The Westside Board may become smaller and meet less frequently, if two Nominating Committee recommendations prove as popular with the membership as they appear to be with the current Directors.
During the Tuesday, November 13 Work Session of the Seven Lakes West Landowners Association [SLWLA] Board of Directors, Secretary Jane Sessler recommended that the Board downsize from the current nine to seven members, and that it drop its second-Tuesday Work Session, holding only one evening business meeting each month.
"The Committee would like to make some changes," Sessler told her fellow Board members. "One of them would be to change our meeting schedule to minimize the time that Directors have to spend in meeting, having one general meeting in the evening." Eliminating the monthly Work Session, which is currently held on a weekday morning, might make serving on the Board more attractive to younger members, she added.
"There is lots of communication via email between Board members," Sessler noted. "And we also have a website, with a strong flow of information in both directions."
The Nominating Committee's second suggestion was to drop the number of Directors on the Board from nine to seven members, she explained. Sessler said the community has a strong management company that is increasingly handling the day-to-day issues that were once handled by Directors. And she suggested that making use of committees that are not necessarily chaired by a Director could also reduce Director workload.
President Mick Herdrich noted that the meeting schedule can be changed by a simple vote of the Board. Changing the number of Directors would require an amendment to the bylaws, which is a more involved process. He said that the Board would solicit public comment on both issues, with a possible vote on dropping the Work Session in December. A change in the size of the Board, Herdrich suggested, would likely not be voted on until after the Annual Meeting in March.
Herdrich asked each Director to comment on Sessler's proposals; and there was strong support for dropping the Work Session.
Eliminating the Work Session
"I would support changing the meeting schedule," Director Jack Stevens said, noting that the evening meeting draws a larger number of members and that the Board has scheduled additional Town Hall meetings when issues arise that require extraordinary public input. The Directors "get a lot accomplished through emails," Stevens added. "I think it would make serving on the Board more attractive."
"I would support one meeting a month," Treasurer Don Freiert said. "From the perspective of finance and treasurer, our reporting is all monthly. In our last several meetings, the formalized portion of the meetings [that is, the committee reports] has been relatively short. I attribute that to the enhanced communications that do go out with the website and other communications."
"For me, I like these meetings, but I don't know whether they are necessary," Infrastructure Director Jim Pierman said. "The thing that I see is that there is some redundancy here. I'm not sure we really need to have the morning meeting." He added that eliminating one meeting a month "may enhance the ability of some to serve."
"The ARC requirements are such that our reports can follow a thirty-day window," said Architectural Review Director Dan Blue. But Blue cautioned that having only one Board meeting a month could delay progress on construction projects by thirty days, in cases where Board approval is needed for some reason. He said he supported moving to a single meeting during the month "with the exception that there would have to be an accommodation for special meetings."
Sessler said that the Nominating Committee, in interviewing prospective Board members, consistently hears: "I can't put in that kind of time." Moving to one Board meeting month "is going to be for the best of the community," she said. "The people who are the best candidates are the busier candidates."
"When you are working," Lake & Dam Director Bruce Keyser Bruce said, "if you have twelve meetings per year to attend in the morning, a lot of people can't do that. The pool of people we could bring in -- which probably represents two-thirds of the people in this community -- I think it would open up a new group of people to serve."
Security Director Ed Cockman, who has served for a number of years on the Nominating Committee, said the commitment to two meetings a month is a distinct impediment that prevents good candidates from serving on the Board.
"Meeting on Tuesday once a month would be more attractive to most people," Events Director Rosemary Weber said. She cautioned that the Board's executive sessions, which are often held as part of every meeting, "seem to run an hour-plus. Having one meeting a month would tend to extend that time."
"I agree with what everyone has said," President Herdrich said, wrapping up the discussion. He noted that, before CAS began managing the Association, and before Board Members began using email and the website to communicate between meetings, "it used to be that things came up that you hadn't heard of before you walked into the meeting. That doesn't happen any more."
"We will put this out to the community for comment for next 30 days," Herdrich said. "We will take it up at the first meeting in December."
During Public Comment, resident Joe Gavala said, "I remember when we just had one meeting a month. The biggest complaint was lack of communication."
Reducing the Size of the Board
The Nominating Committee's proposal to reduce the size of the Board from nine to seven members also appeared to win support, though questions were raised about exactly how the Board's workload could be cut to accommodate the reduction in manpower. The key question appeared to be whether a smaller Board would require an increase in the size of the management staff, or if work could instead be handled through an enhanced committee structure.
President Herdrich noted that a nine-member Board is relatively unusual, and the idea of cutting down its size has been discussed for a number of years. Community Manager Jeanette Mendeance said seven member boards are more common in CAS-managed communities. "I don't see us making a quick decision on this," Herdrich added.
Reducing the size of the Board will require "a lot of thought about what those seven Board members would do," Freiert said. "Would there be an implication to the size of the staff? We have been a community of volunteers that do a lot -- and that has necessitated the nine member Board, to divvy up those tasks." Noting that significant community feedback would be needed to determine exactly how the Board would be reconfigured, Freiert said, "I wouldn't be against it, as long as it is well planned."
Director Blue said he agreed with Freiert that the key question is how "duties are going to be apportioned. The bottom line is whether the community is going to pay for it via volunteer time, or whether we are going to expand the staff."
Director Sessler, on the other hand, seemed to feel that a smaller Board could gets its work done by offloading work onto better-managed committees, rather than necessarily increasing the size of the management staff.
She held up the ARC committee, where the work is managed by two committee chairs who report to Blue, as an example for the rest of the Board. "There are an awfully lot of community people who are willing to be on a committee -- to chair a committee," she said, "anything behind the scenes. But they don't want to be sitting here [at the Board table]. She pointed to the recently-formed Amenities Committee as a smoothily-functioning committee that reports to the Community Manager, rather than to a Board Member. "We, right now, are hands on; and maybe we need to take our hands off," Sessler said.
Legal Director Stevens said CAS President John Stone had confirmed that most of their communities have seven-member boards. "I would agree with the shift of responsibility to CAS," Stevens said. "That would be good. I spent the first year like a deer in the headlights -- shifting some of that responsibility would make the Board transition more manageable. Stevens suggested that the Board make a decision on the matter prior to the Annual Meeting in March and develop a transition plan for Fiscal Year 2014-2015.
"We are Directors; and, by that term, we should be directing," Director Keyser said. "In past years, the Board was basically CAS -- the Board had to do all those things. I think the transition has started to take place where we are giving more of our duties over to CAS. The community will have to determine whether it is willing to pay to have those duties shifted." Keyser said a seven-member Board "makes more sense," but added that he would not like to see a move to two-year terms for Directors, because that could create a situation in which "the Board could be controlled by a faction."
"I would hate to see us make this decision simply because it is hard to get people to serve on the Board," Director Cockman said, suggesting that any change should instead be based on the merits of the idea. "Some Board members have refused to use committees very well," he said. "I see that using committees wisely is a way to handle going to a seven member Board."
"I think going to seven is the way to go -- or the way we will end up going,' said Director Weber. "But it is going to cost us . . . . We would have to increase the staff."
"Unless we got more efficient in how we use our committees," Sessler interjected, pointing to the newsletter committee as an example. "Betsy [Mikula] runs it," Sessler said. "I don't go to that committee meeting anymore . . . . Someone might be happy being Chair of Events, if they don't have to be a Board Member Chair of Events."
"I still see CAS having to hire more staff," Weber replied, "but I can see downsizing as being the way to go."
Noting that he had thought about the issue "quite a bit," Infrastructure Director Pierman said his concern was "sustainability." He explained that it can take six to eight months to get up to speed on infrastructure. "We've had situations in the past where we have Directors go through this learning curve and then, three years later, it all starts all over again," he said. "There are other communities where the manager is much more involved in the maintenance of the community." He added that committees are better suited to special projects, like building a mailhouse, than to handling routine maintenance.
"Infrastructure is going to be high-cost no matter what," Director Pierman said, recommending that the Association hire an engineering firm to provide guidance on on-going infrastructure maintenance to the CAS management team, which would then handle getting bids and negotiating contracts.
"The process that we have had so far is not working -- and will not work -- because the breadth of the situation," Pierman said. "You never get the history or the follow-through because of the turnover on the Board. We have a structure that hasn't kept pace with all that must be done."
Pierman said that implementing that sort of plan for infrastructure might allow the elimination of the Infrastructure seat on the Board.
Director Stevens pointed out that adding a position to the management team at a cost of $50,000 would cost each lot owner an additional $33 per year.
"Seven Lakes West is run by Board, a management company, and volunteers," President Herdrich said. "You get consistency by having a management company. The volunteer thing is going down. We have a very solid group of volunteers. But they are tired."
"And the demographics have changed. We have a much younger population, and they often don't have time to volunteer. As that goes down, CAS is going to pick it up, or the Board is going to pick it up. It's fair if every household has to pay the $33."
Finance
Treasurer Freiert reported that the Fiscal Year 2011-2012 Financial Review has been completed, with no need for modifications to the Association's books. SLWLA finances are audited every other year, with a less expensive financial review performed by the auditing firm for the alternate years. With the review complete, the Association's state and federal income taxes have been filed. Because of tax loss carry-forwards, no taxes were due.
Reviewing the results for the first six months of the current fiscal year, Freiert said revenues are $327,000 ahead of expenses, and $168,000 above budget, but that is an expected variance, caused by prepayment of dues, that will decline relative to budget as the year progresses. Capital costs for the six month period totaled $211,000. Freiert said the six-month analysis would be posted on the Association website in a week or so.
"It's been a good six months," he said. "We expect to stay pretty much on budget for the whole year."
Looking at October financial results, Freiert reported that extraordinary expenses during the month included a $9,951 payment to Marks Enterprises for engineering services and a $6,171 quarterly insurance payment to State Farm. He said a treasury note and a certificate of deposit had been sold to raise funds for the new mailhouse and the rehabilitation of Carriage Park Pond Dam #3.
Infrastructure
The remediation of Carriage Park Pond Dam #3 is complete, Infrastructure Director Pierman reported. The next step is to install guiderails and walking paths alongside Longleaf Drive. He noted that the saturation of soil under the roadway had weakened the road structure, so that the heavy equipment and trucks used in the remediation damaged the surface of the road. A temporary patch has been installed; a more permanent fix will be made once the water drains out of the soil, sometime in 2013.
Crews have begun tree trimming along Association rights of way, Pierman said, explaining that branches overhanging the roadway will be removed up to a height of fifteen feet, whether the tree is growing from Association property or landowner property. Property owners who want to balance the appearance of trees by trimming up branches on the non-roadway side of their trees will have to contract for that work independently, Pierman said.
During Public Comment, resident Diane Evans objected to Director Pierman's plans to install some storm water drainage infrastructure on Winston Drive. Evans explained how storm water flows along that street and adjacent streets, and encouraged Pierman to visit the area during a downpour before making changes to the existing drainage structures.
Events
Director Weber reported that upcoming events include:
• Holiday decorations at the gates on Friday, November 16 at 10:00 am. Decorations will be removed on Friday, January 11 at 10:00 am.
• Holiday decorations at the Community Center on November 17 at 10:00 am. Removal on Saturday, January 12 at 10:00 am.
• Tree lighting and community Christmas Party on Friday, December 7 from 6:00 pm to 9:00pm. The event is free to members, but tickets must be picked up at the SLWLA office.
• Children''s Christmas Party with Santa on Sunday, December 9 from 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm.
• American Band Stand Revival - a 1950s-style party at the Community Center on Saturday, February 9.
Other Business
In other business during the Tuesday, November 13 meeting of the SLWLA Board of Directors:
• Secretary Sessler noted that approved minutes of the last Board meeting are available on the SLWLA website.
• Sessler reported that the nominating committee has "three excellent candidates" to stand for election in March. They will be presented to the Board at its December 11 Work Session.
• Manager Mendeance reported that irrigation systems at the Lakeway entrance and Johnson Point have been winterized and turned off. The restrooms at Johnson Point have been winterized and closed for the season and a Port-a-Jon placed at the Point.
• New swings have been ordered for Johnson Point, and new mulch ordered for the West Side Park playground, Mendeance said. Resident Morris Madonia is repairing the swimming pool umbrellas at minimal cost to the Association.
• The Board approved the recombination of lots 4014 and 5012, as well as lots 4041 and 4040.
• Gene Opdyke was appointed to the Architectural Review Board.
• ARC Director Blue reported that six construction projects are underway, as well as forty-five "small projects."
• Director Sessler reported that 825 members have registered on the website. She recommended an article by Nelda Cockman profiling the gate guards, published in the current issue of the SLWLA newsletter.
• At the request of Legal Director Stevens, the Board, on second reading, amended the bylaws and rules and regulations to set penalties for infractions at "the maximum amount permitted by applicable law" rather than specifying a set fine. Stevens noted that this brings the Association into compliance with the NC Planned Community Act.
• Director Cockman said his committee had received bids on alternatives for the Lake Auman Dam gates, which need a new security approach in order to be in compliance with the County Fire Ordinance. Once the committee has studied the options, they will make a recommendation to the Board.
• Meeting after an executive session, the Board discussed forming a committee to work with Kanoy Architecture on plans for the remodeling of the front entrance to the Seven Lakes West.
