The meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM by President Don Vogel.  He noted that a quorum was present and that the meeting was being taped.

Directors present were Gene Allen, Rob Collins, Jim Davidson, Jim Hicks, Harold Johnson, Lee Powell, Jeff Stillman, Angela Vanover, and Don Vogel.  There were no absences.

MEMBERS FORUM
Wayne Hall was in attendance to discuss a fence plan that had recently been disapproved by the Board.  Wayne was attempting to shield and quiet his dogs but the proposed fence was expected to block the neighbor’s view.  Wayne was to consider alternate fence layouts and submit a revised plan to the Board.

Dewey Blair spoke in favor of a Village yard sale for 2008.  He suggested a few dates and some possible changes to the recent format of the yard sale.  The suggestions were taken under advisement for the Yard Sale agenda item later in the meeting.

Brad Fischer stated that he and his wife, Nikki, were attending their first meeting just to see what goes on.  He was concerned that money was tight and stated that he thought the assessment was too low and perhaps we should look into raising it.

Bob Woerz was in attendance saying he had lived in the Village for 9 years and this was his first meeting.  He was concerned about the prospect of Smith Homes building houses near the dam.  Bob posed several questions along with his concerns. President Vogel noted that the ground had not yet been sold to Smith Homes, the project had not gone before the zoning commission, nor had a formal proposal been made to the CLV Board.
Jim Davidson agreed strongly with Bob’s concerns.

Debbie Heck also spoke voiced concerns about the Smith Homes project, and the sign on the ground.  She asked when the pavement would be repaired from Town utility work at the corner of Kasper and Donder.

Angela Vanover was present to speak as a member about her concerns about procedures at the front gate.  She said that several people who had come to a party at her house were not stopped and questioned by the gate.  She wanted to know why people were allowed to come in and drive around to look at property.  She says she is losing business because of this.  She further stated that guards are not doing their jobs (except for one) and that the money we pay the guards is wasted.  She said the guards should be fired and replaced or the gate should be removed.  She estimated that there were more than 50 instances of a guard opening the gate without questioning the guest in the last month.

MINUTES- There were two sets of minutes to review.  It was noted that the minutes from the special meeting on 6/10/08 indicated that Jim Davidson was acclaimed Secretary.  It should have read that Manager Kroeger was acclaimed as Secretary.  Jeff Stillman moved to accept both sets of minutes with the amendment as noted.  Gene Allen seconded the motion which passed unanimously.

TREASURER’S REPORT- Treasurer Jim Davidson passed out a recap sheet noting that he was projecting a $53,000.00 shortfall in income from 2007.  He noted our interest income and that if we do not have more income then we will have to somehow reduce expense items and that the largest single expense item is road repair.  He would not allow the Board to forget this issue.  President Vogel noted that the new lien law would hurt us and that we need to explore collection alternatives.  Jim stated that three items were a little over budget: FICA, weed killer, and electricity at the Rec Center.

Manager Kroeger gave the delinquent report noting that although about $7,000.00 in assessments had come in during the last month, that $107,000.00 was still delinquent on 241 lots.  40 of these lots have residences on them.  This is 17% of the total which is a few points higher than the norm.  10 liens were released in June.  The collection agency collected less than $1000.00 in June. 

Angela Vanover suggested that we have a different assessment rate for improved lots.

Jim Davidson suggested that we may need to split residents and non-residents for any special assessment that might be proposed.  He suggested he would discuss this later in the meeting.

The Treasurer’s report was unanimously approved after a motion by Jeff Stillman and a second by Jim Hicks.

MANAGER’S REPORT- Manager Kroeger updated the Board on the May and June Town Council meetings.

Town Of Santa Claus
Council Meeting
5/12/08

At the regularly scheduled meeting the Town Council:

• Approved 2 sets of minutes
• Decided to restrict parking in the duplexes to one side of the street.  The decision on which side was to be determined based on emergency vehicle access.
• Approved Darrin Sweet to replace Greg Turner on the entertainment Tax Board upon Greg’s resignation.  A meeting with Representative Stilwell was scheduled for 5/15/08.
• Heard that 30 inspections had been made by the building inspector and that several building permits had been issued.
• Heard that Animal Control Board for the county had a building plan on paper, on donated ground, for an animal shelter.
• Approved $4500.00 in the ’09 budget to help support the animal Control Board along with the county and other towns in the county.
• Heard that the fire department had 3 new first responders and a new recruit in training.
• Were advised that some repair paving in the Village would be done soon.
• Asked that the traffic speed sign be used more frequently. 
• Approved Christmas Lake Village personnel the authority to place the sign at various locations in the Village.
• Approved a probationary raise to a recent hire retroactive to 5/5/08.
• Learned that the sewer plant treated 27.2 million gallons and that 5.15” of rain fell in April.
• The clerk treasurer would be out of Town for training June 9-12.

The meeting adjourned at 6:30 PM.

TOWN OF SANTA CLAUS
MEETING AGENDA
JUNE 9, 2008

At the regularly scheduled meeting the Town Council:

• Approved the minutes of 5/12/08 meeting
• Heard from Midwestern Engineers that the specifications for water and sewer relocates for US 231 were 68% and 35% done respectively. Easements are being acquired.  The bid should go out in July, with approval in August, and the project should take about 4 months.
• Received a request Holiday World to install a new flow meter at lift station 11.  The current meter is not working properly.  Holiday World would pay for the meter.  Midwestern Engineers is to design the flow meter.
• Learned that 21 building inspections had been made.
• Learned that the Town map from the census Bureau was not accurate, but that Indiana Region 15 has an accurate map in electronic form available.
• Heard that the police department is looking into the 2008 streetlight program.
• The fire department’s annual BBQ is to be held on July 5th.
• Asked the Town Attorney to write an ordinance restricting parking at the Cedar Crest area (duplexes) to the North side of the street with 25’ of “no parking” on each side of the corners.  The parking restriction is made in order to accommodate emergency vehicles.
• Heard that 25.5 million gallons of water had been processed in May and that 5.25” rain had fallen.  No man holes had been closed due to rain.
• Learned that the county had economic development funds available that might be used to clear some land in the Industrial Park.
• Forwarded a letter from Kimball regarding tax abatement to the Town Attorney.
• Scheduled two budget meetings
• Approved a 90 days salary adjustment for a new employee.
• Adjourned at 6:15 PM.

Manager Kroeger also reported that:

• The motor on the back gate was in need of replacement.  He commented that it had been repaired as much as possible.  He had two bids for a new motor.  One was for $4300.00 and the other for $2687.54.  He requested to go with the low bid for repair.  He was advised to look into replacing the gate with the one way tire shredders, a sign noting “severe tire damage” and a monitor at the gate house for the guards to keep an eye on the gate.

• He had been approached by a member of the Association asking to have a “Euchre Night” at the Rec Center the 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month.  The member would organize the games.  Angela Vanover and Jeff Stillman noted that they thought that if the Rec Center were to be opened it should be an open “game night” and not restricted to Euchre or any one type of game.  The participants of the Euchre nights should pay for the use of the facility.

• He had written an “Infrastructure Concerns” list that outlined a number of current and projected problem areas and ideas.  He passed out a copy for each Director to read and consider at their leisure.  He said that most of these concerns would be brought formally to the Board through the Infrastructure Committee.

• He had spoken with Town’s utility superintendent regarding the repair of Town utility work involving our roads.  He indicated that he was actively working with Rudolph and the work should be done very soon.  The repair from the fuel spill on the entryway will be handled at the same time.

• He had spoken with the property owner next to Chad Bailey in response to Chad’s suggestion for a dry dam in the area.  The owner might be interested in selling but he threw out a large number to start with.

OLD BUSINESS

Rec Center Update- Manager Kroeger noted that he had received a quote from Midwestern Engineers for $4,000.00 to review, inspect, and design a “fix” for the Rec Center.  He was advised to get some more bids.  Jim Hicks made a motion to request more bids and then award the work to the lowest bidder, not to exceed $4,000.00 by the August meeting.  Jeff Stillman seconded the motion which passed unanimously.

Dam Inspection Update- Manager Kroeger advised the Board that he had received the 2008 dam inspection report from Commonwealth Engineers.  He had made copies for the Directors of the evaluation pages for review. He noted that there was nothing dramatically different from the 2006 report.  The Board would be kept abreast of work being done by the Infrastructure Committee.  There was some discussion regarding the responsibility for the emergency spillway and the tower.

Boring/Coring Update- Manager Kroeger reported that he had received the road boring report from Alt/Witzig.  It was a fairly lengthy report that he had but skimmed at the time.  He had not seen during the initial review that Alt/Witzig had made a suggestion on weight restrictions for our roads.  This was a primary goal of the report.  He said he would check further into this.  He was requested to send the report to all the Directors.

Tasman Suit Update- Manager Kroeger reported that he had received a judgement from the Court requiring Tasman LLC to clean up the properties in question and to reimburse the Association for legal expenses pertaining to the suit.  President Vogel suggested that Manager Kroeger call the attorney and ask if there was something we could do to clean up the properties immediately.

NEW BUSINESS

2008 Yard Sale- There was discussion about the yard sale and some of the concerns involved with holding it.  These concerns included people that came in early, time of sale,
traffic, license plate numbers, and the date of the sale.  After this discussion Lee Powell moved to hold a CLV Yard Sale in 2008.  The motion was seconded by Jim Hicks and unanimously approved.  After further discussion Jim Davidson moved to hold the Yard Sale on August the 16th, 2008.  (Due to a date conflict the date of the Yard Sale has been changed to August 23rd.  The times will remain the same.  An official vote to cover the change will be made at the August Board meeting.)   Jim Hicks seconded the motion which was approved on a 6-2 vote with Angela Vanover and Jeff Stillman casting the “no” votes.  Jeff Stillman then moved to open the CLV gates for the sale at 7:00 AM.  The motion passed unanimously after a second by Jim Hicks.

Committee Assignments- President Vogel reviewed the standing committees and the openings available.  Most of the empty positions were filled.

Sleigh Bell Ditch Drainage- Manager Kroeger explained the situation with standing water and tall reeds/cattails growing in this ditch.  Jim Davidson expressed deep concern about the Association accepting responsibility for issues on private property.  After some discussion Lee Powell made a motion directing Manager Kroeger to identify whether or not the ditch is actually on property belonging to the Association, and whether or not it is an Association responsibility.  The motion was seconded by Gene Allen and passed unanimously.

Open House- President Vogel explained that occasionally there is an issue when Open House Sunday falls on a Holiday.  Jim Davidson made a motion to ask the local realtors
to devise and submit a proposed annual open house calendar at the beginning of each year to be approved by the Board.  The motion was seconded by Jim Hicks.  Jeff Stillman noted that he liked the idea of the same day all the time in order to avoid confusion.  The motion passed unanimously.

Trash Pick Up- President Vogel noted that there are currently 2 major trash pick up companies and a few smaller ones removing residential refuse from the Village.  This causes undue road wear, trash cans at the road side for several days a week and other concerns for Village infrastructure and aesthetics. A 3 year contract with a single provider was suggested.  President Vogel, Manager Kroeger, and Lee Powell were to write the specifications of a request for bid to submit at the August Board meeting.  After discussion of some items that should be included in the specifications, Jeff Stillman made a motion to invite Hoosier and Veolia to the August meeting a review bids with the intent of contracting one trash service.  Jim Davidson seconded the motion which passed unanimously.  It was further suggested to put the request for bid in the newspaper.

COMMITTEE REPORTS
Business Planning-Chair Jim Davidson posed the question of how we could improve our financial situation by 2009.  He did not think we could/should wait until any possible change in Covenants and Restrictions which could take years.  He opines that we need approximately $100,000.00 per year in additional income and that the brunt of this should be borne by the homeowners.  If each home were assessed $120.00/year for 5 years in a special assessment then we would realize $104,000.00 in additional income annually. The special assessment could end when a new set of Covenants & Restrictions addressing income could be passed. He had not been able to think of another approach.  The Board can only propose such an assessment.  It needs to be passed by those affected. After considerable discussion, Lee Powell moved to set a committee to make a formal proposal based on these thoughts to the Board.  Lee was advised that such a proposal would come from the sitting Business Planning Committee and he withdrew his motion.  The committee was charged to make a proposal to the Board.

Infrastructure- None
Nominations-None
Rules & Regulations- None
Personnel- Chair Jeff Stillman advised the Board that one of the lifeguards had resigned.  He noted that he supported the gate guards.
By-Laws-None
Parks & Rec- Manager Kroeger noted that the walking path in Holly Park was complete and ready for use.  He stated that over 300 tons of rock was used in the construction of the path.  We had gone about $1500.00 over the original budget, but there was money in the ’08 budget to make up the difference.  It was noted that some bicycle ruts were already in the new path.
Covenants & Restrictions- Chair Angela Vanover advised the Board that the committee was doing ok working with a new set of proposed Covenants & Restrictions.

There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 9:30 PM.