Lake Carroll News, June 2013
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Lake Carroll News A publication of the Lake Carroll Association and its members
The Lake Carroll News is now online! www.golakecarroll.com News & Events>Newspaper June 2013
What’s Inside...
LC hosted the CC Truck, Tractor, & Toy Show, including local law enforcement, Air One helicopter, and ILLO the CC K9. See page 8A
The LC Yact held their annual season “Launch Party” that coincided with the Kentucky Derby Party. See page 18B
LAKE LEVEL: As of Friday, May 31 – 739’ 8” ADMIN OFFICE: Closed Thur, July 4 – Fourth of July 2013 BOARD MTG SCHEDULE: Jun 28, Jul 26, Aug 23, Sep 27, Oct 18, Nov 22, Dec 1 – Annual Mtg, Dec 13 (Tentative-if needed) MANDATORY UNIMPROVED LOT MOWING: #2 Aug 2-11; Report by 12pm Aug 12 More details on page 14A. LCA FIREWORKS Friday, July 5th at dusk from the Clubhouse
UPCOMING EVENTS Find details on all these events inside!
JUNE 8 Venetian Boat Parade 8 *Hugo & Heidi (8pm CH) 15 Kids Fishing Derby 15 Kick-Off to Summer 15 Family Fun Nights 21 Family Fun Nights 28 Family Fun Nights 29 Garden Walk 30 Garden Walk JULY 5 *Ron Hennings (Before & After Fireworks CH) 5 Fireworks at Clubhouse 6 Vball & Bags Tournaments 6 Equestrian Open House 20 Timberlake Gala 20 Night Fishing Tournament 26 Fun In The Sun – Beach Luau (See Agenda) *Sweet Lucy (7:30pm Beach) 27 Fun in the Sun (See Agenda) Vball & Bags Tournaments *SODA (7pm CH) 28 Fun in the Sun (See Agenda) Magic Show & More (L) * Live Entertainment
www.golakecarroll.com
Vol. 41 No. 06
President’s Message I like to think that I have a pretty good handle on the pulse of what is happening out here at the lake what people like and John Grotto don’t like, what they President are thinking and what their concerns are. In order to accomplish that, I believe it is absolutely necessary to be completely transparent in everything that is done and to keep everyone informed of all aspects of the operation of the association and its business affairs, all without holding anything back and without any window dressing. Not doing so would, in my opinion, be a form of censorship which would distort and invalidate the feedback that I believe is so important in judging whether or not our property owners approve of the direction that the board is taking the association. Fortunately, the collective board is of a similar mind set. I try to make it a point to regularly solicit the input, feedback and advice of property owners to judge whether or not the association is moving in the right direction. Many of you have probably been the recipient of my various inquiries from time to time, and I truly appreciate and value your willingness to share your thoughts and ideas, and even the thoughts and ideas of those property owners who you have spoken to about the affairs of the Association, but who have not seen fit to contact me or any other board member directly. It is a level and network of communication, both formal and informal, that I highly value. So when the May issue of the Lake Carroll News hit the mailboxes and homes of our property owners, I detected a very distinct case of arrhythmia in the heart beat of what has generally been a pretty good rhythm of association projects and accomplishments. And to be very honest with you, that bothered me – it bothered me a lot. It has been gnawing in the pit of my stomach for the past two or three weeks or so and it is still ever present in my thoughts, so much so that I could not wait to write this column for the next edition of our paper so I could clarify some very important activities. As everyone knows, the Board has spearheaded some very important initiatives that will ultimately have a far reaching impact on the future of the Association. Two of these initiatives are the early
retirement of our debt and the extension of natural gas service to our community. It has been gratifying to see our property owners support these initiatives by approving the monies necessary to see them through to fruition, and for that I am very grateful. However, over the past few weeks or so an underlying buzz and some whispering have started, somewhat along these lines: 1. The sole reason the Board wants to pay off the Association’s debt early is so the Board can go out and borrow new money to build a new lodge and/ or buy the Fawnridge property. I sort of look at this as an allegation of a “bait and switch” scheme; 2. The extra assessments that have been approved to retire the debt early will never go away; 3. The Nicor project is coming in over budget and assessments will have to be increased to pay the shortfall; and 4. The sole reason the Board wants to buy the Fawnridge property is because the original sale of the property was done illegally, and the purchase of the property is an attempt by the Board to cover up that illegal transaction and sweep it under the rug. Perhaps these items have been on your mind or maybe you hadn’t heard about them. Either way, here are the facts for your consideration: 1. If you recall, when the Board adopted the early debt retirement program we did so with a deliberate, specific purpose in mind by carefully wording the language for the initiative. Specifically, the initiative and the language that appeared on the proxy clearly stated (and will continue to state) that the money can only be used to retire the debt. Wording it this way was a conscious decision that was made by the Board because the Board did not want to have those monies get lost in our assessments after the debt had been retired, and we wanted to make sure that the money could not be diverted for other uses (in case you did not know it, property owners had previously criticized prior Boards for doing this in prior years with other budgets - as I understand it, money in an approved budget was alleged to have been diverted for other unapproved projects). So to put it succinctly, when the purpose of the assessment is accomplished (i.e., the debt is paid off) then this line item assessment lapses and goes away. I must say that in my opinion, this is iron clad – it cannot be changed without the subsequent approval of our property owners.
From what I heard, some property owners got the impression that our Treasurer Bill Jahnke’s article in last month’s issue of the Lake Carroll News was an endorsement or a statement that the Board can unilaterally tap the equity in our line of credit without the advance approval of our property owners to purchase the Fawnridge property, or by extension of that reasoning, to further the construction of a new lodge. In addition, after reading Bill’s article some property owners concluded that the Board had already made a decision to purchase the Fawnridge property. I read and re-read Bill’s article and I can understand how one could have reached those conclusions if one did not read the article in its entirety from beginning to end since Bill did not mention the need for membership approval until the 9th line from the bottom on what was a somewhat long article. So here are the bottom line facts: a. The Board only voted to study the feasibility of acquiring the building (as I mentioned in my May article, the Board was and is split on this issue in that it was a very close 4-3 vote to do so); b. Our property owners will have the final say on whether or not the Fawnridge property is acquired and whether or not the lodge will be replaced because those monies will have to be part of an approved budget, and because money will have to be borrowed to do so. This is essentially two separate votes and two separate opportunities to weigh in on these issues; c. No decision on whether or not to buy the Fawnridge property has been made by the Board yet, and certainly no decisions have been made on the future of the lodge. As I write this, a review of all of our facilities and needs is underway, and that study has yet to be completed. Please be assured that the results of the study and a recommended plan of action will be made known to all of our property owners so there is plenty of time for everyone to express their opinions; d. As to the legality of the association selling the property where the Fawnridge building is located, it is the opinion of some that the action that was taken by the then Board several years ago when the property was sold at that time was improper and illegal, and that at a minimum it should have first been approved by our property owners if it __________________________
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Severe Weather Warnings LCA’s Notification Procedure By Donna Beyer
Lake Carroll Severe Weather Emergency Procedure To the best of the Association’s ability, the following emergency procedure will be followed when the National Weather Service has issued either a Tornado WARNING or Severe Weather Warning with sustained winds of 40 mph or more: 1. LC Security will unlock the Lodge. 2. Security Patrol Car will drive through each pod in the campground with lights and siren on notifying campers of a severe weather warning by the National Weather Service. You should move to a safer location as quickly and safely as time permits. The closest location for the Campground is the lower level of the Lodge in the hallway outside the showers. 3. LC Security, while in route to the Campground, will attempt to contact the Clubhouse staff to notify them of a severe weather warning by the National Weather Service. Staff and patrons at the Clubhouse and Pro Shop should seek shelter in the lower level of the Clubhouse. ---------------------Please note “To the best of the Association’s ability”. This means Security Staff will do their best to fulfill this procedure; however, this procedure will not take precedence over emergency calls (ie: medical emergencies) or if it puts LCA staff in direct danger as a result of an imminent weather threat. LCA asks that members take primary responsibility of their own safety. In this day of electronic devices, satellite TV, and residential weather notification systems, there are many options to keep aware of potential severe weather. Severe weather warning systems, such as sirens, have been discussed and investigated through the years. Unfortunately, they are very expensive and LCA hasn’t been able to acquire this equipment. The LC Safety & Security Committee revisits this topic often and it is once again being looked into. Hopefully Lake Carroll doesn’t experience Mother Nature’s wrath, but in the event severe weather is headed our way, please use common sense and seek appropriate shelter to keep you, your family, and guests safe.
LCA Security vehicles are equipped with YELLOW light bars, which are equivalent to the red/blue light bars found in other municipalities. When you see an LCA Security vehicle with its YELLOW lights flashing, you MUST pull over and stop. This means they are either on an emergency call or possibly making a routine traffic stop. Thank you for your cooperation.