President's Note

Hi Neighbors,

I hope you're all enjoying the holiday season — it's a beautiful time of year in Kent Woodlands.

I'd like to take the opportunity in this newsletter to encourage you to attend the member information session about our proposed neighborhood entrance project on Wednesday, December 13 at 7:00pm. This will be an opportunity for the board to share our ideas, visuals, rough financials, and seek feedback from members. Because the board expects to move forward in the next several months with a membership vote on a special assessment to fund these improvements, we hope you will take this opportunity to become more familiar with the proposed plans so that you can make an informed decision on that ballot.

This meeting will be held both in person at our office (1010 Sir Francis Drake, Suite #200) or via Zoom (link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4157217429). We will also make a recording available to anyone who is not able to attend.

My best to you and your family,

Jeff Leh, President

Association News and Reminders

Annual Budget Report and Policy Statement

You should have recently received the KWPOA Annual Budget Report and Policy Statement either by email or USPS, depending on your stated preference. If you did not receive this important set of documents, please contact Jeanne Williams at jwilliams@kwpoa.com.

Annual Assessments

Annual assessment invoices will be mailed the first week of January—please keep an eye out! The amount of $390 is due from all members no later than February 15, 2024.

Annual Meeting

Save the date! The KWPOA Annual Membership Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 17, 2024 at 7:00pm. The meeting agenda and Zoom link will be published in our January newsletter. Please plan on attending to hear the latest on important issues that impact our neighborhood.

Kentfield Fire Chief Pomi is encouraged to hear that we have residents engaged in the alert and warning systems. This is a positive recap and reminder that the siren on the roof of the Fire Station is just one piece of the puzzle. In an emergency, communication is crucial to the safety of all residents and businesses. Please bookmark or sign up for the communications methods listed below:

• The Fire Department will provide updates about the storm and events as needed on our website, kentfieldfire.org.
• Sign up for Alert Marin to receive notifications on your devices and phone! Emergency officials use Alert Marin to deliver incident-specific information or potentially life-saving instruction to the precise geographic area(s) affected.
• Sign up for Nixle, which will send alerts to your mobile phone or email.
• Tune in to KQED 88.5 FM, KCBS 740 AM or KGO 810 AM and local TV stations for further information.

The current testing that occurs the first Saturday of the month is only a short test of the equipment, designed to be 15 to 30 seconds. Unfortunately, the volume cannot be adjusted. 

Evacuations, shelter in place, and other emergency orders may be necessary to protect residents during wildfire, flooding, and other emergencies. As part of our evacuation plan, the entire county has been divided into individual evacuation zones. Pre-established evacuation zones help first responders and emergency service agencies prepare before an emergency strikes and helps streamline the evacuation process to reduce confusion and help residents evacuate quickly.

The Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority, Marin County fire agencies, law enforcement agencies, and the county Office of Emergency Services, are improving how evacuation, shelter in place and other emergency orders are issued. Marin County is using a technology called Zonehaven, which is used by several counties in the Bay Area including neighboring Sonoma, Napa, Lake, San Mateo, Alameda, and Santa Clara counties.

This link is new in Marin County and provides a tremendous amount of information in one spot: https://marincounty.maps.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/content/items/8d35e9ea0e404c35bc05a1a4a687ba31/data

We can all do our part by signing up for these alerts and having a plan. We're still recruiting block captains for different areas. If you are interested in this neighbor-helping-neighbor opportunity, please reach out to myself, Bitsa Freeman, Michelle Wilcox or Allison Carbone.

-- Heather Hill, Hazard Mitigation Specialist

A PERSONAL NOTE: Carbon Neutral Kent Woodland’s Task Force lost a lion this month: John Thomas passed away at 82. We will miss his fatherly advice, and how he always reminded us that experts say the goal has to be “better than zero”. He was clear-thinking, motivating, and wholly competent until the very end. His light will live on in the legacy he leaves behind, as we keep pushing the message to do what we can to reduce carbon in our neighborhood.

We wish each and every one of you a glorious holiday season! There are many good companies offering carbon off-sets – consider them if you fly over the holiday. 

Sincerely, CNKW

IT ALL STARTS WITH CLEAN ELECTRICITY: The heart of the CNKW project is to establish a baseline of neighborhood emissions for our 481 member households. This will serve as  the basis for this project, to track measurable change over time. Our neighborhood “Annual Emissions Survey Results” will be published in January! Here is a preview…

Change starts with clean ELECTRICITY, and only 39% of Kent Woodlands survey respondents (based on 21% response rate) get their electricity from Marin Clean Energy (MCE).

By making the switch, you can help us reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and make a significant impact on our environment. MCE uses the PG&E electrical grid to distribute power, but unlike PG&E (who burns fossil fuels to generate electricity), Marin Clean Energy Deep Green provides electricity from a 100% sustainable energy source. The cost to change is less than $4/month more (based on the average monthly usage of 479kWh).

Email our Kent Woodlands Account Manager Sebastian Conn sconn@mcecleanenergy.org to make the switch. This is the easiest thing all of us can do to take the first step towards a cleaner, greener future for our neighborhood! Let’s get 100% of Kent Woodlands residents signed up for renewable electricity!

TAKE A CLASS: Please join us for our second KW Resilient Neighborhoods Class. RN is an organization that teaches Marin residents how to lower their carbon emissions by adopting simple and sustainable practices. The five-session Climate Action Workshop is free and meets online. One January session starts on Jan. 10th (4 PM – 5:30 PM) and the other on Jan. 18th (6:30 PM – 8:00 PM). Each class meets every other week thereafter for five sessions. Earlier this month, our first KW class finished up with excellent results, with neighbors making bold commitments to effectuate energy-saving measures in their homes between now and 2030. To date, over 2,000 Marin residents have participated in RN’s class and have saved, or pledged to save, over 13 million pounds of carbon pollution. To learn more and sign up, visit www.resilientneighborhoods.org/sign-up-for-a-team.html.

 Visit us at www.carbonneutralkw.com/about-us

Please direct any Architectural Committee inquiries to the Kristin Tiernan at AC@kwpoa.com.