Minutes of the Regular Monthly DVLA Board Meeting October 30, 2007
Board Members attending: Jerry Yurek, Mike Barker, Crystal Phillips, Alan Strebeck Absent: Cyndy Johnson
Twenty four landowners were in attendance.
Vice President Jerry Yurek called the meeting to order at 7:00pm.
1. Approval of Agenda
MOTION was made by Crystal Phillips to accept the amended agenda, Alan Strebeck seconded the motion. The motion was passed.
2. Review & approve minutes of the September meeting.
MOTION was made by Alan Strebeck to approve the September minutes. Crystal Phillips seconded the motion. The motion was passed
3. President's Message
Jerry Yurek told the group that he had been traveling to a lot of different places over the last couple of months. He found that he appreciated our Valley even more upon his return.
4. Review & approve financial reports - Stella Callagee
Stella Callagee reported that only one lot remained with unpaid dues and it was in the process of being sold. The title company had been sent an invoice with the applicable late fees. Also, there was one landowner who had paid the yearly dues amount of $270 in October but did not include the late fees. Since the landowner had not requested a special payment plan from the Board an invoice for those late fees had been sent out.
MOTION was made by Crystal Phillips to accept the financial reports, Mike Barker seconded the motion. The motion was passed.
5. Reports
a. Fire Department
Chief Talbot gave the report for the fire department. There were no fires in the past month. He said that the wildland fire season is pretty much over and now the department is gearing up for possible structural fires which occur more in the winter. He encouraged landowners to get their chimneys and wood burning stoves cleaned. He was unsure on the requirements for gas stoves but cautioned landowners to also make sure they were ready for the winter season.
The department responded to two medical calls, both fatalities. One call was in the Valley and the other at Baker Reservoir.
The Chief welcomed a new fire fighter - Max Sorenson. He also thanked Ned and Mary Cordery for making a CD of pictures from the annual department party.
The Chief thanked the landowners who were volunteering to man the burn pile gate. The burn pile is open the first and third Saturdays of each month. As of November 1st Chief Talbot is able to give landowners a permit to burn on their own property. Call the Chief and he will go over the burn permit requirements with you. Alan Strebeck added that the burn pile Saturdays are manned through 11/17/07. If landowners would be willing to help after that date they can contact the Chief or a Board member.
The Chief asked for a donation of a junk car for extrication training. He asked that if someone has a car to donate, they call him.
The Chief reported on the status of the County repeater station. There is a station on Flattop Mountain which sends out 911 pages to this area, including Enterprise, Veyo, Diamond Valley and Dammeron Valley. The problem is that the site is very vulnerable to lighting strikes. After the latest strikes the repeater is only about 40% functional. This means that 911 pages are sporadic, at best. The repeater is owned by the County Chiefs Association and each repair can be as much as $100,000. Over the past years the County Emergency Services Dept. has been making the repairs by using their budget funds. The County can no longer afford to do this and if each Chief in the area was to try to fund the repairs it would be over $20,000 per community. As the Chief pointed out, his yearly budget for the fire department is just about that amount. The Chief advised the Valley landowners that the Chief's Association is working on a solution to this problem and asked that individuals not get involved at this point. The Chiefs would be making a presentation at an upcoming meeting with the County and he was hopeful that there could be a reasonable solution worked out with the County. He added that the Dixie Regional Medical Center provides medical direction for the volunteer emergency services and they are aware of the repeater problem. They will be working with the Chiefs too on a timely solution. He promised to report back at next month's meeting.
A landowner asked about the DVLAs liability because of this situation. The Chief responded that there is no liability. The level of service provided by the Dammeron Valley Fire Department and the others is that of a volunteer, unlicensed service. It is a Good Samaritan effort and therefore does not carry the liability of a licensed service.
The Chief made a request for volunteers from the Pinion Hills "top" section. It is a high risk area and he is concerned that the department does not have any members who can provide assessment during an emergency. If you can help out, please call Chief Talbot.
b. ARC
Trustee Assignments: October - Crystal Phillips, November - Jerry Yurek, December - Alan Strebeck, January - Mike Barker
Lance Cornwall, Chair of the ARC, did not have any activity to report for the past month.
c. Trustee Reports
1. Crystal Phillips reported that the big door for the Community Center has been fixed so that water will not be able to get under it.
2. Jerry Yurek introduced Mac Thomson to talk about the Community Fire Safe program. Mac urged those taking advantage of the burn pile reopening to make sure they fill out a matching funds sheet documenting their efforts. The Valley receives approximately $17.00/hour of in-kind services from the State. Ned Cordery is the coordinator for the chipping machine program that is available to landowners. Contact Ned if you would like the State to chip brush on your land, for your use, or to be hauled away. Those operating the chipper work under the direction of the landowner.
3. Alan Strebeck said that the Board hoped to have a speaker come to a future meeting to talk about noxious weeds. Alan was advised that there is a business just past IFA called Steve Reagans which can provide landowners the best products to get rid of tumbleweeds and Russian thistle. Alan noted that Russian thistle, though problematic, is not classified as a "noxious" weed. As discussed at the last meeting he said that the CC&Rs do say that landowners must maintain their property. Landowners will be notified when a speaker can come to an upcoming Board meeting.
4. Alan Strebeck also asked the Board members to review a document he had sent to them in respect to establishing meeting protocol. He asked that they send him their feedback.
6. Old Business
a. Mike Barker reported on water issues. The County is aware of the problems in Dammeron Valley. One of the early objectives of the report was to advise bidders of the adjacent State Trust Lands up for sale of the ramifications of development in the natural wash areas. It turned out the land had been closed ahead of time with one bidder. The committee putting the information together was getting it all onto a CD which would be given to the County. Landowners had given the committee additional pictures of drainage problems from the Bonnie Springs area - which was affecting lots in the Ranches. Sally Musemeche told the Board that she had been on planning commissions in the past and she felt it was important that the County Planning Commission also be made aware of the drainage problems as they looked at future development. She recommended a letter be sent to the Planning Commission.
7. New Business
a. Landowner Eddie Zawacki talked about severe flooding problems she had experienced due to a neighbors wall diverting water onto her property. The County Public Works had advised her that it is illegal for an individual to change the water flow. It becomes a civil matter that an individual landowner must pursue. Discussion by the landowners present pointed out that as development occurs in the Valley there will be more problems like those experienced by Eddie Zawacki.
Landowner Bob Reever talked about his experience with flood insurance. In the past he had been able to get flood insurance for a minimal amount. Recently when he contacted his agent it had risen to $700/year.
b. The Board discussed Christmas Party assignments. Some of those involved were not at the meeting so Crystal Philips was going to continue checking on where folks where with the different parts of the party. It will be held the first Monday of December at the firehouse. A flyer was going out to all landowners in the water bills.
c. Laurie Foremaster is proposing an Annual Meeting ballot item to limit the number of animals on lots. She had sent the Board a letter which she asked be made a part of the minutes. (See attachment to these minutes). She said that there are properties which are making the Valley look trashy and the cause is a large number of animals on those lots.
Alan Strebeck reported that he had gone to meet with Attorney Patterson of the County. There is a process that an individual can go through with the County to ask for a change in the zoning laws - in this case to affect the number of animals on the 5-acre lots. It was a procedure that the County takes seriously and would involve public input and meetings. Alan told Laurie that she should talk with Attorney Patterson.
Attorney Patterson also told Alan that a homeowner's association could make a County regulation more restrictive. But if it did, that entity was entirely responsible for enforcement of the rules voted in. The County did not enforce homeowner rules. Alan asked what kind of enforcement the DVLA Board could do. Landowners in the past had only voted for a $2,000 legal budget and making any changes such as this would require a lot of legal advice and possible litigation.
Jan Yergensen asked the question - why do we need a homeowner's association if the rules are not enforced?
Bob Reever said that he was a retired lawyer and would be willing to work for free with Laurie Foremaster on drafting a ballot issue for the Annual Meeting. He recommended a series of fines and liens on properties.
Alan Strebeck said that the By-laws had a process for submitting ballot items for the Annual Meeting. The ballot item had to be submitted to the Board 60 days before the Annual Meeting.
Lance Cornwall stated that he had bought a 5-acre lot so he could have horses. If the DVLA was going to start limiting the number of horses he and others would be driven out. Stella Callagee supported Lance's comments and pointed out that everyone's property values would be affected by such an action. Laurie Foremaster responded that trashy looking properties also affect property values.
Fran Perue asked why the landowner referred to in Laurie Foremaster's letter was allowed to move into the Meadows. The Board pointed out that there is no limit on the number of large animals in the Meadows subdivision.
Stella Callagee referred landowners to copies of the past minutes where Cyndy Johnson had obtained information concerning who to call in the County if neighbors were experiencing health related issues due to problems on another property. She also made available to those attending copies of the September 2005 minutes when Attorney Patterson had come to the meeting to talk about the RA-5 lots.
Landowner Barbara Hjelle said that in her opinion a vote of the DVLA on this issue would not be binding. She said that the expense of subsequent litigation would be substantial for the DVLA. She encouraged the Board to take a vote to not accept this as a ballot issue and refer the landowner back to the County.
Bob Reever said he did not agree with Barbara Hjelle. He was offering to help write the ballot issue for free. He wanted to avoid the need to see lawyers involved and going to court. Fines could be imposed and liens put on properties.
Sheri Mandell said that she had written a letter to the Board several months ago about the particular property in the Meadows. She agreed that fines should be set-up if landowners are not following the CC&Rs. Alan Strebeck said that the County contact he had for complaints about problem properties was: Kent Gardner at 435-634-5714. He advised landowners to take their complaints to the County. Sheri Mandell said that the Board now had more than two complaints about a particular property. She felt that the landowner's association had more power than an individual and she felt the DVLA Board should also place a call to Kent Gardner, telling him of the complaints that had been brought to the Board.
Sally Musemeche warned of selective enforcement. If the DVLA is going to start looking at the number of large animals issue then there were other violations that needed to be addressed.
Jerry Yurek closed the discussion by thanking those who had offered their opinions and insights. He said it was a complicated issue and he saw the many sides as presented tonight. The DVLA Board does not have an instant answer and there needs to be further discussion by the Board.
8. Adjournment 8:30pm- MOTION was made by Mike Barker to adjourn the meeting, Crystal Phillips seconded the motion. The motion was passed.
Stella Callagee
Recording Secretary
