June 3, 2017
Mt. Index Riversites Community Club, Inc.
Board of DIrectors Meeting
Board members present: Mark Bollman, Carrie Byrne, Rebecca Davis, Kathleen EckartLove, Mark Haenlein, Patty Harbaugh, CJ Holmes, Gary Johnson, Don Larsen, David MacFarlane, Earl Van Buskirk
Absent: Brent Corey, Mat Williams
Owners and guests:
Dan Harrison, John Sharf
Committee Reports and Information
Executive Committee
Mark Bollman said that there was no news to report from the month since the annual meeting of property owners.
Budget & Finance
Earl Van Buskirk shared the financial report for May, noting that the report is preliminary since not all checks have been picked up from the mailbox or posted so early in the month.
These highlights were reviewed during the meeting:
There are numerous charges to Cascade Quarry due to a charge made for each haul instead of cumulative for the entire day’s worth of materials.
Mark Haenlein inquired about E-Section Road Income on the consolidated report. To date, it totals $13,266. Van Buskirk said that this amount is from monies collected from past due debt.
Collections
Earl Van Buskirk said we are going to audit everything we did last year with Anderson & Hunter to evaluate what we will do this year. All monies from Manley have been collected, but the check has not yet posted. Once it posts, it will reverse out the associated attorney fees.
These were the highlights reviewed during the meeting:
Van Buskirk said that current accounts are not considered past due until 90 days after the due date of May 31. At that point we should have a Collections Committee meeting to figure out how to move forward.
Don Larsen said that his name is on the past due list; this is an example of where checks received haven’t posted yet.
Legal/Ethics/Bylaws
Gary Johnson reported that at the annual meeting, it was asserted that our election process was out of compliance with the bylaws and therefore improper. That assertion was technically correct. We followed protocol for inviting nominations by the due date. After only getting five candidates for five open positions, we decided it was a poor use of property owners’ dues to send out ballots for a predetermined outcome.
Johnson went on to recommend that in the current situation, the Board should seat the Board members who were nominated. He suggested that the next time a mailing goes out to all members, we include a proposed bylaws amendment to say something like, when there are the same or fewer number of nominees as open positions, a mail-out ballot would not be necessary. Johnson said he thought this was a reasonable approach and didn’t believe we needed a motion to approve it.
Bekka Davis said she would feel more comfortable if we spoke briefly to a lawyer before seating the five nominees so that the board could assure the public that the process was legally sanctioned.
Earl Van Buskirk said that in an earlier decision, the judge gave us clearance to make best-judgment decisions and assured us that the court did not want to micro-manage the day-to-day activity of the Board. Van Buskirk noted that if we contacted an attorney, the charge would be sizable—probably as much as mailing out ballots. He said that in the past, the board has not mailed ballots when the number of nominees was equal to or less than the number of vacant seats.
Mark Bollman said he believed that if we sent a ballot out saying, “Please elect 5 people for 5 seats,” he would get a lot of community feedback that we had wasted resources by mailing a ballot.
Johnson said that when the minutes are posted, the Board provides transparency with regard to its actions.
Dan Harrison asked if seating the five nominees would involve ignoring other nominations. He had heard from someone that another person wanted to be on the Board.
Bollman said he had received no nominations other than the aforementioned five, but that in the future if someone wants to put their name in the hat for consideration, the Board would love to hear from them.
Harrison asked if the opportunity for members to nominate themselves for a seat on the board was only posted in the minutes.
Bollman said no; that information was also mailed out to all members with a request to submit nominations by the due date.
Carrie Byrne noted that the nomination process had adhered to the process outlined in the bylaws.
Bollman concluded that nobody has told him they feel disenfranchised.
E-Section Roads
Dave MacFarlane reported that the bigger rock he has started using is great for thwarting potholes, but that he had heard from three people that they had had multiple flat tires from the larger-size gravel. He said that the 5/8- minus size used previously was pea gravel that blew off the road. He asked if there was any way to get large gravel that is more crushed and less angled.
Mark Bollman said that the new large gravel is 1¼-minus out of Cascade Quarry. It was recommended by the road contractor Paul Hery, who said of the smaller size, “you might as well fill the potholes with cereal.”
Earl Van Buskirk said there is no such thing as crushed rock gravel without sharp edges. He asked whether the people getting flats had much tread on their tires.
MacFarlane said he had checked out the tires, and they were okay. He added that the cost of flat tires to the community may be sizable, but not as much as a new suspension from potholes. He said he wasn’t sure what the answer to the flat tires is.
Van Buskirk said, asphalt.
Mark Haenlein said crushed asphalt is better than crushed gravel.
Bollman noted that the problem with asphalt grindings is the trucking cost.
Van Buskirk said that the road is looking the best it’s ever been, and we cannot please everyone.
Bollman said the Board will continue to check in with Hery on areas of the road that have been challenging.
MacFarlane said that if they start grinding US-2 more, we will be in touch with the DOT about the possibility of getting asphalt grindings. He added that we don’t need to do any brushing, but do need to whack down knotweed for visibility near Alder Loop.
Haenlein said that road grinding is happening at Sultan and Startup; maybe we could even stockpile asphalt grindings. He said it would be worth asking the highway department about it.
Canyon Falls to Highway 2
No report at this time.
A-Section Roads and USFS 6020
Mat Williams was not present to give this road report.
Bekka Davis said that on the weekend before Memorial Day weekend, cars parked on both sides of USFS 6020 all the way to the MIRCC arch, through the arch, and down the hill. Members driving into the community told her and Williams that the parking situation was untenable. After checking with Joe Neal at the USFS, the A-Section road committee towed cars inside MIRCC boundaries.
CJ Holmes noted that we now have red tape inside the archway that is posted no trespassing and that we will continue towing illegally parked cars. She said that part of the road is very fragile. It’s suddenly a one lane road around a curve, making it even more challenging and dangerous.
Holmes said she had seen cars parked by the guard shack overnight; perhaps we should mark the area and tow these too.
Other Reports & Information
Nothing was discussed in this regard.
Priority Business
May Meeting Minutes
This was the business meeting held prior to the annual meeting of property owners.
Carrie Byrne: “Move to approve the May meeting minutes.”
Approved: Yes – 6; Abstained – EckartLove, Harbaugh, Holmes, MacFarlane (none were present at the meeting).
May Expenditures
Earl Van Buskirk: “Move to approve the Check Detail report for May expenditures.”
Approved: Unanimous
Invoices detail
Charges and Invoices to be paid:
E-Section Checks:
A-Section Checks:
New Business
Mark Bollman said it was time for the annual election of new Board officers. Anyone was invited if they wished to come forward to serve on the executive committee.
Gary Johnson, seconded by Mark Haenlein: “Move to elect by acclamation four corporate officers for the 2017-18 fiscal year: Mark Bollman, President; Earl Van Buskirk, Vice President; Carrie Byrne, Treasurer; Bekka Davis, Secretary.”
Approved: Unanimous
Mark Bollman added that if anyone would like to serve as an officer, there’s ample opportunity to serve.
Closing Remarks
The Board meets the first Saturday of each month; however, changes are needed for the summer months due to holidays and community conflicts. These are the meeting dates for the next three months:
Respectfully submitted by
Carrie Byrne & Bekka Davis
MIRCC Treasurer & Secretary
Absent: Brent Corey, Mat Williams
Owners and guests:
Dan Harrison, John Sharf
Committee Reports and Information
Executive Committee
Mark Bollman said that there was no news to report from the month since the annual meeting of property owners.
Budget & Finance
Earl Van Buskirk shared the financial report for May, noting that the report is preliminary since not all checks have been picked up from the mailbox or posted so early in the month.
These highlights were reviewed during the meeting:
- In E-section, ~$49k was collected for the bridge; $1400 was collected in finance charges – monies owed on past due assessments.
- In A-section, ~$11k was collected for roads; $4600 was collected for equipment purchases.
- Checks in the report are mostly for gravel and hauling.
- The easement attorney charge was incorrectly applied to E-Section; it will be moved to A-Section’s account.
- We have ~$91k in the bank; last year at this time it was ~$96k.
- ~$41k has been posted to payments but not yet deposited in the bank.
- Total current assets are $132,807. That is $471 ahead of last year at this time.
- Total assets, including fixed assets like the bridge, are $457,264. Total equity is $349,123. We are up $77,826 from last year – this is mostly from the bridge.
- Aging for E-Section is $274,609. Many checks could be in the mail or otherwise received but not yet posted. ~$86k came in for May; another ~$16k has been received; more checks are likely in the mailbox.
- Aging for A-Section is $107,454. ~$25k in payments have posted in the month of May.
- General administrative costs, including accounting and attorney fees, were $10,686 for E-Section and $2,361 for A-Section.
There are numerous charges to Cascade Quarry due to a charge made for each haul instead of cumulative for the entire day’s worth of materials.
Mark Haenlein inquired about E-Section Road Income on the consolidated report. To date, it totals $13,266. Van Buskirk said that this amount is from monies collected from past due debt.
Collections
Earl Van Buskirk said we are going to audit everything we did last year with Anderson & Hunter to evaluate what we will do this year. All monies from Manley have been collected, but the check has not yet posted. Once it posts, it will reverse out the associated attorney fees.
These were the highlights reviewed during the meeting:
- Manley: We received $7500; two days later, we received a check for the new fiscal year’s assessment. Manley has paid about $3700 in road dues and ~$5k in attorney fees. He is now a member in good standing.
- Satterlee: The bank paid the property’s road dues for the last fiscal year, but not past debt. We have a judgment against Satterlee; however, the bank is ahead of us as a lienholder in the Satterlee foreclosure.
- Lahey/Russek: The money from foreclosure is sitting at the courthouse and should come to MIRCC soon.
- The Brian Stanley sale closed and the escrow company is sending money.
Van Buskirk said that current accounts are not considered past due until 90 days after the due date of May 31. At that point we should have a Collections Committee meeting to figure out how to move forward.
Don Larsen said that his name is on the past due list; this is an example of where checks received haven’t posted yet.
Legal/Ethics/Bylaws
Gary Johnson reported that at the annual meeting, it was asserted that our election process was out of compliance with the bylaws and therefore improper. That assertion was technically correct. We followed protocol for inviting nominations by the due date. After only getting five candidates for five open positions, we decided it was a poor use of property owners’ dues to send out ballots for a predetermined outcome.
Johnson went on to recommend that in the current situation, the Board should seat the Board members who were nominated. He suggested that the next time a mailing goes out to all members, we include a proposed bylaws amendment to say something like, when there are the same or fewer number of nominees as open positions, a mail-out ballot would not be necessary. Johnson said he thought this was a reasonable approach and didn’t believe we needed a motion to approve it.
Bekka Davis said she would feel more comfortable if we spoke briefly to a lawyer before seating the five nominees so that the board could assure the public that the process was legally sanctioned.
Earl Van Buskirk said that in an earlier decision, the judge gave us clearance to make best-judgment decisions and assured us that the court did not want to micro-manage the day-to-day activity of the Board. Van Buskirk noted that if we contacted an attorney, the charge would be sizable—probably as much as mailing out ballots. He said that in the past, the board has not mailed ballots when the number of nominees was equal to or less than the number of vacant seats.
Mark Bollman said he believed that if we sent a ballot out saying, “Please elect 5 people for 5 seats,” he would get a lot of community feedback that we had wasted resources by mailing a ballot.
Johnson said that when the minutes are posted, the Board provides transparency with regard to its actions.
Dan Harrison asked if seating the five nominees would involve ignoring other nominations. He had heard from someone that another person wanted to be on the Board.
Bollman said he had received no nominations other than the aforementioned five, but that in the future if someone wants to put their name in the hat for consideration, the Board would love to hear from them.
Harrison asked if the opportunity for members to nominate themselves for a seat on the board was only posted in the minutes.
Bollman said no; that information was also mailed out to all members with a request to submit nominations by the due date.
Carrie Byrne noted that the nomination process had adhered to the process outlined in the bylaws.
Bollman concluded that nobody has told him they feel disenfranchised.
E-Section Roads
Dave MacFarlane reported that the bigger rock he has started using is great for thwarting potholes, but that he had heard from three people that they had had multiple flat tires from the larger-size gravel. He said that the 5/8- minus size used previously was pea gravel that blew off the road. He asked if there was any way to get large gravel that is more crushed and less angled.
Mark Bollman said that the new large gravel is 1¼-minus out of Cascade Quarry. It was recommended by the road contractor Paul Hery, who said of the smaller size, “you might as well fill the potholes with cereal.”
Earl Van Buskirk said there is no such thing as crushed rock gravel without sharp edges. He asked whether the people getting flats had much tread on their tires.
MacFarlane said he had checked out the tires, and they were okay. He added that the cost of flat tires to the community may be sizable, but not as much as a new suspension from potholes. He said he wasn’t sure what the answer to the flat tires is.
Van Buskirk said, asphalt.
Mark Haenlein said crushed asphalt is better than crushed gravel.
Bollman noted that the problem with asphalt grindings is the trucking cost.
Van Buskirk said that the road is looking the best it’s ever been, and we cannot please everyone.
Bollman said the Board will continue to check in with Hery on areas of the road that have been challenging.
MacFarlane said that if they start grinding US-2 more, we will be in touch with the DOT about the possibility of getting asphalt grindings. He added that we don’t need to do any brushing, but do need to whack down knotweed for visibility near Alder Loop.
Haenlein said that road grinding is happening at Sultan and Startup; maybe we could even stockpile asphalt grindings. He said it would be worth asking the highway department about it.
Canyon Falls to Highway 2
No report at this time.
A-Section Roads and USFS 6020
Mat Williams was not present to give this road report.
Bekka Davis said that on the weekend before Memorial Day weekend, cars parked on both sides of USFS 6020 all the way to the MIRCC arch, through the arch, and down the hill. Members driving into the community told her and Williams that the parking situation was untenable. After checking with Joe Neal at the USFS, the A-Section road committee towed cars inside MIRCC boundaries.
CJ Holmes noted that we now have red tape inside the archway that is posted no trespassing and that we will continue towing illegally parked cars. She said that part of the road is very fragile. It’s suddenly a one lane road around a curve, making it even more challenging and dangerous.
Holmes said she had seen cars parked by the guard shack overnight; perhaps we should mark the area and tow these too.
Other Reports & Information
Nothing was discussed in this regard.
Priority Business
May Meeting Minutes
This was the business meeting held prior to the annual meeting of property owners.
Carrie Byrne: “Move to approve the May meeting minutes.”
Approved: Yes – 6; Abstained – EckartLove, Harbaugh, Holmes, MacFarlane (none were present at the meeting).
May Expenditures
Earl Van Buskirk: “Move to approve the Check Detail report for May expenditures.”
Approved: Unanimous
Invoices detail
Charges and Invoices to be paid:
E-Section Checks:
- $2,737.17 – Liberty Mutual (business insurance)
- $91.34 – Swizznet (office supplies)
- $1,518.64 – Cascade Quarries (road work)
- $602.70 – Carney-Badley (easement attorney)
- $8.37 – PUD (utilities and street lighting)
- $483.00 – SLK Accounting Services (accounting services)
- $6,472.95 – Anderson Hunter Law Firm (liens and foreclosures)
- $2,864.87 – Universal Equipment (road work and gate software)
- $146.00 – Mark Bollman (filing fees)
- $1,197.90 – RJD Enterprises (road work)
- $650.25 – Paul Hery (green gate)
- $3,505.62 – Owners’ bridge loan payments
- $4,736.17 – Acrow Corporation (bridge loan)
A-Section Checks:
- $1,824.78 – Liberty Mutual (business insurance)
- $60.90 – Swizznet (office supplies)
- $103.48 – PUD (utilities and street lighting)
- $64.89 – JEV Recycling (road work)
- $29.99 – Frontier Communications (office supplies) ????
- $342.00 – SLK Accounting Services (accounting services)
- $515.79 – Braden Corey (equipment maintenance)
- $240.00 – Matthew Moore (equipment maintenance)
- $239.58 – RJD Enterprises (road work)
New Business
Mark Bollman said it was time for the annual election of new Board officers. Anyone was invited if they wished to come forward to serve on the executive committee.
Gary Johnson, seconded by Mark Haenlein: “Move to elect by acclamation four corporate officers for the 2017-18 fiscal year: Mark Bollman, President; Earl Van Buskirk, Vice President; Carrie Byrne, Treasurer; Bekka Davis, Secretary.”
Approved: Unanimous
Mark Bollman added that if anyone would like to serve as an officer, there’s ample opportunity to serve.
Closing Remarks
The Board meets the first Saturday of each month; however, changes are needed for the summer months due to holidays and community conflicts. These are the meeting dates for the next three months:
- July 8
- August 12
- September 9
Respectfully submitted by
Carrie Byrne & Bekka Davis
MIRCC Treasurer & Secretary