Lake James Property Owners Association, Inc.

Monthly Board Meeting Minutes

LJPOA MEETING MINUTES
September 16, 2006
At The Pole Barn
9:00 AM

Call to Order: LJPOA Board Meeting was called to order at 9:05am by Tim Hughes.

Before proceeding to Old Business, Terry Jenks (visitor) was allowed to address the Board regarding his proposal. Mr. Jenks asked the Board to consider allowing him and other volunteers to clean up Cole Park, including the removal of brush, replanting/transplanting of pine trees, removal of dead trees and stumps. He also asked for permission to remove large tree at Linwood Park.

• Motion made by Tim Hughes to allow clean up of the referenced areas subject to a written proposal, assumption of mowing by Ray Kahl @ Linwood Park and removal of large tree @ Linwood Park.
• Motion Second by Al Walker
• Board Motion Vote: I’s: All Nays: -0-

Old Business:
July/2006 LJPOA Board Meeting minutes were presented for review and approval.

• Motion made by Al Walker to accept the July/2006 LJPOA Board Meeting minutes as written.
• Motion Second by Jim Preczewski
• Board Motion Vote: I’s: All Nays: -0-

Treasurer/Finance:
Cash Report and Check detail presented by Dorothy Yakes. It was discussed and determined by the Board that the cash transaction journal supplied by Plack’s Accounting would serve the Board well without rewriting to a different format.
Motion made by Jim Preczewski to accept the Cash Report and Check detail as presented and Plack’s Reports as submitted without rewriting.
Motion Second by Gary Varco
Board Motion Vote: I’s: All Nays: -0-

Park Management:
Jim Preczewski reported on the status and ongoing projects with regard to Parks. Jim advised that the “Port-A-Potty” at Moosehead Park had been removed for the season. He also advised that repair of the potholes at the boat ramp would be repaired using cut stone versus the gravel that has been used in the past. The cut stone is a better solution for filling the low and rutted areas in and around the ramp.

Also discussed was the repair of the boat ramp dock. It is in poor shape and in desperate need of repair. The replacement cost of the dock is approximately $1,000. Rather than replace the dock, Ted Neilson has submitted an estimate to repair the dock and has volunteered to make the repairs. The estimated cost to repair the dock (materials) is $309.73.

• Motion made by Tim Hughes to accept the estimate of repair submitted by Ted Neilson and allow the dock to be repaired for $309.73 by Ted versus replacement at approximately $1,000.
• Motion Second by Al Walker
• Board Motion Vote: I’s: All Nays: -0-

Fish Management:
Gary Varko reported on the status of the fall fish planting for the lake. Gary obtained proposals from two different vendors, Imlay City Fish Farms and Rose City for planting fish as recommended by our most recent Fish/Lake survey. Based on the survey, Imlay City recommended the following be planted:

Based on the survey, Rose City recommended the following be planted:

• Motion made by Al Walker to accept the proposal from Imlay City Fish Farms as presented.
• Motion Second by Edgar Merrell
• Board Motion Vote: I’s: All Nays: -0-

Aquatic Plants/Weed Management:

Lake Management:
Al Walker reported on miscellaneous issues pertaining to Lake Management. He advised that he recently received a response letter from the Roscommon County Road Commission addressing our request to add “NO PARKING” signs and guardrails at road/tube. They declined to do so due to lack of adequate vehicle traffic in that area. Because of this, the LJPOA Board still recognizes an ongoing and present liability emanating from the lack of guardrails at this location. It is very possible for an individual to put their vehicle in the lake at this location. Al Walker also indicated that the chain link fence at the tube is in need of repair. He also suggested that a follow up letter be sent to Roscommon County and to Denton Township regarding the liability associated with the lack of a guard rail at this location and that in the event of an accident we would defer to their decision not to install this safety equipment.

• Motion made by Al Walker to repair the chain link fence at the tube and also put the Township and County on notice via letter.
• Motion Second by Edgar Merrell
• Board Motion Vote: I’s: All Nays: -0-

Dam Management:
Currently the Dam is under repair. Installation of the new gates is being performed by Arms & Cole. So far, the installation of the new gates has not been done to ours or Wade-Trim (engineer/architect). Additional issues were found upon removing the old gates. It was found that the lower stop logs were in very poor condition. Wade-Trim was called to evaluate the Dam problems. Upon inspection, it was found that the additional damage to the Dam would require the following:

$1,300 – Time and Materials: Arms & Cole (contractor)
$2,500 – Engineering, Time & Expense: Wade – Trim (engineer)
$3,800 – Total Additional Cost to Repair the Dam

• Motion made by Tim Hughes to make the necessary repairs to the Dam and accept the proposal for additional cost of $3,800 to repair the lower stop logs.
• Motion Second by Edgar Merrell
• Board Motion Vote: I’s: All Nays: -0-

Board job duties were distributed to each Board member for review and discussion. For the next year, the following individuals will be responsible for the following:

2006 LJPOA Annual Property Owners Meeting was discussed. Al Walker noted that it was attended by only 58 voting members. He also mentioned about feedback he received on how long the meeting was. It was suggested by Property Owners who attended the meeting, that turnout may be better if we schedule the meeting in the morning on a Saturday. This was discussed by the Board and agreed that next years meeting will be scheduled for a Saturday AM. Board members in attendance suggested that a DRAFT copy of the annual minutes be posted on the website for viewing and that approval of the minutes will be voted upon at the next LJPOA annual meeting. The Fall Newsletter will advise homeowners of this new communication venue.

• Motion made by Al Walker to accept the minutes as written making only a few minor clerical changes and then post on the website.
• Motion Second by Edgar Merrell
• Board Motion Vote: I’s: All Nays: -0-

New Business:
Tom Hayes was introduced as our new website coordinator. Tom manages websites for a living and has volunteered to provide LJPOA with some assistance updated and managing our website. Some of the guidelines we will use as a Board with regard to the website are:

• One contact with Tom Hayes from the Board. Al Walker will be point person.
• All documents must go through Al Walker prior to being sent onto Tom
• All Board Meeting minutes should be sent to Tim and Al and marked as DRAFT (until approved)
• All correspondence to Tom must contain in the subject line “Lake James POA”
• We will establish an Email Newsletter process in effort to reduce our mailing expense.

Al Walker distributed copies of the DRAFT letter/ballot to be sent out to all Lake James property owners regarding an increase in the annual LJPOA dues maximum. The letter asks property owners to approve an increase from $60 to $100 annually (max.) not to exceed more that $10 increase per year. The letter goes on to address concerns about annual increased and how they will be determined. This increase is necessary to meet the annual obligations of the LJPOA budget. The alternative to the increase in dues will be to sell lake association owned property that was not received well when brought up for discussion as the annual meeting this year.

Due to the length of the meeting, other new business items will be tabled until October’s meeting. Items to be discussed at next months meeting include:

• Future Events Committee
• Discussion of Spring Clean-Up agenda
• Discuss the establishing of a blight team to monitor the properties in Lake James area.
• Discussion on the 10 Lake James non-members and ways we can get the to join the association and the non-milfoil spraying of their area if they do not join.
• Establish a team to identify the need for new signs around the lake
• Discuss the benefits in attending the Denton Township meetings and establishing a voice in the community.
• Discuss the revision of any of the lake’s property restrictions and boat safety issues.

• Motion for meeting adjournment was made by Tim Hughes.
• Motion Second by Jim Van Vonderen
• Board Motion Vote: I’s: All Nays: -0-

Meeting adjourned at 12:05pm

The next meeting will be at Tim’s house at 4:00 PM on Oct. 21st.

Revised Tuesday April 15, 2008 4:11 PM