Board Members
Present:
President Mary Pracht Suzie Combs
Vice President Ken Benck Gordon Moore
Treasurer John Porter Joe Claflin
Secretary Diane Jones Joann
Rhodes
Larry Hibbs
GM James Turner
Committees
Beautification Committee Bake Sale – Saturday, November 22, 2014
Community Standards: Ken Benck stated that 6 letters have
been sent out / 2 are 2nd letter.
Appropriate action is being taken.
Social Committee: Debbie Clement
See Post
Roads Committee: Bob
Jones informed the members of $5,000 being spent on pot holes. If your pot hole is not being addressed,
please contact the POA office.
For dead tree concerns, please fill out a concern form found
at the POA office.
Public Relations Committee: Suzie
Combs announced the Life Home & Garden Show in Hot Springs where a Diamondhead booth will be
presenting information to promote DH.
The Sentinel Record – Don Thomason, Liaison will be
reporting on things like the 19th Hole may be frequented without
being a member of Diamondhead.
Safety & Security:
Ken Benck stated that plans are being made to move the Front Gates to
the inside / ‘this side of the police department’. The mail Box will also be moved to inside the
gated area. The new proposed gate will
be sliders, allowing only one car at a time.
Wild Life Committee:
GM Turner stated the short (30 minute) discussion was a ‘very general
session’ providing a rules & regulations update.
Youth Committee – a youth Christmas Party is being planned
- A New Santa this year. We will miss Mr. Dean Hartwell.
Treasurer’s Report ~ John Porter:
Cash Expenditures Pleasure Amenities Vs. Necessary Amenities:
Delinquent Dues:
GM Report
GM James Turner was asked for this report in
his own words ~
I did not receive his report. So, the following notes were taken from the
recorded meeting:
Bruce (New accountant) has done an amazing job. He put
together a new form that consolidates the golf and pro shop. The pro shop is
the income entity of the golf course.
The golf course is all expense. We
came in at 49% of budget, which gave us a net income of $9,600 for the golf
course. Anyone who says the golf course
is loosing money, it’s not.
Our consolidated for October, we came in under budget for
the entire POA by 346%. We saved about
$9,000 this month off of budget. I want to
say publicly to all the department heads à Thank you so much for
working hard to make that happen. Those
guys have really tightened our belts this month to get us on track. So, we are really looking good.
The Pro shop came in at $6,000 over budget on income. Just an amazing month all the way
around. The budget side is starting to
get in control. Year to date – Yes, it
is way off, but if you look at the stride we were able to make in October, and
if we can continue even reasonably close
to that, we will look pretty good for the year.
We’ve had some people question the burning that Eddie has
been doing. The Department of Environmental
Quality (DEQ) has been called this week regarding complaints for some
burning. They came out and did say we
were in full compliance with the burn. We
had permission prior to the burn. We are going to try to do an even better job
going forward. We are going to send out (a message) on Constant Contact at
least the day prior to any burning. We
obviously have the due permission me need to do that. …If you do have an issue with the smoke,
please call the office so we can deal with it. If you call the DEQ, they will call us
anyway. If they (DEQ) get annoyed by the
constant calls they will shut us down and we will not be able to burn anything
at all. And that is not going to help
any of us, because leaves and stuff can pile up pretty quick around here. Yes, we can use the chipper for the big
stuff. So, if there is a nuisance because smoke is
blowing your way, call us and we will make sure we deal with it very
quickly. That way we will make sure we
have the ability to burn moving into the future.
An issue of over-hanging trees on power lines
was previously brought up by a resident who is concerned about the winter
weather approaching and possible power outage due to trees falling on the power
lines.
Thank you for bringing up the issue with the trees. We are attempting to look at a lot of this
stuff pre-emptively and really get on top of it within the confines of really
trimming the fat off the budget. We are
trying to find a balance between getting as much done as necessary and working
within our budget.
Question by Mary Gage: Did I understand you to say we are making
money on the golf course? I’m looking (Financial
Highlights) where it is costing us money.
Answer by GM: Where are you looking at that – the cost per
play? That is not anything that gives us extra funding; the tournament play,
etc.
Treasurer John Porter: On the front side of the Financial
Highlights, is the actual golf revenue and expenses including depreciation. That figure indicates …all rounds
played. I’m going to qualify that – they
take care of this at the golf shop.
Every time somebody plays they are suppose to check in. I’m assuming they are pretty much in control
of that. Numbers are fairly
accurate.
Question by Mary Gage:
In the Financial Highlights, under Golf –
“(93,161)” Does that mean that we lost, or are we winning?
GM James Turner: You’ve got to look at it in terms of our
budget. Budget – we cut $9,000 off.
Mary Gage: John, are we making money on golf?
Treasure John Porter: We have never made money on the golf
course. We are loosing less than we have
previously. …What James (GM) said is that the actual revenue is greater than
the budgeted revenue.
Mary Gage: I am concerned with the REAL revenue that is
brought in and the REAL costs that it cost us to do it.
John Porter: That is correct.
Resident Alan Thornton requested a retraction of President
Mary Pracht’s statement regarding the ‘$10,000 fine’ for burning on Diamondhead
common property. President Mary Pracht
stated that her original statement is still true and the DEQ letter dated May
2014 is posted on the DH website and on ‘Diane’s Blog’. See post Diamondhead
has received permission to burn seasonal brush (leaves, etc). Any large burning of trees must be
permitted. No dumping or burning on ‘Eddie’s
pile’.
Individual property owners MAY burn on their own property. Simply call the DH police department to inform
them of your intent. As long as there is
no BURN BAN in effect, the PD will not say “No”.
Question: I live on the lake. Can I burn in the lake bed? No, only on your own property – not on
Entergy property.
President Mary Pracht:
Little Rock
was inundated with numerous calls throughout the state. Little
Rock gave authority to individual / local areas. Diamondhead was given permission to burn by
DEQ / Mr. Hank Wright to burn seasonal brush.
All large burning must be permitted.
We would not burn one leaf without the specific permission.
Question by Sharon Carr: What will we do with all the trees that may
fall this winter?
President Mary Pracht: We will request a permit and have a large bon
fire and have the community bring hot dogs and marshmallows.
Question by Diane Porterfield: What if the residents happen to see piles of
cut up trees along the side of the road, pick up some of those cut up trees,
and take them to their own property to burn?
GM James Turner: God Bless you!
Old Business:
Lions Club: graciously donated $500 toward a computer for
the Marque. Total cost $667. Chief Joel Tyner negotiated a deal to obtain
two (2) computers for $667. The Board
later approved the purchase of the 2 computers at a cost of $667.
Water Pressure: The Water Board explained in a letter that
there was not much they could do for us.
Question by Mary Gage: How long has the water tower been here? It is just ridiculous that we have no water
pressure.
Answer John Combs: Water tower works by gravity. To build a new water tower – where does the
money come from?
John Porter: Anyone on the lake is down hill from the
water tower. They would have great water
pressure. The rest of us have terrible
water pressure. Call the Water Board with
your complaints: 262-2620 ~ ask for Jack
Plumlee.
President Mary Pracht: There is a device that can be purchased to
increase your water pressure. Ask Jack
Plumlee when you call 262-2620
Sharon Carr: We have good water pressure but we can not
drink the water. It has a black slime
that comes out of the faucet.
President Mary Pracht: I will ask the Water Board to meet with the
residents regarding this important issue.
New Business:
POS System Upgrade: “Over zealous sales Person” – We will need an
upgrade in the future that will include an inventory system, but this is not
needed at this time. The POA office will
be ready with the needed information when the time comes.
New Accountant – Bruce will be working on Monday, Tuesday
& Wednesday.
Vice President Ken Benck requested Executive Session.
Board adjourned to Executive Session at 7:04
Board returned from Executive Session at 7:36 pm
President Mary Pracht announced the purpose of the Executive
Session. Director Joann
Rhodes was removed from the Board for cause. According to the By Laws, a Board member may
be removed by a vote of 6 Board members without cause. Director Joann
Rhodes was removed with cause.
Question by Mary Gage: Why did you remove an elected Board member
from the Board?
Question by Alan Thornton: What does this say to the community that an
elected official can be removed by 6 members of the Board. There is no reason to have an election
process if a member can be removed that easily.
Statement by Diane Porterfield: A board member should be allowed to express
his/her opinions without retaliation. If a Board member is elected to the board,
the people of the community have a right to know the reason their elected
official is removed.
Director Gordon Moore: Where does it say in the By Laws what can be done in Executive Session? "Can you find that for me in writing?" Click Here for the answer.
Director Gordon Moore: Where does it say in the By Laws what can be done in Executive Session? "Can you find that for me in writing?" Click Here for the answer.
Property owner, Jack Watson suggested a By Law change be
accomplished by initiating a By Law committee to review the current By Laws
with possible changes. This should be
done by voting on each individual article, section & sub section. President Mary Pracht agreed with this
idea. This should also be done by
volunteers, not by existing Board members.
Director Gordon Moore
asked Alan Thornton to be on the Roads committee or the Long Range
Planning.
Answer by Alan Thornton: I ran for the Board where Joann Rhodes resoundingly beat me. And this board removed her. Why would I be on a committee to serve a
board who will treat its board members that way? I was on the Security Committee 2 years ago
and was removed by the Board. You are
not going to set me up for failure and use me as a scape-goat.
Director Gordon Moore: I can not change what has happened in the
past. I am asking you to serve on a committee
now. So don’t accuse me of
anything. You have no idea what my intentions
are. I’ve asked you to serve on a couple
of committees.
Alan Thornton: No, I do not wish to serve on any committee
for this Board.
Vice President Ken Benck: Concerning the reasons for Joann Rhodes dismissal from the Board – “I suggest
you ask Joann”.
Town Meeting adjourned at 8:01
Board Meeting began at 8:01
October Board minutes approved unanimously.
President Mary Pracht stated the following items were
covered during the Town meeting:
·
Treasurer’s report
·
GM report
·
Water Board response
·
Painting of Fire Lane
Lions Club donation of $500 toward purchase of computers for
the Marque was approved unanimously.
Covered during Town Meeting:
- Burning of seasonal brush
Employee Health Insurance:
The Board
voted unanimously to approve a $60 increase per month to the budgeted employee
insurance premiums. The coverage will be
left at 50/50 %.
Board meeting adjourned
Notes Provided by
Diane Porterfield
adianerdh@att.net
