[CORRECTION: Westside Community Manager Joan Frost tells The Times that the transfer fee discussed toward the end of this article is a processing charge that will NOT pay for stickers and barcodes. The board has voted to eliminate windshield stickers next year; barcodes will cost $20 per vehicle and are good as long as the vehicle is owned by the landowner.]

    Five Westsiders will compete for three open seats on the Seven Lakes West Landowners Association [SLWLA] Board of Directors in elections that will be finalized at the Annual Meeting in March.
    Secretary Ed Tuton presented and won approval for the nominating committee's slate of candidates during the Tuesday, December 8 Board meeting. Those who have thrown their hats in to the ring are:
    •    Incumbent Director Mick Herdrich, a former Navy helicopter pilot with substantial career experience in Human Resources management, including stints with Pfizer and Fidelity Investments.
    •    Tom DiBella, a programmer and software analyst whose career includes business and financial systems design both at a large telecom firm and in his own consulting practice.
    •    Don Freiert, Jr., a CPA who served as VP - Corporate Real Estate for Nationwide Insurance, and held similar positions with Cardinal Health and Bank One.
    •    Jane Sessler, a doctor of dentistry who managed her own practice for 26 years, taught at the Columbia School of Dental and Oral Surgery, and currently works with FirstHealth's Children's Dental Centers.
    •    Joseph Sikes, a former Foreign Service Officer with the US State Department, who served in Ivory Coast, Rwanda, England, Senegal, and Sudan.
    The candidates will be introduced to the membership during the January 26 evening Board meeting.

   
Small Craft Rack approved
    The Board unanimously approved, during its December 8 meeting, an offer by the Seven Lakes Sailing Club to construct a rack at Johnson Point that could accommodate nine small sailboats, canoes, or kayaks. A small landing beach will be constructed nearby on the lakeshore, as well as a walkway between the rack and the beach.
    Slots in the rack will be available for rent by any Westside property owner with a suitable boat registered with the Association. The club recommended a $10 per month or $75 per year rental fee, with fees to be collected by the Association and remitted to the Sailing Club until the estimated $2,000 cost of construction has been covered. From that point forward, the Association would retain the fees. The rack and associated improvements would belong to the Association.
    "It's a a great idea," Infrastructure Director John Goodman said. "It benefits anyone in the community who wants to use it."
    
New Fourth Tuesday Work Session
    The Board discussed on Tuesday the format for the new evening working Board meeting that will take the place of the traditional fourth Tuesday presentational open meeting.
    They decided last month to make the fourth-Tuesday meeting a real working session of the Board. It will be open to the public — as is the case with the second Tuesday Morning Work Session — and there will be an opportunity for public comment.
    The fourth-Tuesday meeting will begin at 7:00 pm instead of the traditional 7:30 pm, and will wrap up no later than 10:00 pm.
    Directors discussed the need to arrange their table in a U-shape, to facilitate communication among directors, and also to consider some time limit on public comment. The new meeting format will debut on January 26.
    
Pool plans
    Herdrich and Community Manager Joan Frost recommended that the Board remove the diving board at the West Side Park pool, which will allow the Association to forego hiring lifeguards, resulting in considerable cost savings.
    One or more pool attendants will be used to check the identification of those entering the pool and enforce the rules for use of the facility.
    Board members appeared to be ready to accept that recommendation, but could not reach consensus on whether to implement the use of electronic proximity cards for pool entry this year, or postpone that measure until a full study could be made of the potential for using the cards elsewhere in the community — e.g., at the community center, the Johnson Point boat slips, the tennis courts, or even at the gates.
    If a proximity card system is not put in place this year, then it is likely the Board will turn instead to the use of photo IDs for entry to the pool.
    Director Hoffmann, who has considerable professional experience with proximity card systems, warned that installing a single-purpose system and then attempting to expand it can be far more expensive than defining the full scope from the outset.
    Director Milligan pointed out that the proximity card system would be more convenient, because it would allow landowners to use the facility after the attendant is off duty.
    The Board deferred a decision on whether to move forward with proximity cards this year to a budget retreat scheduled for Friday, December 11.
    
    
Security
    The Board approved an Emergency Egress Plan presented by Security Director Hoffmann and developed by Hoffmann in cooperation with Gerhard Hergenhahn and Ray MacKay.
    The plan lays out four exits from the community that can be used in case of a natural disaster or other emergency, based on a Board decision to activate the plan. In addition to the front and back gates, the other emergency exits are at Beacon Ridge Country Club and Behind West Side Park Community Center.
    Hoffmann said his team is considering identifying a fifth emergency exit in Morganwood; that could be added in an annual update of the plan.
    Fencing. Hoffmann said he would like to have a conversation among Directors and residents about “where we are going with fencing.” He noted that SLWLA spent $51,000 on two sections of perimeter fencing last year and will spend $9,000 on another section near The Pinnacle this year.
    "A section here, here, and here, does have some deterrent action," Hoffmann said. "But it logically makes no sense. We are on a path that should be completed. We enclose ourselves, over time, or we fence it all in one year and pay for it over time."
    Completely fencing the perimeter of Seven Lakes West would require a substantial investment, he noted, and will also require negotiations with private landowners where the Association does not own a buffer strip along the perimeter. Hoffmann said about fifty percent of the perimeter is not owned by the Association.
    Hoffmann suggested placing a question about the need for fencing — and the willingness to pay for it — in a survey of the membership. Director Silberhorn expressed skepticism about going to the membership for big decision, and President Shepard said the idea of a community survey had been tabled for now.
    
Infrastructure
    Director Goodman reported that a contract had been signed with LandDesign and the Entries Planning Committee has begun its process of developing a comprehensive plan for both the front and back gate areas.
    Drainage projects have been completed at Longleaf Court and Timber Ridge, Goodman said, and are working as designed. Additional work was scheduled to commence this week at Otter and Winston.
    Goodman said a three pipe drainage structure that carries water under Longleaf Drive near the Zebley home has rusted through and is in need of speedy replacement. The plan is to line and grout the existing pipe, in order to avoid digging up the roadway in order to make the repair. Goodman said he has had some difficulty, however, finding a contractor experienced with that technique.
    The Directors ran into some process issues when the conversation turned to a proposal for installing lightning protection at the back gate, a project that resident Jim Johnson has been spearheading for the Board. Recommended solutions were solicited from a number of vendors, who came up with unique approaches to the problem.
    Johnson recommended using the approach proposed by a firm that currently handles lightning protection for the Seven Lakes Landowners Association, and Security Director John Hoffmann made a motion to hire the firm for an amount not-to-exceed $5,000. Legal Director Silberhorn objected that the matter was not on the meeting agenda, and that the Directors had neither the proposal nor the proposed contract before them for consideration.
    After discussion about where in the budget funds to pay for the work might be found, Hoffmann withdrew his motion, and the Board seemed to agree that special approval was unnecessary for budgeted maintenance items.
    
Compliance
    Director Herdrich noted that the office staff is spending two hours per day checking the community for rules compliance, often to the consternation of landowners who come to the office to transact business and find the person they need unavailable.
    He recommended using funds in his budget allocated for a lake compliance officer to hire a part-timer to conduct the compliance sweeps, gathering the information on infraction that the office staff will then use to move the compliance process forward.
    
Other Business
    In other business during its Tuesday, December 8 Work Session, the SLWLA Board:
    •    Voted to implement a $150 transfer fee that will be charged to new landowners becoming members of the Association and will cover the cost of enrollment, issuing stickers and barcodes, etc. The Associaiton will retain $100 of the fee; $50 will go to CAS. The fee would be charged as part of the closing costs on the sale of the home or lot. [CORRECTION: Westside Community Manager Joan Frost tells The Times that the transfer fee discussed toward the end of this article is a processing charge that will NOT pay for stickers and barcodes. The board has voted to eliminate windshield stickers next year; barcodes will cost $20 per vehicle and are good as long as the vehicle is owned by the landowner.]

    •    Discussed the possibility of charging a setup and cleanup fee to all groups who use the West Side Park Community Center, in order to help prevent damage to tables, chairs, and elsewhere caused by the well-intentioned efforts of volunteers who may not have been trained how to stow the equipment.
    •    Heard from Community Activities Director Karen Milligan that Linda Rosskamp and Vallerie Murphy deserved special thanks for taking time away from their fulltime jobs to assemble many of this year's Christmas Decorations. Milligan thanked all the members of her committee, who "volunteered their time and pulled together something special" for the Holiday celebrations on December 6. In addition to Murphy and Rosskamp, the committee includes: Linda Criswell, Tracy Stromberg, Debbie Giovanni, Sandra Giovanni, Theresa Clark, and Patti Patullo.
    •    Heard from ARC Director Adam Wimberly that a resident of the Pinnacle has asked to build a fishing dock on one of the nearby ponds for use by Pinnacle residents. Fishing is allowed in the ponds, but only by residents of that neighborhood. After some discussion about the range of issues raised by the request, President Ron Shepard asked Wimberly to bring a specific proposal on the matter from ARC.
    •    Heard from Lake & Dam Director Mick Herdrich that Dam Engineer Dam Marks will be visiting Seven Lakes next week, and may provide an update on the pending state approval of the repairs to Lake Auman Dam. Marks will also help identify the trees that need to be removed from the dam between the lower Lakeway Drive pond and Lake Auman.
    •    Received from Treasurer Kathy Kirst copies of the audit of the Association's 2008-2010 financial reports.
    •    Scheduled a Budget Retreat for Friday, December 11, at West Side Park Community Center, beginning at 8:30 am.