Contents
1. Financial Items
2. GC – Volunteer Work and Charity Contributions
3. Club Cottage Association
4. Long Range Plan
5. Entrance Signs
6. Upcoming Election – Comments

There is a little catching up to do……

I did not do a July meeting summary, and there was no Board summary either. Since I am not sure if there will be a Board summary for August, I did not want to delay posting this. This will summarize some significant items for both the July and August meetings.

The July meeting included an Executive Session of approximately one hour to discuss the Club Cottage Association and Livewell. Regarding the Club Cottage Association, I believe the discussion probably had to do with the issue mentioned in my April meeting summary; which can be found in the first item here: April Meeting Summary      Also, see item # 3 below.

The August meeting included an Executive Session of approximately two and a half hours to discuss several items. First was a discussion of POA committee membership which, by necessity, included discussing individuals; and was therefore done privately. There were also discussions concerning the Club Cottage Association and Livewell.

Starting with the July meeting, Dick Kahler joined the Board as a director replacing Lorena Clark; who resigned several months ago. In accordance with the By-Laws, Dick will fill out the balance of this year (up until the election in November); and he has been nominated to then fill out the two year balance of Lorena’s term.

1. Financial Items

The following items were noted in the August 16 meeting discussion on finances:

• The current road project appears to be within budget. Current borrowings stand at $2.2 million out of a total loan limit of $3.0 million.

• The Board expects to budget an 8% increase in the annual assessment for 2017; all of which will go towards the road reserve account. This is slightly below the originally anticipated annual increase of 10% which was initially adopted two years ago. In these discussions, the Board re-affirmed its commitment to continue following the current funding plan for building road reserves and paying off existing debt.

• The Board does not expect to have any additional increase in the annual assessment for operating expenses. It was felt that operating reserves were sufficient to allow for any increased expenditures that might be experienced in 2017.

• The Board discussed why annual assessment increases were more appropriate than special assessments for funding the long term road projects. This was prompted by certain residents expressing the opinion that special assessments were a better alternative. They discussed and agreed to the idea of circulating information to the community explaining why special assessments are not a feasible method for funding long term, sustainable projects.

2.  GC – Volunteer Work and Charity Contributions

This issue was discussed in both meetings. In July, several residents made a presentation to the Board regarding the level of GC involvement in volunteer work and charity funding drives. It was referred to as the “exposure initiative”. To summarize, it was felt that GC does not get sufficient recognition for all that it does to support county wide programs; and that we should be doing more to promote these efforts. These include both financial contributions as well as volunteer work; numerous examples of which were discussed.

To paraphrase comments from several directors, the intent of this “exposure initiative” would be to improve our image within the county and to show that we are a caring, contributing community.

The idea is to promote GC’s work and efforts through special events (to include testimonials from recipients) and selective media exposure. Several individuals and Board members will work with the Communications Committee to create a coordinated program.

3.  Club Cottage Association

This is from the August meeting. Upon reconvening into open session from Executive Session, the Board passed a resolution related to the Club Cottage Association. I heard the motion, but it clearly resulted from the discussion in Executive Session; so I cannot give a complete explanation. All I can do is make an educated guess.

The resolution will appear in next month’s Board minutes. However, based on what I heard, it appears that the Club Cottage Association owners are possibly voting to relinquish their right to have a director on the Board. Again, please see the previous explanation which I posted several months ago (April Meeting Summary). It appears that, if 51% of the owners vote in favor of the idea, it will take effect.

Please remember that the POA currently owns two vacant club cottage lots and thus has the right to cast its proportional votes in any matter related to the Club Cottage Association. The resolution that was passed had to do with the POA voting in this matter.

4.  Long Range Plan

Dick Kahler is the new chair of the Long Range Plan Committee. He presented a draft of his proposed time line for updating the plan. It appears to be a detailed process lasting over a year with the goal of completing the plan by the 2017 Annual Meeting.

For those who are interested, the outline of the plan can be found in the posted board papers here: August Board Packet. Scroll to the very end; and you will find the draft plan on the last two pages.

5.  Entrance Signs

The Board approved the design and purchase of new “welcome” signs for each entrance. The total cost for the two signs will be around $12,500. These will be stone monuments designed to replace the current wood signposts. The existing “special signs” for specific events or functions can be mounted within these new monuments. (Note: These new signs have been in the works for a long time, so this was not an unexpected expenditure.)

6.  Upcoming Election – Comments

By now, everybody should have received an email with information regarding the Q&A for the nominated candidates. If you have not seen it yet, here is the link: Candidates Q&A

The questions were compiled by the Nominating Committee. If you have any questions that were not answered by a candidate or wish further clarification of an existing answer, I encourage you to contact that person directly. I cannot absolutely guarantee that you will get an answer; but I suspect you will. All I can promise is that I will answer any additional questions that are asked of me.

I have been approached by several people asking what I intend to do with this site in the event I am elected to the Board. Since that hasn’t yet happened, I am reluctant to address that question. But I think it is safe to say that, if I am serving on the Board, it would not be appropriate for me to continue this individual effort. However, beyond that, I would not jump to any conclusions just yet. I think it is better to wait and see how things pan out; especially since the election process is still running.