TRRPOA2013 Annual Meeting

Saturday, December 7, 2013

1:00pm

Castle Rock, CO

Secretary’s Minutes

I.Call to Order

II.Roll Call by Secretary---18 lots in attendance: Robert Mathews—Lots 3 & 57, Robert & Barb Wolf—Lot 10, Larry Ogle---Lot 14, Laurie Hughes—Lot 17, Norman Staples—Lot 27, Bill & Nancy Ickes—Lot 28, David Petschauer---Lot 53C, Pam & Eric Fitz—Lot 61, David Roden---Lot 60, Jennie Gross—Lot 71, Robert Golden---Lot 72, Kent Osborne—Lot 74, Ruth Ann Olson—Lot 86, Tom Benson—Lot 104, David Flores---Lot 119A, Ken Harmon---Lot 220, and Dave & Kim O’Shea—Lot 235

III.Approval of Last Meeting’s Minutes

IV.President’s Report

a.Ground rules for orderly meeting: Stand, state your name and lot number after being recognized by President to respond. We need to keep the topics on point and clear for the recorder and transcript.

b.Review of procedures and policies implemented so far this year.

Open board meetings with announcement beyond requirements in law
Moving locations to encourage more participation
Proxy explanation of how the process works and why it adds a level of security and confidence---enough property owners and proxies are in attendance for the quorum to count.
Web site updates

V.Treasurer’s Report

a.Treasurer’s report: end report Nov. 20, 2013. See Attached documents (past 3 years’ documents provided). TRRPOA is running in the black for 2013.

b.Budget 2014---see attached.

c.Proposal to utilize electronic payment methods in future

d.Questions: Snow removal…how are those who live on the ranch supposed to get out? Do we want to have/keep a snow removal contract? For snow removal and trash pick-up, those who live on the ranch get $200 more in services than they pay in dues. Is this fair? Comment: in the past, the road maintenance was to take care of grading and snow removal. Dues were decreased at that time while Mr. Wolf was President and Mr. Ogle was Secretary. More questions are out there. Comment: the board is evading the membership with information. Why are we paying legal fees? What happened with the Pole Canyon CD?

e.The Board is trying to accommodate everyone’s points of concern, but the disruptive behavior of some of our members makes it very challenging to conduct a meeting.

f.Snow removal can be considered if it is the will of body to have a snow removal contract.

g.Because the board is entrenched in a legal situation, we can’t comment until it is resolved. The Board is trying to resolve the issue with legal counsel.

h.Info posted on website: individual contacts and questions to the Board are not relevant to being posted to the website. Minutes, financials, meeting announcements, etc. will be posted. We are attempting to be open. If more needs to be posted to the website, it can be done.

i.Comment: items related to the health of the ranch are what should be posted. At future board meetings, give a summary of inquiries made to the Board and reasons for such.

j.Financial info: liens and foreclosures. Liens don’t seem to have much effect. Foreclosures are bringing down property values. The Board will give future reports on how many (keeping privacy of names and lot numbers) properties have been foreclosed upon.

k.CD Pole Canyon: @$12,000 came due in August. Moved into a money market to keep the best possible interest rate in an interim until we can find a better investment opportunity.

l.Question: assets: the POA owns Lot 151. It would be on a balance sheet, rather than the P & L.

m.Question: is there a balance sheet? Mr. Roden will make it available. Why is the money market balance (in the six figures) so high? What is the legal situation?

Why do we need legal fees? Updating covenants and bylaws as well as legal situations. Current legal situation is being covered by D& O insurance.
Legal situation: Case is in Huerfano County, case number 2013CV030045, Division D.
Future projects: weed abatement for 2014? Road maintenance? Road signs will need to be repaired/replace due to cattle damage. If there are future projects that will require such a balance, or do we need to look at future needs to reduce the dues.
Dues have been reduced from $200 to $100 over the years.
Pole Canyon has built 3 wind-generators so far. If they do future damage, monies will be needed to repair the roads.
Question on discrepancy of numbers from one page to the P & L. Membership dues current to 11.24.2013.
Quorum: 34 lots are not eligible to vote.
Pole Canyon $10,000 deposited in 2007-2008 to First National Bank of Trinidad. Mr. Ogle felt the finances were earning good percentages and should not have been moved. Mr. Fitz’s response: it matured….it had to be moved. It will be put where it can earn the best interest.
Mr. Ogle feels the account hasn’t been fully disclosed to the membership.

VI.Old Business

a.Weed Abatement – Ongoing discussion for future consideration. Drought in 2013 kept weeds removed prior year in check, but with fall precipitation, this will need to be looked at in Spring 2014. Question: what has been done in the past? Brush-hogging and cattle. Other option: spraying. This will be discussed at future meetings and published.

b.Road Maintenance – finished on time and within budget. First major upgrade in a decade.

c.Sign repairs---cattle have caused damage, the POA should consider repairs/replacement options.

d.Legal review of covenants: Articles and by-lawswere reviewed by law firm of Hindman-Sanchez, and recommendations have been made to update the articles/by-laws to bring them into compliance with the state. These recommendations will be given to the future board for consideration/inclusion/approval.

e.Comment: some current bylaws are not being followed. If they’re not being enforced, we need to either enforce them all, or have none. This needs to be considered when looking to potentially add more bylaws.

f.Question: are camper-trailers allowed to be kept permanently on a lot? These issues need to be discussed….at this point, no, there are no policies in place on how to handle consequences. Some have been spoken to, and some are coming into compliance. We need to either enforce all, or have none. Policies (or bylaws) need to be created to set the recommendations for compliance, fees, etc.

g. Comment: goal of having these policies ready to be voted on by annual meeting 2014.

h.Comment: power poles/underground lines: San Isabel Power Company and developer put in poles. Power can be put in the ground. The community should make such decisions to prevent things like power poles, and do things the right way.

i.Question: email traffic from a previous Board member. Does the association need to exist? What’s the board’s position on this? Could the TRRPOA be dissolved? It’s a legitimate discussion. End of the bylaws do have a clause for dissolution. At this time, the BOD is willing to research and discuss with legal counsel, but does not have a current opinion/position.

j.Suggestion: get legal advice on the process

k.Grazing lease: the lease is re-signed with Red Creek Ranch (they have rights for grass and water wells). Mr. Osborne will post this lease to the website.

l.Mineral rights: some lots do have them, some don’t. Check into it: there are shallow mineral rights and deep mineral rights.

VII.New Business

a.Look into methods for dissolving the POA. A committee of BOD and owners should be appointed to work on this. How can folks who have the land as an investment, what can we as owners do to improve the POA, if we don’t dissolve?

b.Budget 2014: dues increase to $200 by 2015? Covenants say minimum dues are $200. Why are we choosing to go back up? The present rate is in violation of the covenants. Comment: if we have so much in the bank, why do we need to raise the dues back up? Comment: we can avoid special assessments if we keep a solid reserve.

c.Comment: If in the future, could we do something for Walsenburg? This is something that could be discussed at a future meeting. Post community/social events on the TRRPOA website?

d.Comment: no one wants to get involved with the POA because of the complaints folks are hearing.

e.Fill three vacant board positions—we welcome participation.

Volunteer submissions and nominations: Laurie Hughes, Lot 17. Her comments for why she’s running: if she’s going to complain, she wants to be part of the solution. She is one of the plaintiffs in the suit against the BOD. Question: if she’s a plaintiff and gets elected to the BOD, is she suing herself?
Comment: this board is doing a good job.
Clarification: members of the board are elected by the membership. Officers are named within the board, rather than individuals running for a specific position.
POA member who is also a lawyer is willing to attend the TRRPOA meetings to help answer legal questions.
Other item for future consideration: improving Lot 151, rent an office/storage space, etc.
Motion: before we spend money on legal fees for bylaw revision, form a committee to come back with feedback for TRRPOA dissolution. Seconded, with non-board members to this committee? This special committee will report to the Board, then info to the membership. Volunteers for this committee: Barbara Wolf, Jennie Gross, Ken Harmon and BOD members. Tabled until after the election.
Nomination for the board from the floor: Robert Wolf
Treasurer’s report: voted upon….approved unanimously.
Candidates:
Kent Osborne
Robert Neher
Eric Fitz
Laurie Hughes
Robert Wolf
Election results: Eric Fitz, Kent Osborne, and Robert Wolf

VIII.Adjournment of General meeting: 3:40pm

IX.Director Meeting: 3:46pm

Officer election by board vote—
President: Eric Fitz
1st VP: Robert Wolf
2nd VP: Kent Osborne
Treasurer: David Roden
Secretary: Kim O’Shea
Communication with Robert Wolf via phone
Committee to investigate dissolution of TRRPOA: approved.
Set date for first 2014 meeting: March 15, 2014

X.Adjournment of Director Meeting: 3:50pm