February 2018 Minutes

Board Meeting Minutes 2-12-2017

PO Box 904, Orinda CA 94563

Meeting commenced around 7PM

Important Reminders:

Proprietary and Probationary Member dues are due March 15

• One horse: $360 for six months
• Two Horses: $720 for six months

Vaccination Clinics in March:

• March 18 – Alpern – Email Cheryl RSVP
• March 23 – O’Brien – RSVP to Linda
• March 25 – 10AM Parker –Email RSVP to Anna
• Ormond – Alix coordinating

Work hours were due by Sept 1 – Your payment for these hours is now overdue. Diane will be sending bills to those who owe for work hours.

Stall Care and Shavings: The White Stalls (formerly referred to as the Old Stalls) are newly updated. OHA purchased quarter to dust, re-roofed these, and added stall mats. This is an exciting upgrade, funded largely by the Bay Area Barns and Trails Grant.  We were granted this money because OHA is a cooperative facility, and care for facilities is the shared responsibility of every member. When horses are kept in stalls (white or the pavilion), members need to help care for the stalls by:

• Urine and hooves on stall mats destroys the mats. If your horse is in a stall, please provide adequate shavings for your horse. Some horse pee in their stall and require more shavings than others. Please use your best judgement and if in doubt – ask one of the pavilion/white stall managers for help/clarification.
• Gravel allows for great drainage – helping reduce muck and mud on the winter. Please don’t throw other materials into the paddocks (like dirty shavings) this causes the paddocks to become mucky, and doesn’t allow them to drain properly.

Work Hour Reminder: Proprietary and Probationary Members are required to personally complete 50% of their work hours – and 10 of these should be completed on pasture. But it also is perfectly acceptable to pay for the rest of your hours – OHA needs money and labor. Diane is creating new work hour recording sheets that include a space for the name of the person completing the work. This is necessary to ensure that members are completing 50% of their work hours themselves, as required by the rules.

Minutes:

Board Members Present:   Wakean, Linda, Heather, Page and Anna

• Proposed Agenda – Approved
• Meeting Minutes from last meeting were approved
• Review Planning Grid – all items have been handled
• Membership Issues:
  1. 2 Open Spaces –
     1. Cathryn Houghton – Has accepted a space at OHA – Welcome Information to come from Eddie
     2. Interviews will occur to fill the second space.
  2. Drought Impact: Board will continue to monitor pasture conditions when considering new openings to make sure we have adequate forage
  3. The board put out a new rule for consideration, and based on the feedback they revised the new rule as follows:

Rule Change: This is being redistributed for another 30 day comment/review:

1. The board reviewed the rule and made several edits based on feedback:

“Adults in a relationship and/or of the same family and sharing a residence may apply for and each have their own individual OHA membership. However, in this situation, the individual members are limited to one horse each and are not eligible for a second horse space. This is to ensure that OHA remains a community horse pasture with spaces coming open periodically to new members, in keeping with EBMUD’s intent. All rules applicable to the wait list, acceptance for membership, probationary and proprietary membership apply to the additional adult in the family applying for membership. The additional adult applying for membership is not given priority on the wait list.”

Please send any comments on this proposed rule to the Board.

1. Request for overnight horse guests – The board suggested these individuals go to a local boarding facility that offers overnight board, such as Hossmoor. The board discussed this and did not think having guests sleeping at the pasture or visiting horses staying at OHA near the herd was in line with EBMUD’s wishes or allowed by our insurance policy.

• EBMUD
  1. AGP – Waiting on a response from EBMUD regarding additional projects that we requested
  2. Wakean has and will continue to contact the city of Orinda to inspect the structural integrity of the bridge
  3. Wakean will continue to ask EBMUD for gravel around pavilion and red barn areas
• Treasurer’s Report:Delayed to next meeting
  1. A few members took hay, and did not pay – if you have not paid, please do so now! $22/bale. Page and Diane will determine how many bales remain unpaid.
  2. The Board approved giving Diane Livoti, as the Treasurer-elect, access to the OHA bank accounts so she can process financial transactions in addition to Page.
  3. The draft budget was reviewed. Because we are several months into the year, the Board wants to review actual spending to date this fiscal year prior to approving the budget, to determine if funds are available for projects such as the “back 40” improvement plan and a hay tent. The board will request that Morris update the books and add actual expenses to date to the budget spreadsheet.
• Grazing rotation
  1. Confinement Plans: President gave permission for some horses to be confined in beer can/LP coral. If there is additional need please contact Heather.
• Ring Pasture– Members may use the ring even if damp up until it is rototilled.
• Projects:
  1. The project discussions of splitting the “back 40” into two paddocks and new hay tents – delayed for next meeting – waiting on budget
  2. Wakean created a list of projects that need to be completed and it will be posted on the website.
     1. Linda will reach out pasture managers to solicit input on additional tasks that need help/support

• Next Board Meeting – Monday, March 19, 7PM at Anna’s house: 264 Castle Hill Ranch Road, Walnut Creek 94595

Thank you’s:

1. Cheryl for working on fence
2. Everyone who attended the work party
3. Thank you Erica and Wakean for fence work
4. Anna bought stall mats. Lisa and Eddie helped Anna to install these.
5. Toot your own horn – Send your successes to Anna