Meeting Minutes: Jul 24, 2023

SCCE Board of Directors Meeting – July 24, 2023

The meeting was called to order at 6:30 pm by Board President, Joe Doran.

• Board members present are Michael Montileone, Kort Herman, Marlowe McDowell, John Santana, Howie Aubertin, Lonnie Steinmetz and Scott Wagner

• Board Member(s) absent – None

• Staff Present – Mike Riker and Kelsey Wyres

• Staff absent – None

• Resident(s) present – Janet Montileone, Chuck and Carolyn Ellington, Kris and Chenoa Jensen,

  Caroline Skromeda, Amber Rasmussen, Jennie Steinmetz, Holy Riker (Website and Newsletter)

  and LuAnne Johnson (recreation committee).
  

Approval of Agenda/Call for Changes

• A motion was made to approve the agenda by Marlowe and seconded by John. Motion carried.

• Approval of SCCE Board minutes from the February, 2023 meeting.

• A motion was made to approve the minutes by Howie and seconded by Lonnie. Motion carried.
  

TREASURER/BOOKKEEPER REPORT AND APPROVAL OF FINANCIALS

Financials for July 24, 2023

Financial Reports were emailed to Board Members from Kelsey Wyres on July 23, 2023.

* A/R Aging Summary was reviewed as of July 23, 2023

* Payroll Summary from January through December 2023

* Balance Sheet as of July 23, 2023

* Profit & Loss for June 1 through July 23, 2023

* Profit & Loss Previous Year Comparison July 1, 2022, through July 23, 2023

* Transaction List by Vendor for July 2023

* BHFCU pool loan balance as of June 30, 2023 is $30,261.23

• Howie-spending for pool and other things have increased due to summer.

• Compared to last year months of June and July, we are about $2-3k in the red.

• We had a $6,000 bill from the sine wave filter added to the water system as was mentioned last month.

• Dirk was added to payroll for mowing.

• Aging summary-#1 is Dahlman-Howie talked to Dan Cooper and Mrs. Dahlman is still at property but may be getting older and needing assistance. She may have passed book keeping duties on to someone else. Kelsey asked if she should send paper statements instead of email. After talking to her neighbor, Howie thinks it will work it’s way out. Mike said her son-in-law comes from Minneapolis and may help out.

• Howie asked about the Jones’ balance. Kelsey said it’s still from the meter and asked if we should send a letter? Kelsey has sent physical invoices. Howie recommends that we do the first step of the formal process to send certified letter to see if we can get the balance taken care of.

• After review by the Board, a motion to approve financials for July 2023 was made by Lonnie and seconded by Marlowe. Motion carried.

  
  OLD BUSINESS:

1. Pickleball Courts - Kort Kort stated that he and his kids were able to get one court painted and the net set up. He will plan on getting the second one done when it cools off a little. Howie asked if we should get a sign to hang up with rules. Joe stated that there’s still money left from the $1,500 budget so it might be good to have. Kort will look into a sign and send it to the board members before purchasing. LuAnne asked John if he could make some paddle holders and maybe a bench. John thought he could make some paddle holders.
   

2. QuickBooks - Jennie
   Howie-talked to BHFCU about how to automate payments. As a BHFCU member you can go online and pay bills online using on-line bill pay. Kelsey said about 30 households are doing this.
   
   Howie said there are two option with the bank. The first is ACH where BHFCU would act as the clearing house for us. We inform residents that we’re doing this. They would need to sign up and then it would draw from their account the amount of their bill entered by the bookkeeper. There’s a fee of $0.50. Residents fill out form and then it would draw the amount and charge the fee. Joe asked if that would be on an individual basis or does everyone have to do that? Howie stated that it’s up for discussion. He said the more flexibility we offer the more complex it would become. Advantage of the ACH is that it is small fee and straightforward. It would be best and easiest if everyone signed up for it. Credit cards and those types of things get more into business banking with different fee structures which makes it more difficult to manage and would ultimately cost more.
   
   The second option is the banking option with credit union which has a $30 monthly fee and acts similarly to the ACH option. Jennie said this option gives more flexibility on different kinds of payments. The individual fees are less but not enough to recover the $30 monthly fee. LuAnne said we had discussed having residents pay their own fees when we had talked about this in the past. Howie said he would be highly recommended that everyone sign up but that we probably can’t make it mandatory. Kelsey stated that if we don’t make it mandatory then it will probably be 50/50 split on who does and doesn't do it.

   
   Jennie mentioned that we would need to give residents ample notice so they know if there’s an overage (more than $70) they would see how much it was and have that amount in their bank. Mike R. said he doesn't see this as a financial issue for residents based on the AR report and the fact that many people have paid ahead. Amber asked if we have surveyed and asked residents what they want? Jennie said yes, we get 50/50 every time. Joe said he uses bill pay from his bank. He doesn’t like having the bank take money out of his account so he doesn’t feel like he would want to use this. John said he doesn’t think it works unless everyone does it and doesn’t think everyone will do it.

   
   Howie asked if paying your bill this way is valuable to some in the community? So it becomes more so an information campaign to drum up interest to get people to sign up. Jennie asked if we can have people sign up at the annual meeting? Holly said that if the bank will give her digital copy of the sign up form, then she can post it on the website. Kelsey asked about the transaction fee? Jennie said the HOA gets charged the fee. Kelsey said if it’s something we’re considering putting in place we could ask the BHFCU if other HOA’s use it? We could use this to help get people on board. Jennie stated that the ACH would be a better option than quickbooks as it will be cheaper. Joe stated that we’ll table for further discussion.
   

3. Light at Kings and Blackbird Mike M called Ashely with the power company. She took his name and number she said she would have someone contact him. Bridgit contacted him and he told her to talk to Howie. Howie said they are county poles and we don’t pay power to them. Our concern is that the light is pretty bright. The one at Red Deer is not a problem but others are too bright since there are homes around them. We want to be able to work with someone to be able to adjust them. She said you wouldn’t need permission from the county to do it. Bridgit said she will discuss with their people. Howie will be out of town for a month and so will put it off until the end of August to get another service call to meet with tech to adjust light. We’d like to set standards going forward for changing lights in the future.
   

4. Metal Fascia on Pool Buildings (Marlowe and John) Marlowe said we need a new walk through door for the shed but that he hasn’t done anything with it yet. Joe asked if the bottom of the door is rotten? Marlowe said it needs a whole new jamb. MIke said we could use a new door to the old pool house too so if someone is coming out, have them look at it too. Joe asked for a motion to approve that they take care of the doors and fascia. Lonnie made a motion to replace/fix the doors and it was seconded by Howie. Motion carried.
   

5. Non-Residents at the Pool (Carolynn)-last month we talked about non-residents at the pool. Word has spread around that it’s a big pool and nobody checks on it. She states that they did data collection last month though rain kept a lot of people away.
   

   Chenoa encountered an Airbnb guest and asked if they are able to use the pool? Jennie asked if we are allowed to have Airbnb per our covenants? Someone stated that that’s a topic for another time. Carolynn stated that people from the valley have been posting on FB pictures of them in our pool. Carolynn said that there are two problems:
   
   1. non residents and
   2. word being spread around on Facebook and other social media.
   

   She proposes two solutions:

   
   1. Keypads/Locks

   Carolynn went online and found keypad locks for $516 each. She thought this could be an option and that the board members could figure out how to install it. Joe said he got a quote from Harvey’s Lock which was $7200 for 3 locks (tennis court and 2 gates for the pool). A key lock would be about $600.
   

   Howie said that a rep from Harvey’s came up here and they are trained on how to prevent access and as part of the quote they provide things on how to modify the gate to make it work. He thinks having a professional install will be important for liability. Joe said that we have round poles at the gates and the welder at Harveys would take out a piece of gate to put the box there to be able to have a lock. Kris asked if there is an electrician? Joe stated it’s a battery.
   

   2. ID tags.

   Carolynn found 200 tags for $20 and each house would get a tag. They would be issued to each resident in the community and they would need to bring it to the pool to prove they are residents. Carolynn said that they would establish a group to randomly check to make sure they have their ID tags.
   

   Carolynn said that the Pennington County Sheriff's dept said only the board could ask people to leave. If we gave adjunct board power they could ask them to leave and even call the sheriff's office. She also would propose an additional sign goes up saying this pool has random checks to make sure everyone has their tag, to ensure residency. They could work on the wording.
   

   Carolynn said that there are several people on vacation who couldn’t be at this meeting but that sent letters of support for what they’re doing. Mike said all the residents own the pool and that board authority should not be any greater than anyone else's since we’re all owners. He asked how many people we’ve had during the random spot checks? Carolynn said the weather kept them from going as much as they would like.

   
   Our pool was built in 1977 and has been known as a place to come and swim. Carolynn said people just discovered it and the more the word spreads the more people are going to come. Mike asked if people are personally disturbed. Kelsey said there are residents that don’t pay their HOA fees and still use the pool. Mike said we’re putting a bandaid on a problem that will never stop. Carolynn said we’ll have volunteers to monitor this.

   
   Joe advised that at this point he’d like to table this. Mike and Joe met with a welder. This won’t stop people from being at the pool illegally. It will keep honest people honest. He thinks we have options, key tags, quotes from Harvey’s and now we should discuss the options. Carolynn said why can’t we discuss those options. Joe wants to keep it constructive and not argumentative. He personally believes that if we’re going to do it, we should do it correctly.
   
   Mike said we have to have panic bars on the inside to allow people out and that would take plexiglass and cost money because it’s a fence, it has to be modified. Carolynn, asked what about the tags? Joe said a benefit of Harveys is that a computer can be connected to fobs and can be deactivated if people owed balances or for other reasons. MIke said this is a big enough item and thinks we should bring it to the annual meeting for residents to hear and decide on.

   
   Chanoa asked if there is anything with insurance as far as having non-residents in the pool? Does it change the liability? Jennie said that’s what the swim at your own risk signs are for. Howie said the same thing.

   
   Joe recommends tabling this until the annual meeting.
   

   Howie stated that this month would be a great opportunity to get data and be able to report for the next month or so of our findings. Howie has been more attentive to seeing who is at the pool. It’s hard to tell who is and who isn’t a resident. Holly said she can also send out more reminders for people to be aware and ask people at the pool. Mike said he doesn't agree with the sheriff's department about giving other people authority to say something to people or contact the sheriff's department. Mike feels that 75% of issues would be resolved if neighbors would talk to neighbors
   
   Joe asked if we can get a motion to table discussion until annual meeting on September 25th, 2023. Chenoa asked if we’re going to be surveying should we report back at the next board meeting? Joe said yes.

   
   Howie said we talked about securing premises but even with that, it doesn’t stop people from getting into the pool. So we need to get data. Is the magnitude of the problem such that we need to do something? We can think about what we need. Howie made a motion to table the discussion until the annual meeting and to have the group of volunteers report their findings at the next meeting. Lonnie seconded. Motion carried with Scott opposing.

   
   Joe asked regarding the pool patrol that are going to continue to collect data until the next meeting, do you feel like you need the adjunct board authority? Carolynn said she didn’t think they would need to based on Mike’s information.

NEW BUSINESS

1. None
   

COMMITTEE REPORTS

BY-LAWS AND COVENANTS COMMITTEE – Howie

The committee met on Wednesday evening. Next meeting in early September. Ted will double check things with state legislation and bylaws and whether covenants are still valid. LuAnne brought information from the bylaws regarding the validity of the bylaws and covenants:

Article V.

Terms
All the restrictions and covenants above set forth shall constitute covenants to run with the land and shall be binding upon all parties and all persons claiming under them for a period of ten years form the date that these covenants are recorded after which time such covenants shall be automatically extended for successive periods of ten (10) years unless an instrument signed by the owners of a majority of the lots have been recorded agreeing to change said covenants in whole or in part.

ARCHITECT COMMITTEE – Lonnie Steinmetz

• There is difficulty knowing who is approving requests and why they’re not going through the committee instead of being approved by individuals on the committee. Jennie said it's frustrating that things get randomly approved without everyone on the committee knowing what’s going on.

• We don’t have guidelines on how committees operate. There needs to be policies and procedures for how things get approved. LuAnne said they tried to establish a checklist but it doesn't seem to be working. Joe would like Ron, Dana and Lonnie to be present at the next meeting so we can establish guidelines. committee.

• Lonnie asked if we can put a reminder in the next news letter to have residents contact the architectural committee via the website so it gets sent to all three members on the committee. Joe asked Lonnie if he can ask Ron and Dana to come to next month’s meeting? Lonnie said he would ask.

• Howie asked do we want to take action such as to send a reminder that things are out of compliance? Is there any more thought on that? There are 3 or 4 new sheds that don’t match the house… should we send letters to them about that or do we want to discuss further and wait?

• Mike M. said we need to be careful as the request may have been approved but we don’t know and maybe we don’t want to send a letter until we know for sure. Lonnie said maybe we need to send letters to people out of compliance such as abandoned cars. Maybe we need a group of individuals (a committee) to verify that they are out of compliance.

• Joe has a copy of the letter and can get it to Howie. Joe wants a copy of the list and a copy of the letter. Howie does not have a copy of the letter electronically.

• Lonnie said anything architectural he’ll try to get nailed down by next month
  

WATER SYSTEM REPORT – Mike Riker

• Mike said an email went out about the water shutdown Wednesday morning at 9:00am. Mike said they need to cut in a new curb stop. Not sure who all will be shut down. Might be Kings to Nemo or the whole development.

• Pool is going well, Jackson will leave in the middle of August. Mike will see if Dirk can fill in but one way or the other they’ll get it done for the rest of the season.

• Bought some minor chemicals but nothing too much.

• Mike will be gone over Labor Day weekend. Will watch the weather to see how long to keep the pool open. Will get more info so we know when to schedule the dog splash.

• Septic system is pumped. Should be getting something from the county to verify.

• Can get chain and lock for tennis court and pickleball court.

• Wells are doing ok. Chlorine delivered in the next month.

• Joe asked if Mike can tell how much water is used now and balance it?

• Mike said well 2 is metered but well 1 is not so we’re working on it. Eventually we’ll have both fully metered and we’ll be able to balance what’s coming in and going out.

• Joe asked if Mike R. is going to fix the curb stop at Stverak? Mike R. said yes.
  

WEBSITE/NEWSLETTER – Holly Riker

• Holly said that a resident’s list can be made public or semi private. She can set up a password.

• Some residents might prefer to not have info listed in a place it can be accessed like that. LuAnne asked if we can email the list like we’ve done in the past? Holly said yes but email is very easy to hack and no more secure.

• Howie thought the resident list was limited to board members to access. LuAnne said she would send out the list as a PDF file in the past. She gave a current copy to Carolynn and Kort.

• Holly said she can put a private URL on the website so the board can access it.

• Howie made a motion to have the resident’s list available to board members via a URL so they
  can help to limit its public access and distribution. Lonnie seconded. Motion carried.
  

RECREATION COMMITTEE – LuAnne Johnson

• The annual meeting is 9/25/23 so we need to make a reservation.

• If the date is available then we need to get it on the website.

• Potluck will be at 6:00 and the meeting will be at 7:00.

• They usually let us in around 3:30 to set up.

• Bark and splash will be flexible based on when Mike decides to close the pool.
  

OTHER ITEMS

• Joe said that the residents at 8320 Heather reached out to him stating that this weekend their daughter is getting married and there will be about 50 people at their house from 8:00 to midnight. They wondered if they could park some of the cars at the shelter/pool area. She asked Joe and he said he would check. The only concern was that the shelter is reserved until 9:00 pm that evening so they would need to wait until they are done at the shelter before using the lot. The board agreed that this would be acceptable once the reservation time was over.

• Amber asked if the resident list will still be public or sent out to everyone who lives here? LuAnne said they can have copies at the annual meeting. Amber said she had poor communication with Mike R. on mowing and wondering where we’re at with it? Kort said that they decided to keep using Dirk since we was on the payroll and insurance. Amber said Mike didn’t get back to her so she was frustrated about the lack of communication from him.

• Howie asked if there was any feedback on the speed signs? John said he caught some people speeding after the signs came down. Jennie said it hasn't made a difference in front of their house but that the framing crew was part of the problem. Howie said maybe we can talk about it in the future.

• Lonnie mentioned that the light as you come up Kings Road from Nemo Road is stuck on (Kings and Nemo) so if anyone talks to the power company to let them know.

• LuAnne stated that Mike R. has been at his current pay for a number of years so maybe it’s something we should look into. She thought we may need to look at a cost of living raise for him. This could be an item on the next meeting agenda.
  

ADMINISTRATIVE – Joe Doran

• John asked if there was a way to get a master list of SCCE residents on the website.

• Everyone agreed that it would be difficult to get it on the website as it would be private information on a public website.

• John wondered if there could be a way to access it by members only using a security code?

• Mike R. said that there might be a way but he wasn’t sure. He could ask Holly.

• LuAnne mentioned that the board members could have a master list. She would get it together and also get one to Carolynn for the pool entry.

Next meeting will be Monday, August 28, 2023 at 6:30 pm at the Doty Fire Department.

With no further business, John made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Lonnie. Motion carried.

Meeting adjourned.

Respectfully Submitted,

Kort Herman, Secretary