Annual Meeting
The Annual Meeting for 2008 was held on January 29, 2009 at the Woodside Town Hall. The Minutes appear below:
Minutes prepared by Acting Secretary, Perry Vartanian:
WOODSIDE HILLS HOMES ASSOCIATION
Annual Meeting - January 29, 2009
MINUTES
The Annual Meeting of Woodside Hills Homes Association was called to order by President and board member Jonathan Wilcox at 7:30 PM.
Jonathan introduced the Board- Rich Bontempi, Bill Davey, Debbie Mendelson and Perry Vartanian. Stephen Schapp was absent as he was out of the country. He also acknowledged the services of Tom Livermore, Dave Burow and Linda Popky on our Architectural Board as well as Dave Burow on the Town Council and Mary Brasher on the Town Planning Commission.
Laurie Nienkerk made a short presentation on the activities of the Woodside Hills Garden Club.
To begin the business meeting, Jonathan appointed the undersigned to be the temporary secretary in Stephen Schapp's absence. The Secretary reported that Notice of the Meeting had been sent by mail to all members of Woodside Hills Homes Association and that 119 proxies had been returned satisfying the quorum requirement.
A motion was made, seconded and adopted by voice vote to accept the minutes of the January 29, 2008 Annual Meeting. These minutes were mailed to the members in March and have been posted on the website.
Debbie introduced the guest speaker- Kevin Bryant, Assistant Town Manager who has been with the Town for 11 months. Kevin was most recently employed by the Town of Sausalito. His comments included:
* Staffing- the Town has new Town Engineer- Paul Nagengast and more recently a new Planning Director- Jackie Young.
* General Plan update- Jackie has embarked on a review of the Town's General Plan which was last updated in 1988. The General Plan is a blueprint that governs the way we use our property. It outlines the community's values and set forth the basis for our zoning codes and development regulations. All residents and businesses will be invited to participate in updating of this important document to define what Woodside will be in the coming years.
* Sudden Oak death (SOD)- Kevin expressed appreciation for Debbie Mendelson's contributions in the fight against the spread of SOD. In March the Town will have a spray program for oaks on Town property such as all our traffic islands.
* Town finances- Our Town is in a strong financial condition with income and expenses in balance.
* Green buildings- The town is adding solar panels on the Town Hall roof to offset 20% of power usage. Also there will a demonstration project for waste water treatment to be used for irrigation of the land next to Town Hall. This may be a useful prototype for residents to use for their own irrigation needs.
* Questions- Was Woodside impacted by the failure of Lehman Bros. -Answer- no, our investments were not in a pool that contained Lehman bonds.
Jonathan then introduced Dave Burow our Town councilmember. Dave talked about volunteerism in the Town.. There are many opening on Town committees that could use volunteers. He also mentioned the Council activity to update the building codes to reduce the damage from wildfires as has occurred in several California communities. The new codes will require wide use of non-flammable building materials. This is currently under council discussion. A floor question asked about fire danger from undeveloped lots. Kevin responded this is a Fire District matter and the Fire Marshall, Denise Enea, should be contacted about such problems.
President's Year in Review-
* In the early months we completed amending the CC&R's for Units 6 and 7. Units 1,2 6 and 7 including 78% of the homes in Woodside hills have been amended. Unit 3 is open for amendment in 2016 and units 4and 5 in 2024. The amended C, C & R's will be posted on the website.
* The Board then worked on updating our corporate by-laws which specify how the corporation operates. This has been completed. A copy will also be posted on the web-site.
* The Notice of Meeting for the current meeting had a date error so the president requested a motion to correct the meeting date on the Notice from 2008 to 2009. The motion was carried by voice vote.
Rich reported on the state of landscape maintenance. We continue to update island plantings. A member asked about maintenance of the asphalt on the safety trail in front of their home. The Town repairs the trail.
Bill reported on his activity welcoming new neighbors to Woodside hills. In 2008, we welcomed 12 new neighbors.
Dave Burow reported on the Architectural Board. In 2008, there were on 7 reviews which is a low compared to 21 in 2007. Dave wanted to emphasize that in Woodside Hills the side setbacks are 25 feet (vs the 20 feet required by the Town). As to landscaping, the AB does not review landscaping projects unless there is a structure (including fences) involved.
Perry reviewed the 2008 financial report and 2009 budget which was mailed to all homeowners. For 2008, expenditures were generally in line with the budget except legal fees for updating the by-laws and expenditures for island rehab were below plan. The resulting expenditures were $4600 below budget. The 2009 Budget includes pruning of the trees in the Fernside entry center section and replacement of the dead oak on the Sheridan / Woodside island. On a motion made seconded and carried by voice vote, the budget including assessment of $85 per parcel was approved.
The president, Jonathan Wilcox, noted for the record that as holder of proxies for this meeting he had voted in favor of all preceding motions which carried.
The nominations committee reported there were no further nominations received and no nominations were made from the floor. Accordingly, Jonathan Wilcox and Bill Davey were elected by voice vote to three year terms on the board. Stephen Schapp's appointment to the board was confirmed by same voice vote.
Debbie mentioned a Sudden Oak Death (SOD) "Blitz" on April 17 at 7 PM at Portola Valley Town Hall. Residents can pick up sampling kits to be returned for testing for SOD.
A question was raised about getting information to residents such as a last minute reminder of the annual meeting. The board responded that while we have e-mail addresses for over 60 % of the homes, we are reluctant to use the e-mail list for fear of becoming considered a spam source. Response was that we should use this tool more often and give residents the ability to "opt-out".
Another question was about replacing damaged street signs. Answer- the Town handles this- call 851-6790.
Another question related to transferring Woodside Hills to the Woodside Elementary School District. The questioner was referred to the website where the subject is discussed.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:42.
Minutes prepared by Perry Vartanian