Draft Minutes of the DVLA Board Meeting of September 25, 2012
The monthly DVLA Board Meeting was held at the Fire House. Fifteen landowners were in attendance.
Board Members attending: Bill King, Mac Thomson, Terry Taylor, Jim Johnson
Absent: Julie Cropper
President Bill King called the monthly DVLA meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
1. Approval of the agenda:
A MOTION WAS MADE by Jim Johnson and SECONDED by Terry Taylor that the agenda be approved. Motion carried.
2. Review & approval of the minutes of the August 28, 2012, monthly DVLA Board meeting:
Terry Taylor MADE A MOTION that the minutes for the August 28, 2012, monthly DVLA Board meeting be approved. SECONDED by Jim Johnson, and the motion carried.
3. Old Business:
a. Development of a policy for handling landowners’ concerns
A form “Community Concern Request” was presented to the Board by Sheri Mandell for consideration when determining the policies for handling landowners’ concerns. She also indicated that most of the covenants in the subdivisions of Dammeron Valley are labeled “protective covenants”, other than CC&R’s. The development of a policy for handling landowners’ concerns will be on the next DVLA monthly meeting agenda.
b. Ongoing discussion of a Special Service District for the fire department
Eric Clarke, County Attorney, was unable to attend this evening’s meeting. A special meeting dedicated mainly to a discussion of a Special Service District was tentatively set for October 9 at 6 p.m. at the truck bay area of the fire department. The focus of this meeting will be to educate landowners on the pros and cons of establishing a Special Service District for the fire department and to learn the requirements and procedures involved in that process.
c. Update on complaint by Jill Petersen regarding flooding problem
No report on this concern.
4. New Business:
a. Development of current collection processes to be incorporated into association policies
Following is a listing of the processes currently in place to collect dues.
1) Invoices listing membership dues for the year to be mailed to all landowners before May 31 of that year (within approximately two weeks of the annual meeting). Invoice must identify the amount of the new dues that were voted on during the month and the property involved. There must be a statement (also included in the proposed budget) listing a late fee of $15 per month for every month the dues are not paid after June 30.
2) The second and final invoice for the year to be mailed by August 31 indicating that if the dues are not paid or arrangements made for payment by the end of September, a lien will be filed against the property. (Experience has indicated that third and fourth invoices resulted in no response from the landowners with delinquent accounts.) Late fees that have already accrued will be included in the dollar amount owed, and a statement will be made indicating that lien fees – including certified postal fees - ($30) will apply if a notice of lien has to be filed. Any landowner owing monies from previous years also will be informed that their account will be turned over to the Association’s attorney, automatically incurring an additional $350 attorney collection fee, if their account is not full paid during September.
3) Notices of liens to be filed on any properties that have unpaid dues by the end of September, with a certified mailing forwarding a copy of the recorded lien to the landowner. (Postal certified number to be included on the lien, per attorney.)
4) At the end of September turn over to the attorney any landowner account for which monies from previous years are still owing. At this point, the secretary no longer has control of the account and refers all contacts regarding the applicable properties to the attorney.
5) If information is received that a property owner and billing address have changed during the billing process, the current landowner will be given thirty days after receipt of an invoice to pay the dues without the late fee penalty. (It is the responsibility of all landowners to inform the Association of changes in owners and/or billing addresses.)
6) If landowners do not feel they can pay $300 at one time, they have been encouraged to make payments beginning in January (before the annual meeting) so their dues will be full paid when due. (Prepayment instead of after-the-fact.)
This information is to be considered by the Board members when developing a policy for collection of delinquent dues which will be included in next month’s agenda.
5. Reports:
a. President’s message – Bill King
During this year, the Board members have actively pursued a number of issues and have been diligent in enforcement of the CC&R’s/Protective Covenants. Concerns that have been brought to the attention of the Board members have been addressed and resolved, when applicable.
b. Fire Department Report – Chief Maciej Szczerbiak
Administrative changes during the previous month includes the addition of Fire Captain Roger Carsten to the ICS staff, plus his designation also as a training officer. Presently the chain of command is as follows: 1) Fire Chief Maciej Szczerbiak, 2) Deputy Chief Jay Workman, 3) Fire Captain Kevin Dye, 4) Fire Captain Roger Carsten, 5) Fire Captain J. R. Baird, 6) Team leader Kathy Szczerbiak, 7) Team leader Don Wallace, 8) Engineer Jim Petersen, and 9) Engineer Lance Cornwall.
The insurance on the Chevrolet Suburban has been canceled; the vehicle has been inspected by the State and is to be picked up shortly.
One more volunteer, Dallas Hyland, signed up last week. The fire department is applying for state firefighter license plate grant. Purchase of additional Wild land PPE and also rope rescue equipment in order to certify the fire department as a rope rescue team was suggested. Permission was asked of the Board members to set up a Dammeron Fire and Rescue website which will provide a platform to discuss options and benefits available to the community through the fire department. The cost would be $140.00 per year. Bill King asked that this item be added to the agenda for the October 9, 2012, special meeting so that work can begin on developing the website.
Washington County Fire has issued fire restrictions as of September 7 through October 27, 2012. Burning of debris is allowed only by fire permit issued by the Dammeron Valley Fire Chief.
The Dammeron Valley Fire Department is hosting/participating in the Washing County Fire Academy FF 1 class which is a combined effort between Ivins, Leeds, Diamond Valley, and Dammeron Valley fire departments. Last Thursday, as hosting fire department, pizza and beverages were provided to the class. Six Dammeron Valley personnel will be attending the Trauma Conference to be held on September 29. The EMT B course starts October 22.
Since August 25 the fire department has had seven EMS emergencies, two car accidents on SR 18 in Diamond Valley, and five medical emergencies. The department responded with
B 13-1 and B 13-4 trucks to community flooding issues on September 11. Accompanying flood health problems included farm animal contamination, septic tanks, and general household chemicals.
Four fire departments are interested in Brush 13-2 which has been offered for sale at an asking price of $9,500. We will follow up on any offers in an effort to sell the vehicle within the near future. Engine 13 currently needs specialized valve repair work; we should be able to have this work performed locally.
NFPA approved EMS supplies were purchased which included gloves, spinal care kit bags and decontamination kits. FF1 books and test materials for internal fire fighting training have been purchased. An inventory of all fire department PPE’s, tools, tables, chairs, etc. is being completed. All portable fire extinguishers at the fire house and in all the vehicles have just been tested/inspected and certified. A washer and dryer need to be installed at the fire house so that contaminated uniforms and other fabrics can be cleaned on site, rather than taken to homes. This is a law when dealing with contamination issues. Permission was asked of the Board that bids be secured for completion of the landscaping around the fire house.
c. Financial Report – Carol Clason
During September, approximately 55 invoices were mailed to landowners who had not yet paid their 2012-2013 dues. Many of the invoices have to be customized as some landowners owe for more than this year; have made various periodic payments that have to be taken into consideration. Some have to be told of pending lien filings; others of the possibility of being turned over to the attorney for collection, with the resulting $350 fee. Seven properties, in addition to those already sent to the attorney, are ready to go in for collection, if no contact is made by the end of the month.
The lien fee charged by the Association had to be increased from $20 to $30, due to the advice from the attorney to mail certified notices of lien to each landowner. The lien fee will include this postage plus the filing fee charged by the County Recorder's office.
If you look at your balance sheet, you will see that the very first item under "Checking/Savings" is a CD held at U.S. Bank for $50,000. This was opened during September only after there was enough monies to cover this year's budget plus some additional emergency reserve monies (approximately $35,000).
The insurance for the Chevrolet Suburban owned by the State that is sitting in our driveway has been cancelled. We intended to insure it until it was picked up, but since it has been over a month from the time they were notified, we went ahead and cancelled the coverage.
d. Committee Updates:
i. Finance – Terry Taylor
Comparison between the on-line bank statements and the financial statements submitted in tonight’s financial report indicates that all bank account balances match. The only discrepancy was in the U.S. Bank fire department operating bank account where one outstanding check for $244.00 to pay the monthly fuel bill had not yet cleared the bank. When totaling this check and adding it to the appropriate account, the Association account balances match the bank statement balances.
ii. Public Safety – Mac Thomson:
The anticipated work in Dammeron Valley by the County road department was superseded by the recent emergency in Santa Clara. It is not known if or when the engineer will be able to address the flood issues in Dammeron Valley in the near future.
The county personnel, who handle the weed issue, returned and sprayed the burn pile since they had determined it to be a public area in the valley.
iii.Social/Insurance – Jim Johnson
No report submitted.
iv. Architectural Review - Gary Jensen
Plans for two houses in the Canyon Trails subdivision were approved this past month.
v. Public Properties – Julie Cropper
No report submitted.
6. Comment and Discussion by Landowners:
One landowner requested that the Board members listen to what the landowners have to say rather than argue with what is being said. Also, he asked that all participants use appropriate language at all times, especially when ladies are present.
7. Adjournment:
A MOTION WAS MADE by Jim Johnson to adjourn the meeting. It was SECONDED by Terry Taylor, and the meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m.
