Board Meeting & Minutes | Pinnacle Lake Estates

Pinnacle Lake Estates Monthly Board Meeting

Board Meeting Minutes: Saturday April 1, 2023
9:00 AM at Pinnacle Lake Office

Board Members:
Present: Dan Latham, Dan Collins, Tara Wallace, Bob Menzel, Steve Pogulis, Dan Ryan, Nikki Mohrmann and Rachel Haney

Absent: Barbara Baker

Proceedings:
Meeting called to order at 8:59am by President Dan Latham

March 4, 2023, Recording Secretary Barbara Baker emailed Board Meeting Minutes to Board members – Motion to approve by Bob M- Nikki made changes but the changes are not on there due to Barb B being sick- will delay the approval to the next meetin

Open Forum: Questions/Suggestions Only

Complaints need to be filled out on the complaint form

Lot Owner-Any more information on the posts/survey-asked about letter posted on website. From the way they read the letter, there was no easement.

Dan R.-The letter lot owner sent us?-Letter is wrong.

Rachel-This is a legal matter; we hired an attorney and we are looking out for the best interest of the association; lots of questions marks; we have not seen a copy of their survey; not sure what the issue is.

Lot owner- Has the road been there since the 70s?

Rachel- Before that and we will share more when we are able to

Reports:

Administration Report – Tara Wallace –

Three properties going to courthouse steps for Sheriffs sale.

In March 2023, we started with a new title company. We turned over two properties to them to do letter reports, general warranty deeds, etc..- It is going well- got reports back yesterday.

One property- nothing on it except for us- moving forward on the general warranty deed.

Second property- does have a small issue with the death of her dad; too much time as gone by- at this time we are still working on getting additional documentation from her.

Out of the five properties we turned over to collections last month, only one replied and they are looking for a payment plan- we will talk about that later.

The office did send out one collection letter to a lot owner- we have not received response back.

Cheryl is preparing the next five properties and this will be that last of the original group of $5,000 and above late.

We did turn off gate cards to 11 properties with $1,000 or more in past due balances.

This is in our policies-90 days past due on accounts. I am hoping this will generate phone calls and save some expense of going to collections.

We do have some less than $1,000- we will deal with those as well.

Three gate cards were issued in the month of March.

-One new lot owner

-Two for separate lots to replace lost cards-the lost cards were removed from the system

Two boat registrations and two motor registrations were issued.

We need approval on the Montgomery GIS mapping system- it is up for renewal $250.00 for year- we use it every day at work.

Motion to approve to continue that service made by Dan C, seconded by Dan R- Motion approved

Reminder—Cheryl will be out of office Monday April 24^th and Tuesday April 25^th

Payment Plan Information- Dan C

The board had some email discussions on the payment plan.

Cheryl will get the information on what is owed.

I will write up three different payment schedules to show amount paid, how long it will take, etc..

All plans will include the late fees.

Only advantage is that we will not go straight to collections attorney.

Once the plans are ready, will send to board or Justin for legal wording and the owner can pick which plan they want.

If the lot owner stops making payments, it will be a lot easier to go straight to the collections attorney.

Past Due Amounts

Nikki requested total past due assessments. Dan C showed the amount on the balance which is printed every month. Dan C will start reading the balances aloud so it will be in the minutes and the members can see the amount that are still owed to PLE.

Dredging Meeting

Dredging meeting went well- nothing to report to security. Suggestions for more detail in the invoices so future board members can go back and find the information easier.

Anything the board can do to be more descriptive so that future board members can find the information a lot easier/quicker, review and be able to understand. This covers the board and shows transparency.

Treasurer Report– Dan Collins – PLE’s Current Assets:

Boat Dock Fund – $21,823.68

Main Bank Account – $196,710.53

Special Assessments – $23,888.91

Wayne Beegle Fund – $4,028.53

Total Assets – $246,451.65

Outstanding debt owed- $224,552.09

Tara collects on this amount each month.

I did not make any changes to the budget, although I do keep putting the same one out, except for this morning I put the actual amounts outs.

The accountant approved the balances that were read this morning.

Accountant is working on reorganizing our account books to help make the Treasurer’s Report easier to read and understand.

Roads Report – Bob Menzel

In March, we spent $2,807.61

Cleaned out a culvert by campground- Thank you John McCorkel

Cleaned out another culvert at Butternutt

Lakeshore Drive was incredibly not passable- huge ruts- this is now fixed

Small culvert by Hickey Hill was also corrected

Cinders need to be moved – I spoke with Jerrod about moving to lot PLE owns by North gate.

It will cost around $5-6,000.00 to get the lot prepared for usage- this will come from the roads budget

Dirt in Campground

Rachel spoke with Lewis Bade – they said they would take our money- but we should really have a contractor do the work and the scope of the work will be modified as it goes because they have to figure out where to put the ditch and they really don’t know how to do this stuff

Rachel- Yes, Lewis Bade said they would take our money, draw a line on a piece of paper on where to put the silt fence. They would charge us hourly to monitor it and come out every week to check and after any significant rain.

Lewis Bade really encouraged us not to hire them and to hire a good contractor. Even if they drew the plans, plans change and you have to go with it.

Bob M: to Ron S we went down that road to see how it goes- we are ok to have a contractor work it.

Ron S.: We are at the mercy of the contractor- whatever he says goes

Bob M: Scope of work

Ron S: He decides what that will be

Bob M: No- I will write the scope of work- he won’t be able to move forward unless he comes to the board for approval

Ron S: You will write the scope of work

Bob M: Yes

Ron S: How will you determine/know what the right thing to do is

Bob M: I know the basic piece is to move the brush, drain the pond that is there, move the dirt back

Have to have a limited statement of work that says what we can do

Steve P-

There has been posts out on Facebook making big statements about how much we were going to spend to move the dirt again. One thing that has happened besides assumptions and posting or hearing about bids before the board might or somehow connecting dots, we have now kind of jumped to we have to drain the water as part of moving the dirt and we really don’t.

The board needs to really go down there and walk it- need to look at aerial maps.

Point is- the big pond we do not have to drain it off, we can move the dirt and actually, most of the dirt is not near there right now.

We can push the brush, level the dirt out and be fine

Little bit of water that may be coming from that seep that does down where the UTVs cut through (we have signs that say not supposed to do that)- do we want to stop that or not

Some dirt we could use to block of the sneak in spots

It would be about $5-6,000 to move dirt

Dam Safety

The open hole on the dam was identified in the August Safety inspection.

After speaking with dam safety and reviewing the records, I found out it was from the initial spillway.

Right now, the hole is temporarily covered with a steel plate, heavy stones and wrapped with safety tape- Rachel is taking lead on this

To fix: steel plate will be bolted down, it will not be filled in- did have conversation with dam safety (Denise) about filling it in or not.

Seep spot was not in last report but it was in previous report

Not in violation of wetland stuff.

Asked dam safety about draining off to ditch- we can, they have people that do that.

Dam safety suggested to continue to monitor the seep (fold a piece of metal into a V-stick in the ditch to gauge the water)

No mention of permits needed

Bob M: We have to have some statement of work for this- will write up a statement of work and strike out what we do not need

In addition, John McCorkell made a note about the crowing of the dam- crowning was taken off top of dam and it needs to be crowned up.

Bob M: will create work order for it

Dan L: Reminding everyone that this is the business portion of the meeting- we need to get going.

Bob M: Another observation was made about material against spill way- did see pictures- wanted to wait until after next rain to clear it out.

John McCorkell- half of the spillway is clogged up- if you have rain coming you should have it clear before it gets here.

Dan L: Bob was referring to the rain yesterday

Bob M: $33,356.00 left in roads budget

Dan L: We have to move this along because of Easter Egg Hunt

Security Report – Dan Ryan –

Almost have staff complete.

We are going to have coverage from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon.
Additional coverage on Memorial Day, July 4^th and Labor Day.

Roamers: instructed to be headquartered at the beach
North Gate- another attack on the north gate

Steve P- March 18^th at 5pm was forcibly trespassed and forced open- lot owner notified they could not get out of gate- able to get on it with the updates we made. We did report to sheriff’s department

Estimate not in but may be $1,500.00 and up

Architecture – Steve Pogulis –

Four and maybe one more new application—sheds, no houses

Wait is no longer than 30 days

Following up on letters and complaints that have been filed.

Technology and Security Tech Support Updates – Steve Pogulis –

North gate and damage was covered already

Subject to the final agreement and board approval both gates will likely have some work in the coming months

Cameras was talked about before- fund challenged

More funds challenged given the gates- we thought we would have more money to play with

Need to find a balance between what we need, what we can afford, what is really the best thing to do long term for cameras and technology- what we can get the most bang for the buck for the return of the investments

Trail cameras- still happening soon, will have to find the money for that

Nikki- would like a time frame on when the trails section will have cameras- it has been a year and we still don’t have cameras- we keep spending money on the gates/cameras- what about looking into a new gate system, better cameras system

Steve- the board didn’t say no- we have been working on it, issues on electric, internet and how we are going to place cameras since they cannot be on someone’s property- short answer there will be money there for the trails cameras in the next coming months

Dan C: We welcome new ideas- go ahead and get an estimate for a brand new system

All the damage that has been done to the gates are by people

We have three lots going to sale- first priority once money covers the over budgets- camera are first on list

Dan L- Lucky the trails section is off the beaten path

Steve: We have handle on what needs to be done

Special Projects – Nikki Mohrmann –

Did invite on facebook for clean up day-April 22^nd– assuming all board members will be present to help

Rachel: Not usually the case

All board members should atleast show your face

Rachel: It’s always been whoever comes, comes

Dan L: I will try to be there- have flight on Sunday

Rachel: It would be nice for the members to show up as well

Nikki: I am out there talking to the members about volunteering

Doing BBQ instead of sandwiches this year- a way to thank the volunteers for everything they do

Motion to spend up to $100.00 on food- will be taken out of rec budget

Bob M: second motion- Motion approved

Big Dumpster: Looking around for different companies and pricing so we can get the best rate out there; look at budget and move forward

Porta Potties: Remove the handicapped one since the bathhouse will be open

Grass Bid: We only received one- did show another company but did not receive bid
Michael Kenney- $150.00 more than last year
Nikki will call and find out why it went up

Buell- did not send actual bid- sent invoice ($2,200.00 this year)
2022-$1,850.00, fuel charge
Carly- We should contact Buell and ask them to remove the sides of the roads and just keep the dam- will that lower the price?

Spraying the dam/beach/boat
Rachel will pick up the spray (two)
Judy volunteers to spray

Committee Reports:

Lake Preservation Project/Committee – Nikki Mohrmann –

On hold until the dredging is squared away

Need to do creek cleanup and pile clean up

Funds:

Under $24,000 left in bank

$43,000 still need to be collected

John McCorkell- there is a lot of gravel that needs to be cleaned up

Bottleneck situation-creeks running down that creates force-fortunate to not have had a lot of rain- when they re-did dam they did it for 7-9 inches of rain in 24 hours

We need to schedule a time for all of the board members to meet with John McCorkell and any other member who has historical information so the board can see and know what is going on

By-Laws/Covenants Revision Update – Dan L spoke with Jamie- she said to give her two weeks to review and she will have them ready, table of contents and page numbers.

Recreation Committee – Dena Cross –

No report

Always looking for volunteers.

Unfinished Business:

Sale of PLE assets – Rachel – The lots we have available to sell now have access issues- we are working through those
Sheriff sale properties- working on them- no issues; Cheryl will send lot information and outstanding balances to Rachel
Boat Docks – Rachel – Work started- we should have four new slips by the end of next week
Will order all new numbers, metal, UV treated
50% deposit- will pay balance once they are complete
Fish cleaning station- needs to be picked up and moved to end
Tiger will remove the cables but save for emergency use

Dan L: Everyone helps each other- there are certain things we do not disclose to anyone in the community- remind the board, as a working board- keep under wraps.

With all the questions going around- we have to answer the questions but we also have to protect the lot owners.

Gate Card Policy – ON-GOING
Recommendation: Deactivate access card as soon as a property is sold. This will force new lot owners to bring in their deeds. Motion by Steve Pogulis – upon verified sale of lot, previous owner’s (seller’s) cards are shut off. New buyers, if they can’t provide deed will be given 1 card upon proof of purchase (settlement statement) that, after 30 days, will be deactivated unless requested with a hardship statement.
Handling of Dredging Spoils – ON-GOING
Scope of work coming in near future, dam inspection/safety conversations being done
Appreciation of volunteers –BBQ with Spring Work Day thanking all the volunteers
Approval of Parking Permits – ON-GOING
Create small parking area near pavilion for permit only parking (tabled to ExecutivSession)
Committees/Chain of Command – ON-GOING
Dan Latham will create a chain of command chart
New Owner packet map – ON-GOING
Steve working on map w/colors and road information
Communication/Transparency – ON-GOIN
Steve – we will create a Project Planning page that follows projects in progress or completed, and the FAQ page that answers questions and puts out the facts of things that come up and get rid of the misperceptions created on some social media.
Signs – ON-GOING
Dan Latham and Steve Pogulis are working on getting a new/replacement sign for the Beach with a box for holding donated youth life vests. Our Conservation Agents should be able to check periodically that the life vests are in good condition.

New Business:

Gate Card Requests –
Service and Supply of Bellflowers- request for gate card denied
O’Fallon Sewer- still waiting on list of customers

Issues/Complaints –
Debris by dam- Bob M completed
Crowning by dam- Bob M working on

Adjournment – Dan Ryan makes Motion to adjourn at

No Executive session due to PLE Event-Easter Egg Hunt