BOARD APPROVED AS CORRECTED MARCH 15, 2010
TRAILER ESTATES PARK & RECREATION DISTRICT
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
SMALL HALL
The meeting was called to order at
ROLL CALL—All trustees present.
LITIGATION UPDATE—A continuance was granted by the judge due to the serious illness of the litigator for Trailer Estates. The trial will now be in October.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
REPORT OF
TREASURER
As of Feb. 28, the checking account balance is $39,563.81. The Money Market balance is $1,107,308.48. Pam stated she didn’t have a chance to look at the budget performance. The category “Donations” on the budget refers to bricks. Pam feels we should call it something else. It was suggested we change the name to bricks or beautification.
Harry asked if we should continue with the $100,000 retainer to Kirk Pinkerton since there is a continuance in the trial or go back to the installment plan. Martha will talk to all the attorneys to see if we need a revision.
APPROVAL OF BILLS
There are no bills to approve at this time.
INFORMATIONAL
REPORTS OF TRUSTEES
Harry—None
Ken—Bingo for February had1,331 players with an average of 166 players. $5,780 was taken in and paid out. The jackpot was $3,997. February Coffee Break had over 321 people. The auction took in more than $2,000. The next Coffee Break is March 20. The Trailer Estates Fun Band will perform. There is a Potluck March 17.
Fred—Would like people to watch Channel 95 to see when the pool is closed.
Gail—All but three clubs have turned in their list of officers. The three are Boaters and Toters, SAFE, and Kayak and Canoe Club. April 1 is the deadline for all clubs and organizations to turn in their list of officers, schedule of meetings, and all special events they have planned.
Margo—The Health Fair was very good and the next one is planned for March 2011. She sent six cards to residents who were hospitalized and there were three deaths.
Jim—There was a problem with a boat trailer at 6906 East Bayou. It was taken care of and moved.
Joe—Showtime is this Thursday. Saturday’s dance took in $420. The total for the year is $5,386. 50/50 took in $78; total for the year is $1,304. There has been a drop in revenue at the dances the last five weeks.
Harry: Do you know why there is a drop in dance revenue?
Joe: It could be due to table reservations, the weather or the Olympics. I will have to watch it.
Pam—None
Martha—Marine Times will send a proof soon of our ad for the marina. It will contain both a picture and information. In regards to the kitchen, clubs and organizations can use the kitchen without a license, it appears. More information is forthcoming. We must submit a retroactive bill to Washco for the laundry then we can ask the attorney to move on it. They are liable for the $350 a month. Our contract does provide for attorney fees. We can change the lock, take over the laundry and let them sue us. At the marina, a directional sign is being considered. How about a sign on the fish house? Regarding tree trimming, we can have volunteers sign a waiver but our insurance covers them.
Jim—A waiver is a good idea for someone coming in from outside the park. People in this park should not be responsible for people coming in from the outside.
Ken—Has Mark been asked about a volunteer to trim trees?
Joe—No.
Pam will call Andy about this.
STANDING COMMITTEES
Beautification—The project on the west side of the Large
Hall will begin Wednesday at
ARC—The minutes of Friday’s meeting are not in the office yet.
RESIDENTS COMMENTS
Harry Splett, 2104 OH—Are the trees to be trimmed on our property or on county property? He would like to see the amended budget passed but the new budget held until the end of March for more review.
Niles Kenyon, 1704 MI—Wants the Board to consider the parking fees for the Shuffleboard Tournament. People pay to play and eat in our park. Charging them to park could cause people not to eat in our park. They use no services—water, electric, etc. No other park charges a parking fee.
Edna Black,
Ruth Schneider, 1918 IN—She is optimistic about the outcome
of the lawsuit. People don’t know the
facts. They are going on suppositions
and rumors. Prayer changes things. A prayer group meets at
John Stephenson, 1703 TN—Riverside Ventures owns the fence property. A court hearing with them about the fence was cancelled because the owners of the property have agreed to put up the fence. He wondered why the Board couldn’t/didn’t find out this information.
Jim—Certain that Harry had made contact, Jim questioned Harry about this.
Harry—Gray’s
Appliances out of
Flo Mallory, 6919 W. Bayou—
Harry: We have beautiful art here in our park. Thanks for letting us know about the art display at the library.
OLD
BUSINESS—PUBLIC HEARING ON THE BUDGET
Harry Splett, 2104 OH—Three ideas: 1) request a reduction of trash; go to one pickup a week 2) reduce maintenance by $10,000; don’t work on county property 3) consider a 30 percent reduction in boat slip rental fees. You may be in violation of the Charter for the fiscal year.
Joe—Waste Management will not move on anything right now. Waste Pro will listen and may give us a better deal. Joe feels we should cut county property because the county will cut it only 4-5 times a year and the property will look terrible.
Ken—Is the 30 percent reduction for residents? How did you come up with that? The boaters Ken has talked with are satisfied with the marina prices. We have lost customers due to the economy.
Bill Secraw, 1803 NY—The IRS has AFR rates. He says the current one is .72 percent. The IRS can tax us for the difference. Shouldn’t our rate be closer to the AFR rate?
Martha—The
IRS does this so that you don’t loan money for free. We could not have made it through the year
without the loan money. Discovery ends
30 days before the trial. There are two
depos scheduled. Lots of things are on
the agenda today that could affect the budget.
We should continue the public hearing on the budget until Monday, March
8, at
Litigation cost update: To date in 2010, we have spent $236,936.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Loans from individuals. The loan total to date is $738,500. With interest included, the total is $827,013. That is our present payout. Our savings is $20,000 per year over bank interest. The cutoff date is April 15 for loans. We are accepting those from residents and their family members only.
Jim—There is no problem paying these people back, is that correct?
Martha—There is no difficulty paying it back.
Martha made a motion, seconded by Margo, to approve promissory notes for John Vaiea: $22,500 at 3 percent for 13 months, $22,500 at 4 percent for 25 months, and $22,500 at 5 percent for 37 months and for a note for William and Gloria Francus for $12,500 at 3 percent for 13 months and for $12,500 at 4 percent for 25 months. The motion passed
9-0.
2. Fees
Martha made a motion, seconded by Pam, to collect from renters $50 for an application fee instead of $25. Motion passed 8-1, with Harry casting a dissenting vote.
Martha made a motion, seconded by Joe, to charge owners $75 for keys. When the key is returned, the $75 is fully refundable. Discussion followed. Gail felt this was too much. She stated that we are already raising the assessment for owners, and we have a lot of elderly people who, like her, are prone to lose things like keys. Fred agreed. Martha withdrew her motion and Joe withdrew his second. Fred made a motion, seconded by Ken, to collect $25 from owners for the keys. The money is fully refundable when the keys are returned. The motion passed 9-0.
Pam made a motion, seconded by Jim, to charge renters $75 as a key deposit with $50 refundable and $25 applied to the activity fee. Motion passed 9-0.
Parking permits were discussed. Trailer Estates had 39 RV’s in park near our beach in 2009. There were three RV’s parked for the shuffleboard tournament last week. Jim said he monitors the parking permits, which allow parking for six days. Discussion occurred about collecting a parking fee. Gail felt that since we offer no amenities—water, electricity or bathroom facilities—we should just be nice and collect nothing. Fred made a motion, seconded by Harry, to continue a rate of zero dollars to park vehicles. Motion passed 9-0.
What about dances? Joe felt we should leave the fees as is—free for residents; $5 for guests. The Board agreed.
3. Instructors Fees
Martha felt we should separately discuss club instructors and non-club instructors. Joe passed out a list of fees paid to instructors. Prices for instructors range from $20-37.50 per hour. Previously, Joe called 15 parks about instructors; 13 of those do not pay instructors. The cost to the park for instructors is $4,210. Gail was surprised at the cost per hour of the instructors. She suggested we table this until we can talk with residents and learn more in regards to their feelings about this. We will discuss it again at the March 22 Workshop.
The Board took a lunch break at
4. Employee salaries, benefits and positions
Martha passed out several charts showing salaries, health costs for both the park and the employees, and several options we could consider in regard to our employees. We also went over money-saving ideas from the Budget Committee, particularly as they applied to employees’ salaries and benefits. After much discussion, the Board agreed to place $337,000 on the budget under the category of wages. The extra $7,000 brings employee costs to current levels of $334,000 and will cover a potential health care increase of 4.5 percent. The actual increase will be known in July. Gail suggested we wait to change anything in regards to employees’ salaries and benefits or any other costs based on those until we know the actual cost of health care in July. Should those charges be more than 4.5 percent, we could make necessary changes in the budget at that time. The Board agreed.
Joe had a question about cost-cutting ideas submitted by Bill Secraw. Bill feels Board members should work on policy only and should do other things only if they volunteer to do so. In the meantime, volunteers should handle the non-policy issues of the trustees acting as sub-committees of the trustees.
Martha stated that committees and the Sunshine Law are a problem in the lawsuit so that may not be a good idea.
5. Amended Budget
Pam read a resolution in regards to the amended budget.
Martha made a motion, seconded by Joe, to adopt by resolution the amended budget for 2009-2010. With no discussion, the motion passed 8-0.
6. PP24 and PP54
Martha stated that we need to require an advanced deposit related to public records’ access. She stated that we need someone in the room while people are looking at public records. TJ will have to estimate the amount of the advanced deposit. Martha made a motion, seconded by Jim, to revise PP24 and PP54 in regards to advance deposits. With no discussion, the motion passed 8-0.
7. Bulletin Boards
Gail explained that she has always disliked the requirement of a trustee signature on items placed on bulletin boards. She would like to change that policy and also change the way the bulletin boards on the wall of the post office are used. Her suggestions: First, no signatures will be required to place something on the boards. Second, all trustee and committee information will be moved to areas designated for such information. Third, the first two-thirds of the bulletin board will be for park activities only. Fourth, the last third and the two small boards will be used for information from other parks and community information of interest to residents. Fifth, overflow of flyers will be placed on the board now designated for sales next to the travel board outside the Small Hall. Gail feels we should try this for a while and see what happens. The Board agreed.
8. Reservation Forms
Gail passed out examples of our present reservation form and went over things that she felt should be eliminated on the form. She also spoke about things she felt should be added to the form such as use of the kitchen, caterers, and use of facilities for park activities that include commercial sales. It was decided that we will look over the form, think about it, and bring our ideas to next week’s workshop.
Martha announced that today’s meeting will be continued at
Respectfully submitted,
Gail Opper, Secretary