Christmas Lake Village
Board of Directors
7/9/09
(Approval Pending at the August 13, 2009 Meeting)

The meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM by President Jeff Stillman.  He noted that a quorum was present and that the meeting was being taped.

Directors present were Jason Alban, Judy Carter, Rob Collins, Jim Davidson, Lee Powell,
Mike Robinson, and Jeff Stillman.  Mark Smith was absent.  Gene Allen had tendered his resignation.

Approximately 10 Association members attended the meeting.

President Stillman deviated from the published agenda.  He thanked outgoing Board members Jim Hicks, Angela Vanover, Don Vogel and Gene Allen.  He noted that Gene’s position on the Board needed to be replaced, and since the election had been less than 30 days prior, he suggested that the Board appoint the candidate who had had the next greatest number of votes at the time. Lee Powell moved to appoint Amy Busler to Gene’s seat based on votes as Jeff suggested.  Mike Robinson seconded the motion which passed unanimously.

Jim Davidson stated that over a period of time, some Board Presidents voted on all issues.  Some Presidents opted to vote only in order to make a tie, break a tie, or on written ballot.  In recent years, the Board determined the procedure by vote at the July meeting.  Jim Davidson then moved to allow President Stillman to vote on all matters that come before the Board.  Mike Robinson seconded the motion which passed unanimously.

MEMBERS FORUM
Shirley Blazey wanted to know if, when planning the 2010 budget, we could explore other insurance companies that would allow us to pull lifeguards from the CLV beach.

Fred Kanzler advised the Board and Manager Kroeger that the lots behind his house continued to go unmowed by the owner.  Manager Kroeger noted that he had contacted the owner over a week previously and that he would do so again.  Fred thought there should be something we could do in order to get the job done.

Todd Dempsey was on hand to check on a set of plans he had submitted for a dog pen.
Manager Kroeger noted that the plans were in the building for review after the meeting.

Carl Somerlott was in attendance noting that he had a sale pending on one of his lots and the buyer was interested in a boat dock at the location.  Manager Kroeger noted that these plans were also in the building for review.

Brenda Black came to again ask the Board their intentions regarding water crossing the road and running down her driveway during heavy rain events.  President Stillman advised Brenda that the troublesome ditch would be dug out and repaired prior to the next Board meeting.  She also noted that there were several noisy, barking dogs in her neighborhood and that calls to the police were unanswered.  She was advised to take her complaints about the police to the Santa Claus Town Council

Kelly Reid was on hand to discuss his concerns regarding the proposed lake drawdown.
He deferred his comments until that portion of the meeting.

MINUTES- President Stillman noted that there were 3 sets of minutes to be reviewed including the regular meeting from May ’09, the board’s organizational meeting on 6/18/09, and the special meeting of 6/18/09.  After review, Jim Davidson moved to accept all the minutes as presented.  Jason Alban seconded the motion which passed with 7 in favor and an abstention from Amy Busler.

TREASURER’S REPORT
Treasurer Jason Alban thanked the Association Members for voting him on to the Board and the Directors for electing him as the new Treasurer.  He noted that assessment income to date was over 98% of forecast.  Other income line items appear to be on track.  He noted that we had some unforeseen expenses that would likely eat into our unbudgeted discretionary line item.

The Treasurer’s Report was unanimously approved on a motion by Jim Davidson and a second by Mike Robinson.

Manager Kroeger gave the Delinquent report.  He noted that delinquent lots had decreased from 266 to 253 over the last month and that the total amount had gone down from $155,677.00 to $153,772.00.  He further noted that at the end of June on ’08, the total delinquent amount reflected approximately $107,000.00.  This was AFTER $47,000.00 went to collection.  We did not send any accounts to the collection agency this year so if we add that amount back to ’08, the numbers are very similar.  The ’09 numbers are a more accurate representation of what is owed.  The $600-$1000 delinquent column is higher because we did not send the accounts to collection, so they have gone into a second year.  The collection agency returned another $1000.00 to the Association.  Approximately 15% of the delinquent lots have residences on them.  He advised the Board that the Attorney had sent final demand letters prior to small claims court, but the return response had not been very good.

Lee Powell approached the issue of publishing the names of delinquent members.  It was noted that we had been advised by our attorney not to let such a list become grievous.  President Stillman suggested that we set up a “members only” page to our website.  After some discussion, Lee moved to print a comprehensive list of all members, paid or unpaid, for 2009 and publish it in the local newspapers and the CLV website.  After further discussion centered round the length of the list, Lee amended his motion that CLV publish a list of those members who had not paid their 2009 assessment and publish it in the CLV September newsletter and the website.  The motion was seconded by Jim Davidson.  After additional discussion, the motion was amended again to publish a comprehensive list of all delinquent accounts, for all years, in the Journal Democrat, the CLV website, and the September CLV newsletter.  The motion was seconded by Mike Robinson, and passed on a vote of 6 ayes, 1 opposed (Jeff Stillman), and 1 abstained (Jim Davidson).

President Stillman noted that one more delinquency consideration needed to be considered.  We are to determine annually the amount of interest to charge against delinquent accounts.  Currently, the statutory maximum is 8% which has been our benchmark.  After some discussion, Jim Davidson moved to adopt the 8% statutory rate for July ’09 through June ’10.  The motion passed unanimously after a second by Lee Powell.

Manager Kroeger gave the manager’s report.

1. He and Jim Davidson had designated the short list for road repair bidding.  He hoped to have bids by August, but was doubtful.
2. He said that he would concentrate on the repair required at Holly Dam and that he would have bids to submit at the August meeting.
3. We have treated all the lakes several times already.  We did a good job of killing the new weed-Creeping Lake Primrose.  We double dosed and killed off most of the early summer pondweed just in time for the late summer naiad to pop up over a foot in a week.  We have worked it hard in the last few days.  We have spent nearly all of the $20K that was approved in the budget.
4. He asked about a detached garage on lot with a house and garage already.  Does a second garage become an accessory building and fall under those parameters?  After discussion it was determined that a detached second garage would be considered an accessory building unless attached to the main building.

President Stillman brought up the subject of Manager Kroeger attending the Town Council Meetings.  He thinks that Kroeger’s reporting of the meetings may be discouraging attendance by other residents and that it takes away from his personal and work time.  There is nothing in writing that says he is supposed to go.  Manager Kroeger was advised that he did not have to attend the Town Council meetings anymore.  He did submit a Town Report from the June 8, 2009 meeting.

Town of Santa Claus
Town Council
June 8, 2009

At the meeting the Council:

1. Approved two sets of minutes w/corrections
2. Advised Russ Winkler that he would need to take a request to turn the golf course condos into lots rather than a subdivision to the planning commission.
3. Discussed, at length, traffic and police coverage issues that had arisen at a recent ball tourney at Yellig Park.  A motion for full police coverage at these tournaments died for lack of a second.
4. Passed a motion to supply officers during peak tourney hours, who are to be released if dispatched, and then return when the call is complete.
5. The building inspector had 6 inspections, 4 zoning requests requests, and an abandoned house to board up.
6. Mike Johannes reminded the Council Members that they did not have the authority to direct Town Employees
7. Approved the purchase of a new Chevrolet police car.
8. Approved the purchase and monthly service for GPS devices on the police cars.
9. Heard that the Fire Department would be having a barbeque/bake sale on June 27th.  The new fire truck should be in service by then.
10. Heard that 6” of rain fell and 30.1 million gallons of waste water was treated in May.
11. Approved a bid to repair Lift Station #8
12. Learned that a better locating process was needed in order to accurately identify the location of their underground piping.
13. Approved two pay raises
14. Opted to put off a sign at the Industrial Park until 2010.
15. Discussed “Welcome to Santa Claus” signs at the edge of Town.
16. Approved for President Smith and Kim Christenson to review bids and purchase a new copier within budget.
17. Learned that some of the Town’s benches needed some work.
18. Adjourned at 7:45.

The May police report showed:

1. 9 Citations were written in CLV
2. 5 Domestic disturbances
3. 3 medical emergencies
4. 5 motorist assists
5. 2 gun permits
6. Suspicious person in CLV
7. 3 medical in CLV
8. vehicle accident in CLV
9. Investigate dummy grenade is CLV

OLD BUSINESS
Garage Sale Update- Manager Kroeger distributed a list of parameters/information regarding the upcoming garage sale. After some discussion the following was unanimously approved on a motion by Lee Powell and a second by Mike Robinson.

Christmas Lake Village
Garage Sale 2009
September 19, 2009

1. Pay a $5.00 fee---to cover advertising and extra help

2-police for traffic patrol
2- map assistants
2-janitorial
1-extra gate officer
4-newspapers

1. Approximately 130 households signed up in ‘08
2. Reserve the Rec Center
3. Advertise in the Herald, Journal Democrat, Ferdinand News, Perry County, Dale News, Lincoln country etc
4. All advertising to note that times are CDT
5. Add a second gate officer from 3:00-7:00 on Friday the 18th
6. GARAGE SALE SIGNS ARE NOT ALLOWED
7. Police Officers to arrive at 6:00 AM on Saturday
8. Bring in the Saturday 7:00 AM gate officer in at 6:00 AM
9. Map to show participating locations only…there is no list of items
10. Make the Snowball/Melody loop, Blue Spruce, Ornament Lane, and Sleigh Bell/Star a one way for the day.

It was also confirmed that the general public was not to be allowed in to the yard sale prior to 7:00 on Saturday morning, the 19th. 

County Lots- Jim Davidson reminded the Board that the Association had recently purchased 34 lots from Spencer County at Commissioners’ auction.  The main idea was to get these lots into circulation as quickly as possible.  He noted that 15 of the lots are undesirable for building, 8 are build-able with moderate land modification, and 11 are build-able with minor land modification.  Jim then moved to turn the pricing of the lots over to the Business Planning Committee.  Lee Powell seconded the motion which passed unanimously after some additional discussion.

Hanning Lease- Jim Davidson advised the Board that this lease had been entered into many years ago and is scheduled to end in May of 2010.  The land had originally been used as a silt basin.  The Business Planning Committee is interested in making an offer to buy this land by the end of the lease.  There is some thought of making it into a boat storage area and this is a potential opportunity that we need to look at.  He then moved to turn the negotiations over to the committee.  After some discussion, Jim revised the motion to state that the Business Planning Committee be designated to negotiate a purchase of the currently leased property, subject to final approval by the Board.  The motion was seconded by Judy Carter and unanimously approved.

Lake Draw Down- President Stillman noted that this had been discussed for several months and we are planning to start lowering the big lake on November 1st, based on expectation of a cold winter.  Weed seeds will be killed and we will be allowed to fix docks, clean up the lake bottom somewhat, and possibly other projects.  Members will have similar opportunities.  Kelly Reid was concerned about the impact on the fishing on Christmas Lake, particularly a fish kill.  He was also concerned that he would be looking at a bare lake bottom all winter, and a spawning problem next spring.  Rob Collins echoed some of these concerns.  Manager Kroeger was directed to speak to a representative from the DNR about these concerns and report back at the August meeting.

NEW BUSINESS
Director Attendance- President Stillman advised/reminded the other Directors that in 2001, the sitting Board at that time approved a motion that limited a Director’s absence from a regular meeting to 4 times during the period of July 1-June 30 each year.  Any  director with more that 4 absences during the period, would be asked to resign.  Jason Alban moved to enforce/support this program.  Lee Powell seconded the motion which passed unanimously.

Speed Humps- Manager Kroeger reminded the Board that the subject of speed humps had come up briefly at the annual meeting.  He had been asked to look into this and report back to the Board.  Kroeger said that he had found a supplier of heavy plastic speed humps.  He advised those in attendance that a “speed hump” differed from a “speed bump” in that it was longer from front to back and only about 3” high.  He had received
prices in the $2500-5,000.00 range, prior to installation.  He had also spoken to Rudolph Paving who had said they could build in something similar for approximately $1000.00 a piece.  There was lengthy discussion about this topic i.e. police presence and speed enforcement, where and how many speed humps etc.  The topic was eventually tabled until the August meeting.

Security Cameras- Manager Kroeger stated that he had researched the possibility of installing security cameras at the Rec Center.  He had reviewed products from the company that we had purchased the equipment at the back gate from.  He noted that he thought because of the large area to be covered (building, parking lot, porch, and beach)
that 8 cameras would be needed.  Lens restrictions would probably require a set of cameras on the light pole, and some on the roof of the building, and there was a challenge of getting cameras under the deck and porch area.  Additional video cabling and electrical supply was another concern.  The cost would be in the $2000.00 range prior to installation.  He suggested that even though we have periodic vandalism, some recent, that we probably had not incurred $2000.00 in damage over a period of many years.  The issue died for lack of support.

Committee Appointments- President Stillman went down the list of standing committees as provide for by the By-Laws.  He noted that 2 of our committees needed their name changed in order to comply.  Jason Alban, as Treasurer, took over the chair of the Business Planning, Budget & Assessment Committee.  Mike Robinson took the chairs of Nominating & Election Supervisory and By-Laws Committees.  The Rules & Regulations chair remained open.  Rob Collins chose to chair the Personnel Committee.
Other committee chairs remained the same.  Other directors signed up on various committees as members.

COMMITTEE REPORTS
Business Planning- Nothing additional
Infrastructure- Jim Davidson noted that we were making some headway on the Rec Center but that the initial monies approved for the repair would be inadequate.  Lee Powell moved to finish the project.  Judy Carter seconded the motion which passed unanimously.  He further reported that we had designated several road repairs that would probably make up the road work for ’09.  Most of this was patching, not paving.
The subject of credit cards surfaced.  The business planning committee was asked to look into the feasibility of accepting credit cards for assessments etc
Nominations- Nothing further
Rules & Regulations-A meeting of the committee will be scheduled to elect a chairman
By-Laws- Nothing
Personnel – Nothing
Parks & Recreation- A Festival of Lights committee meeting is scheduled for July 16th.
Covenants & Restrictions- A committee meeting is scheduled for July 20th.

The meeting adjourned at 9:05 on a motion by Lee Powell and a second by Amy Busler.