental Board Several months ago the City's Environmental Board became aware of the problems faced at the Shipley Nature Center, and this became an important issue for the Board. As more and more discussion took place and the Board had the opportunity to visit the site and talk with Dave Winkler, I, along with former Environmental Board Council Liaison Peter Green, felt that it was important to sit down with members of the board, along with staff (Public Works and Community Development), and members of the public who had a long term commitment and interest in the Shipley Nature Center. These began as informal discussions during a time when we thought that there would be a wetland restoration project at the site, and have continued until now. Due to changes at Shipley, both of us believed that the Council should recognize the need for this committee and be kept informed of the progress of any future meetings. Statement of Issue The Environmental Board has become concerned with the future of the Shipley Nature Center and is requesting that City Council support the formation of an Environmental Board Subcommittee. The purpose of the Subcommittee would be to work on plans to restore the Center to its full potential. The Shipley Nature Center was envisioned to be an educational area of Central Park where different habitat areas of coastal California would be recognized. These environments have been created and the area has been highly successful in providing nature experiences for the public and especially the children of the community. However, over the years, due to budget constraints, the city has not always had the ability to maintain the site as well as it should have been. Non-native plants have invaded the areas, and disease has destroyed some of the woodland habitats. We had also planned on an extensive wetland restoration project, but due to changes in the mitigation requirements for the Waterfront project, those restoration monies are no longer available. Proposed Scope of Work Currently, it is recognized that the entire site will have to be reviewed and we have started to do this. We have requested that the plans, which were prepared by LSA for.the restoration, be made available to the committee. The Waterfront has acknowledged this request and these plans will be useful in any future grants we may pursue. We also recognized the fact that the Council had requested that the diseased pine trees be removed and this has been done. Also, a grant that was made available to the city from Fish and Wildlife some years ago was still available and can be used for woodland habitat replacement. The committee plans to seek any grants, which may provide funding for wetlands restoration, and any improvements needed at the site. We also plan to locate all of those southern California projects, which have mitigation requirements which the developers have not complied with. The Shipley Nature site may provide an ideal location to fulfill their mitigation requirements. In an effort to begin to work on some of the above -mentioned issues, the Chairman of the Environmental Board contacted the Graduate School at Cal Poly Pomona, and hopes to involve some graduate students in the planning efforts of this committee. We are awaiting their response. The committee will review all of the information available, assess what needs to be done, and make recommendations to the City Council. Recommended Action 1. Approve the formation of a Shipley Nature Center Environmental Board Subcommittee. 2. Direct staff to provide support as required to implement the proposed scope of work I Direct the Subcommittee to present the results of their review to City Council for approval. 4. Approve the members of the subcommittee as listed below: Frank Capone -Chair of the Environmental Board Jean Nagy -Member of the Environmental Board John Scandura-Member of the Environmental Board Dave Winkler-Naturalist/Shipley Nature Center Don Thomas - Volunteer , FnlC�►))S of {�kgoitS I 91�iA6k_s Vic Leipzig -Former Mayor and biologist - City Council Liaisons to the Environmental Board - Shirley Dettloff, Debbie Cook Staff members as required �l �� - Pl�3NN\Nb CsMM 15SlaN�YZ (�n M �- Ta ��i°lNfi�p �� 1�1� �N� oopa M N�f��' ZC� xc Ray Silver S�r3�oMM1Tr Bill Workman Connie Brockway 2