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Post by Admin on Mar 6, 2016 14:58:53 GMT -7
GLA Board Monthly Meeting on Monday March 14th, 2016
St John's Episcopal Church, 8 Story Rd, Emigrant, MT 59027
7 PM to 10 PM or whenever it ends.
- From the GLA website:
"There will be a Special Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Glastonbury Landowners Association on Monday, March 14, 2016 at 7:00 p.m., for the purpose of filling the NG board vacancy.
The monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of the Glastonbury Landowners Association will be held on Monday, March 14, 2016 at approximately 7:20 p.m. following the Special Meeting to fill the NG board vacancy". - Agenda's are usually not available until a day or so before the meeting. We will post one at the link below as soon as we receive one.
- Please attend the meeting to keep abreast of what is going on in our community, meet your neighbors and share your thoughts.
- Meeting agendas, documents and summaries will be posted on the 2016 GLA Board Meeting Agendas and Documents page
as soon as they are available.
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chris
Full Member
Posts: 175
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Post by chris on Mar 18, 2016 9:26:27 GMT -7
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Post by Admin on Mar 18, 2016 14:18:46 GMT -7
The following is a brief synopsis with commentary regarding the March 14th, GLA Board Meeting. - The first 30 minutes of the meeting was devoted to appointing a new director to replace Ross Brunson who recently resigned after being reelected in November of 2015. A postcard was mailed to all North Glastonbury landowners inviting them to apply for the position by emailing their resume or a letter of introduction to the GLA Board. Debbie DeGraaf responded with an impressive letter and Val O'Connell also expressed interest in the vacant position. Richard Johnson did not send a letter or resume but showed up at the meeting where Director Gerald Dubiel nominated him for the position. The rush to vote was apparent and was underway when one landowner asked the Board if landowners could question the candidates as they had done in the past. Reluctantly President Charlotte Mizzi agreed to allow the landowners to ask questions. Candidate Debbie DeGraaf answered the question about past experience and qualifications by noting that she was a volunteer on the Finance Committee and recently called many past due landowners which resulted in collections of over $8,000.00. She also talked about her 20 years as a teacher, her widely acclaimed Howling Hounds cafe in Emigrant and her wish to build and improve community via her work. Richard Johnson talked about how he served in Vietnam in 1966, his years "on staff" at the Church Universal and Triumphant Royal Teton ranch and his work on carving the first dirt roads in Glastonbury. A vote was quickly called for and Richard won 7 to 4. Many landowners were left scratching their heads why Richard won. Some speculated that religious discrimination may have been at work since Richard was a devout Church member and Debbie DeGraaf was not affiliated with the Church. You can read some of their comments here and another letter here.
- The landowner comment period was next. Your humble administrator spoke briefly about the US Constitution and the freedoms it provides for everyone in the USA and our community. He was followed by landowners who questioned the Governing Documents process and how open it would really be. Would pros and cons be shared via a Board letter to the landowners? Another landowner had specific questions regarding Project Review procedures and how they applied to a current and some past projects. Ia Williams started to speak about a shadow Board that makes decisions behind the backs of landowners and was sharply cut off by a visibly enraged President Charlotte Mizzi. While pounding her gavel Mizzi screamed that the Board was all volunteers and no criticism of them would be allowed at this meeting. Then she rose from her chair and demanded that Ia leave the building. Unfazed, Ia continued with her three minutes of time and calmly told Mizzi that she was not going anywhere. Your not so humble administrator spoke up and demanded that Ia be allowed to continue because the Constitution provided her the freedom to speak and express her vision for a better community. Dan Kehoe cut in and stated that the US Constitution does not apply to private corporations like the GLA. When it was apparent that Ia was not leaving Mizzi retreated to her chair and sat down. It was obvious to me that both Charlotte Mizzi and Dan Kehoe were preventing our community from moving forward by restricting the freedoms of landowners.
- The prayer question was revisited again and this time the Board voted to allow Church prayer at the opening to all Board meetings.
- It was agreed that written opinions should be requested from the attorney so at least all Board members get a clear idea of questions answered.
- Charlene Murphy presented a Confidentiality Agreement for volunteers to sign. With what appeared to be trembling hands she passed out copies to the audience. She stated that it would be prudent business practice to require all volunteers to sign this document. One landowner from the Project Review committee refused to sign stating that he would lose all credibility with the landowners if he did. Another Project Review volunteer has since resigned stating that he refuses to sign the Confidentiality agreement. The discussion then centered on Financial Committee volunteers and a resolution was passed that the volunteers would be ASKED to sign. No penalty was provided for those who refused and it was unclear if they would be fired.
- The Treasurer's report was projected on to the wall; no copies were passed out to landowners. Almost immediately the Treasurer Rudy Parker apologized for the errors in the copy projected on the wall. Then he proceeded to hand out paper copies to Board members while stating that Regina fixed all the errors and the paper copies were fine. None the less there was a disturbing $7,910.00 negative figure in the Profit and Loss Budget Performance Budget total column that was difficult to explain. Regina and Rudy promised to bring it to the attention of the accountant and bookkeeper when they met with them on April 1st, 2016.
- It was noted that 16 new dwelling assessments were added for 2016. Many were rentals that were previously ignored. Some newly assessed landowners were disputing the extra assessments. That lead into a discussion about collecting past due assessment amounts. Oddly Debbie DeGraaf's assistance in collections was now noted with appreciation. Rudy requested that he be given the authority to bargain with individual past due landowners and immediately a shudder went through the audience. Many remembered how the GLA Board gave away $42,000.00 in landowner funds to debtors in 2011 when the same authority was granted to a previous treasurer.
- The Road Committee talked about placing an ad in the Bozeman Chronicle to request the services of a certified Road Engineer to examine our roads and come up with a comprehensive road plan. Even though your once again humble administrator gave a detailed presentation at the last Road Committee meeting that presented a comprehensive road plan with cost figures for Glastonbury the Board never mentioned it. Instead it was decided that Director Ed Dobrowski would simply call various engineering firms and save the Board $65.00. A landowner asked what was the status of the long-term road plan committee that Director Dennis Riley offered to chair but Director Dan Kehoe insisted must be approved by the GLA Board. A discussion between Charlotte Mizzi and Dan Kehoe ensued and it was agreed that the Board did not need to vote on it; the road committee could deal with a long term road plan committee at their next meeting or whenever.
- The Project Review Committee was next. You may view their committee meeting agenda and projects here. Debbie Blais peppered the committee with detailed and helpful questions which you may read by scrolling below the above link.
- The meeting continued but I left at 10:15 for the long drive home through fresh snow and over icy roads. The Glastonbury Landowners for Positive Change will soon come out with a fine and detailed meeting summary. Eventually the GLA Board will release their minutes also. We have posted some meeting documents already and will post both the GLFPC summary and Official Meeting Minutes in the same place when they are released. The meeting summary will also be posted on the GLFPC web site.
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