GLA Board Meeting, Monday, November 6, 2017

GLA Board Meeting, Monday, November 6, 2017 Nov 17, 2017 14:33:08 GMT -7

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Post by Admin on Nov 17, 2017 14:33:08 GMT -7

Glastonbury Landowners for Positive Change

The mission of the GLFPC is to foster a landowner's association,
of the people, by the people, and for the people of Glastonbury,
to create a harmonious and inclusive community, and to enhance property values.

This Summary/Interpretation of the GLA's Board meeting on Monday, November 6, 2017
is offered as a volunteer service by the GLFPC.
Your suggestions are welcome, should there be oversights or errors.

Meeting Highlights

A second SG board candidate, Marshall Haley, has been disqualified. But this time, the board took no action to print a new ballot to make sure that no voters were disenfranchised even though they had done so when SG board candidate Kathleen Rakela was disqualified several weeks ago.

Due to the volatility of the GLA meetings, the board agreed to hire a uniformed guard for the annual meeting on December 2, 2017 at Emigrant Hall.

Meeting Summary and Interpretation

Board President Dennis Riley convened the November 6, 2017 board meeting at 7 pm with 10 directors present. (Board members Paul Ranttallo and Gerald Dubiel came late, participated little, and left early.)

Landowner input

John Carp, (an agent for a parcel owned by Church Universal and Triumphant in NG) wanted it known that, to his knowledge, there are no atheist groups in Glastonbury. He also stated for the record that he is not Charlotte Mizzi’s singular man in charge as claimed by a landowner in a Formal Complaint against Mizzi.

After being questioned, Charlene Murphy admitted that not all the minutes for “between-board meetings with online voting” has been given to the landowners and that she would make sure this was done.

Unfinished Business

Leo Keeler reminded the board that he had been asking since April or May for the records on how Arcturus road maintenance got extended beyond the platted road network. Kehoe argued that it was an easement issue which the board had voted on, but Keeler countered that the issue is really about fairness and how the board spends money. “We need to treat all subdivision owners the same” stated Keeler. Murphy volunteered to research past records.

Project Review

After hearing the Project Review committee report, the board decided that a landowner’s plan to remodel his residence into employee housing for Big Sky did not need a Project Review because the remodeling was internal. With no increase in assessments under this circumstance, no one asked about occupancy rate in relationship to impact on GLA roads.

Committee co-chair Kevin Newby also presented a list of new homes that are “dried in” and should be added to the 2018 assessment list. Several other dwelling assessments were clarified; one being that board member Ranttallo has paid a second dwelling assessment. When originally asked about this dwelling unit built many years earlier, Ranttalo claimed that it had no electricity (which translates to no further assessment). But later he agreed to pay a second assessment “to keep the peace,” he said.

Communication and Technology Committee Report

A request from the Communication and Technology (CT) committee to spend money to get technical support to make it possible for landowners to pay assessments with a credit card was given a green light. The estimated cost is about $400.

After months of study and deliberation, the CT committee proposal to update GLA’s Conflict of Interest policy was given to the board. The update would clarify that a conflict of interest for a board member is not just a financial matter, but also a personal matter. Mizzi argued that the present policy is very clear and there is no need for any update. (Note: though Mizzi is a member of this committee, she has attended but a few meetings. In particular, she had not participated in the months-long committee work to develop this recommendation.) When a landowner asked why there are so many conflict of issues among the board members if the current policy is “so clear”, Mizzi failed to respond. Other directors supported Mark Seaver, a lead proponent of the updating. In the end, the board decided to send out the current policy and the proposed additions to the members for a 30-day comment period.

The CT committee question of who would write a closing letter about a long-standing complaint about a noise issue (dogs barking, and commercial chain saw use) got derailed and sent back to committee. The committee thought the matter was resolved when the dog owner agreed to get rid of his dogs and to only cut wood for seniors during regular business hours. But when Regina Wunsch reminded the board that cottage businesses in GLA cannot make “excessive noise which interferes another’s quiet use and enjoyment of his land” noise, the complaint went back to committee.

Legal Committee Report

After a prolonged discussion about the O’Connell’s threat to the board which brought forth the Temporary Order of Protection (TOP), a decision to hire a Uniformed Guard to provide security, at the annual meeting only, passed unanimously. Gerald Dubiel initially fed the discussion by claiming that someone “could shoot up the whole place.” According to Dubiel, GLA either needs to hire an armed guard for every meeting, (at a cost of about $270/meeting) or in the alternative, bring guns to the meetings. “I can do that as an alternative,” Dubiel declared. “I’m a good shot ... If someone comes in shooting, I can probably take ’em out!”, he assured.

A landowner countered that that was a dangerous statement coming from a board member. “It’s true!”, refuted Dubiel, “But we need to look at the times.”

Meantime, Mizzi announced that she had been subpoenaed, and would testify for the O’Connell’s at the hearing to determine if the temporary court-ordered TOP for GLA would be made permanent. When questioned, she reminded the board that she had not signed the petition for a TOP. And when asked why, Mizzi claimed that when she was president last year, and had been “attacked and harassed” by a landowner, there was no move to protect her, and thus, as she claimed, there is no need for protection now. Other directors agreed with Seaver when he said he had a real problem with her actions.

Election Committee Report

Co-Chair Murphy reviewed the recent board decision to follow the GLA Covenant 3.19 that says members must have all assessments paid in full by October 31 to be eligible to vote at the annual board election. And then, unexpectedly, Murphy argued that the board should reconsider its recent decision and continue GLA’s past practice which allowed members to pay and vote right up to the end of the voting period at the annual meeting. (Note: this position contradicts the recommendation of her committee to follow the covenants that regulate voter eligibility.) To support her position, Murphy argued that the board should seek new legal advice on how to interpret Covenant 3.19. Kehoe agreed. Adding a twist, Murphy suddenly interjected that the old interpretation of the covenants was also based on attorney advice. There was also discussion regarding the possibility of getting legal opinions from three separate lawyers.

But several directors, who had worked on refining the voting procedures, said following Covenant 3.19 is a simple black and white matter. Further, it is too late to get any new legal opinions on voter eligibility before the Dec. 2 annual election. Kehoe remained adamant about his perception that the board had to be certain that voters were not being disenfranchised, however, he did agree, that for this year, the board should work with what was already decided. (Note: it is the members - not the board - who disenfranchise themselves when they fail to pay their assessments on time.)

Lastly, Murphy reported that a second SG board candidate, Marshall Haley, was not in good standing because he has not paid his 4th quarter assessments. This means he is no longer eligible to be a board candidate. Keeler’s motion to send a letter to Haley formally telling him he was disqualified carried, even though Newman Brozovsky and Dubiel inexplicably dissented.

Departing from their own precedent, the board did not act to print a new ballot and give a 30-day notice of a new meeting date as they had done earlier when a different SG board candidate, Kathleen Rakela, was disqualified for not being in good standing. An intense discussion, replete with conflicted and inflexible positions, followed on how to give equal treatment to all board candidates and their supporters. In the end, Murphy’s position that “to print new ballots would be a minefield” prevailed.

Approval of Board Meeting Minutes

The minutes for the September and October board meetings were approved, as were minutes from a closed meeting and some of the in-between online board meetings where voting is done by email. After some of the online meeting minutes were read, Mizzi was asked to explain why she did not support the board majority vote to petition for a TOP for GLA against the O’Connell’s. Mizzi answered that because “everyone (referring to the attendees) speaks out of order” she wanted everyone to be treated equally. Though there was no board discussion about Mizzi’s response, many attendees shook their heads as she responded, saying in effect that Mizzi’s words were nonsense.

Treasurer’s Report

Treasurer Regina Wunsch summarized her 17-pages of financials with a five-minute report. There are cost overruns for snow plowing and legal services. Roads fund balances are higher than usual at this time of year because there has been no fall gravel and grading service yet, due to fall rains and early snow.

The work to collect delinquent assessment (now estimated to be about $233,300) continues. (Note: Most of the cases will have been turned over to the collection attorney by the time you are reading this.) One unexpected wrinkle in this lengthy collection procedure (which started nearly three years ago) is it may not be possible to collect past due accounts that are more than eight years old, disconcerting news for many.

The draft budget for 2018 was accepted as prepared by the Finance Committee. Based on the actual amount of paid assessments in 2017, the 2018 budget is down about $4,000.

Secretary Report

Murphy recapped the 2016 election problems and called them a “Big Debacle.” She then indicated there are new procedures in place to prevent similar problems in 2017. (Note: Dedicated and long-persevering election committee members and landowners have spent many long hours to make sure all votes are secret, and that there can be no tampering with the vote count.) Murphy also stated she wanted to confirm the official record of what happened at the 2016 election and the follow-up SG vote recount, because she felt she had been maligned (for spear-heading the whole unnecessary and expensive mess.)

Next, in an unexpected and apparent unilateral move, Murphy announced that the kitchen of Liberty Hall (owned by Church Universal and Triumphant Teaching Center of North Glastonbury) is now available at no charge for GLA meetings. In the past, GLA paid $30 for every meeting held in the cramped kitchen. Rather than paying $30 a crack, most committees meeting have been happening in private homes or at SpecTech. (To date, the savings to landowners is over $1200.)

Road and Weed Committee Report

Given contractor Chad Standish’s time constraints and weather concerns, the usual fall road gravel and grading service may not happen. (Note: The spring road grading was also delayed when both road committee chairs quit.) The fall road grading was to have included, for the first time, an application of Mag Chloride on high-traffic sections of gravel roads. Mag Chloride is a product known to suppress dust and mitigate wash-boarding. While fall is the preferred time for the application of Mag Chloride, it can also be done in the spring, according to Standish.

Fall road maintenance will also include the installation of additional snow fence, along with eight new wooden snow barriers. In a collaborative effort, Park County is donating $800 worth of snow fence for use along heavy drift-prone areas on Dry Creek, a county road which GLA often plows. To keep costs down, committee members and volunteer landowners have built the new snow barriers and are doing the installation. (Note: Kudos to a revitalized, dedicated and hard-working road committee which includes many board and non-board members.)

And for the first time, 10 booklet maps of the platted road network for GLA are being printed. They will be given to snow plow drivers, the snow plow dispatchers and the Road Committee chair(s). Cost is $15 each. The maps will make it clear where platted roads end and where subdivision roads begin. Per GLA covenants, road maintenance and plowing service is for the platted roads only. (After some 20 years, Golden Age Village private subdivision roads will no longer be maintained or plowed at GLA expense.)

As the clock approached 11:30 pm, board members tabled any action on a report about a major new traffic sign program saying it was too much too soon.

Glastonbury Landowners For Positive Change

Post by Admin on Nov 17, 2017 14:27:18 GMT -7

Post by Admin on Nov 17, 2017 14:33:08 GMT -7