2004 Annual Meeting Minutes

2004 ANNUAL MEETING MINUTES
Below are the minutes from the October 19th 2004 Annual Meeting and
attached is the sign in sheet. Please forward any comments and/or
corrections that you'd like us to consider being incorporated into these
minutes.
The Geneseo Hills Homeowners Annual Meeting was held on October 19th, 2004
at the GeneseoCommunity Center, with the following Board members in
attendance: Gary Gallens (President), Kevin Rowe (Vice President), Dave
Jirele (Treasurer), Gus Stetter (Water commissioner), and Brian Converse
(Secretary). Also attending were 103 homeowners who were represented
either in person or via proxy. A quorum (51%) was present.
Others in attendance were: our water system manager (Merle Loete) and John
Rogers with Missman Stanley & Associates.
The Financial Report, Annual Statements, Agenda and 11" X 17" water map
were provided at the door for all homeowners.
Kevin Rowe started off the meeting by introducing the current Board
members who are as referenced above.
Kevin read the purpose of the homeowners association as stated in the
by-laws, as listed below:
1. Maintaining the water system and well.
2. Lighting systems
3. Traffic control (30 Mph enforced by the Sheriffs
department)
4. Common recreational land & facilities
5. All common community services of every kind and nature,
required or desired, within the subdivision, for the general use and
benefit of all lot owners.
Kevin talked about the web site and showed the audience a brief overview
of what is on the site.
Kevin talked about the mowing schedule and said it is going well, and if
you do not know when it is your turn to mow you can obtain this
information on the web site. The GHHA does not provide a lawnmower for
the homeowners for their scheduled mowing.
A motion was made to approve last years meeting minutes, and was seconded
and the motion unanimously carried.
Dave went over the treasure's report and stated GHHA revenue is up due to
the increased number of homes. Repairs and maintenance costs were over
$9000.00 to keep our well system operating. GHHA's insurance premium went
up $350.00. EPA fees went up approximately $200.00 from last year. Dave
said we have no major anticipated upcoming expenses other than a $5000.00
sand filter installation, which he plans on covering under operating
expense. Listed below is the amount of money in various accounts
1. Money Market - $35,810.62
2. Checking - $6,367.55
3. Expenses - $28,363.40
The question was asked how many lots are left to be sold in Geneseo Hills
three and Dave answered that there is six. Dave said that there are
probably only three lots that will be built on.
The question was asked if out-lot "C" has been sold and the answer is yes
it has been sold and recently sold again.
A motion was made to approve the treasure's report, was seconded and the
motion unanimously carried.
OLD BUSINESS:
Gary said as of this date we meet all EPA regulations. GHHA has been on a
lead watch. A water sample was taken in June and the lead test passed but
copper was a little high. Another water sample will be taken in January
and if lead passes again GHHA will be cleared of lead but if copper is
high we will be on a copper watch.Gary mentioned that new arsenic
regulations are coming in January of 2006.
Merle said next year the Illinois EPA is going to change the regulations.
Merle said the lead and copper laws might change and become more
restrictive. Merle said the next thing we may have to look out for is
Radium. GHHA is not required, nor do we presently test for Radium.
Gary explained the systems malfunctions this year and said he believed the
starter on well number 4 got hit by lightening. Albrecht Plumbing pulled
the pump, and the pump was ready to drop to the bottom of the well since
black pipe was used. Black pipe is not normally used for well systems.
Gary said Schmidt Plumbing and Heating out of Dixon has been doing our
work.Gary briefly talked about the $4000.00 - $5000.00 sand filter that
the Board feels is required. This sand filter is for well number 1 and
well number 4.
Brian talked about the water map that he produced for the Geneseo Hills
web site. Brian explained where the different subdivisions are on the map
along with the well house locations, water lines, laterals, section
through the proposed well and the water schematic that is submitted to the
EPA. The question was asked how far down does the abandoned well number
three extend and the question was answered approximately 207 feet. Brian
mentioned that the laterals are for representation only and cannot be
scaled off the map for location.
Brian asked the audience if they would be interested in writing down their
e-mail address for the purpose of sending out a notice when new
information is posted to the web site.
Kevin said the mowing is going extremely well and explained the mowing
schedule to any new homeowners. Kevin said to give him a call after you
have mowed so he can keep track of this.
Kevin explained the well house roof situation that occurred this last
year. After the roof was replaced by Jeremy Dodge in 2003. During several
subsequent storms many shingles blew off. Eventually we received a
completely new roof and were upgraded to an architectural shingle by Owens
Corning at no expense to the GHHA. This complete replacement included a
complete tear off, added roof vents and disposal of the shingles removed.
Plus we received a $100 rebate from the Installer. Unfortunately our
Insurance Company (Westfield Insurance thru Vandewoystene Ins. Agency) did
not renew the GHHA Insurance over this non-payable event. We have acquired
Insurance though the Allied Ins. Co. via Hanford Ins. Agency
Kevin briefly talked about recycling and left information on the
entrance/exit table for any interested homeowners.
NEW BUSINESS
Gary went into an in depth discussion on the water district with several
questions and answers taking place.
Gary said as long as he in on the Board, all homeowners will have a chance
to vote on what direction they want to go as far as the arsenic is
concerned.Gary did say he felt the Board had the authority to enter an
association in accordance with the by-laws. One of the questions that was
presented to Gary was why didn't the homeowners get any information
regarding other arsenic removal options and Gary stated all homeowners did
receive information, he sent out a mailing in mid summer (This letter
everyone received will be posted to the web site).Gary said if GHHA does
not comply with arsenic regulations by the January 2006 date, the EPA
would write a letter of non-compliance stating that you have 12 months to
come within compliance. A question was asked by a homeowner about how
much grant money could our association get for a water association.
According to Gary the GHHA does not qualify for grant money simply because
we are our own association. In order to receive this grant money we would
have to join several other subdivisions in forming a water
district/association. The GHHA does qualify for low-interest 40-year
loans at 5% from USDA. The GHHA secretary gave a response that he
attended the last Wolf Road water association meeting and the most grant
money that can be obtained is $500,000.00 on a $7,000,000.00 project for
the past year. There is more grant money that is available from different
sources and that amount is unknown at this time. GHHA's president added
that he is working with representatives to obtain grant money from the
government by attaching a rider to a bill. A homeowner stated that we
need to worry about Geneseo Hills and not worry about the other little
subdivisions that have a problem. GHHA's president said the water
association most likely would not survive. A homeowner stated that in the
Boards recent mailing that they have explored several options such as a
water district, a water association and our own filtration system and
since we have explored our own filtration system why hasn't the board
given us this information. GHHA's president's response was he did by
sending out a mailing in mid summer as well as posting this information on
the Water District web-site along with several informational meetings held
at GeneseoHigh School and ColonaGrade School. Bob Lopez (resident)
talked about his charcoal filter, which gives him clear water and
recommends looking at our own arsenic removal system. It was stated that
an individual household system is a point of entry system, which are at
this time not allowed by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
(IEPA), but that does not mean that the law cannot change between now and
January 2006.
A motion was made for a committee to be formed within thirty days to
develop a plan of action within ninety days after formation. This
committee is to study the arsenic issue, make recommendations to the Board
and then have the Board present their recommendations to the membership so
GHHA can come into compliance with the January 2006 arsenic regulation.
The motion was seconded and unanimously carried.
John Rodgers with Missman Stanley and Associates spoke briefly on the Wolf
Road Water Study report and the Wolf Road Water Study report for a
Modified Plan. John did say an Iron removal system would cost
approximately $313,000.00 and these iron removal systems do remove a
portion of the arsenic where a secondary treatment may or may not be
necessary.John said there is emerging technology called adsorption that
is used for arsenic removal systems.John said regardless of what system
we use a pilot study would be required to prove to the EPA that our
proposed system would remove the arsenic. The problem with any system is
that the iron and arsenic waste must be dealt with.John said if we
started tonight with design of our own system we would be approximately 12
months out before the system was up and running.
A homeowner expressed his concern that more emphasis has been placed on a
water district and association than has been placed on our own filtration
system. A homeowner also expressed the concern over spending $3500.00 for
the Wolf Road Water Study report that the Board approved and the
homeowners were not allowed to vote on. Obviously the money spent for the
study shows a cost analysis as stated in the above paragraph.
All candidates were given a chance to present their viewpoint to the
homeowners as to why they are running and want to be on the Board.
Presentation of the voting results.
Jeff Matthews...... 84
Gary Gallens...... 72
Kevin Rowe...... 69
Dave Jirele...... 69
Gus Stetter...... 63
Aaron Nelson...... 44
Brian Converse...... 41
Doug Darby...... 32
Andy Dennhart...... 30
The meeting was adjourned.
Submitted by Brian Converse secretary.