Post by Town Crier on Dec 24, 2023 17:57:25 GMT -7
GLA Board Meeting - December 14, 2023
The first meeting of the newest Glastonbury Landowners Association board was held at Emigrant Hall on December 14 at 7 pm.
BOD members present were: Claudette Dirkers, Tim Brockett, John Carp, Alicia Roskind Dearing, Jewel Wieczorek, Scott Stomerowski and Leslie Everett.
BOD members attending by phone/Zoom were: Doug Gill, Jack Sutton, and Jaylyn Jensen.
Ombudsmen present were: Sabrina Hansen (NG) and Miriam Barker (SG).
10 BOD members were available, 2 director seats remain vacant.
I - Two motions were presented by Director Tim Brockett. The first was to restore the Pledge of Allegiance to the meeting opening. The second was to include a Moment of Silence. Both motions were defeated by secret ballot.
II - Several forms were distributed to directors. They included: the GLA Conflict of Interest Privacy Policy, Conduct of Meeting Policy, Privacy Policy, Board Code of Conduct Policy, and meeting agenda. The Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest policies were voluntary, but binding agreements; they are not required by the governing documents. Director's signatures were requested. In the past many directors have balked and even refused to legally commit themselves to policies that they felt were already covered by Montana State Law. Links to download them are below.
Download the GLA Board:
Code of Conduct Policy.
Conflict of Interest Policy.
Conduct of Meeting Policy.
Privacy Policy.
December 14, 2023 Meeting Agenda.
III - Board Officer Elections
- Candidates for President were Alicia Roskind Dearing and Doug Gill. Dearing presided in a 6 to 4 secret ballot.
- Candidates for Vice President - Doug Gill and Jaylyn Jensen. The first vote was a 5-5 tie. Two more names were tossed in the hat; John Carp who declined and Claudette Dirkers who accepted the nomination. On the second secret ballot vote Jensen won with 5 votes. Dirkers received 3 and Gill 2.
- No one volunteered for the Secretary's position and it remained unfilled. That position may be filled by a non-board member.
- Jewel Wieczorek volunteered to remain Treasurer. A new Assistant Treasurer position was created and Doug Gill won that seat.
IV - BOD Committee elections were held next. Each director is required to serve on one committee but is encouraged to serve on several.
The results were:
Election Committee: Claudette Dirkers, Jewel Wieczorek, Tim Brockett, Doug Gill
Road Committee: Doug Gill, Jaylyn Jensen, Scott Stomerowski, John Carp, Jack Sutton
Roads Management Committee: Alicia Roskind Dearing, John Carp
Finance Committee: Alicia Roskind Dearing, Jewel Wieczorek, Doug Gill
Project Review Committee: Scott Stomerowski, Doug Gill, Jaylyn Jensen, Jack Sutton, John Carp
Community Property Committee: John Carp, Leslie Everett
Compliance Committee: Doug Gill, Miriam Barker
Governing Docs Committee: Leslie Everett
Legal Committee: Alicia Roskind Dearing, Leslie Everett, Jewel Wieczorek, Claudette Dirkers, Jaylyn Jensen, Tim Brockett
President Dearing broke from protocol and requested that each person who volunteered for the Legal Committee be voted on individually by secret ballot. Dirkers stated that this had never been done before. Normally all volunteers are voted on as a group for each committee. Dearing insisted and an hour-long discussion ensued. Dirkers volunteered to be removed from the Legal Committee if that would speed the process. Dearing refused her offer. Then Brockett asked if he volunteered to be removed would that move the process forward. Dearing shrunk into her chair, and fidgeted while nervously twirling her dayglo purple hair around her fingers. She explained that she did not "feel comfortable" with Brockett on the Legal Committee and implied that she wanted him excluded. Brockett refused to withdraw as a volunteer for the Legal Committee. Shortly thereafter a motion was presented and passed that accepted all the volunteers and placed them officially on the Legal Committee.
The chairman of each committee was not decided after another lengthy discussion. It was agreed that each committee would recommend a chair and present that name to the BOD for a vote at the next board meeting.
V - The BOD agreed to meet once a month on the third Wednesday of every month at 7 pm. A meeting location was not announced.
- Candidates for Vice President - Doug Gill and Jaylyn Jensen. The first vote was a 5-5 tie. Two more names were tossed in the hat; John Carp who declined and Claudette Dirkers who accepted the nomination. On the second secret ballot vote Jensen won with 5 votes. Dirkers received 3 and Gill 2.
- No one volunteered for the Secretary's position and it remained unfilled. That position may be filled by a non-board member.
- Jewel Wieczorek volunteered to remain Treasurer. A new Assistant Treasurer position was created and Doug Gill won that seat.
IV - BOD Committee elections were held next. Each director is required to serve on one committee but is encouraged to serve on several.
The results were:
Election Committee: Claudette Dirkers, Jewel Wieczorek, Tim Brockett, Doug Gill
Road Committee: Doug Gill, Jaylyn Jensen, Scott Stomerowski, John Carp, Jack Sutton
Roads Management Committee: Alicia Roskind Dearing, John Carp
Finance Committee: Alicia Roskind Dearing, Jewel Wieczorek, Doug Gill
Project Review Committee: Scott Stomerowski, Doug Gill, Jaylyn Jensen, Jack Sutton, John Carp
Community Property Committee: John Carp, Leslie Everett
Compliance Committee: Doug Gill, Miriam Barker
Governing Docs Committee: Leslie Everett
Legal Committee: Alicia Roskind Dearing, Leslie Everett, Jewel Wieczorek, Claudette Dirkers, Jaylyn Jensen, Tim Brockett
President Dearing broke from protocol and requested that each person who volunteered for the Legal Committee be voted on individually by secret ballot. Dirkers stated that this had never been done before. Normally all volunteers are voted on as a group for each committee. Dearing insisted and an hour-long discussion ensued. Dirkers volunteered to be removed from the Legal Committee if that would speed the process. Dearing refused her offer. Then Brockett asked if he volunteered to be removed would that move the process forward. Dearing shrunk into her chair, and fidgeted while nervously twirling her dayglo purple hair around her fingers. She explained that she did not "feel comfortable" with Brockett on the Legal Committee and implied that she wanted him excluded. Brockett refused to withdraw as a volunteer for the Legal Committee. Shortly thereafter a motion was presented and passed that accepted all the volunteers and placed them officially on the Legal Committee.
The chairman of each committee was not decided after another lengthy discussion. It was agreed that each committee would recommend a chair and present that name to the BOD for a vote at the next board meeting.
V - The BOD agreed to meet once a month on the third Wednesday of every month at 7 pm. A meeting location was not announced.
VI BOD issues to be resolved:
1) Approve Committee Chairmen.
2) Research and hire a CPA to oversee finances.
3) Fill the secretary position and create/fill an assistant secretary position.
4) Establishing requirements and duties for each BOD committee and chair position.
5) Open vs confidential BOD voting trust issues.
6) Legal Committee standards and confidentiality code.
1) Approve Committee Chairmen.
2) Research and hire a CPA to oversee finances.
3) Fill the secretary position and create/fill an assistant secretary position.
4) Establishing requirements and duties for each BOD committee and chair position.
5) Open vs confidential BOD voting trust issues.
6) Legal Committee standards and confidentiality code.
VII - Road Committee - John Carp made a motion to increase the hourly rate charged by Standish for snow plowing from $200.00 to $250.00 an hour; a 25% increase. Standish signed a contract with the GLA in the fall that was in effect until summer 2024. The BOD approved the 25% hourly rate raise. Doug Gill and Tim Brockett voted against the motion. Dirkers abstained. Scott Stomerowski became agitated and told directors who voted no that they did not understand how business was done in Paradise Valley.
Major BOD Problems
1) Long, wordy meetings. Allowing lengthy committee discussions; some directors were not fully prepared. The BOD meeting lasted 4 hours and 35 minutes and all items on the agenda were still not resolved.
2) Professional meeting procedures were not followed. BOD policies were routinely violated. Landowner phone numbers were announced which violates the GLA Privacy Policy. Several directors did not have their GLA white binders that containing all GLA Governing Documents and policies. Few directors took notes and almost all were unfamiliar with policies approved by earlier boards. One director, Scott Stomerowski, frequently laughed and cracked jokes. Overall I believe the meeting was very amateurish in tone and action.
3) A lot of time was wasted with verifying the information of people who called into the meeting. This should be done before the opening of the meeting.
4) BOD members were not given handouts before the meeting so they had little time to study them or formulate questions. They were expected to sign legally binding documents and hand them in at the end of the meeting.
5) A lot of time was spent rehashing old problems.This I saw as "water over the dam".
6) Biographical information was requested for each officer or committee candidate. This was not relevant as biographies were presented back in September via the Candidate Nomination forms.
7) Lengthy lectures about prior BOD procedures, old rules, and outmoded practices should be done elsewhere.
NOTE:
1) Long, wordy meetings. Allowing lengthy committee discussions; some directors were not fully prepared. The BOD meeting lasted 4 hours and 35 minutes and all items on the agenda were still not resolved.
2) Professional meeting procedures were not followed. BOD policies were routinely violated. Landowner phone numbers were announced which violates the GLA Privacy Policy. Several directors did not have their GLA white binders that containing all GLA Governing Documents and policies. Few directors took notes and almost all were unfamiliar with policies approved by earlier boards. One director, Scott Stomerowski, frequently laughed and cracked jokes. Overall I believe the meeting was very amateurish in tone and action.
3) A lot of time was wasted with verifying the information of people who called into the meeting. This should be done before the opening of the meeting.
4) BOD members were not given handouts before the meeting so they had little time to study them or formulate questions. They were expected to sign legally binding documents and hand them in at the end of the meeting.
5) A lot of time was spent rehashing old problems.This I saw as "water over the dam".
6) Biographical information was requested for each officer or committee candidate. This was not relevant as biographies were presented back in September via the Candidate Nomination forms.
7) Lengthy lectures about prior BOD procedures, old rules, and outmoded practices should be done elsewhere.
NOTE:
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