Board of Directors Minutes December 9, 2021

HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

Thursday, December 9, 2021 at 7:00 pm – POA Lower Level

Board Members, Committee Chairs, Club Representatives, employees, and a limited number of residents who have requested to attend.

October 28, 2021 Motions:

Approval of October 2020 Minutes — Board Secretary
Approval of Performance Bonds for Return 12/09/21—Architectural Committee
Request of Motion “That the POA Board of Directors approve the most recent versions of the POA by-laws section 1-3. Elections Policies and Procedures (dated 10/07/21) and the Candidate Nomination Form dated (11/10/212)”.
Motion to Adjourn

Call to Order: Scott Giska

President Scott Giska called the Board of Directors meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

Pledge of Allegiance:

The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance.

President’s Report: Scott Giska

As always, welcome everyone both in-person and online via Zoom! We will be as brief as possible tonight as we all are wrapping up the year and preparing for the Holidays amidst the 2nd year of a pandemic that still impacts many around us and around the world!

On behalf of your Board, all of our committed HVL employees and volunteers, we want to wish everyone a very Happy Holidays that hopefully contains lots of time with family and friends, good food, sharing of gifts all that your family’s traditions and beliefs can allow for!

Yes, it’s true! You’ve seen it in the recently published Echoes as SEI Data, via a very thorough and competitive RFP (Request for proposal), has been selected to bring fiber optics capabilities to our community. As we are very committed to improve our community’s infrastructure, where we can, this is a really big move for us as we know many workers, and students, at times, are working more and more from home! Details will continue to be shared as this work begins in early 2021 and will continue over the next couple of years.

As we move into a new calendar year, allow me to hi-lite key infrastructure projects that are under way and will continue well into 2022 and beyond with this current and likely future Boards. We hope to be laying down a progressive footprint of action we can all be proud of and rally behind:

Ongoing – clean-up and refresh what we have. This involves lots of keen eyes for details and a commitment to our maintenance team’s ongoing punch list. David Wismann will talk more about some recent, but much needed limestone rock work, serving multiple purposes that is almost completed.
George Lortz is here tonight to talk about the great progress our 50th Anniversary Team is making to celebrate across the Valley. Thank you, George for joining us all.
I’ve asked David Wissman, again in his report, to share more specifics about the strategies moving forward to insure we continue to have good roads in our private community. I say this as a reminder, as we don’t benefit from local or state taxes to improve and maintain roads. We’ve come a long way since the chip and seal days, but we have more to do!
We’ve been working with Verizon to find a location in HVL to put up a new cell phone tower to improve our connections. We rejected their 1st location request, which was next to the 77 acres and in sight of the lake. We believe we have another, less intrusive area to consider.
I talked briefly last month regarding our engagement with the VRUC Board to express concerns regarding water main breaks caused by the aging VRUC system. We will continue to work with them as best we can to insure your voice is heard and we have a longer-term solution in mind.
We will be working in the 1st quarter of ‘22’ to develop and share a community presentation for you to vote on. Our thoughts on a low interest loan while rates are favorable help fund capital improvements to insure we have great membership retention and desired growth. Our current golf course financial outlook is very healthy, and the ability for the golf course to fund its need off of its operations is a huge step forward for all of us!
Our long-standing Community Erosio Plan of Attack will be addressed by David Wissman in his report.
Aging buildings… We have them, and we need a plan for the future to better maintain, remodel or re-build.
Retaining and attracting staff has become harder than ever in this pandemic world of reality. We have to think through our current and future needs, and what strategies and employee satisfaction benchmarks we need to maintain or further adopt.

THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING GREAT SUPPORTIVE NEIGHBORS, AND PLEASE STAY HEALTHY AND HAPPY THIS HVL HOLIDAY SEASON!

Treasurer’s Report: Jeff Fuell

Financial Position for the month of October 2021:

Our Cash Position on October 1, 2021—$719,090.00

Ending Cash on October 31, 2021—$621,608.00

Financial Position for the month of November 2021:

Our Cash Position on November 1, 2021—$621,608.00

Ending Cash on November 30, 2021—$ 452,686.00

Note:

All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.
HVL POA plans annually for a balanced budget. (i.e., anticipated annual expenses are planned to not exceed anticipated annual income)
Some infrequent expenses are predictable such as replacement of vehicles, maintenance of our roads, the many lake dams, swimming pool liner, lake dredging etc. Funds are escrowed each year to cover those future expenses and are included in the totals.
Projected cash at year end is generally equal to zero dollars plus escrowed funds for above mentioned expenses as well as necessary reserves. Reserves include two months of operating capital, capital for asset purchases, and Architecture bond payments to be refunded.
All financials will be audited by an outside auditor annually.

Secretary’s Report: Patricia Hawkins

Approval of October 2021 Minutes

Vice President’s Report: Dave Hafner

Community Manager’s Report: Dave Wismann

Office

The office will be closed the week between Christmas and New Year’s (Friday, December 24 through Sunday, January 2. We will have a limited staff who will be working on year-end projects.

The office is preparing for the board election season, which began in November, with announcements in the online version of Echoes, a banner on the homepage, a Listserv, and on the exit signs at various times throughout the month.

Next steps:

February 4—Elections-Nomination Deadline noon
February/March—Candidate bios and photo will be published in Echoes
March 21—Ballots will be mailed
April 1—Election deadline date, ballots must be returned to office

We are proud to welcome our newest Deputy, Alexis Lambrinides, a local Navy veteran, who is currently in training. We will be highlighting our new deputies in future Echoes editions.

Paul Rolfes has retired from his position on Lake Patrol. I will be working with the Lakes Committee on a replacement.

Infrastructure Management

Our maintenance team has been filling cracks in two of our smaller streets as a training for our future program. This is tedious work and not very exciting, but it will help make our roads last much longer-especially those that are more lightly traveled. My goal is to make this an annual event, and I am researching possible equipment purchases to keep costs down.

We are approaching roads with four specific strategies in mind:

Continuing our paving schedule—Early in the year, the Roads task force will annually assess roads that are scheduled for paving, and we will determine which roads will be completed.
Sealing cracks in roads to extend their lifespan—When roads are only a few years old, prior to developing major cracking and spidering, cracks will be filled to keep out water which can freeze and thaw and add to deterioration.
Repairing ruts, potholes, and road cuts as we find them or as they are reported
We want to assess and develop solutions to address road areas that are in need of major repairs. This includes making sure there is proper drainage and ditching and repairing the road base where necessary prior to repaving.

As an example, this year, Alpine, from the entrance to the area past Longview, is on the schedule. There are several structural issues, such as drainage and road base failures, that must be addressed before paving, so we are addressing those issues first.

The maintenance team replaced the concrete barriers along Alpine Drive with large and beautiful limestone pieces of rock, and we had enough left over to place at the far entrance to the Sports Complex (77 Acres) which has been an area of concern for unauthorized parking for some time. We plan to add some ornamental grass as well in both areas to enhance the aesthetic pleasure of these functional solutions for safety and to prevent yard damage in a high traffic area.

Erosion Control

We are seeking a grant through Dearborn County Soil and Water to assess our watershed to help us “determine the causes of and developing solutions to address excessive erosion, sedimentation, and woody debris buildup throughout the area” (initial proposal paperwork). Part of this process will include reviewing previous studies completed at HVL and meeting with our residents to help explain corrective measures. This will involve working together with the Lakes Committee and our Environmental Team and present a course of action for long-term solutions.

Golf Course

Pro-shop and 19^th Hole are now open at 9:00 a.m. for winter hours-weather permitting.

I want to personally thank the team at the golf course for their efforts in making the last two years so successful.

COMMITTEE AND CLUB REPORTS:

Architecture Committee Report: Tom Cross

Performance Bonds for Return 10/28/2021

Performance Bonds for Return 12/9/2021

Lot # 2850H Greg & Michelle Spanton

Property Address 21081 Sunnyridge Drive Bond Amount $500.00