LEATHERWOOD MOUNTAINS PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION MEETING
September 23, 2006, Darby Community Center

10: 00 am - meeting called to order -  present were Chuck Mann, Randy Burke, David Beckett, Diane Ertel, Lelia Ivey, Delaine Parker, John Single, guests Phil Whitson and Abbie Hanchey.  Absent were Mike Everett and Vance Stine.

The meeting began with a discussion as to whether or not non-Board members that address the Board in a formal meeting should be allowed to review or approve minutes involving their participation prior to the minutes being posted on the web.  After some discussion, David Beckett made a motion to include speaking guests on a copy of the proposed minutes before final approval by the Board.  Lelia seconded the motion and it passed without opposition.

Beyond The Gate –  Phil Whitson  reported on his meeting with the Ginn attorneys, Doug Miller, and our attorney, Tony deSanti.  Basically, Leatherwood property owners will have access to the equine facilities and the restaurant with no membership fees.  There will be no access to any other Ginn amenities, including Camp Laurelmor, which will be located in the vicinity of the current campground.  He said that it was unlikely that Leatherwood residents would be able to buy into the other Laurelmor amenities.  Delaine made the statement that Leatherwood property owners didn’t seem to be getting any benefits except for the trail maintainance by Ginn.  Phil explained that the POA never had ownership of these amenities but had enjoyed the use of them through the generosity of Mountain Resources who owned them.  He added that it was likely that boarding fees at the barn would eventually be increased.

Diane asked about the time line.  She said that since Ginn has not actually sold any lots at this time, and since building in this area usually takes a year or more, it seemed that Leatherwood wouldn’t see any drastic changes for at least the next year.  Phil responded that was correct.  Ginn does not anticipate any big changes to the equine center, restaurant, or campground through 2007 since they will be concentrating on building the clubhouse and other amenities inside the main Laurelmor boundaries.  Phil said that all the lawyers involved had worked out the legal issues to the point that Ginn and Mountain Resource Company were both satisfied and the purchase date and closing would proceed on time.  The survey and title searches are complete, so the closing should be around March 1.

Delaine asked if there was an update regarding Leatherwood’s right-of-way involving the entrance.  Phil answered that the Ginn attorneys do not have a problem with adding a second right-of-way, but the final decision would be with Ginn management.  He hoped the final agreement would give two entrance right-of-ways and an easement for the Leatherwood Mountain sign.  David Beckett suggested that Phil might want to discuss with Ginn’s  business people changing the name of Camp Laurelmor, since there will not be a campground and that might confuse people who were use to coming to Leatherwood to camp.  Diane asked about the other issues the Board has put on hold awaiting Ginn’s plans.  These include security, a gate, and facilities for meetings and group activities.  She mentioned the loss of the party barn, which affects Leatherwood Rentals’ weddings, as well as POA activities.  A general discussion followed about what was needed and how much time the POA has to replace these items.  Diane made a motion that a committee be formed to work with a committee for Leatherwood Rentals to come up with a list of future needs and to prioritize them.  The committee would look at the best placement for these needs, such as dumpsters, storage, mail drops, etc.  David 2^nd the motion and it passed unanimously.   Phil agreed that this should benefit everyone.

Diane then asked Phil about the status of the Architectural Review Committee.  Phil stated that the committee now consists of Phil Rash, Russ Simmons, and Mike Everett.  David Beckett expressed the wish of the POA that the committee be turned over to the POA.  Phil said that he and Phil Rash were not ready to turn it over at this point.  Since he and Phil and Keith Johnston were new at property development, they wanted to keep control over building issues, but may be willing to turn it over to the POA after an “interim” period.  A discussion followed involving the need for cooperation between the builders, developers, Architectural Review Committee, and the Covenants Compliance Committee.

 Approval of Prior Minutes – Chuck reported that our attorney had advised him that the by-laws allow for approval of the minutes through email, but suggested that the Board amend the by-laws to specifically include approval by email.  He then made a motion to do so and David Beckett 2^nd the motion.  It passed unanimously.  The proposed minutes will be emailed to every Board member for corrections, then emailed back to the secretary for a final corrected draft.  Then those minutes will be emailed to every Board member for final approval.   Randy Burke made a motion to accept last months minutes and mail them out this month.  John Single 2^nd.  It passed unanimously.  John Single volunteered to explore the cost and procedure for the POA to establish its own web site.  All members agreed to John exploring this option.

Contracts and Agreements - Chuck commented that we may have to mow one more time, but we were in good shape overall.  Gary Gibson is still working on the culverts.  The one on Hunter Rd. needs to be replaced.  Gary has suggested replacing the 6’ pipe with two 4’ pipes to give a more stable fix to the problem, giving 2’ more of fill cover over the pipe.  He will give us a quote on this project.  Lelia Ivey pointed out that the side-by-side solution could mean more debris getting trapped at the entrance to the pipes.  She suggested going with the 6’ pipe since it has been adequate in the past, is cheaper, and Hunter Road doesn’t have much traffic, so lower fill dirt shouldn’t be a problem.  After some discussion, the Board decided to get estimates both ways before making a decision.

Entertainment Committee – Diane Ertel reviewed the events coming up in October and November:  the POA Celebration Dinner at the restaurant on Oct. 5^th at 6:00, the Pumpkin Carving Contest at the barn on Oct.26^th, the 5K run on Oct., 28^th, and the Halloween Party at the barn on the 28^th of Oct.  The Celebration Dinner on Nov. 2^nd will be the last one until February, 2007.  The only other event in November is the trip to Abingdon, Va., on the 11^th to see a play and spend the night at the Martha Washington Inn.  Diane asked if the name of the Entertainment Committee could be changed to Activities and Events, since that was a more descriptive title.  The Board agreed.  Diane also reminded Board members that a donation jar had been set up in the Welcome Center to help Lane Dudley, our mail carrier, with expenses incurred over the death of her daughter in an automobile accident in front of the post office in Ferguson.  Her daughter left a 4-year-old son and there was no insurance.  It was agreed to let POA members know of this tragedy though the minutes and to give members an opportunity to make a donation.  Diane then reported that $1381 had been raised in the community yard sale.  That money was donated to the Ferguson Volunteer Fire Dept., in a presentation made by David and Zela Beckett to Susie Lurz, and Paul McCade.  The event was reported in the local newspaper.

Roads – Delaine stated that Burke Paving had given us a quote of $34,880 to pave Granny’s Ridge if he can dump the broken asphalt somewhere in Leatherwood.  It will be $65 per hour to haul off the broken asphalt.  Randy suggested asking Dick Johnston where he’s doing fill work in the new section and can we drop the asphalt there.  Randy recently met with Dick to discuss adhering to a set of standards in road development if we supply an inspector to make sure the standards are met.  Presently an engineering person oversees the depth and width of the asphalt.  Dick is okay with cooperating with a POA inspector to make sure future roads meet the standards.  It was pointed out that the Board is already receiving complaints about Golden Eagle Road being too narrow.  There is a concern about fire equipment being able to access the road.  Chuck stated that currently the road budget takes about half of all revenue taken in by the POA.  He estimated that cost will go up by 20% per year at the rate new roads are being added and because the roads are older now and getting a great increase in traffic, particularly construction trucks.  The paving of Crockett Cove, Golden Eagle, and Rodeo Drive will add  more than 3 miles of road.  Improper road width creates road decay because of cars, trucks, and trailers running off the edges.   After some discussion on these issues, Randy Burke made a motion to get price quotes from inspectors and if the cost is reasonable, hire an inspector to look at the roads now in the process of being paved.  Diane 2^nd the motion and it passed unanimously.

Chuck then reported on a problem one homeowner is having with runoff water.  He said there have been repeated efforts by previous Boards and by Mountain Resources to correct the problem, but all have failed to satisfy the owner.  The property owner has requested this Board build a holding pond or be sued.  It is the Boards position that, since there have been no changes to the road that would create a problem, and since water has to run down hill,  the POA is not responsible for a tract that has drainage problems.

Insurance and Legal – Randy Burke read a letter to the Board from our attorney concerning the Ginn meeting held on September 18^th with Phil Whitson, Alan Mosley and Nick Sears (the Ginn attorneys) and Tony deSanti (the POA attorney).  After reading the letter, the Board agreed that POA members will benefit from the sell of amenities outside the gate to a large development company like Ginn, rather than some of the alternatives.  There was discussion concerning the fact that many POA members bought into Leatherwood believing that the amenities outside the gate were a part of Leatherwood proper.  The reality is the POA only owns the common areas inside the gate, and not as much of the trail system as had previously been indicated.  The GPS system used by Ginn showed that the main trail – the Daniel Boone Trail – is mostly on land owned by Dick Johnston and Keith Johnston.  Most of the other trails are also not on POA land.  A special meeting of the Board may be necessary in a few weeks to review and discuss trail use.

Chuck ended his report by saying that the POA Workers Compensation policy is now in force.

Annual Election/Proxy Votes – Open Discussion – Board members participated in an open discussion about the election procedures used previously to nominate and vote for Board members.  It was agreed that different practices had been used in the past, including allowing late proxy votes or proxy votes turned in to someone other than the Board as instructed.  Another problem in the past had been miscounting of the actual properties owned by each individual.  Diane stated that she and Connie Whitson had worked aggressively with Dick Johnston’s office to obtain an accurate property owners’ list by the time of the last election and that she and Connie had continued to update that list through verification with our new CPA.  One of the problems had been determining who actually owned some tracts which were listed under a LLC or in an IRA or multiple owners.  That problem has been solved.  Another issue was the nomination process itself.  David Beckett read a proposal for setting an established procedure which would include nominations prior to the annual meeting, asking candidates to fill in a questionnaire with their qualifications and reasons for wanting to serve on the Board, and distributing this slate of candidates prior to the annual meeting.  He mentioned that this is the election process used by most Boards.  Chuck Mann proposed a motion to establish a Voting Process Committee, made up of David Beckett, Randy Burke, and Vance Stine.  Lelia 2^nd the motion and it passed unanimously.

Chuck then opened discussion about the date of the annual meeting.  He said that our by-laws allow for changing the date, and previous Boards had changed it.  Chuck said that many property owners would like to see the date moved to early Spring since the weather is better and travel conditions would be safer. Snow and ice on the roads have kept some people from attending past meetings.  The Board agreed to consider this option.

Covenants and Compliance Committee – David Beckett presented the first draft of a position paper outlining the Boards intent to enforce the covenants.  The Board was unanimous in approval of the paper after making a few changes in wording.  David then asked the Board ‘s permission to have our legal counsel look it over for review.  After the attorney has a chance to make changes and approve, David said he would email a final copy to each Board member before the Board mails it out to all POA members.

Financial Report – Chuck went over the budget, telling the members that the POA is in fairly good shape at this point.  The weather has been kind to us, with no major rains causing slides or washouts.  There was general discussion about the need to improve our snow removal plans.  The discussion expanded to the need for a general manager to oversee general contractors working for the POA, including mowing, snow removal, cleaning up debris after storms, removing dead trees from right-of-ways, repaving, and construction trucks driving carelessly or too fast on our narrow roads.  Chuck mentioned again that the roads will continue to be a major source of expense as the older roads crack and decay and new roads are added.  The Board was asked by Chuck to think about this need, the expense, and what a general manager would be expected to do.

Chuck mentioned the monetary gifts given to the Ferguson Volunteer Fire Department.  He stated that the fire department gave us an accounting of gifts from Leatherwood property owners showing that $8,290 had been donated by the POA and individuals, and that with the $1,381 donated from the yard sale, a total of $9,671 had been given to the fire department as of Sept. 9.  Diane added that, because of our contributions, the fire department  had just voted to purchase two defibrillators for use in Leatherwood.  One would be kept at David and Sue Bridgers’ home near the bottom of the mountain and one would be kept at Susie Lurz and Kris Koster’s home at the top of the mountain.

Since several members would not be available for a Board meeting on October 21, the monthly meeting was moved to Oct. 14.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:00 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Diane Ertel, Secretary