OHA Board meeting April 10, 2018–minutes
1. call to order 7 pm, present; Heather, Linda, Sally, Wakean, Diane.
Page absent) . ( –delicious tamales for dinner courtesy Sally)
Approved agenda.
2. Minutes of last meeting; approved.
Review of Planning grid: -rototilling of ring postponed due to rain- John Fouhy will be in touch
when rains are done,
-in May we need to prepare for next hay order and weed mowing.
3.Membership issues:
-status of open spaces; Gary Fitts and Trish Pillsbury had given notice they could not get a suitable horse to bring in and so were withdrawing their membership – they were given 1 month extension to get a suitable horse if they want to continue.
-welcome to new probationary members JoAnn Gillespie and Katherine Houghten ! Thanks
to the membership committee for interviews and work.
– no more open spaces as of now.
-review of Larry Hunt’s probationary status; concern about missed feeding(s) and participation at pasture, work hours. Motion to extend probation 6 months providing he
meets with Board next month- passed 4-1 -Linda will contact Larry.
4. EBMUD report:
-the AGP (annual grazing plan) has been signed off by EBMUD for 2017-18. It will be posted on OHA web site.We added fencing work on the ring pasture to make it a safe
area in case of fire, which was approved along with our other approved projects (leasehold
improvements) which give us $ credits against our lease payment.
-EBMUD Wakean has contacted city of Orinda by phone (again) and email about the condition of the bridge on El Toyonal over Barn creek- no response yet.Concern is about top
layer of boards getting worn, and weight limit of bridge -EB Regional ParksFire Dept did not want to cross the bridge in their truck without knowing the weight limit when they responded to the
death of Jazz in the Beercan corral.
5.Treasurer’s report: (Diane will be assisting Page with treas. duties)
– 23 members are paid up on dues- if you have not paid there is a $10 late fee!
– we will make a $100 donation to the Barns & Trails Foundaton at their request-(they
granted us $2500 last year for our work on old stalls -red barn repairs).
-the budget was revised , approved, and will be sent out and put on the web site.
OHA paid $5563 rent to EBMUD and has budgeted $11500 for hay, and $2500 for insurance, among other items. We seem to be ok finacially but people have not all
paid dues and money owed for hay use.( hay in red barn should be marked on the sign-out sheet there and paid to OHA $22 per bale-horses in stalls during feeding season are alloted 1 feeding per day, not 2.)
6. Grazing rotation:
– corrals where horses can be put in for dieting that are exhibiting signs of laminitis danger-(excess weight,crested necks,hoof heat & pulses, lameness) are the pavilion, the old stalls, the corral behind the red barn, and the ring pasture. (not in the north corral until growing season is done, as it is a riparian area). The ring pasture was ok’d by EBMUD when the Beercan corral was not usable after fencing removed. This and the
red barn corral still have grass so not suitable for horses with severe symptoms…
– Erica will move herd to Beercan from Lower Sullivan Wed 4/11, gate to be closed.
7. facilities
– Beercan corral should have an electric rope on top of no-climb wire fencing, if approved
by EBMUD (they will have their biologist check the area on 4-16 to say what fencing may be
ok). OHA work party removed the hi-tensile wire fence from the upper part of the corral on 3/31 and plans for re-fencing the corral were discussed.
– the question of re-surfacing the ring to make it more all-weather usable was discussed- generally agreed it would be too expensive- tabled.
8.projects
-‘back 40’ plan for putting up a shelter/roof was discussed–Sally will re-check previous estimate done by Mig or Larry. OHA would have to pay for it -it is not a capital improvement per EBMUD.
-‘Hay Tent’ question-whether the Lower pasture tent was working and whether to buy any more -this was tabled to await more/future information.
-Diane said a person who does re-hab work with military veterans and horses, 3 persons per session, would like to use our facilities & horses- she will need to get approval form EBMUD
but was supported in this idea.
9. Next Meeting May 7th Monday at Wakean’s house -6531 Tremont St Oakland
Thank Yous! to Sally and the work-party participants in the beercan corral –
(Tanya, SAally, Pat, Sonny, Linda, Lisa, Wakean, Heather, Matt,Elise, Suzzette) and Kim, Tal, Doug for doing extra work there -also all who helped Morris with Granite!
