FOUR LAKES BOARD of OFFICERS
Meeting Minutes
April 17, 2014
Present:
Terry Deschenes
Marty Johnson
Brendan Pecht
Marc Sanders
Mark Anderson
Evan Lurton
Dave Prochazka
Brian Thompson
Rod Case
A. Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the annual meeting were unanimously approved.
B. COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Treasurer: Rod Case
Discussed the situations of the four people behind on dues. One person is more than 12 months behind, and the board decided to move forward with garnishment or forced sale of property. Rod will direct the lawyers to take the scheduled next step.
Water: Evan Lurton
Approximately four vaults will be done this summer. We do have a couple leaks that will have to be fixed this summer, too. Posted the latest water quality report on the web site.
Lakes: Bob Liebling
In Bob’s absence, Terry reported that everything is running along fine. There are five people on the committee this year.
Roads: Tom Norton
In Tom’s absence, Terry reported that Tom and Keith have laid quite a bit of hot patch lately on the roads. The committee is also planning to clean out some of the ditches, mainly by hand. It was recommended to work on the ditch running south from the bus stop. It was also asked that the Roads Committee start to develop a longer-term plan, approximately 10 years, to repave all of the roads.
The bushes at the three-way intersection have been trimmed back.
Entertainment:
Terry reported that Nina Hufford is organizing the Easter Egg Hunt this coming Saturday. Discussion arose about activities (Barbecues, Potlucks, Fourth of July, work parties, etc.) should be scheduled to bring the community together.
The Board is really not sure how many kids are in the neighborhood. It would be interesting to get a kid count of some sort in the future.
Community Property: Marty Johnson
Got the mole hills in the community area knocked down with a tractor a couple weeks ago. Also got some pellets to kill them. Cleaned up the gazebo in advance of the Easter Egg hunt. Still looking for someone to do the mowing this summer. Marty may end up calling a mowing service or mowing it himself. Board members are also welcome to suggest people who could do the mowing.
The Sanikan will be delivered tomorrow in time for the Easter Egg Hunt.
Hospitality: Brendan Pecht
Currently waiting to meet the new owners of four properties that are being sold. Bought a bunch of hospitality supplies, so all ready when the new residents arrive.
Communication: Terry Deschenes
Recommended in the future that we provide earlier notice of events like the Easter Egg Hunt. (Fantastic that it’s happening, though!)
Legal: Terry Deschenes
No report.
Volunteer: Terry Deschenes
No report.
Emergency Preparedness: Mark Anderson
Mark will hold a committee meeting later this month, and will plan to conduct a drill around Labor Day.
C. New Business
Question was raised about whether people who are long-term absent should have to pay for water while they’re gone. This question led to a discussion about residents with extra lots who do not pay for water service on those lots. Rod clarified that any residents who have an extra lot (there are 10 of these situations) do not pay for water service only because they have never connected that extra lot to the water system. In the past there was actually a request form and a $250 “hookup” fee that constituted officially connecting to the system. So not being billed for water service/access on an empty lot is driven by never having officially hooked up to the system. The board decided not to make any changes in our water billing policies at this time.
Rod reported that he talked to the post office about replacing the mail boxes. There are certain rules, such as you have to use sequential mailboxes for each group of boxes. The mail carrier would schedule time with us to go over the details of where they would be installed, etc. The Post Office doesn’t get involved if individuals install their own improved mailboxes.
Brian Thompson passed around maps showing the current locations and counts of mailboxes (see enclosed). Rod agreed to work with Kevin Bray to come back to the board with formal estimates for several different options of group mailboxes to address the variety of configurations shown on Brian’s maps.
The board agreed to pay for materials to build new mailbox supports, if the new stands comply with a design to be provided by the board. The goal being to eventually have a uniform design of boxes for the community.
Overall, the board has abandoned the idea of purchasing the cluster mailboxes that were discussed at the annual meeting. Such a project is judged too expensive for the Association to pay for directly, and the requirement that all addresses must run consecutively in a cluster means that we would need universal buy-in. It was also agreed that the insult of the thefts may have had us over-reacting at the time.
Brian Thompson opened a new conversation about options for main entrance gates. The board discussed basic concepts, location options, and rough pricing. Brian will continue to pull together details, and eventually the board anticipates scheduling a deeper discussion with more residents, probably during one of our weekly meetings a few months in the future.
Finally, Terry proposed that the board consider changing our committee report format to one in which committee heads send out their reports in advance by email. That will free up the board’s time to focus on larger, deeper issues. Enclosed is his overall proposal for how the board can take on these larger topics.
Adjournment:
The next general meeting will be at 7:00 PM on 22 May 2014 at the home of Terry Deschenes.