Lake Forest Association

General Membership Meeting

 

10/16//05

 

Directors Present:  E. Neely, R. DeLong, A. Porter, R. Gugelmann, D. Brewer, C. Newby, S. Anderson, D. Berger and R. DeLong.

 

1) Call to order.  Meeting called to order at 7:33pm

 

2) Sign-up – A list was circulated for attendees to sign.

 

3) Minutes.  A motion to approve the general meeting minutes from last year Oct 17, 2004, was passed and seconded.   

 

4) Treasurer’s report:  S. Anderson provided the profit and loss report and cash flow statement. D. Brewer shared that a significant amount of this increase in total dues income was from new members. E. Neely shared that only a few new homeowners were surprised when they received their spring invoice, but for the most part, many knew in advance about the dues and assessment.

 

Again, it was re-iterated that this is certainly not enough for a dredging. A member asked if there was any effort to start collecting for the future expense. There are many factors that will affect the timing of the next dredging event, including the speed of development of Carolina North. The Board has run several calculation scenarios, including how many of the members would be willing to start paying on a dredging 15 years in advance. Projections have also been run on if we raise the dues to $600/yr, how many of the current members would we lose. In conclusion, the cash cushion that we have currently built up will realistically cover expenses for the next 5 years.

 

It was concluded that saving for the future is key, and the State Employees Credit Union the best resource to use. The Board agreed that last year’s finance subcommittee will need to explore this further.

 

5) Membership Statistics: 218 participating members. 36 associate members, full assessment participation of lakefronters, 4-5 properties this summer changed hands and dues and assessments paid in full.

 

6)  Recognition of out-going member and a Special Lifetime Achievement Award: Recognition and thanks were given to Allyson Porter for her efforts on the board and management of the summer park program. A very special lifetime achievement award was given to Judy Leinbach for her past, current and future involvement in the Booker Creek Mitigation and the LFA socials. A special sidebar to note is that Judy Leinbach is an Associate Member and without her involvement, many of the events, natural trails, and even safety issues that the Members take for granted would not be possible without Judy Leinbach’s oversight. Both were given prints of Ruth Whitefield’s original Eastwood Lake watercolor.

 

7) Extended terms for Don Brewer, Ed Neely, Sharon Anderson, Richard Gugelmann were approved. 

 

8) Introduction of Seth Brody.  A motion to nominate Seth Brody to the board was passed and seconded  (Welcome Seth!)  Extensions and nominees were approved unanimously.

 

9) Volunteers Wanted: Specific committees currently seeking are:  Audit Committee, Real Estate Liaison, Park Maintenance, Summer Rec Program Oversight, and the Social Committee.

 

10) Committee reports. 

Newcomers Welcoming Committee – The purpose of this committee is  to provide welcoming materials to newcomers, including distribution of the directory, etc.  The committee communicates to the board when LFA homes are up for sale. 

 

Socials Committee – Judy Leinbach reporting on socials; she chaired the summer party and fall social.  This committee is in need of a few more members.  A sign-up list was distributed. Both socials were a huge success attracting different crowds each time.

 

Engineering Report - D. Brewer reporting on three areas:

1.      New FEMA Floodplain Map: There is a new preliminary vs. current flood boundary that will affect new building development, resource conservation district, and potential flood insurance. The final version of the map will probably be adopted the 2nd half of 2006. The town needs to adopt the final new map to qualify for FEMA assistance, and for Town residents to obtain flood insurance eligibility.  Upstream on Cedar Fork Creek, there are some significant changes on the new map, especially for Lakeshore Court area.  Don Brewer has asked the Town to review the FEMA/NC DENR computer models for those areas, once enough detail is available. Member C. Bogan warned the attendees that the FEMA maps aren’t necessarily correct, and they have had first hand experience in walking changes through FEMA and the Town of Chapel Hill.

2.      Lake and Dam General: The lakebed was excavated in the summer and fall of 2001, with the dam and park improvements done the following winter and spring.  There is some sediment buildup in the southwest end of the lake, mostly away from the houses, and in the nearby wetlands. There is also some erosion and sedimentation in the Cedar Falls Creek area (that area was excavated to 12 ft during the dredging).

3.      Booker Creek Forebay:  The forebay (pond section about 80’ wide and 160’ long) was built to capture sediment prior to it filling up the lake.  There has been some general erosion from the upstream creek bed itself and from new upstream construction projects. Sediment is depositing in both the forebay and the connector. The connector (about 45’ long) between the bridge and the forebay is in the floodplain. The forebay is smaller than what would be ideal (we stopped short of the official wetlands border). The forebay was dug to be about 7½ ft of water depth in normal flow conditions. LFA has been surveying this area for three years now and the average sediment deposition has been 1.8 feet. From that standpoint, it is about 25% filled. There typically is more than 5 ft of water in the forebay to help slow the sediment. It’s a judgment call as to when to excavate; as the hole gets more and more shallow, the forebay becomes less effective at removing sediment. We are watching it year by year, and at this time we do not have a target date set.

 

The connector creek is partly on town land and mostly on LFA land. The town’s bridge contractor ended up digging this area out much bigger than was originally planned. In fact, this area is acting as another forebay, just adjacent to the LFA forebay. The town did excavate 28 cubic yards of material in Dec. 2003 and had promised orally that they would repeat this annually, but this has not been the case. The town has now decided that the original creek elevation will be good enough for the future and they do not plan to dig any deeper. Although the present situation is acceptable, the town is starting to lean on LFA to excavate the connector and forebay sooner than we might wish, in order to minimize future depositon closer to the bridge. They also want LFA to clean out the creek channel in the wetlands of fallen logs and such. The total sediment accumulation in the forebay and connector over the past three years has been 750 cubic yards.  Chip Chescheir’s study of rainfall and silt buildup indicated a positive correlation. Given the unusually dry summer, the membership will be curious to see the results next May.

 

Lake Management – R. Gugelmann reporting. Explanation of the brief opening and closing of the valve in January, and the very quick subsequent rain fill-up. 14 of the 45 lake households responded to an email questionnaire sent out. The consensus was that the lake, if needed, should be lowered for as short of time as possible (2 wks to a month) in the winter. The reasons for lowering the lake should be solid, for example that the dam needs urgent repair. If we need to lower the lake for general repair of bulkheads, we would need to get requests in by the Spring for a Winter lowering.  We would only proceed once there was a general consensus. There was concern for the ability for the plants and natural vegetation to take hold after such lowering.  Member Chris Bogan suggested that the board establish parameters as to what is legitimate. Richard Gugelmann said that the response had been that it must be multiple repairs that were pressing and to give everyone enough lead time to get their contractors lined up. Member Howard Krasnow asked that for routine maintenance, would it be reasonable to set a schedule such as every 5 years. Richard Gugelmann said this is something that we should entertain, say the winter of 2008 lowering it no more than 5 feet. Member Sue Brewer asked if everyone should be asked regarding lake lowering or just the lakefronters. Richard said that the entire membership should be consulted, although even targeting those mostly affected, he was very disappointed to see that only 14 of the 45 even voiced any concern from his recent email. Member Lindesay Harkness said that since we now have the ability to lower the lake, we should take into consideration the biological system, and specifically the stress on an every 5yr lowering schedule. By yo-yo’ing the levels of the lake, one cannot expect the system to remain the same. Member Lauren Robbins was more concerned about precedent, and that lowering the lake for one might become an expectation for everyone. Board Member Darcy Berger proposed that we get a committee together to look at policy of lake lowering. Member Bud Parson suggested two years advance notice. Member Seth Brody suggested that the non-lakefronters be included in any decision to lower the lake because the non-lakefronters are using the lake while balancing it with people who really need to fix their dock. Member Chris Bogan re-affirmed that the Board needs to establish a policy, balanced with the biological affects that will answer when it is done, and the lead-time needed. Chair Ed Neely said that Board Member Richard Gugelmann had taken the steps to coordinate this committee. Richard Gugelmann said that this is beyond the scope of a volunteer board that meets once a month, and that this might be something that will require outside assistance from either graduate students, or a firm that specializes in these matters. One last matter that Richard Gugelmann wanted to bring up is that a fair amount of the land along the lake actually does not belong to the homeowners, but rather LFA. Some have worked hard with the Board to build structures that have fit harmoniously, but other have not. Richard Gugelmann suggested that issues of architectural covenants for such LFA land should be incorporated into the policies.

 

Park Recreation – A. Porter reporting.  Opened up in April. Had the staff on board a bit earlier this year, which might have lessened the number of teen gatherings.  Had a great staff and a great manager Julie Lucier.  Younger teens non-life guard certified did gate duty and helped out more on the beach and waterfront.  Challenges are the usual: keeping guards after college’s start-up, geese on the docks, and empowering the staff to manage nonmembers walking in.

 

Park Maintenance: Rob DeLong reporting. He would like to pass this responsibility off to someone new next year. Maintenance is minimal because most of the summer staff help out when they start up in May. The latest update on the park’s old oak tree, based upon the response by a UNC arborist, the tree will be pruned again shortly, and is expected to survive.

 

11) New business: Member Rhoda Wynn suggested having a post office box installed in Lake Forest, and has offered to talk to the Postmaster about getting one installed.

 

Motion to adjourn 9:25pm

 

Draft until accepted.

Respectfully Submitted,

Allyson Porter