[BHS etree] SUPT: Derby Athletic Field Meeting 12/7

[bhs at idiom.com]

Please not not hit reply, contact: Mark A. Coplan
Public Information Officer, BUSD
510-644-6320
Mark_Coplan at berkeley.k12.ca.us

This is a reminder that the first of two community meetings to discuss the
options for the Derby Street Athletic Field has been scheduled for
Thursday, December 7, 2006, 7PM - 9PM at the Berkeley Technical Academy
(formerly Berkeley Alternative High School), 2701 Martin Luther King Jr.
Way. The tentative date for the second meeting (January 11th) will be
decided at the first meeting. Here are some good follow up questions we
have received and want to share:

Derby Field Community Meetings follow-up questions

Questions about the meeting and format:
>   Who is presenting each of the plans?
BUSD Director of Facilities and Maintenance Lew Jones will give an
overview of the two conceptual plans that the Board has already seen, the
Open Derby Plan and the Closed Derby Plan. Derby neighbors Susi Marzuola
and Peter Waller have developed a third option called Curvy Derby, and
Suzi will give an overview of that plan.
>   How long do do they have to present? Each plan will have five minutes.
The City Council and Board of Education called for these meetings to give
the community the opportunity to give formal input on the Closed Derby
Street Plan, which is the plan that the Board has conceptually approved,
before we proceed together with the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for
the Closed Derby Plan. It is our hope that we will be able to receive
everyone's comments and any written material people wish to give to the
Board early enough in the two meetings to allow a more in depth
presentation of the Curvy Derby Plan in the second meeting, as well as
discussion and comments. If the public comments regarding the Closed Derby
Street Plan take all of the time we have, then we will have to schedule
another opportunity for everyone to get together to discuss the
alternative plan offered by the neighbors. We have to remember that the
Curvy Derby Plan has never been formally presented to the Board, and for
staff to move beyond these two meetings we will have to have it directed
by the Board. In the event that we have sufficient time to explore the
possibility of everyone coming together before the Board in support of the
new option in these meetings, then that can be included in the report from
these meetings.
>   How are the plans being presented?  Just plans on boards or will there
be a PowerPoint presentation or some other format?  The plans should be
presented with the display boards already created. The second presentation
on the Curvy Derby Plan could be a PowerPoint presentation, and while we
know that city staff will be limited in what they can tell us about the
effect of this plan from their perspective at this early stage, we are
hoping that they will be able to give some general idea of what we might
be able to expect if this plan were to move forward.
>   Who is running the public comment process and preparing and
distributing minutes?
BUSD Public Information Officer Mark Coplan will be facilitating the
meeting, and we have asked Max Anderson to assist with that. We will have
someone scribing the comments, and taping to be sure they get it exactly.
We will distribute the notes prior to the second meeting to give people a
chance to double check their comments. We will take revisions at the
second meeting, before the script goes to the Board.
>   What are the goals and desired outcomes for these meetings? The purpose
of these meetings as directed by the Board is to formally receive
community input on the Closed Derby Street Plan, which the Board approved
conceptually last year. It is clear that many in the community want to
begin discussion of the Curvy Derby Plan, and staff is hopeful that there
will be time for us to move on to that discussion. As this is an
opportunity for community input, that really is a process of the community
from both sides of the discussion (Open Derby/Closed Derby), meeting to
see if they can come together with an alternative to present to the Board.
The Board will be given all of the information collected, and if they
decide to change their current direction it would require Board action at
a scheduled board meeting.
>   Will this process allow for the possibility of changing the EIR
preferred plan to one of the open street plans? The only way that this
could change is if the Curvy Derby plan goes before the Board and is
conceptually approved, taking the current Closed Derby plan off of the
table.

The origin of these meetings:
When the Board of Education asked the City of Berkeley to assist in paying
for the Environmental Impact Report that had been requested for the Closed
Derby Option, the COB asked the Board to schedule community meetings
first, so that neighbors and other interested groups or individuals would
have the opportunity to include their input for the record. To date all of
the comments to the Board regarding the Closed Derby Option have been
delivered  during Public Comment at school board meetings. Because we now
have the Curvy Derby Plan that to date has only been shared at one of the
quarterly 2x2 Meetings attended by two representatives from the City
Council and from the Board of Education, it only makes sense to solicit
feedback on that as well, but that can only take place after the community
has finished making their comments regarding the Closed Derby Option, as
the Board has committed to meeting the COB's request for that process, and
asked staff to schedule these meetings.

The last action by the Board was to pursue the Closed Derby Option, so
that is the only direction to staff. For the Curvy Derby Option to
formally enter the picture, it has to come before the Board for their
consideration. If the meetings allow time for the community to include
their input on this option, then that can also be included in the report
that goes to the Board. The third option still has to go before the Board
if it is to become a part of their discussion.
==========================================

Mark A. Coplan
Public Information Officer, BUSD
510-644-6320
Mark_Coplan at berkeley.k12.ca.us
Berkeley Unified School District
2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Berkeley, Ca 94704-1180