Newsletters for the Twin River Ranch Property Owners Association

Newsletters are mailed to property owners twice a year. The November newsletter includes an invoice for payment of annual dues. The May newsletter announces the annual meeting and includes a proxy to vote.

All of Twin River Ranch is private property. There are no public roadways in Twin River Ranch and no access to public lands.

All entrances to Twin River Ranch are posted with No Hunting/No Trespassing Signage, in accordance with Idaho State Statute 36-1603.

Hunting within Twin River Ranch requires written authorization from the property owner, and any person hunting must be prepared to produce that written authorization upon request.

Property owners should ensure that their guests have written authorization to hunt on their lots. and that their guests know the lot boundaries. Please do not let anyone hunt on your property without these two items.

And it should go without saying that some folks will still be in TRR without permission. Please make sure your gates are locked and your property and animals are secure.

November 2019 Newsletter

November 2019

TWIN RIVER RANCH PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION

P.O. BOX 130

WHITE BIRD, ID 83554

Greetings members as another year on the Ranch nears its end. Enclosed you will find the invoice for your 2020 dues, the year-to-date statement through November 15 for the 2019 budget, and the 2020 Budget. The details for the actuals for the 2019 budget will be presented at the 2020 Annual Meeting. Please be reminded that dues for lots not served by the Doumecq Highway District are now $200 per lot with those served by the District remaining at $75 per lot. You will also notice that the invoice has a new format. Please contact Treasurer Debbie Little if you have any questions on your invoice or on the budgets.

Message from the Board: The focus of 2020 will be to save money where we can while still maintaining roads and road equipment. The Board has a set a goal to try and apply 20% of incoming dues towards building up the emergency reserves with a goal of reaching $100,000 over the next several years. This is a goal, not a mandate, as we realize unforeseen expenses, such as unexpected road maintenance or plowing and legal fees, will impact our ability to reach the goals. Please visit the Association website for a list of the current Board members.

Roads and Equipment: The three major road events in 2019 were the spring washout of Gregory Creek, mastication of Association road easements, and the graveling and/or grading of the roads on top, i.e. Pilgrim Ridge, Elk Run, Repeater, and Bear Ridge. Please refer to Board Meeting minutes on the Association website for details on these three events or contact Road Chair Don deSa. The major road project for 2020 will be the graveling and rolling of upper Gregory Creek and Hammer Creek Roads. “Grading F” gravel, with fines that allow better compacting when rolled, will be used, and those areas where needed will be rolled for better longevity. Again, please contact Don if you have any questions on 2020 projects. New warning signs were placed at the top and bottom of the S curves on Hammer Creek Road.

Property Updates: One home under construction was completed in 2019. A second home is nearing completion, and a third home has been started. Ten properties sold through November in 2019, and 23 are presently for sale.

Other Association Business: Please see the Board minutes for the year on the Association website for information on additional Board activities for 2019.

August 2018 Special Meeting

TWIN RIVER RANCH
PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION
P.O. BOX 130
WHITE BIRD, IDAHO 83554

Greetings to all Members of the Twin River Ranch Property Owner’s Association. It’s August, so it’s fire season; each day brings new alerts on the InciWeb website, and a substantial portion of the fires currently burning in Idaho are human-caused. Some Members have noticed a significant increase in cigarette butts on TRR-maintained roads. Please, PLEASE keep your cigarettes in your home or in your vehicle. An errant cigarette butt could have disastrous consequences. We all need to be especially careful until cooler and wetter weather returns, hopefully in October.

While the Annual Meeting of the Members took place in June, some items of business were not fully resolved. This mailing is primarily to inform you of items that are still under discussion and to seek your input.

ELECTION OF BOARD MEMBERS

Eight Members ran for two open positions on the Board of Directors. Regrettably, none of the eight received enough votes to be elected. Roberts Rules of Order explains that the most appropriate action is to continue with another round of balloting, and the Board believes that the most viable method is to provide a mail-in ballot. Two candidates have withdrawn; the six that remain are: Dale Jensen, Darrin Malinowski, Tammara Otto, John Raynor, Susan Schubert and Joe Thyne. The Board invited each candidate to provide a brief biography, and that information can be found on beginning on page 18.

SPECIAL MEETING

At the annual meeting in June, Tammara Otto moved that a special meeting be held to remove Pietro DeSantis from the Twin River Ranch Board of Directors. The required 10 percent of the Members agreed with her. Therefore, a Special Meeting of the Members has been scheduled by the Board for 10AM on September 15, 2018, at the old White Bird School Building. Given that many of the Members do not live in the area, the Board felt the most appropriate approach to Ms. Otto’s request was again to provide a ballot by mail, with the results to be announced at the Special Meeting after discussion related to the request.

To that end, the Ballot that is included in this package, on the separate colored page, has two sections. In Section I, you will vote for TWO of the six names to be new TRRPOA Board members. In Section II, you will vote Yes or No to the ballot proposal to remove Pietro DeSantis from the Board. Please return your ballots promptly. YOUR PROPERLY EXECUTED BALLOT/PROXY FORM MUST BE RECEIVED BY THE CORPORATION’S SECRETARY PRIOR TO SEPTEMBER 15, 2018. PLEASE RETURN THIS FORM TO THE TWIN RIVER RANCH PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION, P.O. BOX 130, WHITE BIRD, IDAHO 83554.

CHANGES TO BYLAWS

Two years ago, the Board promised to make changes to the Bylaws to make them easier to read, align them with current Idaho law, and to incorporate earlier revisions in the body of the bylaws. This work has been completed, and the proposed revised Bylaws are included for your review. A particular thank-you should go to Margaret DeSantis, who re-typed the current Bylaws document to allow for changes to be shared with you and to minimize legal fees.

The New Bylaws draft begins on page 5. Please note that all changes will be in bold type with proposed deletions shown in strikethrough. The Board will vote to adopt these changes at their next scheduled meeting at 1PM, September 15, 2018, at the old White Bird School building. Members are invited to attend.

RULES

The TRRPOA Board of Directors adopted Rules governing how it conducts business on behalf of the Association at its July 21, 2018, Board meeting. Adoption of the Rules was the final step in the three steps required by the Bylaws for the Board to adopt, amend, or repeal Rules. Please find these on

Page 4. They are being sent to you as required by the Covenants/Bylaws.

ANNUAL MEETING MINUTES

The proposed minutes of the Annual Member meeting held on June 15, 2018 are attached on pages 16 and 17.

TWIN RIVER RANCH

PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION

SPECIAL MEETING

SEPTEMBER 15, 2018 – 10AM

White Bird School Building

AGENDA

Call to Order — President Pete DeSantis
Discussion related to the request to remove Pietro DeSantis from the TRRPOA Board
Presentation of Board of Directors Ballot Results, Results of Ballot to Remove Pietro DeSantis from TRRPOA Board

Rules, Twin River Ranch Property Owner Association

Both the Bylaws and the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions say that the Board can make rules. These rules are to be applied equally to all owners and will not be inconsistent with either the Bylaws or the Declaration. If the Board makes rules, they need to be mailed to all the property owners.

Rules can also help Members understand what the Board does. So rather than a prescriptive set of rules targeted at the Members, the Board wants to make Members aware of what they can expect from the Board. These Rules can be changed at any time.

The Board will generally meet once every two months, but will meet more often if the need arises. Occasionally, the board must action an item between meetings. In that instance, the action will be approved by a majority of the Board, and will also be documented at the next Board meeting.

Board meetings will be open to Members. The Board will establish a meeting schedule on the TRRPOA website. The future meeting schedule may be amended from time to time to accommodate Board Member schedules. An agenda will be posted 30 days in advance of the scheduled meeting. If there are any changes a final agenda will be posted to the website 15 days in advance of the scheduled meeting. Members are welcome to address concerns to the board in the comment period that will be on the agenda at the beginning of each meeting.
Minutes of meetings are drafted by the Secretary, and then sent to Board members for interim approval. When that approval is received, the minutes are posted on the TRRPOA website. That way, Members can see what has been discussed in a timely manner. The same minutes are formally accepted at the next meeting. Many of the items that the Board discusses are related to individual members. As such, minutes posted on the website will always be redacted to remove Members’ names.
The Board takes its obligations seriously, but is not policing TRR for infractions/issues. If a Member has a complaint, it must be raised to the Board in writing. The Board fully expects that the disagreeing parties have already attempted to resolve their issues themselves. The Board will use its best efforts to limit its involvement to items in the Bylaws and Covenants where the Board has a specific obligation to protect the interests of the Membership as a whole.
The Bylaws provide the Board with the authority to levy an interest rate on past due assessments. The Board has set that rate at 5% per annum.
The Bylaws also provide the Board with the authority to file liens for moneys owed by members. If a lien is filed, the Board will add a $30 fee to cover the cost of certified mailings to the delinquent Member, the cost of filing the lien, and proactively, the cost to file its release.

Please find the copy of RESTATED BYLAWS with all markup and strikes, in the pdf link below. (Official Twin River Ranch Property Owners Association Bylaws uploaded and posted 10-16-18)

2018 Restated Bylaws(pdf)

November 2017 Newsletter

TWIN RIVER RANCH
PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION
P.O. BOX 130
WHITE BIRD, IDAHO 83554

November 2017

Greetings to all Twin River Ranch Property Owner Association Members! Another year draws to a close. Enclosed is an invoice for 2018 dues. Please return the bottom portion with your Phase and Lot(s) indicated. It will make the Treasurer’s job a lot easier to give appropriate credit for the dues paid.

The winter forecast is for normal temperatures but slightly wetter weather. That could mean a winter much like last year, though we hope we don’t have a repeat of all the snow, ice and treacherous roads. Especially for those of you who have residences in TRR, remember that we try and pay for snow removal with donations to the snow fund instead of increasing the assessment for everyone, so please consider sending an extra amount which helps us to keep the roads plowed for you.

This year’s fire season was unpleasant. Thankfully there were no imminent threats to TRR lands and homes, but the fires in California, British Columbia and Montana all somehow managed to funnel smoke onto the Columbia Plateau and into the Salmon River canyon. The smoke did not clear until the autumn rains began.

The Board of Directors has worked diligently to be good stewards for the Members of the Property Owners Association. Below please find a summary of the year’s activity.

Treasurer’s Report: Currently, there is $26,554 in the checking account and $58,326 in the money market account. Six Members are in default for non-payment of TRRPOA assessments, the lowest number in years. Thank you to all of you who pay the dues promptly! The Board has established the budget for 2018 as enclosed, and continues to invest a significant portion of the Association dues in the upkeep of the TRR roads, both in terms of gravel, and labor for the equipment operator.

Roads and Equipment: The backhoe was successfully sold this summer, and replaced with a work truck. As we mentioned in the Annual Meeting letter, the backhoe netted the Association $12,745. The total cost to acquire and place the work truck in service was $13,737. The work truck came with a dump bed that will allow for gravel or sand to be placed during winter plowing or summer maintenance. Additionally, chains will be purchased for both front and rear tires. The Board expects to be able to use the work truck to do much of the snow removal, as it also came with a snow plow blade, rather than having to run the grader. The Association also purchased a spray tank this year for weed control, which can be placed in the bed of the work truck.

For those of you keeping track from year to year, the Association spent heavily on road maintenance in 2015-2017, including a significant investment in better equipment. Even allowing for plowing in December, the Board expects road maintenance expense will come in under budget in 2017. The budget for 2018 includes the same level of expenditure as 2017, but also plans for significant improvements in some targeted road areas. More details will be provided in the May letter and the June annual meeting, as the Board listens to Members, assembles estimates and plans for the best use of resources.

A final roadway reminder: please use 4-wheel drive on TRR roads, which will help extend the life of the road maintenance and maximize the value of the funds we invest. And do please be careful when driving, both for your own sake and for others’. Bear in mind our posted speed limit of 20 mph. Not only is it safer, but again, your investments in road maintenance will last longer with slower speeds and 4-wheel drive.

Property Sales: A big welcome to all new Association Members. We’re glad you decided to choose Twin River Ranch! Cathy Little continues to maintain the website, and welcomes any information you might have on properties for sale in TRR. You can contact her at badbearbluff@gmail.com.

Construction Pre-Approval: For those who plan on building next year, a pre-approval plan is required by the Association Covenants and needs to be submitted to the Board and approval received prior to breaking ground. The form can be accessed from our website, twinriverranch.com, at the bottom of the Directors Page, or call any board member for a copy. Please review the Covenants with respect to building requirements, aesthetics of your property, the need for a septic system prior to receiving an electrical permit, and other restrictions that may apply. Adhering to the Covenants makes for good neighbor relations. Please also note that if you intend to run a business from TRR, this should also be discussed with the Board. If you have misplaced your copy of the Covenants, they can be sent to you by email. In protection of Member interests, the Board has filed suit this year against one Member for construction that does not meet the specifications of the Covenants and the Board’s instruction.

Address Signs: If you wish to post your address on your lot, Annelle Urbahn is willing to coordinate the purchase of more address signs. The signs are $39.99 for an 18” x 18” sign, and by all accounts, they are holding up well. You can contact Annelle at 208-839-9942 to place an order. If you wish to order yourself, they can be obtained from smartsign.com, part #K-3447.

Hunting: This year the Board placed ads in the local paper reminding readers/hunters that all of TRRPOA is private property, and hunting requires written approval from the POA Member. While the consensus is that this year’s general hunting season was quieter than previous years, again we encourage you to provide written permission to your guests and to make sure that your guests know your property boundaries.

Annual Meeting: The Annual Meeting of the Twin River Ranch Property Owners Association will be held as per normal in conjunction with White Bird Days.

Watch your mail for the May newsletter which will include more details. We hope to see you there!

May 2017 Newsletter

TWIN RIVER RANCH
PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION
P.O. BOX 130
WHITE BIRD, IDAHO 83554

Well the weather forecasters told us that it would be a winter that was wetter and warmer than normal; they got the wet part right. The Association has spent considerably more than normal on snow plowing this season than in past years, though donations from Members have defrayed much of the expense, and the new grader made relatively quick work of the snow load. The backhoe was successfully sold in February and the Road Chair expects heavier than normal spraying for weeds this summer. Hopefully, all of that means another quiet year on the fire front.

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING AND PICNIC

The Annual Meeting of the Twin River Ranch Property Owners Association will be held on Friday, June 16, 2017 at 10:30 a.m. at Hoot’s Café Meeting Room. Coffee, tea and pastries will be provided. Tickets to the Duck Derby supporting the White Bird Library will be available for purchase. A picnic will follow at Swiftwater RV Park. Hamburgers, hot dogs, drinks, condiments and tableware will be provided. Salads and desserts would be most appreciated from those who attend. Please come as it is a great way to be involved in the Property Owners Association, and if we’re lucky it won’t snow.

FINANCIAL REPORT

A financial report will be provided by the Treasurer as a handout at the meeting.

ELECTIONS AND ITEMS UP FOR VOTE BY THE ASSOCIATION MEMBERS

The Board terms of Marty Ansell and Steve Duerksen will expire this year. Both have indicated a desire to continue to serve the Association. We also have one resident, Joe Thyne, who has indicated a desire to serve on the TRRPOA Board. A brief statement from each person is included in this packet. A Proxy to vote is included in this newsletter. If you are not planning to attend the meeting, please complete the proxy and mail it to P. O. Box 130, White Bird, Idaho 83554. If you are a recorded property owner and have paid your annual dues, including any late interest and filing fees, you are welcome to nominate yourself as a possible board member.

Also being presented for Member vote are 3 proposals regarding storage/shipping containers in Twin River Ranch (choose one), and a proposal to redeploy the proceeds of the backhoe sale by purchasing a truck for the Association to handle miscellaneous maintenance tasks (light snow blading, weed spraying, etc; vote yes or no). Please include these ballots as well if you are not planning to attend the meeting in person.

PROPERTY SALES AND CONSTRUCTION

Welcome to new property owners! We are glad you decided to join us in Twin River Ranch. Please be sure to submit a pre-approval plan before you build any structures, or cut roads… it is required by our Covenants. It is also recommended that property owners carefully read the Covenants regarding construction requirements and other restrictions that may apply to your property. Contact any Board Member if you need a copy of the Bylaws or Covenants.

Again, we hope to see you at the meeting and picnic; please being a side dish or dessert and join us.

Please return your proxy if you cannot attend the meeting. (Proxies , voting sheets and member statements mailed)