Call to Order
Board Pres. Doug Winter, lot 46, called the meeting to order, held in the upper level of the Clubhouse, at 2:00pm. Board members present were: Allan Slavin, lot 62, Terry Nibarger, lot 657, Jeremy Lillig, Lot 3041, Tom Rice, Lot 343, Tony Gronniger, Lot 2281 and George Eshnaur Lot 505. Jeremy Lillig led in prayer. Jeff Ferguson, Managing Lake Director, led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Approval of Minutes
Allan Slavin made a motion to approve the March 2023 Annual Meeting Minutes. Second by Tony Gronniger. The minutes were approved unanimously.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Handbook Committee
Tom Rice reported: Tom stated no report. Doug Winter gave information about several changes to the handbook coming at next month’s board meeting. Most of these verbiage changes relate to the Condo application.
Finance Committee
Terry Nibarger reported: Terry stated the BTC signers card needs to be updated to add new board members and removed the board members who are no longer on the board. Doug Winter made a motion to remove the following signers from the BTC account as they are no longer on the VVA Board. These include Celeste Armanees, Mike Booth, Marvin McNabb and Troy Lesan. The motion was seconded by Tom Rice. The motion was approved unanimously. Motion was made by Terry Nibarger to add the following incoming board members as signers on the BTC bank account. The new board members are Tom Rice, Jeremy Lillig and Tony Gronniger. The motion was seconded by George Eshnaur.
The vote was approved unanimously to add these three new board members as signers on the VVA BTC account. This motion passed unanimously. Finance Committee met in March 2023 and was led by Paula Hepinstall. Terry reported as of March 31, 2023 the Morgan Stanley Investments showed a gain of $15,402.30. The total of all three of the Morgan Stanley accounts was $1,466,329.98. Taxes for VVA have been filed. We had a tax savings of $55,141. Terry reported that the Finance Committee is doing budget review and will be doing a five year look back. The Safety Department salary shortfall was discussed. Terry also reported that the Association owned lake lots have been reviewed and new asking prices for these lots have been assigned to reflect current value of the lots. Terry reported Campground 1 is safe and we have paused further work until future time. Lot S131 still remains unsold. Berm was completed on Beach 2 and the bathroom redo has been completed for Beach 2. Terry reported Sticker fees for Watercraft and ATVs has been pushed back to 2024 and the Finance Committee has been challenged to find a way to replace the dollars this fee would have generated.
Strategic Planning Committee
George Eshnaur Lot 505 reported: Meeting was held March 12, 2023. The committee is following up ondock safety. Dock LifeGuard has been studied and may be recommended for installation by owners on decks to warn swimmers if there is any problem with the electrical system on the dock which might make swimming or any other water activity unsafe. The committee is studying the possibility of installing Pickle Ball Courts. The committee is working on expanding uses of the basement of the Clubhouse. Terry Nibarger asked about securing a pro bono architect to review how the basement of the Clubhouse might be spruced up. Mr. Leeper indicated his son is an architect and he might be able to provide this service. It was reported that Beach 2 Bathrooms have been completed. Discussion ensued regarding signage on the doors of the restroom as there are no signs there now. It was agreed signs need to be added to the doors. Sue Wolf and George Eshenaur are working on a survey to secure member input on strategic planning ideas.
Activities Committee
Jeremy Lillig Lot 3041 reported: The Wine and Cheese sampling event brought in $930.00 from persons enjoying the event. Events upcoming include the Spring VVA Garage sale on March 22, 2023, Cinco De Mayo will be held May 6, 2023 at the clubhouse. The Annual Poker Run will be held June 10, 2023 from 1:00pm to 4:00 pm. Shirts and VVA flags will be sold in conjunction with the poker run. Many more events will be held through the rest of the year.
Building Committee
Allan Slavin Lot 181 reported: In the past month, the committee has received & reviewed 15 Building Permits—none were for houses. Most of the permits were for decks, docks and shoreline work.
Fire Department
Tony Gronniger Lot 2281 reported: The Fire Department continues to meet monthly. Our ISO rating is expected to remain the same with an improvement in points. This rating is important as it impacts our insurance rates. Also on Monday, April 17, 2023 Fire Department will be doing a Pump Test using an outside company.
Campground Committee
George Eshenaur reported: The committee has met twice since the March 2023 annual meeting. Flint and Mary Hibler stated there are 39 vacant camping spaces still available. Eighteen (18) of these are full service and the remainder are without sewer hook ups. George Eshenaur made the motion to add the following members to the campground committee. These additions Bob Gates, Michelle Sullivan and Denise Ferguson. Terry Nibarger seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. The Campground Committee will be meeting to discuss Strategic planning needs.
Lake Committee
Tony Gronniger Lot 2281 reported: Roadside inspections are being done and one of the things they are checking is to ensure the lot number and the street address are displayed on every house at Lake Viking. Tony also stated that because of high winds there have been several limbs blown from trees and urged residents to take advantage of getting their firewood for summer.
Infraction Committee
Jeremy Lillig Lot 3041 reported. Jeremy made a motion to add Marvin McNabb, Anthony Castillo and Mary Ann Hughes to the Infraction committee. Tony Gronniger seconded the motion. Motion was approved unanimously.
Dredge Committee
Shawn Hepinstall reported: Don Leeper and Jim Miller were recognized for their outstanding volunteer efforts spearheading the remodeling of Beach 2 restrooms. Shawn reported the Dredge and equipment for the project will be moving in the Week of April 17. They will be using Community Area 10 as a staging, working, fueling area for their equipment and will use power from Lot 309, Dan & Connie Weidmaier. Dredge America will work 12 hour shifts seven days a week. This will include holidays. The project will take approximately 60 days to complete. Dredging will begin in the back creek area behind the Yacht Club and work out toward the peninsula and then move north of the peninsula.
Dredge America asks from VVA Members: 1. Please stay away from the dredge and the pipe. No Boating, Paddle Boating, Kayaking, Fishing, etc. in the area. 2. Dredge America will not be moving docks or dredging under docks. The equipment will stay approximately twenty (20) feet away from structures and docks.
Shawn also reported on the berms for Beach 1 & 2. The contractor will be arriving this week and the job should take one to two days to complete. Part of the bid for this work included to seed and cover the berms to encourage grass growth.
Restaurant Committee
Robert Walton Lot 217 reported: Mr. Walton brought the membership up to date of the status of the Restaurant project and what was now being planned. A survey will be sent out to VVA Lot owners to let them express their interest in having a restaurant at the lake and what their preferences are. Depending on results of the survey, further steps will be taken. Mr. Walton did state three (3) companies have expressed interest in operating the restaurant. VVA office will provide email addresses for surveys to be sent out.
Tech Committee
Scott Fatheree Lot 3162 reported: Midstates fiber will start installation in May 2023. Scott stated it should take about a year to complete the installation. One consideration for Lake Members is the fiber will be run your home at no cost if this is done during the time the main fiber lines are being installed.
You are not obligated to subscribe to the service. Scott reported on several scenarios that might occur during the fiber installation including but not limited to, sprinkler system lines being cut, septic lines if they are shallow may be impacted but this is not expected to be a big issue. Grass may be disturbed during the install but the disturbed areas will be reseeded. He stated fiber is placed on the house side of the road. Scott stated that the fiber line will go to the dam and south around the lake. It will not cross the dam. Scott indicated Midstates has the equipment to bore under driveways. The depth of the bore is 18-24 inches.
Managing Directors Report
Jeff Ferguson (Managing Director) reported: Condo training for membership will be held April 29, 2023 from 12-2 in the clubhouse. Sandwiches and will be furnished. Please come and learn more about how to best use the Condo System. Condo is being used for four (4) functions at this time. These include 1) Communication with members. A Welcome letter was sent to every lot owner who has a valid email address on file with the office. 2) Activities may be entered into Condo. This includes reservations and other items. 3) Watercraft registrations are done with Condo. 4) Guest authorizations will be entered in Condo. Payments are not available in Condo right now but are in the process.
Jeff reported a DNR inspection of Campground 1 was done. Results were preboard was an issue. The rule is a minimum of 24 inches of freeboard is required. The long-term solution is to raise the berm. Jeff stated he met with an engineer last week who reviewed and will give us a cost on this long-term fix. Riprap has been installed all around and looks great and will keep muskrats out of the lagoon. Jeff stated there are costs with fixing the problem. The permit will be $2000 as well as the engineer costs. George Eshenaur stated the funding should come from the Camp Ground income. DNR indicated dirt should be added to the end the lagoon and this has been completed.
We will be doing chip and seal for 6.1 to 6.3 miles of roads around the lake. The stockpile of material will be at the silt ponds on the south end of the lake. We will need 30 loads of material and we will begin seeing this come in in the next week.
Jeff reported we have trimmed trees in Campground 2 and the pool has been drained and cleaned in preparation for a Memorial Day opening. We will need to do some painting before the pool opens.
Jeff also reported we are working on anchoring the needed buoys and the swim zone buoys. Cassie is finishing the Wake buoys and they will be installed. Jeff stated we will set the buoys and then take a GPS reading so we will know exactly where they should be located if they shift.
Approval Of Financial Statements
Doug Winter made a motion that the Financial Statements be approved as presented. Seconded by Terry Nibarger; motion passed unanimously.
Guest Time
Three guests were on the agenda for this meeting. These included: Brett Bush, Lot 324 who presented the want and need to establish a Fishing Management Committee to help with monitoring stocking of fish in the lake as well as review and standardize the length limits etc. Motion was made by George Eshenaur and seconded by Tony Gronniger to establish a Fishing committee. Members of this committee will be Shawn Hepinstall, Gary Buck, Troy Knight and Jim Powers are suggested by Brett Bush and approved by the motion. Motion passed unanimously.
Second Guest was Beckett Depriest Lot 58 who was following up on a Ripple Bin glass recycling project he had presented as part of his Eagle Scout project. A free ripple glass collection bin is very small and would not work well. Beckett presented the cost of going with a bigger bin. This would be a $5000+ outlay for VVA which is not budgeted at this time. President Doug Winter let membership know this would have to be voted on and the expense would need to be budgeted. Doug offered to put Beckett in touch with a person he knows who does both glass and aluminum recycling. Doug also suggested that a Survey be done to see what the level of interest in participation is with VVA owners.
Third Guest was Jackie Leslie Lot 2087 who was seeking clarification for what kind of shed could be put on a lot. They are experiencing a lot of upkeep time and cost with their storage shed. Jackie presented information from a manufacturer she was interested in using. This will be looked at by the Building Committee.
Board Discussion
Allan Slavin, brought up discussion of a handbook change to page 21 of the current handbook. He suggested a change in verbiage from Hard Surface Driveways to All Driveways.
Also discussed was the timing of the change in number of watercrafts allowed with a lot purchase. After 9/22 a new lot owner is limited to 2 watercraft. A motion was made to change the verbiage in the handbook by Tom Rice and was seconded by Jeremy Lillig. Motion passed unanimously.
Adjourn
Tony Gronniger moved to adjourn to Executive Session at 4:00pm to discuss legal, personnel, and Board organizational matters. Allan Slavin seconded and the motion passed by all board members. Meeting was adjourned at 4:00 pm.
Attendance
A sign-in Attendance Sheet is on record at the 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.
