July 21, 2015

SIERRA LOS PINOS PROPERTY OWNERS’ ASSOCIATION BOARD MEETING
July 21, 2015

Board Members Present: Stan Bennett, Peter Veverka, Judy Kilburg, Katie Ballman, Eleni Fredlund, Joe Brophy, and Jack Nyhan. Board Members Absent: Scott Downing and Max Otero.
Guests Present: Mike, Timo and Eagle Schacht; Suzanne Star; Mary Moore; Sabine Shurter; and Barbara VanRuyckvelt.
Meeting was called to order by President Stan Bennett at 7:17 P.M.
Mr. Veverka made the motion to approve the agenda. Mr. Brophy seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Nyhan made the motion to accept the minutes from the June 16, 2015 meeting. Ms. Fredlund seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.

OFFICER AND COMMITTEE REPORTS
Treasurer
Ms. Kilburg handed out the Budget and Expenditures report, which included the P&Ls and Balance Sheets.
Ms. Kilburg reported the following account balances:
Balance in Bank Accounts:
Operating Account: $120,854.57
Reserve Account: $65,905.08
Special Assessment Account: $27,991.84
Regarding past due accounts, Uncollectable is now at three properties totaling $9,411.65. Collection is possible on three properties, of which two are making payments and the third is being handled by the attorney. The total amount collectable is: $4,537.15, of which the split is:
Operating Account: $1,502.66
Special Assessment Account: $3,034.49
The water conservation fee was paid and came to $213.69. Gallons pumped was 7,123,121 for the first six months of the year.
Two requests for disclosure documents were received – one for a property on Trilobite and one on Aspen Grove. The closing dates are pending.

Water Maintenance
Mr. Veverka reported that there was a problem with System one not pumping water. Mr. Corn identified the problem as the contact for the ISSACS system. They were able to replace the contactor. The only resource for the part was in Santa Fe.

The System 2 level-con is not working. Mr. Corn installed a new battery in the levelcon, and it has been working since. Mr. Brophy will speak with Mr. Corn regarding the level-con situation.

Meter Cans
Mr. Veverka reported that the overrun on the meters was forecasted and known from the very beginning. Software was purchased, parts cost more than estimated and labor was also higher than estimated. Numerous leaks were found and they found areas where joints weren’t glued and/or connected. The leak rate has been reduced by 14,000 – 15,000 gallons.

Ms. Kilburg reported that she and Mr. Corn have carefully reviewed all the financials for the special assessment. There were eight (8) vacant lot owners who opted out of having a meter installed, so the total amount budgeted for the special assessment was $247,842.00. Beginning with the pilot installations in 2012 through completion of the project, the total cost was $274,275.70, of which $61,479.64 was borrowed from the operating account. The total project
overrun came to $26,433.70. Although there is currently a balance in the special assessment account, this and money yet to be collected is NOT CARRYOVER, but is money that should be paid back to the operating account.
Complements to those who worked on getting this project completed.

Water Compliance
Mr. Nyhan reported that the system had it annual test for trihalomethane by product and normal sampling was completed on June 12 th . The Consumer Confidence Report was approved by the State. We have a new compliance officer at the State.

Firewise
Mr. Bennett had a safety share that the La Cueva Fire Department needs to be notified if you’re going to burn piles. Ms. Fredlund added that now that it’s so wet, more people are burning and the Fire Department gets called out.

Roads
In Mr. Downing’s absence, Mr. Bennett reported that there were mechanical issues that delayed road work and they are waiting for a break in the rains. The piles of recycled asphalt at the highway are for SLP.

Legal
Mr. Brophy reported that the legal budget is overspent by nearly $2800.00. We’ve received great services for aging report reduction and the other part is due to the law suit. After consultation with our attorney, he states that “the Board has met all of the requirements for financial inspection found in the Bylaws or the Homeowner Act and that fact will be upheld in this Court action. The Board is forced to defend the Court action regardless of how frivolous the claims may be.”

Mr. Brophy reported that the flood insurance claim is in progress and is now between the insurance company and the contractor.

Ms. Kilburg added that regarding the overrun on legal, again we are $2800 over budget and as of the last invoice from the attorney, the law suit has cost the members of this association $6,104.00 and continues to grow.

Community Relations
Mr. Nyhan reported that he is being asked a lot of questions by neighbors regarding the law suit. One neighbor was so upset that he threatened a law suit against everyone involved.

Parks & Architectural
In Mr. Otero’s absence, Mr. Bennett reported that both parks were mowed again at the end of June. It was noted that Mr. Kilburg mowed and trimmed around the fire station. The request for home improvement approval package submitted by the resident in Unit 1 was reviewed and approval was provided. A request for information was received for building a garage addition with potential mother-in-law quarters. This is currently under review.

ACTION ITEMS
* PNC Mortgage Contact – Mr. Veverka reported that he has tried making contact. He is considering putting up yellow warning tape, taking pictures and sending to the realty company so they can see the hazard.
* Meter Can Spares – Mr. Veverka reported that at this point there is no need to spend money for a second reader. We could possibly borrow the reader from Jemez Springs as a back-up. We should stock up on fittings. We have a maintenance agreement in place, but maybe have a spare meter on hand.
ACTION: Mr. Veverka will talk to Baker Utility to see if we need meters or just spare parts and if they can rebuild a meter if it fails and what the cost would be.

IT/Website Update
Mr. Schacht gave a presentation on the changes he has made to the website. Members are encouraged to request new user accounts. When a user account is requested, Mr. Schacht will verify with Ms. Kilburg that the requestor is indeed a property owner. Mr. Schacht presented the water data that is now available on the web. When a member has their own user account, they can then see details of their own water data. Everyone will still be able to look up full water data for the entire association without names. It was noted that there was a large spike in usage during June and July last year. The Board is aware of this and a resident was using excessive amounts of water.

There are plans to bring the leak detection company back. We know there are two-three leaks. There is one section of line that still needs to be checked. There will be one day that everyone’s water will be shut off while leak detection tests are performed. This will be pre-announced and will be sometime next month. Volunteers are needed for this effort. System 2 is believed to be pretty tight.
ACTION: All Board members to get webpage accounts.

Mr. Schacht stated that the helpful handyman information that is being sent out by Mr. Studebaker is being added to the Bulletin Board. He would also like to see more businesses added. Anyone can add to the Bulletin Board and you can endorse people as well.

ACTION ITEMS (CON’T)
* Vegetation Posting – Mr. Nyhan reported that this is complete.
ACTION: Information from the Forest Service on thinning is needed.
* Freezer Disposition – Action on hold for conflict resolution. Mr. Bennett is trying to make contact with UPS to inform them to drop off packages at Amanda’s Store in winter.
* Aspen Well House – Mr. Brophy reported that the foundation needs to be repaired and the old well needs to be plugged. The compliance person will assist.
* Marked Trees – Ms. Fredlund stated she looked at the area. She’s tried to contact Mr. Lerke and hasn’t heard back. A member has also sent them a letter.
ACTION: Ms. Fredlund will follow up.
* Tree Trimming – Ms. Fredlund reported that she has looked at the documents and she will summarize into one page and will try to locate the formula. Requirements have changed since SLP documents were written. Mr. Schacht noted that if we look at a satellite picture of the area it’s easy to tell where SLP is because vegetation is too dense.

OLD BUSINESS
* HOA Management Company – Mr. Bennett reported that the Board is researching what they can do for us. The Board will meet with the management companies first and then a public meeting with the membership will be held when we have something to move out on.
* Posting to List Server – Comments posted to the list server that are of personal opinion should not be posted to the listserver It is for official notifications from the Forest Service, Fire Department, local police, outages, etc. Individuals should not be directly posting. Serious concerns were brought up with the recent posting as this posting looked like it was endorsed by the Board. We don’t want to miss important opportunities, but we can’t have everyone sending items for posting. Anyone can create an account on the webpage and post to the web.
ACTION: After some discussion it was decided that the Board should meet with Mr. Studebaker and come up with a formalized process for posting to the listserver.
* Audit – Mr. Veverka made the motion to accept the audit contract. Ms. Fredlund seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS
* Nominating Committee – Mr. Nyhan reported that to date, there are no new volunteers to run for the Board positions.
* Cost Sharing – Ms. Moore presented a cost sharing proposal where the Board sets aside an amount of money to assist homeowners is repair leaks on their personal property. Mr. Veverka stated that we need to fix our water system first. We are planning on bringing the leak detection company back and they have already agreed to give a discount to homeowners to perform leak detection services on their property. The cost for one house is $550, but they will do it for $350/hr., but Mr. Veverka will talk to them about cutting the cost even further. Ms. Moore believes there is money “just sitting” from previous years’ carryover. It was stated to Ms. Moore that we don’t want to deplete our funds in case we have a major repair or it would require a special assessment. A Board member suggested that now that all meters have been installed, the Board could send notices to everyone who has a leak, as residents may not be looking at the water data on the web. After much discussion, it was suggested that we get updated data from the leak detection
company and possibly set up a separate committee and/or make this a community project. We’re already offering everyone a $200 grant to everyone. Ms. Moore was asked to work towards a more solid idea to present at the annual meeting.

Executive Session
The Board moved into executive session at 9:07 p.m.

Delinquent accounts were discussed. Since there are only three lots delinquent and two are on a payment plan and have increased their payments, it was determined that Mr. Brophy will follow up with the attorney on the one remaining delinquency. There is no new information on the uncollectible accounts.
The Board discussed the pending lawsuit.

ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 9:44 p.m.