Laserfiche WebLink
<br /> 90 <br /> Page 2 <br /> 0 Numerous meetings and work sessions with a wide variety of stakeholders, City <br /> staff, City's environmental and biological consultants, staff of federal and state <br /> elected officials, staff of state and federal agencies, and the Council's Ad Hoc <br /> Committee on Bair Island/Levees Land Access, taking place locally, in Sacramento, <br /> and in Washington, D,C. <br /> 0 Researching and reviewing of federal and state documents, on-site studying and <br /> photographing of the refuge and adjoining properties, developing presentation <br /> materials for Council use <br /> 0 Developing and processing of the Redwood City Bair Island Restoration Plan, for <br /> inclusion in the Environmental Impact Statement of the National Wildlife Refuge <br /> Service Restoration Plan for Bair Island Refuge. <br /> 0 Meeting with Deputy Assistant Secretaries for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Department <br /> of Interior, to brief them on the Redwood City Plan, <br /> 0 Briefing the United States Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne on Redwood <br /> City's interests related to Bair Island restoration. <br /> The timing of some critical elements of the project has largely been a function of the pace <br /> of activities on the part of the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Don Edwards <br /> Refuge. Involvement of the federal government also added significant time delay, For <br /> example, the analysis of and completion of the Plan took nearly a year longer than <br /> anticipated. Nonetheless, the City has made good progress in its efforts, with Mr. <br /> Fawcett's assistance, toward its goals to support the restoration of Bair Island. ensure <br /> pUblic access for the wide diversity of our region's communities, and restore public access <br /> to the levees in Redwood Shores. <br /> The development of the Redwood City Plan, and the inclusion of nearly all of its elements <br /> into the Bair Island Restoration Final EIS, is a very noteworthy accomplishment. Another <br /> significant success is that Redwood City and the Port of Redwood City are now part of a <br /> larger collaboration that includes the U,S, Army Corp of Engineers. Bay Planning <br /> Coalition, Save the Bay, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, South Bayside System Authority <br /> (SBSA), and the offices of U,S, Senator Dianne Feinstein and U.S, Representative Anna <br /> Eshoo. Working together, this group's efforts to secure funding for restoration efforts, <br /> coordinate plans, and ensure that all the agencies and stakeholders are on the same page <br /> are yielding results that never would have been achieved without the development of the <br /> Redwood City Plan and Mr, Fawcett's assistance. <br /> This is an extremely complex, multi-faceted project with critical elements locally, in <br /> Sacramento, and in Washington, D.C. Completion of the project will occur upon federal <br /> approval of the City's desired secondary public access bridge to Bair Island, and a request <br /> for a Corps of Engineers Permit for Construction for the bridge, and; the issuance of a new <br /> biological opinion on the Redwood Shores levees, and subsequent federal decision on a <br /> renewal of public access, <br /> Over the next six-to-eighteen months the Council's Ad Hoc Committee on Bair <br /> Island/Levees Land Access anticipates the need for substantial negotiation and <br /> marshaling of efforts in both Sacramento and in Washington D.C" to assure further <br /> progress and completion of the City's objectives. <br /> - <br />