Call to Order
Susan Zalenski convened the meeting via Zoom connection at 2:00 p.m. Troy Lesan led in prayer.
Susan Zalenski asked for a moment of silence for lost members.
Introduction of Board Members
Susan Zalenski, President, introduced the current board members that were present: 1st Vice President is Mark Leggett, 2nd Vice President is Mike Booth, Secretary is Celeste Armanees, Asst. Secretary is Tony Gronniger, Treasurer is Troy Lesan, and Asst. Treasurer is Marvin McNabb.
Presidents Opening Statement
Susan Zalenski asked the members to sign in on the chat room so we could get a good count of members logged in for the meeting. She explained Zoom was not the best way to conduct an annual meeting, but for everyone’s safety, this is the only way we could have the meeting. Susan went on to say we would break from the meeting so people could go to the clubhouse, between 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. to vote on the issues at hand. If you are health compromised or don’t want to go in the clubhouse, we have people set up in the parking lot for you to cast your ballot. Our bylaws say we are required to vote in person, hence the reason for voting at the clubhouse. With the pandemic, it has been a crazy year, but despite that, our committees, the staff, and the board have made extraordinary accomplishments. In April the Long-Term Strategic Plan was approved and we have made great strides with that plan this year. The Dredge Committee has done unbelievable work on the silt pond construction plan. We have developed a long-term investment plan. We looked at alternative revenues this year. We did apply for the Paycheck Protection Plan, not knowing what the pandemic would bring, and wanted to make sure we could pay our current employees. That loan was almost $82,000 and later in the year was forgiven and determined a grant. We also received nearly $10,000 from Daviess County Cares Act funds to help with the deep cleaning and supplies that were needed, during the time when staff had to be quarantined. We did a complete rule update/clean-up of the handbook. We started a program called “Safety First”. Safety has a new computer app that will be helpful in tracking all information such as stickering boats and infraction tickets. The current safety boats were literally worn out, so the board approved the purchase of a new boat and 14 members made donations to go to the purchase of a new jet ski. There was also a very thorough campground study review done last year and several of the recommendations have been adopted. We have sent RFP’s out to determine our trash service as our current contract comes due the end of May. We also replaced several road tubes around the terrace last year and we outsourced our chip and seal process. Susan thanked the committees, staff, and the board for the many, many accomplishments this year.
Orders of the day
Susan Zalenski asked for a motion to approve the agenda as the “orders of the day”. Troy Lesan moved to accept the orders of the day. Tony Gronniger seconded; motion carried.
Approval of Minutes
Susan Zalenski asked for a motion to approve the minutes from the 2020 Annual Meeting. Mark Leggett moved to approve the minutes of the 2020 Annual Meeting. Mike Booth seconded; motion carried.
Committee Reports
Due to time constraints of this meeting, there will only be two committee reports given, the Dredge Committee and the Finance Committee.
Recognize Award Winners
Mark Leggett announced he would recognize the Nevin Burns Safety Awareness Award first. This award was presented to Roger Lankford. Roger stepped down last year after serving as Chair of the Infraction Committee. That committee set records last year for attendance. The next award, the board has the task of recognizing a team, committee, or an individual for their overall commitment to serving the lake. Mark went on to say he was in his 13th year of serving as a board member and he has never been involved with a board as active as the current board and the fearless president that we have had. Mark then announced the Loa Parkhurst Volunteer of the Year Award went to Susan Zalenski, outgoing president of the VVA Board of Directors. Susan received the award for her outstanding service and her commitment to keeping the board focused, engaged, and keeping things at the lake moving forward.
Dredge Report – Shawn Hepinstall
Shawn reported the dredge is in the water and will be finishing up in the Garney Area first this year. We will also be continuing with stream bank stabilization in that area. The main focus this year is on the existing pond in the south end and building a new structure. The existing pond is a single basin and holds about 74,000 cu. yds. of material. The new structure will be built in this same area and will have four individual basins. Each basin will settle the silt, then drain to the next basin, settle more, then drain to the next basin and finally water will drain back into the lake. We will have the ability to clean out these basins as they fill up. As they are cleaned out, we have a storage area right across the road. People are welcome to come get the material out of that storage area any time they need it. The preliminary estimate for building the new structure is $680,000. We have accumulated the funds for this project through our 1-time assessment last year, the sale of two community area lots, the annual accrual fund, and the Special Lake Assessment. We will be marketing two more community area lots this year, downside being we will have to pay capital gains on all the properties we sell. The final plan should be complete by March 15, at which time we will be sending RFP’s to contractors. We will ask that all bids be back by May 1, and then we can start building. Susan Zalenski complimented Shawn on his outstanding work with this project. Shawn concluded that it was a team effort.
Lake Manager Report
Shad Mort reported on the following:
- 3-year Dam inspection: We got a good final report. There were two small issues that were addressed so the dam is in overall good shape.
- Outsourcing chip and seal operations: This was the first time we outsourced this work. Vance Brothers sealed 4.7 miles last year. We plan to continue this in the years to come.
- Road tube replacement: We replaced four road tubes in 2020 and plan to replace four more in 2021. We plan to continue this process in the years to come. After 50 years in the ground, they tend to rust out.
- Dredging: Dredging in the Garney Cove will start very soon, as weather permits.
Shad wanted to thank the staff, volunteers, and the board of directors for a job well done in a difficult year.
Proposed Bylaw Changes
Celeste Armanees presented the following six proposed bylaw changes:
Celeste explained most of these are merely logistical changes—e.g. “U.S. mail” change to “e-mail.” The only real change in meaning is: Finance Committee members should have finance or business background.
- Handbook pg. 5: PREAMBLE TO BYLAWS
Section 2. Definitions:
- b) Any and all “Notice” hereunder shall be good and sufficient if personally delivered, (insert “or if e-mailed”), or if mailed by certified, register or regular U.S. Mail, postage prepaid, to the members ….
- Handbook pg. 8: ARTICLE IV – ANNUAL CHARGES, ASSESSMENTS AND OTHER FEES
Section 8: Non-Payment Penalties and Interest: Any payment of dues, assessments, or other charges received more than ten (10) days after the due date may will be deemed a late payment and a penalty may will be assessed against the member responsible for payment in the amount of Twenty Dollars ($20.00) If payment of dues, assessments or other charges are received more than ten (10) days after the due date , (insert “AND”) lake and community privileges are immediately suspended and member’s guest passes become null and void.
- Handbook pg. 9: ARTICLE VI – ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION
Section 1: Annual Meetings: (last sentence) “A copy of the above reports shall be mailed to each active member at least ten (10) days prior to the annual meeting.”
Change to:
“At least ten (10) days prior to the annual meeting, a copy of the above reports shall be sent to each active member via e-mail, posted on-line to LV website/Facebook, or published in LV Newspaper.”
- Handbook pg. 10: ARTICLE VII – BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Section 4. Notice: Notice of any special meeting …. Notice to directors may be given personally, by mail, or telefax at an address or telefax numbers designated by the respective director, or by telephone.
Change to:
Notice to directors may be given personally, by e-mail, or by telephone.
- Handbook pg. 11: ARTICLE VIII – COMMITTEES
Section 1. Finance Committee: Add: “Committee members should have finance, accounting, or similar business background such as banking, investing, operating a small business, etc.
- Handbook pg. 15: ARTICLE XIV – ENFORCEMENT
Section 4. Infraction: (“Violation Notice”) change to (“infraction ticket”)
3rd paragraph: The actions taken by the Infraction Committee may, by notice given to the board of directors within thirty (30) days ten (10) days of the date final action is taken by the Infraction Committee, by appealed to the board of directors ….
(Reason: So agrees with timeline for loss of lake privileges. E.g. member’s 3rd ticket occurring in May might not go to Infraction Committee until June, and then continued, thus avoiding loss of privileges for most of the lake season.)
Celeste Armanees moved to accept the bylaw changes as presented and when the voting commences in the clubhouse you will be voting on each bylaw change separately. Mark Leggett seconded. Susan Zalenski suspended the vote until such time members are asked to go to the clubhouse to vote.
Finance Committee
Troy Lesan, Treasurer, introduced the Finance Committee chair, John Kmetz. John Kmetz started by saying thank you to the Finance Committee for their hard work this past year. John gave a personal thanks to Troy for the hours of work has put in and bringing him up to speed when he took over as chair of this committee. John commented he is a CPA and his goal joining this committee this year was to be a fresh set of eyes and to help us understand our numbers better, improve them when possible and putting good processes in place. The committee recognized some areas for improvement last year. One area was how we were handling our cash flow, investments, and the long-term outlook for our lake. Not many finance chairs can report that assessments will be reduced for the coming year. The $150 dredge assessment from last year will be going away this year. When 2020 started we didn’t know how the year would progress with the pandemic, but with strength and resiliency, the lake was very busy and property values increased and our income was over $900,000. This was the biggest year for income our lake has ever had. Contributing factors on income was the one-time dredge assessment, the PPP Loan which is now a grant and the sale of two community areas. We ended the year with over $2,000,000 in funds and that is net after we paid off the dredge loan. John continued by saying the lake has no debt at this time and that is a big achievement. John thanked the membership because our financial standing is an overall achievement of the members for approving and following the 5-year plan. We are building reserves for financial stability.
We have engaged a money manager to help us be more proactive. Even with all the incredible gains in income, we do have some large expenditures this year, but with the planning we have accomplished we will still be in good shape after these expenses. Two big expenses we will have this year is the silt basin construction of over $600,000 and the capital gains tax on the two community area lots sold. So, when looking at the total budget you have to look at 2020 (big surplus) and 2021 (big expenses) together, as we operate on a cash basis. He explained it’s like getting a Christmas bonus in Dec., but you’re taxed on it the following year. John reviewed some of the capital expenditures for 2021, which includes HVAC work, upgraded safety boat, some software updates and road tubes. We still plan to add to our capital fund. We are in year 4 of our 5-year plan. The plan includes an annual 4% raise = 2% going to income and 2% to expenses. This plan has resulted in $166,000 in our capital reserves. John quickly reviewed everything that would be voted on. Susan Zalenski thanked John and the committee for their hard work in moving us in the right direction. Susan also pointed out the total dues and assessments for 2021 is $827, which is a decrease of $123. Troy Lesan moved to accept the proposed 2021 Budget and Capital Expenditures. Mark Leggett seconded. The vote was suspended until voting begins at the clubhouse. Troy Lesan moved to accept the 5-year plan. Mark Leggett seconded. The vote was suspended until voting begins at the clubhouse.
Vote for new board members: 2 open positions
Susan Zalenski announced the next item on the agenda is the voting on board members. There are two board positions to fill. The candidates running for the board are Shay Edwards, Troy Lesan and Allan Slavin. Susan asked for nominations from the floor. Nominating someone can be done either verbally or you can type your nomination via the chat button at bottom of screen. No nominations were made. Susan asked again. Hearing none and seeing none via chat, Mark Leggett moved to close the nominations and accept the slate of candidates already presented. Tony Gronniger seconded; motion passed.
Introduction of Candidates: Susan Zalenski announced the candidates will have five minutes to speak.
- Shay Edwards calls Lake Viking her second home. She has been married to Brian Edwards for 16 years and they have two children, Grant is 13 and Lucy is 10. Shay was born and raised in Atchison, Kansas and grew up going to the Lake of the Ozarks with her grandparents. She enjoyed the lake life as a child and wanted her children to have that same experience. Shay believes she could bring a fresh new perspective to our growing community. She has several years of managerial experience. Shay is proud to say she has two degrees from Benedictine College. She worked for an advertising agency right out of college and quickly moved to supervising 8-10 people. She now owns her own interior design company. She credits her mother for inspiring her business. Shay believes her knowledge will help with the Building Committee and changes to the campground. She would also like to see changes in our voting system. One of Shay’s biggest accomplishments is being the general contractor for the building of her own home. She appreciates the opportunity to run for this position.
- Troy Lesan was the next candidate to speak. Troy thanked the membership for their participation today and their past support. Troy and his wife Shirley have lived at the lake for the past 20 years. Troy wrote the 40-year history of the lake in 2007 and the 50-year history in 2017. He has chaired the lake committee since 2012, served on the Public Water Supply District Board since 2007, assisted with the Polar Plunge for 10 years and has written articles for the Lake Viking News since 2004. Troy has also served on the Association Board of Directors for the past six years. Troy commented that 2020 was the most challenging year for the board, staff, and the entire nation, but it did not stop us from finishing the year in a very strong position. Lake Viking thrived even though the rest of the country was nearly at a standstill. Our members found that Lake Viking was the best place to social distance and real estate sales spiked as well as water activity. Our level of volunteerism is extraordinary. As board members we have the responsibility to listen to our membership and Troy pledged to continue to listen and keep an open mind because good input does come from our members. Troy has also served on the Finance Committee for six years and at times it has been challenging, but rewarding. Troy thanked the members for their support.
- Allan Slavin was the last candidate to speak. Allan and his wife Cindy have been members of Lake Viking for 29 years. Lake Viking has been the center of recreational life/entertainment for their five children and seven grandchildren. For a few years Allan was an investment broker and stockbroker and also a plant manager for large manufacturing company in Kansas City. Allan joined the Air Force 33 years ago and spent his career in many different leadership roles. Allan retired three years ago after spending the last ten years as a Commander at Whiteman Airforce Base in Missouri. Allan spent his career flying all over the world and commanding up to 350 people at a given time. Allan commented he would welcome the opportunity to serve on the board. He appreciates all the hard work the board does and is equally appreciative of the accomplishments of the board in cooperation with membership in recent years. Allan believes we are on a good financial path. It is definitely important to keep our infrastructure up-to-speed and appreciates the work from various committees and staff to improve our infrastructure. Allan is also a big supporter of the dredge project and excited to watch it develop. Allan is supportive of the rules we have and the enforcement of those rules. Our amenities, such as beaches, clubhouse and swimming pool are all important. Lastly, Allan expressed he would like to see our lake activities (events) get back to normal. It is a great way to meet new people and have a lot of fun. If elected, Allan said he would do his best to listen to the members and make the best decisions possible for our community.
Susan Zalenski asked for any questions from the members.
Mark Leggett wanted to thank the Finance Committee for their work in turning the financial future of Lake Viking around.
Susan Zalenski reminded everyone about the voting process at the clubhouse. Susan announced the voting officers for tallying today’s votes are: Sally Black, Rhonda Lambert, and Diane McLey. The meeting was suspended a little early for members to cast their votes at the clubhouse from 3:00 to 5:30. The meeting will reconvene at 6:00 p.m.
Susan Zalenski reconvened the meeting at 6:00 p.m. and asked Mark Leggett to read the results of the voting. Mark read the results for all issues on the ballot:
Vote Results: Bylaw Changes
- 5 Preamble to Bylaws 83-yes 9-no
- 8 Article IV – Annual Charges, Assessments, and Other Fees 81-yes 13-no
- 9 Article VI – Annual Meeting of the Association 84-yes 10-no
- 10 Article VII – Board of Directors 82-yes 12-no
- 11 Article VIII – Committees 73-yes 21-no
- 15 Article XIV – Enforcement 78-yes 16-no
All bylaw changes passed.
Vote results: 2021 Budget and Capital Expenditures 83-yes 10-no
Vote results: 5-Year Plan 83-yes 11-no
Vote results: Board Election
Mark Leggett announced the top two candidates. Troy Lesan and Allan Slavin have been elected for a 3-year term.
Closing
Susan Zalenski thanked Shay Edwards for running for the board and encouraged her to stay involved. Susan also thanked Troy and Allan for stepping up and taking on these board positions. We are very dependent on our volunteers. Susan again wanted to thank all the committees, staff, and the board for all the accomplishments this past year. She also commented, it was an honor to serve as president and she appreciated everyone’s help. Celeste Armanees thanked Susan for her hard work as president, saying that the board could not have accomplished all it did without her fearless leadership. Susan announced the next board meeting is April 11, 2021, and the next annual meeting will be March 6, 2022. Susan asked for a motion to adjourn.
Adjournment
Tony Gronniger moved to adjourn to executive session at 6:07 p.m. for committee assignments, election of officers, personnel, and legal matters. Celeste Armanees seconded; motion passed.
Let the record show that these minutes are a record of the business transacted at this meeting and a sampling of the discussions. Comments and discussions are not reflected in whole or as actual quotations in these minutes, nor do they reflect all comments by members.
Respectfully Submitted,
Celeste Armanees
Secretary, Board of Directors
