HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE
PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION
Annual Meeting
Thursday, April 25, 2019 7 p.m.
Golf Course Club House
Unapproved
Board of Directors Present: Pat Hawkins, Scott Giska, Tom Hamilton and Robert Starks and Donna Yetzer
Board of Directors absent: None
Community Manager Present: Bruce Keller
This Meeting’s Motions:
- Motion to accept Annual Meeting Minutes from 2018 Annual Meeting. Secretary
- Motion to accept Performance Bond Returns. Architecture
- Motion to accept the December 2018, January 2019, February 2019 and March 2019 Financial Reports. Finance
- Motion to accept the 2018 Audit prepared by Donlin and Associates. Finance
- Motion to accept the Finance Committee’s recommendation to contract with Premier Properties as the realtor for the Fairway Housing Project. Finance
- Request a motion to accept the 2019 version of the HVL POA Community Master Plan as the new current version. Future Planning
- Request a motion to accept the new HVL POA Land Use Plan as the current version. Future Planning
Call To Order: Patricia Hawkins
Pledge of Allegiance: Patricia Hawkins
President Patricia Hawkins called the April 25, 2019 Board of Director Meeting to order at 7:00pm
The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Introduction of Board Members:Patricia Hawkins
Tom Hamilton – President
Pat Hawkins – Vice President
Donna Yetzer – Secretary
Robert Starks – Treasurer
Scott Giska – Member at Large
This year we did not have a contested election. The only candidate to file was Tom Hamilton, so by default Tom won unanimously. Congratulations Tom!
Pat announced that Tom Hamilton will be the President of the Board of Directors at the end of this meeting. Pat will assist him as his Vice President.
Board Liaison:
Architecture – Donna Yetzer
Finance – Robert Starks
Future Planning – Pat Hawkins
Judicial – Scott Giska
Lakes & Parks – Scott Giska and Tom Hamilton
Safety, Security & Elections – Robert Starks
VRUC – Scott Giska
Presidents Report: Patricia Hawkins
“Life is good where we live.” When it comes to Hidden Valley Lake this statement is both a slogan and a motto. It is our slogan because it is the ideal that we as a community strive for. It is our motto as well, as we feature it prominently on our website and in our printed materials.
Life is good here because of our committees, our clubs, our employees, and Willie’s. It is good because of you, our property owners, who are engaged in the community and who volunteer to help on key initiatives here in Hidden Valley Lake. I would like to highlight two such groups of volunteers:
- Members of the Land Use Task Force– These individuals, led by Jim Buchanan, developed and analyzed a survey to determine what property owners wanted for new amenities. Their work will be of tremendous value to Hidden Valley Lake’s Board of Directors and will help determine where to spend limited discretionary dollars.
- Volunteers who helped renovate the Hidden Valley Lake Golf Course clubhouse — Short on budgeted dollars, but long on ideas and talent, these individuals took a drab, aging clubhouse and gave it a spectacular facelift.
These groups and individuals give us the strength and resilience needed to address the challenges of our ever-changing community. We would like to briefly highlight three of the major challenges:
On-Going Budget Pressures
While life here is good, adding new amenities and maintaining existing amenities and infrastructure requires significant financial investments. We have asked Bruce Keller to identify a resource to help us determine the projected lifespan of all our buildings and the funds needed to maintain them at a high level. We have also asked our Finance Committee, led by Kyle Packer, to recommend how we allocate available funds on an on-going basis to maintain all amenities and infrastructure. We will all work together to ensure adequate funding for both maintaining current amenities and adding future amenities which will also incur their own on-going maintenance costs.
Staff Changes
While the makeup of the board and committees changes frequently, continuity in Hidden Valley Lake has generally been provided by our staff. Retirements, both past and projected, create a void in our organizational memory. We worked with Bruce Keller to see that qualified candidates were identified, hired, and trained in order to minimize the potential disruptions. The board also chose to create the position of Assistant Community Manager and promoted David Wismann to fill that role in a further effort to ensure continuity and minimize problems for our property owners.
Communications
Rich Gannon has had a profound, positive impact on the quality of our communications. Our website has been redesigned, our official Facebook page is updated frequently, and our message boards are relevant and easy-to-read. Even with all this, though, communicating with property owners still has challenges.
While we will continue to do our very best to communicate with the community at large, we do recognize that there will always be questions from, and issues with, individual property owners. All of us who make up the organizational structure of the Property Owners’ Association — employee and volunteer — want to answer your questions and resolve your issues as quickly as possible. You can help us do that. Please direct your questions and comments to Bruce Keller via phone or email or email the board through the Hidden Valley Lake website. We all stand ready to help you in any way we can.
Secretary’s Report: Donna Yetzer
- Request a motion for Approval of Annual Meeting Minutes from 2018.
Motion made by Robert Starks and seconded by Tom Hamilton to approve the Annual 2018 Meeting Minutes. Motion passed unanimously.
Treasurers report: Robert Starks
All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.
Financial Position as of the end of March 2019.
Beginning Cash on March 1, 2019, $1,424,390.00
Ending Cash on March 31, 2018, $1,232,144.00
Our auditor has completed the 2018 audits for both the POA and the Golf course. The reports are now available and shows that our staff and finance committee continues to do an excellent job for our community.
Our budget for 2019 is approximately $2,340,000.00 and includes amenity improvements that many volunteers and POA staff have worked on for years to bring to fruition. The new docks, upper beach bathroom, the Marina Shelter with Bathrooms and the Pickelball courts are just a few items that will be major enhancements to our community.
I would also like to make you aware of improvements at the Golf Course Club House. Jen and Brian along with a really great staff and many volunteers have donated a lot of time and materials to the club house. Not only do we have a fantastic new bar but the entire club house has been repainted, new carpet, improved work areas for staff and new furnaces which were badly needed and a larger taller new awning to make the patio even more inviting. All in all our community received at least a $100,000.00 renovation for about $25,000.00. Our thanks goes to the entire Golf Course crew, the many volunteers and especially Rhonda Kropewnicki who has donated so very generously to the Clubhouse renovation.
Community Managers Report: Bruce Keller
This past year has been an extremely busy one here at Hidden Valley Lake. We planned, and are taking steps to complete, floating docks at the marina, a pickle ball court, a shelter at the marina, bathrooms at the upper beach shelter and the tie-in of the lower beach shelter.
We have executed many building projects over the years, but this past year has been particularly challenging. Five years ago, we would have had five to ten bids on each project. This time we had very few bids, if any, on our projects. This has caused us to think way out of the box and when Robert Starks came to us with an option, we jumped on it. Robert Starks has offered his services to rebuild and tie-in the lifeguard shack at the beach. In return, our maintenance department will clear two of his lots on Longview. This gives Hidden Valley Lake about a $10,000 dollar savings. Be prepared, we may be coming up with a hybrid for building our new shelter and bathrooms.
- Motion to approve Robert Starks’services to rebuild and tie-in the lifeguard shack at the beach.
Motion made by Donna Yetzer and seconded by Tom Hamilton to approve Roberts Starks to build shelters. Motion passed unanimously.
This has also been a year for rebuilding our office staff. Chris Brandt retired in November and Moe Manion will be leaving in September. We have added Marla Ratliff to our staff and she is doing great. On top of that we added Dave Wismann to our staff as Assistant Community Manager. We are using this time to review office processes in order to give you the best services.
Your maintenance team has been working like gang busters, and with some added new equipment in the near future, they will be doing more in-house projects making us more efficient. More than that you will soon see a much better facility maintenance program.
We continue to have a great security team. The only problem is that they are always being hired by government departments that can offer much more to them than we can. We are happy for them and will continue to hire more very qualified deputies.
If you haven’t noticed, there are already great things happening here at the golf course and it is going to get even better beginning tomorrow with our Prime Rib Buffet. You will hear more when Jen Reuter comes up for her report.
The pool and beach will be up and running soon with Angie Ruberg at the helm. I truly appreciate Angie and the staff she hires each year. We are currently looking for beach attendants. If you think you want to work as an attendant, please let us know soon. Please work with us to ensure this year is abuse free for these young lifeguards who simply want to keep your family safe and ensure that folks using our facilities are supposed to be there.
Now Dave will give his report, but while he is getting ready, let’s talk about Richard Gannon. Richard has brought a completely new tool set to Hidden Valley Lake and is critical to all of the communication we push out to the community. He has done such a great job, that Dave Wismann thought it was a good idea to give him a little piece of God’s Country. I will let Dave explain.
Congratulations to Richard Gannon for becoming a Kentucky Colonel! This wonderful award recognizes all the great work that Richard has done in Hidden Valley and throughout our Community. Thanks for everything you do Rich!
Assistant Community Managers Report: Dave Wismann
DOCKS-Allied will be here Thursday, April 25, installing 40 concrete footers that will support some of the pipes on which the docks will move up and down. These footers consist of a large steel plate with a welded pipe and a large concrete bag is installed on top of the plate. Concrete is pumped into the bag for weight. Our goal is to have docks competed and ready for assignment by May 3. The total cost of this project will be around $280,000 and will provide around 22 extra slips. The dock system carries a 20-year warranty from Cube Docks. Our maintenance crew, after initial training on the first two docks, installed the rest and have done a fantastic job!
MARINA SHELTER AND UPPER BEACH SHELTER UPGRADE-It has been difficult to find experienced contractors for this work, however, we are working on options to complete the projects. This may involve a combination of contracting and maintenance crew or other personnel to get the projects finished sometime during the summer. We already have a plumber working on the plumbing portion of the project.
LIFEGUARD SHACK-We first considered renovating the shack purchased last year to tie in roof lines and walls. After several contractors looked at the project, we found that it would be less expensive to remove the building and build the shack from scratch. This will have an added benefit of providing a small patio overlooking the lake. The current portable building is able to be used by the HVL Farmer’s Club for their purposes and they have purchased the building. It will be moved to that location as soon as it can be scheduled with the moving company.
Golf Course Managers Report: Jen Reuter
From my perspective, 2018 was a rough year, all the way around. It started in February with the loss of our Manager and friend, Pat Sullivan. The spring weather did not give us a break…at all. In fact, by this time last year, we were already down 1500 rounds, and we had to play catch up for the rest of the year. We are in a weather dependent business, and last year, Mother Nature was definitely not on our side.
The golf club ended 2018 with 259 members, 5 down from where we started, and approximately 2000 rounds in the hole. However, in a year where the weather was absolutely terrible for the sport, we held our own . . . and I consider that in itself, a victory.
So what about this year? Things are looking up!
We have a totally updated clubhouse! The project was started the last week of December and it amazes me how much has changed in the last four months. We have all new paint and stain, new carpet, some new furniture (the rest will be coming soon), a new awning on the patio, and a brand new pub! The transformation has been amazing, but more impressive is the fact that we did it so inexpensively!
How did we do it? Hundreds and hundreds of volunteer hours, tens of thousands of dollars of donated and bartered goods, and very frugal purchasing of the rest of the items. The carpet, pub floor, ladies restroom floor, furniture, blinds, countertops, and lights were bartered or donated. Thank you Chuck and Joe Brandel of Home Furniture in Lawrenceburg, Chuck Shoemaker of Ideal Garage Solutions in Bright, Josh Dirr of WinSupply in Lawrenceburg, and Rhonda Kropewnicki!
In all, we made approximately $100,000 in upgrades for roughly $25,000!
As for the course… Earlier this year, we purchased eightpieces of “gently used” equipment for $20,000, for Jason, our superintendent. Highlighting the equipment purchase were a much needed fairway mower and a pro gator . . . as the value of these twoitems aloneis over $30,000.
Up next… the cart paths! In May, we will be putting $20,000 into paving. Although this only pays for roughly 4/10 of a mile and we have over 4 miles of cart paths, this is a great start.
We are over 900 rounds ahead of where we were this time last year. Our 1st session of the Monday night league is well under way. We are currently signing up teams for the summer and fall sessions and there are still some spaces available. We have 3 outings scheduled in May, and group lessons begin on May 7th. I suppose you could say we are in “full swing”.
If you would like any information on our outings, lessons, memberships, range plans, or anything else golf related, stop by the Pro Shop and see Brian, our Pro.
Our Friday night buffets begin tomorrow night with a prime rib buffet! Chef Gabi Jerauld will be handling all of our outings, buffets and other large events this year. We will continue to have a different buffet every Friday evening and of those, 1 per month will be a fundraiser for the Dearborn County Clearinghouse. In fact, tomorrow’s buffet is for the Dearborn County Clearinghouse, which is a very worthy cause.
The Clearinghouse is a local non-profit hunger relief organization that provides food, clothing, and other support (when available) to families in need. They are privately funded by donations from business and individuals in the community. If you are interested in helping the Clearinghouse, stop by and make a donation, stay for the “free will” dinner, listen to some live music on the patio, and enjoy!
Lastly, we have a new Food & Beverage Manager, Chris Jansen. He will be handling the daily operations of the snack bar and the pub. If you have not yet met Chris, please stop by and introduce yourself. We are very excited to welcome him to the team!
So, what is the current state of our club?
I believe we have a strong foundation. Over the past 4 years, we have invested a great deal into our infrastructure, and that is setting us up with an eye toward the future.
I believe we have a great group of employees who are committed to our success.
I believe we have many vibrant new members and that our future is very bright.
Finally, I believe with the continued support of our membership and our HVL community, 2019 can be our best year yet!
Willie’s Sports Café: Steve Van Wassenhove
Willie’s has completed 14 years here at HVL. Steve purchased Willie’s in April of 2009.
Steve extended his personal thanks to Pat Hawkins. Pat has been instrumental in handling the relationship with Steve and Hidden Valley community.
Steve hired a General Manager. This will allow him time to look at the day to day operations to make Willie’s even better for the community. He would like to hear from the HVL residents on any improvements they would like to see at Willie’s. Feel free to reach out to Steve at any time.
Committee and Club Reports
Architecture Committee Report: Phil Heitz
- Request approval of performance bond returns.
Motion made by Donna Yetzer and seconded by Robert Starks to approve the performance bond returns. Motion passed unanimously.
Performance Bonds for Return 4/25/2019
Lot # 1161H James & Christina Weaver
Property Address 20511 Matterhorn Bond Amount $500.00
City, State, Zip Lawrenceburg, IN 47025 Dues Owed $0
Fine/Fees Owed $0
Lot #2540 Michael & Lisa Palmere
Property Address 1723 Cover Circle East Bond Amount $500.00
City, State, Zip Lawrenceburg, IN 47025 Dues Owed $0
Fine/Fees Owed $0
The Architecture Committee added a new meeting during peak months. Two meetings will be held twice a month April thru October.
The meeting times are as follows:
First Wednesday of every month at the POA office at 4:30pm
Third Wednesday of every month at the POA office at 6:00pm
Finance Committee Report: Mary Anna Taylor
- Request a motion to accept the December 2018, January 2019, February 2019 and March 2019 Financial Reports.
Motion made by Robert Starks and seconded by Scott Giska to accept the December 2018, January 2019, February 2019 and March 2019 Financial reports. Motion passed unanimously.
- Request a motion to accept the 2018 Audit prepared by Donlin and Associates.
Motion made by Robert Starks and seconded by Scott Giska to accept the2018 Audit. Motion passed unanimously.
- Request a motion to accept the Finance Committee’s recommendation to contract with Premier Properties as the realtor for the Fairway Housing Project.
Motion made by Robert Starks and seconded by Tom Hamilton to accept the Finance Committee’s recommendation to contract with Premier Properties. Motion passed 4-1.
David Lebourveau, Lot # 1566/1567H, asked if the Fairway Housing Project would be home owned properties or rental properties. Pat Hawkins assured David that the homes would not be rental properties.
Ken Horn, Lot # 2790, wanted to know if we were selling the property to a developer and then they would develop the property. Ken also wanted to know if HVL would provide maintenance for this property.
Karen Hatfield, Lot # 621, Karen has no issues with the development. She wants to know if these homes will be single family homes that will never be rented at any time in the future.
Phil Messer, Lot # 2689, expressed his concerns about our rules and the pricing of the new homes.
A gentleman had questions about the revenue of the lots, concerned it will increase our debt with the Golf Club. Once a decision is made on the lots he wanted to know if the HVL community would have a chance to vote on that decision.
Phil Heitz, Lot # 2730, Phil hopes that whoever decides to develop these lots will follow the standards in the community. The board assured him that they will go through the Architecture Committee for approval.
There was much discussion on the development of residential lots on the golf course.
Judicial Panel: Bruce Plashko
No Report
Lakes Committee Report: Bruce Keller
Lakes & Parks continues to be a very busy committee. Currently, we are facilitating five task forces that are studying the top five amenity wants of this community as determined by the recent amenity survey. The top five amenity preferences are pool improvements, kayak launch and storage, RV storage, an outdoor activity center, and hiking trails.
We have been heavily involved with the second largest amenity project over the past 15 years or so and that is the replacement of the docks at the marina. We are hoping to send out dock renewal notices next week. The replacement project is $280,000 and will net about 22 more pontoon slips than we had last year. Our hope is to reduce our six year pontoon dock waiting list at least by a little.
We are also involved with the new marina shelter project as well as tying in the lower beach building and adding bathrooms to the upper beach shelter. This will eliminate the permanent need for portable restrooms in the community. We may still need them for special events.
The committee has also been analyzing the fish study that we had performed last October. Working with the Fish & Game Club, we are actively following the suggestion to remove what we have come to call slot fish. These fish are bass with a length of 9 to 13 inches. They have taken over the lake. As fierce eaters, they consume a disproportionate amount of food leaving too little for other species. We ask that all of you help with removing these slot fish. There is a basket at the marina where you can put them. The Fish & Game club will ensure that they are removed and placed at locations outside Hidden Valley Lake. Also, feel free to take some from the basket if you are looking for a fresh fish dinner.
Have a safe summer and please be courteous to others when using our lake or other amenities. Thanks!
Phil Heitz, Lot # 2730, wanted to know if the 22 additional docks will alleviate the long wait for the slips. Our hope is to reduce our six year pontoon dock waiting list at least by a little.
Future Planning: Jim Buchanan
- Request a motion to accept the new HVL POA Land Use Plan as the current version.
Motion made by Tom Hamilton and seconded by Robert Starks to accept the new HVL POA Land Use Plan. Motion passed unanimously.
Jim recognized the hard work of George Lortz, Richard Gannon, and each of the LUPTF members with their specific contributions
Safety, Security & Elections Committee Report: Bonnie Starks
Every meeting we review our current standard reports. These are the:
- Manager’s Report
- Deputy’s Report
- Email Report
The topics we have addressed this past year are:
- Community Master Plan
- Speeding in the Valley
- Beach Wall Ideas
- Front Entrance Problems
- Turn arrows on exiting
- School bus pickup congestion
- Election Procedures and possible Rule Changes
- Conducted Election Tally (Ginny Boyer & Pat Sutton)
- Home Security Analysis (Don Norris)
- Town Hall Meeting Topics
- Illegal entering another’s Boat
- Reviewed Lake Fines & Noise Violations
- Reviewed HVL Car Stickers Request
- Handgun Safety (Don Norris is having a class Thursday, May 2, 6:30pm)
I thank my committee for their participation. Everyone worked very hard, gave good advice, and came up with excellent solutions.
Our next meeting is Tuesday, May 7, 6:30pm. We meet in the first floor conference room of the POA building. Please join us.
Resident is concerned about the speed limit near the pool being 15 mph all year round. Resident feels that it should NOT be posted the same all year round, that it should be changed during pool season and then changed back after pool season. Changing of the speed limits confuse residents and visitors in the Valley.
Club Report
Athletic Club
No Report
Children’s Activity Club: Karen Hatfield
Easter egg hunt was the first event of the 2019 year. The weather didn’t cooperate but we finished with 219 kids.
The schedule will be coming out for the following:
Movies in the Park
Pool Event
Back to School Bash
Haunted Hayride
Halloween Walk
Santa’s Workshop
The committee is always looking for ideas and suggestions from the HVL Community.
Karen reported that they lost 3 committee members due the negative comments from the residents, especially for the Haunted Hayride. Karen wanted to remind everyone that all committees and clubs are volunteer and a big job. They all do their best!
There was some discussion on doing more fundraising for the Children’s Activity Club for all of the events they put on throughout the year.
Civic Club: Kevin Grosse
Karen Plogsted resigned and Kevin Grosse gave the report.
August is the Luau.
Rich Gannon sent out a survey for different activities. Keep a look out for updates on our Website or Facebook for upcoming events.
Fish and Game Club:John Dutton
John talked about the slot fish and reiterated what Bruce reported. They are working on getting as many of the slot fish out as they can.
Garden Club: Mary Anna Taylor
There are 28 members on the Garden Club and welcome men to join as well.
They take care of 7 gardens around the Valley and will start after Mother’s Day when the ground has warmed up. They will be sending an email out looking for volunteers to help plant flowers.
The Garden Club also works on getting the Echoes together for the community.
Homemaker’s Club
No Report
Hidden Valley Riders Club:John Kidd
The HVL Riders have been around 14 years. They have 48 members with a few pending.
They like to promote the sport of motorcycling with a very positive outlook. The Riders do a lot of fundraising which has included the 2018 Halloween Dance and the 70’s and 80’s Dance at the HVL Golf Club. The proceeds they raise have gone to local charities like the Dearborn County Food Pantry, they also help out HVL Residents in need.
They are getting ready for the Memorial Day Celebration. The riders also have a ride for Fallen Hero’s which is very exciting and moving.
Photography Club:Doug Gabbard
This is a new club that has already met twice. The Photography Club meets every 3rdTuesday of the month at the Golf Club.
They will be doing tours and photo walks all around the Valley and local areas. You can submit pictures for the HVL phonebook. The deadline for submission is May 13th. Please call the register for information on photo submission.
Doerflein Award Winner for 2019
Every year at the annual meeting, the Board of Directors presents the Doerflein Award to a Hidden Valley Lake volunteer.
The Doerflein Award, established to honor and remember James G. Doerflein, has been presented annually since 1992. The award reads: “For outstanding service and community dedication. Awarded annually to the Hidden Valley Lake property owner whose leadership, creativity, or enhancement of community pre-eminence has resulted in the year’s most significant contribution to community excellence.”
This year, the Board of Directors is pleased to present this award to a group that has made significant contributions over many years — the Hidden Valley Lake Garden Club.
Elizabeth Murray, perhaps best known for cultivating and photographing Monet’s Gardens, has said “Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint and the earth and sky as canvas”.
For years, our garden club artists have painted Hidden Valley Lake’s canvas. Each year, they design, plant, and weed the pool area, the front entrance, the gazebo area near Willie’s, and the pergola area at Greentree and Hickory. Garden club members decorate our front entrance for the holidays and stand ready to provide the POA with landscaping and gardening advice. In addition to all this labor and expertise they also fund their work by earning a small stipend each time they stuff our newspaper, Echoes, and by hosting bunco parties and other fundraisers.
They add beauty to our environment and serve as an inspiration to individual property owners. We thank them for their contributions and are pleased to present them with this year’s Doerflein Award.
Old Business:
None
New Business:
None
Adjournment: 8:41pm
Minutes Prepared by Gina
Minutes published in this paper are abbreviated and a full account can be heard online at www.hiddenvalleylakeindiana.com