Minutes, Board of Directors Meeting
October 27, 2023
10 AM Pleasant View Baptist Church
Call To Order – President JP Goding called the meeting to order at 10 AM. Also present were Roy Johnston, Vice President; Jerry Bentz, Road Chair; Samantha Stults, Treasurer; Susan Schubert, Secretary; Kristin Donaldson, Webmaster; and Gordon Ross, Fire Tree, CCRs, and Idaho HOA codes. There were ten guests attending: Jeff Dickson, Robin Lipinski, Margareta Lipinski, Pete DeSantis, Pat Hurt, Robert Gray, Mark Frayser, Greg Frayser, Craig Wood, and Scott Dalgliesh.
Treasurer’s Report. Samantha reported that grader repairs were $36,607.90; $41,542.56 is in savings and $17,595.82 in checking.The grader is being stored at no charge, so the $1,200 budgeted for the storage fee will be moved back into savings. Funds will need to be spent on tines for the rock rake and repairs to the truck’s exhaust manifold. The Tire Guy honored the brake warranty on the truck and refunded us $300 on recent repairs. $1000 was spent on carburetor cleaning and $250 on supplies such as grease, etc. Responses to members’ questions included: money has been allocated to gravel Gregory Creek and repair the ditches; Meadow View is on the list for grading and gravel; the new equipment operator thinks he can recover 80% of the gravel on the shoulders, though some in attendance disagreed; grader repairs were paid for from savings so we will move the $20,000 budgeted for gravel,which was not used, back into savings to help cover the grader repairs; $24,500 is budgeted for graveling in 2024; the $28,000 not spent from the current budget will be used to cover the $24,500 budgeted for 2024 at $350 per load though the audience suggested $400 per load is the current price.
Road Report/Discussion. Jerry reported that there was limited grading this summer with the major roads being graded in late fall. There was no weed spraying this spring or summer, but puncture weeds were sprayed this fall.
Weeds. Weeds will be sprayed in 2024 in the spring, possibly again in the summer, and in the fall to get the puncture weeds. An audience member offered to provide the plan the County uses for weed spraying to the Board. Jerry responded to questions on spraying saying that we will spray both sides of the roads, including the upper roads and the culdesac on Pilgrim Ridge.
Grading. JP reported have a new grader operator and will do more grading in 2024. Meadow View is scheduled to be graded and graveled. An audience member recommended we do only shallow grading and use the rock rake as we are down to rock. He recommended we use Grading F which gets messy when it rains but which holds up much better. He also recommended we raise dues to generate more money for grading and gravel.
JP reported that the new operator will be able to pull gravel from the shoulders, and that we plan to fix both Gregory Creek and Meadow View before winter. An audience member suggested that the Board put out to bid pulling gravel from the shoulders as some owners have tractors with rakes that could pull the gravel. There was disagreement on how successful pulling gravel from the shoulders would be.
Plowing. An audience member was concerned that the plow truck had chains as he had to pull the truck out of the ditch several times last year. A lengthy discussion ensued on the state of the chains for the truck, ending with JP ensuring everyone that if we don’t have chains, we will buy some. An audience member suggested that the plow truck operator also carry a chain repair kit while plowing. He also suggested in order to keep the upper roads open during winter that we plow with the truck with wide berms, use the grader when it gets deeper, purchase a V blade for the grader, and contract with someone who has a snow blower to clear the road when drifts are too deep for the plow truck or grader. An audience member warned that when Mountain View gets slick there is a potential for someone to go off into the canyon. An audience member suggested creating a berm when grading or plowing to prevent slide offs. Roysuggested that the S curves and steep sections on Hammer Creek were more dangerous.
Pilgrim Ridge Culdesac. Repairing the culdesac on Pilgrim Ridge was discussed with an audience member suggesting that 5 loads of ¾- gravel and a drainage ditch would fix it. Jerry wondered if we would need to put down road rock first. He will look at it again.
Signs. Roy suggested adding signs saying why we want folks to use 4 wheel drive. He also suggested we need an official road sign for Bear Ridge as the current handmade sign is unreadable. He said this is a safety issue in the event of an emergency and emergency crews, either ambulance or fire, are trying to find the road. An audience member said we need to define better where the culdesac on Bear Ridge is for large vehicles to turn around. A Bear Ridge property owner gave permission for folks to drive onto his easement if they needed to in order to turn around. Jerry suggested signs that say “Slow down. The Road you are destroying is your own.” An audience member pointed out that some delivery companies such as FedEx do not provide 4 wheel drive vehicles to their drivers. Jerry will look into the cost of signs. JP will see that we budget for them.
Storage Containers. There was a lengthy discussion on storage containers and the Association’s history in attempting to ban them. Two audience members gave the past history of the Boardconcerning storage containers, including losing a lawsuit against a property owner who used them for construction. An audience member, who has several on his property, shared that he has a letter signed by a pervious Board granting him permission to usethem until such time as he builds a shop. Roy and JP reported there are several properties with containers being used for storage. An audience member said he sells and places containers and said it would be easy for his lawyers to win if the Board tried to prevent members from placing containers on their property. Kristinsuggested we might put in place rules or covenants requiring the containers to be sided or be a color which satisfies the color requirements for homes and roofs. Audience members talked about the difficultly in adding restrictions to the CCRs to either prevent them or require them to be of certain colors and covered with suitable siding. They pointed out the lost litigation with another owner over a red barn and the fact that one of the homes on Pine Ridge, previously built and owned by a Board member and now owned by another Board member, has a red roof. The CCRs are too ambiguous and litigation against ambiguity would fail. Kristinwould like to present to the membership restrictions on storage containers as an addition to the CCRs. An audience memberpointed out that there is no way to enforce restrictions and that previous attempt to get the membership to vote to restrict them failed. The audience member who sells containers reported that containers in a lawsuit in McCall were considered mobile container transport vehicles as long as their transport number was visible. If that is removed, they are then considered building materials. He said we would lose any litigation in trying to prevent them, based on his experience in selling and placing them. An audience member said rules on color, siding, etc., could not be used to restrict them and that such restrictions would require a change to the CCRs, requiring 75% approval from the membership. Kristin said she will present something to the membership on restricting storage containers at the 2024 Annual Meeting.
Raising Dues/Saving Money. There was a lengthy discussion on having a special assessment to raise more money for roads and for replacing grader repair funds, raising dues, reducing the cost of graveling, and other expenses needing coverage. An audience member complained that he wouldn’t support the increase as there has been no new gravel on Meadow View. Jerry assured him thatMeadow View would get gravel and graded in 2024. An audience member would rather see a special assessment, which is a onetime hit, instead of continuing to raise dues, which would have a yearly impact. He asked how many liens on property there were, and Samantha replied there were only four. She said there are roughly 177 lots being served by Association roads and 44 being served by Doumecq. Jerry reminded everyone that adding rock will allow us to grade where there is no rock left but that will not prevent washboards.
Special Assessment. We would have to prove a budget shortfall, which we did not have as we have unspent monies for gravel and grading, we still have money in checking and savings, and the membership would have to approve it. JP suggested we couldbudget $100K for gravel which will create a budget shortfall and allow us to do a special assessment. An audience member read Section 8.7 of the CCRs where it states that a special assessment for a budget shortfall only requires Board approval. He felt we could leavy the special assessment immediately. Another audiencemember felt we couldn’t and that it would fail as it has in the past and that we should raise dues 20% every year. An audiencemember said the Board can levy a special assessment for emergencies, otherwise it requires 75% of the membership vote. Roy said we need to add equipment purchases to any special assessment request, giving as an example the bid we loss for a roller because we couldn’t bid over $5,000 without membership approval. It was decided that we did not meet the criteria for asking for a special assessment.
Raising Dues. It was moved and seconded to raise dues on Association road lots by 20% as allowed in the CCRs, and a discussion followed. An audience member suggested that all three phases be charged the same in dues. We could raise the dues by 20% every year until we have enough income to maintain the roads. Jerry will get numbers on what it would cost to gravel the roads as needed. Samantha said 20% would increase the income form dues to $62K, which barely covers the budget. An audience member requested we raise dues as past budgets barely covered maintenance of the roads. He feels we are $300K – $500K away from a disaster if the road gives way. JP questioned how we convince the membership we need the increase. After listening to all the reasons why a dues increase was needed, no vote was taken and the vote was moved to the Executive Session, following the open Board meeting.
Saving Money. Ways to save money were discussed, including crushing our own gravel. Roy and another property owner have looked into bringing a crusher on site for personal gravel, but it was too costly. Roy suggested that it might be more cost effective if gravel was crushed for the Association at the same time. We could also make it available to other residents. Jerry reported that the Doumecq district was also getting ready to crush gravel and suggested we might be able to join that effort. He will talk to the road district and also to the other property owner about his research. He said we can always use more rock.
Additional Expenses. Roy would like us to be able to purchase a backup plow truck. Samantha will need to add something to the budget for signs and $400 for Quick Books. An audience membersaid a roller will save money in the long run and that he can build a pull behind one for around $200. Roy felt the S curves on Hammer Creek will never be good but that the other roads could benefit from a roller. Another audience member said another option is that his business could purchase a roller and then lease it to the Association on a long term lease. Jerry asked him to get him some numbers.
TRR Email Account. Kristin reported that the email account has been temporarily turned off while management issues are resolved.
Driveway Encroachment on Pine Ridge. A discussion started on a member’s driveway that some felt was encroaching on the easement and roadway on Pine Ridge. The discussion was moved to the Executive Session.
Adjournment. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 12:20 PM. Board members remained for the following Executive Session.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan Schubert, Secretary
Twin River Ranch Property Owners Association