DRAFT MINUTES FRIENDS HOUSE RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION MEETING THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2018 OFFICERS Clerk Ralph Baierlein Ass't. Clerk Helen Neumeyer Treasurer Bruce Hartman Ass't. Treasurer Steve Schuck Interim RA Secretary Elizabeth Boardman Council Secretary Charlotte Smith ATTENDANCE about 46 residents, no staff Moment of silence -- extended today in memory of John Boles, who clerked the RA at one period. APPROVAL of August 2018 RA Minutes as distributed. CLERK S REMARKS Ralph Baierlein acknowledged Elizabeth as interim recording secretary and commented that Maureen will take over the process from her next month. Acting ED Melody Mitchell was a full participant at the FASE/Covia Report to Residents last week and was also here the full hour at the Community Meeting two days ago, so she is not expected here today. Ralph will be meeting with her once a month on the Mondays preceding RA meetings, to share ideas and to prepare for the RA agenda. TREASURER'S REPORT Ralph reported in lieu of Bruce Hartman, Treasurer, or Steve Schuck, Assistant Treasurer. The financial report was circulated on the back of the agenda sheet. It shows income well exceeding expenses, The Amazon Committee brought in over $800 in August. The RA fiscal year starts November 1. (Compare the Friends House/FASE fiscal year, which starts April 1.) Standing committees of RA are to present budget requests by September 28, unless no change from last year is requested. FASE BOARD REPORT Resident board member Marion Cushman reported. Melody Mitchell of Covia is eager to hire a permanent ED soon. The FASE/Management bulletin board at the back of the library has been tidied up. The monthly written report of the FASE clerk is now posted on the bulletin board outside the library and will be put up a few days after each board meeting. After some weeks, such notes are put into a permanent binder in the library. The written report from the FASE clerk is posted on the RA web site in encrypted form as soon as received, which is approximately the same time that the report is posted outside the library. (Ask Emele or Ralph for the password.) Hereafter FASE will also post the minutes from the staff segment of FASE meetings on the BB in the library, but not until after they have been approved at the subsequent
meeting. The FASE/Covia management agreement has been posted and will later be in a public binder. STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS ART CORRIDOR Lynn Johnson reported that one-month displays are scheduled for these two months: Cats in September (with a related presentation on Sept 23) and Books in October, related to an evening program on October 9. (Q&A: The cats drawings are not for sale.) The November-December corridor exhibit will feature art quilts done by Jerrie Cross of Sebastopol. BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS Victoria Wikle reported the committee meets once a month with Eric Perry, head of the Facilities Services department, and is open to interested residents. Many items were reviewed at the last meeting: There is a debate in process about the exact boundaries of the Taylor property next door at our south east corner. A stand is being developed for a hose that needs one. The leaks in the irrigation system are at the elbows of the lines. Repair, not replacement, is what is planned at this time. To improve the safety of the pedestrian crossing between Assisted Living and the administration building, the shrubbery will be cut back, new stripes may be added, and all concerned will remind drivers to slow down. Fallen leaves should be piled up onto gardens and used as mulch. Plans are afoot to green-up the new bare fencing around the air conditioners outside Soonamai s office. A new series of green-up suggestions will soon start appearing in the Friday newsletter. The project of clearing and organizing communal storage closets is near completion. HOSPITALITY Yvonne Hammerquist reminded us all that the August-September birthday celebration will be on Sept 27 at 7:15. PROGRAM COMMITTEE Elizabeth Boardman announced that Christine Caliandro and Karen Marshall have joined the committee, Peter Neumeyer is returning from sabbatical, Vera Korkus and Sally Davis are now serving in an advisory capacity, and Midori Buchanan has resigned. Other faithful members are Betsy Harrell, Chula Morel- Seytoux, Barbara Tye and Elizabeth Boardman. CAMPUS MASTER PLAN
Ralph reminded us how we have participated through cluster meetings in putting together a list of desired new amenities at Friends House for presentation next week to FASE and Covia. A draft list had been circulated, and additions were entertained. The final list as sent to Covia and the FASE Board--has been attached to these minutes. Additional ideas were mentioned: vegetable gardens in the sun on the Taylor property; decent storage for the maintenance department; a bocce ball court and other outside recreations; and electricity in the tool shed. There was discussion and acknowledgement that revenue-producing changes would be made first and that the whole process will take years. Hubert Morel-Seytoux noted that he and Chula have been developing neighborly relations with the Bogardus family and might be useful in any future conversation with them about their back lot, so desirable to Friends House. NEW RESIDENT ORIENTATION GUIDE is finished. Charlotte Smith and RSD Paula Wright will work on distribution. ANNUAL MEETING New officers will take over at the RA meeting on October 18. Ann Harwood is the in-coming Assistant Clerk. Committees will be eager for new members at that time. Sign up sheets will be laid out. Meanwhile, try visiting a committee you are curious about. Announcements: The memory enhancement group which meets every Wednesday from 11-12 in the Crafts room has been restored, with a competent new leader. Fitness trainer Diane Wardlaw is recovering and will be back on Monday. Political letters drafted by Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) and laid out for our involvement by Hubert Morel-Seytoux are ready for signatures on the table outside the library now. Take grapes from the same table! Closing silence at 4:35. Indexed Items: Topics to be considered while formulating the Campus Master Plan Respectfully submitted, Elizabeth Boardman, Interim Secretary Ralph Baierlein, Clerk Posted to WEBSITE https://friendshousecouncil.wordpress.com
Report to FASE Board for its meeting in October 2018 from Friends House Residents Association This month, my report addresses the preparation for a Campus Master Plan. Topics to be considered while formulating the Campus Master Plan For Covia and the FASE Board Below are some suggestions of topics from the residents. We realize that constraints on available space, the purchase of additional space, and fund raising will require setting priorities. Some wishes will need to be deferred or be abandoned in favor of others. **************************************************** Additional Assisted Living Units Ability to retain on campus most residents of IL or AL who develop a need for memory care. A new AL unit might be configured to accommodate individuals who need memory care but are neither wanderers nor a danger to others. An informative and well-functioning alert system More solar panels Acquiring a neighbor s vacant area between the current Assisted Living unit and the Boles parcel. On the County Assessor s parcel map, printed here, the vacant area is the eastern half of parcel #15 (more or less). The Boles parcel lies immediately south of it (and east of #45) and is owned by FH. In the past, FH has tried to purchase the vacant area. No success. FH should try again. If FH cannot purchase the vacant area, perhaps the owner would be interested in protecting his or her privacy by swapping the eastern half of the vacant area for the western half of the Boles parcel (or whatever provides an equal number of square feet). Such a swap would reduce the length of citymandated set-back areas for FH and hence would provide more buildable space. A note about how FH might negotiate productively with the owners has been appended to this list.
Ring Road: two problems (a) Excessive speed. Install speed bumps? (b) Parking violations (typically by contractors) that block access by the Fire Department. Perhaps create a pull-out at the east end that is reserved for contractors? Also, perhaps install No parking signs? Develop a cohesive landscape plan that uses more local native plants. Use of more native plants will (a) provide better habitat for birds and pollinators, (b) economize on irrigation water, and (c) reduce maintenance. An improved or rebuilt irrigation system Vegetable beds on posts (so that residents can spare their backs while gardening: the soil would be approximately three feet above the ground). These vegetable beds on posts could replace the current ground-level vegetable beds. Move the veggie garden (from its current location in the shady northeast corner) to a sunny location. Campus-wide Internet and wi-fi (with appropriate fees) Create a labyrinth similar to the one constructed recently at Spring Lake Village Bocce court Outdoor recreation facilities in general. (Detailed suggestions will be provided at a later stage.) Storage facility for use by the maintenance staff A dog park Final list determined by RA meeting on 20 Sept 2018; transmitted by Ralph Baierlein, Clerk, Residents Association A note about negotiating with FH s neighbors who live at 630 Benicia Drive The following note comes from an email sent to me by FH resident Hubert Morel- Seytoux. In the Residents Association meeting today [September 20th], it was mentioned that FH should try again to purchase the vacant area between Assisted Living and the Boles
parcel. The owners of that vacant area are our neighbors on Benicia Drive, just south of us. New in the area and trying to be good neighbors, we invited them and the neighbors across the street to a breakfast in our home. On another occasion, we had them as guests by themselves. We then discovered that they had negative feelings toward Friends House because her mother had felt pestered by repeated efforts of FH to purchase the vacant land whereas they had indicated that they were not interested in selling. The mother has died, and since then her daughter and husband have moved in. We have invited them to a couple of Quaker events, which they attended, and we have a good relation with them, although not by any means a close one. We do feel that their feelings toward FH are better now than they were earlier. However, I feel that if FH formally contacted them for such a purchase, the outcome would be negative. My suggestion is this: if FH did put on paper a specific proposal and gave it to my wife and me, then we would be entrusted first to talk about it to our neighbors in a very informal way. They would not feel so pressured. Cheers, Hubert Hubert Morel-Seytoux 684 Benicia Drive # 71 ****************************************************