Lake Linganore
Association, Inc.
November 21,
2005
The meeting was called to order at 7 p.m. at the LLA Coldstream Drive office.
Board members present were: Jim Cates, Jay Decker, Jim DiMeglio, Alan Dinkelacker, Brandon Frazier, Lisa Rogers, Grant Sheehan.
Staff in attendance: GM Edwards, CRM Gurley.
Minutes of the November 7, 2005 regular board meeting were approved as written with the following amendment: On page one, under the item Woodridge Playground Funding, in the second sentence the word “fun” should be “fund”.
Minutes of the November 10, 2005 regular board meeting were approved as written.
Finance Committee—Based on a recommendation by the LLA Finance Committee, LLA treasurer Brandon Frazier made a motion regarding the FY’07 assessment rate.
Motion: To set the Lake Linganore Association FY’07 assessment rate at .33-cents per $100. The motion was seconded by director Cates.
Vote: Six of the directors voted in favor of the motion, none of the directors voted against the motion.
Director Frazier reviewed the October 2005 financial statements. The board did not have a copy of those statements because the document was not ready when the board packets were distributed. Mr. Frazier said that cash flow projected out for the remainder of the fiscal year was good. He said a breakdown of the amenities escrow fund would be presented at the next meeting. He also noted that tipping fees for trash had increased and that the budget line item for trash collection would be over budget; it was $1400 over budget at the time of the meeting.
Motion: Director Frazier made a motion, based on a Finance Committee recommendation, to establish two new accounts in the budget, the first to be designated the Woodridge Temporary Fund and the second to be designated the Aspen Temporary Fund, which would hold monies from the $2,000 per lot income from the sale of lots in those villages to be deposited by the developer, both of which would be closed when the deposited funds are spent. Director Rogers seconded the motion. Discussion: Director Frazier said that the accounts would be funded immediately from the Amenities Fund. He said that $92,000 was projected to go into the Woodridge Temporary Fund but that the amount for the Aspen fund was still to be addressed, citing a second look at settlement documents that needed to be done to determine the amount. He said the creation of the funds would make it easier to track. He said the Woodridge amount would be deposited net any expenses to date.
Vote: five of the directors voted in favor of the motion; none of the directors voted against the motion; one director (DiMeglio) abstained from the vote.
Motion: Director Frazier made a motion to reimburse $2,500 to members of the Friends of the Lake (FoL) Committee who had paid expenses for the ongoing fisheries restoration project. This amount was to be above the $9,000 previously approved for the project, which included the carp relocation program. The motion also included a stipulation that all expenses/invoices must be reviewed by the general manager. Director Cates seconded the motion. Discussion: GM Edwards said that the request was related to ongoing expenses because there were more volunteers involved in the project than originally expected so that additional equipment was needed. He also noted that FoL would present its budget at the December 5 board meeting. FoL chairperson Bill Strang said that of the $9,000 budget this year for the fisheries project $8,100 had been expended and that the additional funds/reimbursement would allow the program to continue for the year.
Vote: five of the directors voted in favor of the motion; none of the directors voted against the motion.
Trailblazers
Committee— Co-chairperson Katrinka Westendorf said that the committee
solicited donations to pay for additional copies of the LLA Trail Guide/map.
She said the total amount of the donations covered the cost of the
printing. She also noted that the
November work party focused on the Nightingale lake trail, which had not had
any work done by the committee for approximately two years. The committee also recently met with Land
Stewards and director DiMeglio regarding trails in the Woodridge village.
Events Committee— CRM Gurley reported that the committee was preparing for the holiday dinner dance and for the newest event the Jingle Bell Hop, a dance and visit with Santa for the children in the community. She reminded everyone to get their tickets for the holiday dance. She asked the board about whether the LLA staff would be given complimentary tickets to the dance again this year. Director Dinkelacker reminded her that the board had already approved the request. CRM Gurley also noted that only County Commissioner Bruce Reeder had accepted the invitation to the dance.
Friends of the Lake Committee— Chairman Bill Strang told the board that the committee would institute better controls on expenditures for the fisheries project. He said that the board needed to take greater control of tree cutting that is occurring along the lake, specifically in the areas of Nightingale and Aspen. He said that some of the cutting was related to preparing sites for new boat docks.
Aspen— Chairperson Kathy Brown said that the village Halloween party was well attended. She said the village has some work ahead in keeping up amenities with the growing number of youngsters in the village. She also noted that Accipiter had “gone through” and she thanked director DiMeglio for talking to families that were impacted by the project work.
Aspen North Village— MJ Minton addressed the board regarding a request from the Aspen North CDA Committee. She had discussed the request with the board at the November 10 special session. The request involved submitting a check to the Frederick County government for the cost of bond counsel and advertising for a public hearing on whether or not to approve the CDA for that village. In addition, the committee needed a letter of support from the LLA board to the county government regarding the CDA. Ms. Minton said the county had set the public hearing on the CDA for January 3, and that the check and the letter of support had to be submitted to the county by December 6 in order to proceed to public hearing. Ms. Minton said she had had a conversation with Keenan Rice of MuniCap Financial regarding initial financial funding and the creation of a non-profit organization to oversee the CDA. She said that upcoming cost would be approximately $30,000 and that the approval and bond sale process could take up to nine months. She also noted that the non-profit organization would have to “own” the CDA improvements. She said the work would be at least a two year commitment for those volunteers who serve on the non-profit. Ms. Minton said that the hope was that the Aspen North CDA Committee could serve as a subcommittee of the Lake Linganore Conservation Society (LLCS), which is overseeing the Linganore CDA.
Ms. Minton said that members of the committee had agreed to serve on the board of the non-profit— Kathleen Barry, Dawn Hardgrave and Eric Struntz. She said that because the LLCS was created to umbrella other CDAs as needed in Eaglehead, the IRS may not approve the creation of another separate non-profit group. She also noted that the initial cost for the hearing, bond counsel costs and the cost of financial consultation with Mr. Rice would be $15,000.
Director Frazier said that amount did not include the cost of creating the new 501c(3). He said that politically the creation of the CDA was not a sure thing even if the LLA paid for the bond counsel, etc.
Director Dinkelacker said that he spoke with the LLCS and that the group indicated it did not want the responsibility of the Aspen North CDA. He said that the Aspen North group and the LLCS needed to discuss the matter regarding responsibilities and whether there were any financial savings if the Aspen group came under the LLCS.
Director Frazier said the LLA would need to manage the project and that as a result it was possible to recoup some of the costs. He reminded the board that if it supported the CDA it must be willing to commit to additional out-of-pocket expenses and wanted to know if everyone was prepared for that. He said the cost would be approximately $80,000, most of which could be reimbursed to the LLA, but that amount did not include $30,000 for an IRS lawyer to create the non-profit group. He said the initial $15,000 could be wasted money.
Some of the Aspen North lot owners in attendance reminded the board that they have paid dues for many years and that the group was just asking for a helping hand to make their property usable. Director DiMeglio said that there was a fundamental fairness issue involved and that the lot owners deserved a chance to make something happen in the village. He asked the board to consider a figure that would be a fair risk to allow the opportunity to move forward. Balmoral resident John Allemang said that he thought the board should give the CDA a chance despite the risk of losing the money.
Director Rogers expressed concern about taking any action without first having an answer from LLCS.
Motion: Director Frazier made a motion to provide a sum not to exceed $15,000 until the Board of County Commissioners approved the creation of the CDA and until there was a plan in place as to who would own the CDA, a budget, a time frame for the project, and a framework agreement between the LLA and the Aspen North CDA Committee. The motion was seconded by director Cates.
Vote: two of the directors voted in favor of the motion; one director voted against the motion (Rogers); directors Sheehan and DiMeglio abstained from the vote.
Balmoral Village — this committee has announced the date of an election meeting and a slate of candidates to be ratified by the residents as the new village committee.
Meadows Village — a group residents in the village met on November 3 to begin organizing an election meeting. A letter calling for candidates is to be sent out within the next month. An election meeting most likely will be set for late January or early February.
Woodridge Village —Co-chairman John Cunha announced that the village grant application was approved for the proposed playground.
Motion: Director Rogers made a motion to proceed with the playground project and to accept the cost proposal (#1186) as written in the amount of $50,855. Director Cates seconded the motion.
Vote: six of the directors voted in favor of the motion; none of the directors voted against the motion.
Mr. Cunha asked about the weir wall project. Director DiMeglio said the permit was still being processed and that Hillis Carnes still had the plans. He said the permit would be submitted to the Maryland Department of the Environment before the end of the year and that as soon as it was approved work would begin.
Woodridge Trails—Kim Daitch, a village resident who worked closely with director DiMeglio and GM Edwards to develop a “wish list” for Woodridge trails, reviewed the wish list (attached to the minutes) with the directors and discussed the possibilities, problems and costs. She asked the board to approve the cost for a section of trail that goes along the parcel B along Woodridge Road.
Motion: Director Rogers made a motion to proceed with the trail project outlined in attachment A, as referenced in the November 17 letter to the general manager from Kim Daitch at a cost of $30,000 to be used from the Amenities Fund. Director Frazier seconded the motion.
Vote: six of the directors voted in favor of the motion; none of the directors voted against the motion.
MATTERS FOR BOARD
INFORMATION
LLA Board 2006 Meeting Calendar— The board approved the following dates for the regular board meetings for 2006: January 16; February 6 and 20; March 6 and 20; April 3 and 17; May 1; June 5 and 19; July 17; August 21; September 18; October 2 and 16; November 6 and 20; and December 4 and 18. The annual membership meeting and board election has been set for Saturday, May 20.
RESIDENT FORUM
Pinehurst/Woodridge resident Dan Burke asked about covenant violations and how they may affect the tree plan and the light posts that have been and are being installed in Woodridge. He said that Beazer installed lamp posts two feet from the house instead of two feet from the road as required in the covenants. He wanted to know who was liable for anyone hurt because the roads are dark. GM Edwards said that many homes throughout the community are in violation of this covenant and as a result the LLA is interested in being in charge of the ECC in Aspen. Director DiMeglio said that might be possible but that usually multi-lot projects are not reviewed by the ECC. He also said it would be difficult to enforce things when covenants have been inconsistently applied. Director Sheehan said that with regard to lamp posts it was clear that the LLA must reinforce the covenants as written, although he didn’t know how it was suppose to be done considering the circumstances. Director DiMeglio said that LLA staff and Land Stewards have had several meetings as to how to control things for the future. He said that as Land Stewards has begun building in Aspen the covenants have been reviewed to ensure better compliance but that he did not see people moving lamp posts that have already been installed. Mr. Burke asked the board to send a letter to Beazer noting the covenant violations. Director DiMeglio said that if he had a list of the houses that are not in compliance that he could talk to Beazer about installing dusk-to-dawn lights in addition but that he thought the matter would most likely end up in court if the matter was pushed.
ADJOURNMENT
Director Rogers made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Director Cates seconded the motion. The
meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m.