The Coastside County Water District (CCWD) is holding a special meeting Tuesday afternoon at 1:30pm. The agenda looks pretty interesting and is all about CCWD’s relationship with the city of Half Moon Bay: the disposition of the District’s ten remaining non-priority water connections,  the conditions placed on CCWD’s Coastal Development Permit by the City of Half Moon Bay Planning Commission, and proposed changes to the General Plan Amendment proposed by the City of Half Moon Bay.

The meeting will be held at CCWD, 766 Main Street, Half Moon Bay.

The Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) announced today that it has acquired 409 acres of scenic ranchland on the San Mateo Coast known as the “Diamond H Ranch.” The property is located in San Gregorio about two miles southeast of the junction of highways 1 and 84. The ranch features picturesque rolling hills, grassy meadows and farmland and offers signature views of the entire coastal landscape. It was purchased from private owners for $3.385 million. The acquisition is part of POST’s $200 million campaign, Saving the Endangered Coast.

Click "read more" to see the full press release from POST.

Congressman Tom Lantos plans to introduce a bill to add Rancho Corral de Tierra to the Golden Gate National Recreation area, according to the San Mateo County Times. This is the third time around for the bill. This measure is also supported by Seantor Dianne Feinstein. Issues include authorizing the money to pay the Peninsula Open Space Trust for the land and excluding the farmland in the parcel from the national park.

P. Shawn McGraw, director the Granada Sanitary District (GSD), resigned her position on the board on Thursday, January 20.  She cited a desire to spend more time with her family and a new job as reasons for needing to step down.  Her seat on the board would have been contested in the next general election in November, 2005.

The board will hold a special meeting on Thursday, January 27 at 6:30pm to decide how to fill McGraw’s position. According to GSD vice president Leonard Woren, the board must either appoint a replacement or call a special election with 60 days.  However, Woren believes that the next available date for a special election will be November.

At the regular meeting on Thursday, January 20, the board held its annual officer elections. Matthew Clark is now the Board President and Leonard Woren remains Vice President. Woren continues representing GSD on the board of the Sewer Authority Midcoastside and Ric Lohman replaces McGraw as the second representative.

I recently received a copy of the email newsletter from the San Mateo County Resource Conservation District. If you live in the rural areas of the County, or are interested in what’s going on there, you should check it out. The newsletter includes:

• Building Success in the San Mateo County RCD, Part Two
• Web Site Picks
• Drainage Tips for Hillside Homes
• RCD Staff Report, December, 2004
• Public Notice RCD Policy Committee meeting
• Agenda, RCD Board Meeting, January 18, 2005
• Calendar of Events and Opportunities

Click on "read more" to see the entire newsletter.

There’s a short profile of MROSD’s new president, Larry Hassett.  It’s a great story to tell because Hassett wasn’t always a fan of the District:

"At one time, we were going toe-to-toe with the district," Hassett said from his hardware store in Half Moon Bay onTuesday. "We were at odds with them on many an issue."

Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD) elected Larry Hassett, owner of Ocean Shore Hardware and Palo Alto Hardware, President of its Board of Directors at last night’s meeting.  It also elected Jed Cyr Vice President; Pete Siemens Treasurer; Nonette Hanko Secretary. Hassett represents the ward that includes Pescadero and San Gregorio.

Click "read more" to see MROSD’s press release.

Surfers Beach and two areas of Linda Mar beach are still closed, but may be opened after bacteria levels are measured on Monday, according to the County Times. These beaches have been closed since a sewage spill on December 27.

Most of Half Moon Bay State Beach and the areas near Pillar Point Harbor have been covered with advisories. Swimmers and surfers are warned not to use these areas.

The National Weather service forecasts high winds and rain for tonight after midnight and Friday morning:

A powerful pacific storm is forecast to move into the San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas thursday night. Strong and potentially damaging southeast winds will develop late Thursday night and continue into friday morning before diminishing friday afternoon. Strongest winds are expected from san francisco southward…Mainly along the coast…Near the bays…And over higher terrain.

San Francisco-Alameda And Contra Costa Counties-Santa Clara County- Coastal Monterey County- Salinas Valley/Interior Monterey County/San Benito County- Santa Cruz County-San Mateo County-

High wind warning from midnight tonight through noon pst friday…

Strong and potentially damaging winds are forecast to develop late tonight. Southeast winds will increase to 20 to 40 mph late tonight with gusts to 60 mph expected by sunrise friday. The strongest winds are expected along the coast…Near San Francisco Bay…Down the Salinas Valley…And over higher terrain late Thursday night and Friday morning. Winds will shift to southwest and diminish friday afternoon…But blustery conditions with will continue through the coming weekend.

Persons in the warning area from San Francisco and Contra Costa Counties south through Monterey County should be prepared for strong gusty winds. Tie down any loose objects or bring them inside. Due to the wet…Saturated ground…Trees will be more susceptible than usual to being felled by the strong winds. Power outages may occur. Drivers of high profile vehicles should use extra caution thursday night and friday morning. The winds will be accompanied by periods of rain…Possibly heavy at times.

There will be training in February and March for volunteer docents and visitor center volunteers to work at Half Moon Bay State Beach with the endangered Snowy Plovers. HMB State Beach is in the process of being designated as critical habitat for the plovers.

There are currently about 20 visitor center volunteers or more and over 60 plover docents.

One of the special activities of the plover docents is to watch for new nests during the breeding season, Apr. 1 through Aug. 31 each year. When nests are found, they erect a fenced ‘exclosure’ around the nest to exclude predators, primarily ravens. They try to do this within hours of finding the nests which requires having docents who are local and can come out to the beach on a few hours’ notice.

There will be training for both the plover docents and the visitor center volunteers coming up in Feb and March. Contact Ranger Nelle for info on the plover docents and Ranger Rose for info on visitor center training at: 726-8819 or 726-8804.