The meeting was called to order at 6:05 by President Don Vogel.  He noted that a quorum was present and that the meeting was being taped.

Directors present were Judy Carter, Jim Hicks, Milton Pledger, Don Vogel and Steve Webb.  Steve Lee arrived after the meeting began.

Elva Scholebo and Rex Stevens were absent.

MEMBER’S FORUM- Jim Treat stated that he was of the opinion that the Association should post the names of Members who were seriously delinquent in the annual assessments, particularly some in the first subdivision.  President Vogel noted that the Association had typically respected the Member’s privacy in that area, but that we would check legal ground on the suggestion.

Reid Taube asked how much money the Association had spent on Village drainage work in the last three years.  Manager Kroeger replied that we had spent very little in ’06, approximately $250,000.00 in ’05, and after a bit research, $10,500.00 in ’04. (A close review of money spent during the time period requested was 2006- $33,500.00,
2005- $269,004.00, and 2004-$9505.00)

MINUTES- The directors asked Manager Kroeger to send the minutes to the Directors for review 24-48 hours prior to distribution to the Association as a whole.  Steve Webb stated that he thought the “Old Business” section of the February meeting could have had more information on the negative tone and comments toward the board by some of the Subdivision One people.  Jim Hicks noted a grammatical error.  In the third bullet point of “Old Business”, the second “the”, in the second line, should be deleted.  Jim Hicks moved to accept the minutes as corrected.  After a second by Judy Carter, the motion was unanimously approved.

TREASURER’S REPORT- Treasurer Steve Webb noted that maintenance fees received to date were 76% of budget at $436,534.00.  Maintenance fees to date in the first subdivision were 59% of budget at $13,237.00.  Total income to date is $465,289.00 which is just under 68% of budget.

Total expenses are 19% of budget at $127,192.00.  From a percentage standpoint, Administration spending is higher at this time than other departments as the Association insurance has been paid for the year (approx $23,000.00) and a $20,000.00 Reserve for Replacement CD was purchased last month. 

Total monies on hand, including the new CD, are just over $700,000.00.

Manager Kroeger summarized the delinquent report.  The most notable item was that delinquents accounts under $600.00 dropped from $41,000.00 in January to just under $14,000.00 in February.  This is because 75 delinquent accounts ($23,775) from 2006 were turned over to the collection agency.  Of 113 liens filed in May ’06, 54 have been released including 7 in February.

There are a total of 48 delinquent lots.  25% have residences.  This compares to 14% in February.  This change can also be attributed to releasing delinquent accounts to the credit agency.

Manager Kroeger reminded the Board that the Delinquent Report would look much different at the April meeting as unpaid 2007 maintenance fees will roll into the delinquent column on April 1.

MPCA has collected about $20,000.00 of the original $71,000.00 sent to them, returning over $12,000.00 to the Association.

Steve Webb asked when, during the collection process, did a delinquent member’s credit report become affected.  Manager Kroeger was to check into this and report back to the Board.

President Vogel asked Manager Kroeger to follow up with the county on the disposition of the 37 lots in their possession and report back at the April meeting.

There being no further questions, Milton Pledger moved to accept the Treasurer’s Report. 
The motion was seconded by Jim Hicks and passed unanimously.

MANAGER’S REPORT- Manager Kroeger gave the Manager’s report beginning with the report from the Town of Santa Claus Council meeting.

Town of Santa Claus
Town Report
2/12/07

Three representatives from Kimball were on hand to ask the Town for tax abatements on a sliding scale over a ten year period for new equipment.  Kimball was changing their focus at the Santa Claus plant and buying $42 million worth of new equipment.  They would retain 53 jobs and hire 50 new ones.  The council moved to go forward with the application process and to have a public hearing.

Joe Keller, curator of the Santa Claus museum said that he wanted the museum to apply for historical preservation status which would assist with grants to expand the facility.  Further discussion was tabled until the March meeting.

Some property owners in the Cedar Crest (duplexes) Subdivision asked the Town take over the roads in that area.  There were questions about dead ends, streetlights, and parking, particularly during the Lodge’s busy season.  The owners were to prepare a document saying what they would do in order to assist in any changeover.

Daycare is showing a slow increase in enrollment and they are considering a lease renewal.  The parks department is gathering information on options for the Fire Department and will have more information in March.

The water program is moving along but there are more archaeological issues.  There could be an expense of $180,000.00 to pursue this.  It could be August or September before this is all done, so it is likely to be October before a bid could go out.  It is feasible to run a line to Dale to sell them water.

The builder of a new house built on the county road south of the Village installed a water line to the new house.  He was asking for the Town to take over the line as other new houses could tap into it.  He was also asking for percentage of the tap-in fee to help recover his costs.

The council approved a free tap-in schedule in exchange for easement approval along the route of the new water line, limited to single family residences and existing structures.

There are infiltration issues in the Prancer Drive area.  A flow study is pending.

A drawing of a proposed new fire station at the Community Center was submitted by the chief.  The addition is 68’x80’ and includes the shell, doors, heated floor and outdoor concrete pad.  The subject was tabled until March.  There was some question if the Fire Department could “co-exist” with the day care in the same building.

Appraiser Ron Magnus is to contact Manager Kroeger regarding the storage area lease in the next week or so.

The first reading of a plan to adjust the Town’s personnel policy regarding residency requirements was approved to read that employees must reside within 10 miles of the Town Hall, in the state of Indiana, regardless of county.

The council also approved cancellation of some old warrants, the write off of $677.00 in uncollectible debt, carpet cleaning in Town Hall, and up to $5,000.00 to the County Election Board to assist with the election.

Manager Kroeger further reported that:

• Annual employee evaluations will be completed prior to April 1 as required. 
• A large scale disaster drill involving numerous county agencies is scheduled for April 12th-the date of the next Board meeting.  As a member of the local fire department, Manager Kroeger requested approval to participate in the drill.  He said he would write out his report and have an office employee take the meeting notes.  His request was approved.
• The emergency planning seminar he had recently attended in Indianapolis had been very informative.  He plans to start work on the action plan required by the DNR right away.
• The top of the big back stop and the dug outs at the Holly Park baseball field are in need of repair/maintenance.  He suggested that since the field was seldom used, simply removing the angled portion of the back stop and the dugouts would be the way to go.  The back stop would remain approximately 10 feet high.  The Board, and Steve Webb (Holly Park Committee Chair) approved of the plan.
• He was working with maintenance foreman John Keller to make a prioritized list of roadside ditches that would need work.
• The maintenance workers have painted several Village picnic tables.
• One of the snow plows will be removed from the truck around April 1.
• Mulching of yard waste (tree limbs, NOT leaves) is tentatively scheduled for mid to late April.  He would keep everyone advised via marquee and website.
• With the weather getting warmer, we are seeing more walkers/joggers out on the roads.  Everyone please be careful.  If you are out after dark, wear something reflective and/or carry a light of some sort.
• He had recently had a conversation with Russ Winkler about the condition of the emergency spillway on the big lake.  The inspection from last year revealed that spillway was eroded and needed work in order to return it to DNR requirements.  That portion of the dam system belongs to the golf course.  Russ said he had no need for the spillway, but the Village does.  He said he would sell the spillway to the Association for a very reasonable price.  Manager Kroeger stated that it was his opinion that we should attempt to acquire the spillway so that we could have control over this integral portion of the dam works.  He knew there would be an initial outlay of some $25,000.00 to bring the spillway into compliance.  He was directed to report back at the May meeting with a proposal from the golf course on their price for the spillway as well as any requirements they may request as part of a sale (i.e. golfer access across the bridge spanning the spillway).  He was to get some estimates to do the excavation work as well.
• He read a letter he had received a letter from Association member Jeri Landry.  This was a copy of a letter sent to Town utility superintendent Russ Luthy asking for another street light in her area.  She said there continuing problems in the area which was very dark.  She also asked for a dusk-to-dawn light on the back side of her home.  Manager Kroeger had previously explained to her that the Town of Santa Claus handled the streetlight installation and maintenance through Vectren.   The amount of money for lights in the Village is determined annually by the Town Council while the placement was coordinated primarily by the Town Marshall and Manager Kroeger.  He was advised to turn the situation over to the Town.
• President Vogel directed Manager Kroeger to write a letter to Charter Cable about the slow response in repairing cable boxes and burying lines, giving them 30 days to take care of the problems.

OLD BUSINESS-
Boat Trailer Storage- Manager Kroeger reported that appraiser Ron Magnus had been in the Village to review the storage area in order to appraise it.  He had asked Manager Kroeger for some information which was provided.  He had not heard from Magnus after leaving a message to call.  The current contract expires in October.

Covenants & Restrictions Subdivision 1- There was a mistake on the printed agenda, saying “Building Guidelines” rather than Covenants & Restrictions.  Martha Seifrig was on hand to read a prepared letter.  The gist of her comments speak to doing away with services to Subdivision 1, fairness, that most of the people want to pay, and that the period of time the Board waits before going to collection in general is too long.

Arty Eachus reported that he had not been able to set a meeting date with the representatives of the subdivision 1 contingent to the special committee.  There had been a couple of brainstorming meetings but they had not gotten very far.

President Vogel noted that one meeting of the special committee had been held.  Plans to review/modify the Covenants and some disagreements had been discussed during the meeting.

Arty stated that he did not see immediate support of unified covenants.

President Vogel read a letter from Dave Grundhoefer outlining the parameters of the “Conditional Sale of Real Estate”.  He also read part of a letter from Will Koch stating that Bill Koch had been in favor of unified covenants.

Arty Eachus was to make it a priority to have a meeting and response for the Board at the April 12th meeting. 

Gleason Dial wanted to know if copies of the subdivision 1 covenants were available and if other subdivisions could be involved in the negotiations.  He was advised that copies could be obtained at the gatehouse.

Director Steve Webb pressed for a timeline stating that the process must move expeditiously. 

President Vogel noted that the 30 day period for snow removal approved at the February meeting had expired and that the Association will have to revert to the position stated in the letter to the first subdivision members in December 2006.

Festival of Lights- Manager Kroeger advised the Board that he needed a decision on the Festival of Lights 2007.  President Vogel recapped previous comments from local business owners and tourism industry.  A shortened Festival route was exhibited, and President Vogel suggested that we send letters to local businesses giving them the opportunity to install a lighted display and have a sign with their company name in it.

There were some comments from the members in attendance suggesting committees to lead the work on the Festival, taking away neighborhood themes, and that a lot of hard work is required to make this a community event.  A new member of the Association said he had been impressed by the Festival in 2006 when he just happened to be in the area at that time.

Jim Hicks moved that the Board continue its support of the Festival of Lights, allowing a steering committee to form, sending letters to local businesses as described, and changing the route as indicated.  Milton Pledger seconded the motion which passed unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS-
Committee Appointments- President Vogel stated that he had asked Jim Hicks to take over as chair of the Rules and Regulations Committee, and Judy Carter to take over as chair of the Personnel Committee.  The positions had been recently vacated by resignations.  Directors Hicks and Carter each accepted these chair duties. 

Building Guidelines- President Vogel noted that Manager Kroeger had proposed a few changes in the Building Guidelines, reminding the Directors that the proposal had been sent to each via e-mail for review.  He also noted that Steve Webb had suggested additional revisions.  All the suggestions had been incorporated into a new document with the proposed changes in bold letters.  After some discussion, Jim Hicks moved to accept the Building Guidelines including the proposed changes as well as the revisions made during the meeting. Steve Webb seconded the motion which passed unanimously.

Replacement Director- President Vogel noted that three resumes’ had been received for the open Director’s position which would expire in June of 2009.  Two of the three candidates were in attendance- Angela Vanover and Jeff Stillman.  Each had a few minutes to state their qualifications and reasons for interest in the position.  The directors asked a few questions.  President Vogel advised the applicants that it was not an easy assignment and that they should ideally be prepared to spend 15 to 20 hours a month on Association business.  Only one position was available at the present, but a general election was coming in June.

COMMITTEE REPORTS
Business Planning- Is already looking at the 2008 budget.
Infrastructure- A meeting is planned to discuss road repair, and roadside ditches.  Chair Milton Pledger reminded the Directors to turn in their road maps promptly.
Nominations- None
Rules & Regulations- Nothing beyond had been previously discussed.
Personnel- None
Holly Park- Chair Steve Webb stated that a meeting was pending with the committee to select the budgeted park equipment.

The meeting recessed at 7:55 in order for the Board to discuss the Director applicants.

The meeting resumed at 8:05.  After counting, Manager Kroeger announced that Angela Vanover had been elected as the new Director by secret ballot vote.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:10 on a motion by Steve Lee and a second by Steve Webb.