by Kathy Leslie-Whelan

The meeting was called to order at 9:31 AM by President Buz Whelan. All board members were present.  Following the pledge of allegiance, Buz Whelan started his President’s message saying that following the meeting there would be an executive meeting to discuss employee Christmas bonuses. He stated that he dedicated his haircut to Joe Shedlock who always told him he would look better with a haircut. Well he cut his haircut, but the looking better part didn’t work out.  Whelan complimented the Maintenance and the Finance and Planning Committees for doing a great job on the minutes for their  respective meetings.  The minutes are to document action or important points discussed.  Whelan further stated that these two committees are looking for more volunteers.  The meetings for the Maintenance committee are held on the third Thursday of the month while the Finance and Planning Committee meets on the third Saturday of the month.  Whelan stated that due to the holidays the next open board meeting will be held on December 14th.  Whelan stated that the indoor pool opened with great success.  He thanked Darryl Gamble for the beautiful decorating.  There is more to be done in the dining and bar areas.  Whelan also stated that we are preparing for the snow season.

Bill Baehr, Treasurer, gave an abbreviated report since this month’s meeting was being held early due to Thanksgiving. Delinquency collections are as follows:

• In-house collections of dues is at $663,204 YTD or 69% of all collections.
• For October $44,541 was collected in house.

Delinquency Collections (YTD)

• Special Payment Plan Collections – $53,973
• In House Collections Prior Year – $190,756
• Attorney Collections – $83,185
• Sunrise CA Collections  – $54,964

Bob Leon made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s report.  It was seconded by Chris Claude and passed unanimously.

Steve Kavanagh made a motion to accept the October’s minutes.  It was seconded by Bob Leon and passed unanimously.

Under Old Business it was reported:

• The indoor pool opening went smoothly.  The pool and air temperature must be within 2 degrees.  Gamble can operate the system by his phone.  If we have an electrical outage, the system needs to be restarted.  Gamble is looking for a watchdog/volunteer program so that more individuals are trained in the restart of this system. He is also looking to get a generator for the Community Center with possible state or federal funding.  ServPro will have money deducted from their invoice since they did not complete all the items on the contract such as clean up and replacing electrical fixtures.  The indoor pool budget was tight but we came very close to the initial dollar amount.  In the future a breakdown of all the expenses will be available.  Gamble is looking to extend the pool hours in the future.  One thought was to extend the Adult Water Aerobic time by 1 hour for a parent/child swim where swimming lessons will be available.  With the heating of the pool a bigger tank may be required for the dehumidification system.  This system runs on electricity and gas (mostly gas).  Thermometers were ordered for the pool area.  Next year’s budget will include money for a contract with the manufacturer of the dehumidification system which includes maintenance and remote monitoring.
• The badging system is up and running.  A number of new badges have been handed out.  The schedule for having your picture taken and receiving new passes will be during regular business hours for the Administration building with the exception of Wednesday to allow staff to complete their regular work.  For the next month there will be extended hours on Thursday and Friday (4:00 PM – 8:00 PM) where only badges will be passed out.   Eventually old passes will not be accepted.
• The new web site is up and running.  An invitation was sent out to the membership.  Currently 1,023 are utilizing the site while 730 have not responded to the invitation.

Under New Business:

• The Administration building and compactor will be closed on Thanksgiving.  The Compactor will reopen on Saturday.  The office will reopen on Monday in order to give non-essential staff a 4 day weekend.  The Community Center and pool will be opened for regularly scheduled hours.

Save the Date Reminders:

• Christmas Party  – December 7th at 12:00 PM in the Community Center.  Crafts, letters to Santa, tree decorating etc.
• Trivia Night – December 13th at 8:00 PM in the Community Center.
• Karaoke Night – December 14th at 8:00 PM in the Community Center.
• Story time with Santa – December 21st at 1:00 PM in the Community Center.  $10 per child.  Sign up at the Administration building by December 9th.
• New Year’s Eve Party – December 31st at 8:00 PM in the Community Center. Tickets will be sold.  No price on this event at this time.

Director’s Comments

Bill Baehr wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

Ange Noonan is looking for volunteers to sit at the front desk of the community center to check badges.

Chris Claude wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.  He also stated that we need to get the window system at the indoor pool up and running so that staff wasn’t running back and forth with food to the pool area.

Bob Leon stated that last Saturday was busy in The Community Center with the pool, bingo and karaoke.  Our staffing was not sufficient.

Steve Kavanagh encouraged all to come out to karaoke.

Dave Borsos stated that it is exciting with the changes that are happening.  The pool area is beautiful and is better than in most motels/hotels.  He encourages people to work the front desk and ended with wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

Committee Reports

Earl Frank of Finance and Planning started his report that over $13K came is as transfer fees so 13 homes sold last month.  Collection dues were down a little for the month but overall collections are up.  Rental fees will exceed the budget but the Association is overdue for a dues increase.  Refuse removal fees are down $30 to $40 K due to Gamble changing companies. Frank complimented Clemens and Gamble for negotiating a 20% decrease effective December 1st on the staff benefit packages while maintaining the same coverage. The bar and grill inventory is down to $2,111.  CEO collections are up.  25 judgments on delinquent properties yielded 25 favorable outcomes to the Association.  Due to in house collections, dues compliance is at 73%.  American Cancer Associations donation was $3,864.  Franks gave a shout out to Tom Mugan for doing a good job on the monthly financials and to Kathy Whelan for taking minutes.  His committee is looking for a list of all fixed assets from outside accountant, Bill Owens.  The committee also recommended that the Community Center open the bar on Sundays since it is opened for the pool so that we can take advantage of the TV football package.  Also recommended were for Public Safety to do an article for the newsletter on their responsibilities; monthly article on their stats; and an article on Rich Goldstein and his contributions as an animal advocate.  Frank ended with saying that if we want a vibrant community we need to have our dues increased.  Whelan stated that they will move forward with setting up a date for February for such meeting.  If the increase passes 75% will go into operations and 25% into reserves.  If passed in February it will give time to adjust the budget and have in place the billing for May.  Directed proxy will be an option for the first time.

Public Comments

Cookie Litwienski asked if we can now have 3 story homes. She was told that since the township no longer had that requirement, an owner can get a permit for a 3 story structure.  Our Rules and Regulations need to be updated.

Mary Kavanagh stated that on Saturday night at the Community, children were coming into the dining room with wet bathing suits on and creating puddles.  This could create  a hazardous situation.

Eight (8) new members were welcomed to the Community.

  Meeting adjourned at 10:45 AM.

Reporters Note: I write these reports based on notes taken during the meeting.  I get no special consideration or cooperation from the board.  I try my best to report accurately, but occasionally mistakes will be made.  I invite correction and have no desire to intentionally mischaracterize any comments or actions.