March 2018 Minutes

Board Meeting Minutes 3-19-2018

PO Box 904, Orinda CA 94563

Meeting commenced around 7PM

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS & REMINDERS

URGENT HELP NEEDED

Work Party – April 7 – 10 AM

We really need every member available to help – we must repair the pasture fence between the beer can pasture and the corral. The herd cannot move there until the fence is replaced. The board approved, and Anna is purchasing, no-climb fencing to run between the beer can pasture and the adjacent corral – creating a safer, more solid barrier.

• Work Party: April 7
• Time: 10AM
• RSVP: Please RSVP to Sally so that she can plan food (Mig will lead the fencing activities)
• Who: All members are strongly encouraged to attend
• What: Replace the fencing between Beer Can and Lower Pasture/Beer Can Corral
• Why: Horses are scheduled to rotate the April 10 and fence is down

DANGER – KEEP OUT!!! Horses are not allowed near the downed fence in the beer can pasture/beer can corral until the fencing has been restored. This area poses a serious safety concern. We are looking into costs to replace all of the fencing in this area. (Volunteers to lead this are needed) Until repaired – this area is unsafe, and members are prohibited from placing their horses in this area.

Sympathy to Sara: It is with great sadness that we send out sympathies to Sara for her loss of Jazz. The board discussed this loss at length, and note from that discussion are below.

Proprietary and Probationary Member dues are due March 15 – Late April 1

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

Vaccination Clinics in March:

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

Vaccination clinic organizers should send their attendance/tracking sheets to Sally.

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.

MINUTES

Board Members Present:   Wakean, Linda, Heather, Sally, Diane, and Anna

• Proposed Agenda – Approved
• Meeting Minutes from last meeting were approved (with the edit of date to reflect 2018)
• Review Planning Grid –
  1. Weed Abatement Planning – Erica/Wakean will work on coordinating this with EBMUD
• Membership Issues:
  1. Open Spaces –Eddie is working on filling the one open space
  2. Rule Change: this rule has now been sent for comment, and has been passed/implemented to the rules.
     1. “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.”
  3. Heather will ask Eddie to revise the rules to reflect changes made since the last update.
  4. The Loss of Jazz discussion:
     1. The loss of Jazz was very sad, and the entire board sends their sympathies to Sara. We spent a considerable amount of time sharing and discussing the situation. Letters/emails from members about this event were shared, Heather and Sally shared what they experienced/knew and everyone agreed this was a very sad situation that we could learn from.
     2. Outcome of our discussion:
        1. We need to continue to work on fence maintenance.While there is no way of knowing if circumstances may have differed had the fencing been different, the board agreed that there have been a high number of injuries in that area over the years, compared with other areas. We are going to focus on making this area as safe as possible to prevent future injuries.
           1. The board is looking for volunteers to obtain a re-fencing estimate and lead the fence building project. We’d like to see the entire beer can paddock re-fenced in no-climb fencing, and the lower corral stalls inspected for safety.
        2. Important to remember: When adding your horse to a paddock it is always a good idea to inspect fences. And confirm safety. Fencing is everyone’s responsibility, and members should check fencing every time they add/remove a horse from an area.
        3. Adding a horse: Members should never put their horse in with another horse without first obtaining the owner’s permission.
           1. For example, if Horse A is in a paddock, you’d need to confirm with Horse A’s owner that it is ok to add your horse. If there are 2 horses in a paddock, you’d need to confirm with both owners.
           2. At no time should someone add a horse to a space another horse(s) is/are occupying without first notifying the owner and receiving their consent.
           3. Owners have the right to say no, horses in a paddock behave differently than those in a herd.
           4. If you don’t have each owner’s permission, you should not add your horse to a paddock.
        4. Hazard Warning: The lower pasture coral is unsafe and members are prohibited from using the lower pasture corral until it has been repaired. It is absolutely unsafe to use until further notice.
           1. After much discussion the board decided that to do a temporary fix would not be a good idea. The board voted that we wanted to make sure the repairs made will provide a long term, safe solution.
        5. The board is looking for volunteers to repair the corral to include inspecting the structure and replacing all of the fencing with no-climb.

• EBMUD
  1. EBMUD has approved the AGP
  2. EBMUD has approved the repair/replacement of the ring pasture fence and increasing the height of it.(The ring pasture is written into our AGP as our designated fire shelter-in-place location and in May this will be an area of focus)
  3. Wakean has and will continue to contact the city of Orinda to inspect the structural integrity of the bridge – we also learned that the bridge lacks a rating sign. What does this mean? It means when the parks fire department came to help with Jazz, they were unable to cross the bridge because they could not determine if it was rated to hold the weight of their fire truck. Wakean will ask the City of Orinda manager about this.
  4. Wakean will continue to ask EBMUD for gravel around pavilion and red barn areas
• Treasurer’s Report:Delayed to next meeting
  1. Board approved $500 for supplies to repair the lower pasture fence in time for the rotation
• Grazing rotation
  1. Wormers at the next in hand move – Cheryl is facilitating this
  2. The board discussed, and agreed, that members are encouraged to have the vet check their horses for pulses in the fetlock area, to determine if horse is at risk of laminitis, during the Spring vaccination clinics.
• Projects:
  1. Wakean developed a list of things that need to be repaired – these are going to be on the website.
  2. Million Dollar Insurance – members are not required to have extra insurance policy to drive on the pasture, while this was discussed in years past, OHA purchased a policy that met our lease requirements. Members are responsible for adhering to state insurance requirements, etc…
• Next Board Meeting – Monday, April 9, 7PM at Sally’s House: 6449 Harwood Avenue, Oakland, 94618

Thank yous:

1. Everyone who helped with Jazz – in particular Scott Carr a local rancher who helped to move Jazz, EBMUD and the fire department
2. Cheryl and those who helped her to fence in Pond pasture near road.
3. Sonny and Harvey – for continued to work on the ring fence
4. Larry for repairing the roof of the pavilion
5. Linda, Alix, Cheryl and Anna for coordinating the vet clinics
6. Please email Anna to toot your own horn

OHA Website Address: Orinda-Horseman.com