QUARTERLY MEETING

August 18, 2015 6PM | Lake Chalet, Oakland

Chair: January Tavel
Recorder: Chris Pattillo
Attendees: Cate Bainton, Cathy Garrett, Chris Pattillo. January Tavel, Sarah Raube
Guest: Les Tabata

1. ASLA Funding Proposal

   Chris Pattillo reported on ASLA's response to our request for funding for our HALS Heroes initiative. ASLA president David Nelson asked that our proposal incorporate five additional items as follows.

   1. Provide a section on reporting results back to the Executive Committee at a specified time annually. Ideally, the report would include who received stipends, name of completed projects and completion date.
   2. Funding in the amount of $5,000 is most likely to be considered annually based on financial resources available at the time so the request should be structured accordingly.
   3. Outline the criteria and process for selecting stipend recipients. It is suggested that students and emerging professional receive priority for funding. In any event, the process should be consistent and fair.
   4. Specify that the funding will only be used for projects located within the geographic region covered by ASLA-NCC
   5. Provide a method to give ASLA-NCC credit for funding projects for which stipends are awarded that is attached to the project as submitted to the National Park Services.

   We discussed each of these items and agreed to incorporate them into our proposal. The revised proposal will be sent to ASLA and our HALS membership. Cate asked if we can use some of the money to cover the cost of hosting our website. Chris will inquire.

   We also discussed reaching out to UC Berkeley Landscape Architecture professors, the UC Extension landscape department and Merritt College to let them know about the program funding. ASLA's support could potentially generate more participation in the Heroes program. We will need to develop ways to assist applicants and review submissions. The group discussed cultivating interest among the membership to serve on a subcommittee willing to provide HALS Heroes program support.

2. HALS Liaison Report

   Chris Pattillo reported on the July 21st HALS Liaisons quarterly meeting. Paul Dolinsky reported that we are even closer to having landscape architects recognized as qualified professionals in the CHRIS system that will enable us to compete for federal contracts and have access to cultural landscape information.

   The HALS Annual Report questionnaires will be sent out shortly. (In fact, it has been received since the July 21st meeting.) Chris will complete and submit the report to ASLA.

   Thaisa Way is seeking volunteers to write 1000-word essays on pre-selected landscapes in California for the SAH Archipedia's list of 100 landscapes in the US. If interested you should contact Thaisa directly at: tway AT u DOT washington DOT edu

   Nine additional sets of HALS documents were submitted to the Library of Congress for sites in California.

   • Oakland Museum of California (one of our HALS Heroes projects)
   • Spring Valley Ranch, Citrus Grove Terraces
   • Alvarado Park
   • Griffith Park Zoo
   • Oakland Municipal Rose Garden
   • Mount Tamalpais State Park, the Mountain Theater
   • Temescal Regional Recreation Area
   • Tule Elk State Reserve
   • Ford House

   Most of these were prepared as part of the 2015 HALS Challenge to document a New Deal Landscape.

3. 2015 HALS Challenge and Sunset Gardens Documentation

   Chris Pattillo and Sarah Raube reported on our chapter's efforts to document the Sunset Gardens Headquarters in Menlo Park. In addition to Chris and Sarah, Janet Gracyk, Gordon Osmundson and Jill Johnson prepared a complete set of documents. Chris, Jill and Janet prepared a short form narrative that included 10 digital photos. Sarah and Janet created a 3-sheet set of drawings that included a cover sheet, plan of the garden and a detail sheet. Gordon took 20 archival photos. All helped to measure the garden.

   Our efforts were well supported by Sunset staff particularly Kathy Brenzel. We talked about hosting a meeting at Sunset's new Oakland headquarters and giving them a set of the documents at that time.

   Chris reported that she talked with Chris Stevens at NPS who told her that the number of submissions was down from the previous year when they received 47 submissions. This year it looks like they will receive 16 -18 sets of documents. Chris Stevens said they have not yet decided on a theme for the 2016 challenge so if you have ideas contact Chris Stevens at: chris UNDERSCORE stevens AT nps DOT gov. Chris Pattillo suggested that the theme could be to document a landscape associated with Olmsted's office -- both senior and junior.

4. Berkeley Stairway Project Progress Report

   January Tavel reported that Fredrica Drotos is taking a class in the UC Berkeley Extension Landscape Architecture Program and her class project will be to document the Berkeley Stairway.

5. China Camp Project Progress Report

   Our work in progress for China Camp has been turned over to NPS who visited the site in July and is doing comprehensive documentation including laser scans of the buildings and site. They have agreed to acknowledge our contribution. Chris agreed to talk with NPS about what can be done in the future to avoid duplication of efforts as happened with our China Camp project.

6. Leader and Member Recruitment Report

   Chair January Tavel reported on her efforts to recruit more active participation. She contacted about a dozen individuals asking questions about their level of interest and received a range of responses. January plans to conduct a survey of our entire membership using Survey Monkey in order to solicit input on a number of things such as preferences regarding the frequency, location, and times of meeting, why people join, what they'd like to see changed, and level of interest in helping with various tasks. She presented a draft survey at the meeting. The plan is to complete the survey in time to have results by our next meeting in November, and to implement whatever new practices we agree on starting in 2016. Cathy suggested setting a calendar of events and posting that on our website that will enable members to schedule their involvement.

7. Development of Partners and Sponsorship

   January Tavel reported on her efforts to seek potential partners and sponsorships. We have been contacted by Patti Reidenbach with the Victorian Preservation Center of Oakland who suggested a possible joint project with the historic Cohen-Bray House in Oakland.

   The current sense of the groups was that we could hold off on seeking financial sponsors while we advance the ASLA offer of support.

8. Announcements
   • The next meeting will be November. Precise meeting date, time and location will be distributed via the listserv.
   • BLM sent our group a draft Land Use Plan Amendment for our review and comment. After our meeting Valaria expressed interest in reviewing the document. It will be mailed to her.
   • Chris Pattillo shared the recently republished 1915 catalog from the California Nursery that includes all of the plants they grew and sold at that time.