March 14, 2017

MINUTES
SIERRA LOS PINOS PROPERTY OWNERS’ ASSOCIATION (SLPPOA)
BOARD MEETING
March 14, 2017

1. CALL TO ORDER: President, Ms. Judy Kilburg called the meeting of the Sierra Los Pinos Property Owners’ Association to order at 7:15 p.m. at the SLP Fire Station.

2. ROLL CALL: (P-Present, E-excused, A-Absent without notification)

GUESTS: Mr. Stan Bennett and Ms. Susan Star

3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Ms. Kilburg sent out an updated agenda this morning that moved a couple of items from new business to old business. Ms. Otero made a motion to approve the March 14, 2017 Agenda. Ms. Fredlund seconded the motion. There were no oppositions.

4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: Ms. Kilburg asked if everyone was ok with the third draft of the minutes. Mr. Vergamini stated that he didn’t get a copy of the minutes and Ms. Kilburg said she will check his email address to make sure it was ok. She asked if he wanted to take a look at the minutes. He took a few minutes to review them and said they were ok. Mr. Vergamini make a motion to approve the third draft of the minutes and Mr. Veverka seconded the motion. There were no oppositions.

5. OFFICER REPORTS:
a. President – No Report, Ms. Kilburg stated that she didn’t have anything to discuss over and above what is on the agenda.
b. Vice President – No report.
c. Secretary/Treasurer: Ms. Otero provided the following Monthly Report:

The balance in accounts as of February 28, 2017 is as follows:
Operating Account: $152,132.77
Reserve Account: $ 83,745.59
Special Assessment Account: $5,218.29

Past due accounts:
We received an escrow check in the amount of $2,340.77 for one of the past due accounts.
Now there are four past due accounts which total $8,690.48.
Of these four, two are considered uncollectible in the amount of $8,262.25.
The other two are collectible in the amount of $428.23. Of these two collectible accounts, one member owes only late interest and the other is making payments.

Legal costs for the lawsuit remain at $33,076.37.

The CPA was given the go ahead to proceed with the tax preparation. The CPA will be charging us $250.00.

We received the estimated fee for the audit. It came in at $3,000 which is what we paid for the last audit. We will need a Board vote on this which will be done later in the meeting.

Ms. Kilburg said that the financial report includes the cumulative costs to date. It shows the costs for February and then the total for the year. Mr. Veverka said he missed the information Ms. Kilburg’s report used to provide that would show the annual budget and remaining budget in each category as well. Ms. Kilburg explained that it does show the annual budget by category and she has asked HOAMCO to provide a column that also shows the percentage of budget spend per category. We have not heard back from HOAMCO regarding this request. We hope to see it in the March report.

Ms. Kilburg also explained the transfer between funds on page 6 of the report. When we budget something for the year HOAMCO divides that amount by twelve months. We had initially set it up where we will maintain the reserve account but communication was lost between the person Ms. Kilburg talked with regarding the transition and the people that actually perform the work and consequently, HOAMCO set up a reserve account. Ms. Kilburg talked with HOAMCO and rather than using a separate reserve account with HOAMCO, HOAMCO will instead issue us a check from the operating account which we will deposit in our LANB Reserve account.

6. STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS:
a. Water
i. Water Maintenance – Mr. Veverka said it’s been very quiet, no new leaks or sudden surprises. He would like to address in the New Business section what he hopes to accomplish this year and he would like to start on May 1st.

ii. Water Compliance – Mr. Corn provided the following report February 2017 Water Compliance-Meter Report
Water System Coliform/Microbiological Reports:
System 1 sample, 2/11/17
Total Coliform - Absent
Total E. Coli - Absent
Disinfected, Residual 0.26 mg/l (241 Trilobite)
System 2 sample, 2/11/17
Total Coliform - Absent
Total E. Coli - Absent
Disinfected, Residual 0.12 mg/l (1223 Los Griegos)
Water System Non-Compliance:
We received a certified letter from the DWB that the SLPPOA water system did not complete the monitoring requirements for lead and copper in tap water during the 2013 to 2016 years.
I have posted the notice of non-compliance/planned action on:
Fire Dept Door
SLPPOA Website
Filed certification of the above actions with NMED DWB on 3/12/2017.
NMED DWB, Rosalie Robinson, acknowledged the certification via email on 3/13/2017.
Water System Misc:
Noted a System 2 member (part time) was using an excessive amount of water plus displayed a leak flag. No email on record for this member. A phone call was initiated informing the owner. The out of town member followed up and informed us there is a leak. The water has been turned off at the meter. The member was informed of local contractors that could assist with the repair.
Water Usage: (Meters were read on March 1, 2017 by Mark Stanley & Peter Veverka
System 1
Wells Pumped 681,426 (721,337) gals, (a little less than last month’s data)
Leakage Rate = 10.8 (11.4) gpm
Leak Flags Identified = 14 (15)
Users > 10,000 gals = 2 (1)

System 2
Well Pumped 174,310 (150,771) gals, (up a little from last month's data)
Leakage Rate = 0.8 (0.8) gpm
Leak Flags Identified = 8 (7)
Users > 10,000 gals = 3 (2)

Leak flag email notices (20 of 23), via a new Google Group, have gone out for February 2017 with suggestions as where to look for leaks.

b. Roads – Mr. Vergamini reported no changes from what was reported for February. We’ve expended about half of our snow removal budget, approximately 33 hours. Ms. Kilburg asked about the cinders. Mr. Vergamini said that when he last spoke to the contractor they had not yet received the check. Mr. Vergamini asked when it was sent and Ms. Otero said it was sent last Monday. Mr. Veverka asked where they will place the cinders. Ms. Kilburg said there is the big county pile of cinders but there are other small piles around. Mr. Veverka said we need to place them where we can differentiate our cinders from the county’s pile. Ms. Kilburg asked if we will need to tarp the cinder pile. Mr. Veverka said the temperatures should be warming up. Mr. Vergamini asked the contractor to hold the truck until we decide where the cinders should go. Several locations were discussed. Mr. Corn said Ms. Kilburg suggested a survey so we can get the property lines straightened out.

c. Legal – Mr. Fredlund email to Hays Law about water surcharge, tree house, and PI policy was sent on 12/15/16. Treehouse question is now moot, but I think Covenant 4 makes treehouses not allowed because they don’t have a ground floor. Water surcharge response positive, but not overly helpful.
From Brad Hayes: “I am slowing down my practice a bit.  Cari is no longer with me.  She has been transitioning out for about 6 months while she looked for a comparable job.  This will not affect your representation.”
Star’s Appeal:  I haven't seen any email traffic that the Court has placed the matter on a Calendar. SLPPOA does not have to file anything until the Court does that.
The Court awarded judgment for costs in the amount of $1,857.00 against the Star Plaintiffs, jointly and severally. The plaintiffs argued that since costs were not awarded by the original judgment, these costs for the “reconsider” round are not allowed either. This will be heard in court May 23 at 10:30.
Delinquent account status - Lorraine reported that we got the big one paid up.
d. Firewise – Ms. Fredlund reported the following notes from Ron Gallegos:
FS has completed prescribed burn west of Gilman after allowing folks to gather downed fire wood. 
FS will be taking down snags along Hwy 4 up to Valles Caldera this summer. 
Mark your calendars! The annual Emergency Preparedness Fire Wise meeting will be held at the Mountain Baptist Church in La Cueva on April 29th from 9-12. They will bring the sandbox. As soon as Ms. Fredlund gets the flyer she will have it posted on the website.

e. Parks – Mr. Otero had no actions to report this month.
f. Architectural – Mr. Otero had no actions to report this month.

7. OLD BUSINESS:
a. Reserve Study Status – Ms. Kilburg asked if we’ve received an invoice. We have not. Mr. Corn said he has not heard from the company. He said that a copy of the Reserve Study was provided to Mr. Joe Brophy and he returned to Mr. Corn but they did not have a chance to discuss. Mr. Brophy did not have any major comments. Mr. Corn asked if Mr. Stan Bennett had an opportunity to review it. Mr. Bennett said he thought everything was right on. Mr. Corn said it is a good general purpose survey and the study states it should be repeated every 3 years or so as things change. Mr. Corn said it’s good to go and he recommends if we get the bill we should pay it. Ms. Kilburg said HOAMCO will need a copy of the Reserve Study for our account as well. Overall the report cites that in general, the reserve funds are sufficient but an increase in contributions is recommended to meet future expenses.

Mr. Veverka asked what is the purpose of having excess operating money if we can’t use it for emergencies. Ms. Kilburg said once we have the annual assessment dollars in we can take a look at the budget and determine how much money can be moved from the operating account to the reserve account. Ms. Kilburg will make a note to make this a New Business item for discussion next month.

b. Audit – Ms. Kilburg reported that a different CPA, Thad Porch will be performing the audit for 2016 books. The CPA will charge us $3,000. Ms. Kilburg asked if he could reduce his price. The CPA said he was already giving us a discount as first year audits run about $4,000. Ms. Kilburg said we need to vote on proceeding with the audit which is expected to be $3,000 plus tax. Mr. Veverka motioned to accept the cost of $3,000 to have the CPA provide us an audit for 2016. Mr. Otero seconded the motion. There were no oppositions.

c. Tax Preparation - Ms. Kilburg said the go ahead was given for the Corporate tax preparation. It is the same CPA that is doing our audit.

d. Google Drive/Docs – Mr. Fredlund looked into the cost of space on Google Drive. He said it will be about $20/year for 100 gigabytes which is a lot of space and should be sufficient for our needs. The only downside is if we don’t keep a copy on our Board computer and we stop using Google we won’t have access to the space and those documents. We can get around that by having it automatically synchronized with the Board laptop. Mr. Fredlund previously described how to give access to certain individuals. The way it works is as long as someone has Google mail they can use the applications. Permission or non-permission (sharing) of various folders can be controlled for reading or editing rights. Mr. Fredlund provided a brief demonstration. Mr. Corn said a good candidate would be the financial statements because they such large files. Everyone could access the reports on Google rather than sending the email with large attachments. Mr. Fredlund can set up a folder for each Board member’s responsibilities. He can go ahead and set it up without paying anything for now and when we’re ready or need more data we can purchase the 100 gigabytes. He recommends that we use Google docs in lieu of using Word and Excel documents. He asked for suggestions for the screen name such as SLPPOA Board.gmail.com which everyone agreed.

e. HOAMCO – Ms. Kilburg reported that we’re still working out the bugs with the transition. We worked with them on how to calculate the late interest. She also spoke with the Director of Account Services yesterday and he understands and was going to relay the information to everyone.

f. Proposed Senate Bill 244 – Ms. Kilburg stated the Senate made some changes to the Bill and it was approved by the Senate with those changes. Ms. Kilburg sent the Supplemental Bill out to the Board. Mr. Corn said it went to the House and then it goes to the Veterans Affairs Committee. Ms. Kilburg said they took out a few items but there are still some things that will be difficult to accomplish. The 10-day turnaround time for providing documents is still there and doesn’t take into account any variables such as holidays. This is difficult because some Board members are still working and we all have lives. The Boards are typically volunteer organizations. If this Bill gets approved, what you’re going to find is that more and more HOA Boards are going to turn over these functions to management companies and everyone’s assessment cost will be going up substantially to cover the added costs. We need to write more letters and let the House Committee know the impact of these changes as soon as possible since the current session ends Saturday at noon.

g. Ashley Lane Gate – Ms. Kilburg said the judgement states that SLPPOA members and their guests can use the gate. They have to stay on the road and be respectful. If the owner decides to lock the gate he has to provide SLPPOA the combination/key. Mr. Corn recommended that we get a summary to distribute to the member that was inquiring. Ms. Kilburg said we could scan the judgement and put it on the website to include a map with the property lines identified.

Ms. Fredlund also wanted to mention that Mr. Crane needs to be contacted to see if he’s going to do the roads next year since he’s now working in Los Alamos. If he’s not we need to start looking for someone else to do the roads. Mr. Vergamini said he will take the action to contact Mr. Crane to see what his intentions are.

Mr. Vergamini said regarding the cinder pile placement he will try to set something up so that he, Mr. Corn and Ms. Kilburg can determine where the best place for it.

8. ACTION ITEMS
a. Residential water leak flags – Mr. Corn is sending those out. He did skip one month and he may need phone numbers for the three members that we don’t have an email address.

b. Excess usage policy (surcharge/meeting) – Mr. Corn said that is a future topic. The lawyer suggested we cover excess use under a special assessment to apply only if you go over. It’s a delicate issue. Ms. Fredlund said we need to educate people as to why we’re doing this, what the need is, what the State need is and where you can get xeriscaping ideas.

c. Draft policies – Ms. Kilburg Protection of Member Information (Need to Know); No Lien - suggested tabling these policies until the outcome of the proposed Senate Bill 244 is known. She said on the No- Lien we’ve been operating without a formal policy but we are fine according to our attorney. The other one we just need to wait on the results of the Bill. Mr. Fredlund suggested we go ahead and vote to accept the Protection of Member Information as a lot of work has gone into crafting and revising it. Ms. Kilburg said she hasn’t received any further comments so Mr. Fredlund made a motion to accept the Protection of Member Information (Need to Know) policy. Ms. Otero seconded the motion. There were no oppositions. Ms. Kilburg will get it printed out and sign it. She asked that the Board look at the other remaining policy and provide comment if any.

9. NEW BUSINESS:
a. Meter Can Installation on Vacant Lots – In the meter can proposal it talks about ability to opt out and when someone wants to develop their land they would pay the special assessment installation cost plus a connection fee, but nothing was ever detailed. Mr. Veverka asked how many vacant lots are without meters. Mr. Corn thought it was about 8-10. Mr. Veverka said it might be an idea for SLPPOA to put them in now that it’s cheaper and we could fix the cost for someone that wants to develop the property in the future rather than paying a higher cost later. The Special Assessment cost for a meter can assembly was $1,686 3-6 years ago. Mr. Otero said there are some lots that aren’t buildable and we might not recoup our costs on those lots. Mr. Corn asked if a person could sell their lot and not have to put the meter in. Discussion ensued and it was said that yes as long as it’s disclosed and the buyer is told they would be required to bear the cost of installing the meter can. Mr. Stan Bennett stated that a way to manage this situation is to relay that it must meet SLPPOA water installation standards and then disclose those standards rather than identifying a cost. Mr. Corn then said the standard would be that SLPPOA install the meter can assembly.

b. Water Accomplishments for 2017 - Mr. Veverka stated that Unit 1 and Unit 3 are doing well. Unit 2, Mimbres Way up to the Farquhar’s property needs work. We have the most leakage there right now. We now have the ability to check for leakage. We can get together with Mark and a few volunteers to do a flow test and leakage rate from San Juan to the Farquhar’s. We could possibly have a large leak coming from the Farquhar’s driveway to Aspen Grove. We are showing 5-6 gallons a minute on Mimbres. We can isolate at least two 1,000 foot sections with the greatest leak rate. If we start May 1st we could possibly do three 1,000 foot sections because we could start May 1st, then July 1st and then September 1st. It’s never taken us more than one week to a week and a half to perform each 1,000 foot section. We need to replace two isolation valves one at Brian’s and one at the corner of Ashley Lane and Mimbres. If we could do these it would make a big difference. We want to work the areas where we know we have big leaks. Mr. Veverka would like to start testing in April. Ms. Kilburg said it sounded like a good plan.

10. NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, April 11, 2017, 7:15 p.m.

12. ADJOURN: The meeting adjourned at 8:59 p.m.

13. EXECUTIVE SESSION:

Lawsuit

Meeting commenced at 9:01 p.m. and adjourned at 9:37 p.m.

Submitted by: Lorraine Otero