us. supervisor maxwell? [laughter] -- supervisor maxwell: the city has put a lot of money, over $20 million, into this golf course. no one is giving the city favors. we put a lot of money into this golf course and it is paying off. i appreciate the fact that it is paying off and that people see it as a valuable asset. that is exactly what we started off doing. and that what -- that is what has come about. it's not like we have been given something, we have worked hard for this. it will pay off in different ways. i am supporting the contract. supervisor avalos: ok, thank you. colleagues, the item is before us. any amendments from the budget analysts? no? let's move forward with recommendations. taken without objection. if we could call item no. 3? >> item #3, resolution authorizing the airport commission to execute an other transaction agreement with the federal aviation administration (faa) for the replacement airport traffic control tower and faa offices in the amount not to exceed $79,982,500 and retroactively accept and expend federal funds. supervisor avalos: thanks for sticking with us. thank you, mr. young. i am told that this item has a companion piece that is not quite ready yet, we would like a motion to continue it for one week to next wednesday's meeting. without objection? ok. that you very much. mr. clerk, item number four, please. >> item #4, ordinance authorizing the san francisco department of public works to implement an alternative bid process for construction trade packages and to award contracts for construction services, for the renovation of and capital improvements to the moscone convention center. supervisor avalos:? told that we have a small technical amendment for this? >> yes, -- i am told that we have a small technical amendment for this? >> yes, the middle initial is s. supervisor avalos: we will make that change in the resolution to the ordinance and we assume that that is not substantive. we will make that amendment. welcome. >> thank you, good morning, supervisors. i will be speaking about the alternative contract process. first wanted to acknowledge that we have other team members here at the convention facilities department from the visitors' bureau, as well as executive liaison to the non-profit source improving district. the capital improvements is much needed to maintain it as a modern and destinations base for conventions. over the last couple of years the bureau has reached out to major stakeholders and clients for feedback on improvements required to maintain the facility as fresh and competitive based on the feedback received we have prepared improvements that are needed, developing a list of priorities that would meet the budget and schedule. based on that, we have put together scopes of work that needs a budget of $55.5 million. the improvements include things like painting, upgrades to the elevators and escalators, new bathrooms, renovations, lighting, control to mechanical equipment, all of these improvements being in an effort to address concerns raised by the people granted for conventions. we have used a list of priorities to make determinations on funding improvements between private and public. based on that, we have developed a unique public-private partnership and we would like your approval to deliver the project in the same way. chapter 6 of the administrative code does not contemplate the liberal budgets in public and private funds, so we are here to see your approval for integrated project delivery that is different from what chapter 6 allows. in general terms, the way that it works is we will release the public funds to pay for contractors such as funding, elliptical, painting and so on, using other funds to pay for professional services, contractors, or hiring of legitimate contractors to manage the trade. once the public trade is bid out based on requirements, we would like to take both contracts to the general contractors for them to manage the work. this one step is what is not allowed in chapter 6 and is what requires approval. this is exactly the same model that be used with at the academy of science, where we use public dollars for the contract and assigned it to the general contractor for them to manage the work. supervisor avalos: tid funds are considered private because they go into a separate, non-profit? >> correct. with that their funds that will handle some of the professional contractors and specific contracts that are best for cured through a negotiation process. all of these public funds are intended to be used with construction contracts in competitive processes with prevailing wages and all of the things embodied in chapter 6. the budget analyst report recommended that we make an advantage -- recommended that we make an amendment, it has been submitted and reflects their concern is for the projects. >> that was the only thing i was going to add, that we had made a recommendation that the bottom of page 9 on the report, to amend the ordinance to require scope of work for all contracts awarded by or assigned to the tourism district for the work on the moscone improvement center in changes be subject to the approval review in writing of the two and we recommend approval of the ordnance -- dtw and we recommend approval of the ordinance as recommended. supervisor avalos: thank you. any public comment? please come forward. >> ♪ moscone center i hope you fix it and i hope you can hardly wait to be right there don't you remember you told me you love the george moscone convention center said you would be coming back and you would like to fix it up greatly. i hope that you do it, do a good center i love that center yes i really do i hope you fix it up and the convention center from all over the world people will visit there right now don't you remember you told me you love the the moscone convention center said he would be coming back to visit their i love that center i really do ♪ supervisor avalos: any other member of the public that would like to comment? we will close public comment. without objection, recommendation. wait, let's back that up. we need to make some amendments. >> actually, mr. chairman, i believe that the department submitted an amendment on whole that reflects our recommendation, which is stated on page 4-7 supervisor avalos: to give the scope of the work -- 4-7. supervisor avalos: to give the scope of the work? that's get the vote and accept the amendment as a whole and move it forward to the full board with recommendation. thank you, mr. rose. on item number one, i am told that since that was amended up, we will have to rescind that vote and continue in one week. any comments? >> no. supervisor avalos: we will rescind the vote on item number one and bring it up in a week. okay? mr. clerk, please call item no. 5. >> item #5, ordinance amending section 105.3 of the san francisco administrative code to change the timelines and standards under which the controller is directed to review and adjust the cigarette litter abatement fee. supervisor avalos: mr. wagoner? >> budget director, mr. gregg wagner, the item is clarification of the process for adjusting the cigarette lighter abatement feet. when this legislation was passed, it had a provision that would require the controller to adjust the feed based on data on recoverable expenses. in the original legislation they patted the controller to make those legislation's specific beginning in fiscal year 2011 and 2012. this amendment would allow the controller to make adjustments to move up the time line. sooner based on updated data. that is the primary change. i have a couple of amendments recommended by the city attorney that are not substantive which you have before you, but i am happy to read them into the record of that would be appropriate. the first is to add a section one untitled findings -- entitled findings, finding that the analysis of the sidewalk street litter conducted by mgm management inc. reveals that the audit found that cigarette butts and related packaging constitutes 22% of all such litter on san francisco sidewalks and street gutter's. and then there are adjustments to the section headings and sub- section headings reflecting the addition of that section. then on page 3, the section formerly g, it is now f, subsection one, the comptroller shall determine whether the current is produced or projected to produce revenues for service and activities described in section 105 and that the current fee has not produced or projected to produce revenue which is significantly more than what is needed to support the services and a sentence would be added following that in making such determinations the comptroller shall use the most recent data available concerning the percentage of litter on city sidewalks streets and similar outdoor public spaces that is cigarette butts and related packaging at the time of the enactment of this ordinance such as indicated that 22% of a similar outdoor public spaces consist of cigarette butts and related packaging littered the controllers held periodically share updated data concerning the percentage of litter in such areas with a related packaging. again, the city attorney has suggested those amendments, determined that they are non- substantive but a said -- essentially had -- essentially helpful in establishing the controller going forward. >> very good. please open it up for public comments. supervisor avalos: public comments? >> ♪ i passed the cigarettes on the aground, pledge to clean it up. cigarettes glow in the dark and i think it is time you clean up the city with cigarettes and made it better all of the way around and that is the way i have always heard it should be. would you clean it up, please? your cigarette blows in the dark and i think it is time you clean up the city, made it better all of the way all around well i would sure like to see it that way, won't you please make it sound save? supervisor avalos: thank you very much, we will close public comment and move this forward. motion to adopt the amendment as a whole and move forward? take it without objection. mr. young, any other items? >> that completes the agenda for today. supervisor avalos: we are adjourned, thank you. >> what if you could make a memorial that is more about information and you are never fixed and it can go wherever it wants to go? everyone who has donated to it could use it, host it, share it. >> for quite a great deal of team she was hired in 2005, she struggled with finding the correct and appropriate visual expression. >> it was a bench at one point. it was a darkened room at another point. but the theme always was a theme of how do we call people's attention to the issue of speci species extinction. >> many exhibits do make long detailed explanations about species decline and biology of birds and that is very useful for lots of purposes. but i think it is also important to try to pull at the strings inside people. >> missing is not just about specific extinct or endangered species. it is about absence and a more fundamental level of not knowing what we are losing and we need to link species loss to habitat loss and really focuses much on the habitat. >> of course the overall mission of the academy has to do with two really fundamental and important questions. one of which is the nature of life. how did we get here? the second is the challenge of sustainability. if we are here how are we going to find a way to stay? these questions resonated very strongly with maya. >> on average a species disappears every 20 minutes. this is the only media work that i have done. i might never do another one because i'm not a media artist per se but i have used the medium because it seemed to be the one that could allow me to convey the sounds and images here. memorials to me are different from artworks. they are artistic, but memorials have a function. >> it is a beautiful scupltural objective made with bronze and lined with red wood from water tanks in clear lake. that is the scupltural form that gives expression to maya's project. if you think about a cone or a bull horn, they are used to get the attention of the crowd, often to communicate an important message. this project has a very important message and it is about our earth and what we are losing and what we are missing and what we don't even know is gone. >> so, what is missing is starting with an idea of loss, but in a funny way the shape of this cone is, whether you want to call it like the r.c.a. victor dog, it is listen to the earth and what if we could create a portal that could look at the past, the present and the future? >> you can change what is then missing by changing the software, by changing what is projected and missing. so, missing isn't a static installation. it is an installation that is going to grow and change over time. and she has worked to bring all of this information together from laboratory after laboratory including, fortunately, our great fwroup of researche e-- g researchers at the california academy. >> this couldn't have been more site specific to this place and we think just visually in terms of its scupltural form it really holds its own against the architectural largest and grandeur of the building. it is an unusual compelling object. we think it will draw people out on the terrace, they will see the big cone and say what is that. then as they approach the cone tell hear these very unusual sounds that were obtained from the cornell orinthology lab. >> we have the largest recording of birds, mammals, frogs and insects and a huge library of videos. so this is an absolutely perfect opportunity for us to team up with a world renown, very creative inspirational artist and put the sounds and sights of the animals that we study into a brand-new context, a context that really allows people to appreciate an esthetic way of the idea that we might live in the world without these sounds or sites. >> in the scientific realm it is shifting baselines. we get used to less and less, diminished expectations of what it was. >> when i came along lobsters six feet long and oysters 12 inches within they days all the oyster beds in new york, manhattan, the harbor would clean the water. so, just getting people to wake up to what was just literally there 200 years ago, 150 years ago. you see the object and say what is that. you come out and hear these intriguing sounds, sounds like i have never heard in my life. and then you step closer and you almost have a very intimate experience. >> we could link to different institutions around the globe, maybe one per continent, maybe two or three in this country, then once they are all networked, they begin to communicate with one another and share information. in 2010 the website will launch, but it will be what you would call an informational website and then we are going to try to, by 2011, invite people to add a memory. so in a funny way the member rely grows and there is something organic about how this memorial begins to have legs so to speak. so we don't know quite where it will go but i promise to keep on it 10 years. my goal is to raise awareness and then either protect forests from being cut down or reforest in ways that promote biodiversity. >> biodiverse city often argued to be important for the world's human populations because all of the medicinal plants and uses that we can put to it and fiber that it gives us and food that it gives us. while these are vital and important and worth literally hundreds of billions of dollars, the part that we also have to be able to communicate is the more spiritual sense of how important it is that we get to live side by side with all of these forms that have three billion years of history behind them and how tragic it would be not commercially and not in a utilitarian way but an emotio l emotional, psychological, spiritual way if we watch them one by one disappear. >> this is sort of a merger between art and science and advocacy in a funny way getting people to wake unand realize what is going on -- wake up and realize what is going on. so it is a memborial trying to get us to interpret history and look to the past. they have always been about lacking at the past so we proceed forward and maybe don't commit the same mistakes.