Lake Linganore Association Inc.
Board of Directors
August 18, 2003
Meeting Minutes
The meeting was called to order at 7 p.m. Those present were: Alan Dinkelacker, Grant Sheehan, Todd Young, Andrew Twillman, Bill DiLoreta, Brian Kopec.
Also in attendance were: general manager Stephen Hembree, community resource manager Joy Gurley.
Absent from the meeting were: director Peter Fitzpatrick, assistant general manager Larry Brown.
The minutes of the August 4, 2003 meeting were approved with the following changes:
· Under Security Report— change the end of the sentence to say- “to review a copy of the report.”
· Under Village Reports- add Kathy Brown’s last name. Also add: Mr. Hembree explained that the current situation with regard to bonding can cover this type of situation.
MOTION: Director Sheehan made a motion to approve the minutes with the noted additions. The motion was seconded by director Young.
VOTE: The board voted 4-0 in favor of the motion. [Directors Twillman and Kopec arrived at the meeting after the vote.]
Letter to the BoCC re: SHUR Funds— Director Sheehan asked that a letter be sent to the Board of County Commissioners in response to its request for input on this year’s legislative wish list. The board wants the letter to request that full funding be issued to the LLA for future SHUR funds. Director Sheehan asked that the letter be sent before the September 2 board meeting. GM Hembree said that he had scheduled a meeting with county manager Doug Browning for August 25 to discuss other matters but would also check about the current legal review regarding this year’s SHUR funding. At this time the county manager and the LLA are awaiting comments from county deputy attorney Wendy Kearney as to whether the amount determined by Mr. Browning at the July meeting could be dispersed to the LLA without a public hearing with the BoCC.
Status of Building Addition— GM Hembree said there had been no change on the situation. He said the plans should be in the final stage of approval. Director Sheehan asked if the fire marshal had commented on the plans yet. Mr. Hembree said that both the fire marshal and the plans examiner had comments about the plans that have been addressed by staff. Mr. Hembree said once the plans are approved and the cost of the addition has been reestimated, that the board needed to have a meeting on the plans. He said that Land Stewards managing partner Bob Wilcox would be sent a copy of the plans for review. Director DiLoreta asked whether the LLA knew the cost of the building. Mr. Hembree explained the design deletions that had to be implemented because of the fire marshal’s requirements, which are substantial and should lower the overall cost, and explained that the modified design will need to be reestimated. The GM briefly outlined the background on the progress of the project for director DiLoreta. Mr. Hembree also noted that the LLA Finance Committee had approved a bidder and that the LLA staff and the finance committee will work with that contractor to reestimate the cost of the project before any final actions are taken.
Status of Aquatic Center— John Snow, head of the ad hoc group looking into the feasibility of an aquatic center for Eaglehead, asked the board to set a date for meeting with an architect and pool contractor to review the general parameters of such a project. The board settled on September 22 to meet. Director DiLoreta asked Mr. Snow whether research would be done on what kind of population base would be needed to support this kind of facility. Mr. Snow said that would be a part of the study.
Status of Westwinds Quit Claim Deeds— GM Hembree said there has been no response from the title company that was suppose to send the deeds to the LLA. Director Twillman said that he had spoken to Westwinds HOA president Stan Swoyer, who said he would contact the lawyers for Millennium Development LLC and would get the matter concluded. To date Mr. Swoyer had not contacted director Twillman about the outcome. Director Twillman said that he would approach Mr. Swoyer at the next Westwinds HOA meeting.
Road Signage for the CDA Work— Director Dinkelacker asked whether the county would use electronic signs during the CDA/CIP super project to make closure announcements, direct traffic, etc. GM Hembree said it would not be typical on a county contract and the current contract scopes are not completed at this time for our review. He said the LLA would most likely have to lease or purchase, depending upon costs, such signs for its own purposes during the project. Lake Linganore Conservation Society president Charlotte Dusold said that the subcontractor for the CDA should provide those kinds of signs. Mr. Hembree said that staff will review the cost of the signs and monitor county contracts to see how much traffic control will be required.
Land Exchange— Director Dinkelacker asked how the board should begin public discussion on a land exchange between the association and Land Stewards involving a parcel that the LLA owns in Woodridge and a parcel owned by Land Stewards at the entrance to Meadows. Director Sheehan noted that some email discussion had begun to take place on the subject and suggested that the board and Land Stewards each determine their position and begin public discussion at the Sept. 2 meeting.
MOU Between Land Stewards and LLA— Director Young reviewed the final draft of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the LLA and Land Stewards. He said the bankruptcy court had changed a few things since the board last reviewed the document. In general he noted that the MOU was an attempt tp put to bed previous agreements between the LLA and the former declarant Linganore Development Group/Eaglehead Corp. He noted that the overall cash obligation to the LLA by Land Stewards was approximately $644,000. Director DiLoreta asked GM Hembree to provide a letter that defined what kind of cleanup was required on the Parcel C. He also took the opportunity to explain that the work on Lake Marian Dam was underway. He said when it was completed the weir wall would not look good and that Land Stewards still needed to design a cover wall for the basic structure.
MOTION: Director Sheehan made a motion to accept the final draft, have the letter put on LLA stationery and prepared for final signatures. Director Twillman seconded the motion. Director DiLoreta recused himself from the vote.
VOTE: The board voted 5-0 in favor of the motion.
Introduction of New Finance Administrator— GM Hembree introduced the new LLA finance administrator Gary Jenkins. The audience gave him a warm reception.
Discussion on Agenda for Meeting with County Commissioners— Director Sheehan noted that director Twillman had asked Frederick County Commissioner Mike Cady to come to an LLA board meeting and suggested that if the invitation is extended that the board determine ahead of time a meeting agenda that would be productive for the interests of the LLA. Some of the suggestions made by directors for such a future agenda included the following: the Boyer’s Mill Road Project and the Eaglehead Drive Bridge; the obligations of Millennium Development Group to the Westwinds village; full funding of SHUR monies; obstructionism by the deputy county attorney.
The board was to think about additional items it would want on the agenda. Director Twillman suggested that the board invite all county commissioners to such a meeting. In addition, the board was to think about where it wanted to have the meeting, whether a different location was necessary. Two dates were suggested for the meeting with commissioners- September 15 or October 6. Director Sheehan asked that the commissioner’s meeting not be held on the same night as village/committee reports.
Aspen North CDA Survey Responses— Joy Gurley reviewed initial survey responses with the board. Ten responses were not interested in the CDA, 27 responses (representing approximately 57 lots) were interested in the CDA, while four survey cards were returned unmarked. Director Sheehan asked that a follow-up letter be sent to the lot owners providing them some background information on CDAs.
Ben’s Ford Bridge— Director Sheehan said that recent email exchanges about the dedication of the bridge and newspaper stories about the bridge suggested that some clarification needed to be made about the status of the bridge project.
West Nile Virus— Director Sheehan noted that a case of West Nile virus had been confirmed in Frederick County and in nearby Carroll County. He reminded the audience of a recent article written by Friends of the Lake Committee chairperson Bill Strang on the subject and recommended that people reread it and take the outlined precautions. He asked that some sort of reminder be included in the September issue of LakeTalk. GM Hembree said that he had spoken to the Maryland Department of Agriculture that day and that to date the testing the agriculture department had been doing in Eaglehead had not shown any indications of the mosquito that carries the virus. If the state does find the specific mosquito larvae, it will treat the area.
Farm Pond— GM Hembree said that Hillis-Carnes Engineering had received approvals for the LLA from the Soil Conservation District to remove trees on the face of the downhill slope of the pond dam. He said that notification would be sent to nearby homeowners about the work. He said additional work was to be done on the pond embankment and that the cost would be included in next year’s budget discussions.
Board Liaisons to LLA Committees— The board approved the following liaisons to LLA committees: Social Committee, Andrew Twillman; LLA Development Committee (formerly long-range planning committee), Brian Kopec and Bill DiLoreta; Lake Linganore Conservation Society, Peter Fitzpatrick; Finance Committee, Todd Young.
Director Sheehan said that at this time there was no Aspen North CDA Committee and that he had agreed only to do follow-up phone calls on the current survey effort. He asked whether he was to remain the liaison to the Friends of the Lake (FoL) Committee. No decision was made as to the liaison for the ECC.
Some discussion followed about the task of what was then proposed as the long-range planning committee. Director Young offered to copy his papers on the various visioning workshops that had been done in the past several years so that directors Kopec and DiLoreta could use it as preparation and background for the committee. LLA member Diane Shuey reminded the board that the FoL had developed a long-range plan and that it should be give to the committee. Larry Dusold had prepared a plan for the lake several years ago and director Dinkelacker asked that it be copied and given to the committee. After further discussion as to the goal and focus of the committee, director Young suggested that the name of the committee be changed to the LLA Development Committee. Consensus generally was that the committee focus on short-term goals related to amenities and common grounds.
Private vs. Public Roads— Director Dinkelacker asked about the status of a letter that was to be sent to the county on the issue. GM Hembree said that LLA attorney Shelah Lynn had sent to Bob Wilcox of Land Stewards a copy of the letter to the county. Director DiLoreta asked that Mr. Hembree forward a copy of that letter to him.
· Resident John Adams expressed gratitude for the LLA finally taking its pontoon boat and giving him back the space on his dock.
· Resident Fred Pfistner asked if the LLA had tested the lake waters recently. GM Hembree said the county and city both test the water. Mr. Pfistner asked about the purpose of the chemicals he sees put into the lake. Mr. Hembree said Frederick DPW treats the water for algae, as needed, with copper sulfate.
· Resident Carol Thames said the pond in Westwinds that had recently been treated with copper sulfate, needs treated again.
· Director DiLoreta noted that North Shore roads had not been deeded over to the LLA from Land Stewards. GM Hembree said that the deeds needed to be drafted. LLCS president Charlotte Dusold asked whether this would include the roads in Pinehurst. The GM said yes.
Director Kopec made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by director Sheehan. The meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
______________________________ ______________________________
Stephen Hembree, LLA general manager Andrew Twillman, LLA secretary