Lake Gaston Association

Minutes Director’s Meeting – July 11, 2007

Lakeside Lutheran Church – 9:30 AM

Mission: To identify lake issues affecting our members and pursue resolution with the responsible organizations.

Location:  Lakeside Lutheran Church due to Vacation Bible School at the

                   Lake Gaston Baptist Church

Convened:  9:30 AM by President Larry Jolly

Pledge of Allegiance:  President Larry Jolly led the pledge of allegiance

Silent Meditation:  President Jolly asked us to remember our servicemen and women  serving our country around the world.

Guest Introductions: Warren County: Deborah Grant, Bill Hoofnagle, Bill Weaver, William La Monte, Tom Field, Ron Skow, Buzz, Wagner.  Mecklenburg County: Marty Helms, Joyce Lindemuth, Patrick Dempsey, Vernon Wilson.  Brunswick County: Alice Carol Maitland, Marilyn Brammer, Kathy Anglin, Elaine L Cogsdale, Sarah A. P. Raible, Leonard Turner, Linda Kleinert.  Northampton County: Jack and Dalphna Williams, Roger West, Bruce and Lavetta Johnson.  Della Batts – Lake Gaston Gazette,  John Peters – Littleton Observer.

Directors Present:  Jim Smalfelt, Fred Kneisel, Pete Deschenes, Calvin DeShields, David Duxbury, Laura Kolb, John Boyle, Larry Jolly, Ralph Domach, Jack Saunders, Doug Hughes, John Slaton, Joee Hoxter, John Cataldo,  Bill Lindenmuth, Bill Bryant, Barbara Burgdoerfer.

Director Absent:  Johnna Fross.

Guest Speaker:  Our guest speaker,  Charlette T. Woolridge, was introduced by the Secretary,  Joee Hoxter.  Ms Woolridge has a distinguished career in public administration.  She joined Brunswick County in 2006 as the County Administrator bringing over 20 years of experience in local and state government.  She is currently working on her Ph. D. in Public Policy and Administration at Virginia Commonwealth University.  She brought with her two county officials, Alice C. Maitland – County Treasurer and Marilyn Brammer.

Ms. Woolridge distributed to the Board and audience copies of an Overview of Budget Fiscal Years 2007 and 2008.  The subtopics were Property Reassessment, Three Year Comparison of Budgeted General Property Taxes, 2006 Tax Year – Breakdown of Assessed Valuation per District, Overview of FY2007 Budget, Overview of Fy2008 Budget and Comparison of FY07 and FY08 Budgets.  Ms Woolridge indicated that the bulk of tax monies in Brunswick County come from Real Estate and Personal Taxes.  The Personal Property tax rate is set by the locality and the rate in Brunswick County has been the same for over 20 years.   There is a request for services that do not match the tax intake.  Some services may be cut in order to maintain a balanced budget.   Six years is the maximum number of years between assessments by Virginia State law.

There were a number of questions from the Board and the audience. 

Q.  Have there been individual district assessments on the percentage of the tax monies from the lake country community? 

A.  No firm figures to date but, we believe it is approximately 22%.

Q. Will the county ever do away with the personal automobile property tax?

A.  The General Assembly controls this tax.

Q.  What is going to happen next year when the budget needs to be approved?  Will the $116,000 for the Weed Council be included?

A.  The money for the Weed Council has already been allocated for the 2009 budget.

      There is a commitment to include this in future budgets.

Q.Could amount of tax assessment be increased 1% per year to lessen 6 year sticker shock?

A.  Board of Supervisors could do this, but staffing to implement would be an issue.

Q.  Money had to be “dipped” from Special Fund to balance the budget – will they continue this?

A.  Realize we cannot continue to do this; however, expenses are exceeding revenues and tough decisions have to be made perhaps in cuts.

Q.  When will this discussion take place?

A.  Do not know.

Q.  Does the State mandate the Special Fund Balance?

A.  Practice stipulates 20 % of budget could be maintained – not mandated.

Q.  Why did the local part of the school budget go up 20 %?   (2007 – 2008)

A.  The two budget years numbers do not include the same line items – it is difficult to compare.   Construction costs not included in 2007, but included in 2008.

Q.  Does level funding include the general fund and the capital?

A.  Capital is not included in level fund.

Q.  During the budgeting process we heard a lot about a business park that is not bringing in the expected funds or revenue.

A.  The Board of Supervisors appoints someone to oversee the industrial park issues.  They report to a governing body.

Q.  There was a lot of discussion on the last process of assessments?  Do you know how it could be better?

A.  There were three bids from outside sources to do the county’s reassessment.   (There was confusion on terminology by assessors with homeowners.)

Q.  Why not have a Brunswick County web page to respond to county issues (assessors comments, etc.)?

A.  That sounds like a good idea.

Pete Deschenes made the motion to “request all five counties to provide information to the Lake Gaston Association on the percentage of tax monies from the lake properties.”  The motion was properly seconded and passed unanimously. 

The President thanked our guest speaker, Charlette Woolridge for her information and comments.

Special Recognition – Individual to be recognized not here.

Nomination of Officers for 2007/2008 by Laura Kolb

Laura Kolb is the new Chair of the Nominations Committee.   She made the motion that the “new slate of officers” to be voted on by the entire Board.  The motion was properly seconded and passed unanimously.   The President presented a new gavel for the incoming President.  The new officers are:

President – John Cataldo

Vice President – Doug Hughes

Secretary – Joee Hoxter

Treasurer – Bill Lindenmuth

Past President – Larry Jolly

Secretary’s Report – Joee Hoxter

The Board approved the minutes of June 6, 2007.

The Board approved the Executive Session minutes of June 6, 2007.

The Board approved the Annual Meeting minutes of June 9, 2007.

Treasurer’s Report – Bill Lindenmuth

The Board approved the June 2007 treasurer’s report.

Committee Reports

Lake Environment – Bill Lindenmuth, Chair

a)     lake water was at low level during July 4^th.  This is unusual for a holiday week.

b)     Letter from Jim Thornton re: details of fish kill, counts and tagging of carp

c)      Request to Dominion to keep lake level up on holidays

d)     Requesting monthly measurements of water clarity on the lake

e)      Mandatory water restrictions in place due to drought conditions

The complete report is included on file.

Safety Committee – Jack Saunders, Chair

Sheriff Wardie Vincent of Northhampton County met with the committee and provided an overview of the department and discussed recent activities.  He gave numerous suggestions for homeowners to protect their property and that of their neighbors.

The complete report is included on file.

Aquatic Weed Management – Bob Etheridge, Chair

Pete Deschenes gave the report and will be the temporary Chair of the Committee until a new Chair has been named.  Several comments were made on weed management issues – a) Pro Lake delayed treatment until the areas could be notified by newspaper announcements which coves and areas on the lake would be treated in 2007.  b) Who will be the representative to the annual South Carolina Aquatic Weed Conference planned for 15-17 August.  There were comments on other lakes weed concerns and how they approached their problems.  Guest Tom Field specifically stated his discontent on the progress of weed control on our lake and presented the possibility of increasing our number of grass carp per acre.  The LGA has recommended to The Weed Council to increase our number to 15 grass carp per acre.  The Weed Council now allows public input at their meetings.  For information on the Weed Council, the Stake Holders, TAG and other related organizations, please go to the LGA web site and see the links to these organizations.

The complete report is included on file.

Membership Development – David Duxbury, Chair

The Membership Committee is looking for LGA members to join with their committee, not only Directors.   Reviewed trial membership for the limited time.   Reviewed status of non-renewals – it has increased by 1/3.  The committee created a Realtor Gift Package and distributed it to 40 realtors in the lake community.  We will continue to go to festivals to get more members.  The complete report is on file.

Public Affairs – John Slaton, Chair

The speaker next month will be Jim Thornton.  The new committee will begin to add guest speakers for the Board.   Recommendation from PA – the LGA should be against raising taxes. 

Planning and Development – Jack Saunders, Chair

The committee is still researching information to assist them in planning their priorities.  We continue gather documents, compare county guidelines and seek partnerships with interested persons.  The complete report is on file.

Executive Director’s Report – Moira Underwood

Moira read a synopsis of her Executive Director’s report.  She continues to monitor the memberships, review communications and attend most committee and many community meetings.  The complete report is on file.

Old Business  

VA & NC Safe Boating activities update – Pete Deschenes

There will be a telephone conference this afternoon.  There is still no movement in committee.  A half dozen organizations have been identified to create an alliance to promote the licensing of boaters in North Carolina.  Will keep the LGA informed.

Other Old Business – Bruce Johnson brought up the difficulties of operating a cell phone on or off the water in the event of an emergency.   The LGA has looked into this issue in the past and approached the various cell phone companies in the area.  It makes a difference in the type of cell phone that is being used.  Also, there is a need for more towers.

New Business

1. Request to support building a minor league baseball stadium at Bracey – Joee Hoxter said she will investigate.

2. Resignation of Director Jay Baker, Halifax County due to his already tough schedule.

3. Other New Business – John Cataldo, new President has set up County Coordinators to assist the LGA in keeping abreast of lake related issues in each of the five counties.  Each county committee will meet and cover the Supervisor (Commissioner’s) and Planning Board meetings and report back to the Officer’s Meeting.

The meeting was properly adjourned.

Sincerely,

Joee Hoxter

Secretary