Minutes of the DVLA Board Meeting of September 30, 2008
Board Members attending: Cyndy Johnson, Mike Barker, Barbara Hjelle, Sally Musemeche
Absent: Alan Strebeck
Meeting held at Community Center.
Twelve landowners were in attendance.
President Cyndy Johnson called the meeting to order at 7:00pm.
1. Approval of Agenda
Agenda was accepted as proposed.
2. Review and approve minutes of the August meeting
MOTION was made by Barbara Hjelle to approve the August minutes. Mike Barker seconded the motion. The motion was passed.
3. President's Message - Cyndy Johnson
Cyndy Johnson thanked all who helped with the Valley Fall Festival party. There was a great turn out. The Board would love to hear from those who have ideas for additions and changes to the format.
4. Review financial reports and dues collection update - Stella Callagee
Stella Callagee reported that unpaid dues total $4,896.00 which represents 4.0% of the total amount billed. There are 16 lots, down from 27 reported last month, with unpaid yearly dues. Of the 16 lots there are already three with liens filed against the properties. Outstanding late fees have been paid. Stella will begin placing liens on the outstanding lots.
MOTION was made by Mike Barker to accept the financial report for filing. Barbara Hjelle seconded the motion. It was passed.
5. Reports:
a. Fire Department - Chief Kyle Talbot
Chief Talbot reported that there were no medical calls in the past month. The department responded to a structure fire in Diamond Valley which ended up being cancelled. Another fire fighter from the Dammeron Valley fire department has been hired as a full-time fire fighter in a municipality. This is about the 7th volunteer to go into a full time job and the department is proud of providing the training and direction that is highly valued by others.
The burn pile will be reopened on Saturday, October 4th, restarting the monthly schedule of opening the first and third Saturday mornings.
The State has given the Chief the authority to approve open burning on lots, starting 10/15. The Chief will be able to give permits through the winter months.
b. ARC - Trustee Assignments: September - Sally Musemeche; October - Alan Strebeck; November - Mike Barker, December - Cyndy Johnson
There was no report for the ARC this month.
c. Trustee Reports
Barbara Hjelle gave a report for the weeds committee. The committee members are: Barbara Hjelle, Sally Musemeche, Cindy Garn and Brooks Pace. The committee is looking into setting up a "weeds day" to get volunteers out to help clean lots as well as pick up cuttings. Landowners should contact Barbara if they are interested in helping.
The weeds committee is looking at establishing an annual calendar so the Valley can be more proactive with controlling weeds. The committee feels that priorities need to be set. Cindy Garn reported that owners of problem lots will be contacted about receiving help with clean-up. Some lots have been identified which are producing tumbleweeds that are seeding throughout the Valley.
Barbara Hjelle pointed out that the Valley will be receiving revenue from the recycling effort. Suggestion was made during discussion that some of this revenue could be used for weed control.
The next meeting of the weeds committee will be after 10/15. Any landowners interested in attending or joining the committee should contact Barbara Hjelle.
Cyndy Johnson reported that she has ordered an A-frame sign on which notices can be placed. It will be put near the mailbox cluster. The highway cleanup effort is being coordinated by Rick Smith and a clean-up morning is being planned for a date after the deer hunt. Cyndy is working with Johnna Evans on the DVLA website.
Mike Barker is working with Chief Talbot on the replacement value of the fire department assets. He has been reviewing the DVLA insurance policies and has found that though the liability policies are good the fire house contents may not be covered well enough in the event they need to be replaced. He also pointed out that though he is a State Farm agent he does not have a business interest in reviewing the Valley's policies. In fact State Farm does not insure fire houses. He is only doing this review because he is the most knowledgeable member of the Board in this area.
Sally Musemeche talked about the letter to the Board from landowners who were concerned about a Dammeron Valley beauty shop business flyer they had received. Sally explained that after researching this particular case the County found there had been an incorrect approval of the license granted. The request had been approved by the County Commissioners with specific restrictions due to septic issues. But what had been left out of the information for the Commissioners was a disallowance by the Environmental Protection officer. The County was moving to correct their decision to a denial of the operating license in light of the information update.
6. Unfinished Business:
a. Report on the Fall Festival Party - Karen Sharkey
Karen reported that she has received a lot of positive feedback and accolades on the party. The bake sale and auction collected around $750 towards Community Center improvements. Several landowners made substantial donations in food and supplies. Board members added that it was a great party.
b. Report on meeting with County and State entities re: flooding - Cyndy Johnson
Cyndy reported that there were three officials at the meeting - representing State Trust Lands, UDOT and Washington County. These representatives met with Board members and landowners. They told the DVLA Board that due to the widespread burn off in the mountains the flooding will continue to be bad - probably for the next 100 years. The representatives said that they could not commit assistance. They asked the DVLA to have an engineer prepare a report of the flooding issues. This would have to be done at the expense of the DVLA as there are no State or County funds available. Ron Whitehead is getting back to the DVLA with an estimate of engineering costs - which is expected to be around $20,000. With an engineering report the State and County could start looking at the water problems. Brooks Pace said he would look into seeing what he could do about getting engineering assistance from local firms at a cost a lot less than that.
c. Board Policies - Barbara Hjelle
Barbara asked that this item be moved to the next meeting as "unfinished business" as Alan Strebeck has given a lot of input on the document and she would like him to be in attendance before continuing the discussion.
d. Continuation of discussion on dissolution of SSD
Brooks Pace said it would take upwards to $6,000 to reestablish an SSD if needed. The Board discussed keeping a shell SSD in place to prevent having to pay this set-up cost in the future.
The Board discussed the fact that the County will be moving in the immediate future to dissolve the DVLA SSD as it creates a County wide waste water SSD. The Board does not have time to seek a vote from the landowners on whether or not to maintain a shell SSD or allow it to be dissolved. The issue of the land on which the firehouse sits is key. Brooks Pace had deeded that land to the SSD. Maybe it would be best to retain a shell SSD with the DVLA Board taking on the role of the SSD Board. Then the issue of the land can be researched and taken care of in the future.
MOTION made and amended by Mike Barker and then seconded:
1. DVLA Board would ask the County to deed the land that the firehouse sits on to the DVLA
2. because of the time issue, ask the County not to dissolve the current SSD structure until the DVLA gets additional input as to the impact of this action
3. ask the County to appoint the DVLA board as the defacto SSD board
Barbara Hjelle said she would contact the County Attorney, David Patterson, about this decision.
7. New Business:
a. Discussions outside of board meetings - Board
Cyndy Johnson said that the practice has been to allow Board discussions outside of the monthly meetings about issues that had already been brought up in a public meeting. Mike Barker said that usually email discussions are in conjunction with a landowner question that has been forwarded by the Secretary for a Board member response. Other board members offer information as the response is put together. It was pointed out that this issue is in the board policies document and will be part of the discussion at the next meeting.
8. Adjournment
MOTION was made by Barbara Hjelle to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 9:00pm.
Stella Callagee
Recording Secretary
