Grand Valley Lakes Property Owners Association, Inc.
Board of Directors Meeting
January 12, 2024

Call to Order:
Ron Scott called the meeting to order.

Prayer:
Stan Doyle led the meeting in prayer.

Directors present:
Ron Scott-President, Stan Doyle-Vice President, Donna McClarin-Treasurer, Nancy Burke-Secretary, Stuart Farmer, David West, Billy Williams, and Paul Benoit.

Directors absent:
Jean Harrison had an excused absence.

Quorum:
A Quorum was declared by Nancy Burke.

Adoption/Revisions of the Agenda:
David West made a motion to adopt the agenda as presented, Donna McClarin seconded; motion carried.

Approval of the Minutes:
Paul Benoit moved to accept the minutes as printed, Stuart Farmer seconded; motion carried, the minutes were adopted and handed out in the meeting.

Treasurer’s Report:
Donna McClarin read the report from December stating the total income was $7,456.24 and expenses were $85,509.94 with $50,000 of that being transferred to savings for roads. Stan Doyle moved to accept the report as read, Paul Benoit seconded; motion carried.

President’s Report:
Ron Scott gave an update on the Asset Management Plan stating it has been completed, thanks to Robert Kelly with Communities Unlimited. We are moving forward and getting closer to getting the water meters ordered and TLM of Jackson, TN will be doing the work.
Ron Scott gave an update on Zoning. The issue we have in Grand Valley is the minimum lot size specified by Hardeman County is ½ acre for building and about 99.9% of our lots are less than ½ acre, which means the lots in here are non-buildable lots. We have stopped selling property until we get this resolved. He and George Harrison went in front of the commission to request lot size, lot length, lot depth and set back requirements. We have this in our Restrictive Covenants. The issue for Grand Valley is the lots were plotted back in the 1970’s. No zoning was in Hardeman County until 1993. Nothing was ever done with this until now. The only option we have is to combine lots so that is why we are asking for a variance. We did have a good meeting with the Planning Commission and our next meeting will be with Hardeman County Commissioners.
Ron Scott stated the lot on Grand Valley where they pulled out the mobile home is still a mess. We are sending a letter to the property owner giving them 30 days to clean up and if they don’t do it we will clean it up and bill them.

Old Business:
David West gave an update on the GVL 2025 stating we have 27 action items to be completed by March 31, 2024. We are making progress with 10 fully completed, 12 in progress and 5 have not been started. We have decided not to pursue 2 of them-using the lodge as a polling place and using Venmo & PayPal to collect dues and fees. So technically it is 25 items with 10 completed, 12 in progress and 3 not started.

Ron Scott stated there is a State requirement for all homeowners to complete a survey about their water lines by October 2024. That simply means that the state wants to know if you have lead or copper piping in your home. This does require 100% participation. We have published a QR code that will take you to the survey to fill out.

Billy Williams stated we’ve had questions about allowing outside ATV/UTV’s into the Valley. It has always been our policy for residents only. We have put together a position paper which is a summary of what is in our Bylaws and how we came about those decisions. It is in the handout on page 3. Everything in that is active and nothing has changed with regards to letting in visitor ATV/UTV’s inside Grand Valley. When the policy was written it is apparent that we were talking about much different vehicles than we’re talking about now. Now we have side by sides which the State of Tennessee in 2016 has decided to “class” these vehicles, to decide which ones can be on the road. It is broken down into speed classes. Essentially it is saying the higher up speed is more access to public roads. We cannot legally stop someone from driving a legally licensed vehicle in the State of Tennessee. Unfortunately we have not evolved our Bylaws to incorporate these new vehicles. With that being said, I think we are to a point where we as a Board are going to take 30 days to look at this. We still have restrictions on whether you are driving a class 1 ATV or any vehicle; when you invite a guest in, you are responsible for that guest no matter what they are driving. And if they drive a UTV or a truck recklessly, you as the property owner are responsible for their actions. Bottom line is we do need to look at our rules and possibly allow these vehicles to come in as long as they meet the criteria.

New Business:
Ron Scott announced we are working on the new budget. Donna McClarin stated that we will have to have an increase in dues and water this year. Water availability will increase 5%, resident water will increase 10% and membership dues will increase 5%. That average increase is anywhere from $5 to $10 a month. We have recommendations from TLM to set our baseline for water availability to start at $16.55 a month and with our new monthly increase it is $15.84 which is less than the recommendation. Resident water recommendation $42.15 a month and our new monthly increase is $40.31. They estimate we have high water loss. Once water meters are installed it will be easier to find and repair water leaks, which will decrease the costs for pumping and treating water. Donna McClarin asked for a motion to approve the increases for the new fiscal year. Stuart Farmer made the motion to approve the budget increase, Billy Williams seconded; motion carried unanimously.

Stuart Farmer gave an update on the roads stating the contractor we have been working with about chip and seal will be here mid-May to be onsite to do a select number of roads. He has a form for residents to sign if they are interested in getting their own driveways, sidewalks, etc. done.

Architectural Committee:
Stuart Farmer stated that Mr. Varela on Teton Drive has a few different little projects he would like to do. There are 5 variances from seawall construction to a fence. We are still working with him and should be finished by the end of this week.
Stuart stated there are 3 lots cleared off and ready for foundations. After spring time we expect to be pretty busy.
Stuart stated we are going to be introducing a new form for future projects that will be going out with the billing.

Staff reports:
No staff reports.

Club Reports:
Ladies: Nancy Burke stated they meet in the morning at 10:30.
Men’s: Paul Benoit stated there is no meeting tomorrow.
Girls: Amy Williams stated they will be planting bulbs at the beach tomorrow.

Agenda:
Lesley Brainard & Samantha Kneipp want to do some fun things this summer.
They are thinking about cardboard boat races, paddleboard races, canoe races, etc., possibly on June 22, 2024. This would be something fun for everyone to do as a summer event. If we got the word out now, everyone could get prepared to join in the fun. Awards ceremony at the beach for the winners. While this sounds like fun, Paul Benoit and Billy Williams asked for more information to be emailed to the Board.

Adjournment:
Paul Benoit moved to adjourn the meeting, Nancy Burke seconded; motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 8:10pm.