Enchanted Lake Residents Association, Board Meeting February 5, 2013
Present: Clem Clemmer, Cindy Turner, Bill Kinney, Bob Bourke, Bob Molyneux, Don Young, Gus Gustavson, Steve Brennan, Rod Castanha, Mike Mickelwait
Absent: Kelo Maosi, Kelly Adams, Darren Rogers, Franklin Denis
The January 14, 2013 meeting was cancelled due to lack of a quorum
A quorum was declared and the meeting called to order at 7:09pm
New board member Mike Mickelwait was introduced and shared some information about himself.
Approval of Minutes The minutes from the Special Meeting of November 28, 2012 were reviewed and accepted as written. Minutes from the Board Meeting on December 11, 2012 were accepted with the change that Cindy Turner and Hugo de Vries took Linda Paul and an algae expert on a tour in Franklin’s barge.
Financial Report The Profit & Loss report and the current balances were reviewed. There have been no new paid fees this month. Gus and Margie met to review financial procedures. The annual review was performed in October prior to the annual meeting.
Ongoing business
Delta Claim The lawsuit was filed in December. Except for requests for extensions, there has been no response from Delta’s attorney’s as of January 25th when our attorneys filed two additional documents, 1) a request to the court for summary judgment in our favor due to Delta’s lack of response and 2) a request for production of documents from Delta relevant to the case. Following filing of these documents, our attorneys received a response to our filing from Delta’s attorneys (essentially denying all charges) and a list of questions for us to answer. Bob requested an additional board member to take Sue’s place on the team that meets with the attorneys. Steve volunteered to serve on the team. No invoice was offered from either attorney.
Lake Health/siphon project/City Permit/Berm Opening The berm was opened a week earlier then the date Bob B had specified so the flushing was not effective and left the water level low (1.4ft) Bob has sent an email to appropriate City offices asking them to adhere to the schedule. The algae has improved due to cooler temperatures. Average Lake level is 1.5ft. With current windy weather the Lake will drop ¼ inch daily. The siphon project is on hold.
Development of wetland property adjacent to Kaelepulu Stream Cindy stated they are still awaiting the wetland determination from the Army Corp of Engineers. There was some flooding in the area for two days during the rains.
Amendments and By-laws Re-do The amendment and by-law redo has become a priority. There was some discussion regarding who has the most recent updated version. Bob and Gus will check into this.
Watch Officer’s report There was one report of nets being laid. By the time the Watch Officer responded, the net had been removed. Bob will send a letter to the Dept. of Conservation and Resource Enforcement to thank their officer for recent assistance.
Facebook/Community outreach No report
Newsletter Information on the barge for sale will be in the newsletter. There will also be information on berm openings, lake level, clean-ups and algae farmers. Bob M found an old article on birds that Cindy will review and include excerpts from.
Dredging Still on hold
Oysters Franklin is away but Bob B reports they are growing.
Lake clean-up Bob B has a new supervisor of the clean-up crew. Pika Maosi, who has been a worker on the team for at least five years, has his Red Cross First aide Certification and is presently attending Junior college with a goal of becoming a natural resource manager. They have had two recent clean-ups, one to remove trash from Kimo’s Cove and second to focus on accumulated debris on and around Kukilakila Island. Bob asks that residents let him know of areas needing extra attention.
Kailua Neighborhood Board Bob plans to attend this week’s meeting of the KNB. All of our State Senators and Representatives have coordinated to make sure there is money in the operating budget sufficient to clean the mangrove from Kawainui Stream. This would benefit the Lake by keeping out seeds and decreasing our maintenance costs. Cindy will include information in the newsletter so residents can contact their legislators to support this action.
New Business
Motions by S. Brennan. Steve submitted a check for his maintenance fee, and subsequently presented four motions:
1)Whereas Article III of the ELRA Bylaws requires that Directors be active members of the corporation, and Article IX Definitions provides a definition of active members that excludes associate members from active membership, I move that the Board request that any Directors that currently are associate members, and therefore not active members, resign from the Board of Directors immediately.
Steve presented information from the by-laws pertaining to membership, arguing that “associate Members” were not eligible to serve on the Board of directors. There followed a lengthy discussion of the motion and a renewed focus on re-doing the current by-laws to address membership categories. Under Steve’s interpretation of the by-laws, Bob B and Cindy would not be eligible to serve on the board. Based on this information, Gus questioned his own eligibility to serve on the board. Bob M suggested the discussion be tabled until a later meeting and offered to review the material presented. There was no second to the motion.
Motions Regarding Mandatory Fees
2) I move that the ELRA Board immediately suspend the practice of submitting letters regarding unpaid fees to Escrow Agencies and Realtors during real estate transactions
There was a second from Gus to this motion. After discussion, a vote was taken- 2 yes and 5 no. The motion did not pass.
3) I move that the ELRA Board immediately suspend the practice of referring to maintenance fees or dues as mandatory obligations in all correspondence with our membership and other parties
There was no second to this motion.
4) I move that the ELRA Board obtain the services of an independent attorney, not currently involved in any legal matters on behalf of ELRA, to research issues regarding the mandatory nature of our fees and dues and provide a legal opinion and policy recommendations that the attorney feels protects the corporation and the board from liability and which the attorney feels they can defend from legal challenge
With a second to this motion from Gus a vote was taken. There were 5 yes and 2 no. The motion passed.
Meeting dates were discussed and the next meetings will be held 3/11/13 and 4/18/13
The meeting was adjourned at 9:28pm
Next Meeting
MONDAY, March 11, 2013
7pm Kukilakila Pavilion