The Christmas Lake Village 36th Annual Meeting was held on June 14, 2009. 

ROLL CALL- The meeting was called to order at 1:00 PM by President Don Vogel.  Present were Gene Allen, Rob Collins, Jim Davidson, Lee Powell, Mark Smith, Jeff Stillman, Angela Vanover, and Don Vogel.  Jim Hicks was absent.  President Vogel noted that a quorum was present and that the meeting was being taped.

Shirley Blazey read the following resolution:

‘BE IT RESOLVED THAT ALL ACTS AND RESOLUTIONS OF EVERY KIND AND CHARACTER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF CHRISTMAS LAKE PROPERTY OWNER’S ASSOCIATION FOR THE YEAR COVERING THE PERIOD OF TIME FROM THE ANNUAL MEETING OF MEMBERSHIP HELD IN JUNE 2008 DOWN TO AND INCLUDING THIS DATE BE RATIFIED, APPROVED AND CONFIRMED IN ALL THINGS BY THE MEMBERSHIP OF THIS ASSOCIATION.’

The resolution was seconded by Jeff Stillman and approved unanimously.

At this time President Vogel excused Jeff Stillman and the Nominating Committee to tally the Proxies and Ballots, which had been delivered by Melvin Held CPA.

READING OF THE MINUTES- Manager Kroeger read the minutes from the 2008 Annual meeting.  The minutes were unanimously approved on a motion by Gene Allen and a second by Lee Powell.

REPORT OF TREASURER- This year I am going to present a two part report with the first portion devoted to the current period while the second portion will explore the long term future of the Village.

Looking at the May financial report, I can foresee no major problems with reaching the total projected income for the year. Some line items may end the year higher than anticipated while others may be lower, but overall I would expect the total at year-end to be slightly higher than projected.

Expenses may be another thing:
The budget contains a total of $36,188 dollars of discretionary expenditures which includes all potential capital projects of which there was a quite a list.
So far this year we have been faced with several items that were not included in the budget but the monies had to be spent such as:

$5,480  Tree removal and wind damage trucking.

$   800  Purchase and record deeds for 34 lots

$8,862  Road salt cost over budget

$   701  Beach and Life Guards

$ 1,835  Back gate cards

$17,678 Total Expended

$14,000  Known additional expenditures for Life Guards

$31,678 Total

This leaves us with $4,510 available for the remainder of the year, which I don’t feel will be enough, and will leave no funds available for additional road or ditch work nor for any new capital project.

Any major expense problem that may arise will end up reducing further the amount of road or ditch work that we do this year in that those items are the only ones flexible enough to be reduced for emergencies. 

My peek into the future is not nearly as bright and the problem for the most part centers around our roads.

For the village to continue to prosper good roads will be a necessity, potential buyers will immediately notice their condition on their first trip into the Village, particularly if they are in the process of breaking up or are riddled with chuck holes.  Currently we are faced with a situation where funds are not available to maintain them even in their present condition and more and more we will have to resort to patching and less to resurfacing.

The Board this year did take two actions that will reduce the damage to our roads. Only one garbage hauler is allowed in the Village which has reduced the amount of heavy loads that are traveling the roads. They also established winter load limits that will serve to reduce the damage done by heavy loads during those periods when the roadbeds are saturated with water.

The economy has also contributed through the reduction of the new homes being built along with the heavy construction traffic that occurs during the process.

Within the confines of the present budgeting process approximately $100,000 may be set aside annually, as has been done in the recent past, for road and ditch work but this will leave a minimal amount for other projects.

With 27 miles of private road to maintain coupled with the fact that for the most part the road beds are not capable of handling the loads that they are exposed to coupled with
poor drainage that leaves them saturated with moisture to the extent that major damage is a foregone conclusion, we have investigated the cost of reworking all of the roads in a manner to bring them into an acceptable condition. The best guess estimate we received from a group of qualified experts was 4.5 million dollars. We have to face facts and accept the fact that this we can not do.

The next possible solution would be a special assessment, or a special assessment in conjunction with a dual assessment process with different assessments for empty lots and those lots with a residence on it.  The price tag on this based on main road resurfacing every five years and resurfacing the lesser traffic roads every 15 years would cost $313,000 per year. This exceeds our present budget by $213,000 and would require an increase in assessment income by 33.3% 

The third possible solution and one that is not pleasant to many people would be to open the gate and deed the roads to the town. This would eliminate the need for the gate attendants and the Road and ditch repair as well as several other lesser expenditures. The lakes and parks would remain private and all the other features of our community could be retained. The budget would be reduced by at least $226,000 per year plus normal escalation could result in a reduction of 35% of our assessments. Or the possibility of a smaller reduction with improvements in the facilities and services provided to our community.

Thought provoking!!

Manager Kroeger noted from the Delinquent Report that 266 lots are currently delinquent $155,677.00.  He reported that at this time a year ago, 251 lots were delinquent $114,272.00.  42 (16%) of the delinquent lots have residences on them.  This is 2% less than May.  The collection agency had turn over about $400.00 and 6 or 7 accounts were about ready to go to small claims court. 

After some questions and discussion, Lee Powell moved to accept the financial report.  This was seconded by Angela Vanover and passed unanimously.

REPORT OF SECRETARY- Manager Kroeger read the report.

REPORT OF MANAGER- There are 846 homes in the Village including 1 currently under construction.   Two sets of plans for new homes have been approved but not yet started.  Another has just been returned from the architect.

After nearly 20 years of service and numerous patch jobs, we decided we could not wait any longer to replace the motor and the detection loops on the outgoing side of the back gate.  We have had very few issues with that side since then.  We continue to nurse the incoming side along.

Bulk road salt became a concern in preparation for the winter of 2008/2009.  An apparent shortage in the supply forced our regular supplier to advise us that they would not be able to provide salt for the season.  We were able to find some, but the price went from approximately $50.00/ton delivered in 2007, to $150.00/ton plus delivery in 2008.  We are currently working with the long time supplier who apparently has salt available again.  We do not have a price nailed down as yet.

In February of this year, after months of discussion and meetings with the county councilmen, the Association decided to place minimal bids on 34 CLV lots that were on Commissioner’s sale.  We purchased each of lot for $1.00 plus some administrative fees.
Those lots are available for sale.  We are working on prices for the lots.

The dam inspections as required by the Indiana DNR were performed and submitted in spring of 2008.  Although the dams are generally in good shape there is some work that needs to take place.  The two biggest jobs are on the Lake Holly spillway and the Emergency Action Plan.  Manager Kroeger is working on these projects.  The next inspection is required in spring of 2010.

The big ice storm of January 2009 took its toll on the Village and our branch chipper.  We chipped for months and finally had to call an end to it.  We spent about $5000.00 in tree removal and hauling and devoted hundreds of man hours of time to cleaning up.  A large number of people utilized the service, and some who took advantage of it.  Our next scheduled chipping session will be this fall.  The exact dates will be announced.

Though we have devoted much time and effort to collections and delinquent accounts, the dollar amount does not seem to change dramatically.  Within a few days of this reading we will begin small claims procedures against some residences in the Village that are delinquent for 2008 and 2009.  This is just another step in trying to get these paid up.  Every dollar that is delinquent is a dollar we cannot spend on maintaining the Village.  Just think what the $150,000.00 that is currently delinquent could do toward repairing and upgrading the Village.

If you follow the monthly meeting minutes, you know that the Board of Directors is considering a draw down of Christmas Lake over the 2009-2010 winter.  The primary purpose behind this is to expose the dormant weed seeds to freezing air.  This kills the seeds and they will not grow next spring.  Additionally, some settling of the lake bottom is likely to occur which will make the lake a few inches deeper.  This extra depth will also be a bit of a weed growth retardant.  We are considering other projects we can do while the water is down.  Water front property owners in the lake fingers may want to work on their docks while the water is low.  We expect the fingers to be dry, with all the water concentrated in the main body of the lake.  If we have long term weather forecasts calling for a warmer than usual winter, or drier than usual spring, we will postpone the program.

The installation of Fiber optic cable to all the homes in the Village by PSC is well underway.  The installation efforts have been hampered by rain delays.  There have been a few problems along the way, but the engineering company and the construction company are taking steps to reduce the number of incidents.  They will be installing over 60 miles of cable.  Completion of the main cable installation is expected sometime this fall.

After extensive debate, research, and bidding, the Association opted to move to a single trash hauling company for residential trash.  A few issues hit in the beginning, some of it weather related, but things seem to have settled down now.  We are helping our roads by limiting these heavy trucks to one a week, and the Village looks a lot better with trash receptacles at roadside for one day rather than 3 or 4 days.

Again, after extensive debate, consultation, reviews by the insurance company, and an online survey, the Board voted to discontinue the use of lifeguards at the CLV beach.  Then, at the last minute the insurance company advised us that lifeguards would be necessary after all.  Lifeguards are now at the beach from 11:00AM-6:00PM Wednesday through Sunday for the summer season.  Please follow the beach rules which are posted at the beach.

A word about our infrastructure in general…Parts of the Village are in excess of 40 years old and age is starting to become evident.  Paint is getting old and mechanisms are failing.  We are seeing new types of weed growth in the lakes.  For example, we currently have a healthy crop of creeping primrose in the big lake.  We have not seen this before.  We have the product that we have been told will take care of it.  We will apply it in the next couple of weeks when the blooms appear.  We will continue to be challenged by aging infrastructure and new challenges.  Thinking back to a previous paragraph about delinquent accounts…think of what we could do if we had that $150,000.00 available.

In closing I would like to thank all of the directors for the time and effort they provide.  We have considered several difficult issues over recent years and there are many times that I have been happy that I do not vote on such things.  Jim Hicks brought a new level of involvement and research to the Rules & Regs Committee.  Angela Vanover, with her vast experience in the real estate business and the time spent to date on the Covenants & Restrictions amendments which is still underway.  And to Don Vogel for 6 years on the Board, serving four of those as President.  He has provided leadership on these difficult issues and has instituted ways of making the Village better.  These 3 three have helped me on numerous occasions.  Many thanks.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT- These past 6 years have gone all too quickly, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with many very dedicated Christmas Lake Village employees and Board Members.  Special thanks and recognition is well deserved for Sue and Gail in our administration office.  I cannot state often enough or strong enough how fortunate CLV is to have Mark Kroeger as our Property Manager.  Commitment, passion and a hard work ethic are just a few of the qualities Mark brings to his job every day.  Few people within the village can imagine the variety or volume of tasks he handles on a daily basis.  Thank you, Mark.

Many people have been a part of your Board of Directors with me over these past 6 years, and I confidently report all have served with only the very best interest of Christmas Lake Village as their motivation and influence in their decision making.  Thanks to each of you for your service, but I would like to take this opportunity to give special recognition to 3 who have worked over and above the call of duty – Jim Hicks has worked tirelessly to constantly update and revise the Rules and Regulations that impact all aspects of the village operations, Jim Davidson has brought new ideas and tight financial control procedures to the annual budget process and management of our money assets.  Jeff Stillman has been a workhorse at everything he has been responsible for, but especially implementing a personnel evaluation and interview system that will serve us well for many years.

According to the By Laws, the President is to bring you a report of this past year.  Two events that impacted almost every property owner were hurricane Ike last October and the ice storm in January. They had a negative impact on our budget with unplanned expenses of about $20,000 for each clean-up.  The economy unfortunately has resulted in higher than normal home repossessions, and that has had an effect on some of our assessment income. 

On the more positive side, CLV acquired 34 lots from the county and a plan will soon be in place to market these so their sale will generate additional income to CLV as well as getting them back paying annual assessments.  Work is continuing on revisions to our Covenants and Restrictions.  Many residents have served on this committee, chaired by Angela Vanover, to address concerns and flaws in the current C&R’s.  We are awaiting a response from an attorney on a couple issues, a final review by the committee and Board, then a series of town meetings to present and get feedback from property owners, before a vote will be taken.  PSC is in the process of installing a fiber optic network to every home in the village with work to be completed by November.  The Rec Center building will soon have structural reinforcements completed, shoring up the sagging roof, taking the stress off the outside walls that have been moving outward a little – thanks to Jim Davidson’s engineering talents, completed with major savings to CLV.  We have had some success reducing the delinquent accounts with letters and collection agency efforts, however much remains so soon we will proceed in small claims court to collect that which is due CLV. The good news is that we are ahead of last year collecting assessments and total revenues to operate CLV.
We typically only report on major activities during the past 12 months, so maybe now is the time to view the larger picture of progress made over the past 6 years.  I think we really are making progress in an ever growing community – now 846 homes, an increase of 55 new homes in the past 6 years.

 Infrastructure is always an ongoing concern in an aging system of roads, ditches, culverts, etc., and there will never be enough money to meet all our improvement goals.  In the last 6 years we have been able to repave over 6 miles of roadway, including all of Balthazar, most of N & W Melchior and Kaspar, some of S Melchior, the remaining gravel roads and several secondary road surfaces.  A major storm drainage system was installed to resolve flooding on Star and adjacent homes.  Several major culverts under roads have been replaced.  A sleeve was installed in Lake Noel dam to stop a leak in the overflow system.  Approximately 30 street lights have been added throughout the village.
New roofs have been installed on the 4 recreation shelters and the Gatehouse.  New playground equipment for smaller children to enjoy was added to Holly Park and a new 1/3 mile walking track was installed.

Leaf vacuuming and limb chipping services have been added, providing free compost and wood chips for residents use in their landscape.  The two major storms helped us realize the value of owning this equipment.  A new tractor with side arm mower and a new zero turn mower allow us to maintain roadway and common areas more efficiently.

Administration efficiencies and computer technology allow us to provide more service with less hours of payroll.  We have been able to utilize email to a greater extent and save several thousand dollars in postage and printing costs for the quarterly newsletter, alerts such as boil water orders, and surveys.  The quarterly newsletter, Santa’s Letter, began again after a few years absence, and the CLVillage@psci.net website began and has continually expanded to keep our property owners well informed.  All 12 subdivisions have been united under similar C&R’s.

Looking at a bigger picture, we really are making significant progress.  We do have a “Wish List” and I only wish we could have completed these during my term in office.  The list includes new main floor restrooms at the Rec Center, resurface the tennis court and replace the basketball goals at Holly Park, electronic entry gates at the front and back gates, dam repairs on Lake Holly and emergency spillway repairs on Christmas Lake, replace a worn out snow plow truck with a larger truck with a wider snow blade, and more roads resurfaced.

In closing, I just met another family that has moved to CLV in the past few months, they said they had looked all over Indiana to find a place to retire and they chose Christmas Lake Village.  So even if we aren’t perfect, this is still the best place to live in Indiana.  

Thanks for the privilege to serve on your CLV Board                           

Don Vogel, President

OPEN FLOOR-Carl Working reminded the Board of his concerns over his boat that had sunk.  He had sent a letter in response to a letter he had received from President Vogel.  He was concerned about some of our procedures.  He thinks his offer fair.  The Board will revisit the letter at the regular July meeting.

Bill Gunderson was on hand and noted that he had looked at several locations on 3-4 states before deciding on living in CLV.  He was concerned about the delinquency problem and wanted to know if we could publish the names of the delinquent members.  President Vogel stated that we have to be very careful with that, although it is a possibility.  Director Mark Smith stated that he was aggravated by this situation as well.

Manager Kroeger spoke on behalf of Steve Webb who had left the meeting early.  Steve had been passed in his car on Balthazar Drive earlier ion the day.  He said the car had been going at least 50 MPH.  We wanted to know why we could not put speed bumps in this area.  The board will discuss this further at the July meeting.

ELECTION OF DIRECTORS
Jeff Stillman returned with the voting results.  In alphabetical order the results were
Jason Alban                  433
Amy Busler                  260
Judy Carter                  331
Mike Robinson 304
Angela Vanover            249

Jason Alban, Judy Carter, and Mike Robinson are the new Directors.

An organizational meeting was announced for Thursday June 18th @ 6:00 PM, and a special meeting to discuss vandalism was announced for 6:30.

The meeting adjourned at 2:30 on a motion by Jeff Stillman and a second by Lee Powell.