LAKE MOOVALYA KEYS, INC.
Board of Directors
Regular Meeting
JANUARY 14, 2008

CALL TO ORDER
President Chuck Baker called the regular meeting of the Lake Moovalya Keys Board of Directors to order at 6:00 p.m.

PRESENT
President:  Chuck Baker
Vice President:  Jack Sweeney
Secretary/Treasurer:  Chris Chambers
Board Members:  William (Squeak) Kossnar, Gary Svider, Joe Price & Larry St. George
           
ABSENT
Board Members:  Bob Stroud, Joe Maxwell & Richard Jaschke

OTHERS PRESENT
Guests:  Laura Lancaster (lot 166), Rob Troxler (lot 160), Carl Bozeman (lot 61), Carla Faulkner (Robert Gory Realty Property Manager) & Bob Hansen (Vista del Monumento Acres owner).  Additional guests arriving at 7:00 p.m. were Lori Lyons & Amber Masek (lot 67) and Ross Nagel (lot 52 representative)

General Manager:  Cheryl Shockley
Business Manager/Recording Secretary:  Sue Thomson
Legal Counsel:  John C. Churchill
           
INTRODUCTIONS

MINUTES
Mr. Sweeney moved to approve the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of December 3, 2007.  The motion was seconded and carried unanimously.

FINANCIAL REPORTS
Mr. Price moved to approve the December 2007 Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss.  The motion was seconded and carried unanimously.

BOOKKEEPER REPORT
Ms. Thomson reported that Brooke Water paid the Small Claims judgment amount, plus interest, and it was posted on the books prior to year end.

Lot 120 made good on the construction deposit.

Steve Catlin (lot 177) is concerned about the canal at his property filling with sediment.  He said there is currently only 2’ of clearance below his prop.  Ms. Thomson recently suggested he contact the Army Corp. of Engineers, which he did.  Mr. Baker deferred discussion to New Business.

Lot clean-up letters were sent to lots 9 and 10.

There was a discussion about the 2006 lot clean up fine of $500 assessed to lot 10, during the time Buckskin Sanitary District improperly sold the property to a third party.  Mr. Churchill was consulted on whether or not Mr. Willoughby actually owned, or didn’t own, the property at the time of the fine assessment.  He stated Mr. Willoughby did not own the property at that time, but eventually the third party had to give it back during litigation.  Mr. Sweeney moved to give Mr. Willoughby 30 days to re-roof and clean up the yard and the exterior of the house and submit a construction deposit, in lieu of enforcing the prior fine.  After discussion Mr. Sweeney amended his motion to require the owners of lot 10 to provide the Association within 30 days a working timetable for their planned improvements to complete their interior and exterior remodel project, and in the interim, clean up the yard.   At that time the Association would revisit the 2006 fine assessed on the lot.  The motion was seconded and carried.

Ms. Thomson reported that lots 146 and 169 are seriously delinquent and she was instructed to send them a final demand for payment.

Ms. Thomson presented an email sent by board member Richard Jaschke who informed her that because of frequent work commitments out of town, he would need to resign his position when someone else could be appointed in his place.  Mr. Baker suggested that Mr. Jaschke be removed from the Board immediately to reduce potential quorum problems.  Mr. Sweeney made a motion to remove Mr. Jaschke from the Board immediately.  The motion was seconded and carried.

Ms. Thomson reported four white line citations assessed last month to lots 195 (2), 40 and 132.

Mr. Sweeney moved to approve the December Prepaid Bills and Bills for Approval.  The motion was seconded and carried.

GENERAL MANAGER’S REPORT
Ms. Shockley reported the Keys were quiet during December up until the New Years’ weekend.

Brooke Water dug up the streets to repair water leaks on Moovalya Drive and Yaqui Loop.  The one on Moovalya was particularly messy, and Brooke is waiting for corporate approval and concrete bids so they can do the patch work.

Ms. Shockley said she talked to the street sweeper who told her that the Keys is not on a schedule for street sweeping.  He said he sweeps the streets only when he’s free to do it.  Mr. Baker asked Ms. Shockley to call Donna at the County and remind her that we had an agreement for regularly scheduled street sweeping.  If Donna has a problem with that, she is to call him about it.

Ms. Shockley said the brown car is gone from lot 9 and the yard is being cleaned up.  There is a large trailer now at lot 10 that looks like it will be used to haul away debris. 

Ms. Shockley reported that she was unable to find replacement locks for the large parcel boxes at the mailbox area.

PROTEST COMMITTEE
Mr. Svider presented the Committee’s finding on the protest received by one of the owners of lot 67 to a reckless driving citation he received.  Mr. Svider reviewed the photos and talked to the witness.  He reported that after comparing the tire marks left in the street, they may not have been created by the blue Jeep.  The witness could not see the driver’s face.  The witness stated there were a number of neighbors on motorcycles racing up and down the street.  Mr. Svider said there should have been two citations issued.  The Committee recommended upholding the citation, and the Board agreed.  Ms. Thomson is to inform the protesting party that the citation and fine stands.

OLD BUSINESS
Mr. Sweeney reported that the trash enclosure project is complete and looks nice.  He suggested that we reinstall some type of trash bin separators inside the area to keep the bins retained to keep them from colliding with each other.  Mr. Baker asked Mr. Sweeney to come up with a solution and present it at next month’s meeting.

Mr. Baker reported that Ms. Thomson will be unavailable for the regular Board meeting on March 3.  Because she has never missed a meeting, Mr. Baker rescheduled the meeting for March 10. 

Mr. Baker said that the February 4 regular Board meeting will be designated as a special work session to go over the rental proposals and any other ballot issues that will be presented to the members for vote at the Annual Meeting.

Mr. Baker reviewed the new Tenant Information Sheet presented by Ms. Lancaster.  He and Ms. Lancaster and Ms. Shockley collaborated on it, and he wants it to be the only form used by rental owners.  Mr. Churchill reviewed the form and asked that watercraft numbers be listed along with vehicle license numbers.  Mr. Sweeney moved to approve the new Tenant Information Sheet, with the addition of a line item for watercraft numbers.  The new form also amends the fax number where completed forms are to be sent (to the General Manager’s fax line).  The motion was seconded and carried.

Ms. Lancaster presented the latest draft of the yellow, two-sided Visitor Pass for rental properties.  It has a place to insert the property address and the date in/date out.  A 24-hour contact telephone number is also printed on the pass, and passes for individual property managers has been produced for those agents.  The rules appear on the back side.  Ms. Lancaster states she has spoken to the other rental owners, and they are all on board with it.  Ms. Shockley stated that the rental agents have all agreed to use the new Pass, and Ms. Lancaster said they all agreed to use a black Sharpie pen for ease of visibility.  Ms. Lancaster donated a new fax machine to the General Manager so owners can fax their Tenant Information Sheets on the General Manager’s line 928-667-4484.  The new Pass was distributed to the Board for review.  It was noted that the line for inserting the gate code is currently the owner’s code, not a general code.  Mr. Sweeney moved to approve the new VisitorPass for use on all short-term rentals.  The motion was seconded and carried.  Ms. Lancaster will take care of implementing the new Pass.  Mr. Chambers inquired whether or not the old Visitor Pass should be grandfathered.  Ms. Thomson suggested the old Pass continue to be used for guests of owner-occupied properties and that she will work with Ms. Shockley and Ms. Lancaster in distributing the new Pass to the rental owners.

NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Baker discussed prior dredging problems, stating that Mike Dyer almost lost his backhoe about five years ago in an attempt to dredge a canal.  We had a dredger lined up, and at that time, there were more vacant lots to use for relocating the silt.  He said an 8’ berm would be needed to pile silt dredged from just one canal, and now the problem is worse, because there are even fewer vacant lots than there were five years ago.  There’s just no place to put all the silt.  It has to dry out on land before it can be moved off for relocation.  Mr. Churchill reported that when this project was started five years ago, there was no engineering done, and lateral supports were removed causing some houses to start to sink.  He doesn’t recommend the Association get involved in dredging; instead it should be left up to the individual property owners.  Mr. Baker said he has used a fish finder while cruising the canals, and he has noted a generally better flow.  He said there has been only about a one to two inch difference over the years.  Mr. Sweeney said that each owner owns one-half of the canal floor, and the water is a federal waterway, so it doesn’t behoove the Association to get involved with permitting to dredge.  Mr. Churchill again recommended against the Association getting involved with dredging, and that the owners themselves deal with it, perhaps digging it out by hand, which may be a better solution.

Mr. Baker said he wants to decide about underage drivers on Association streets at next month’s work session, in addition to proposing to members the establishment of a fine for double parking boats in the canal, as well as proposing to limit the number of occupants in rental properties, and establishing a fine for violating maximum occupancy.  Ms. Lancaster said that the new Tenant Information Sheet is addressing the situation of over occupancy.  Mr. Baker pointed out that some owners did not get forms to us last year, or some were incomplete as to the guest names.  Mr. Sweeney said that the Board will be promoting rules at the Annual Meeting, and Mr. Baker said that is what the February 4 work meeting will address.  Mr. Sweeney suggested Ms. Lancaster get a consensus from the rental owners for presentation next month.  Mr. Baker asked Ms. Lancaster how the rental owners feel now, and Ms. Lancaster said that most of the rental owners want a 10-person maximum.  Ms. Lancaster said she is trying to police the issue, as is Kathy Northcutt and Ms. Faulkner.  Ms. Lancaster also said that they do not want to see a separation between the number of adults and children.  They also had concerns about limiting the number of vehicles to space available at the subject property, as they felt that should be a white line issue.  Mr. Baker emphatically disagreed, stating that others can’t park in their neighbor’s yard, but spillover vehicles can use the common parking lot.

Hal Collett, La Paz County Sheriff, and Sgt. Epps arrived at 6:45 p.m. to discuss ways for the General Manager to handle problems in the Keys, specifically what we can do, what the Sheriff’s Office can do and how to handle problems.  The Board will meet with the Sheriff and Sgt. Epps in Executive Session to discuss individual incidents. 

Sgt. Epps stated that he is responsible for calls received.  Mr. Collett stated the concern a few years ago was that problems would increase in the Keys as the population there increased.  He said the problem with the Keys is that they can’t enforce the posted 15 MPH speed limit.  State law is 25 MPH, but they can cite for DUI and reckless driving.  Concerning disturbing the peace complaints, they will go out and issue a warning first.  If they have to go out again to the location, they need a ‘direct knowledge’ witness who is willing to be designated a victim of the disturbance and go to court, if necessary, before an arrest can be made.  The more witnesses, the better, unless it’s a felony. 

Mr. Collett stated that in isolated cases where one person makes the call and they come out and talk to the suspect, and a neighbor backs up the suspect and not the reporting witness, they have a case of witness contradiction, and it makes it difficult for the Sheriff’s Office to prosecute.  Anyone can be a witness/victim.  Sgt. Epps said that vehicle burnouts are considered reckless driving because the driver is not in control of the vehicle.  Mr. Churchill advised that 15 MPH on Keys’ streets could be considered reckless driving, because the streets are narrow and curvy in places with many cars parked on the sides, there are kids in the streets, and the houses are in close proximity to each other.  Sgt. Epps said there is no center stripe either.

Mr. Collett said that with the new office recently constructed, they have more officers available to patrol the area, and he stated they will have two people in their patrol boat next summer.  He also reported that new sound (decibel) meters will be available in the near future.

MEETING ADJOURNED TO EXECUTIVE SESSION AT 7:00 P.M.
 
MEETING RECONVENED TO REGULAR SESSION AT 7:30 P.M.

With Ms. Lyons and Ms. Masek from lot 67 now present at the meeting, they were informed that the Board voted to uphold the Protest Committee’s recommendation that the reckless driving citation is valid.  Ms. Lyons stated the burnouts were done by her neighbor, and she said she feels that they are a target.  Mr. Baker said they have been a problem; that he used to party himself and did some crazy stuff 25 years ago, but there are more people in the Keys now than there was 20 years ago, and everyone needs to respect their neighbors, and the neighborhood, and now we also have renter problems.  Ms. Lyons felt they were getting blamed for stuff they didn’t do.  Mr. Baker replied that it keeps happening at their end of the street, and he said he doesn’t know who their husbands are, or who’s who in that neighborhood.  He said they can do whatever they want, as long as they don’t disrupt their neighbors.  Ms. Lyons said that others are not complying with the rules.  Mr. Baker suggested she call us to complain so we can deal with it, but Ms. Lyons said she doesn’t like to complain to Ms. Shockley.  Mr. Baker said to call her anyway.  Mr. Kossnar said everyone is complaining about problems on Apache.

Mr. Sweeney relayed a story that happened some time ago about him yelling from his balcony at 2:30 a.m. to some kids that were on the ramp making noise.  He told them to go home.  They came back drunk, 18 and 19 year olds, and they drove their golf cart into the canal.  They had hotwired and stolen it, and they were arrested.  Everyone said he should have called the police.  Ms. Lyons said the kids are not let out of their sight, and they strap flashlights on their (motorized) bikes after dark.  Ms. Shockley said she tells everyone that dirt bikes are not allowed on the streets after dark, and to put them away, including a warning to lot 52.

Mr. Chambers nominated Rob Troxler to fill one of the Board vacancies.  Ms. Lancaster said she wants to be on the Board and is willing to recuse herself from Executive Sessions.  She said she has been to all the recent Board meetings, while Mr. Troxler has not.  Ms. Lancaster was asked what the plaintiffs’ consensus is in resolving the current lawsuit, since the Board feels it would be a conflict of interest for her to be on the Board while the suit is pending.  Mr. Sweeney said he heard that the night Bill Risen resigned from the Board, the renters wanted to settle.  Ms. Lancaster said the plaintiffs agree to disagree regarding notification of the 2004 rules meeting; that the problems can go away.  Mr. Baker said he doesn’t care about the amount of the security deposit and that the members can vote on it again.  He also said we haven’t yet used a security deposit.  Ms. Faulkner said Robert Gory Realty already requires a minimum $500 deposit, and it’s the same at Security Real Estate.  Mr. Sweeney replied that those deposits do not cover damage to other people’s property, and he reminded everyone of the incident where Mr. Stroud was refused compensation, from the security deposit posted with the rental agency, for damage done to his personal property by someone’s renters.  Mr. Chambers talked about the $700 in damages to his Sea Doo parked at his dock, which was caused by someone’s renters, and he was out of pocket the $700.  Ms. Lancaster said the owner’s homeowner’s insurance should cover these incidents, and the homeowner can be sued if necessary.  She thinks a $500 security deposit is reasonable.  Mr. Sweeney said he is available to discuss any settlement issues with the plaintiffs and report back to the Board.

It was noted that Mr. Troxler is here tonight, and he normally comes to the meetings.  The Board indicated it would like to have Ms. Lancaster on the Board if her co-owner gets off the lawsuit.

Mr. Churchill advised that an agenda item for appointing interim directors of the Board to fill vacancies is required, and that the agenda can simply be posted on the website.  He also advised that the agenda item to elect directors does not have to specify names, only that a vacancy is intended to be filled.  Mr. Price would like to wait until the Annual Meeting to fill any vacancies, since the members will be voting for the Board of Directors for the upcoming year at the Annual Meeting on March 29.

OTHER OLD BUSINESS

Mr. St. George distributed, and recommended, a landscape plan and cost estimate from Color Arts Landscape which would be similar to the landscape scheme at the new Terrible Herbst service station.  The bid to remove and haul away the grass and replace with two-color decorative rock, mounds and boulders, pigmy palms, med palms and lantana, with bubbler irrigation is $6,483.  His bid to remove the tall oleanders and haul them away in six 40-yard dumpsters is $3,700, if we want to connect wall to wall.  It was noted that artificial grass is too expensive.

Mr. Sweeney informed the Board that the owner to the north of the Keys wants to cut down part of the wall we recently installed to put in a driveway to his property.  Since the wall is entirely on Association property, Robert Gory Realty was told to tell the neighbor that it is our wall which he cannot touch.  He wants us to revisit them being able to use our gate for access, because he was denied access from Riverside Drive.  It was noted that Bob Gory came to two Association meetings to approach the subject, but there was no resolution.  Mr. Baker said that Bob Gory could never tell us how many units might go in, because at that time there was no buyer, and no plan, for the property.  Mr. Sweeney said that the owner may approach us soon, before race weekend, regarding access.

Mr. Baker asked about the status of a permanent barrier at lot 251, and Ms. Thomson said that the new owner would be willing to meet us halfway on the cost of a permanent barrier, but she has already spent a lot of money on improvements and can’t do anything until summer.  Ms. Thomson said that she provided Mr. Maxwell, at his request after the last Board meeting, with a copy of the building plans for lot 251.  It was noted that the columns that support the temporary barrier may be entirely on Association property.  Ms. Thomson said that the owner has no problem keeping the temporary barrier up whenever it happens to come down if we so inform her.  Ms. Thomson also said that the agreement to put up a permanent barrier was not made by the present owner, but by a previous owner who built the house, and she asked if the present owner is liable to uphold a contract made by the prior owner.  Mr. Sweeney requested we get a timeline for getting the permanent barrier up.  Mr. Chambers said he would talk to the owner about it.

Mr. Kossnar said that he heard the owners of lot 120 were demo-ing the whole structure due to termite damage.  Mr. Sweeney asked Ms. Thomson to remind the owner that he needs to provide us with a survey letter.

Mr. Chambers reported that Steve Stanton complained that he didn’t get to bid on the trash enclosure project.  It was noted that we did not think Steve Stanton would be interested in a small project of this nature.  Had we known, we would have invited his bid.

ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.
Submitted by Recording Secretary, Sue Thomson

APPROVED BY BOARD OF DIRECTORS FEBRUARY 4, 2008