By Tom Sopko

The Board voted to have an Interim Treasurer.  For our Interim Treasurer, the Board has elected Jack McMillin.  Should Jack McMillin be voted onto the Village Council, as he is a candidate, and he chooses to resign from the Association, another Interim Treasurer will be chosen to start in January.

Tonight will be the second consideration of the Sexual Predator Amendment to the Bylaws.  There is a slight change in the wording to include “weekenders” who may be tier 3 sex offenders.  Before the Board votes on this again tonight, the minor wording change will be reviewed.

The Board approved a 2018 budget.  As always, it is a balanced budget.  Thanks to the fine work done by our Office staff getting more Members to pay, it appears that we may have up to $90,000 more to spend in 2018.  As you may recall, it has been a goal of the Board to reduce the number of Members in arrears.

The Board also addressed Reserves.  What are Reserves?  Reserves: “an amount adequate to repair and replace major capital items in the normal course of operations without the necessity of special assessments.”  We are one of the few HOA’s that has the right to pledge property toward a loan.  However, based on the fact that Reserves continues to be brought up, based on the fact that in the future banks or lenders may not take property for collateral, it has been decided to dedicate money to a Reserve Fund, and to do a reserve study.  Therefore the Board voted to move $50,000 from the $198,000 we have in savings to a Reserve Fund.  In addition, $10,000 from the 2018 budget is targeted to the Reserve Fund.  In addition to starting a Reserve Fund, a Reserve study will be done to determine how much should be in the Reserve Fund.  As part of approving the new Budget, the Board voted to leave the dues/assessments and any late fees the same.

A new Employee Handbook has been approved by the Board.  Copies will be available online or a copy can be picked up at the Office.

Jen Addair, of the Office, has suggested to the Board a new Membership Card hierarchy.  Her suggestions have been approved by the Board.  It does streamline the card system by eliminating the “Guest System”.  Separate from the Card hierarchy, a backup will be allowed.  The backup system is that pictures of Membership cards will be allowed to be on phones.  This means that if you want a backup to your card or your family’s cards on your phone, you will need to take a picture of your card, and any family or household members and copy it to your phone.  This will be your backup.  This new system is a one year pilot program for 2018.

Jen Addair has summarized the real estate tax meeting with Roger Corlett and Dennis DiCamillo.  The summary is on the RRA website and can be found in the email blasts.  One of the most important outcomes is that if you want an informal meeting with the County Auditor concerning your property appraisal, it is recommended that you do it immediately.  This will allow you to have an informal  meeting as opposed to a formal request for real estate re-evaluation.

The Board has discussed applying up to $50,000 from savings toward paying down the Office Loan.  As we announced at the time of the decision to build rather than rent, we would seek to pay down the Office Loan as quickly as possible.  We, the Association, have two outstanding loans, the pool & roads loan and the Office loan.  We are looking to vote to put the money toward the highest interest rate loan, the Office.