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, Jim Davidson, Jim Hicks, Rex Stevens, Jeff Stillman,
Angela Vanover, and Don Vogel.  Steve Lee was absent and a director position was open.

MEMBERS FORUM- Pat Winchell was in attendance advising the Board that he thought that the back gate closes too quickly.  He had received a bill from the Association for gate repairs after pulling his boat through the gate.  He suggested that trailers should be allowed through the back gate. He stated that going around to the front gate was extra time, gas, and mileage.

MINUTES- Jeff Stillman moved to accept the minutes as submitted.  Jim Hicks seconded the motion.  Angela Vanover then stated that there was a mistake on the minutes from the 8/21/07 special meeting.  The minutes reflected that she (Angela) had received one of the spiteful letters noted in the minutes. Although her sellers had received a letter, she had not received one specifically by mail. The minutes should be amended to reflect this.  Jim
Davidson moved to accept the minutes as amended.  This was seconded by Rex Stevens and passed unanimously.

TREASURER’S REPORT- Jim Davidson gave the report.  He noted that a CD is scheduled due later this month and that he and Manager Kroeger would be shopping the CD.  He continued on saying that he thought we would be about $11,000.00 extra in income for the year.  There were still some large projects scheduled for the year to be done and suggested that he might ask the Board to move some money around within the budget.

Manager Kroeger gave the delinquent report.  He noted that even though the delinquent amount decreases a little each month we still have more outstanding debt than a year ago at this time.  15% of the delinquent lots have residences on them.  This percentage stays about the same all the time.  20% of the total delinquent amount is from the first subdivision.  8 liens were released in August.  $14,319.00 has been returned to CLV through the collection agency.  No liens have been filed against delinquencies in the first subdivision. 

The financial report was unanimously approved on a motion by Jeff Stillman and a second by Gene Allen.

MANAGER’S REPORT- Manager Kroeger updated the Board on two Town of Santa Claus Council meetings.

Town Board Meeting
Report
8/13/07

At this meeting the Town Council:

• Advised at public hearing that the Town’s budget for 2008 was $1.4 million.  No one spoke at the public hearing.
• Approved 3 sets of minutes
• Heard that day care at the Community Center was doing well with 72 total children enrolled.  Russ Luthy is to assist the Parks  Dept. with the paving of the parking lot.
• Was advised of projects being planned at Yellig Park included 2 more soccer fields, finish the softball ball field, and a shelter house. 
• Decided to wait on granting the 5 acres that was originally set aside for a new fire station to the Parks Dept. until after the new station is built.
• Approved an ordinance allowing the Parks Board to set their own fee schedule at their meetings with approval by the Council.
• Heard that Russ Winkler had taken out a permit for a 4 unit condominium.  Building has been very slow.
• Approved the first reading of an abandoned vehicle ordinance.
• Approved a contract to design/build the new fire station based upon legal review and approval. The area for the facility was to be surveyed and bored.
• Was advised that the Street Department was still awaiting pricing on streetlights and road paving.
• Discussed a drainage proposal for Holiday Village.  The proposal could run in the $37,000.00 range for Town.  There was some legal question making changes to certain drainage areas. 
• Advised the Utilities Department to work with Midwestern Engineers on relocating utilities at two sites along highway 231.
• Approved a probationary salary increase.
• Approved the 2nd reading of a water rationing program to be used in case of water shortage.  There was much discussion regarding this issue. 
• Heard that 3.25” of rain fell in July and that 14.1 million gallons were treated at the sewage plant.
• Approved a change in the summer sewage credit to include August.  Previously only June and July and been effected.
• Agreed to sign a motion to dismiss the Santa LaHill water litigation against the Town on grounds that this does not fall under local jurisdiction.
• Heard from Attorney Patmore that Christmas Lake Village had discussed installing a fence in the area of the leased storage facility.  The Association did not present the high bid.  Other avenues of access were discussed.  Attorney Patmore was to present the situation to the other bidder for review.
• Learned that the county was looking into a commissioners sale of lots.  Ron Smith noted that he had had problems in the past getting title insurance on these lots as the county was not issuing warranty deeds.
• Approved the first reading of a ordinance for revised purchasing rules
• Approved the second reading of a fee schedule
• Approved the first reading of a request to increase the maximum pay rate for two specific positions,
• Approved the salary increase of an office worker, approved a reduction in the 2007 Appropriations,
• Granted CLV approval to place digging equipment on a Town owned lot in Village during the process of replacing a culvert.
• Was reminded that the time will go quickly between now and the 2010 census.

Town of Santa Claus
9/10/07

At the regular monthly meeting, the Town Council:

• Approved 3 sets of meeting minutes as amended.
• Listened to concerns from a group of seniors regarding the Community Center.  It was suggested that the seniors attend the next Park Board meeting.
• Listened to a presentation from an AFLAC representative.  The council asked the rep to return at the October meeting with further information.
• Tabled ordinance 2007-12 Fee Schedule until the October meeting
• Heard that building inspections had been slow again with 17 inspections and a new garage permit.
• Learned that the police department is still awaiting the new police car.
• Approved Ordinance 2007-05  Abandoned, Inoperable and Unlicensed Vehicles
• Heard that the topological survey at the location of the new firehouse had been done, but not the exact boundaries, nor the footprint of the building.  Drainage to the Community Center parking lot is of note.
• Was advised that the fire department’s  2 pumper trucks would receive their annual test at Christmas Lake within a week or so.
• Heard that Vectren has the new street light location list though they have not yet sent prices.  Road repair quotes are not yet ready.  They were also advised that engineering fees to develop a drainage plan and assist with permits for a part of Holiday Village would run about $6000.00.  There was some discussion on how best to handle the water.
• Larry Stillwell and Indiana University were working on a mitigation plan pertaining to the archeological situation of the water project.  A memorandum with pricing was due by week’s end.  Russ Luthy was to set an alignment plan for the new water pipe.
• Heard that Russ Luthy and Dan Grindstaff were scheduled to take an operator test.
• Heard that the water department had new requirements for a report connected with flouridated water.
• Learned the Russ Luthy was researching a check valve for use on private water towers.
• Approved to pay all of the Quality Craft bill for services rendered other than the retention amount until the punch list was complete.
• Approved ordinance 2007-10 Ordinance Revising Purchasing Rules and Policies.
• Approved the lease of the storage area west of CLV to Flint Hill storage.
• Decided to hold a public hearing on 9/24/07 regarding the proposed Rate Ordinance (2007-13).
• Approved a $1,445,442.00 Town budget for 2008.
• Approved an agreement with Keystone software to support the Town’s computers and program for $5750.00.

Manager Kroeger further reported that:

• He and President Vogel had met with Tom Shelton and Attorney Patmore regarding the storage space lease.  The expectations were reasonable at the meeting and the lease indicated that the “members” were the users of the storage facility.  The price was not to be raised an excessive amount.  The lease could be terminated with notice.
• He had researched grass carp as a possible solution to some of our lake weed problems as had been requested at the August meeting.  He found that grass carp are not a cure-all for aquatic vegetation control, grass carp can adversely effect the game fish population, it sometimes takes years to effect changes in aquatic growth and that we would need approximately 900 fish at around $13.00 each to get started.  This said, the idea of grass carp was shelved.  He further noted that a newspaper article regarding certain types of algae reported that only colder temperatures, and significant amounts of rain can quickly change lake conditions.  The algae thrives on grass clippings, leaves, and phosphorus fertilizers.  These are conditions that we also face in our lakes.  We are fertilizing the weeds on one hand and trying to kill them with the other.
• Magician Bob Ahlemeier will bring his Magic With Style show to Holly Park on Thursday September 27th at 6:00 PM.  He noted this was a very good show last year and encouraged people to attend.
• He had contacted Bernardin-Lochmueller & Associates of Evansville for a price to inspect the tower in Christmas Lake and provide a full report of the condition of the tower and provide repair/rehabilitation solutions as might be necessary.  This also included an inspection team, with divers and underwater photography capabilities, inspection of the culvert and visual inspection of the tower’s interior.  The cost is $7620.00.  The issue was turned over to the Infrastructure committee.

OLD BUSINESS-
            Building Guidelines- Rules and Regulations chair Jim Hicks asked to table the building guidelines for a month based on following up with the County regarding their new drainage program.

            Covenants and Restrictions Committee Update- President Vogel explained that the initial meeting of a committee to look into a revised set of Covenants & Restrictions had met on September 6th.  Interested persons attending the meeting were Directors Jim Hicks, and Rex Stevens who had volunteered for the committee at a recent Board meeting.  Also attending were Gene Sams, Gene Michel, Leo Boeglin, Bob Kleeman, and Judy Carrell.  Kara Hinshaw, Larry Hess, and Kelly Greulich had also expressed interest but had been unable to attend the meeting.  Manager Kroeger and President Vogel moderated the meeting.  Jeff Stillman moved to accept the 10 names for the committee.  The motion was seconded by Gene Allen.  At this time, Angela Vanover noted that she had previously expressed interest in serving on this committee.  After some discussion, Jeff Stillman amended his motion to include Angela on the committee.  The motion was seconded by Jim Davidson and passed unanimously. 

NEW BUSINESS
            CLV Purchase of County Lots- President Vogel reported that approximately 30 of some 65 lots county lots were sold at Commissioner’s sale in 2006.  Currently, neither the Town of Santa Claus, the County, nor the Association are receiving any money from the remaining lots.  He then read the following draft of a  proposal:

Proposal to the County Commissioners
Re: Christmas Lake Village purchase of County Owned lots in CLV

Christmas Lake Village desires to purchase county owned lots of its own choice from the lot pool at a 2nd commissioner’s sale.  We will bid on lots that do not appear to be otherwise sold at the latest opportunity to do so. We do not expect to bid on lots at a tax sale or first commissioner’s sale.  We ask that the 2nd commissioner’s sale be held as soon after the first as legally and reasonably possible.  We request the county to reassess the value of the lots and to tax them accordingly to the Association.

The Association will make diligent effort to sell the lots. Upon sale, we request that the county assess the sold lots again to current market value.  The Association will notify the county of such sales.

Additionally, the Association has decided to accept lots from members who wish to deed them back.  We would ask the county to assess these lots as we receive them.  Once again, upon a sale of such lot, we would request a reassessment to the new owner.

The Association will also pay the Vacant Lot Sewer Fee to the Town of Santa Claus.

During discussion it was noted that 19 of the lots were easily build-able, that we could offer attractive commissions to sellers, that a commission may be divided is as many as 4 ways, that we should offer the lots a few at a time and not flood the market, that some lots may sell as “fishing lots”, that we should offer $100.00/lot at a second commissioner’s sale, that we should try this one time. 

            CLV Return Lots- President Vogel noted that it is not unusual for property owners to ask to return lots to the Association.  Often these lots have been received through an inheritance and the receiving party has no interest in the lots and they are simply ignored/abandoned.  He then proposed that we should have the option of accepting these lots if we think we can sell them as long as they are clear of liens, taxes etc.  It was noted that we should do a title search on these lots as well.  The lots would go into the “lot pool” along with the County lots.

Jim Hicks then moved that we should proceed to the next step with the county and see what we come up with regarding commissioner’s sales.  Rex Stevens seconded the motion.  After some additional discussion the motion passed with 5 yes votes, and one no vote from Jeff Stillman.

            Back Gate- Will be discussed during Committee Reports.

COMMITTEE REPORTS
            Business Planning- Chair Jim Davidson reported that research and planning had taken place for the 2008 budget and that a draft for the Board should be ready by the October meeting.

            Infrastructure- Chair Rex Stevens recapped a recent committee.

• No action on the Kasper gate would be taken in 2008
• Discussed operation and possible repairs to the existing gates.  Possible installation of “tire shredders” at back exit gate
• Manager Kroeger will be meeting with a road paving representative early next week.
• Discussed walking paths at Holly Park, Christmas Lake Dam, Front entry to highway, North Melchior, South Melchior, and Chimes Lane
• Dam inspections of 2008
• Drainage and standing water problem near Balthazar and Sleigh Bell.
• Dock repair/replacement schedule
• 2008 culvert work
• Equipment replacement (truck/tractor/snowplow)  it was suggested to look into purchasing the lease on the ZTR mower early.
• Beach erosion

Jeff Stillman made a motion to begin work on a walking path around the perimeter of Holly Park.  Angela Vanover questioned the privacy of the people who lived in the homes adjacent the park.  Jim Hicks seconded the motion.  After additional discussion, Jeff Stillman moved to table the vote until the October meeting in order for interested parties to attend the meeting.  The motion was seconded by Jim Hicks.  Manager Kroeger was to make sure that this item was posted on the October agenda.

Rules & Regulations- Chair Jim Hicks noted that the Building Guidelines had been tabled earlier in the meeting.  He further reported that the renter’s rules were awaiting legal review.  He passed out a copy of the updated Back Gate rules saying that the rules had been cleaned up and brought up to date but that there were no major changes.  He asked that the Board approve the rules.  The new back gate rules were unanimously approved on a motion by Gene Allen and a second by Jeff Stillman. 

Personnel Committee- Chair Jeff Stillman noted that Manager Kroeger’s review would be held the next day, and that he would be assembling the Board feedback for this right away.  The review would be the last for 2007.  He also noted that he was interested in changing the format of the review process.

Holly Park- Other than what had been discussed during the Infrastructure report, Chair Rex Stevens remarked that he thought the play area at the Rec Center needed a name.

Nominating Committee- There were 3 candidates to fill Steve Webb’s seat on the Board.
Rob Collins, Gene Sams, and Elaine Webb each had an opportunity to tell a little about themselves and answer questions from the Board.  After each candidate spoke, the Board adjourned to a corner of the room for private discussion.  Upon return, the Directors cast individual ballots which showed that Gene Sams had 4 votes, Rob Collins had 2 votes, and Elaine Webb had one vote.  Gene Sams was named as the replacement Director.

The meeting adjourned at 8:10 on a motion by Jeff Stillman and a second be Gene Allen.