2020 AGM Newsletter
/REPORTS FROM THE LISECC BOARD OF DIRECTORS
With the State’s requirements for social distancing currently in effect, the usual form of the LISECC Annual General Meeting will be significantly altered. These written reports are intended to replace the oral reports that are generally presented as a part of that in-person meeting and include statements from the Board President, and Chairs of Finance, Operations, Administration and Communication/Planning.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT: (DOUG CASH-PRESIDENT@LISECC.COM)
Dear Fellow Community Members,
I hope your family and loved ones are well during this most trying time. The board and staff have been working very hard to keep operations moving as smoothly as possible. We have been holding regular meetings via Zoom. We appreciate those who consistently join in. It has definitely been a busy year.
It is with much deliberation, some frustration and definitely compromise that the board has decided not to have an in-person AGM this year. We have spoken with our attorney. He recommended postponing, relying on ballots, or coordinating an extensive Zoom meeting. At our last meeting the board decided to move forward with an AGM conducted with mail-in ballot. Our primary concern is the community’s safety with a close second being the law. Legally we cannot have a meeting with more than five people. We appreciate your patience and support through these difficult times.
FINANCE CHAIR REPORT: (BEN TWIGG-VICE.PRESIDENT@LISECC.COM)
All things considered, we are tracking well financially so far in 2020. To date the pandemic has not had a significant impact on LISECC’s finances, though smaller sources of revenue like bank interest and penalties/late fees are beginning to lag (relative to 2019 actuals and 2020 budget). Not surprisingly, we are seeing higher-than-budgeted expenses related to our water treatment plant as we continue to deal with turbidity issues. Fortunately, we were able to save a substantial amount of money by switching insurance carriers this spring, and this savings currently more than offsets any/all other areas where we are not making budget.
2019 financial statements are enclosed in the AGM packet materials. Over all we came in 17% over budget on income and 7% under budget for expenses (not including depreciation), beating budgeted net income by over $70K. Total cash remained relatively constant for the year, and we finished 2019 with a total of $421K in reserves (for future capital expenses).
The proposed 2021 budget is also enclosed, with notes and financial data from recent years for your reference. Should you have any questions about the budget (or anything else related to LISECC’s finances, for that matter), please feel free to email me at finance.chair@lisecc.com.
OPERATIONS CHAIR REPORT: (WILLIAM ENOCH-WATER.CHAIR@LISECC.COM)
The past year has seen new docks put into service, the purchase of a replacement backhoe, permit renewal for the wastewater retention pond, and minor improvements in facilities at the cabana and clubhouse which were closed in April to align with Whatcom county recommendations addressing the pandemic.
Kevin and Isaac were nominated for a National Drinking Water Week award by Washington State Department of Health (DOH) advisors/engineers acknowledging “grace under extreme pressure” while continuing “the tradition of producing excellent finished water and service to the community.”
Staff and Board attention, however, has been dominated by water quality challenges. As the community is aware, water turbidity slightly exceeded state DOH standards intermittently over several months late in 2019 and LISE entered into a Formal Compliance Agreement to address turbidity issues. The cause of increased turbidity in incoming lake water has not been identified with certainty, but algae is suspected. Upgrades have been implemented in the plant to improve treatment results in the short term, but the current plant was not designed to successfully treat the turbidity challenges currently being experienced.
To address new water quality challenges, the Board is researching the feasibility of replacing the current plant with a membrane filtration plant that has been recommended by both the state DOH and consultants retained by LISE. Any such replacement would take several years, the planning phase being at least one year.
We also want to remind folks that at last year’s AGM the membership approved a bylaw amendment authorizing board members to receive a stipend equal to 1/12 of the annual dues for one lot for each regular monthly board meeting they attend (i.e. the stipend cannot exceed the dues on one lot in any given year per board member). The stipend is intended to encourage members to step up and volunteer their services as a board member.
ADMINISTRATION CHAIR REPORT: (SHARLEEN PEITSCH-TYERMAN-ADMINISTRATION.CHAIR@LISECC.COM)
Following the Annual General Meeting of 2019, the current and newly elected members of the board convened and elected the positions of President, Vice President, Chair of Finance, Chair of Administration and Chair of Operations as per our current bylaws. Having the good fortune of remaining in the position of Chair of Administration, I was able to continue in my review of our LISECC Governing Documents which was my focus the previous year.
The 2019/2020 LISECC Board meetings began with each chair position submitting a Strategic Plan outlining their long- and short-term goals. To this end, a process was created whereby incremental steps were formed to systematically go through Part IV and Part V of the LISECC Governing Documents allowing the board members time to review suggested revisions and amendments. Most of the revisions and amendments were grammatical in nature allowing for more succinct descriptions of various bylaws and clarification of positions. New language was introduced regarding election of officers and support staff along with clarification in function of committees. In the early part of 2020, I accompanied our LISECC President to a meeting with the Scenic Estate’s retained law firm, Greg Thulin, P.S. to discuss our LISECC Governing Documents. The substance of our discussion circled around the re-statement of our existing bylaws, bringing them into current language and reflecting current state legislation. We presented our revised Part IV of the LISECC Governing Documents for his review.
As this was a time sensitive matter in preparation for our 2020 Annual General Meeting, Greg Thulin’s office was able to present to the LISECC Board, in a timely fashion, a newly restated version of our LISECC Governing Documents, Part IV for our review. The restated version of the LISECC Part IV was quite comprehensive, including language pertaining to our current world pandemic situation or any future catastrophic event which would prevent the in person gathering of board members.
Comments and suggested revisions were made by each board member and these were submitted to the office of Greg Thulin for a final review and finished document. This newly restated version of the LISECC Governing Documents, Part IV was to be presented and voted on at this year’s Annual General Meeting. However, due to our current world situation and the resulting inability to meet as a full, in person voting membership, it was suggested that this document be presented to the membership at a later date, perhaps in a special meeting. There was also discussion around the voting process and what that would look like if our current world situation were to continue into 2021 and beyond.
I am excited and encouraged at the development of this newly restated document, believing it to be in the best interest of the Scenic Estates membership. Having an up to date Part IV LISECC Governing Document that reflects current legislature and provides language which is more comprehensive to our needs as a community is paramount.
The strength of our community and membership is reflective of the foundation upon which it is built. A strong Governing Document provides a strong foundation which in turn provides a safe and secure community for our membership. I am pleased to have been a part of this process and eagerly look forward to its final completion.
COMMUNICATION AND PLANNING CHAIR REPORT: (JEFF SMITH-COMMUNICATIONS.CHAIR@LISECC.COM)
This year the board opted to begin sending a monthly newsletter via email to the membership. The intent is to inform membership on events, seasonal changes to amenities and opportunities for volunteering here in Scenic Estates. It is generally distributed to subscriber’s email addresses the week before scheduled LISECC Board of Director’s meetings. If you have an event or item that you’d like included, please contact the business office or just reply to the email newsletter with a comment.
If you’re not on the list to receive, it’s a simple process accessible through the LISECC website (www.lisecc.com). Just go to the heading “Get Member Email Alerts” in the gray box, and enter your name and email address. Your information will not be shared, it is just a list of recipients maintained securely on MailChimp.
There are currently nearly 120 subscribers, and input is always welcome.
Board meetings are scheduled monthly. With Washington State Covid-19 restrictions in place, the meetings are currently conducted via Zoom. This is fully accessible to the membership with log-in information posted to the website in advance. Members can sit in and listen to the proceeds with their video turned off at their discretion. If you’d like to present to the board, the procedure is very much like our in-person meetings – log-in early to contact the board before the meeting begins and the moderator will ensure that your comments become part of the record.
A WORD ON PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE AT LISECC…
There are two issues that have been discussed during board meetings and are undergoing planning for the future – both require extensive planning and will necessitate significant expenditures of community funds. These need to be on all our horizons since they will have an effect on our community resources.
The first is the issue of erosion at the LISE Clubhouse. The report from one of our members and the Vice President of GeoTest Services, Jeremy Wolf is available on the website (https://www.lisecc.com/news/clubhouse-erosion) and details the eventual need to address erosion at the foundation caused by shoreline erosion. This is a problem that will need to be addressed in the next several years. I encourage the membership to read the report.
The second issue is the replacement of our LISE Water Treatment system. This again is a longer-term issue (3 to 5 years), and one that will require a significant investment to address. It is also a major infrastructure project that requires planning – including decisions on funding and scheduling – to begin in the next few months. Our water system has served us well; we’ve enjoyed some of the best drinking water available to a community of our size in the state – several awards for quality over the years confirm this. Yet even with good management, several incremental upgrades over the years and community investment in the distribution system it has become evident that our water treatment plant is reaching the end of its serviceable life. The Washington State Department of Health concurs and has indicated that planning to upgrade the system needs to become a priority.
The recent and on-going turbidity issue further indicates that our system needs to be upgraded to newer treatment technologies. We are working with Wilson Engineering both to address the turbidity issue and begin the process of planning for an upgraded treatment system. The current state of the process is to review the available options for funding and plan for the next generation water treatment system construction and installation.
A CALL FOR COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION…
Both of these issues will require participation of the entire community. We encourage all to join the board meetings when possible, review the meeting minutes (available on the lisecc.com website monthly) and throw your name in the hat to become a board member and assist with the important decisions that the community will face in the next several years.
We will be using Zoom for meetings for the foreseeable future - it is a simple download that will work on most smart phones, tablets laptops and desk top computers. All you need is access to the web to participate.
CONTACT INFORMATION FOR LISECC
Mail: Lummi Island Scenic Estates, 1211 Island Drive, Lummi Island WA 98262
Business Office: Allison Cash (360) 758-2699 – (business@lisecc.com)
Operations Manager: Kevin Southworth (360) 758-7055 office (360) 224-3122 mobile – (operations@lisecc.com)
Board of Directors:
President – Doug Cash – (president@lisecc.com)
Administration – Bylaws, rules, regulations, policies, Board nominations – Sharleen Peitsch-Tyerman (administration.chair@lisecc.com)
Finance – Budget, expenditures and annual dues – Ben Twigg (vice.president@lisecc.com)
Operations – Property management, daily operations, boat dock and launch, goals and projects – William Enoch (operations.chair@lisecc.com)
Water – Water distribution system, reservoir and dam – William Enoch (water.chair@lisecc.com)
Communications / Planning – Jeff Smith (communications.chair@lisecc.com)
