Minutes July 30, 2023

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Board of Directors’ Meeting

Call to Order: Jim called the hybrid meeting to order at 9:30am at the Scenic Estates Clubhouse.

  • Board Members Present: Jim Coats, Jeff Smith, Tim Robison, Lisa Machalski, & David Canterman

  • Board members absent: None

  • Staff Present: Allison Cash, Kevin Southworth & Nick Kluge (via Zoom)

Voting Status: All board members present are in good standing.  Quorum.        

Changes to the Agenda:

  • Add Email from Jerry Crawford to Member Communications

  • Add Letter for Welcome Packet to Old Business

  • Add Letter from Member about Wildlife Feeding to Administration

  • Add Clubhouse Building Permit to Operations

  • Add Webcam at the Marina/Dock to Operations

Approval of Minutes and Consent Agenda:    

  • Board of Directors’ Meeting Minutes-June 25, 2023

  • June 2023 Financial Reports

  • Staff Operations Report

  • Wilson Progress Report June 2023

Tim expressed his appreciation for staff repairing the boat ramp. Tim motioned to approve the Consent Agenda and the June 25, 2023 Board of Directors’ Meeting Minutes. Lisa seconded. All in favor.

Member Communication

  • JoAnn Bowman re: Special Assessment. Jim read JoAnn’s letter aloud.

  • Email from Jerry Crawford re:

    • Swimlake Weed Growth

    • Water Use Efficiency Report

    • Candidate Forum for potential BOD members

  • Cindy Voss resubmitted her application for dues relief on 60019 & 60020

Board Reports

  • President

    • Reschedule AGM-Island wide community event conflicts with August 26, 2023 AGM date. As a result, the LISECC Election Committee would not have enough members to oversee the election. Lisa motioned to reschedule the 2023 AGM to September 23, 2023. Tim seconded. All in favor.

    • Budget Recertification-Discussion of making minor changes to the 2024 budget. Lisa motioned to tentatively approve the 2024 budget at the August 2023 BOD meeting along with the other AGM materials. Tim seconded. All in favor.

    • Tim motioned to approve a $600 budget for the Social Committee for 2024. Lisa seconded. All in favor.

    • AGM Ballot-Any members wishing to run for the Board of Directors need to declare their candidacy by August 15, 2023.

    • General Manager Report

      • The Heritage Trust would like us to identify where LISECC would like signs to be placed along Beach Ave. Kevin will work with LIHT to identify placement.

    • Treatment Plant Loan-We received a cost estimate from Wilson Engineering for $3.2 million for the new Water Treatment Plant. Discussion will continue at the August BOD meeting.

    • Lisa motioned to authorize Allison to submit the USDA-RD application as soon as possible with the understanding that application submission is only to establish qualification for the loan; acceptance of the loan is contingent on the membership vote at the 2023 AGM. Tim seconded. All in favor.

  • VP/Secretary-No report

  • Finance-No report

  • Operations/Water

    • Clubhouse building permit has been issued. Tim motioned that we authorize payment to Whatcom County in the amount of $3,896.78 for the building permit for the Clubhouse foundation repair. Lisa seconded. All in favor. Now that the permit has been issued, Ram will get us on their schedule.

    • Members have suggested that we install a webcam at the Marina. Discussion of installing webcam vs. security camera.

    • Nick has been talking to the Department of Ecology and the Department of Fish and Wildlife regarding aquatic plant removal in the swim lake. All the weeds and plants have been determined to be native species, which means that there are rules regarding how they can be removed and how much can be removed. Once we find out what we can do, there are companies that we can contract with for physical and mechanical aquatic plant removal. It is important to recognize that since this is a native species, it is a good indicator of a healthy ecosystem, and the plants/weeds are not dangerous.

    • Brief discussion of Water Use Efficiency (WUE) Report. We are required to submit a new plan every 6 years; must be done regardless of leakage. The plan must address how we intend to minimize distribution leakage and how we will inform customers about conservation.

      • 2022 WUE shows that while leakage is increasing, it is not increasing exponentially. Additionally, it is being mitigated with recent repairs to the distribution system.

  • Administration

    • Member communication inquiring as to what the board intends to do about wildlife feeding. Tim motioned that the President of the Board draft a letter to the people who have been identified of feeding wildlife and request that they stop immediately in line with existing policy. David seconded. All in favor.

    • Update on Foreclosures-David reviewed the status update provided by LISECC’s attorney. To date, we have collected $41,451.74 from delinquent members.

Old Business:

  • Letter for Welcome Packet-Jim has made a few grammatical revisions to the letter and will submit it to the authors for their final approval. Pending that approval, it will be included in the New Member Welcome Packet going forward.

  • Mortensen/Lamb Easement Updates-Lisa motioned that we approve the request to extinguish the existing easement and establish a new easement for the water line based on our attorney’s recommendation. Tim seconded. All in favor.

New Business: None

Other Business:

  • Next Meeting: August 20, 2023 at 9:30 am.

Lisa motioned to adjourn the meeting at 11:25 am. Tim seconded. All in favor.