Lake Linganore
Association, Inc.
March 20, 2006
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, Brandon Frazier, Grant Sheehan.
BoD Absent: Alan Dinkelacker, Lisa Rogers.
Staff in attendance: GM Edwards, CRM Gurley .
Minutes of the March 6, 2006 regular board meeting were approved as written.
DEVELOPER’S REPORT
Director DiMeglio asked for the record to reflect the thanks of Land Stewards for the work of staff and security officer Jessica Kline for the work they did regarding the fire that had been set on its property in the current Aspen project.
Mr. DiMeglio said that the first section of Audubon TH and Aspen would be paved within thirty days. He noted that Craftstar would begin to occupy the sales trailer for the TH section soon. He said that in Woodridge the tree planting work was going well and that trees also would be installed along the trail once the installation of the trail was completed. He said the weir wall was in the final phase of planning and that the state has received final answers on the plan. He said the contractor would start within two to four weeks once the state approves the answers Land Stewards has provided. He also noted that the Aspen IV section was in county review and would come before the Frederick County Planning Commission (FcPc) in May.
Land Stewards partner John Clarke spoke to the board about an April 4 meeting with the Frederick Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) on his company’s proposed Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) text amendment. He recapped the results of the most recent meetings with the Board of Education and FcPc, which had been favorable to negotiating a resolution that would allow Land Stewards to build homes at a certain pace each year and provide funding for elementary, middle and high schools in the area. He said if the BoCC turns down the APFO amendment that the company will essentially “just sit here.” Mr. Clarke said the board had been supportive during the past year in these hearings and was hoping that the directors and residents would attend and support the proposal. Director Frazier said that he would be in attendance. Mr. Clarke said that for those who could not attend, sending emails to the commissioners would be a good substitute.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
LLA Position Description & Salary Band Handbook— Director Frazier and GM Edwards explained that the LLA Finance Committee asked for the board to take the lead on creating the guidelines for position descriptions and salary levels and caps and that the committee wanted the policy set and not reviewed annually.
MOTION: Director Frazier made a motion to approve the handbook as submitted for five years with a continuance or review at the time the policy expired. Director Decker seconded the motion. DISCUSSION: Director Cates said he still had a problem with the policy as written and that he preferred that instead of specific numbers being used that the policy use a “not to exceed percentage determined by the LLA board. He said he felt the numbers were arbitrary. Director Frazier said the numbers were ceilings or caps. Director Cates said he did not think the numbers in the policy should be in perpetuity. Director DiMeglio said he saw the numbers as a “can’t exceed” condition. Director Cates said he wanted caps negotiated each November. Director Frazier said that the association was somewhat dependent upon the economy though it was not a profitable operation but that he saw the caps in the policy as reasonable. VOTE: three of the directors voted in favor of the motion; one director (Cates) voted against the motion.
• Finance Committee — Director Frazier said that there were no objections or concerns raised by the committee about the January 06 financial statements. He noted there were no major variances. Mr. Frazier said the year-to-date spending was within budget. Director Sheehan asked whether the statements showed a separate line for interest income. Director Frazier said that in the reserves deposits line is where the interest details are located. In January, he noted that the interest income was $16,000. GM Edwards said the interest income on the checking was doing even better.
• Trailblazers
Committee — Committee co-chairperson Katrinka Westendorf reported on the
details of the last work party the committee held doing work in the
Meadows/Balmoral section of the community.
She noted that the committee is doing a guided hike of the Alpine trail,
which recently underwent restoration work, as a part of the GeoFest event on
April 29. She also thanked the board for the 2007 budget allocation for trail
repairs and installation.
• Social Committee— CRM Gurley reported that the plans for GeoFest and Clean Sweep are proceeding and that some nice activities would be done for the April 29 event. She said the committee was still in need of volunteers and reviewed the information for signing up as a participating yard sale location in the May 6 Clean Sweep.
Security— Director Sheehan asked for a report from GM Edwards about the investigative work of the security company on the recent forest fire in Eaglehead. GM Edwards said that the most recent fire burned approximately two to three acres of trees in Aspen, a section owned by developer Land Stewards. The fire was set by two teens and that fortunately for the community an off-duty Montgomery County officer saw the teens who had set the fire running from the scene of the fire. He was able to provide a description. GM Edwards said that after hearing the descriptions of the teens LLA security officer Jessica Kline was able to take police directly to the homes of the juveniles. GM Edwards said that at this time he did not know what charges would be brought against the two teens but that they could be charged the total cost of suppressing the fire. He also noted that following that a fire was seen burning in the Isles of Balmoral and that local fire companies responded but could not figure out how to get to the area. It was later determined that a non-resident is accessing and area within the community as a camping site and that a campfire site was found. GM Edwards said that staff was impressed with security efforts and that the community policing style of the company was doing a good job protecting the community.
Director Sheehan said that there had been some discussion among the board members about rewarding Ms. Kline for her work in locating suspects in the fire. MOTION: Director Frazier made a motion to commend Ms. Kline in a letter to Security Services of America and to present her with a monetary reward at the discretion of the general manager. GM Edwards recommended using the $250 reward issued on a previous fire to present to Ms. Kline. Director Sheehan seconded the motion. DISCUSSION: Director Decker said that he had some concern about rewarding the officer for doing her job. Director DiMeglio said that Land Stewards wanted to go on record as recognizing Ms. Kline for the good work she did in finding the suspects that had set Land Stewards property on fire. He said that Land Stewards wanted to participate in providing a monetary reward to her and that it was willing to provide half the amount of money that the directors decided should be awarded to her. AMENDMENT TO MOTION: Director Frazier amended his motion to state that the LLA would provide $125 of the award amount and that Land Stewards would provide $125 of the award amount to be presented to Ms. Kline. VOTE: four of the directors voted in favor of the motion; none of the directors voted against the motion.
• Pinehurst Village- committee chairperson Guy Reese reported that the village committee was conducting a survey of the residents about whether a splash park should be pursued as a village amenity or if a multi-purpose park should be established within the village. He said that approximately 90 responses had been received within the first week or so of the survey. Mr. Reese said the committee would compile the information in the survey responses and report to the board in April. Director Frazier said that the board was interested in getting input from the village residents initially and that it would then seek input from the whole community.
• Westwinds Village— Sonya Rossig told the board that she had been elected to the Westwinds board at its annual meeting but that no one had as yet been appointed to serve as village committee chairperson. She said that Karen and Jim Urchasko, who typically attend the LLA board meetings to represent Westwinds, were out of town.
MATTERS FOR BOARD
INFORMATION
Aspen North CDA Line of Credit — GM Edwards said that talks with Bank of America were going well until recently. He said that now only Merrill Lynch was entertaining the idea and that meetings were upcoming with them. Director Frazier said that the LLA will need to state collateral as a part of the loan. He said that other HOAs have used future revenues as collateral before.
Westwinds Final Phase Update— GM Edwards said that discussions were opening with county officials to get the status of Millennium Development. He said staff and the Westwinds HOA have concerns because of work to be done on roads in the village and other aspects of infrastructure there. GM Edwards said that all inquiries were coming up “against a brick wall on all information sought.” Stan Swoyer, Westwinds resident/ Westwinds board and Millennium Development employee, said that all improvements to be done were bonded and cash collateralized with the county. He said that the final phase of the development will be done and that talks were ongoing with Ryan Homes, which has promised that all improvements would be done if it purchases the property. GM Edwards asked who to contact at Millennium regarding the project manager because Brian Lippy, who has been project manager, has been on-again, off-again in that position. Mr. Swoyer told GM Edwards to forward questions to him.
ADJOURNMENT
Director Cates made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Director DiMeglio seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Clay Edwards Jay Decker
LLA General Manager LLA
Secretary