Fall OLCA Meeting

Last month, Directors Rick Gainar, Ed Baitt, Ron Morris, and Tom Sopko along with RRA employees Dan Mullins, Jen Addair, and Pat Sowry attended the Fall 2014 OLCA (Ohio Lake Communities Association) Conference at Apple Valley POA outside of  Mt. Gilead, OH.

OLCA conferences are an opportunity for Lake Associations from all around Ohio to come together to share ideas, information, and attend informative sessions.

In addition to attending these sessions, the RRA was able to share its progress this year with our Dredging Program. RRA Maintenance Director gave a brief presentation and answered audience questions.

Below is the OLCA Fall 2014 Meeting Summary Report that Tom Sopko delivered at the 10-9-2014 Board Meeting. It is a report of observations of how other associations operate and not a statement of recommendations or how RRA should operate.

1. Apple Valley (AV), host
   1. $2m budget
      1. Annual dues $205
      2. 50% of income comes from dues & assessments
      3. Other 50% of income comes from operations like marina, pool passes etc
      4. Marina was the largest source of income after dues
      5. Indoor pool and rental facility was a losing proposition
      6. Compliance officer is a paid position
      7. 9 Board Positions, each with a 3 year term.
      8. Revenue from
         1. Marina
         2. Campground
         3. Publication advertising, $70k per year
         4. Annual bazaar brings in big $
      9. Photo id are passes. Magnetic card passes.
   2.  Facilities
      1. Video security used extensively
      2. Passes available for a fee for entry before 2 pm to pools etc
      3. Office space 3400 sq ft.
      4. Shelter rental, $25/4 hr increment
      5. Fitness membership $45/yr
      6. Roads were maintained by the county.
         1. Roads were not as good as those at RS.
      7. Architectural Committee existed
         1. Handle footers, setback and design (including color)
      8. Water & Sewer costs about $50/month
   3. Lake front properties were 50% to 100% & greater in value compared to RS
      1. Their lowest value structures = to our highest value structures
      2. 6600 lots
      3. 2600 homes
   4. Boats
      1. Limited to 2 power, 2 non-power and 1 jet ski.
      2. Marina packed with boats, probably 5+ times the size of RS marina.
   5. AV may have a weed harvester to rent or sell
   6. Licensed to hunt geese
      1. Control geese population

2. AV Lake (330 acre)
   1. Water appeared cleaner than RS
   2. AV did some dredging. Mechanical. Lowered lake and brought in bulldozer type equipment. Only dredged north section. Cost $750,000.
   3. Algae blooms followed dredging. Attributed to stirring up the bottom. Comment offered not asked.
   4. Lot owners are allowed to use an approved weed & algae treatment company. At AV it is Aquadoc. It used to be another company that closed due to owner retiring.
   5. AV does an annual draw down to control weeds.
   6. AV did no annual broad water treatment other than lake lowering.

3. Dredging
   1. Any association dredging was using the mechanical method citing cost for not doing hydraulic dredging.

4. Security handled by County.

5. ADA Federal Regulations require that ADA compliance if facilities are used by non-members only. If a member brings in outside people its ok to not have ADA facilities.

6. Other Lakes use a paid Compliance Officer to ensure collection & prosecuting fines.

7. Other Associations seemed tougher on collections. Used collection agencies. They recommended:
   1. Clean up non-collectable debt.
   2. Establish a rigorous policy using third party collection.

8. Volunteerism and Club Memberships
   1. Participation is down.
   2. Some used some form of recognition for volunteers, dinner, etc.
   3. AV biggest club was 55 members, the Fishing Club.

9. Rules and Regulations
   1. More handled thru rules and regulations rather than By-Laws

10. Disaster Management Plan in place at AV.
    1. They rotated meeting invitations to key stake holders like Fire Chief, Police Chief
    2. Suggested having a list of sources for available equipment like:
       1. Snow mobiles
       2. Generators

11. Recommended having strict rules put in place before a problem occurs.
    1. Membership fees for rentals.
       1. Only allow one home to be rented at a time, prevents owning and renting many homes. Legal to restrict to one home rental.
    2. Rules for ham radio towers
    3. Lighting
    4. Architecture

12. HB-572 would allow for priority lien status following taxes. Mortgages are third after taxes and dues.

13. Jen Addair is an OLCA Board Member.

Tom Sopko, 9-30-2014