Emerald Hills
Homeowners Association Newsletter
May 23, 2008
New Board Elected at EHHA Annual
Member Meeting
At the Annual Member Meeting of the Emerald Hills Homeowners Association,
held on March 27, 2008, seven new members were elected to the Association Board
of Directors (See "A New Board and a
Promise for Renewal"). The evening meeting was one of best-attended in
recent memory, with over 300 residents signing in to cast ballots and listen to
speakers from the County. Prior to the election of new Board members, residents
heard from James Porter, Director of Public Works, who received the Dirty Dozen
Questionnaire and reported on the budget priorities for road repair for the
upcoming year, and Steve Monowitz, Director of Long Term Planning, who gave an
update on the status of the recent Emerald Hills Zoning and Design Review
Survey and a brief description of the upcoming community meetings surrounding
the watershed protection issue in San Mateo County. After candidate statements
were made, and while ballots were being counted, a discussion forum on current
community issues was held demonstrating an outstanding level of engagement from
the residents in attendance.
After results were announced, outgoing members of the Board were
acknowledged for their service to the Association. Retiring from the Board this
year are Carolyn Chaney, Amy French, Steve Harper, Steve Hill, Lee Lukehart,
Cheryl McGovern, and Milo Medin. We applaud all these fine people for the
service they have given to the community. Special note goes to Steve Harper who
volunteered an extraordinary 16 years of service to the Board, spearheaded the
annual tree giveaway, and was instrumental in the placement of the Emerald
Hills stone markers.
A New Board and a Promise for
Renewal
The new
Board is comprised of the following individuals: Michael Mangini (President),
Tom Brouchoud (Vice President), Tim Farrar (Treasurer), Adriana Botto
(Secretary), Joe Foraker, Frank Fraone, Carla Rayacich, Mike Sherman, and
Marline Underwood. These are your neighbors who have collectively promised to
make the changes that you want and to involve you more directly in the issues
that affect our community. Toward that end, the Board will be holding an
organizational retreat to reevaluate the Association's identity and purpose, to
identify goals for the year, and to assign tasks to achieve those goals.
In the
meantime, the Board is implementing policies that will ensure Association
transparency and community inclusiveness by committing to actively communicate
with and solicit opinions of every resident prior to making any recommendation
to government. In most cases, the Board will lobby government to sponsor
community meetings and surveys rather than conducting its own. In this way, the
information received by the County will be more representative, more credible,
and more accurate. The upcoming meeting on June 5, 2008 at
The new
Board feels that even though they were elected by a majority of those residents
who attended the Annual Meeting, they cannot make the assumption that they have
a mandate to make decisions for the almost 1,800 households in Emerald Hills.
What the Board can do, and is already doing, is to ensure that you are kept
current on the issues which could affect you and work to make sure that the
County reaches out to you, and provides you, with local forums to discuss these
issues with your government representatives. The Board feels that lobbying
County government to reach out and hear from you directly is the best way your
Association can serve your interests.
Survey
on Zoning and Design Review
An Update
The San Mateo County Planning
and Building Department mailed its community opinion survey to all Emerald
Hills property owners in March. The Department has also promised to hold
follow-up meetings to discuss the results of the survey and next steps.
Depending on the outcome of
the assessment, the Planning and Building Department may consider amendments to
the regulations, in consultation with the community. Any proposed changes to
the current regulations will need to be reviewed and approved by the Planning
Commission and Board of Supervisors before taking effect.
If you have questions or
comments regarding the status of the survey or community meetings, please feel
free to contact William Gibson, Staff Planner, at (650) 363‑1816 or wgibson@co.sanmateo.ca.us
or Steve Monowitz, Long Range Planning Services Manager, at (650) 363‑1855
or via email at smonowitz@co.sanmateo.ca.us, both of the
Planning and Building Department.
Save the Date!
Watershed Ordinance Meeting
at
June 5, 2008
If you
own property with a 10% slope or greater or if your
property is near ANY creek or stream, the recommendations coming out of
this meeting could result in new regulations that will affect you!
So plan
to attend, learn about the issues involved, and tell the County government what
you think.
Let the Good Times Roll!
An Association
Sponsored Community Picnic
One of the promises made by each and every newly elected Board member
was to help bring the Emerald Hills community together.
We think one of the best ways to do that is to throw a PARTY!
So, at the end of this summer (the exact date and location TBD), your
Association will sponsor an Emerald Hills Community Picnic where we can all
kick back, introduce ourselves to each other, and meet the great friends and
neighbors that make up our extraordinary community.
Think sun, BBQ, water events, children, relaxing beverages, and an
all-around good time. So watch future Association newsletters and the EHHA
website for more details as the planning progresses. It's going to be lots of
fun!
2008
"Dirty Dozen" Questionnaire
The Results
At the Annual
Member Meeting on March 27, 2008, the Board asked Members to respond to its
Dirty Dozen Questionnaire. We asked you to tell us about the most dangerous
places on our Emerald Hills roads and many of you responded. The common thread
on almost every response received was speed. Vehicles driven in excess
of the posted speed limit, combined with our rural, narrow, and/or hillside
roadways (most without sidewalks and many with blind curves), contribute to
unsafe roads.
Did you know
that the Residential Speed Control Devices Program (RCSD) aims to curb speeding
habits in residential neighborhoods? The RCSD program was developed by the
Department of Public Works working with the California Highway Patrol and
community members to help motorists obey residential speed limits. The County
currently uses physical measures (speed humps and dips) to aid in slowing
motorists down, where requested by a neighborhood. However, these measures work
best with neighborhood support to keep streets safe. Educating all roadway
users to obey all speed laws, share the road and respect the rights of other
users, will increase the safety of our neighborhoods.
In addition, Road
Operations-Traffic Services of the Department of Public Works is responsible
for designing, directing and managing all traffic engineering functions within
the County, including placement of signs, traffic stripping, parking zones and
maintenance of signals to promote the safe and efficient movement for all modes
of transportation throughout the County. For additional information please
contact Lisa Ekers, Road Operations Manager, Department of Public Works-Road
Services Division, at (650) 363‑4103 or lekers@co.sanmateo.ca.us.
Latest CERT News:
Disaster Preparedness Overview Class
June 3, 2008
"Are You Ready?" is a quick and informative introduction to disaster
preparedness. It's perfect for individuals, families, or groups that don't
currently have the time to attend the more-intensive Community Emergency
Response Team (CERT) program, and it provides the basics of how to survive
after a major emergency. The Redwood City Fire Department (RCFD) provides the
training materials and instructors; you provide the interest and enthusiasm!
This FREE one-to-two hour class covers the basics of what to
do before, during, and after a major emergency. You will
learn how to:
·
Get informed
·
Put together a kit
·
Make a plan
"Are You Ready?"
is a great lead-in to the CERT training program - class size is limited,
so sign up for an upcoming session now!
Tuesday,
June 3, 2008
6:30 - 8:30 pm
Sandpiper Community Center
After completing
The success of
For more information about "Are You Ready?"
presentations or disaster preparedness, please call (650) 780-7400.
EHHA Needs
Your Help
A Message
From EHHA Treasurer, Tim Farrar
As many of those who saw the EHHA accounts for 2007 presented at the
March 27, 2008 Annual Member Meeting may have realized, the EHHA's finances are
in dire straits. Last year the EHHA raised only $2,600 in donations, compared
to roughly $6,000 in 2005 and 2006, and over $9,000 in 2004. We have continued
to receive only a very modest level of donations (totaling just $600) during
the first five months of 2008. More importantly the Association suffered a net
cash outflow of nearly $4,000 last year, and by the time you receive this
newsletter we project that there will be less than $4,000 in the Association's
bank account, which at the current rate will be insufficient to sustain the
Association's activities beyond the end of 2008.
This situation puts the
whole future of the Association in jeopardy and certainly could make it
impossible to fulfill the Board's goals of actively communicating with members
about community issues, undertaking activities such as the tree giveaway and
increasing member involvement in the Association. Each newsletter costs over
$1,000 to print and mail, while the last tree giveaway cost $1,200. We would
also like to hold a community event this summer, so that you can meet your
neighbors in a friendly environment, and this will also cost money.
We have therefore decided to increase the suggested donation to $35 per
household per year and set a target for fundraising this year of $7,000,
representing donations from 200 Members within the community. This will 
provide
funding for four newsletters, the community event and hopefully a tree giveaway
later in the year, while ensuring that the Association has enough money in the
bank for the Association's future needs.
We know that many of you have ceased donating to the Association in
recent years, in many cases at least partly due to the divisiveness which has
been a feature of recent EHHA meetings. We now have a completely new Board, all
elected in 2007 and 2008, who wish to put these issues behind us, and focus on
reaching out to and involving the community in the Association's activities.
The Board has adopted several new policies to ensure that this is the case,
including a policy on transparency and openness, and welcomes your involvement
at our monthly meetings. We have pledged to work to restore your trust in the
Association, and hope that you will show your faith in the EHHA and the new
Board by making a voluntary donation in the enclosed envelope, to ensure that
we can undertake the activities that have been planned for this year.
No "No Left Turn"
For
several years, there has been a restriction on making left turns from the
westbound lane of Edgewood Road onto Cordilleras Road (near the junction of
Lakeview) to control traffic flow and to increase safety in that area. As a
result, traffic was diverted to the intersection of
There may,
however, be a possibility of some relief. Prime Sterling of the San Mateo
County Department of Public Works (DPW), at the suggestion of Emerald Hills
resident David Klausner, has requested that the Association provide some indication of resident interest in
the lifting the "No Left Turn" restriction during non-rush or
off-peak traffic hours.
To assist
the County with its request, we have provided a "check the box, tear-off
survey" below which you can mail back to us in the envelope provided. In
addition, the Association will also provide a mechanism to receive your opinion
via the EHHA website. We will collect your input through the month of June and
will then forward the results to Prime Sterling of DPW, post them on the EHHA
website, and continue to provide you with any updates from the County as they
become available.
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r I
support lifting the "No Left Turn" restriction at
r I
support keeping the "No Left Turn" restriction at
r I
have no opinion regarding this issue.
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