[VCHPOA Agenda] Board minutes, June 12, 2007

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Virginia City Highlands Property Owners Association
Minutes - Monthly Meeting, Tuesday June 12, 2007
Virginia City Highlands Fire Station Training Room - 7:00 p.m.

Present:  Bill Lewis,  Mary Tallent-Stewart, Mike Lupo, Rita Lumos, Debra 
Gravenstein

I.    Call to order, declaration of a quorum and approval of meeting agenda
President Rita Lumos called the meeting to order at 7:04 and declared a 
quorum present.

II.   Approve minutes of the May 8, 2007 meeting
Minutes reviewed and motion made by Vice President Bill Lewis to approve 
the minutes with a second by Mary Tallent-Stewart.  Motion carries.

III.  Financial Statements (Discussion/Action)
A.	Monthly Cash Report
B.	Monthly Financial Statements
Vice President Lupo discussed the May reports.  There is $9,800 in 
checking, $111,000 in savings.  We are in line with the current budget 
figures.  A motion was made by Mike Lupo to approve the financial 
statements with a second from Bill Lewis.  Motion carries

IV.  Public Comments
            None to report
	
V.    Comments by Association Members (NRS 116.3108(3))

There were several comments by members regarding conserving water 
and the fact that there are a few homes that have grass as landscaping.  
Bill Lewis said that there is nothing in the architectural guidelines and CC & 
R´s that states 	that homeowners cannot have grass.  This will be brought 
up at the annual meeting however as a caution regarding water usage.  
Keith Judson received his newsletter and complimented webmaster Jim 
Poston´s efforts and fine job in putting it together.  

Another resident is concerned that there are several construction signs on 
uilding sites on Cartwright Road that are larger than the Architectural 
guidelines allow for.  Rita Lumos will address this with the contractors 
involved.  

Another resident voiced his concern that developer Blake Smith 
(Cordevista) calls his Limited Liability Company "Virginia Highlands LLC" 
and that there may be a conflict with the name and association with our 
community.  Rita will contact our attorney and get an opinion as to this 
issue and report at the next meeting.  


VI.   Committee Reports
A.	Architectural Committee
One set of plans was reviewed with contingency that the roof pitch be 
amended.   One roof change was reviewed along with one permanent 
shed and one temporary shed application.

B.	Road Report
In May the water truck was rented out to the 10-acre Association.  The 
drive shaft broke and was repaired. Sazarac, Clemons, Empire and 
Panhandle were re-graded.
         
C.   Documents

Keith Judson indicated that there are 256 yes votes in and 104 no votes 
regarding the way in which dues are set.  If anyone needs replacement 
ballots please call Lydia Hammack at 847-7000.  

No Park Report this meeting.

VII.	Old Business
A.	Fire Station Lease
Rita, Gary Hames and Keith Judson reivewed the lease.  Mary Tallent
Stewart suggested that it also be reviewed by the attorney.  Rita will have
him review it and try to have an opinion back prior to the annual meeting.
Storey County is interested in purchasing this property and the lease 
doesn´t expire until 2015.  If the purchase actually was made it would 
save the association taxes and insurance.
B.	Firesafe Highlands
Nothing to report
	     
VIII.    New Business
A.	Any Other Matters Which The Board Members Wish To Discuss
There was a group of homeowners present at the meeting that were 
concerned about adherence to the Road Plan.  Karlyn McPartlin was 
especially concerned that the prior minutes did not reflect true condition of 
the roads and road plan activity.  She feels that the Road Plan document 
has not been followed and that it was clearly written to begin with.  Rock 
has been added that is too big where rock was not called for at all.  
President Rita Lumos explained that the one acre association went in with 
the ten acre association to purchse that material on the recommendation of 
a qualified engineer who is also a contractor in rural northern Nevada.  
Another resident who lives on Empire also complained that the rock was to 
large and was laid on dry dirt.  Discussion insued regarding alleged road 
plan deviation, mostly regarding laying of gravel where it was not called for.  
Ms. McPartlin stated that in the February Board meeting use of the 1½ inch 
rock was voted on in an executive session.  Rita explained that no, it was 
only discussed as an aside and nothing was voted on in that session.  
Gabriel Venegas had previously e-mailed Rita regarding the size of the 
rock and the quality of work being done.(This meeting was last September, 
months prior to the rock issue).  He said that he was told the President had 
authorized the work to be done.  He feels that the roads were not prepped 
to handle the gravel.  Gabriel indicated that roads should have been ripped 
with the grader to see how much base there was and then rolled with the 
roller instead of just adding material on top. According to the plan he says 
gravel was to only be site specific and that Sazarac, Empire and Dortort 
didn´t need any gravel.  He sites several e-mails to Rita and says that no 
one contacted him for consultation. Because of the gravel being laid on top 
of the roads washboarding has occurred, especially on the steep area of 
Empire and several residents are concerned about travel in the winter 
because of the condition.  Dust is bad and the roads are not "crowned".  
Gabriel stated that he felt they would not pass any type of inspection.  The 
question was raised about the cost for regrading and rerolling the roads 
that have been done in Phase 1 of the plan.  People feel that they are not 
getting the service for the special assessment that was levied them.  Rita 
stated that the cost for Phase 1 came in a little under budget.  Working 
with the ten acre association helped. 

A resident on Calaveras said that their road has new rock on part of it and 
that the old rock on the rest of it is better.  This part of Calaveras is in the 
Highland Ranches Association area. 

Funds spent under the budget for the initial work totaled 80% and 
additional work brought it up to 95% spent for Phase 1.  Rita reminded the 
group that the Road Plan was voted on at last year´s annual meeting as a 
year to year plan then there was a large petition by homeowners who were 
concerned that their roads would never be finished so the Board voted to 
continue the Road Plan in all three phases so everyone would be assured 
their roads would be worked on.  No professional engineer had signed off 
on the Road Plan as the cost would have been approximately $15,000.  
Rita had e-mailed past president Wooley to ask if it was ever intended for a 
professional construction company to do the road work and was told no, 
that it would be cost prohibitive.  There was also nothing put into the 
budget for quality control.  Rita had contacted Marty Crew at Stantec 
Consulting regarding the quality control issue and was quoted an amount 
of approximately $15,000 ($5,000 per week) for professional inspection, 
$2,500 per day for construction, $80 per hour for equipment.  Debbie 
Gravenstein stated that Richard Wooley had said that the water truck 
would not put down enough moisture on the road for the grader to do it´s 
job and washboarding would result.  It was mentioned that perhaps folks 
should vote whether or not they want gravel put on their road.

Vice President Bill Lewis addressed the group and encouraged people to 
talk to the Board on a consistent basis when they have concerns to avoid 
conflicts and that they should come to the monthly meetings instead of 
airing their grievances on the internet "chat room".  Gabriel Venegas wants 
his e-mails to the Board put into the minutes as a record.  He did not 
charge for his services but wants to step out of the picture because he 
feels the Board has not listened to him on this issue.  He says that he will 
vote no on the next assessment because he feels that the road plan was 
not adhered to.  President Lumos stated that there was no intention on the 
part of the Board to subvert from the road plan at all.  There are other 
factors that have made the condition of the roads less than desirable.  
Traffic has increased dramatically and even though we had moisture this 
winter, March was very warm and depleted the moisture from the ground 
rapidly.  It was discussed to concentrate on the worst areas and not lay 
down any more gravel until its seen what the base actually is.

It was noted that the Road Plan budgets $78,000 for gravel and calls for 4 
inches of gravel, however, Gabriel insists that the gravel was meant to be 
site specific only and that the plan was a draft that was not finished.

It was also noted that there is no road "contract" so the budget could be 
used between reworking Phase 1 and continuance of Phase 2 next year. 

On a last note, the Lousetown Road ownership saga continues.  
Commissioner Kershaw says that NDOT has washed their hands of it and 
Storey County says they are unsure of ownership; more research is 
needed.    

IX.	Executive session to discuss possible violation of CCR´s
None to report

X.     Adjourn
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:02 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,


Mary Tallent-Stewart
Secretary