| Reposted by San Lorenzo Express |
MINUTES
SAN LORENZO VILLAGE HOMES ASSOCIATION
REGULAR MEETING NO. 1162
November 15, 2007
The regular meeting of the San Lorenzo Village Homes Association Board of Directors was held Thursday, November 15, 2007.
1.1 CALL TO ORDER -- President Wulf Bieschke called the meeting to order at 7:37 pm.
1.2 SALUTE TO THE FLAG -- President Bieschke led the Board and the audience in the pledge of allegiance.
1.3 ROLL CALL -- Directors Wulf Bieschke, Pat Pebelier, Margaret Wright Jim Sherman and Kathy Martins were all present.
2.O MINUTES FROM THE PREVIOUS MEETING -- Approval of meeting number ___. Director Pebelier makes a motion Director Martins seconded. The motion carries.
3.0 COMMENTS FROM PUBLIC AGENCIES
3.1 CHP Report -- Officer Rob Tuazon gave the following statistics:
CHP Statistics for October 2007
Total for
Infraction San Lorenzo Unincorp. area
Collisions 24 89
Tickets 61 650
Parking Tickets n/a n/a
Storage/Impounds 5 54
Stolen Recoveries 2 13
Traffic Complaints
Parking Complaints
DUI Arrests
Total warnings for Castro Valley Command: n/a
Officer Tuazon noted that he will be on vacation next month. He stated during the holidays his unit will be participating in DUI check points throughout the San Lorenzo area.
3.2 Alameda County Sheriff's Dept. -- Deputy Liskey was on vacation, Lt. Quinn and Deputy Glossal were present. Deputy Glossal gave the report for him this month. (See Attachment A)
Statistics for October 2007 [TO BE POSTED WHEN AVAILABLE]
Change from
Crime Number last month Affected Streets
Stolen vehicles
Attempted Stolen Vehicles
Recovered Stolen Vehicles
Residential Burglary
Commercial Burglary
Auto Burglary
Grand Theft
Vandalism/graffiti
Robbery
Glossal reported that the month of October is domestic violence month and his department has worked with several other agencies to deal with domestic violence warrants and reports that were still outstanding. In this past month they were able to arrest 19 individuals who were connected to these outstanding warrants.
Glossal stated that the sheriff's department continues to do minor decoy operations and they found another four (4) businesses selling alcohol to minors. The Administrator asked why these businesses were not notated on a list from ABC that she had recently received. Glossal did not know why but stated that he would report back on this issue.
Daily Review reporter, Rachel Cohen, inquired about the increase in auto theft in the area and asked what was being done to help patrol and abate this problem. Glossal reported that both the CHP and the sheriff's department have a task force related to stolen vehicles. They have four investigators for the unincorporated area. Two of these investigators are in the San Lorenzo area and work with the CHP to help identify the auto thefts and follow up on each case.
Glossal said that the most common way that vehicles are stolen is when residents leave their cars running yet unattended to warm them up or go into the house quickly for something.
Director Martins asked if there was any correlation between car alarms and auto thefts. Lt Casey stated that car alarms do not deter auto thefts.
Resident Mel Medeiros stated that he would like to see the statistics for the monthly crime in the newspaper or the Association newsletter. Lt. Quinn stated that his department is looking at ways to put this information on the web.
3.3 Supervisor Alice Lai-Bitker -- Staff member, Kevin Dowling, was not present; there was no report.
3.4 Zoning Enforcement Report -- See Attachment B for monthly report.
3.5 Public Comment -- None.
4.0 FINANCIAL REPORT
4.1 Approval of October 2007 expenditures, including payroll, and discussion of significant variances . The Administrator noted that there were no significant variances for the past month. Director Sherman made a motion to approve the October 2007 expenditures, Director Pebelier seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
5.0 ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT
5.1 Informational Items -- The Administrator noted that there would be a tree lighting ceremony on December 6, 2007 and thanked Jim Ready and Mitch Stuber for helping to "light" the tree. She encouraged all residents to attend.
6.0 OTHER BUSINESS (Motion may be required)
6.1 Energy Plant (Russell City and East shore) status -- Board President, Bieschke reviewd what went transpired with their petition/open the hearings against the Russell City Power plant. However they were not able to stop the plant from being approved by the California Energy Commission. However, the County and Chabot community have already filed for appeal with the State Supreme Court.
The next step is to intervene for the peeker plant, Eastshore, that is being proposed. The County and the Intervener's attorney is looking at taking this issue to the State Supreme Court (See Attachment C).
Suzanne Barba, one of the Interveners, noted that the new plant will produce 90 tons of pollutants. The report states that it will try to mitigate these pollutants by reducing wood burning fireplaces. However, even if this is done there will only be a reduction of 40 tons, 50 tons will still be un-mitigated.
Barba noted that the Bay Area Quality Management group is already looking at limiting fires being burned for the entire bay area. San Lorenzo and Hayward area already in the middle of an area that is highly polluted, with the freeways surrounding them and the Port of Oakland and its pollutants.
Barba urged residents to contact the California Energy Commission to get more information and to speak in opposition regarding these plants and their impacts on the surrounding communities. She stated that there are two hearings, 11/26/07 and 12/17/07 on the Eastshore plant that residents can attend.
President Bieschke noted that he has a problem with the way the process was done in approving these plants and how public information was distributed. He wants any future process to be more open so that the public and the county can make informed decisions about whether they would approve additional plants or not.
Resident Keith Barros asked why the peeker plant is being considered when the Hayward City Council voted against it. President Bieschke stated that although the City denied this plant, the California Energy Commission is considering approval for it.
The Administrator said she was very disappointed about how the public was informed about these plants and the fact that the Commission has ignored the issues that residents and municipalities have brought forth in opposition of these plants being located in Hayward. She stated that none of the commissioners on the committee are from the Hayward or surrounding areas. She noted that if there is any chance in overturning their decision then the community and the Association must pursue all actions to oppose it.
Barba noted that the petition against the Energy Commission's decision to the California Supreme Court would not be about how the plant would be run, but rather how the public was noticed and the process of notification.
Director Martins made a motion to become one of the petitioners in the appeal to the California Supreme Court about the Energy Commission's decision regarding the Russel City Power Plant, Director Wright seconded, the motion carries unanimously.
The Administrator asked whether the Association wants to be Interveners for the process of the Eastshore peeker plant. The county had declared their intent to act as Interveners. She stated that if you are not an Intervener you cannot be part of the process. The only way for the community to be heard is to act as an Intervener.
Director Sherman made a motion for the Association to act as Interveners in the discussion of approval of the Eastshore (peeker plant) power plant. Director Martin seconded, the motion carries unanimously.
The consensus of the board was to appoint President Bieschke as the person who would represent the Association as an Intervener, and the Administrator would be the alternate.
6.2 Marijuana Clinics
President Bieschke stated that the foothill marijuana clinic was raided by the federal government and employees and patrons were arrested. Proposition 215 was passed for the legalization of medical marijuana, but many voters did not understand that a clinic, and not a medical facility would be distributing this drug. Bieschke noted that many patrons of these clinics do not necessarily have an illness that requires the drug and that for $100 they can get a medical marijuana card from many local doctors.
President Bieschke stated that he did not think the Board of Equalization can monitor whether the county is collecting the correct sales tax from these clinics. There are three clinics in our unincorporated community. Bieschke noted that he does not have a problem with the medical aspect of distributing marijuana, however, he does have a problem with clinics distributing the drug. They are not being monitored and have had many incidents of crime in and around them.
Resident attorney, Peter Hagberg, gave a brief synopsis of Proposition 215 and the current status of the marijuana clinics and their distribution of the drug.
Hagberg noted that there were many loopholes in the proposition wherein people with somewhat minor injuries or problems could get marijuana for treatment. He noted that it is still a political issue. Alameda County Supervisors are thinking of amending the ordinance to include hashish. Hagberg noted that he found no medical information that stated that hashish could be used effectively for medicinal purposes. He asked the board to consider putting the issue of these clinics on our ballot for Board Elections 2008. He thought that Association members should be able to have a say of what is in our own "backyard" and that the Board should voice its objections to the revisions that are being proposed to the ordinance.
Linda Pratt from COMPRE, stated that when the dispensaries were proposed, COMPRE was against them. She said that although none are in San Lorenzo, proper, they are right around the corner from our boundaries and are near where children walk to and from schools. COMPRE has tried to stay on top of the review periods for the ordinance and to monitor any proposed changes. However the community needs to be aware of these changes that are occurring with each "revision" of this ordinance. Director Martins makes a motion to include a ballot measure on the marijuana clinics on the Association's 2008 Board of Director Elections to get more community input, Director Pebelier seconds the motion carries unanimously.
6.3 Alcohol Ordinance Recommendation
The Administrator gave some background on the alcohol ordinance (See Attachment D).
She noted that the Association Board had some questions about this ordinance. It was concerned as to why there were not sliding fees versus a flat fee for each business. It also questioned training employees locally, when ABC already had training programs in place.
When the Administrator investigated further, she found that ABC did not have the manpower or money to handle all the violations that were occurring at the local levels. In a report from ABC, she found that the local "mom and pop" stores were not the businesses who showed the most violations. The larger chains, such as Safeway showed more violations of sales to minors. In this same report she found that Safeway in Castro Valley was fined two times for illegal sales. The fine for the first infraction was $3000.00 which was staid by ABC unless they violated the law again. When they sold to minors again they had a hearing. In reviewing the hearing process, she found that most of the violations which went through this process were still staid. She did not understand how this organization, which claims it is under funded and understaffed, would not enforce its fines. Apparently the Liquor Industry has many lobbyists in Sacramento. This information proved to her and to the Board that a local ordinance is definitely needed.
The Administrator noted that there will be no more community meetings regarding the revisions to the ordinance. She asked COMPRE why more fees cannot be given for those who violate the ordinance. She suggested that the fees charged yearly be based upon the amount of alcohol each establishment sells on an annual basis.
Linda Pratt from COMPRE noted that several bills which have been introduced at the state level, dealing with alcohol distribution, have either been killed on the floor or watered down so that they have now clout.
Pratt stated that one of the reasons that ABC would not have recent violators on their report was because they do not list them until they get to the disposition level. Sometimes this takes 6 weeks, or up to 6 months time. Reports showing just one area have to be "weeded out" by hand and often some addresses are missed.
Pratt stated that training of liquor establishments is better handled locally. The training would cover local laws and ordinances. The ABC applies training only where a grants have been acquired at the local level. It does not come if requested and is not readily available for local jurisdictions.
Pratt noted that the hearing process for the county ordinance was patterned after the Social Ordinance.
Director Sherman made a motion to recommend the ordinance with the change of making the fees per establishment based on a sliding fee related to how much alcohol each establishment sells per year and further recommended that additional training be required and paid for by all employees of an establishment after it is in violation of the ordinance. Director Martins seconds the motion and it is carried unanimously.
Pratt suggested that the Association Board appoint someone to the ABC policy committee that is held the second Wednesday of the month from 10 am to 12 pm at Supervisor Nate Miley's office.
6.4 Certification of two(2) Candidates for the Board of Directors Election 2008
The Administrator announced that there are two candidates running for the Board, incumbent Jim Sherman and resident Mel Medeiros for the one (1) seat that is available. Both Sherman and Medeiros drew numbers and the results were that Sherman would be first on the ballot and Medeiros would be second. The marijuana issue would also be on the ballot for vote.
The Administrator noted that the election procedure would follow the standards of last year's election. League of Women voter representative, Suzanne Barba, had been suggested to be the elections inspector as she was last year.
Director Martins makes a motion to certify both candidates, to accept the elections procedures as it was run last year and to accept Barba as the elections inspector. Director Pebelier seconds, the motion carries unanimously.
6.5 Approval of foreclosure policy for 2008 (See Attachment E) -- Director Martins makes a motion to approve the foreclosure policy for 2008, Director Sherman seconds, the motion carries unanimously.
6.6 Appointment of Governance Advisory Committee -- President Bieschke stated that this committee will function to help oversee the representation San Lorenzo is or is not getting from the county on many issues. The power plant issue discussed earlier is a good example of how information and representation was insufficient from the county and its representatives. Bieschke noted that the newsletter asked for applicants and the following individuals have been appointed: Wulf Bieschke, Dorothy Partridge, Doris Marciel, Esther Jorgensen, Frank Peoxito, Kathie Ready, Keith Barros, and Harry Gin.
Director Martins makes a motion that we adopt the Governance Advisory Committee and accept its seven (7) members, Director Sherman seconds, the motion passed unanimously.
7.0 COMMITTEE REPORTS
7.1 Library Committee -- There was no committee meeting.
8.0 LIENS AND VIOLATIONS REPORTS -- No liens have been released since October 2007.
October 2007 Violation Report
Number Violation No. of Letters 1/19 Inoperable Vehicles in driveway 13 2/22 Recreational veh/trailer in driveway 9 6 Lack of General Maintenance 8 10 Lawn Height 38 11 Dead Trees 0 12 Overgrown Vegetation 1 13 Holiday Lights 0 14 No signs 0 15 Building Exterior 2 16 Dirt Accumulation 1 17 Attractive Nuisances 0 18 Lean/miss fence 0 20/7 Unpaved parking 5 21 Working on vehicles 3 23 Dogs/Cats more than 2 0 24 Barking dogs 2 25 Prohibited animals 0 26 Excess noise 1 27 No Home Business 0 28/99 Other/ comments 11 99 Multiple violations 9 Total 103
9.0 HEARINGS AND VARIANCE ISSUES (See Attachment F)
[TO BE POSTED WHEN AVAILABLE]
Director Martins makes a motion to approve the hearing and variances as read, Director Sherman seconds, the motion carries unanimously.
10.0 PUBLIC COMMENT -- Resident Keith Barros thanked all who are participating on the governance committee.
11.0 COMMENTS FROM BOARD MEMBERS -- The Board thanked all the residents who stayed for the meeting.
12.0 ADJOURNMENT -- Director Bieschke adjourns the meeting at 10:09 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Pat Pebelier Secretary-Treasurer
Recorded & Transcribed By: Kathleen Harrigan, Sr. Admin. Assistant
Reviewed By: Nancy Van Huffel, Administrator; Kathie Ready, Resident