Greenbrae Property Owners’ Association (GPOA)
Board of Directors Meeting

Date: January 14, 1999
Time: 7:05 PM to 9:15 PM

Meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM
President Dan Brady called the meeting to order. In attendance were board members Tim, Mark, Scott, Patty, Mary and Dennis. There was a quorum present for the meeting and the business of the meeting proceeded.

There were approximately 12 Greenbrae residents who attended the meeting. Their purpose in coming to the meeting was to inform the board of a problem of rat infestation in their neighborhood. There was considerable discussion between the board and the neighbors regarding the extent of the infestation and the course of action that should be taken to remedy the problem. Two of the neighbors indicated they would head up the committee to make an investigation as to what the City of Larkspur and County of Marin would be willing to do to assist in rat abatement in Greenbrae. Katie Cleary and Murray Indick were nominated to head up the committee to explore what options are available to develop a program for eradication of the rat problem in Greenbrae.

There were several people who attended the meeting who indicated that they would be interested in serving on the board. These people stayed throughout the meeting and there was discussion subsequent as to what duties and jobs are needed to be done by new members.

Approval of Minutes
There was a motion to approve the minutes from the board meeting of October 15, 1998. That motion was seconded and unanimously approved.

Treasurer's Report by Dennis Ryan
Dan made a motion that the board approve the 1998-1999 fiscal budget. It appears that through oversight there had never been an approval of this budget by the board. Dan's motion was seconded and the board gave unanimous approval for the current fiscal budget under which we are operating.

Dennis Ryan reported to the board that he had been in contact with Dennis Jauch, Phil Wenger and Deborah Clark regarding the status of our current budget and the amount of revenue expected from the County in the coming fiscal year. Dennis explained to the board that the reserves we currently maintain fluctuate around $100,000. This amount is traditionally needed to maintain proper funding for the board during the fiscal year. Dennis indicated that there would be approximately $160,000 available for capital improvement work in the coming year. Dan requested that Dennis provide Scott with a figure so that Scott can convey to the landscape architect the amount we can afford this year.

There was further discussion as to preparation of the next fiscal year budget which would be 1999-2000. Dennis indicated that this budget would need to be drafted in February and submitted in March to Dennis Jauch at the County. The board gave its consent to have Dennis prepare a budget for review and approval at the next board meeting. Dennis will work with Mark on the budget.

Community Relations Report by Mary Lindsay
Mary discussed the complaint received from the neighbors on Nadina Street. The owner at 150 Nadina has erected a chain link fence which is out of character with all other fences in the neighborhood. There was general discussion by the board as to whether this type of fence came under the jurisdiction of the board and was in violation of the CC&Rs. Mary and Mark discussed the language of the CC&RS which may be applicable to this fence. It was decided that a letter would be drafted and sent to the owners requesting they remove the fence as it appears it is a structure prohibited by the CC&RS and is out of character with other fences in the neighborhood. Mary indicated she would report back at the next board meeting as to any progress on removal of this fence.

Mary discussed her follow up at 399 Via La Paz regarding trees blocking views. She did put the homeowners in touch with Tree Masters who will hopefully trim the trees and remedy the problem between the neighbors.

Mary reported that she had received a telephone complaint from a person who does not live in Greenbrae indicating that a house on Via La Cumbre was being used as a four-apartment rental complex. There has been no complaint from any homeowner on Via La Cumbre regarding any house being used as a multiplex rental. The board decided not to take any action at this time as the complaint came from someone who did not live in Greenbrae and appeared to be making trouble for the owner of the house without any substantiation as to whether there were, in fact, multiple tenants using the house.

There was no discussion of the Highway 101 HOV project and sound wall on which Mary is working with the neighbors on Via La Cumbre to have CalTrans conduct sound studies along the street to ensure that the sound wall projected to be built will reduce or eradicate the noise problem along that street.

Landscape Committee Report by Scott Sherman
Scott discussed the latest proposed cost breakdown from Gardeners' Guild for the upcoming year. Scott was generally satisfied with the report, except for the additional cost which is projected to replace the annuals at the island tips at La Cuesta Circle. There was general discussion by the board regarding the amount required to replace the planting on the circle every three months. The consensus by the board was that that amount of money, approximately $4,500, was too much to spend on this one type of planting at the tips of these islands. It was further discussed and agreed that Scott would review what type of perennials could be installed at these island tips which would provide some flowers and enhance the new work that has been done at these islands. The installation would preclude the replacement of plants quarterly and would greatly reduce costs at these islands.

Scott discussed the consolidation of all MMWD water bills. Having all water bills consolidated would allow our water entitlement to be looked at as a whole and meters which may go into second and third tier usage would be offset by meters which had less usage. Scott indicated that he was working with Deborah Clark to have all the MMWD bills consolidated and that hopefully this would reflect lower costs for water in the future.

There was discussion by Scott, Dan and Mark as to the new landscape architect who has been chosen to work on the current capital improvement projects for this year. The landscape architect is David Schwartz from Mill Valley. A contract with David is in progress and it is anticipated once the costs for the landscape work are determined the contract can be finalized and Mr. Schwartz can begin drafting the plans for the Almenar, Bretano and Via La Cumbre islands to be worked on this year.

Scott discussed the hydroseeding of the median islands. He indicated that he was not satisfied with the extent of hydroseeding based on the cost which was contract for. Scott indicated that he had told the contractor that more hydroseeding would be required prior to payment of the invoice received.

There was discussion of the pruning of the heritage trees. The trees that are being pruned are at the Almenar, Bretano and Via La Cumbre islands which are being done in preparation for the renovation work. Scott was satisfied with Tree Masters and the work they were doing to prune the trees. There was discussion as to whether the board should pay for removal of the eucalyptus trees at the corner of Bretano and Corte De Sabla. Scott indicated the cost of the removal would be approximately $360, however he indicated he would want a contribution from the neighbors. There was discussion by the board that it would be up to Scott as to whether he would obtain some monetary participation with the neighbors. However he would be authorized to have the trees removed at our expense in order to prepare this island for renovation.

President's Report by Dan Brady
Dan discussed the results of the third dues request mailing. It appears that this mailing was not done properly as many people who had already paid dues were sent a dues request. It was stated that the printer sent more notices than they should have and it was agreed by the board that this dues request mailer was more of a burden than a benefit and that it should not be done in the future. Although an exact total was not determined, it appears that the third dues request generated approximately $1,200 in income which was offset by the cost to mail the request.

There was discussion by Dan and other board members with those prospective new board members who were at the meeting. There was discussion as to what positions and jobs needed to be filled. Mark indicated that he would put together a list of what positions were open and what jobs needed to be done. He will coordinate the list with Dan and they would then call the prospective new board members.

Community News Report by Patty Oxman
Patty reiterated the discussion regarding the third dues request. Patty indicated that we were currently sending four newsletters per year plus two dues requests. Patty stated that the four newsletters were superfluous and that she would recommend that in the future we only send the annual newsletter plus two other newsletters during the year. This proposal was agreed to by the board. This will reduce our printing and postage costs and not have any adverse impact on providing information to the community.

There was discussion regarding the efficiency of Ace Printing and their handling of the mailing list. It was agreed by the board that the mailing list would be given to Word Gallery and that Word Gallery would keep this list updated based on information from the membership dues that are received and from information provided by Patty on new homeowners in the neighborhood. Word Gallery would then provide the labels to Ace Printing when mailings are required. It is anticipated this system will provide a much more realistic mailing in the future if the mailing list is kept as current as possible.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 PM.