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With respect to the question of the time of year of the surveys, Ms. Mundie stated that it is much easier to find the California Red-Legged Frog in its breeding habitat when it is breeding, because it is not going to go anywhere else. Once it has bred, they spread out all over upland areas, and they are much more difficult to find. Hence, the protocol calls for looking for them in the place where they are most likely to be when they are most likely to be there, to maximize the chance of finding them when they are there. She noted that the strategy involved with biology. is different from an archaeological survey. Archaeological resources can be found in lots of places on the site, and the surveyors would usually walk 10-, 20-, 50-foot transects and divide the property in stripes and absolutely cover it. In response to Chairperson Arkin's observation that not every square foot of the site was visually inspected, Ms. Mundie replied that while that is the case, they also had other resources, such as the California databases and reports of previous sightings, the aerial views, etc. Ms. Mundie then continued that for cultural resources, significant impacts were found not because cultural resources were found but because there is always a possibility they may be found during the course of site grading and site preparation, and mitigation measures have to be in place if one of those circumstances arises. With respect to soils, soils, geology, and seismicity, Ms. Mundie indicated that they were assisted by a firm in Emeryville and Petaluma called Baseline Environmental Consulting, again under contract to them. The firm looked at the three topics of soils, geology, and seismicity; hazards and hazardous materials; and hydrology and water quality. She stated that in the case of soils, geology, and seismicity, the four different topics that come up under the CEQA guidelines are seismic risk; soil stability, which has to do with landslides, for example; expansive or corrosive soils, which would be an issue if they were under a building or a piece of infrastructure, or corrosive soils; if you had a sewer pipeline; and potential for differential settlement. What would be done with any one of these is research the portion of the site that is proposed for development as closely as possible, and then develop mitigation measures to make sure that the site condition has been taken into account when the site design and construction are done. Ms. Mundie noted that Pleasanton has a further safeguard in that the General Plan requires that there be a technical review and analysis and geotechnical studies by a qualified consulting engineer under contract to the City. That person's recommendations are to be incorporated by engineers into the project design. The firm of Cotton Shires is the City's geotechnical consultant on this project, and it has been regularly consulted as the engineering of this project has gone forward. In response to Chairperson Arkin inquiry regarding whether there have been any landslides on the site, and if so, how deep the landslides are. Ms. Mundie said yes. She added that the Draft EIR mentions three areas of landslides that are described in the report and methods for repairing them. She added that they do mapping and engineering borings to figure out what the layers are, and they determine whether it is something that can be repaired or not. She stated that the EXCERPTS: PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, July 12, 2006 Page 9 of 21