Call to Order
Board Pres. Marvin McNabb, lot 28, called the meeting to order, held in the upper level of the Clubhouse at 2:00pm. Board members present were: Troy Lesan, lot 576; Celeste Armanees, lot 62; Mike Booth, lot 2380; Doug Winter, lot 46. Not present (on Zoom virtually so non-voting) were George Eshnaur, lot 505 and Allan Slavin, lot 181. Celeste Armanees led in prayer. Jeff Ferguson, Managing Lake Director, led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Announcement:
ANNUAL MEETING is on Sunday, March 5th @ 2:00pm.
Location: WINSTON HIGH SCHOOL gym @ 200 W 3rd St. Winston, MO
You must bring your current membership card to vote. Approx 2 weeks prior to the Annual Meeting, you will be e-mailed an Information Packet w/ the Ballot of Board candidates (3 seats open), By-Law changes to be voted on, etc. If you don’t receive this via e-mail, you may pick up a hard-copy Info Packet at the Office. Doors open @ 1pm. Please plan to arrive EARLY for sign-in, as we expect an unusually large crowd due to ballot initiatives.
Approval of Minutes
Troy Lesan moved to approve the Jan. 2023 Board minutes. Seconded by Doug Winter; motion passed. Celeste Armanees moved to approve minutes from the Special Meeting held Dec. 3, 2022. Seconded by Troy Lesan; motion passed.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Handbook Committee
Celeste Armanees reported: We have Handbook updates to reflect the new Condo online app, for vote later this meeting.
Finance Committee
Doug Winter reported: The Finance Committee met w/ all members present. Financial Reports were reviewed. VVA investments were up $25,000 in the last month.
Campground: The Finance Committee recommends to the Board that the Campground electrical project can begin asap, using retained funds in the Campground line item to start the project. Also, the Finance Committee recommends Campground fees be increased from last year’s approx. $500/yr to this year’s fees @ $1,200 w/ sewer vs $1,100 no sewer. One attendee asked, “Why are we putting the burden of paying for Campground upgrades on the entire membership, when the Board a few years ago voted to make the Campground self-sustaining?” Mike Booth replied that self-sustaining came from the Campground Study, so the first year to track all expenses & income for the Campgrounds was ’21. Then CG fees went up in ’22. Another member said, “But we show the Campground made a profit for many many years before that!” Celeste Armanees responded, “That’s because not all expenses were included. Campground expenses were x% or y% or z% of so many different line items in VVA’s overall budget, it was impossible to do an accurate calculation, even if you tried. It was a mess. But we’ve separated out all those ‘hidden’ CG expenses & put them all into a self-sustaining CG line item that started in Jan. ’21. That’s why Campground fees went way up in ’22–because for the first time, the CG expenses scattered in all different line items were finally included in the calculations, now captured in the self-sustaining line item.” Other questions ensued. Frank Armanees, lot 62, introduced himself as having been volunteered to head up the Campground Study’s ad hoc Committee which in 2020 published their report, recommending the Campground be made self-sustaining, because our committee found Campground expenses as part of many different “buckets” of VVA’s budget so were never “counted” in Campground calculations. Frank said RE: the recent $450,000 quote on electrical grid, that back in 2020, he & his committee members & Shad Mort (then Lake Mgr) walked both Campgrounds with a Farmers Electric rep, who told them it’d be very difficult to provide an accurate cost to replace the electrical grid, because the VVA Office has no records or “map” showing where all the lines are buried. So he told us that until you’re in there—i.e. underground, you don’t know what you’re dealing with, so the Farmers Electric rep wouldn’t even give us a ballpark price. Frank said that means the $450,000 electrical upgrade could end up a higher cost (unless VVA has firm bids that won’t escalate) especially combined with the septic system that our committee knew back in ’20 also needs an upgrade. More questions ensued. Troy Lesan stated that this discussion is moot, as the topic of who pays for the electrical grid will be voted on at the March Annual Meeting, using the motion that resulted from the Dec. 3rd Special Meeting.
–Morgan Stanley investments: Attendee Mike Feiden lot 243 asked about the 5% decrease overall, per last month’s minutes in Lake Viking News. Terry Nibarger lot 657 on the Finance Committee responded, “My sincere apologies—that was a reading error on my part. During our meeting, I said a 5% decrease, but it was actually a .5% (0.5%) decrease. Much better. So at least the error was in VVA’s favor. And yes, I’m a Financial Advisor in my career, but not for Morgan-Stanley so I don’t make a penny on anything I do for VVA.”
Strategic Planning Committee
George Eshnaur reported: The committee met w/ 5 members attending. Various items were reviewed, as it had been some time since the committee met. We’ll measure back to the existing Strategic Plan, to see what has been vs. is yet to be done. Also discussed were: the new Condo app, Facebook, and ideas to generate revenue for VVA. Next month, the committee will discuss developing a new 5-Year Strategic Plan.
Activities Committee
Celeste Armanees reported: No report this month.
Building Committee
Marvin McNabb reported: The committee met, and approved 3 Building permits–none for houses.
Fire Department
Tony Gronniger reported: We met Feb. 10th. Four members of the Fire Dept. were sponsored to attend training. Two staff members have completed EMT training. Tony has met with the ISO (agency which sets fire ratings) and says we expect to maintain or better our rating.
Campground Committee
Mike Booth reported: Two virtual meetings were held. On the committee, some positions will be re-assigned to include non-Campground members. The committee is working on scenarios for the Campground repair.
Lake Committee
Troy Lesan reported: The committee will start roadside inspections this week. Troy encouraged members to check their signage to ensure the lot number (must have the word “Lot” per recent Board vote) & your 911 address (# only, so no street name necessary) are both clear and readable, which will take you 5 minutes & possibly save you an Infraction. Both must be displayed where applicable.
Dredge Committee
Shawn Hepinstall (Chair) reported: Silt ponds 1 & 2 will be cleaned out. Dredge America will be here in June to begin dredging. Berm construction begins in March, to help prevent erosion on the beaches.
Restaurant Exploratory Committee
Robert Walton (Chair) reported: No report this month.
Tech Committee
Jeff Ferguson reported:
–Internet “fiber” install: Jeff met with MidStates, who has received a grant from the state of Missouri, to install more efficient “fiber” Internet service at Lake Viking and Altamont. Their project will begin in 60 days & will take 12 months to complete. Internet service will be much faster than existing service. Info will be available soon on the cost to subscribers for this new service.
–Condo online app: The new Condo app went live Jan. 1, which requires your email address to sign up & use it. Please call the Office at 660-322-9001 to provide your e-mail address, as we currently have e-mail addresses for only ½ of VVA’s 1,519 total members. As the Condo system becomes updated and used by more people, our LVmo.org website will become less used and eventually depleted. The Condo app will include: Activities calendar, VVA Handbook, apply for Building Permits, register your boats for the lake, Membership Authorization & Guest Authorization–no more laminated Membership cards nor laminated Guest cards to keep track of, as it will all be on-line.
Lake Director’s Report
Jeff Ferguson reported: We received the necessary permit from DNR, so Campground 1’s lagoon has been cleaned out & rock to be added around the outside of the lagoon to address the muskrat problem. Tree-trimming continues around the lake. We are looking at the 2023 chip and seal project on approx. 6.7 miles of road.
Financial Statement Approval
Troy Lesan moved to approve the Jan. Financial Reports. Seconded by Doug Winter; motion passed.
Guest Time
No guests were on the agenda for this meeting.
BOARD DISCUSSION
—Handbook Rule changes: Celeste Armanees reported: Next is to vote on the 4-page document of many small updates to the Handbook Rules, which I e-mailed to the Board last week. All these proposed changes were suggested by Safety Mgr Jason McTheeney. These proposed “housekeeping” changes are for 3 different reasons: 1) To reflect the new Condo app, we added “using VVA’s online system”—e.g. to replace laminated Membership cards & Guest cards. Also to access “VVA’s online system” (Condo app) to submit Building Permit forms, Clubhouse reservations, etc. 2) Infractions: changed current wording “will receive” to “subject to” a $500 fine, so gives Safety team more discretion in any Infraction fines. 3) Simplified & standardized our water safety Rules that currently say 50ft vs. 75ft vs. 100ft from shore, depending on which Rule. So simplified all water rules to a standardized 75 feet from shore. Celeste Armanees made a motion to approve these Handbook Rule changes that were e-mailed to the Board. Seconded by Mike Booth; motion passed unanimously.
—Campground Fees: Doug Winter made a motion to increase Campground fees to $1,200/yr with sewer vs. $1,100/yr no sewer. Seconded by Troy Lesan; motion passed unanimously.
—Campground Electrical for vote @ Annual Meeting: Celeste Armanees made a motion to add a question to the ballot for vote @ Annual Meeting, reminding folks that already on the Annual Meeting ballot is the following question per the Special Meeting held Dec. 3rd: “Shall every VVA member pay a one-time $300 Campground Assessment to replace the $450,000 Campground electrical grid?” However, Celeste stated that electrical is only step 1. To get the Campground where it needs to be for the future, you can’t do step 1 electrical, without doing step 2 which is a min. $200,000 septic upgrade needed in the next year or so. Combined, this Campground project is by far the #1 largest spend in VVA history, since the lake was built. So, Celeste motioned to add this question to the Annual Meeting ballot: “Shall VVA Association spend $450,000 electrical grid + minimum $200,000 septic = total $650,000 on the Campgrounds … to be 100% paid by increased Campground fees, such that VVA’s “break-even” to recoup this $ spend is in 5-7 years?” The motion was seconded by Troy Lesan. The vote on the motion was 2:2 with Lesan and Armanees voting yes; Booth and Winter voting no. Board Pres. Marvin McNabb cast the tie-breaking vote of no; motion failed to pass.
Meeting Adjournment
Mike Booth made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 2:57pm. Seconded by Troy Lesan; motion passed. The Board adjourned to Executive Session, to discuss Legal, Personnel, and Board organizational matters.
Attendees
Approximately 30 members were in attendance, too many to list here. A sign-in Attendance Sheet is on record at the Office for reference.
Let the record show that these minutes are a record of business transacted at this meeting, and are a sampling of the discussions. Comments and discussions are not reflected in whole or as actual quotations in the minutes, nor do they reflect all comments by members.
Respectfully submitted,
Celeste Armanees
Secretary, VVA Board of Directors
