Lake Linganore
Association, Inc.
October 17,
2005
The meeting was called to order at 7 p.m. at the LLA Coldstream Drive office.
Board members present: Jim DiMeglio, Alan Dinkelacker, Brandon Frazier, Lisa Rogers, Grant Sheehan, Jim Cates.
Staff in attendance: GM Edwards, CRM Gurley
Minutes of the October 3, 2005 regular board meeting were approved as written.
DEVELOPER’S REPORT
No report was given.
BOARD RESOLUTION
MOTION: Director Frazier made the following motion—
That the lake Linganore Association Board of Directors endorses Land Stewards’ efforts to obtain a zoning text amendment related to forward-funding of school projects and specifically tailored to conditions in the Lake Linganore Planned Unit Development (PUD). We do so with the following considerations:
1. School funding is a very critical issue to many families within the Lake Linganore PUD, and we would prefer to hold open or help to create as many options as possible for solutions to school capacity concerns in our region;
2. While we acknowledge Land Stewards primary concern is land development, their approach seems to address squarely on the of the critical infrastructure obligations resulting from land development;
3. In endorsing these efforts, we do not endorse a specific funding proposal, as there will be additional time in the future to evaluate and comment on specific financing plans; and,
4. We are not restricted by our covenants from making such an endorsement.
The motion was seconded by director Sheehan. VOTE: six directors voted in favor of the motion, none of the directors voted against the motion, one director (DiMeglio) abstained from the vote.
• Finance Committee — LLA treasurer Frazier reported that year-to-date spending was approximately 3 percent under budget. He said that operating cash on hand was $763,417 and that the balance of the reserves account was approximately $872,000. He noted that the reserve funds had been placed into investments with Merrill Lynch and that there were no major variances in the monthly report. Mr. Frazier said that he had copies of the draft budget that would be distributed in executive session.
• Trailblazers Committee— Co-chairperson Katrinka Westendorf said that the new trail map would be at the printer the following week. She noted that 4,000 copies of the map had been ordered. She said that the committee had been working on the trails reserve budget and would give the information to Clay. She expected the committee to have the final draft of its budget request ready by early November. Ms. Westendorf told the board that during a walk that day in Pinehurst she noticed a large and dangerous breach in the trail due to a nearby home construction. She asked where the money would come from to fix the problem. GM Edwards said it would come from general funds.
• Friends of the Lake Committee— Committee member Katrinka Westendorf reported that the annual plant sale was successful. She said that the electrofishing project had caught approximately 2500 pounds of carp. She noted that the volunteers had tagged 200 bass and that the largest caught was nine pounds.
• Election Committee— The committee made recommendations to change certain items within the LLA Election Guidelines. The committee recommended verifying ownership for LLA members who own more than 10 lots and to allow proxy votes to be counted prior to the annual meeting/board election. Election Committee chairperson Judy Snow said that having owners of 10+ lots send to the LLA verification of ownership was necessary in order to streamline the work of the committee and the election supervisors. She also explained that in order to streamline the vote counting on the day of the annual meeting that election supervisors need to be able to count the proxy votes ahead of time. In addition, Mrs. Snow asked that the bylaw language be changed to state that proxies are to be filed with the League of Women Voters (LWV). The board decided to keep the language as is (..filed with the Secretary of the Association) and to have the secretary issue a memo designating the LWV as the receiver of all LLA proxies for the annual election.
MOTION: Director Rogers made a motion to accept the recommended changes of allowing the LWV to open and count proxy votes prior to the meeting and to have owners of 10 or more lots submit a list of owned lots 30 days prior to election day in order to allow staff to verify ownership through state property records. Director Frazier seconded the motion. VOTE: all of the directors voted in favor of the motion, none of the directors voted against the motion.
CRM Gurley reviewed with the board the calendar for setting the annual membership and election meeting. She said that based on the distribution timeline for LakeTalk and the requirements that make a second voter’s guide necessary for the May issue, it was recommended that the meeting date for 2006 be set for May 20. The board agreed to set the date for May 20.
CRM Gurley also asked about the date for the covenant workshop, which the board had set for sometime in January. She noted that the date depended upon the location set for the workshop. The board decided the workshop could be held as a part of a regular board meeting and set the date for January 16 at the LLA office.
•Aspen Village— committee chairperson Kathy Brown said that regarding the new three-way stop in the village that some residents were happy about it while others were not.
•Balmoral Village — an organizational meeting to reform the village committee has been set for Tuesday, Nov. 1.
•Meadows Village — LLA director Rogers, a resident of the Meadows, asked about wooden posts to make the signage more Eaglehead-like. GM Edwards said that he was striving for a more unified appearance using the county style of materials. Director Rogers said that some of the new signage material was being installed in picturesque areas and was worried that new materials would be unappealing. GM Edwards said that the staff had just completed a comprehensive sign survey of the PUD and that appropriate changes would be made in the future.
•Woodridge Village — Committee chairperson John Cunha said that he had contacted the county’s parks department regarding the village’s application for a community projects grant for a playground and was told that a decision would be made in late November. He asked the board about the LLA’s 50 percent investment in the project and whether that money would be put up front to begin the project before the grant was announced. GM Edwards said that the LLA would put the money into the project when the grant process was completed.
Mr. Cunha said that at a recent village committee meeting, the Land Stewards/village tree proposal was voted on and approved. He said a letter would be sent to new home owners notifying them of it. Director DiMeglio said that Land Stewards has the plan and would present it to the board for approval. Director Frazier asked what was to be done if someone did not want trees on their lot, would there be a document to sign. Mr. Cunha said that any excess trees would be planted along Woodridge Road. Director DiMeglio said that the same total amount of trees required in the MoU would exist within the village once the project was completed.
Mr. Cunha said the village wanted to pursue the Woodridge road trail to Woodlake Place and the creek side trail along the parcel C this year. GM Edwards said that he had been working with Kim Daitch on the trails plan and asked Mr. Cunha several questions about what the committee intended. Director Dinkelacker asked Mr. Cunha to bring to the next board meeting a plan of what the committee wants. Mr. Cunha asked the board to direct Land Stewards to grade the trails as the developer is required to do by previous agreement. After further discussion, Mr. Dinkelacker reiterated that all parties needed to work out an agreement as to village expectations regarding the trails.
Mr. Cunha said that residents had approved a design for the weir wall at the entrance to the village, including using the word “Woodridge” on the wall. Director Rogers asked Mr. Cunha about what steps were taken to inform residents who did not attend the meeting that the wall design had been approved. Woodridge resident Ron Bromley said that the most vocal against the previous wall design were in attendance at the meeting. Director Dinkelacker said the board needed an agreement from the village that it was accepting an addendum to the tree MoU and approving the weir wall design. Director Rogers said that she wanted a comprehensive notification to all village residents as to the final plan for the tree program and weir wall design and for the final plan approval to be brought back to the board at the November 7 meeting. John Clarke of Land Stewards LC thanked the residents for all the work they put into the review of the tree and wall plans to come to good solutions.
Mr. Cunha asked what the board planned to do if the county grant did not come through. Director Frazier said that the full funding for the playground would have to come out of the Woodridge amenities fund. Mr. Frazier asked that the playground funding be on the next agenda.
RESIDENT FORUM
● Resident John Snow asked where the funding came from to paint the trail bridge over Ben’s Branch. Director Sheehan said that if the bridge is considered a part of the trail system it should come out of that budget line item and should be included in the Trailblazers budget for FY 2007. Mr. Snow said that the board should double check the 2000 Tri-Party Water Agreement because he believed the LLA was liable for maintenance of the control equipment at the dam. He suggested that staff contact Craig Lambert to determine if any maintenance fees are to be assessed to the LLA. GM Edwards told the board that the dam rehab project still was not absolutely completed.
● Resident Brian Jacobs said that the Indian Cave Committee was meeting with
Land Stewards on October 26. He noted
that the village committee was preparing for an election. He asked about a road extension that was
mentioned in a regional plan meeting. Mr. Clarke said that the road was in the
December 2003 plan but was not a collector road and would only serve a
connectivity purpose. Mr. Jacobs also
asked about a prior request for having Land Stewards post electronic copies of
their plans on the LLA web site.
Director DiMeglio said that as previously stated the companies
engineer’s declined to present the plans for that purpose because plans change
continuously.
ADJOURNMENT
Director Rogers made a motion to adjourn the regular meeting.
Director Frazier seconded the motion.
The regular meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. An executive session on security
personnel was to begin thereafter.