Lake Linganore Association

Meeting Minutes

March 3, 2003

LLA board members in attendance were: Jim Reed, president; Alan Dinkelacker, vice president; Todd Young, LLA treasurer; Grant Sheehan and Andrew Twillman.

Also present were: LLA general manager Stephen Hembree; Larry Brown, LLA assistant general manager/ECC administrator; and, Joy Gurley, LLA office manager.

No report was given.

Under Approval of February 3, 2003 Meeting Minutes- add a final sentence that says "Mr. Kopec stated that he will forward a full status report to the LLA staff."

Under Unfinished Business- Section G. Brosius Dam Rehab Project- the last sentence of that section should read "Staff was asked to check the resolution on dam security as to whether or not certain secuirty measures taken would need to be in effect ‘until and’ through the construction period or if they could be lifted until construction begins.

Under Resident Forum- re: John Adams- add as a final sentence to that paragraph the following: "Mr. Reed offered his dock to be used for storage of the LLA boat until staff is able to prepare it for summer use."

Security— DFC Venzin reported that February had been another relatively quiet month in terms of security activity. He said there was a robbery in Pinehurst but that the suspects had been caught.

ECC— Committee member Fred Pfistner, speaking on behalf of other members of the committee, told the LLA directors that the committee wanted the monthly report of the ECC to be given by the ECC administrator, as had been done in the past. Mr. Pfistner and other ECC members Brian and Rachael Kopec said they believed that way the report would be "less biased."

Finance Committee— LLA treasurer Todd Young said the regular first Monday of the month report would be given at the next meeting.

Trailblazers Committee— Committee chaiperson John Shuey submitted a letter from the committee to the LLA directors that asked the association to spend the money that was in the trails budget. He said the committee gets money but that it never gets spent and that the committee wanted the association to spend the money budgeted. He also said that the committee does not want the cost of the Ben’s Ford Bridge to be taken out of its budget. He added that the "experimental " section of the trails rehab project should not be considered experimental because he has talked to many walkers, hikers, joggers who use that section of the trail system and that the response is always that it is the best section of the trail system. GM Hembree said that section of the trail (located along Lake Linganore in Coldstream) has held up well under the current weather conditions. Mr. Shuey said that the test site has established a good base and that the committee wants additional work to be done by May. He said the committee wants the board to approve outsourcing the work, if necessary, if LLA staff is unable to get to the work in a timely manner. Mr. Hembree said that with the funds budgeted another 2,000 linear feet could be completed. Director Sheehan asked if any other section of trails needed attention. Mr. Shuey said that the Coldstream trail along the lake is the most frequently used section and is the area in most need of attention. Resident Cathy Reed said that homeowners impacted by the project had already been notified that it would be finished and therefore the LLA should follow through. The board directed staff to send another letter to impacted homeowners within the proper notification time frame, as a reminder that work will continue soon. Mr. Hembree said that he believed the work could be done by May if it is outsourced but outsourcing would likely cost more, effectively reducing the length of trail work. Mr. Shuey said that the committee would prefer to see the work get done even if it meant less linear footage. The board directed staff to write up a project spec sheet and get cost estimates from different vendors; based on those estimates staff could determine if the cost of outsourcing was worth undertaking.

MOTION: After further discussion LLA director Sheehan made a motion to create a line item in the reserve fund account in this year’s budget (2003-04) to recognize the trails, rather than making it a budget line item, thereby ensuring that any funds not expended will remain in reserves from year to year for its intended use. The motion was seconded by LLA director Dinkelacker. The board voted 5 to 0 in favor of the motion.

Social Committee— Committee chairperson Rachael Kopec stold the board about a children’s drawing contest being promoted by the committee. She explained that the Egg Hunt would be done on April 12 and that a committee meeting to prepare for the hunt was set for March 25 at the LLA. She said that the annual Summerfest event would be held on June 21 and that LLA directors Andrew Twillman and Alan Dinkelacker were to be co-chairpersons. She asked that all board members attend that event. Trailblazers chairperson John Shuey asked if the annual Scales’n Tales could be held as a part of the event. The answer was yes.

Friends of the Lake Committee— Committee member Diane Shuey spoke for chairperson Bill Strand, who is recuperating from surgery. She said that AmeriCorps volunteers want to monitor the Summerfield blue bird trail that was established several years ago through a cooperative effort with the Frederick County based agency known as Way Station. She said the volunteer effort would not cost the association any money and that AmeriCorps volunteers were covered by workman’s compensation. She said the native garden area is another project that could also use the volunteer manpower. The board asked Mrs. Shuey to continue to look into the possibility of the AmeriCorps volunteers.

Aspen— Village chairperson Kathy Brown told the board that the snow removal effort during the month of February and particularly during the President’s Day blizzard, was good, prompt and seemed to be well prioritized. She said that she has been in contact with the Dept. of Agriculture regarding gypsy moth spraying in her village. She said the department does have funding. Letters were sent to residents who live next to the area (hill area behind Aspen). The Ag Dept. did note that the spraying would be set for sometime in early May.

Auction of Lots— GM Hembree said that the report from attorney Shelah Lynn was not completed as yet due to other priorities taking place.

SHUR Funds— report to come in mid-March.

Lake Marian as a SWM pond— GM Hembree said that on the overflow weir for Lake marian, MDE had approved the permit. He said that the LLA met on Feb. 14 with county deputy attorney Wendy Kearney, Land Stewards LC attorney Krista McGowan, and LLA attorney Shelah Lynn about the easement request. He said that the LLA was still awaiting word on language changes that Ms. Lynn suggested at that meeting. He said the language change was to protect the LLA interests in the matter. He added that MDE was to decide if they SWM designation can be okayed. A meeting had been scheduled by Land Stewards with MDE and the LLA to meet at Lake Marian on Friday, March 14 at 10 a.m.

Terre Rhoderick, a representative of Cavalier Development Consultants recently hired by Land Stewards LC, said that the county will get a maintenance easement on top of the sewer easements and that a legal description had been submitted to Betsy Smith at DPW, which is subject to her approval. Jim Reed said that is was essential to get a proper metes and bounds description. Mr. Reed said that he would accept the idea of Lake Marian being used as a stormwater management pond as long as the docment was approved by LLA attorney Shelah Lynn and that there was no cost for the LLA.

Mr. DiLoreta, Land Stewards vice president of finance, said that his company had reviewed Ms. Lynn’s wording through Ms. McGowan and that his company was satisfied with it.

MOTION: Mr. Sheehan made a motion to grant the easement with the proviso that language be added to the easement that does not change the debt agreements previously worked out and that no additional costs be charged to the association. The motion was seconded by Alan Dinkelacker. The board voted 5 to 0 in favor of the motion.

Review of Dam Security Resolution/No trespassing— In light of the fact that the rehab project for Brosius Dam has been delayed, the board wanted to review its security resolution adopted July 15, 2002. The resolution basically made the entire dam area a "no trespassing" zone to everyone, including members.

Director Sheehan said that because circumstances had changed that the LLA should amend this portion of the resolution and then reinstitute the security measure once the rehab project gets underway. He said member access should be allowed until that time.

MOTION TO AMEND 7/17/03 MOTION: Mr. Sheehan made a motion to amend the July 15 motion entitled "Motion to Improve Security at the Brosius Dam During the Present Drought Emergency" to allow member access to the Brosius Dam area until the dam rehab construction project began. The motion was seconded by Alan Dinkelacker.

GM Hembree told the board that he would like to just remove the top bar on the sign across the top of the dam, which would give access without removing the posts. In addition, he said other trespassing signs would be removed but that there were additional "no parking" signs to be added because he wanted to maintain the towing policy instituted as part of the resolution.

The board voted 5 to 0 in favor of the motion.

Private vs. Public Roads— This discussion was in response to a letter from Frederick County DPW chief Al Hudak dated February 3, 2003. Staff had recommended that the board respond to the county via a letter reiterating that LLA roads will remain private, which is consistent with a letter sent to the county in December 1997. GM Hembree noted to the board that representatives of Land Stewards were in attendance to ask the board to maintain the private roads status. GM Hembree introduced Terre Rhoderick and Bill DiLoreta as those representatives.

LLA president Jim Reed had prepared a draft of a letter to be sent to Mr. Hudak. Director Dinkelacker said that the LLA had worked this issue through with former DPW director Bob Hayes. He said that the Linganore Modified Standards title had been changed to Frederick County Modified Road Standards for Lake Linganore. Director Young asked whether the using the word "private" in conjunction with Eaglehead roads would cause problems for SHUR funding. GM Hembree said it would not because easements and public access will have to be approved as the roads come along. Mr. Rhoderick asked the board whether all roads now private would remain so; the board said yes. Land Stewards representative Bill DiLoreta said that he thought the LLA should take the lead to eliminate this "resolution," which was copied to the board as a part of Mr. Hudak’s letter (1988 policy statement from BoCC regarding acceptance of private roads). He added that the LLA road standards were identical to "low impact Development Standards" contained in a study created by an ad hoc task force authorized by the county. Mr. Rhoderick said that he thought the low impact road standards had been endorsed by the BoCC when he was a county commissioner.

Charlotte Dusold, president of the Lake Linganore Conservation Society (LLCS), said that the alleged 1988 "agreement" mentioned by Mr. Hudak was not an agreement because there was no counter signature required and that she considered the document as a county policy statement to guide the future acceptance of roads in to the county road system.

Mr. DiLoreta noted that the county would not let Land Stewards proceed with its work until the LLA signs off in some way on the matter.

With one minor change to the wording, the board agreed to send the letter drafted by Mr. Reed to the county DPW chief. (See attachment to minutes)

Temporary Road Repairs— GM Hembree noted that the staff was working on a list of roads, CDA and non-CDA, to evaluate the damage that needs to be dealt with following the constant snow plowing of the winter. He said a list would be worked up, a work schedule would be created and a cost assessment would be developed.

Introduction of New Assistant General Manager— GM Hembree introduced the new assistant general manager Larry Brown, who also is a resident of Meadows.

• Resident Rachael Kopec asked the board whether the Ben’s Ford Bridge was in the budget. LLA director Dinkelacker said yes and no. Director Sheehan said that the board had a budget meeting prior to the evening’ s board meeting and because of the amount of money spent in snow removal he did not see "any room" in the budget at this time for the bridge. He said that Mrs. Kopec had mentioned in an earlier meeting that she would be willing to seek donations to put toward the costs of installing the bridge and he directed GM Hembree to give her a cost breakdown so that she could begin that effort. Mr. Hembree said that he would get her a cost breakdown as soon as possible.

Mrs. Kopec also told the board that following earlier requests from her wh ile chairman of the Trailblazers Committee that Peddicord Path continues to wash out and that the trail from the overflow parking lot in Coldstream to the beach area has never been fixed. She said that nothing ever happens to these kinds of requests and she said that the board and staff need to follow through. She also said that the $5,000 allotted to the trails committee each year is not enough.

John Shuey stated that the trail from the Coldstream overflow lot was considered too expensive for the amount of traffic it would generate, and that the trails committee had required that staff not prioritize that trail section at this time.

LLA treasurer Young said that the budget had not yet been finalized but that it was close to being so. He said there were no "pet" projects in the budget and that until the LLA saw a substantial increase in funds that such projects would not be in the budget. LLA president Reed said that the board has established a snow removal reserve fund that will build up so that the association is not in a situation where snowfall in one year impacts the next year’s budget.

LLA director Dinkelacker made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by director Sheehan. The board voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:55 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Stephen Hembree Jerry Dorsey

LLA General Manager LLA BoD Secretary