Los Trancos Woods Community Association

Minutes of the Meeting of the Board

November 12, 2003, 7:00 p.m.

 

 

Attendees:    Jan Avilla, Nelson Dake, Linda Drey-Nightingale, Julie Duncan, Michael Glenn, Peri Nielsen, Jan Simpson, Gale Smith, and Marguerite Thayer. Gale led the meeting.

 

Public Comment: Linda notified us that San Mateo County has recently issued guidelines for speed bumps and dips. She has a copy if anyone wants one. Historically, the County has not considered putting speed bumps in LTW because the hills create a potential safety hazard.

 

Treasurer’s Report:           Julie Duncan, the LTWCA Treasurer, gave the Treasurer’s Report.

 

LTWCA Website: Linda read a letter from our Webmaster Jerry Jensen who informs us that the Forum on the LTWCA website (www.lostrancoswoods.org) is not used frequently and eliminating it would save us $85 a year. The Board discussed and agreed that, before deciding to eliminate the Forum from the website, an email would be sent to both LTWCA and Vista Verde notifying the communities and giving them another opportunity to make use of it. Peri volunteered to send out this email.

 

Dues for 2004/2005: The Districts reported on their efforts at collecting dues. Districts I, II and IV reported collecting approximately 33%. District III was not present to report.

 

Emergency Preparedness Drill:            Neither Jamie nor Dave was present to report on the emergency preparedness drill that took place on October 25. Gale mentioned that one of the lessons of the drill was the importance of having walkie-talkies. Gale and Linda offered to call up the Pod Leaders to suggest they each purchase one.

 

Correspondence: Marguerite shared with the Board her suggestions for tightening the Board meetings by limiting the topics covered to the most important to the community and saving the more trivial for email. Marguerite impressed upon us her concern that we needed to make Board meetings about significant issues not only so we do not waste our own time but also so we do not lose Board members. The Board discussed and agreed with Marguerite’s suggestions. The Board decided to email members the agenda one week in advance of the meeting so that everyone could have input into agenda items. Peri requested that, to the extent that the Board was going to communicate by email on Board topics, everyone attempt to “reply to all” so all the Board members could be included and contribute to these communications.

 

Gale then shared with the Board an update regarding her communications with the Los Trancos County Water District Board (“Water Board”). Gale reminded the Board that she attended a Water Board meeting on September 18, 2003. Her experience led her to send a letter to the Water Board on behalf of the LTWCA (emailed to the Board in advance for its review and approval) requesting the Water Board take action to redress what appeared to be violations of the Ralph M. Brown Act, which governs the conduct of local government and other agency meetings. In particular, Gale asked the Water Board to make meeting agendas publicly available in advance of the meeting, both by posting them in a publicly accessible location such as the LTWCA web site and by mailing them to the LTWCA Secretary. Gale also asked that the Water Board’s meetings include a section for public comment; that the meetings take place in a location that complied with the Americans with Disabilities Act; and that the minutes of the meetings be publicly available and accessible.

 

Gale then shared the Water Board’s written response, which the Board reviewed and discussed. The Board agreed that the issues Gale raised were important and needed to be addressed both to improve communications between LTW and the Water Board in general and to ensure its compliance with applicable regulations. The Board also acknowledged that the Water Board and its President Stan Gage have contributed significantly to the community and recognized their achievements and efforts in this regard. Several Board members committed to attend the next Water Board meeting on November 20, 2003 at 8:00 p.m. at 455 Old Spanish Trail. The Board agreed that the goal of this attendance would be to encourage the Water Board to be more transparent and accessible with respect to its activities and decisions.

 

The next LTWCA meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. on January 14, 2004 at 21 Old Spanish Trail.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted, Peri Nielsen, LTWCA Secretary.