Lake Linganore
Association, Inc.
October 2, 2006
The meeting was called to order at 7 p.m. at the LLA Coldstream Drive office.
Board members present were: Jim Cates, Robert Charles, Jay Decker, Brandon Frazier, Stephen Hembree.
BoD Absent: Kenneth Allen, Jim DiMeglio.
Staff in attendance: GM Edwards, AGM Seligson, CRM Gurley.
Minutes of the September 18, 2006 regular board meeting were approved as written.
APPROVAL OF September
18, 2006 EXECUTIVE SESSION MINUTES
Minutes of the September 18, 2006 Executive Session were approved with the following amendment: Minutes should show that Larry and Charlotte Dusold were in attendance.
DEVELOPER’S REPORT
Land Stewards president John Clarke said that it would be important for the LLA directors to attend an October 18 public hearing with county staff on road issues in Eaglehead, specifically on whether the roads will be owned “privately” (by the LLA) or “publicly” (by the county). Mr. Clarke said that Land Stewards negotiations with the county on water and sewer issues had mostly been worked out and that negotiation was still ongoing with the county Board of Education and county departments regarding school funding and the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance text amendment.
Mr. Clarke said that some of the other road issues included link improvements, widening of Old National Pike in specific sections, improvements on Gas House Pikes and town center roads. He was asked about the determination on Eaglehead Drive, whether it would be four or two-lanes. He said that a traffic study independently done for Land Stewards showed that Eaglehead Drive from Boyer’s Mill Road to the high school site in town center would only need to be two lanes for the next 20-25 years. He said the county was requiring 80-foot right-of-way along Eaglehead Drive that could allow a future four-lane roadway. He said that the road would be four lanes through town center. He noted that environmental concerns show that the road should remain two lanes.
Mr. Clarke said that having the LLA as a part of the meetings and hearings on the matter of public vs. private roads status was important because he considered it an association decision. He said that Land Stewards had been working on road standards to present to the county and noted that the matter could be done either way, to meet county standards or build the roads to LLA standards. He said no decisions would be made on October 18 but that the meeting was important.
LLCS president Larry Dusold told Mr. Clarke that the county had previously approved an LLA modified road standard. He said that the difference in road widths between the modified standard and the county standard did not preclude the county from accepting the roads; in fact the county does not have to take a road even if the road is built to county standard. Mr. Clarke said that Land Stewards would send a copy of its proposed road standard to the LLA before it sends the information to the county. He said that a goal of Land Stewards’ was to find ways to minimize grading and clearing. Director Hembree said that county staff has been shown the LLA modified road standard many times and noted that roads in Audubon North were all modified standards that the county approved.
Director Frazier said that he thought the association should move forward on roads in preparation for becoming a municipality. He said by having the LLA keep ownership of the roads that it would make simpler the process of deeding the roads over to its future municipal status, thereby being less of a burden on the county, which, he believed, would be greater encouragement to the county to approve the municipal status of Eaglehead. Director Hembree reminded that in every town there is a blend of road ownership.
CRM Gurley said that in the past two different boards had written letters to county staff and the Board of County Commissioners going on record that the LLA would maintain private ownership of its roads.
Director Frazier said that he wanted the board and staff to work on a position for the LLA to discuss at the October 16 LLA board meeting prior to the Oct. 18 public hearing.
OLD BUSINESS
Dredging Update—
A. Small Dredge Machine Purchase- GM Edwards said that he had been meeting with lakefront home owners in Pinehurst and that their applications were moving through the Maryland Department of the Environment. He said that LLA staff had asked the Army Corps of Engineers (CoE) to meet with the home owners and to review the spoils sites on each lot. In addition, he said that at the last meeting of the LLA ECC it briefly discussed the matter of setting criteria for this project. He said that ECC members felt they needed more of a background in order to set the criteria for individual lots owners to place dredging spoils on their lots. Everyone is interested in getting an opinion from CoE, which is tentatively scheduled to be at Eaglehead on Tuesday, October 10, to review the individual spoil sites.
Director Frazier asked if there were any issues with someone selling a lot that is a dewatering location/spoil site for silt. Director Cates said the purchaser would have to agree to take on the maintenance responsibility. Director Hembree said that if only four to five lot owners would be using the small dredge machine and that it would not be of benefit to the LLA for other projects, he felt the association was barking up the wrong tree to purchase the dredge machine. Director Charles said that more and more homes would be impacted by the silting in the future and that all those could use the small dredge machine during the next several years until the larger dredging project got underway. The consensus was that the ECC should spend time setting a standard for this type of activity. Staff was directed to come back to the board with more information after CoE visits the sites. Director Frazier reminded the board that a previous board had already voted to purchase the small dredge machine.
B. Big Dredge Project- Director Frazier said that the board had time to give input on the draft letter agreement between LLA and Land Stewards regarding the proposed Heritage Ridge site for dewatering the silt dredged from Lake Linganore. He also wanted the letter to go through staff before it was finalized and sent back to Land Stewards. Director Charles, who had been out of the country for some time, asked to be updated on the status of the agreement and asked why Lennar could not sign off on the letter, too. Director Frazier said that at some point Lennar would have to sign off on the matter. John Clarke of Land Stewards told the board that it would be worked out and that his company would talk with Lennar about the matter throughout the sale process of the land. He encouraged the board to get the draft letter finished and back to Land Steward as soon as possible.
NEW BUSINESS
ECC Appeal Re: Lot #130469 — AGM Seligson said the lot owner sent a letter requesting the hearing be heard at the Oct. 2 board meeting, though the home owner was not in attendance. Mr. Seligson said that the LLA does not have a specific rule against fences in the front yard of homes but the ECC did not want to set a precedence, which the committee believes will be problematic, particularly because they felt there were other means of dealing with the problem that prompted the fence request. Director Hembree asked whether other alternatives were proposed to her. AGM Seligson said other alternatives were outlined and presented to her.
MOTION: Director Decker made a motion to uphold the ECC decision and deny the request for a fence in the front yard of the lot. Director Charles seconded the motion. VOTE: four directors voted in favor of the motion; none of the directors votes against the motion. The board stated that it concurred with the ECC that there were alternatives to a fence installation to be implemented in this matter.
Governing Documents Violation Judgments—
A. Lot #050187— Violation: storing unlicensed vehicle without tags. Fine: $100.
AGM Seligson reported that the car had been removed from the lot on 9/29/06. MOTION: Director Decker made a motion to waive the fine. Director Charles seconded the motion. VOTE: four directors voted in favor of the motion; none of the directors voted against the motion.
B. Lot #130180— Violation: storing unlicensed vehicle without tags. Fine: $100.
AGM Seligson said that the property owner did not respond to communications regarding the violation, rights and opportunities for hearing. MOTION: Director Cates made a motion to impose the fine. Director Charles seconded the motion. VOTE: four of the directors voted in favor of the motion; none of the directors voted against the motion.
MATTERS FOR BOARD
INFORMATION
Rain Drainage Damage to Woods Court— GM Edwards told the board that he wanted funds approved to fix drainage damage that is occurring to Woods Court in Pinehurst. He said the staff spends four hours or more trying to get the gravel road back into shape after each rain. He said he wanted to pave the road and do some drainage work along it, according to CDA plans, so that the road will not suffer any more major damage until the CDA construction work goes into effect in that village. He said he wasn’t completely satisfied with the plan he has in mind but wanted to find out if there was any possibility of getting funds before he finished developing a plan of action. Director Hembree asked LLCS president Larry Dusold whether taking such action would have a negative effect on the CDA for that area. Mr. Dusold said he did not think it would.
MOTION: Director Hembree made a motion to, at the discretion of the GM, allow up to $25,000 to be spent to develop and apply the best short term fix for the road and drainage problem on Woods Court. Director Decker seconded the motion. VOTE: four of the directors voted in favor of the motion; none of the directors voted against the motion.
RESIDENT FORUM
No one signed up to speak to the directors.
ADJOURNMENT
Director Decker made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Director Cates seconded the motion. The
meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.