[VCHPOA Agenda] Minutes July 12, 2005

[Agenda at vchpoa.org]

[As received from the VCHPOA Secretary, 8/10/05]


Virginia City Highlands Property Owner's Association
Monthly Meeting Minutes
July 12, 2005


PRESENT: Musser, Bent, Thomas and Beckerman.
1.	CALL TO ORDER AND APPROVE MEETING AGENDA
    A quorum being present, President Musser called the regular meeting of 
    the VCHPOA Board of Directors to order at 6:35 P.M., at the Virginia City 
    Highlands Firehouse. 
    Amendments to Agenda:
    A. Appoint Armour's replacement 
    B. Discuss Road Mgrs Contract 
    C. Lease on House 
    D. Special Assessment - 1st notice 
    A motion by Musser, seconded by Thomas, the amended agenda was 
    unanimously approved.

2.	APPROVE MINUTES OF REGULAR BOARD MEETING OF MAY 10, 2005
    On a motion by Thomas, seconded by Beckerman, the minutes of the Regular 
    Board Meeting of May 10, 2005 were unanimously approved. Note: no quorum 
    was present at the June 14, 2005 meeting. Motion to approve by Beckerman, 
    seconded by Bent - Thomas & Musser abstained, as they did not attend that 
    meeting. Approved.

3.	UPDATES FROM BOARD MEMBERS:
a)  President Musser informed everyone that the new guidelines are posted 
    on the web after being recorded with the County. Musser stated there are 
    5 good people on the architectural committee and thanked everyone for 
    their participation.  Musser stated one set of plans were approved under 
    these new guidelines but another owner objected and withdrew their plans. 
    A developer's opinion was that they should not have to pay increased fees 
    as his plans were submitted in April. Note: Plans were not approved at 
    that time. Musser also reported that he is selling all his one-acre 
    properties and will need to withdraw his name from the ballot.  Since the 
    ballots had been mailed it was decided to announce at the annual meeting 
    that Musser's votes would not be counted. 
b)  Vice-President Armour: Resigned as of June the 6th and vacancy will be 
    addressed later in the meeting.
c)  Treasurer Thomas: Stated concerns about the letter from Alt to write 
    in names for the upcoming election. The ballot that was mailed on 
    accordance per NRS 116 rules and the persons mentioned did not own 
    property before the cut-off date to run and that only one could run per 
    lot owned. He also raised a concern about an out-of-state nominee and if 
    that person was voted onto the Board that they would be required to 
    attend the monthly meetings. The guidelines will need to be checked to 
    determine how many meeting a board member can miss and still remain on 
    the board. 
d)  Beckerman: No newsletter will be sent this summer and Phyllis needs a 
    refund or advertising on the website as her ad was left out of the last 
    newsletter by mistake. The bookkeeper will be notified as to her choice.  
    Beckerman also said that Joe Curtis would like someone from the homeowner 
    association to have a seat on the local emergency management board. 
    Musser said he will contact Curtis and will most likely attend.
e)  Member-at-large Bent: Turned in bids to Fire Safe Highlands for the 
    new road signs and reminded everyone of the Meeting this Thursday. 
 
4.	FINANCIAL REPORT
a)  Thomas went through the financial reports.  He would continue to do 
    the annual tax returns as a service to the homeowners.
b)  Stated a GID would require a 2/3 vote of all members to dedicate 
    responsibility for roads to any public entity. The county would collect 
    money for a GID based on assessed taxes and collected. Bob Kershaw felt 
    that the whole issue should go to a vote at the next general election. 
    The County roads are funded by sales tax, gasoline fees and tipping fees 
    at the landfill fund and if things continue to improve with county 
    finances they may be able to help us out more. Thomas gave a report on 
    traffic on the surrounding access roads and noted a 45 % increase.
c)  Beckerman reported on the FEMA funds for this past winter's snow 
    removal efforts and directed the bookkeeper to contact Joe Curtis to find 
    out how much the homeowners association will receive.
d)  Delinquent accounts: One additional lot is currently up for 
    foreclosure and the legal has been posted in the Chronicle.

5.	COMMITTEE REPORTS
a)  Architectural Committee- Only one new building fee collected. The 
    other lot owner in attendance did not like the new fees and withdrew his 
    plans.  Musser explained the violation letter that must be filled out for 
    the committee to take any action but noted they would not be going around 
    and looking for violations. If the problem is not corrected a $50.00 fine 
    will be imposed that doubles each time they return for the same item. 
    Bill Redman will be the violation enforcement officer. If there are heath 
    or safety issues the fire department will be called and the property 
    owner will receive notice via certified mail with 30 days to clean up the 
    violation.       
b)  Road Report- New time cards were discussed, including that they were 
    to be turned in to the bookkeeper no later than the Friday before the 
    monthly meeting.  Beckerman stated that after the June meeting, she went 
    over a complete packet with the Road Manager.  This packet included new 
    time cards to be used by the crew and a listing of his duties and 
    responsibilities. DuFresne said he has 80 % of the roads prepped for 
    gravel and will start hauling on Monday. The road crew is preparing the 
    shoulders of Cartwright Road and that the 10's will need to be billed for 
    their 40 %.  Stated the county will try to blacktop or at least patch the 
    first mile before winter. DuFresne then stated he thought the crew should 
    be receiving benefits including healthcare and retirement. He was told 
    that the association could not do that and they are hired as independent 
    contractors. He stated that if that is the case then he is putting in a 
    $5.00 across the board cost of living raise for all crew effective 
    immediately and that it applied to the 10's as well.  Beckerman stated 
    that he needs to put the request in writing and it should include an 
    affective date and then it will need to on the Agenda and be presented to 
    the boards for approval.  DuFresne repeated that since they are 
    independent contractors and could charge what they wanted.  Beckerman 
    said he still needed to put it in writing and get approval, but agreed 
    their rates were reasonable for the work they are doing. Beckerman said 
    he also needs to complete paperwork showing what roads have been done and 
    that the bookkeeper is available to help if anything needs to be typed 
    up. The bookkeeper has two (2) hours of approved time to help the Road 
    Manager set up and organize the necessary paperwork.  The crew installed 
    three (3) culverts on Bonanza. A phone line was discussed for the "shed" 
    that is being turned into an office with a "snow" message answering 
    machine.  The price sounded good, the bookkeeper was told to set the 
    install up ASAP if no other complications arose

6.	OLD BUSINESS
a)  Annual meeting details finalized. Kathy Weeks, county assessor has 
    agreed to attend and discuss taxes. Reps from the fire dept, sheriff dept 
    and commissioners will attend. The phone books will be available for 
    $2.00 thanks to Mark Twain bookstore. A PA system will be used again. 
    Musser will chair the meeting with members reporting on their area of 
    expertise. It was decided to put the invited speakers before the business 
    part of the meeting. The agenda will be changed and posted to reflect 
    this.

7.	NEW BUSINESS
a)  Appoint a replacement for the remaining 1-year of Armour's term.  
    A motion by Musser to ask Beckerman to serve one more year was seconded 
    by Thomas. Beckerman accepted and was unanimously approved.
b)  Beckerman asked Keith Judson to help her work on a succession book and 
    Keith said he emailed her some information he worked on when he was a 
    board member. This will be revised before the year is out.
c)  House lease. The Peevers family approached Musser about the vacancy. 
    Musser pulled a credit report and stated that Amy and Brian would be the 
    new renters paying the same $600.00 a month the previous renter paid.
    Some discussion asking if anyone checked with the fire and sheriffs 
    departments to see if they had anyone needing housing. Peevers, Volunteer 
    Fire Chief, said that maybe next year the fire department will have a 
    budget item allowing the rental of the house for fire personal thus 
    freeing up some area in the station for offices.  Questions arose to why 
    the cost was so reasonable and why it wasn't advertised.  The house has 
    direct correlation to the fire hall and all the activities that go on, 
    midnight calls, radio transmissions, etc. Because of these reasons the 
    person living there has to be very tolerant of the situation. Also, SCFD 
    has taken the lion's share of maintenance for the home and they have 
    first priority.  The motion to accept the new tenants was made by 
    Beckerman and seconded by Thomas and unanimously approved.  The new 
    renters were told to complete the application after the meeting with a 
    one-month security deposit and rent for ½ month for a total of $900.00 
    due tonight.
    The new renters will be glad to help out in the winter by allowing the 
    snowplow crews the use of the 3rd bedroom.
d)  A special assessment was discussed to decide the amount needed to 
    replace both snowplow trucks this year. After much pro and con discussion 
    on what and when, a motion to present a special assessment of $75.00 at 
    the annual meeting was made by Beckerman and seconded by Musser with 
    unanimous approval. This motion serves as 10 days notice as per NRS. 116.
e)  The revised agenda will be posted on the website and at the mailboxes.

8.	COMMENTS BY ASSOCIATION MEMBERS & DISCUSSION   
    Bob Kershaw said there is $50,000 in the park fund and we should decide 
    how many improvements could be made. He was informed folks were working 
    on getting some contractors up here but the building boom is making it 
    difficult to find workers for small jobs.  Bob also told us the County 
    tax rate is 3 & ½ cent less this year.  He also said that the county is 
    aware of all the earth moving around Cartwright and will be requiring 
    engineered plans before any permits will be approved.
    Nicole Frens stated that the "HIT" squad would be passing out information 
    packets at the annual meeting.

On a motion by Musser, seconded by Beckerman, and unanimously approved, 
the meeting was adjourned at 8:10 P.M.

Respectfully submitted by:
Lydia Hammack, VCHPOA Bookkeeper 	                        
Attachments: Cash Flow Statement, Financial Statements, Architectural 
Report