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LAKE GENEVA ANNUAL MEETING MANOR MINUTES
Saturday July 14, 2018 – held in the Manor park

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(Approved July 2019)

 

Called to order by President Wayne Reuter at 3:18 pm

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Wayne welcomed all to the meeting.  44 members in attendance plus 6 proxies constitutes a quorum, thanks to all for attending, this year’s attendance was the highest it’s been in quite a while.

He went on to introduce the board members, Tom Nickols /Parks & grounds, Bob Nordhaus /boat pier, David Frost /VP & architectural review committee,  Wayne Reuter/ president, Tykee Green/Treasurer, Jen Read/Events & Website, Paula Pezza Secretary. He thanked them all for their work on the board.

Wayne welcomed 2 new families to the Manor – Adam and Christina on Orchard and Joe & Dakota, also on Orchard. Together they bring 6 new kids to the Manor.

Wayne mentioned that last year’s meeting minutes have been posted as a draft on our website for quite a while plus there is a copy here today for everyone to review. He asked for a motion to approve the minutes.

Joan Thompson motioned to approve the 2017 Annual meeting mintues with a second by George Zimmerman, all were in favor, no nays. Minutes were approved.

Wayne reminded everyone there is a lot of activity at our park and swim area so please stay safe, drive slow.

David Frost – gave a report on the architectural review committee. He said the purpose is to keep neighbors talking to one another about making changes to their property rather than ending up suing. It is important to let the board and your neighbors know when you are making changes to your property.  Setbacks and heights are common questions and some are on fences and sheds. The Manor has no guide on sheds and we don’t want one, the city has one. He reminded everyone to talk to their neighbors. He also said that most of the landscapers don’t know where lot lines are,  lots are narrow and it is important for the owner to  know where their lot lines are. He reported that the only home for sale in the Manor right now is on Evergreen. 

David mentioned that our taxes were just reassessed. The good news is our values are going up in the manor, the bad news is, taxes went up 7.34% average in LG. He suggested it is worth going in to see what things similar are going for and to try and get adjusted.  There were no questions. 

Tom Nickols- reported that more than 34 people showed up to the Spring clean-up and said thank you.  He said the fall clean-up will take place the first Saturday in Oct at 10 am. He mentioned that this April new sod was put in our park thanks to Jeff Heaton who was able to get a great price, thank you!  Thanks also to Eileen & Matt and the Lichts for use of their water. In June a new railing was installed on our swim pier stairs, thanks Jim Birk. Tom also mentioned that this November was our first tree in park party, 50 attended. The second annual ‘tree in the park party’ will be on the Saturday following Thanksgiving at 2pm.  

Louise Frost asked about the cost of the sea weed removal and how much it would be this year to remove?

Tom said the Sea weed was removed from the far side of dock and it would be about $3500 to remove the rest this year.  Eileen asked if we were going to remove it again? 

Tom said it is supposed to last at least 2 seasons and there was no money in the budget right now to remove again.

Sarah McConnell asked if we continue to remove it will it become less and less?  

Georgi Kleiman asked if cutting rather than pulling it would save money

Tom replied that either way we have to pay to haul it off and there is no money  in budget to do it again this year

Tom also reminded everyone that to reserve the park for a day you must email or send a note by mail to Tom with requested date and it does not allow exclusive use.  It is up to all of us to pick up trash and any odds and ends lying around. We have a bike rake, please use it and also an area for the golf carts to park.

He asked that members keep the shore path walk clear so it does not propose a hazard, obstacle course. Wine and beer bottles ok in park area only but please be careful with glass. The park gets a lot of use, it is everyones park so please keep it neat.

Tom said the flower pots look great thanks to all who water, sand area looks great and thanks to Carol Zimmerman for setting up the toy area in the sand to keep organized.

Reminder there are a lot of hornets and bees in the sand so NO FOOD OR DRINK allowed in the beach area. All dogs must be on a leash in the park. Thanks to Eileen for putting out  poop bags on post. 

A big thank you to Joan, Jack and Barb for the great monthly coffees, they are a big hit. 

Tom mentioned upcoming necessary projects – we found someone to repair sea wall and got a quote of about $7-8,000.00. He also said we will need a new cover for life guard area, replace some picnic tables and benches.

Eileen Scheffler asked if it is ok to have a wine glass in the park?  Tom said it was ok but to be very careful with glass. 

Nicole Johnston made a request for another bike rack – Tom took note 

Ben Johnston mentioned umbrellas, Jen said we had 3 but 1 broke, we can get another.

Georgi Kleiman asked if we have a reserve fund for the sea wall 

Tom said not at this time, we had one but we had a lot of deferred maintenance this past year so we’d like to build one up – it was a good point.  He said we have careful financial management and need to discuss these items. 

Marcie Hollman commented our entrance is just beautiful and she loves the new blue chairs, some day we should get a couple more.

Terry Martino – asked if we can put in our budget for 3-4 more picnic tables. Tom said yes we are talking about that. Some people love benches some blue chairs, we’ll keep a mix.

Sarah McConnell suggested how about people sponsor a table or bench?  Tom said sure that was a great idea.

Toni Vogel asked about composite tables like the chairs? Tom said we need to know how heavy they are and he is looking into that.

Bob Nordhaus – boats piers – he said the updated slip list was available today there was one for everyone. He has been able to keep the slip fee the same for many years and are slowly building  a fund to have a little extra.  There we no questions from the members.

Jen Read – reported that the party would begin at 5:00, 5-6  the hot dog and burgers would be grilled and then 6-7 chicken or steaks, which is easier for the chefs. 6:00 there will be ice cream for kids. Magic show at 5:00.   There will be face painting and a bouncy house provided for the kids and the  band will start at 7pm. 

Jen mentioned that the Manor website was updated and after the meeting please come up and check if you do or don’t want to receive emails regarding updates and events, etc.  There is a lot happening, we formed the manor minions, fun stuff for kids.  There will be a movie in park, book club, cpr class. We want to be sure everyone is notified that would like to participate.  

Jen addressed the changes in the new portion of our website.  She said there is now a section that contains the events, photos and a Manor calendar that is password protected and can only be accessed by members for security reasons. Most people don’t want photos of their children public on the internet, etc.

All that was on the website before is still there now.   For the password protected portion, please make up your own password as this protects our names and events that are just for our manor residents. 

Joan Thompson asked can one access the list without a password.  Jen said no  but you can contact us and we can get u a copy of the information you are looking for and reminded everyone that everything that was on the old site is still public, you don’t need  a password to see that, just pictures, events or the calendar.

Linda Moritz thanked Jen for the great job she did on our website and asked about if our FB page was open to the public . Jen said for now, yes, but she is working on making that private.  It is a great way to  get the word out about events without fliers and  have open communication for residents.

Pete Peterson said he was opposed to password protected website, when the website was originally done, he used to get a call about wait list and anyone looking to move here could easily access it . He said Jen made a good thing but he sees no reason that we should have to make any information sacred. He said Wwat if you’re from some other area and want to buy a house and look at what Manor has to offer?   He thinks the website gives good info to people already inside or someone looking to move in. People say they’d like to know more, why keep it secret?

Jen mentioned again that all the info that was on the original site is still there and available without a password.  We have a lot more kids and this is protecting the kids.  

Steve Garrells said he didn’t feel the password is a big deal because we’re the only ones that know about the changes and the new section so it shouldn’t be a problem. 

Marcie Hollman said we don’t need a password to see original information – only need one for events, calendar and news.

Tykee Green – reported that we have provided of the budget and that this year we incurred a  few expenses that were a  bit extraordinary – needed to pay legal this year, used to be gratis since  Dave Williams is gone.  Our legal bill was $ 2,000 this year. She mentioned some of the expense was for consulting on a resident who did not pay their annual dues. Normally she gives a call when she does not receive payment and it gets paid but this person still has not paid. The Lawyer suggested sending the dues notice earlier, this year she will send them out on August 1.  

She stated that the lawyer suggested if someone has not paid their dues within 4 months,  a maintenance lien will be filed on property.  She said we have never had to do this before and the  lawyer suggested adding this to our bylaws and also any legal fees involved would  be paid by the  member involved. That change would need to be voted on by the members.

Tykee stated the board suggested raising the annual dues this year by $50.  

Jackie Getzen asked what about the ability to do an exchange?  She said she’d like go to Europe and live in house there and let someone live in her house. 
Jack Schafer – said he hears of a lot of home exchanges these days.

Steve Garrells asked what are we trying to prevent by not allowing short term rentals? Don’t see any difference between that and a rental.

David Frost said this is an ongoing  issue in the county 

Sarah McConnell stated the problem is with rentals being turned in to party houses. Bad for neighbors

Wayne Reuter said we will talk later about rentals and lets focus back on the budget.  Our budget is  ending this year with $803.  We don’t want to have a 15,000 build up either but the sod and sea weed was not a usual expense and $803 is not a number we want to be at. 

Wayne said the Sea wall repair estimate was $8,000 –$9,000.00 and we want to build up a reserve fund because we are going to have to do the repair. A lengthy discussion followed with many members participating, all agreeing that the work should proceed soon. At that point a member, Tom Langer, made a motion to raise the annual dues to $450 per lot. The motion was seconded by Dan Moritz, and the motion carried with all in favor but one nay, Jim Wilkin.

Wayne announced that based on the vote and discussion – dues will be $450 per lot next year

Tykee stated that  based on $350  proposed, we now will get an extra $12,000  and hopefully have a balance left after the sea wall repair.

Tom Langer said it is a sad day when you don’t pay $350 dues and we have to pay attorney. Is there a late fee?

Tykee  Green said yes, $25 fine but usually we  don’t go after people for that because she normally makes a call to the person and it gets paid, this is the  first time this has happened that it has not been paid.

Tom asked if  Tykee thought it would  be a future issue? 

Tykee said she didn’t know, that person is not here today.

Wayne Reuter went on to Old Business 

WSP cocktail party – drawing for 2 after meeting. They are a great cause and we like to support them . They need life guards if you know anyone.  Please keep the WSP in mind for donations.

New BIZ-

Short term rentals – had individual on air bb, rented by weekend, caused a lot of problems, party house, 

Right now our rules and regs state that If you rent for less than 90 day you can’t use park or piers

State and city says rentals have to pay fee.

Wayne said we can decide to change our by-laws to coincide with our rules about the rights to piers, we care about our neighborhood.  It can coincide to make rentals min of 90 days in accordance with our rules and this is a discussion piece.  Tykee Green mentioned she and Tom had a discussion about rentals with our lawyer.  Right now our rules say it has to be at least 90 days if you want to get use of Manor facilities, however, this doesn’t address renting for a couple of days or weeks. If we want to change our by-laws to state the rental policy it would have to be voted by entire membership. She asked if there were  any feelings one way or the other?

Jim McCoullough – said it was a good idea.  

Joan Thompson aske what are the state ordinances ? 

Wayne replied as an association we can make changes to our  laws that are more strict.  

Linda Moritz  asked what is the difference?  

Wayne  said now you can rent 2 weeks but have use of  piers or parks. Do we want to say you can’t rent at all unless it is for a minimum of 90 days?  We decided a few years ago 90 days was the number after discussion at a meeting

Jack – 90 is fine but no one is going to actually live there for 90 days. Why don’t we make it a year?

Wayne said after 90 days we have to give names to access our facilities

Terry Martino asked if there is a monetary penalty for violation per day? 

Wayne said that is difficult to enforce.  He mentioned the Michauda house being up for rent and he told the realtor about our rule of no use of facilities  if under 90 days and they were aware and it never got rented. We can always monitor and call to make sure they are aware of this if another one comes up

Georgi Kleiman  agreed to no less than 90 days and if you can get a year renter that’s great. 

Wayne  said we have had year long rentals with no issues, it appears to be the short term that cause problems.

Pete Peterson liked the 90 days minimum or you lose use of parks piers, there are no teeth otherwise. We need to make the change, discuss this year but wait until a case in Milwaukee is decided with this issue. Federal court accepted

Terry Martino said why not change it now and we can always reverse

Pete said our  lawyer should come up with specific language or enforcing is impossible.

Tom Nickols said our lawyer did come up with language , we need to get members to agree on the decision, state law rules with exception of associations.  It would be enforced by police.
Bill Jones said it seems our rules addressed this a few years ago. In order to make a change we had to vote the year after the discussion.  

Wayne said that is correct. We need time to make the change. The right thing to do is discuss then wait to make the decision.

Bill Jones said if we have info from attorney, lets limit discussion, like pete said, we can deal with it. We need to change by-laws so we should do it now. 

Wayne said we the have ability to do what we want to do now.  We need to see if we have strong support

Tom  Meyers  said he would like to see the language. We can’t vote without seeing the language. House exchanges are unique. Maybe we can make an exception for house swap in language. As long as it is not damaging the community we are trying to preserve.

Pete Peterson said exchanges are considered rental and we never want to change by-laws in one meeting. We need to see the exact words. He is all for doing something but next year after we see the language. We should have had it today.

Wayne said we could send something out ahead of next meeting to review and discuss prior to next years meeting. We control our park it is our pride. 

Georgi Kleiman asked if we can we have a special meeting?

Wayne said those are tough to get people together. We will put on agenda for next year

Linda Moritz said she has a hard time with 90 days, we should ease into this because once it’s in by-laws it’s hard to go back.  She doesn’t think it is necessary to put a restriction on

Tom Meyers said 90 days is the time where you get access to park. 

Wayne stated our by-laws need to state a minimum rental time.  It will be on the meeting agenda next year. 

Tom Meyers said to get the language out, send comments, have the board look at it, present changes and be realistic. 

George Zimmerman said we should  have a motion to do this next year

Paula asked what the motion is; George said to consider changes to by-laws at next years meeting adding a 90 day min rental policy.

Jackie  Getzen made a second

Tom Langer said  this isn’t new and we haven’t had an issue since implemented, he doesn’t think we should do anything this since it is not a problem. 

Wayne called the vote, All were in favor, no opposed. Motion to discuss changing by-laws at next year’s annual meeting passed.

Jack Schafer stated we must have 40 member votes to change by laws

Jay Kleiman said it  may be a good idea to make a page on website for discussion

Carol Zimmerman reported that  Andy Kerwin is trying to get a Manor team together for an Alzheimer’s walk. We want as many manor members as possible to participate.  Carol passed a sign up sheet.  

Pete Peterson– New business –he said  thanks to Jim for the new railing and asked people to stop using steps as a bench. He said he believes  firmly in transparency and is opposed to needing a password for website sign on. People brought up being contacted by email so  let’s put everyones email on the list. 

Wayne responded saying we are trying to use emails for board communication 

Paula Pezza responded that as the secretary we originally told people we would not share their email address and it would be used strictly for board communication. Out of respect for those who understood it that way we need to confirm with everyone, not sure a majority of hands showing it is ok to share. 

Dave Pezza suggested the board consider whether or not to take 71 emails and ask each person  if they want their email on a public list. 

Wayne said we can work on that

David McConnell said his  boat broke off his buoy and Pete came through, Wayne and Jen also helped and he wanted to thank them.

Wayne asked if there was any other new business, there was none

He reported that David Frost and Paula Pezza are retiring from Board and thanked them. He stated that 2 people offered to run for their spots, Jennifer Heaton and Carol Zimmerman. He reminded everyone that they are not running for a specific office, that is determined by board vote after the meeting.

Pete Peterson confirmed that there were only 2 people running for 2 seats, that was confirmed. Pete made a motion to approve the 2 candidates.

Joan Thompson made a second – all were in favor – Jennifer and Carol were elected as the 2 new board members.  

Barb Phillips made a motion to adjourn, Jackie Getzen made a second. All were in favor.

The annual meeting was adjourned 4:52 pm

Respectfully submitted,

Paula Pezza

Lake Geneva Manor Association Secretary

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