MINUTES
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
October 16, 2008
1. CALL TO ORDER
A. Introductions/Roll Call/Absences
At 7:06 p.m., President Maureen Shul called the meeting to order with a quorum of the Board present.
Directors Present: Maureen Shul, Anna Mallinson, Jennifer Havercroft, Earl Millspaugh and Kim Hoffman.
Directors Absent: David Necker and Rex Lucas.
Delegates Present: Maureen Shul, Jennifer Havercroft, Kim Hoffman, Cheryl McDade, Alison Gibbens, Shirley Beer-Powell, Carol Langley-Finnegan , Joan Millspaugh, Suki Fitzgerald, Michael Henry and Barb Saenger.
Delegates Absent: David Necker, Jade Goldfogel, Lynn Stevens, John Keiley, Laurel Sjodin, Dawn Besocke, Kenneth Heitmann and Richard Anderson.
Staff: Tim Gamble, Carla Kenny, Lane Roberts, Sharon Kollmar, Garry Schaffer and Vickie Hunt
Guests: Neil Preister, Andy Rhodes – Metro District, Lloyd Saenger, Greg Miller, Jeffrey Huff, Pat & Marty Brierley, Janet Rexroat??, Jim Steavpack and Susan Tucker.
B. Board Meeting Process; Homeowner Input Guidelines; Sign in to Speak
Homeowner Input Guidelines were made available to anyone that wished to speak at this meeting.
C. Additions/Deletions/Modifications and Approval of Agenda
Motion by Anna Mallinson to approve the agenda with the deletion of two New Business Items (Adoption of Email Alert Usage Policy and Commission Policy), Seconded by Jennifer Havercroft; Motion Carried and Approved.
2. Staff Reports
A. Communications
2. Website (Tim Gamble)
Tim reported that the website is doing well.
B. Social (Carla Kenny)
Carla reported that the carriage ride event is almost sold out. Vickie asked her if directions would be sent out to the people who purchased rides and Carla said that they would be sent out. Carla also asked Vickie to make sure that everyone knows that they should arrive about 15 minutes before their scheduled ride.
C. Castle Pines Chamber of Commerce (Sharon Kollmar)
Sharon reported that the Chamber is doing well considering the entity was only established June 27, 2008. She announced their second annual meeting and that she would be attending a meeting of Colorado Executives for Chambers of Commerce in Colorado Springs.
Carla added that the Chamber is not self-supporting and will still need the support of the Master Association. She stated that both she and Sharon would be presenting the Board with their 2009 plan for support and budget at a workshop to be scheduled.
3. Open Forum
A. Homeowner Input
Neil Preister a member of IREA Voices presented information regarding his organization. He stated that the organization stands for straight talk and openness in IREA. He listed the principles of the organization as: Voluntary and Open Membership, Democratic Member Control, Members Economic Participation, Autonomy and Independence, Education, Training and Information, Cooperation Among Cooperatives and Concern for Community.
Neil stated that unlike investor owned utilities such as Xcel Energy, IREA is a cooperative association that is not regulated by the Public Utilities Commission. He stated that the member owners act in the place of regulators through a Board of Directors. Neil stated that if the members don’t participate in helping to form the policies and strategies that IREA implements, the members have no voice in the decisions that are made.
Neil explained what the IREA Voices stand for. He explained that they stand for Fiscal Responsibility – Decisions made in the open, not behind closed doors and with due notice to the member-owners. The thing the group stands for is Prudent Planning – Looking at the full range of options, so that the least-cost alternative can be selected – rather than limiting consideration to yesteryear’s technologies. The third thing the group stands for is Renewable Energy – IREA should support renewable energy and use pricing structures that encourage energy efficiency and residential or community based power generation. And finally the group stands for Access to Information – Use of the website to publish Board minutes, policies, agendas and key customer information.
Neil urged everyone to become a member of IREA Voices and to visit their web site at www.IREAVoices.org or email them at IREANews@gmail.com. He also stated that he had brochures for anyone that is interested in the organization’s efforts.
Barb Saenger spoke on behalf of CPN for a Solid Foundation regarding the Board denial to announce a recent meeting held by the group in an email alert. She explained the purpose of the group and requested reconsideration by the Board of their decision.
Shirley Beer-Powell spoke on the change in the Master Association’s collection policy, which changes the due date and the date payments are late. She suggested that the Board check with all the other HOA’s in an attempt to coordinate due dates of fees and requested that all owners are given advance notice of this change.
Cheryl McDade explained that the due date was picked so as not to confuse the HOA II owners. Alison Gibbens mentioned that the Master Association dues become due immediately after the holidays and just before property taxes are due and requested the Board to reconsider the change.
Alison Gibbens read the following statement: Thank you. I need you to know that what I have to say expresses my personal feelings as a resident of Castle Pines North for over 16 years and not those of HOA #2 which I represent as a delegate.
There are three items I would like to comment on.
First, I feel the Master Association needs to get back on track with the purpose of the Master Association. We are an organization that represents homeowners from 20 delegate districts who meet monthly to provide direction and input for the betterment of the entire Castle Pines North Community from a HOA standpoint.
I feel the waters have been muddied with the dual service of our city elected officials also serving on the Master Association Board. I do understand their logic that a mass exoduses from the board would be hard, but I disagree that people could not be found to fill those positions allowing the Master Association to move forward independently, while the former board members who are city officials could better focus on the city’s needs. It took numerous requests before the board finally consulted the Master Association’s law firm on the conflict of interest policy not the city’s law firm. This is one small example of where the dual service has clouded the roles of each organization.
Secondly, there has been much discussion about the approximate $187,000 dollars that was provided to the CPN Preservation Committee for the incorporation feasibility study from the Master Association. As indicated in the minutes, the “intent” of “loaning” this money to the Preservation committee, and I highlight the word “intent”, was always that it would be repaid. I understand that former board member Gilbert and now city treasurer Gilbert was at the meeting two months ago and indicated different facts, sighting different pools of money, than what he is on record for in the minutes. It is my understanding that he also indicated that the Master Association could approach the City for repayment. I personally do not know that the money needs to be repaid but fundamentally I feel that with the “intent” of repayment all along, which Gilbert knew about, it should be City officials asking the Master Association for forgiveness of the estimated $187,000. It would then be up to the Board, hopefully asking for feedback from the delegates, and on the record as to the actions taken on this amount of money.
Thirdly, I feel the Connection, regardless of intent, has become a polarizing publication and needs to refocus on what is happening in the community, our neighborhoods, and the people who live in our community. While there are currently many meaningful articles, I feel it has become a political publication and I can pick up the Post or Rocky Mountain News for those fireworks. I am personally tired of it all and don’t think this was the intent of the publication. The purpose of the publication needs to focus back on uniting the community, call it warm and fuzzy if you want, instead of having one sided articles that are pitting neighbor against neighbor, organization against organization in our small city.
The CPN Master Association needs to get out of the political business and refocus on the betterment of CPN as an entire community from an HOA standpoint.
Thank you for allowing me to speak.
2. Staff Reports
A. Communications
Lane Roberts arrived at this point in the meeting, so the Board halted the meeting in order to hear her report.
Lane reported that there was a staff meeting to discuss the next issue of the newsletter on October 14th. She reported that the newsletter articles would be proofread November 1st; ads would be due by November 5th; layout would be completed November 6th and a final proofreading would be completed on November 19th & 20th. Lane stated that she was hopeful that this edition would be 24-pages, but that it was possible that it could be 28-pages.
Vickie asked that all articles be provided to the Board at least two weeks prior to printing. Jennifer asked that no articles be sent to any of the Board members who serve on the City Council. Both Maureen and Kim agreed with this request.
Terri Weibold reported that she had been looking for a new printer for the newsletter that would be less costly. She reported that she thinks that one has been located in Boulder, but that she was still checking them out. Sharon Kollmar suggested that Terri consider the same printer used by the Colorado Community Papers.
Maureen asked Lane to hold the article on the change in the due date of the annual fees for the Master Association until the Board has an opportunity to discuss the suggestion made earlier in this meeting.
4. Reports
A. Metro District
Andy Rhodes stated that he had nothing new to report. He did announce that due the resignation of a Board member, the Metro District was seeking people interested in being appointed to fulfill the remainder of the vacated position.
B. Parks Authority
Anna Mallinson reported that the Parks Authority Board has met with the engineers from the Parks Authority, the school and the developer. She reported that the final plan for the new park would be submitted to the City Council on October 22nd. Anna also reported that the Parks Authority Board is waiting for the decision of HOA #1.
C. City of Castle Pines North
David Mortenson spoke on behalf of Doug Gilbert who had left the meeting because he needed to be at another meeting. David reported that he has been reviewing the revenue statutory requirements to approximate available revenue. He explained that the City submits a budget annually and that technically, because of the timing of incorporation, there is no 2008 budget. David explained that based on his review there would be approximately $900,000.00 in revenue for 2009. He informed everyone present that there would be a third budget meeting held on October 29th at 7:00 in the Community Center.
David stated that based on different scenarios with and without property tax revenue, the difference in funding would be about $1.5 million. He stated that the budget includes repayment of the pre-incorporation expenses paid by the Master Association over an eighteen month period, but that this decision was subject to approval by the City Council.
Maureen reported that over the past three months the Board has found it necessary to adopt new policies and faced some difficult decisions and have been working very hard to take care of all of the Master Association’s business. She also provided highlights of a legal opinion regarding the Master Association Board’s right to fund the incorporation effort. Maureen stated that based on the Master Association’s Board attorney, the Board was well within its right to fund the incorporation and that in fact failure to do so could have been construed as a breach of fiduciary responsibility when the attempt to incorporate the CPN business district by the Village is considered.
5. Approval of Minutes
A. September 18, 2008
Motion by Earl Millspaugh to approve the minutes as presented; Seconded by Anna Mallinson; Motion Carried and Approved with both Kim Hoffman and Jennifer Havercroft abstaining.
6. Financial Report
A. Monthly Financial and Statistics Report
Garry Schaffer provided information on the financial status of the Association through September 30, 2008 answering questions asked.
B. Acceptance of September Financial Reports
Motion by Anna Mallinson to accept the financial reports as presented; Seconded by Earl Millspaugh; Motion Carried and Approved.
C. Approval of October Payables
Motion by Anna Mallinson to approve payment of the bills presented; Seconded by Jennifer Havercroft; Motion Carried and Approved.
7. Old Business
A. None
8. New Business
A. Approval of the Annual Meeting Packet
The Board reviewed the announcement, agenda and 2007 annual meeting minutes that make up the proposed 2008 annual meeting packet that Vickie would like to provide to the delegates and any other interested parties.
Motion by Jennifer Havercroft to approve the mailing of the proposed annual meeting packet as presented; Seconded by Anna Mallinson; Motion Carried and Approved.
9. Additional Homeowner Input
Lloyd Saenger thanked the Board for obtaining a legal opinion on the Board’s decision to fund the incorporation effort adding that this showed a lot of transparency on the behalf of the Board. He stated that he wants to know if there is a note for the pre-incorporation expenses and stated that he would like to see it. Maureen told him that an answer would be provided within one week. Lloyd stated that he certainly hoped that the Board had done their fiduciary duty regarding this matter and asked again if a note had been signed
Jeffrey Huff asked what the election process would be for the annual meeting. Vickie explained that anyone interested in being considered for election would be provided some questions, the same ones used for the appointment to fill a recent Board vacancy. She then explained that the responses received would be provided to all the delegates casting votes for their information.
Jim Steavpack asked for help in understanding the budget numbers included in the various financial reports. Garry walked him through the reports so that he understood.
10. Next Meeting
A. Regular Meeting
The next meeting of the Master Association Board of Directors will be the 2008 annual meeting, which will be held on November 18, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. with sign-in beginning at 6:00 p.m.
11. Adjourn
Motion by Anna Mallinson to adjourn this meeting; Seconded by Jennifer Havercroft; Motion Carried and Approved.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Vickie Hunt
Association Manager
Approved____________________________, 2008
Secretary_____________________________
President_____________________________
