Board of Directors Minutes

Special Session

CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 7 p.m. at the LLA Coldstream Drive office.

Board members present: Jim Cates, Jay Decker, Jim DiMeglio, Alan Dinkelacker, Brandon Frazier, Lisa Rogers.

BoD absent: Grant Sheehan.

Staff in attendance: GM Edwards, CRM Gurley.

Aspen North Community Development Authority (CDA) — GM Edwards introduced MJ Minton, the chairperson of the Aspen North CDA Committee, to the directors and asked her to provide background about the most recent meeting with the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) regarding the CDA.

Ms. Minton said the committee had its first meeting with the BoCC in mid-October. She said that at that time the BoCC was apprehensive about the CDA because home buyers in the Villages of Urbana had complained heavily about the tax primarily because they said they were unaware of it before buying their homes. The vote was a tie at that time and the BoCC decided to wait until November 1 when all commissioners would be in attendance.

Ms. Minton said that all lot owners were contacted about the second meeting and a very good representation of the owners attended the November 1 meeting to show their support for the CDA. At the November meeting the BoCC approved the CDA (4 to 1 vote) with the condition that the cost of the CDA would have to be paid at sale of the lot or when application was made for a building permit. Based on those conditions, lot owners were notified and given the opportunity to change their petition support. Ms. Minton noted that one lot owner rescinded his petition. She said that the two-thirds approval requirement for the CDA petition was very fragile due to the small number of lot owners and that losing just a few of the petitioners could jeopardize the CDA.

She said that the BoCC set a date of January 3 for the public hearing on the CDA. She said the Aspen North CDA Committee needed from the LLA the $10,000 check, as well as a letter stating its support of the CDA. She said that throughout this process she has been getting the feeling that the BoCC feelings about the LLA have been changing and that she feels she is gaining the trust of the BoCC.

Director Rogers asked how long lot owners had to change their minds about rescinding petitions and what would happen if rescinded petitions caused the CDA vote to be less than the two-thirds vote requirement. Ms. Minton said if the number was close to the vote requirement the BoCC could take a vote on whether to allow it to go through.

Director Frazier said that his concern was after the LLA provided the $10,000 check, what happens then? He said the board endorsed looking into the feasibility study but that by providing a check that allowed the CDA to proceed, what kind of responsibility/liability fell to the LLA? He also noted that he was uncomfortable with the fact that in the Linganore CDA that the Lake Linganore Conservation Society (LLCS) owns the improvements although the LLA owns the land on which the improvements are made. He said he wanted the improvements in the Aspen North CDA to be turned over to the LLA. GM Edwards said that he had been talking to corporate lawyers to determine why the LLA can’t be the non-profit corporation for the Aspen North project but that he had not heard back from them as yet. He cautioned the board that paying the $10,000 fee was a “point of no return.” He wanted to know who was running the project and how it would impact staff because LLCS president Charlotte Dusold had explained to him that LLA staff was suppose to be the project manager for the Linganore CDA and if staff was to do this one too, that information needed to be on the table before making a final decision on sending the check to the county. He said the board needed to know who the group was to oversee the project and what the plan would look like, whether it’s a separate non-profit group or the LLA.

Director Rogers explained that handling the CDA was a detailed process and based on the experience with the Linganore CDA could be a 20 hour a week job for at least two people on the non-profit organization/committee. Ms. Minton said that she could promise the board at least two people who would serve on that non-profit committee— herself and Kathleen Barry (an Aspen North lot owner). She said she would try to get others to commit to the committee. She said if she couldn’t get volunteers that maybe the CDA could pay for a group to oversee the project.

Ms. Minton said that the check to pay for the bond counsel had to be to the county by December 6 in order for the process to ensure the January public hearing date on the CDA. Members of the board expressed concern about proceeding without a plan and without a group determined for overseeing the project. Director Dinkelacker said in order to secure that information a meeting with MuniFinancial representative Keenan Rice would have to be set up, which would cost more money. Director Frazier said that it was not a matter of whether the board can afford the additional costs but whether it should do the project at all. He said he supported the concept but that it was a question of process that made him ask for more information before acting on the request.

Ms. Minton said that she was willing to stay involved in the project and that if the board did not agree to the financial support to move on the CDA she had a plan B to find others to support the project, which she did not want to do because she felt that would make the LLA look bad.

Board members expressed concern that there remained so many questions and that the BoCC had approved the CDA so quickly before the LLA understood its role in the project.

Director Dinkelacker asked that Ms. Minton and director Frazier contact Mr. Rice to set up a meeting to get the answer to the questions expressed throughout the meeting and to get a picture of what responsibility will fall to the LLA if it provides the bond counsel funding. Director Rogers asked that the LLA general manager also be a part of those meetings. Director Dinkelacker said that the information derived from the meeting with Mr. Rice could be presented at the next regular board meeting. He suggested that the meeting start an hour prior to its regular start time so that the information from Mr. Rice could be presented to the board before it voted on the matter in the regular session. Director Dinkelacker asked that those who would be willing to serve on the Aspen North CDA non-profit group attend the next meeting of the board.

ADJOURNMENT

Director Decker made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Director Cates seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.