Notes from FMCG Board Planning Meeting of 3/27/08
In attendance: Jill Fisher Young, Steve DeHavilland, Dale Butler, Greg Philliposian, Barbara Philliposian, Susan Conn, Vicki Dum and Mary Ann Kayiatos
Greg called the group together at 7:20.
First item for discussion was the native garden on the hill. The GGNRA will remove the fallen and standing Monterey cypress trees and anything that is damaged. They will repair the fence. We need to be sensitive to Audrey Strand’s area and to keep Audrey, Liz Nolan and Anne Rodgers in the loop. Greg suggested we grade the area just above the walkway between the mid-walkway and the concrete steps. It would stabilize the hill and make it have a les steep-grade. Vicki will be responsible for present the retaining wall plan. (Note: there was some confusion about the exact area. No retaining wall is going above the steps on the hill so Vicki will not be handling the retaining wall below the steps.)
Greg and Vicki will suggest to the GGNRA that we be allowed to plant a CA coastal Buckeye tree on the hill.
Steve, Vicki, Dwight Ashdown and Toni Kramer will be base members of the Native Garden committee. Vicki will chair the committee.
Richard suggested setting up a composting system on the hill. He thinks we should have a master plan for the hill. Dale would like to work with him on the composting project. Under Richard’s plan, people would still leave debris in the debris box and Richard and his helpers would lug it to the top of the hill. Steve pointed out that many people don’t want to bother with composting. Dale suggested lining the 3 old greenhouse bins to serve as a demo area. Greg, Richard and Dale will meet at the garden to review the possibilities and will comprise the composting committee.
Steve has been appointed as the common area czar.
The by-laws need updating to reflect current issues. Jill will be the chairperson and Greg will be on the committee. Jill asked that people email her with concerns about wording. The 2004 revised by-laws are the most recent. All board members will get a copy. Jill needs feedback by May 1st. Steve will send 2004 by-laws update out as pdf to board members. He will send them as a word doc to Jill only.
The picnic tables are still an issue. Steve discovered that the old blue table can be deconstructed and new boards put in the remaining frame. Dale said he could deliver wood to the garden in his truck. For now, it will be deconstructed and the frame saved. Greg proposed buying a 2” teak table (6’ long) from Smith & Hawken. Susan proposed buying 3 tables. We will just get one for now.
The GGNRA wants us to place an 8” x 12” plaque on several gates. $400 was approved for the purchase of two.
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Budge issues were next. Susan is the guru. She suggested increases for several areas which were approved.
The stove in the kitchen will be used four times a year for workdays only. We will try not using the stove this year and see if we can make-do with the microwave.
Greg’s goals for the year are: completion of the east hill native garden, revision of by-laws and resolving the composting issue.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 pm
Vicki Dum, Secretary
Minutes from Annual Membership Meeting of March 1, 2008
Greg Philliposian, President, called the meeting to order at 9:30 am so that nominations from the floor could be added to the existing list of nominations. Greg explained the written ballots which were passed out after all nominations were completed. Members could then write in additional nominations.
He also thanked Gladys Reder for serving as the Membership Chairperson for the past year. That is a position that requires quite a bit of time for record keeping, orienting new members, following up on the wait list inquiries, etc.
The following nominations were made from the floor and are shown written in by hand on the attached ballot:
Marlene Bauer – Sergeant at Arms
Margo McGrath – Membership Chairperson
Emily Wells – Board of Directors
Steve DeHavilland – Board of Directors
Dale Butler – Board of Directors
Lucille D’Alessandro questioned whether someone who is nominated for Director could be voted for for President, VP, Secretary, etc. Greg explained that would not be feasible and that people should be nominated for specific positions. Several other questions were asked to clarify the process.
Each nominee (including existing Officers and Board members) was asked to stand up so members could identify them and to give a short summary of their garden ties.
Written ballots and pencils were then passed out to each member so they could vote and put the folded ballots in a ballot box on one of the tables. This part of the meeting took about an hour. When everyone had voted, the Secretary, Vicki Dum counted the votes. Helping were Jill Fisher-Young who removed the ballots individually from the ballot box and then handed them to Lucille D’Allesandro who then read off the names to Vicki. Lucille marked each ballot as she read it to certify it had been counted. Lucille then gave them to Greg to keep in a separate pile. Vicki had made a spreadsheet to mark the vote count on and that was acknowledged by the helpers to be correct. Vicki then gave it to Greg so he could read the results at the regular meeting at 12:30. The final Officer and Board members are noted in green on the attached ballot.
Greg called the second meeting to order at 12:30.
TREASURER’S REPORT - Barbara Philliposian gave the report prepared by Susan Conn as she was out of town. The total cash assets are $12,731.33 as of February 21, 2008. There is a balance of $5,379.74 in the checking account and $8,750.98 in the Money Market account. The summary of the finances are, us usual, posted on the bulleting board in the kitchen. That leaves us with $1,399.39 in excess of the beginning of this fiscal year. It appears we will come close to “breaking even” for the year. Members are encouraged to submit receipts for reimbursement by the middle of this month as we begin a new fiscal year April, 2008. We received $2,300.97 more in income than was budgeted for the year. It mostly came from increased interest earned from the Money market account, a dividend from our insurance and missed work days paid by the members. Expenses have come in under budget for the year. Including the latest water bill for 8/3/07 to 11/10/07 of $1,482.69, the amount spent on water is $4,637.42. We will receive one more bill for the period 11/10/07 to 3/31/08. We have budgeted $5,500 for the entire year.
MEMBERSHIP REPORT – Gladys Reder reported that 11 plots were assigned during the year. Sixteen new applications were received bring the total on the waitlist to 129. We are currently assigning plots to people who have been on the wait list since 2002 making it about a six year wait. There are currently 2 vacant pots which will be assigned in mid-March.
SERGEANT AT ARMS – No report.
WEBSITE REPORT – Victoria Colella indicated the site has been updated to show new work days and minutes.
OLD BUSINESS – Lucy Kaufman, a very long time member, has resigned for health reasons. Greg made a motion to get a plaque put up for her. He also made a motion to make her an Honorary Member for life. Both were seconded and passed. The location of the plaque will be determined at a later date.
Greg updated the state of the negotiations to renew our Park Permit for 5 years: The conditions set by the Park Service include:
- The stove must be removed from the kitchen. A squatter who occupied the little house for a period left the oven on to heat up the room. Since the Park Service pays it the cost was reflected on their gas bill.
- We must initiate and pay for our own garbage pickup. The green bins are provided at no cost to us; however, we must pay for the black trash bin.
- The Park Service will care for all trees over 15’ tall except for the Brazilian Pepper tree. Arborists from the Park Service will take down the fallen Monterey Cypress as well as the standing one which has now become dangerous. The remaining tree over 15’ is the pine tree in the east corner.
- Newly planted trees should not exceed 15’.
- The east hill will become a native garden area per the request of the Park Service who wants it to serve as a demonstration garden and educational resource. The Board passed a resolution to comply with that requirement.
- The fence will be the responsibility of FMCG with the exception of the area ruined by the falling tree and the area from the southern gate near the house to the southern gate at the end of the row of rhodendrons.
Discussion from members ensued about the hill. Everyone will miss the trees a great deal. We need a master plan. The plantings would keep the hill from eroding. It was suggested that a drought resistant area could be dedicated to Lucy. A committee will be formed to address the hill. If there is a master plan we have not located it should not interfere with current plantings. It was suggested that we develop a map showing the plant names.
Pruning of the Brazilian Pepper is to be handled by Mary Ann and Greg.
NEW BUSINESS – Anne Rodgers asked to have the shrubs by plot #100 removed or cut back. This will be addressed by the common area coordinator.
The person who purchased and placed the straw in the work area could not be identified so Greg asked that it be used as mulch by individual gardeners today.
Pam Everett asked about the infestation of the apple moth which the State Dept. of Agriculture wants to spray for starting in August. The spraying would be repeated in 5 years. The chemicals interfere with the moth mating cycle. There is some controversy about whether or not the chemicals are safe. Packets are available showing lists of discussion meeting site and web sites. Traps are an alternative. She suggested FMCG get a petition started. Some members felt we needed more information. Martin made a motion to authorize Pam to speak for the garden and/or to write a petition. The motion passed. We would need to clear a petition with the Park Service.
Richard Pennington asked that people not “air water” their gardens but that they use deep watering at ground level and then mulch their gardens to conserve water. Mulching also helps maintain a stabile soil temperature as well as reducing the growth of weeds. Using these conservation measures and a drip system, he believes we could cut our water use by half.
Greg reported the election results:
- President – Greg Philliposian
- Vice President – Jill Fisher-Young
- Secretary – Vicki Dum
- Treasurer – Susan Conn
- Sergeant at Arms – Jim Blattner
- Directors: Mary Ann Kayiatos
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Chuck will be available for reference and questions.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:18 pm.
Respectfully submitted,(Many thanks to Gladys for taking notes in my absence!!)
Vicki Dum
Secretary
Minutes from Board Meeting of February 21, 2008
The meeting was called to order by Greg Philliposian at 7:30pm. Attending were: Jill Fisher-Young, Victoria Colella, Mary Ann Kayiatos, Gladys Reder, Susan Conn and Vicki Dum.
Minutes were read by Vicki Dum – Victoria objected to the reference to Board members having the password for the website due to fact that the current website is paid through Victoria's credit card and so requires her password for her business to be used. As soon as the garden gets a bank card, this can change. The website address for the garden has been www.fortmasoncommunitygarden.com and stands alone as it's own website. Prior link from www.butterflute.com have been retained for forwarding purposes only.
Treasurer’s report was given by Susan Conn - The checking account balance as of the beginning of our fiscal year (4/1/07) was $12,731.33. Our balance as of today is $14,130.72. That leaves us with $1,399.39 in excess of the beginning of this fiscal year. It appears we will break even by the end of March. The income for this reporting period (10/16 to 2/17) reflects the gift from Rose and Peter Royce of $1,000. We have earned $2,300.97 more in income than was budgeted. Expenses for this period were $5,785.94. Largest outlays were for water and insurance. Our expenses are $4,860 less than budgeted at this point.
There was no Sergeant at arms report as Jim Blattner is ill.
Membership report given by Gladys Reder – Lucy and Joyce Manassa have resigned. Greg suggested that we make Lucy and Carolyn Gates’ brother (John Van Coots) honorary members. Victoria suggested we include Falle. Susan suggested that he be included as a member Emeritas. Victoria suggested a certificate. Richard made a motion to approve. It was noted that Van Coot is on the wait list. He has made 2 large donations. Jill seconded the motion which passed unanimously so Lucy, John and Falle will be honorary members.
No Greenhouse report was available.
Election report was given by Greg – The membership election discussion will begin at 9:30 am at the workday. He will open nominations to the floor. There will be a sheet posted so everyone can see the additional names to be added to the ballot. Ballots will be numbered starting with 201 so that they will not have any connection with actual plot numbers. After names have been posted, ballots will be handed out for completion and return to the ballot box. The secretary (Vicki) will count the votes. Members must be present to vote. Vicki has prepared ballots (which were approved with the addition of extra lines under the Director category) and will have ballot box for meeting.
Greg reviewed the state of the GGNRA negotiations which have taken all year. We have the final draft which would grant us a 5-year permit. The GGNRA wanted a triple net lease but Greg opposed it and got them to remove that provision. The GGNRA will replace the south fence from gate tot gate with “like kind and quality” fencing. They will take care of the Monterey pine by the east gate. The final Monterey cypress will be removed by them as it is unsafe. All other fences will be our responsibility.
Richard said the hay bales left in the good would be effective as mulch. They mysteriously appeared in the garden with no one claiming them. It was decided everyone can use them.
The squatter left the gas stove in the kitchen on and ran up the GGNRA bill. PG&E will not install 2 gas lines in the same building so we must remove the stove. We hope to use a hot plate and microwave instead. An electric line for 240 would be expensive to install plus we’d have a monthly cost.
In years prior to the about-to-be-signed permit, we paid $100 annually. That has been changed to a recovery fee off $2,000 which the GGNRA then deferred. We must notify the GGNRA of any special event involving more than 25 people (other than workdays/make-up work days). We are to provide them with a copy of the general meeting minutes within 10 days along with a copy of the annual treasurer’s report. The signing ceremony is set for March 19th at 9:00 am. Greg and Vicki will attend. Jill will be in Peru(!). Victoria will post it on the website.
We will be posting a plaque stating: “FMCG is a garden for public viewing. No cutting of plants”. Susan made motion to accept wording. Victoria seconded. It passed unanimously.
The budget review followed. The main area of concentration will be plot improvement. T-shirts were suggested as a way to generate revenue. The GGNRA is still promising us a new picnic table. Annual dues will stay at $80. Motion for $80 was made by Jill and seconded by Gladys. It passed unanimously. Susan suggested that the new applicant fee be raised to $25 as an additional revenue raiser. Jill made the motion and Victoria seconded it. Everyone voted for the increase with one person opposing.
The workday schedule for coming year is:
