Bridger
Creek Subdivision Community Association
Annual Membership Meeting
Minutes of Meeting – May 2, 2016
The meeting was called to order at 7:02 P.M. at the Lindley
Center.
The Board President, Sharyn Anhalt, welcomed members to the
membership meeting, reminding members that this is a membership meeting, not a
board meeting.
Confirm
Attendance and Quorum
Sharyn stated that 160 proxies had been
returned by mail prior to the meeting (with a handful provided at the meeting)
and that 109 were needed for a quorum (being 40% of 272 lots or votes),
confirming that a quorum was reached for this meeting.
Officially
Nominate and Appoint Chairperson
Paul Gianas was nominated as Chairperson
by Sharyn Anhalt and approved by the membership. Paul talked about the three sets of rules we
operate by, the nonprofit rules for corporations administered by the Montana
Secretary of State, the Bylaws and Covenants of BCSCA, and Robert's Rules of
Order adopted in 2008 to govern meetings. As we go through agenda items, we
will not leave that item until everyone who wishes to be heard has a chance to
talk. I will call on you, please give
your name before any comments and keep your comments to two minutes. You may have a chance to be recognized a second
time if everyone else who wants to comment has had a chance to participate.
Officially
Nominate and Appoint Recording Secretary for the meeting
Sharyn Anhalt nominated Billie Ranard as
recording secretary for this meeting and she was approved by the membership.
Consider
Adopting Amended and Restated Covenants
In order to approve the Amended and
Restated Covenants, our Covenants require approval by 75% of each class of R1
and R3 zoning. At the very least, for the amendment to pass we would need a
total of 205 ballots to be returned. As of the start of the meeting, only 160
ballots were returned so the vote is moot for now. However, it was encouraging because 85% of
the returned ballots were in favor of changing the Covenants. The Board will
discuss presenting to the membership for a second vote. An additional amendment
may be considered with the next vote, given the fact that the original
covenants required voting by R1 and R3 classes. As phases 2 and 3 were
developed, the zoning was all R3, making the classes heavily weighted towards
R3.
Sharyn provided a summary of the court
actions and implications to the Association. The court interpretation requires
us to separately collect any money needed for improvements, no matter how
small. Previously we had been funding improvements with the annual assessment
of $75.00. Additionally, the word “Improvement” is not defined in our
covenants, making it difficult to determine what expenses would be considered
an improvement vs a repair. The
amendment to the Covenants would have given us a definition of improvement;
small improvement versus capital improvement with an amount of $5,000.00 as the
dividing line, and allowed the Association to fund small improvements with the
regular annual assessment. This provides efficiency, and reduces the cost of
administration.
Questions?
·
Tom Carne - if people send in ballots late can
they be counted? Sharyn - no, they have to be submitted before the end of the
meeting.
·
George McDowell – Suggest sending educational
information in a simplistic manner before we try again. I think there was a lot of confusion with all
the emails, etc.
·
Paul Gianas - It is easier to change our Bylaws
than our Covenants. Problems are part
time residents, investment owners, we will need phone calls and more direct
contact.
·
Catherine Nelson - If we have to wait a period
of time to try again, how will the Association function? Sharyn - we can do maintenance, just nothing
which might be construed as an improvement without a vote of the membership for
a special assessment. The court ruling
stands as long as the wording in that section of the Covenants remains the
same.
·
Paul – our Covenants and Bylaws are poorly
written and often contradictory. A committee met several years ago to come up
with a list of items that need changes. We
went to a vote of the membership with only the 5 most important changes to the Bylaws,
out of some of the 35 items which they believed needed changes. Changes to the
Bylaws are much easier than the Covenants; lower percentage of votes are
required.
·
George McDowell - Does Montana law allow you to
change the Bylaws? Sharyn – yes but we
have to follow the requirements in the Bylaws for approval to change them.
·
Paul talked about independent HOAs within
BCSCA. Informed people they should have
received a copy of the Bylaws and Covenants from their real estate agent. He gave
the website (
http://bridgercreek.blogspot.com/)
for information about Bylaws and Covenant, meeting minutes and other
information. If you are not receiving
information from BCSCA please make sure to provide your working email address.
You may do so by emailing
bridgercreekboard@gmail.com.
Design
Review Committee Report
Karin Jennings reported for Dave
Andreassi:
Sept 3 minutes: fence in backyard on
Boylan was approved with conditions as outlined in minutes.
Jan 4 minutes:
- November
new home construction approved to build on Augusta;
- May board
approved repainting a home on Augusta;
- April
building of an addition and remodel on Augusta was approved; and
- January the
board approved painting trim of a home on Augusta.
March 28 minutes:
- Request for
covenants variance for roof pitch for preliminary plans for a new home on
St. Andrews was denied because the major roof form was a shed roof and not
gable or hip roof as required by the Covenants;
- The board
approved plans submitted by Dave Andreassi for additional Links Condo
Units – submitted plans on behalf of Golf Course Partners to the Board, as
he cannot approve them since he is committee Chair. The new units will use
the same floor plans and exterior design as the existing units.
Sharyn stated a reminder that anything
done to the exterior of your home should be sent to the Design Review Committee.
Park and Trail
Committee Report
Karin Jennings reported on the construction of the gas
mitigation system in the Phase 3 park adjacent to landfill, which has disturbed
the trail installed and funded by our Association. The City contract requires
the contractor to replace park and trail to same or better condition. Expected
to be completed by mid-June. City will inspect prior to releasing contractor.
Tom Carne commented that it would be good for the
Association to also inspect the work prior to final. Karin indicated that she
has asked that of the City and they said they would try to coordinate, but that
she will also contact the City in early June to remind of our request.
Treasurer’s Report
for 2015-2016 Fiscal Year
Copies of
financials through March 31 and proposed budget were provided. Dian Bottcher is
Treasurer and is present, as well as Sharyn Anhalt, Association bookkeeper.
Sharyn asked if there were any questions?
·
Tom Carne asked about several items where we
budgeted much more than was spent during the year. Presumes that is due to
desiring a cushion? Sharyn replied yes,
cushion for items such as mowing and snow removal as those vary depending on
the weather.
·
Sharyn also clarified that $75 per year per lot
is the current minimum annual assessment. The Bylaws set the minimum at $20 per
year per lot originally, which was changed in 2002 by vote of the membership to
$75. The Board must collect the minimum
annual assessment per the Bylaws, unless it is changed by a vote from the
membership.
Presentation
of Budget for July 2016 through June 2017, and Member Vote for Approval
Vote held by written ballot.
Nomination
and Election for two Board of Director positions, serving two years to May 2018
The Board is composed of five directors,
one Director is appointed by Golf Course Partners, four are elected by the
membership. Term is two years. There are 2 openings.
·
Paul - I will entertain nominations. Jan Deal
nominated Sharyn and Karin. No other nominations were made from the floor.
·
Sharyn – Indicated that both she and Karin cannot,
and do not wish to stay on the Board forever.
We really do need some new people to step up. Please start coming to the meetings and learn
what it is like. Karin and I wanted to
finish this covenant issue and that is why we have agreed to continue. A lot of HOAs are turned over to a management
company which we want to avoid as it increases the dues.
·
Paul thanked the current board members for their
diligence and service and made an appeal to membership to become involved.
Voting was conducted by written ballot.
New
Business
Paul brought up the issues with the 12 acre park west of Boylan Road
and gave a summary of the current status.
Sharyn added that Tom Murphy recently requested a zoning change from
the County which was denied. To date, all of his requests to either the City or
the County have been denied. He has recently requested a septic permit.
Any other new business? Seeing none, we will entertain a motion for
adjournment.
Meeting adjourned at 7:49 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Billie Ranard, Recording Secretary
Final
vote tallies from written ballots, counted after the close of the meeting:
Present in person or by proxy = 171 (109
needed for a quorum)
Vote to amend the covenants: 118 YES from R3 (165 needed for approval) and
26 YES from R1 (39 needed for approval)
Vote for Directors serving May 2016-May
2018: 155 YES for Sharyn; 158 YES for Karin
Vote to approve budget: 156 YES
