Members of the Seven Lakes Landowners Association approved a $100 across-the-board dues increase by a margin of 215 to 172 in balloting concluded at the Association's Sunday, March 24 Annual Meeting.
New annual dues will be $1,000 for homeowners, $670 for owners of an undeveloped lot, and $497 for each additional undeveloped lot. Treasurer Conrad Meyer noted that the additional revenue generated by the higher dues levels will be directed to reserves, rather than to any increase in operational expenditures.
Four open seats on the Board ultimately attracted only three candidates. Incumbent Bob Racine attracted 295 votes; newcomer Richard Faraci garnered 284; and former Director Steve Hudson collected 236 votes.
Laura Douglass is SLLA Citizen of the Year
Northsider Laura Douglass, a stalwart of the SLLA Recreation Committee and a former Board Member, was named Citizen of the Year by the Association.
Presenting the award, Pat Weber said Douglass has devoted her time and energy to developing resources and activities for the younger members of the Association. She pointed to Douglass' work to secure new playground equipment for Northside Park and her role in establishing summer camp programs. Weber noted that Douglass has been active in Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts, had served as President of the Women of Seven Lakes, and had shared her life with the community by writing a column for The Seven Lakes Times.
Accepting the award, Douglass said she had fallen in love with Seven Lakes the very first time she visited the community. "I saw all the kids' bikes parked up by the pool and knew this was where I wanted to live," she said.
Public comment
Early in the meeting, Douglass was first at the mic during the Public Comment period. "As you choose the committees you will work with," she told the Directors, "I would remind you that they are there not to be a rubber stamp, but to offer input, make recommendations, and shoulder a lot of the work that has to be done."
Over the past year, members of the Board have occasionally found themselves in conflict with various committees -- including the Recreation Committee on which Douglass serves -- over proposed policy changes, for example, concerning the stables, guest fees, etc. Douglass' aim appeared to be to remind the Board that the Association's committees offer an important grassroots resource for developing policy, as well as actually implementing it.
Greg Gosslein, who described himself as a longtime West End area resident who moved into Seven Lakes in February, expressed concern that the Board could change guest fees for the pool and stables without a vote of the membership. Noting that each landowner is a part owner of the pool, he said asking a guest to pay a $3 fee to use it is "like inviting them over for dinner and handing them a bill at the end of the night." He asked that the new higher guest fees be repealed.
"Let us congratulate the board in bringing to the members the facts and a program which they planned concerning the challenges ahead," Hal Blake said. "They need our support -- both the present and the incoming board. Let us give them that support."
Directors review the year
As votes were counted by members of the Judicial Committee in a downstairs meeting room, Association members gathered in the Joralemon Fellowship Hall of Seven Lakes Chapel in the Pines and heard reports from each of the Directors.
Finance
Treasurer Meyer explained that the dues increase, if approved, would increase the Fiscal Year 2013-2014 contribution to the restricted road reserve from $125,900 to $201,150, and increase the contribution to unrestricted reserves from $91,880 to $167,130.
After thanking the members of his Finance Committee -- Jim Allen, Ed Sanchez, and George Temple -- Meyer listed a number of key committee accomplishments, including:
• Revising the collection process.
• Revising the lot combination policy.
• Creating an emergency reserve fund equivalent to three months expenses.
• Completing several major cost studies, including the evaluation of management companies prior to the Board's decision to switch from Talis to CAS, and rebidding the landscaping contract, resulting in significant savings.
• Analyzing the level of reserves needed to fund key infrastructure projects in order to develop the proposal for a dues increase.
• Working through the transfer of financial records from Talis to CAS and developing new financial reports based on the CAS system.
• Transitioning to a new auditing firm, while coming up with a "clean" audit.
Lakes & Dams
Director Don Fentzlaff was unable to attend the Annual Meeting due to illness, but sent written reports that were read by President Bob Darr.
The twelve-member Lakes & Dams Committee, under Fentzlaff's leadership:
• Developed a comprehensive lake pumping program.
• Began testing lakes for e. coli and coliform.
• Will begin testing for dissolved oxygen, to ensure a healthy environment for wildlife.
• Developed a program of regular monitoring of water levels within the dam structures, using piezometers installed in the dams.
• Initiated repairs to the Sequoia Island bulkhead.
• Recommended revisions to lake rules and sponsored a voluntary boat safety inspection by the Coast Guard Auxiliary.
Architectural Review Board
Fentzlaff also had responsibility for the Architectural Review Board [ARB], and noted these accomplishments:
• Updating ARB standards.
• Developing project guidelines for the most common projects, in order to streamline to approval process, by making sure all necessary documentation is available to the committee.
Grounds & Maintenance
When he joined the Board one year ago, Director Chuck Leach said, President Darr urged him to "get something done."
Members of the committee walked the community and compiled a list of more than 70 items needing attention. Of those, forty-one have been addressed or will be completed by the end of next month, Leach said.
Among the key items are:
• Painting the exterior of the landowners office.
• Overhauling the yard debris site.
• Replacing deteriorated support beams at the maintenance shed and the stables.
• Renovating the interior and exterior of the Southside gatehouse.
• Replacing the dock at Lake Echo.
• Contracting for the installation of new roofs on the landowners office, North Clubhouse, pool pump house and Lake Sequoia gazebo.
Community Standards
Director Bob Racine reported that it had been a difficult year for the Standards Committee, because the change in management companies put most enforcement actions on hiatus for a number of months.
"But management has now provided what we need to move forward," he added. "You can look forward to more vigorous enforcement in the future."
Recreation
On the recreation front, Racine noted that the Association had enjoyed its traditional Easter Egg Hunt, Fourth of July festivities, Halloween Party, and Christmas Party, as well as the S'mores on Sequoia Beach.
Water aerobics, swim lessons, and swim teams were offered at the Northside pool, and the Association welcomed a new manager at the stables, "who has brought new life into that operation," Racine said.
Security
Director Ritter said he had assembled a Security Committee with four members -- Mike Pusillo, Greg Lishawa, Chuck Mims, and Don Harkey -- who, along with Ritter himself, represented more than 160 years of law enforcement experience. Brenda Massimo, bringing an insiders perspective on the operations of SLLA administration, rounded out the team.
Ritter said moving the security contract to The Budd Group had resulted in a significant improvement in performance, particularly with the appointment of Roger Shoemaker as the local supervisor.
Acting on a recommendation from the Security Committee, the Board delegated to Security personnel the authority to ask an offender to leave SLLA property -- a change that has enhanced their ability to deal with troublemaking nonresidents.
Ritter said the initial confusion created by changes in SLLA's gate access policy by Seven Lakes West ultimately resulted in an overhaul of the gate pass and barcode policies that have made for smoother operations at the gate.
Both roving patrol and boat patrol hours have been refined to ensure that officers are on duty when problems are most likely to occur, Ritter said. He noted the retirement of longtime North Gate guard Linda McCoy, praising her dedicated service.
President's Report
President Bob Darr recalled that he, Racine, Meyer, and Fentzlaff had run for the board two years ago promising a number of changes in the way the SLLA Board operated:
• Open Meetings. Darr noted that, not only does the SLLA Board conduct its business in the open, it takes input from members throughout the meeting, instead of confining comments to one portion of the meeting.
• Cost-Benefit Analyses. The Finance Committee has prepared detailed analyses on major expenditures, which the Board has then "studied, debated openly, and decided accordingly," Darr said.
• Road Repaving. The four candidates pledged to start road repaving, and it has in fact begun, Darr said.
• Critical Oversight of Talis. Darr said that analysis had been done -- and led to the hiring of CAS as management company.
• Town Hall Meetings. Though the open debate in regular meetings reduced the need for Town Halls, Darr noted that the Board had hosted a very-well-attended meeting to receive input on the FY 2014 Budget and proposed dues increase.
• Reestablishing committees. A number of committees had been disbanded by a previous Board. Not only were they reinstituted, Darr pointed out, but the Directors changed policy to require a Board vote to eliminate a committee.
• Transparency. Darr said the Board has held closed meetings on legal and personnel issues that are properly discussed behind closed doors.
"Going forward," Darr said, "I believe these principles should be the continual commitment of the Board."
Noting that he was honored to have served as the Association's President, Darr took a moment to "thank God for Bud Shaver," a former Board member who died earlier this month. Darr said Shaver "provided hours and hours of advice -- and an occasional butt-kicking when we needed it."
Darr presented those Board members whose terms were expiring -- Racine, Meyer, and Fentzlaff -- with certificates recognizing their service, and Racine did the same for Darr.
