BRCA Board Minutes - February 2, 2019

Attendance: Les DeLaBriandais, Matt Jennings, Marilee Jensen, Erik Klee, George Mangan, Kathie Schmid, David Southwick, Suzanne Dedmore, Lynn Olsen, Helen Sedwick

Fire Safe Council

Marilee, Helen and Bill Sirvatka met with the ​Fire Safe Council​ in Glen Ellen recently to explore how Bennett Ridge might leverage membership in this type of council to qualify for safety-related financial grants. While we are still in the information-gathering phase, we believe that we can either form our own council or join a neighboring council.

As we explore this further, some of the areas we will be considering when evaluating our options include the following:

  1. What are the benefits and challenges with joining a neighboring community council vs. spinning up our own?
  2. How does the grant application work if we are part of a joint council? Would we need to divide any awarded grants or do we have differing enough needs?
  3. How could we leverage teaming up for grants for solutions that might benefit both communities, such as the emergency alert system.

Next Steps:

  • Marilee, Helen and Bill are meeting again with this council (including Kenwood) in 2 weeks. The board will keep the community apprised on what we find out.
  • Should the Board consider becoming a 501(c)(3) organization, Helen to explore what type of insurance options we might want to consider

Election of Board Officers

The Board of Directors elected new officers for 2019:

  • President - Matt Jennings
  • Vice President - Kathie Schmid
  • Secretary (Acting) - Matt Jennings
  • Treasurer (Acting) - Helen Sedwick

Action Items:

  • Suzanne graciously agreed to continue maintaining our master resident contact list and Google group for the time being
  • Erik will coordinate transferring signatory authority over to the new President

Treasurer’s Update

Helen distributed a Treasurer’s report as a Feb 2, 2019. (attached at end of minutes). As of this meeting we have $4,274 in our General Fund and $12,370 in our Emergency Preparedness fund, for a total of $16,664.
As of this meeting we have 33 paid members of the Association, which is defined as resident lots that have submitted their 2019 annual dues. Helen agreed to send out a reminder email to the neighborhood for those who might have forgotten to submit their annual dues.

As a reminder, your small annual dues allow the Association to operate, keeping residents informed through the website, community meetings and annual meetings. Membership also allows residents a vote and voice in the priorities of our neighborhood.

We are also very thankful to the residents who have also generously contributed over $1,100 in 2019 to the Bennett Ridge Emergency Preparedness Fund.

Action Item:

  • Helen will send out a reminder email to the neighborhood for those who might have forgotten to submit their annual dues, then work with the board to send out another via snail mail if no further response, as some residents may not be checking their BRCA-related emails.
  • Helen to reach out to Frank to ensure we have a PayPal link on our BRCA website for residents to pay annual dues
  • Helen will put together a proposed 2019 budget for the next board meeting, estimating our 2019 expected income and expenditures

Architectural Review Committee (ARC)

No additional updates since Jane Marx provided an update at the Jan Annual Membership Meeting.

Questions have been arising about the rock piles appearing on lots throughout the neighborhood due to new home construction, and whether these piles were expected to be temporary or permanent. Many of the concerns were related to the impact that these newly placed rock piles have on the natural visual landscape of the ridge, specifically those that are close to the road.

Action Item:

  • Erik agreed to reach out to Jane to inquire about these rock piles and determine the homeowners’ intentions.
  • Erik agreed to serve as the liaison between the Board and the ARC, reaching out to Jane Marx in advance of each meeting for any ARC updates

Emergency Preparedness Planning and Committees

New Board Committees

Since ​emergency preparedness ​is one of the top goals for for 2019, the Board agreed that it would be more efficient and effective to divide the emergency preparedness areas into separate projects that will be led by individual Board Committees. These new Committees will have a specific focus, and provide regular updates and recommendations to the Board. Committee members are selected by the board and may include Board members and members of the community. The Board will close down the Committee when they fill that the Committee’s work is complete.
The new BRCA Board Committees include the following

  1. Vegetation Management>br /> Committee Members: Marilee Jensen (Lead), Dave Southwick, Les DeLaBriandais, Kathie Schmid

    Focus:
    • Participation in a Fire Safe Council
    • Follow set country standards (13A county vegetation management ordinance)
      • Kathie was involved in the recent permit burn on a neighbor’s home on the ridge. She observed several issues that could have been managed better (still smoldering at end-of-day; workers
        manning the burn left it alone during lunch).
    • Provide assistance to properties in need of proper vegetation management support
      • Les stated that the County can provide support for removing any limbs that are hanging over a road
    • Annadel fire safety impact to ridge residents
    • Fire breaks

    2. Action Item

    Kathie to develop list of guidance, recommendations and rules associated with Sonoma County permit-controlled burns, and confirm with Cyndi Foreman. Once reviewed by board, Kathie to distribute to Ridge residents
  2. Emergency Alert Systems
    Committee Members: Dave Southwick (Lead), Kathie Schmid, George Mangan

    Purpose: To alert and awaken residents in the event of a fire or emergency

    Focus:
    • Call Box System
      • The Board voted in Dec 2018 to utilize BRCA Emergency Preparedness funds to pay fo a call box system signal repeater (~$8K). Next, the committee will coordinate testing of the various communication options that could be connected to the system and develop a clear, precise process and protocols for its emergency use.
    • Phone Tree
    • Additional Alert Systems
      • Plan ongoing discussions and exploration of additional or backup systems and resources (sirens)
  3. Secondary Exits
    Committee Members: Kathie Schmid (Lead), Dave Southwick

    Focus: Explore alternate emergency exit routes out of our neighborhood and plans for their eventual use.

    Action Item:
    • Helen to gather existing materials she may have related to home hardening, and provide to Frank to place on the BRCA website.

Speeding Vehicles on the Ridge

After another close call when driving up Old Bennett Ridge Road, Diane Bare inquired about putting us on the list for a mobile speed sensor unit that will alert drivers to their current speed on the ridge. While we’re on the list, we can expect to only have the speed tracker for one week, and we won’t be at the top of the list for about 3-4 months.

Action Item:

  • Residents should continue to looks for options to get drivers to slow down, including discussing with construction workers, putting up our yellow speed-related signs, and remaining aware.

BRCA Communications

Various board members raised concerns about specific communication issues with our current tools and how they are used. Specifically:

  1. How to best communicate among board members and from the board to members.
  2. Community use of the Bennett Ridge Neighbors Google Group ([email protected])
  3. Education to the community about “reply” vs. “reply-all” and if there are options to disable or minimize inadvertent use of reply-all functionality

Action Item:

  • Matt and Suzanne to review these communication options as well as our board email address, and see if there are any recommendations for improvement.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 12:00 PM