FLRC Board of Trustees Meeting
January 10, 2009
9:35 AM the meeting was called to order by Glen Post, President.
Lake Members Comments and Communication
Monica Mersinger reported that she had spoken to the Columbia County Transportation Department about the replacement of the Fishhawk Creek Bridge. The bridge project has been scheduled for the calendar year of 2010 and the county will not begin design work until after the funding is in place for the replacement.
Irene Dixon publically thanked Bob and Lou Yoder for all the effort they have put forth in the current emergency. The membership went on to name numerous lake members how were very helpful.
Jan Kleen asked for an update on the 503(c)(1) status for the Fishhawk Lake Ecological Foundation.
Glen Post read two e-mails from lake members. The Horsey’s questioned the storm damage to the concrete “sea wall” on the edge of their property and asked for information about the lake’s insurance carrier so that they can file a claim. Kathy Verden sent an e-mail to the office thanking the lake for the frequent updates on the snow and rain situation and complementing the lake staff for the hard work they have been performing.
A motion for the approval of minutes from the November 8, 2008 Regular Board Meeting and Approval of the minutes from the special meeting of December 13, 2008 was made by Joe Cardona, second Vic Dykstra. Motion passed unanimously.
Additions to the Agenda by board members
Vic Dykstra added a Personnel Committee Report to New Business
Lake Employee Reports:
Tom Mahar reported that we have received the OSHA report and Chemical Training Report and are making strides toward compliance. We are working on the Accident Reporting training and documentation and will be complete before January 17, 2009.
December Monthly Report for Lake Employees and Volunteers
Waste Water Treatment Plant:
· UV system was delivered and set in place on the pad. The plumbing has begun (old plumbing removed and new plumbing installed) and wiring needs to be scheduled will have to wait until ground thaws.
Water Treatment Plant:
· Back to running normal after the extended power outage.
Common Grounds:
· Plowing and spreading gravel as we can for the weather conditions. Helping residents by turning water off to the houses.
· Helped residents by putting tops down on pontoon boats.
· Clearing roadways and some driveways and much tree and limb removal from the extended snow fall
· Forest Teele and his brothers (Clinton, Laramie and Birch) cut tree limbs off houses shoveled a lot of snow in people’s driveways and off their pontoon boats.
· Joe Banzer, Olav Berg and Rick Luttrell did the final clearing of the main roads after the storm. Bob, Allen and Vic were on the backhoe as much as they could be during the storm to clear where they could.
· Butch Sasse did an extraordinary job of keeping people in gasoline, pulling people out of ditches and helping to remove trees. He delivered water to the main station as needed. If you see him – Thank him for all he did. It was because of his effort, those of us that live here, were able to get by. Thanks Butch.
· 22.5 hours of dredging this month.
· 15.2 inches of rain fell in November
Office:
· Updated Allen’s spreadsheet to include WWTP blower preventative Maintenance Schedule.
· OSHA – we got the report from OSHA and are putting a task list together to make sure we cover all the serious issues by Jan. 7, 2009. There is more to be done and we will be working on it.
Glen Post highlighted the contributions of Forest Teele and the entire Teele family, Joe Banzer, Olav Berg, Vic Dykstra and Butch Sasse for all the work during the snow storm
Allen Tuck reported that we are holding the lake water level as best we can and that the water treatment plant and waste water treatment plants are back to normal operation.
Diana Mahar reported that she has been working with Eugene Whitley on HOA matters.
Treasurer’s Report
Joe Cardona presented Financial Statements for November 2008 and December 2008
Expenditures for December were approximately $44,000 and we are under budget by about $24,000 due to the receipt of the FEMA money for the Waste Water Treatment Plant. Additionally, he updated the Board on Flood Insurance estimates for lake property.
Jean Martwick moved that the Board authorize the purchase of Flood Insurance for the association owned property and that Glen Post and Joe Cardona be authorized to purchase the most cost effective and comprehensive insurance available under the responses to queries, the annual premium not to exceed $4,000. The motion was seconded by Vic Dykstra and passed unanimously.
Board Reports
· Legal and Special – Eugene Whitley
o Home Owner’s Association Dues Update
Eugene stated that we have been as compassionate as possible but due to some outside influences we will be filing liens on three properties for HOA dues.
He also reported that we have two lake members on payment plans this year.
o Newton study/analysis of the Johnston property
Dick Nichols from Newton Engineering needs to walk the property before anything else is done. He will call Bob Yoder to schedule the visit.
o It was announced that both the Horton and Bannon insurance claims arising out of the December 2007 flood have been denied by our insurance investigator. Final confirmation will come from the insurance company in due course.
· Personnel Committee Report
Vic Dykstra presented the board with a draft revision of the Personnel Policy and Job Descriptions.
Glen Post suggested that the policy adoption be done with a 1st reading to be followed by a 2nd reading.
Eugene Whitley moved that the Personnel Policy and Job Description be accepted for 1st reading. The motion was seconded by Bob Yoder and passed unanimously.
Vic Dykstra mentioned that the governing regulations may require the use of a time clock for lake employees. It was discussed and a decision will be made before the 2nd reading if we can use a sign in sheet or need an actual time clock.
· Buildings and Grounds – Bob Yoder
Bob Yoder reported on the damage from the past storm. We have again experienced road wash out on Northshore because the culverts are not large enough.
Bob also recommended that we research the acquisition of some sort of standby power to pump the effluent from the holding tanks at the lift stations during power outages. A discussion about bridges to replace the culverts on Northshore followed.
Vic Dykstra expressed concern with existing situation whereby the County owns the roads but we are responsible for all maintenance. At this point it is unclear which options are best for our association.
Irene Dixon suggested the formation of an Emergency Committee to outline procedures and practices during natural disasters.
Monica Mersinger added that water shut off valves are needed on all lots at the lake.
Eugene Whitley commented that if lake property owners have ideas or concerns revolving around the emergency response plan they should e-mail them to him and he will compile the thoughts for the next meeting.
New Business
In a discussion of Water Rights, it was reported that Greg Beamon, the regional water master has notified the lake that we are not in compliance with our water rights and that he expect to see progress toward the acquisition of additional water rights for the lake. At this point we have water rights for 97 homes. There are 162 homes currently in the community with the possible addition of up to 94 more possible on buildable lots in the community. Mr. Beamon has expressed the opinion that we should acquire additional water rights for the remaining homes. The problem with this is that the state has already ruled that these additional water resources will not come from Fishhawk Creek. This is brought to the board’s attention as an information item and a heads up that we will be working on this in the future.
The board discussed the establishment of a fee structure to assess penalties for homeowner who fail to winterize their properties and in the cases where such failure causes additional expense or work for the lake. It is possible for a burst pipe in one home at the lake to cause health and safety concerns with interruption of water service to the entire community. The board did not take any action on this issue but committed to further study and debate at a future meeting.
The board also discussed the potential establishment of service fees for owner requested items not covered in the services generally provided by the lake, such as “would you please go over and shut off my water, I forgot to do it”, “inspect my property and let me know if there is damage” or “please put the top down on my boat so it doesn’t collapse”. Kevin Kocka asked if there was a list of services generally provided by the lake. Glen asked the Buildings and Grounds Sub-Committee to provide suggestions for the list of both provided services and fee based services.
During the 9 day power outage, the National Guard assisted by providing a large generator to run the Water Treatment Plant. It was questioned if need to purchase a generator as back up for power outages that affect our ability to provide drinking water. Glen Post stated that in a quick search of the internet for generators capable of running the Water Plant the costs ranged from a low of $20,000 for a used unit to in excess of $330,000. Jean Martwick asked if a generator could be rented for that purpose. It was generally agreed that we cannot depend on the National Guard for every instance of need. No decision having reached, the research will continue.
There was a request to consider emergency lighting around the water treatment plant, the clubhouse and the waste water treatment plant during power outages. There was little time to research this question and the research will be done when time allows.
We have been invited to present a brief PowerPoint® presentation at the Dam Operators meeting in March about the 2007 flood and our future hopes for mitigation projects. The Board authorized Glen Post to prepare the presentation and he has agreed to attend the meeting if possible.
It was announced that there has been no movement on the Clatsop County Flood Mitigation requests submitted after the December 2007 flood. The county is moving toward adoption of an emergency plan and once that happens we may have some movement on the mitigation grant requests.
Old Business
We have received a letter from the IRS. They have received the application for tax exempt status for the Fishhawk Lake Ecological Foundation and are processing it. They found no errors in the application and it is believed that the final approval will be forthcoming.
Joe Cardona asked about the invoice from Ron Bush for engineering work on the Waste Water Treatment Plant after the 2007 flood. The board has asked for an itemized invoice and will not authorize payment until they receive one. Glen Post will send Ron Bush a letter outlining the Board’s expectations.
Standing Lake Committee Reports
· Architectural Committee
Kathy Cardona reported that the committee did meet in December and approved four requests.
Glen Post asked the committee not to restrict storm cleanup and to be very responsive to members with storm damage and to keep the cleanup of downed and damaged trees on track without undue restrictions.
It was announced that we have a full Architectural Committee with the addition of Sally Daugherty who has volunteered to be a member.
The Architectural Committee is now the Fire Pit Monitors. Every fire pit at the lake will be inspected sometime in March and April. If your pit does not pass inspection the report will be left at your property. Once the State declares “Fire Season” to be in effect, no one can burn outside an approved fire pit. If there are complaints about the size or location of fires, call Kathy Cardona who has been authorized to act on behalf of the fire department to request the termination of the offending behavior. If the fire is not brought into compliance the Sheriff’s Department will be called.
Kathy asked if we can create a burn pile in the vicinity of the fire station at the end of the dam. The Board has agreed to allow the establishment of such a burn pile. Storm debris in the form of trees and limbs may be placed in the temporary burn pile at the dam from now until April 15th. This is a temporary location to facilitate the storm cleanup while the current burn pile location dries out and becomes usable. Nothing but storm debris can be placed in the temporary pile.
· Security
During the storm, Security Committee people walked all the roads in the community and notified members who’s homes were damaged or in danger of damage.