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MARCH 2020
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Lake Viking News
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Beautiful Lake Viking... Lake Living the Better Way!
Lake Viking News March 2020
©Gallatin Publishing Co.
www.lakevikingmo.com
Volume 32, No. 11
Annual meeting votes “Yes” on important initiatives By Troy Lesan On Sunday, March 1, the day of the Viking Valley Association Annual Meeting, it appeared that spring had arrived. It was a nice day and a far cry from a year earlier when the 2019 meeting was postponed and rescheduled due to fears of a winter storm. Apparently, for the 173 in attendance, the good weather was a portent, because there were some important measures on the ballot and they passed with flying colors. It’s not often that membership will pass substantial assessment increases – in other words, raising costs for themselves – without a good deal of contention, but this meeting was an exception. As most readers know, Lake Viking is faced with the big expense of an engineer designed silt basin in order to continue our dredging operation in an effective fashion. Cost is estimated to be in the neighborhood of $500,000 and, of course, the issue is funding. If there were any questions as to the need of this costly improvement, they were answered in a superb and highly informative Power Point presentation by Dredge Committee Chairman Shawn Hepinstall. Shawn’s presentation, which appeared on the new big screen Smart TV purchased by the activities committee, was a thorough walk-through of the dredging plan both from a historical perspective of where we have been and as an outline of the future. It included overhead maps, plenty of pictures, including the entire dredge (rarely seen because the machine is usually half-submerged in the water), and many other relevant graphics. Perhaps the two items on Shawn’s presentation with the most lasting effect were a chart showing an overhead photo of another lake that is actually silting in . . . and . . . a chart showing a comparison of how much other lakes pay both in dues and dredging assessments. Lake Viking is well below the curve in both of those categories. After the presentation, the voting started with the first option on the ballot being the sale of five of the 23 Association-owned waterfront community areas to assist with funding for the dredge project. When this option was first presented, there was some talk, including posts on Lake Viking Group Facebook suggesting that the measure was depriving certain members of amenities. To me, as a board member and longtime Lake Committee member, this option made sense. The lake has owned twenty-three community areas since day one, some of which experience frequent usage by members. However several of these CAs are not used at all and never have been. Perhaps the best analysis was offered by an Association member who neighbors two of the little used community areas. (That’s right, two! Several community areas are separated by only a few lots.) The member stated that he has NEVER seen anyone use those two community areas. He added that the only sign of life visible to him on those lots had been a few squirrels scampering around the properties. This image apparently prevailed. When brought to a vote, the proposal to sell the five community areas passed by a resounding 105 yea to 10 nay. Next on the agenda was Initiative #2 calling for a one year, one time dredging assessment of $150 per lot to assist with the silt basin expense, with
Next VVA Board Meeting:
an additional $50 per year raise in the lake fund. The lake fund increase will provide for anticipated annual expenses in keeping the dredge operational. When discussion went to the floor several members questioned the need for this increase due to the fact that both the income and funds summary statements reflected that the Lake had money. It was then suggested, from the floor, that digging deep into our reserves was not a good option. This was also a sentiment emphasized by Glenn Miller (he owned a business management company) when he served on the Finance Committee and the main reason for the creation of the 5 year plan. The general rule of thumb is the desirability of a year’s worth of reserves – a nest egg of sorts – in the event of large unforeseen capital needs. Once again, the logic of the proposal from the floor prevailed and membership voted by a large margin – 87 to 21 – to adopt Initiative #2 in favor of the increases. Again, the $150 assessment increase per lot is a one-time expense to membership that will appear on the 2020 statement. There was definitely a sense of unity among members who attended the 2020 annual meeting and it was reflected in all floor votes. Earlier in the agenda, before Shawn’s dredge presentation, Mike Krehbiel presented the financial documents and made the motion to ratify the current five-year plan. His motion passed by a vote of 104-4. Later in the meeting, there were several perfunctory votes (I will call them housekeeping items) whereby procedural rules in the handbook were moved into the bylaw section, and those passed by votes of 67-0, 62-1, 60-0, and 57-0. The final item on the agenda was Kenny Southwick’s presentation of a strategic plan which will be used as a road map for our direction of the future. Association members are encouraged to go to the lakevikingmo.com website and read the financial documents, the dredging plan, and the strategic plan. A big “thank you” to membership for taking a proactive approach for the future.
Viking Valley Association Board of Directors
President 1st Vice President 2nd Vice President Secretary Assistant Secretary Treasurer Assistant Treasurer
Susan Zalenski Mark Leggett Mike Booth Tony Gronniger Celeste Armanees Troy Lesan Marvin McNabb
In the election of Board of Directors, two new members were elected to replace Eric Odette and Flint Hibler who go off the board. The new board members are Celeste Armanees and Marvin McNabb. Mike Booth was re-elected for a second three-year term, and Susan Zalenski will be board president for the upcoming year. The minutes of the annual meeting will appear in the April edition of the Lake Viking News.
Marvin McNabb
Celeste Armanees
Mike Booth
Garage Sale The spring lake-wide garage sales will be held on
Saturday, April 18, 2020 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. There is a $10 fee for anyone having a sale. If you want to be on the map, we need your money and your list of items by Friday, March 27. Maps will be available at the office on April 13. For more information please call Marian Larason at 660663-3395 or Mary Hibler at 816-724-1020.
6:30 p.m. Sunday, April 5, 2020 Lower level of the clubhouse
All members in good standing are welcome and encouraged to attend. If you want on the agenda, you must notify the office on or before the Monday prior to the board meeting.