July 13, 2010 Board of Trustees Meeting
The meeting was held at the Firehouse. In attendance were: Sherri Spykerman, Kent Meager, Tom Gering, and new Directors Beth Blackmer, Bob Wright and Andrew Ernemann. Also in attendance were, Association Accountant Bruce Anderson, and Manager Keith Edquist. Valerie Wright attended in regard to submission for changes to the Wright property.
Approval of Minutes—the Board approved the minutes from the June 3 Board meeting as written.
Architectural Control Authority- Owners Bob and Valerie Wright sought the Board’s preliminary approval for a new roof, wood shed, garage addition, greenhouse, entry and rear patio pergola, fence, berm and irrigation pond on their property. Bob and Valerie presented color photos of the wood shed, garage addition, greenhouse, pergola, entry door modifications, and a landscape plan showing the berm, fence and pond locations. Discussion resulted in approval of the wood shed, fence, berm, entry modifications and pergola over the rear patio. Berm to be planted and revegetated as per accompanying written comment submitted at this meeting.
Additional plans will need to be submitted for the garage addition, greenhouse and particulars of the pond location and function. Board recommended Wrights contact George Johnson in regard to the ditch/pond irrigation aspects. Fence to be lower and two rail (Meager existing fence as model) and photo to be submitted. Garage addition to have siding of logs, half logs or other materials that reflect traditional LEC character. Final plan submissions will still need neighbor sign-offs, require a Pitkin County permit, and will need to be accompanied by a $3000 construction completion deposit. President of the Association will continue to keep Architectural Control Authority documents, including applicant submissions.
Election of Board Officers-the following officers were elected for the 2010-2011 fiscal year:
Beth Blackmer-President (term expires at end of 2012-2013 fiscal year).
Tom Gering-Vice President (term expires at end of 2010-2011 fiscal year).
Kent Meager-Treasurer (term expires at end of 2011-2012 fiscal year).
Bob Wright-Secretary (term expires at end of 2012-2013 fiscal year).
Andrew Ernemann (term expires at end of 2012-2013 fiscal year).
Reasonably, one of the recently elected directors should serve a two year term, stepping down in 2011-2012, in order to provide a more uniform succession of directors going forward.
Audit update and Financial Reports -Bruce Anderson said he is working with Mike Jenkins of McMahan and Associates on a “laundry list” of requested information. He said the June 30 financial reports given to the Board tonight were “near final” in regard to the year end figures. The aging report showed only one owner overdue. Bruce said the Reese-Henry firm will again produce the tax return for Little Elk.
Kent Meager led a discussion regarding a contract with Bruce for accounting services and insurance (fidelity bonding) for the accounting work. He also addressed the present expense and possible expense of association accounting from other vendors. This was largely for the benefit of the new Board members. Bruce has done the association books for 18 years, and the value of this history was discussed. Net result was a decision for Bruce and Kent to get together on these matters prior to the next Board meeting, including Manager Edquist as needed. .
New Business—Manager Edquist and Kent Meager are to work on review of the current trash service to see if compliance with Pitkin regulations regarding bear resistant containers can be addressed. Fire hydrants are being checked, painted and numbered by vendor John McDermott; Miller and Polsky hydrants to be included at Association expense, since both contribute to water expense.
There followed discussion in regard to trailer and rv storage and the like, as Mr. Edquist wished to know how this Board wants to respond to non-compliance issues in this regard. Consistency, notification, a period of time for resolution, and Board action were noted as parts of any management enforcement efforts. In the end it was determined Mr. Meager and Mr. Edquist will walk the neighborhood and try to classify various storage issues in some order of priority. Recognition of the neighborhood as horse property was noted. Ex-President Spykerman suggested terms such as “screening” and “in use” be determined and placed in the Good Neighbor policy on the website, and this was agreed to by consensus.
Unfinished Business—Manager Edquist reported that the play structure still needed a roof, staining and more securely attached siding. Also, the beam supporting the tire swing broke and will need to be replaced. The Board determined Mr. Edquist should continue to work on these matters, and asked Bruce Anderson to recap expenses for the structure to date.
The revised Architectural Guidelines were briefly considered, and Director Ernemann agreed to revise them yet again for consideration in the August meeting. Mr. Edquist said the Board should also plan on an hour or more at the next meeting to review and revise the Responsible Governance Policies.
Director Meager suggested “unfinished business” be placed before “new business” on the August agenda. Management was directed to send an email blast to owners in regard to weed control and suggest a possible vendor with which several owners have experience. There is also an email blast to be sent in regard to users of propane to see how many users of each vendor may be in the neighborhood. Knowing this volume pricing may be available. Director Meager volunteered to continue to investigate possible solutions to the appearance issues presented by the Pate property, and to present options at the next meeting.
There being no other business to come before the Board, there followed a motion to adjourn at 9:40 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Keith M. Edquist, Association Manager
Beth Blackmer, President