Call to Order
Board Pres. Marvin McNabb called the meeting to order, held in the Winston High School gym in Winston at 2:00pm. Prayer was led by Troy Lesan. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Lake Director Jeff Ferguson. Marvin explained the Orders of the Day to the meeting attendees.
Introduction of Board Members
Board Pres. Marvin McNabb introduced Board members present: Doug Winter (Treasurer), Troy Lesan (Asst. Treasurer), Mike Booth (1st Vice Pres.), George Eshnaur (Asst. Secretary), Celeste Armanees (Secretary). Not present was Allan Slavin (2nd Vice Pres.) due to a family emergency. Marvin also introduced VVA’s attorney Rob Redman.
Orders of the Day
Motion to accept Orders of the Day was made by Mike Hazlett, lot 329. Seconded by Robert Patch, lot 1749; motion passed.
President’s Report
Marvin McNabb reported: The Lake experienced challenges during the last year, but also accomplished several major items. These include:
• The resignation of Lake Dir. Cathy Poindexter left a gap … until Jeff Ferguson was hired as Lake Director.
• Tony Gronniger graciously resigned his Board position to serve as temporary Lake Director, until Jeff Ferguson was hired. Replacing Tony on the Board of Directors was George Eshnaur (next highest # votes @ previous Annual Meeting).
• Converted QuickBooks local load to QuickBooks Online, because QuickBooks Online interfaces w/ our new Condo system.
• Installed and brought live the HOA online system called Condo.
• Changed our Pay roll system, which was a significant savings for VVA.
• The Building Committee grew, as the number of Building Permits for the year increased.
• Completed chip-and-seal on 6.2 miles of road.
• Approved a new Handbook rule to minimize boat traffic in coming years: New lot owners will be limited to 2 watercraft; grandfather clause for members prior to 9/21/22 may have 3 watercraft.
Marvin reported that both Campgrounds need to replace the electrical grid, and this will be voted on later in the meeting. Also today, we will be electing 3 new Board members, as Marvin McNabb, Mike Booth and Celeste Armanees are leaving the Board, having completed their 3-year term. Marvin thanked all the countless volunteers who donate their time & talent on the Board & on Committees & help around the lake. Ballot counters are Teresa Waterbury, Ellen Dors and Diane Hulett. After voting for Board candidates via paper ballots, all votes thereafter will be by show of hands using your laminated vote card, and counted by floor counters Mark Closterman, Don Leeper, Robert Walton, Jim Miller.
Approval of Minutes
Celeste Armanees motioned to approve last year’s minutes from ’22 Annual Meeting. Seconded by George Eshnaur. Minutes were approved.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
All written committee reports are available in the VVA Office for review.
Dredge Committee
Shawn Hepinstall (Chair) reported: Several projects were completed in 2022. Shawn recognized and thanked all the people on the Dredge Committee, and also the Maintenance crew who operate our dredge. Other accomplishments:
• Completed the silt basin project w/ its 4 consecutive silt basin ponds, that filter the silt into clean, clear water back into the lake. This 4-year project finished under-budget @ total cost $658,000.
• Areas around the lake where 12 feeder creeks feed silt into our lake have been cleaned out & the weir barriers were re-built.
• Approx 24,000 cubic yards of silt were removed from behind the Yacht Club last summer.
• Our dredge is designed to remove “soft” silt from bottom of the lake, and will still be used to do “maintenance” dredging around the lake. Vs. Silt that’s heavy–packed with sand, almost like clay (which damages our dredge requiring a $75,000 fix) is best out-sourced. So from several RFPs & bids received, we’ve selected Dredge America, a nationally recognized company located in Platte City, to dredge the lake this summer because their specialized equipment can finish removing the heavy silt-clay around the Yacht Club. They will begin work in late June, thru August. They will bring in their own staff & equipment including tubes and pipes. They will use our silt ponds. There is no additional cost to VVA members for this work.
• Berms will be built on Beaches 1 & 2 to help slow erosion of sand from the beaches.
Shawn took questions from members attending the meeting:
Where will the dredge be this summer? Shawn answered that our dredge will stay where it is until repairs can be made. The dollars we would have used to run our dredge this summer will instead go to pay Dredge America.
Why can’t we run our dredge & Dredge America simultaneously? We do not have funds to do both. Dredge America is better equipped to remove the heavy packed silt @ south end so they will be doing this summer’s dredging there.
Finance Committee
Doug Winter reported:
• The Lake met the budget in 2022. There was a 28% improvement vs. what was budgeted.
• The Payroll system change was a $30,000 savings on payroll processing.
• Our investment portfolio for the lake was restructured to reflect market changes. We did take a big loss on our early ‘22 investments.
• In the ‘23 budget, capital projects include road repairs & a new side-by-side ATV for use by Safety and Fire Depts. Three bids for this vehicle were received and the cost is $36,000. Since it will be used by Safety & Fire Depts, the side-by-side is fully equipped with a winch, will accommodate medical supplies and rescue equipment, and has doors plus air-conditioning & heat so it can be used year-round.
Q&A regarding our investments: Doug stated that all investments are voted on by the Board. Next, Terry Nibarger (Finance Committee member) answered a question about the stock market loss and said that we got out of the falling stock market in early ’22. Vs. Now, the lake has $360,000 invested in high-grade stocks. The rest of our investments are in Money Market accounts that are making 4.5% with no risk, or CDs. One member asked about our plan to collect unpaid dues? Lake Dir. Jeff Ferguson responded that we now have a much more aggressive plan to collect delinquent VVA dues. Accounts over 10 years old that are considered “bad debt” because it is not collectible (lot owner deceased or moved, etc) have been written off. The remaining delinquent accounts are sent to a Collections Agency to get paid.
VOTE for NEW BOARD MEMBERS: 3 open positions
Voting instructions were given by Marvin McNabb: Please vote for max. 3 candidates on your paper ballot. Each candidate had 5 mins for introduction, then Q&A.
Candidates were:
1. Tony Gronniger
2. Terry Nibarger
3. Tom Rice
4. Anthony Lambert
5. Jeremy Lillig (nominated from the floor, by Janet Van Wye lot 391)
6. James Funk (nominated from the floor, by Randall Davidson lot 3154)
7. Jim Umphrey (nominated from the floor, by Jim Umphrey lot 2905)
Ballots were cast, and taken to be counted.
ASSESSMENTS: 9% Increase & Vote
Doug Winter presented: Expenses for VVA were substantially higher, due to nationwide inflation that has hit each of us—especially on VVA’s high-budget costs:
• Fuel: up 42% over last year
• Electricity: up 14% over last year
• Natural gas: up 19% over last year
• Labor, taxes: also up
So per the Finance Committee & Board, Doug Winter motioned for a proposed 9% increase on all Assessments for this year, such that TOTAL assessments w/ $75.00 Dues would be $925.20 = $70.20 increase vs. last year. Motion was seconded by Jeff Walsh, lot 456.
Vote results: 171 yes; 90 no. Motion passed.
BY-LAW: Proposed Changes & Vote
Celeste Armanees presented: The By-Law RE: changing the Annual Meeting’s date from current March to proposed October … was withdrawn by Celeste w/ support of the Board & VVA lawyer, due to pre-Annual Meeting publication of conflicting dates (1st Sunday in Oct. vs. 3rd Sunday in Oct, which means inadequate advance “notice” was given per VVA Handbook). So we have 2 By-Law changes to propose:
• By-Law on Handbook pg. 8, Section 8 on Late Fees: Shall current verbiage on late fees ($x or y% penalty) be replaced with higher late fees—i.e. “A 4% late fee will be assessed at 30 days late, again at 60 days late, and again at 90 days late.”
Reason for change: Currently, 30% of all VVA members are late-pays. Also, to automate in QuickBooks vs. current manual entry.
Vote results: 284 yes; 1 no. Motion passed.
• By-Law on Handbook pg. 6: … “In the case of a married couple being the Active Member, then all privileges (insert “with the exception of unlimited guests”) shall be extended to his/her immediate family … & all unmarried children under 21 years of age who still reside in the home of such Active Member.”
Reason for change: Reduce our Members’ teenagers hosting “blow-out” parties @ Lake Viking beach #2 … for their 100 best friends (late night noise & VVA pays for clean-up). Safety Mgr Jason McTheeney responded to attendees’ questions on the need for this change.
Vote results: 256 yes; 19 no. Motion passed.
CAMPGROUND FUNDING: Presentation & Vote
George Eshnaur presented: The 1-page hand-out shows how the Campground Committee submitted RFPs, received 3 bids back, selecting Penner Electric’s bid to replace the failing 1960s electrical grid in both Campgrounds. George motioned to vote on funding the total $450,000 cost to replace both Campgrounds’ electrical grid. Seconded by Doug Winter. Marvin McNabb gave instructions for vote: We will vote on each motion presented, by raising your voting card. If a motion fails, we will vote on the next motion. If all motions fail, the question will go back to the Board of Directors to decide how to fund the Campgrounds $450,000 electrical grid. There are total 1,519 dues-paying VVA members who would pay the proposed Assessment. As discussion, 3 members spoke “for” & 3 members spoke “against” the measure–each person speaking for 2 minutes only.
Motions to fund the $450,000 electrical grid project in the Campgrounds:
1. Each VVA member will pay a one-time $300 Campground Assessment. This motion was from the Special Meeting held Dec. 3rd.
Vote results: 78 yes; 204 no. Motion failed.
2. Each VVA member will pay a one-time $150 Campground Assessment to cover 50% ($225,000), and the other 50% ($225,000) will come from VVA’s Deferred Maintenance Capital fund (income line 4350).
Motion withdrawn by the Campground Committee, so no vote.
3. Each VVA member will pay a one-time $150 Campground Assessment to cover 50% ($225,000), and Campground members will pay 50% ($225,000) with money collected from increased rental fees.
Vote results: 91 yes; 196 no. Motion failed.
4. Each VVA member will pay a one-time $100 Campground Assessment toward the $450,000 Campground electrical grid.
Vote results: 188 yes; 65 no. Motion passed.
CANDIDATE VOTE RESULTS
Board Pres. Marvin McNabb announced: Ballots have been tabulated. The top 3 candidates to fill the 3 open Board positions are: Terry Nibarger, Jeremy Lillig, and Tom Rice. Per the Board, the vote results are the following, should a vacant seat(s) need to be filled after this meeting adjourned and throughout the upcoming year.
#4 Tony Gronniger
#5 Anthony Lambert
#6 James Funk
#7 Jim Umphrey
ADJOURN
With no further business, the Board adjourned to Executive Session at 5:11pm, for the NEW Board of Directors to assign roles & Board contacts for the various Committees.
ATTENDANCE
Attending this year’s Annual Meeting were a record-setting approx. 500 people (voting members + non-voting spouses and family members). A sign-in Attendance Sheet is on record at VVA Office for reference.
Let the record show that these minutes are a record of the 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
