March 2017 Minutes

Board Meeting Minutes  3-21-17

Meeting commenced around 7PM

Held at Anna’s house

Potluck with lots of yummy food

 Members Present:  Page, Linda, Kirsten, Anna, Wakean, Sally and Heather

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  1. Proposed Agenda – Approved
  2. Minutes from February- Approved
  3. Review Planning Grid – Board quickly reviewed items for the February Meeting
    1. Spring vet clinics occurred  – Thanks Sally for scheduling (report below)
    2. Weed abatement and hemlock management:
      1. Wakean will work on coordinating a weeding party – timing with weeding is important to pull them before they go to seed
      2. Because of late rains – we will probably look at mowing in late April/May
      3. More information to come!
    3. Dues – are due in March (Budget to be distributed by Page)
    4. Attached is a copy of the annual planning grid please email the board additional ideas/feedback if you notice something missing
  4. Membership Update  – 
    1. Interviews were held recently to fill two membership openings. We have two new members – Eddie will send an email.
    2. After more than 40 years Bubs and John Schaaf have relinquished their space. Corazon is living happily next door at the Longs’. The board reviewed and voted to allow them to have an honorary membership. The board decided to fill their open space.
    3. A question was brought up asking for clarification about the references for new members. The board discussed and clarified that proposed members should provide letters from at least two outside (non-OHA) references.
  5. Website Update Renovation –
    1. As Allison has been working on the website renovation, the board called Allison to discuss website – after conducting research for the past couple of months, she proposed three options to update the website:
      1. Option 1. Continue to migrate to current version of web platform – However, Allison has determined that upgrading the website to the current version of the web platform (Drupal) will require significant time and expertise in that particular software.  She has already spent significant time trying to accomplish this due to how many versions behind we are and would need to bring in additional support to accomplish this.
      2. Option 2: We could investigate the costs associated with hiring an external vendor to update the web
      3. Option 3 – rebuild the website from scratch on a new platform which would entail significant time investment for content transfers
        1. Alison and Page also discussed the idea of seeking further guidance on online Forums, and Allison suggested she could explore costs on hiring someone to upgrade
      4. Allison expressed concern over the time, as well as the technical expertise it would take to continue to manage the site going forward, after it is brought up to current standards
    2. After gaining the input and expertise from Page and Allison the board discussed whether we had any members who could take this project on who had the technical aptitude to be able to migrate the current site. The board decided to call Kim since she had in the past volunteered to rebuild the site, and if not to poll the membership.
      1. In a call with the board – Kim expressed that she had the expertise and would be willing and able to rebuild/port over the website from the existing platform to WordPress, and that she would also be able to manage the site and ensure we don’t run into this issue again. i.e. she will be the webmaster responsible not just to manage content, but also to manage the web infrastructure to ensure we have a up to date website
      2. Kim estimated that it would take her approximately 40 hours to rebuild the site, and about $50 for licensing, possibly additional funds for other godaddy fees (i.e. maybe an additional $100). The board approved her to move forward on this, and because she recently broke her ankle they also granted her an exception to the required “10 on pasture” work hours. For this year, Kim is approved to use all of her work hours to completely rebuild the OHA website, and to help ensure that our site is secure and up to date. She will then continue to manage the upgrades for the site.
  1. EBMUD APG Status – 
    1. EBMUD is trying to work with PG&E about the downed wires in the forest, but has had difficulty getting a response. Please don’t go near these.
    2. EBMUD sent us the APG and we are reviewing to ensure we’ve identified and covered the key items.
  2. Lease negotiations – Wakean will ask if we can get a preview of the new lease
  3. Treasurer’s Report: Page presented this, some updates were made to the budget, and this will be shared soon.
  4. Spring Vaccines – 
    1. The majority of the horses have already had their vaccines – if you haven’t yet, then please be sure to either attend the clinic on April 2 or provide Sally a copy of your vaccine records.
    2. Horses off pasture should provide vaccine records before returning to the pasture.
  5. Trailer Parking Rule – the rule went out for 30 day review, and after receiving input from the membership on this new rule, the board decided to implement the rule as written in February minutes. (7 day limit, with not more than 21 days of parking on pasture in any month)
    1. “Trailer Rule Change: The board changed the trailer parking rule from 5 to 7 days.
      1. Trailers may now be parked at OHA for 7 consecutive days, but must be moved on the 8th day. Trailers can only be parked at OHA for a maximum of 21 days per month.
      2. Members who choose to leave their trailers parked at OHA should be open to having their trailers used/borrowed in emergency situations.  For example; if a horse is found colicking at the pasture, and the vet orders that they need to go to Davis, a member should contact the trailer owner and they either will loan their trailer or come haul the member to Davis (they will be reimbursed for gas/expenses for travel as per appropriate reimbursable state rate and horse owner liable for any damage incurred while hauling – OHA bears no responsibility/liability). This would be how members “pay” OHA for free parking.
  6. Pond Barn
    1. Wakean will check with EBMUD to see if they can dig a trench around pond barn for installation of a French drain.
    2. Michael Bowen (new member) wrote a brief proposal to improve drainage – after Wakean checks with EBMUD about digging he is approved to move forward with his proposed plan. (The pond barn is still flooded and unusable from winter rains)
  7. Plan for New Projects
    1. Some discussion/questions were asked about how and why we pursued the projects that we have. At the annual membership meeting a list of projects was proposed. The board prioritized the list and obtained cost estimates for projects.  Projects for which Board members obtained costs and plans were reviewed and made the list to be approved.
    2. Members who still have projects they would like to propose are encouraged to provide a cost estimate and plan to include in the next board meeting for review. Please don’t hesitate to bring proposals forward.
    3. One of the items that some members expressed interest in was a shelter and dividing the back 40 – the board seemed to agree that it would be great if we could get a cost estimate to determine if this was in our budget this year. Kirsten is going to try to find the cost estimate and plans that were submitted previously to share with the board in the next meeting (if someone already has these – please email them to the board for review).
    4. Bay Area Barns and Trails – they have a semi-annual grant they give to different barns for collaborative projects up to $2500. Linda is going to apply for this on behalf of OHA to see if we can get funding to repair the old stalls.
  8. Spring Work Party  – Saturday, May 7
    1. Kirsten, Sally, Linda are coordinating – more information to come!
  9. Ring pasture fence replacement – Morris will manage the ring pasture replacement once things are drier
  10. OHA Locks – President will manage the OHA locks – and now holds the Master Lock
  11. Next Meeting: Tuesday, April 25, 6:45PM at Sally’s House – 6449 Harwood Ave., Oakland 94618
  12. Thank yous to:
  13. Eddie – Work Party and Membership Interviews
  14. Interview committee members for selecting new members
  15. Kim for being willing to take on the website
  16. Cheryl for obtaining new locks and getting them keyed
  17. All the weed pullers – Eddie, Elise, Karen, Suzette, Alix, Liz, Jerome and probably others of whom we are not aware
  18. Everyone else we’ve forgotten – THANK YOU!!!

Board-Meeting-Minutes-3-21-17_final.docx

OHA-Annual-Planning-Grid-2017.xlsx