Wednesday, February 4, 2004 at 7:00PM

West Conference Room

1.      ROLL CALL

Present: Comm. Davis; Comm. Hopkins; Comm. Love; Vice Chair McQueen; Chair Shoemaker

Excused absence: Comm. Steward

Staff:  Steve Lynch, Associate Planner; and Joey Mariano; Staff Office Assistant.

2.      APPROVAL OF MINUTES (10 minutes)

A.     October 1, 2003

B.      October 29, 2003

C.     January 7, 2004

3.      OPEN FORUM (10 Minutes)

Chair Shoemaker introduced Comm. Davis to Comm. Love and Vice Chair McQueen.

Steve Lynch, Associate Planner, noted that BMR (Below Market Rate) applications for  ownership housing are being accepted from February 1 to March 1.  He further clarified BMR units and stated that additional information is available on the City Website.

4.      COMMISSION OLD BUSINESS (15 Minutes)

            A. Staff follow-up

Steve Lynch briefly explained the status of the project at 1579 Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road.  The two existing homes were recently demolished as part of an approval to construct four new townhomes.  The existing brick homes appeared to be older than they were.  Both were built in the 50's and were not listed as Heritage Resources.

5.      COMMISSION NEW BUSINESS (30  Minutes)

A.     Final Work plan Approval

Staff noted that a study on CEQA requirements have been added to the workplan, as well as a few other additional changes discussed in the last meeting, such as, the Mills Act and geocaching.

Chair noted that the October 6 meeting is not considered a special meeting but a regular scheduled meeting.  She also suggested that part of a phrase in the work plan stating “when needed” should be replaced with “if needed”.  Staff agreed and administered the changes.

6.      COMMUNICATIONS (10 Minutes)

Staff noted that geocaching Heritage Landmarks is a great idea; however, staff time may be limited. If the Commission can help with the workload, then following geocaching the Heritage Landmark sites on the City web site would happen earlier.

Vice Chair McQueen noted that he would be delighted to help out with geocaching and stated that he already has some coordinates listed.  He further discussed the technology and the basic principles of geocaching.  He further noted that some kind of incentive would be needed to motivate the public in using GPS to learn about City Landmarks.  Commissioners noted that a prize included with a riddle would be a great incentive to find one site and lead them to the next Landmark. 

Chair Shoemaker asked Vice Chair McQueen if this could be considered to be some sort of “Quest”.  Chair Shoemaker further asked how many and which Landmark sites would the Commission expose. Vice Chair McQueen noted that 12 to 15 Heritage sites would be a good number to start with. 

Staff asked if GPS units can download text, like a riddle for the next Heritage Site. Vice Chair McQueen stated that he himself does not know how to download text; however, he stated that GPS Units are capable of doing so.  He further noted that comments and riddles for the next Historic site may be physically posted at the actual site. 

Chair Shoemaker asked what actual information would be published on the Heritage Preservation web site. Vice Chair McQueen noted that basic information on geocaching, instructions, and coordinates should be included.

Comm. Love noted that 20 coordinate sites seems too plenty to visit.  He noted that ten may be enough.  Chair Shoemaker agreed on ten sites.  Staff noted that the idea of going to the actual site and actually finding a prize and riddle seem more interesting than just going to the site.  Comm. Davis noted that a field trip to Murphy Avenue is a good idea to get ideas of which historical sites to publish. 

Comm. Love noted what work is actually needed to get this “Quest” out to the public.  Chair asked if a prize in the end should be included.  Comm. Love asked what can motivate people to actually go to the sites.  Chair Shoemaker asked the Commission and staff if this idea can be communicated to other Boards and Commission members for input.  Staff responded that they would look into it.

Comm. Love noted that the party who completes the coordinates and finds all the sites can be invited to certain City events accompanied by Mayor Howe. 

Staff suggested that a prize can be placed at the last coordinate.  Comm.’s further brainstormed the idea.  Comm. Love asked for more clarification on the proposed idea.

Chair Shoemaker noted that the historical landmarks need to be chosen.  Comm. Love noted that they should make a list of tasks to properly delegate responsibility of each aspect of this project.  Chair Shoemaker noted that once the sites are chosen, then a hint or a riddle should accompany the published coordinates on the City web site. 

The Commissioners concluded that they would choose sites from the Heritage Resource Inventory and Local Landmark List and divide the sites amongst them to visit.  They noted that they would save time by dividing site visits for probable geocaching coordinates.  Commissioners also concluded to physically visit the sites to get physical locations to place the next hint and prize. 

Commissioners went through the updated Heritage Resource Inventory and Local Landmark List to assign themselves the Heritage sites they would each visit.  Some sites noted by the Commission were Hendy Ironworks, Del Monte Building, and the Briggs-Stelling House. 

Comm. Love noted that a walking or biking destination may be a more favorable tour of the City for others. Vice Chair McQueen noted that with geocaching, driving a vehicle is more practical since the coordinates may be miles from each other.  Comm. Davis noted that they can state on the web site that a car is favorable but accessible by bicycles as well for bicycle enthusiasts who may want to join in the fun.

Comm. Hopkins noted that the mail she has received regarded the California Preservation Conference in San Francisco in May.  Mr. Lynch noted that he would inquire about the possibility of them attending the conference for training.  He may be able to get several passes to divide amongst the Commissioners.

Comm. Davis noted that the “Restore America” website has information on types of training and enabling citizens to restore their City. 

7.      ADJOURNMENT

Meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by:

________________________

Steve Lynch, Associate Planner