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Steve opened the meeting at 7:05 PM. Those board members in attendance were: Steve Cleaves, Karen Reneau, Larry Goldie, Anna Carver, Stan Wentzel (conference phone), and Linda McWhirter (admin. assistant). Carol Volckmann gave Steve her proxy votes for the meeting.

Lot 407 Ayer’s Ct. issue – Steve proposed, with Rich’s agreement, that EMC will grant an easement to Steve Edgar who has part of his drainfield in the cul de sac, which is now a through road (no need for the cul de sac)

Karen proposed management compensation ($25.00 and hour) for Steve who has been acting as manager in the interim until a new one can be hired. The motion was made, seconded, and approved. He has about 20 hours so far.

Steve summarized the road vote: 106 chipseal (53%), 16 lignin (8%), and 78 do nothing (39%), with several comments from the “do nothing” vote that we should at least upgrade the road base, etc. These results seemed to support the action of going ahead with the road upgrade, tie ins, culverts, ditches, etc. giving us time to address the issues of speed and surface treatment before a final choice on what type of surface would be applied.

Larry asked who would do the work, and what would be the time line; Steve responded Mel is the project manager and would contact contractors, etc. for board review before commencing with project. The time line is unknown at this time, as contractors have not yet been contacted. He guessed maybe work could start in August/Sept.?

Karen mentioned that there had been lots of opinions expressed about road surface (chipseal in particular) without a lot of the facts from Mel’s engineering analysis.

There was a general consensus that the speed issue was something that needed to be addressed regardless of any road surface choice.

Stan asked if all roads would be done, or just Homestead. Steve responded that Homestead would be first, we would evaluate what we did, and proceed with Highland and Cassal later (maybe 3-5 years?)

There was discussion about applying magnesium chloride (what is used on Rendezvous Rd. ) as it seemed to be very effective. Karen commented that when it gets wet, it coats vehicles and cannot be washed off. She also said applying lignin (or other non permanent surface treatment) was like paying rent.

Mark Haenlein had previously sent us info. on what they had used in Index for dust treatment, basically ground up asphalt chips, which seemed to be pretty effective for their area, though Steve mentioned finding a supply of that material might prove difficult.

1. We would initiate the process of upgrading the sub-base of Homestead (doing all the improvements except a surface treatment)

2. The Long Range Planning Committee would address the issue of speed (traffic calming), and also look into the ground asphalt chips idea.

Stan questioned going ahead with an assessment when no one proposal had gained a majority of the votes. Steve responded that since the % of those voting did indicate a desire to at least do the upgrade of the base, and since there would be a couple of months between the communication to the membership of this action and actually beginning the upgrade, we would have time to adjust or reassess based on public reaction.

Steve will draft a letter explaining everything to the membership to go in the Summer Newsletter.

Manager Search Committee: is meeting Saturday, June 16^th, to begin the hiring process. Committee members are: Pat Leigh, John Caesar, Derek Phipps, Ralph Gandy, & Dick Lindblad. Leonard and Steve will provide a worksheet for all the candidates as a basis for evaluation.

Manager Compensation: It was generally agreed that the Maintenance Manager would be compensated at a rate of $23.00/hr. Compensation for General Manager is still being evaluated. Karen has reservations about a salary compensation without knowing what the job entails since this is the first time we have divided the manager’s job into the two different descriptions. Other opinions were expressed somewhat supporting the concept of a salaried position. The Pine Forest model was presented, in which there is a minimum salary base, with an hourly wage kicking in after going over a certain number of hours.

Karen also mentioned the possibility of helping with health insurance, not getting into the health insurance business of providing it, but paying something directly to whatever health insurance company the manager happens to have.

One of the Board member terms was corrected as 4 of the new members’ terms had all been listed as 2007-2010, when only 3 should have been. (It was decided Derek Phipps would fill the position vacated by Sean McCabe’s resignation, whose term is up in 2009, as Derek is often gone on business trips, and that would give him 2 years to see if he is willing and able to commit to a 3 year term.

Logging on East Fawn Rd , beginning Monday, June 18^th was mentioned. When asked how long it would go on, Steve THOUGHT it would be about 4-6 weeks.

Respectfully submitted, Linda McWhirter, Administrative Assistant filling in for Carol Volckmann, Secretary

The meeting was called to order by Steve Cleaves at 1:10 PM . A count was made of the members present. It was determined after a show of hands by each lot owner that a quorum for voting existed, with approximately 57 votes. Steve pointed out that we need only 17 lots to have a quorum at annual meetings.

Don Fitzpatrick made a motion to approve the minutes of the previous annual meeting as written and posted on the web site. The motion was seconded and was unanimously approved.

§ New water tank has been installed and is functional. By the end of June it will have been sanitized, inspected and operational.

§ The Audit of the Edelweiss books underwent several modifications and passed. Thank you Scott Bessire.

§ Cattle will be up at Cub Creek June 1^st. Tom Graves will be doing fence repairs and will tie in areas that have not been done. August 1^st cattle will be moved from Cub Creek to Fawn Creek. It was mentioned to please make sure you close any gates that you find open.

§ Water system Upgrades - In 1996 EMC the water system was evaluated and a multi year plan was developed to accommodate a full build out of Edelweiss. We still need to upgrade our lines from 4” to 6” and we need to replace the main transition line from the pump house through the meadow up to Crabapple. All the upgrades needed have already been funded by prior assessments.

Question: Will we have to continue to improve the water distribution system after the work described is completed?

Answer: Not in the near future. The system is designed to handle 250-300 home sites, which is about the maximum number of homes we expect to be built.

Answer: Mustard Mountain , Elderberry and Bitterbrush roads. The freezes happened in the main lines in or near the road where it had been plowed. The lines were buried to close to the surface - 3 feet or less. Each time the road was plowed the frost line went deeper and the lines froze.

Karen has been wearing many hats: Website coordinator, back-up to Linda McWhirter (Adminstrative Assistant) in helping her with the bookkeeping, setting up new Quicken and Excel and took over the Treasurer’s position for Jim McDonald.

Karen gave a very brief report on the balance sheet, which shows over $500,000 in the bank account.

John Caesar resigned as Manager of Edelweiss his last day was March 31, 2007 . He resigned to pursue his teaching career and we all wish him and his family the very best and we are fortunate enough to still have John and his family a part of this community.

John shared with us what a tremendous task it is to manage Edelweiss and its difficulties to juggle all the different hats necessary. “Burn out” seems to have taken its toll.

The Board took John’s suggestions to Dick Volckmann and asked Dick to work up a Report/Proposal looking at the future management of EMC and the most effective and efficient way to manage Edelweiss.

Dick presented his proposal first to the Long Range Planning Committee who accepted it and approved it and then Dick along with the LRP Committee presented it to the Board who also approved it. To summarize its core essence - the job of managing Edelweiss needs to be broken down into multiple positions:

§ General Manager - has overall responsibility of the running of Edelweiss and reports to the Board of Directors

§ Maintenance Manager - responsible for most of the physical maintenance and reports to the General Manager - Rich Molz is currently working part time in this position.

§ Administrative Assistant - responsible for the day-to-day bookkeeping, record keeping, directing inquiries etc. (thank you Linda)

§ Snowplowing to be contracted out except in the case of an emergency where we would maintain one truck, plow and sanding equipment. This winter 80% of the snowplowing was contracted out with excellent results.

The two manager positions will be posted on the website and will be locally advertised. We already have two people who have expressed interest in the General Manager’s position and two others for the Maintenance Manager, and a Search Committee is being put together.

Answer: We have this last winter as a base and it will be evaluated by the General Manager and ultimately any contract will be approved by the Board.

One of the Board’s goals is to minimize homeowners’ burdens and maximize the quality of life here in Edelweiss as best as they can. A worksheet will be posted on the web site, which will enable members to submit individual comments The current Vision Statement is, or will be, posted on the web site also.

There are more competing funds for firewise and government funds are drying up. Our grant was not approved for 2007. We have applied again for 2008 and feel we have a good chance of success this time as we are combining our efforts with Pine Forest .

Answer: EMC cannot tell a property owner what they can/cannot do on their own property. However there are county/state/federal regulations on burning that we all must adhere to and be aware of “Burn Bans.” We live in a high danger zone for forest fires. You do have options:

1. Chip up your debris (EMC chips twice/year - spring and fall - call Linda to get on the schedule.)

3. Burn it - know the guidelines - know the risks, you are not only risking losing your value in your property, you are putting all our homes at risk.

Please look on our website for crucial information, guidelines and phone numbers.

Leonard succeeded Jim McDonald as Chairman of the LRP Committee. Leonard sees the LRP Committee as a “think tank” for the Board. He reviewed the major points regarding the Master Road Plan before asking Steve Cleaves to assist in a question and answer session. The topics below were some of the issues discussed and many had opinions which they stated during that time period.

The Master Road Plan came out of the LRP Committee while Jim McDonald was Chairman, with John Caesar’s research and help. The main issues for the roads are:

§ Drainage - ditches have filled in to the point that our road system has an inferior system of storm water and spring freeze water relief and in most places we do not have adequate culverts

§ Grading - EMC currently conducts its own road grading and over time has worn the down the surface to where there is no crown which contributes to the roads’ inability to relieve itself of water, creates potholing and an increase in wash boarding.

§ Dust Abatement - has become our most heated topic over the last several years.

§ Traffic Calming - has become another heated topic over the last several years - members, visitors, contractors simply drive too fast! There is a 15MPH speed limit that many ignore - a real safety issue for ourselves, children and pets - and further creates more dust.

(Please read the full Master Road Plan on the web site for all the details of the issues and the three proposals to be voted on/or before June 4, 2007 )

§ How can we keep the speed down? Member Pete_Speer agreed to donate barricades which could be used to create “slow-down signs” to EMC. He stated that his company made signs, size and style not confirmed. He also spoke to a successful experience with ChipSeal at a prior home in Yosemite , with more snow than we have. They experienced no problems with heaves, etc. Thank you Pete!

§ Assessment to lot owners - yes per lot except campground owners will be assessed at ½.

§ Treating the roads with only 10’ wide down the center will cause a dangerous situation and breakdown of the sides of the road

§ If we vote to treat the roads where do we begin? Your vote is or is not to treat Homestead Road ONLY as a TEST. Your vote would be to treat with pavement, chip seal, Lignosulphonate or do nothing.

(Author’s note: there was a great deal of discussion that lasted over 40 minutes of which I have not included as I did not want to give weight to one viewpoint over another.)

Steve Cleaves then opened floor for those who wished to make a statement as to their viewpoint

Steve then went over the voting process - one vote per lot, all voting would be closed June 4^th - if votes are mailed in they must be post marked no later than June 4, 2007 . If anyone wants to change their vote they need to do so by letter again post marked no later than June 4^th and it would include name, lot number and new vote - this only applies to those who have already sent in their vote.

The Board then has 14 days to post the results - they will be posted on the web site. 55% of the votes cast are needed for one of the proposals to pass.

For his contributions, his total commitment to the community, his quality of management, his handling of emergency situations at all times of day and night the Board of Directors presented to John Caesar a gift certificate for a weekend get away at the Rainer Club in Seattle for John and his wife Kristy.

Thank you John with all sincerity and we all wish you the very best and hope you continue to be a part of our community for many years to come.

Steve reviewed the procedure to elect Board Members, by presenting on a flipchart the appropriate portions of the By Laws for all to read. He reviewed the one vote per lot rule before the ballots were passed out. Congratulations to the new Directors joining the Board:

Thank you all who were willing to run and were ready to contribute to the Board and the future of the Edelweiss community. We need your participation and contributions and will be calling on you in the near future to help serve on one of the committees.

A big round of applause to Linda McWhirter, Edelweiss’ Administrative Assistant. She takes our calls; she takes our comments, suggestions, and complaints always diplomatically and never complaining. I don’t know of another person who would want to step into her position or could do it better - she is totally customer focused and passionate about supporting this community to its betterment.

Please remember Linda does have a personal life and keep your calls to business hours. We want and need Linda for as long as possible!

Steve Cleaves called an emergency meeting of the Board to discuss the following:

The meeting was called to order by Steve Cleaves at 7:00 PM at Steve’s home. In attendance: Steve Cleaves, Linda McWhirter, Administrative Assistant for Edelweiss, Karen Reneau, Dick Lindblad, Sean McCabe, Carol Volckmann, Larry Goldie, Dick Volckmann, Consultant on Future Management of Edelweiss, and on conference phone: Stan Wentzel, and Leonard Yerkes, Chairman of the Long Range Planning Committee.

Leonard Yerkes - reported the LRP Committee met, reviewed and recommended Dick Volckmann’s proposal in splitting the management responsibilities into two positions: a General Manager overseeing and responsible for the overall managing of the Edelweiss Community reporting to the Board and an Operations Manager for the day-to-day maintenance, reporting to the General Manager.

Steve - asked Dick Volckmann to review his changes/additions he made to his original proposal.

(Please see “Edelweiss Maintenance Commission - Job Description Proposal - if you do not have one please let me know and I will forward one to you.)

§ Page 2 - the General Manger is responsible to “negotiate, administer and supervise contracts for water system repairs, upgrades and new installation.”

§ Page 3 - under Community Road System, 2^nd bullet - “Negotiates and administers and supervises ….”

§ Page 4 - under Community Accounting - last bullet - “Oversees collection of Edelweiss fees -- authorizes property liens against community members whose payments are delinquent.”

§ Page 6 - under Qualifications for General Manager - 1^st bullet Dick added “preferably university Bachelors degree”

§ Page 7 - under Community Road System, 2^nd bullet - added “…back-up and emergency snowplowing.

Under Qualifications, 5^th bullet added: Ability to obtain certification as a Water Distribution System Manager as described in the Water Works Certification Program of the Washington State Department of Health.

Dick V. - recommended that both the General Manager and Operations Manager should be certified.

Dick Lindblad - remarked that EMC should be reimbursed for all costs incurred by John Caesar for Water Certification since he was unable to take the test and become certified.

Steve - this subject can be tabled for the moment and taken up later in the meeting.

Steve then asked Dick V. to go over his Addendum to the Proposal for the pros and cons of a two part management system.

Dick V. - felt the only “con” to a two part management system for Edelweiss would be the total compensation must increase in order to attract the quality individuals who would have the skills, personality and the long term commitment required. However, choosing the “right” people would, in the long-term, be cost effective - therefore, not a “con”.

Snowplowing issue - Dick V. recommendation is for Edelweiss to get out of the snowplowing business altogether - EMC would keep the black truck with plow for emergency situations. EMC would have saved, according to 2006/07 figures, approximately $14,000.00.

Karen - remarked that $6,000.00 was for Hamilton Farms snow removal equipment rented by Palm and should be charged off to snow plowing.

Dick V.- had looked into those figures and they were for tractor rental and repairs to our own equipment and not part of Palm’s total cost of snow plowing and road widening which was $36,096.

Stan - had a question about the General Manager - it appears that the General Manager’s position may be overlapping the Operations Manager as to checking the water system.

Dick V. - explained that the water system is our most critical system in Edelweiss and yes, there is some overlap in checking the system but feels it is necessary.

Leonard - being a part (the Treasurer) for a community on the West side, he could not overstress enough the value of a qualified water system - it is not an easy task and the State can shut the water off if they see a problem. (Not good)

Steve - mentioned that Mel, EMC and the Coop would be coordinating the dig in our upgrading our roads and the Coop would be paying for ½ of the first 3 feet.

Dick V. - understanding from Ray Ellis of the Coop that the Coop would be paying for ½ of 6 feet or the first 3 feet. Dick will follow up on this with Ray Ellis for clarification.

Dick Lindblad - would like to see in the Job Descriptions on page 5 that “…all major contracts are brought to the Board for Board approval and signature…”

Steve wanted a motion that the “Edelweiss Maintenance Commission - Job Description” be accepted and approved.

Steve - as it concerns the budget, approving this proposal would mean an increase to our budget by at least $10,000.

Karen - did not feel the positions were a 50/50 split that in fact the Operations Manager could be more than 50% - it could be a 60/40 split.

Leonard - with all due respect suggested there is a motion to accept the proposal and this is not the time to get into hourly vs. salary debate. It is important to move forward then move onto the quality of the candidates and what is appropriate compensation.

Stan - agreed. In approving Dick’s proposal we are approving a cost increase but those details can be left to later discussion. Stan suggest that a rate increase (membership dues) may be in order taking in consideration the growth - up to 151 homes - the upgrading that needs to be in place, and the quality of persons we need to attract.

Karen - we could start advertising right now even though we have not agreed on compensation - advertising “depending upon experience”.

Steve - there may be an increase for the General Manager but paying a salary to the Operations Manager may be a savings.

Steve - called for a vote to accepted Dick V.’s proposal splitting the management of EMC into two positions: General Manager and Operations Manager.

Steve asked Dick V. to run through his analysis of out sourcing the snowplowing.

Dick V. - it is very likely EMC could lock in a contract bid for snowplowing - we would save huge amount of money for repairs, parts, wear and tear on our equipment, and insurance. We would alleviate liability issues and we would have some fixed figures to budget for.

Based on 2006/2007 figures of 151 homes divided by the total cost of out sourced snowplowing it would run about $330/homeowner. A reasonable figure folks would live with and EMC would no longer take funds out of the general fund to subsidize snowplowing.

Sean - studies in the past find it is difficult to judge from year to year. The costs should remain subsidized by EMC and lot owners should also be paying towards the snowplowing. Also Sean feels we are over sanding and asked what Rich’s view on this is.

Stan - fears if we rely on one vender are we putting all our eggs in one basket?

Steve - Charlie Segale wanted to contract the snowplowing but is in real flux right now.

Dick V. - Jerry Palm is very interested and he did a great job this snow season.

Dick V. - would the Board like him to talk to Jerry and open the discussion further?

Leonard - suggested the Board accept a motion to accept out sourcing snowplowing.

Dick V. - yes, that was stated. Dick recommended we keep the black truck, the snow plow and sander - and - get rid of off the other vehicles.

Steve - having concerns about being prepared at the Annual Meeting specifically about the best way to handle the Road issues. His idea is to summarize the White Paper and open up the discussion to the floor.

Linda - 112 votes out of 288 Lot Owners. There are 151 Homes, 40 full time residents.

Steve - asked Linda to review her numbers and break it down to number of lots, structures, full time, part time, campground owners.

Stan - asked with the 3 options on the table, do we need a majority of more than 50%

Carol - yes - and if we cannot get more than 50% on any one option then we would have to have a run-off vote on the top two.

Stan - what do we do if someone wants to change their vote after listening to the discussion?

Steve - they would have to put it in writing, include their lot number and sign it.

Carol - Leonard as Chairman of the LRP committee would be an excellent facilitator to guide the discussion and keep people on track. Steve would introduce Leonard - Leonard would facilitate - and hand it back to Steve for the motion and vote.

Steve - asked Linda to help Carol take the minutes especially during the road discussions. (Thank you Linda!!)

Carol - will have copies of last years Annual Meeting Minutes to pass out rather than take time and read them - some one can make a motion to dispense with the reading and accept the minutes as written.

Steve - has been asked by a campground owner if the costs of the Road Assessment could be prorated at 50% for the campground owners? Another asked if we might think about assessing the costs by a percentage based on assessment of property or structure.

Karen - NO - let us stay away from assessments based on property or structure assessments.

Sean - If the campground owners want to only pay a pro-rated figure at 50% then their votes should be counted as ½ of a vote.

Steve - called for a Motion to campground owners to be assessed at 50% for Roads.

Stan - cut through the discussion and asked if the Architectural Review Committee (Dick V. is Chairman of that committee) to take a look at this at their next meeting and make a recommendation to the Board.

Steve - Received a letter from the State that EMC was in “non-compliance” and that EMC needs to have a temporary certification. Steve has requested the paperwork for himself. Once we have hired a General Manager we will have that person become certified and the Operations Manager also as a back-up.

NOTE: After the meeting was adjourned there was some discussion and confusion about the costs of road upgrading and dust control and whether Homestead was test this year or not and the costs only included Homestead . It was decided this would be brought up again at the Annual Meeting and would be made clear to anyone who was confused.

“Thanks” to the Long Range Planning Committee for their work and a special “thanks” to Leonard Yerkes, Chairman of the LRP committee for his continued counsel, and support.

“Thanks” to Dick Volckmann for all his work on the report and proposal for the future management of Edelweiss.

And … to Linda McWhirter … thank you again … you are always there, always willing, always helpful!!

The meeting was called to order by Steve Cleaves at 7:00 PM at the home of Linda and Larry McWhirter. In attendance: Steve Cleaves, Linda McWhirter, Karen Reneau, Anna Carver, Dick Lindblad, Sean McCabe, Carol Volckmann, and on conference phone: Stan Wentzel, Dick Carver and Leonard Yerkes, Chairman of the Long Range Planning Committee.

Weed Control - Linda will not have the time this summer for the weed control program. Anna Carver volunteered her husband, Dick Carver, to take on the task. Dick will need to be licensed and Edelweiss will reimburse him - $170.00 plus the cost of the pesticides.

$100,000.00 Loan from the Co-op for Road Improvements - has been approved and $50,000.00 is already in our Savings account with the balance to be deposited first of May.

Donation of Washing Machine - Thank you Dick Lindblad for donating the coin operated washing machine for the Sod Hut.

Management Replacement - Charlie Segale in partnership with Andy Oosterhof have had second thoughts on taking on John Caesar’s position as Manager of Edelweiss.

John will be leaving the position as Manager as of March 31^st. John has an opportunity for a teaching position and will be starting the first of April. John has been a tremendous asset for Edelweiss and we cannot thank him enough for all his hard work, for his commitment to excellence, his ability to implement good business practices and his input for Edelweiss as we move forward. John and his family are still members of the community and his counsel will always be a benefit.

Steve asked Sean if he would talk to Rich Moltz to see if Rich would be will to take over the maintenance on a part time basis. The Board would handle the management issues for now.

Edelweiss is a growing community and our needs are changing rapidly. In order to meet the needs of the community, the Board recognizes the need to take stock and design an operational management and maintenance programs that will work for us as our needs grow keeping up with the population.

There was a great deal of discussion whether or not Edelweiss should be looking at property management firms, hiring an operations manager and a maintenance/groundskeeper and/or contract out road maintenance, snow plowing etc., etc.

Karen said she would ask Charlie if he would be willing to share non-confidential parts of his contract with Pine Forest to give us some ideas. Steve said he would talk with the Board President of Pine Forest as well.

Leonard Yerkes suggested that we needed a sub-committee to look at the large picture:

2. to solicit counsel from organizations and individuals who have been involved with these issues within other communities and

3. to report back to the Board within 60 days with the sub-committee’s recommendation.

And further, Leonard recommended Dick Volckmann head this committee as he has had a great deal of experience in property management. Carol said she would ask him.

Motion, seconded and approved to have Rich Moltz come on a part time basis at $25.00/hr. to take care of any maintenance issues.

Motion, seconded, and approved to have Dick Volckmann form a sub-committee to make recommendations as to the management structure of Edelweiss - the time table being within 60 days.

Karen volunteered to support this committee in working up the financial numbers.

Office Computer - Karen recommended that the Edelweiss computer needs to be with Linda as Linda has been using her own computer which is very slow and the majority of the work on the computer for Edelweiss is done by Linda. All agreed.

Fire wise - A new proposal has been submitted. This will be a joint proposal with Pine Forest , managed by OCDC with a $54,000.00 grant. EMC/Pine Forest would have to match - the matching funds, $27,000.00 would come from chipping, timber sales etc. We will know late in the second quarter of this year for the year of 2008.

Request to Vacate part of Heather Rd. - The property owners at the end of Heather Road , Harms-Helleson, have requested that 109 feet of Heather Road at the end be abandon and vacated in order for them to have enough land for a building site. This in no way impacts any other property.

Motion, seconded and approved that EMC would abandon and vacate 109 feet at the end of Heather Road if the property owners will assume all costs including but not restricted to research, legal, surveys, etc.

Leonard thanked the Board and Steve for the opportunity to serve Edelweiss in this capacity. To assure himself as to the direction the Board sees for this committee, Leonard stated some key issue he sees:

1. the tasks of the committee as being responsive to the Board as the Board sees fit.

2. the purpose is to provide information, investigations into issues as the Board sees fit and further,

The Board responsibility is to make changes as to the above investigations, recommendations for the purpose in improving the life of EMC’s membership and increasing property values.

White Paper - Road Upgrading - The Board wants to get this information out to the membership as quickly as possible so the membership can vote on one of the options at the annual meeting Memorial Day weekend or shortly thereafter.

Motion, seconded and approved - that a summary of the White Paper on Road Upgrading and Dust Abatement would be sent out to the membership indicating that the full report will be posted on the EMC web site (if a member did not have access to the web site, to let us know and we would mail the compete report out to them) and, there would be vote by mail with a post mark deadline of one week after the annual meeting.

Treasurer Report - Karen Reneau - Thank you Karen for filling so quickly and so adroitly.

Steve thanked the Board for putting in such a long night - meeting was adjured at 9:32 PM .

The meeting was called to order by Steve Cleaves at 4:00 PM . Others in attendance were John Caesar, Linda McWhirter, Jim McDonald, Carol Volckmann, Stan Wentzel (conference phone), Anna Carver, Dick Lindblad, and Sean McCabe

Branch Chipping- Sean expressed some surprise that more lot owners were not taking advantage of our chipping service, and it was generally agreed that we could try and promote it more (newsletter, etc.) in order to encourage fuel reduction/fire danger. John mentioned that EMC subsidizes about 35% of the cost.

Building Fees- raised to a non refundable $1200.00 to help cover costs of road maintenance. Steve asked John if people seem to be sticking to the arch. guidelines, and John replied yes, for the most part, he checks on excavators etc. And if someone decided to put up vinyl siding, for example, the 150.00 refund for compliance is not a deterrent. Jim commented that based on Mel’s road report, adding proper culverts should be an added requirement in the architectural manual.

Interest Income-is less as a result of Karen and Linda reducing Accounts Receivables by around $50,000. FANTASTIC!!! WAY TO GO!!!

Snowplowing-Steve asked about the contract with Palm, was it a fixed expense? John said “no” the contract was on a “call-out” basis. Further discussion centered around the possible need to have Edelweiss pay less of a percentage for the total snowplow bill, since Edelweiss costs have increased, while a larger number of homeowners every year reduce the cost to individual homeowners. Sean asked if we could earmark the increased revenue for road repair. John expressed his desire to get out of the equipment business (our trucks, tractor, etc. are on their last “legs”) and contract out to those with the proper heavy equipment to properly maintain the roads. Dick asked if our equipment problem was due to a lack of a good maintenance program, and John agreed much of it was that, plus the prior lack of a heated facility in which to work. Frozen sand, etc. took its toll on the tractor, etc.

Water Fees-Steve asked if the extra funds we are collecting will go into the water upgrade account or into the general fund. He also wanted to see a complete breakdown of expenses, including labor. John suggested we make a note in the budget to “refer to the water study” for that information. It was mentioned that a significant portion of our interest income comes mostly from our water and sewer accounts. (We can access our water account interest as that is an EMC created account, Jim was not sure about the interest in the sewer account as that is partially controlled by the county) Steve suggested we leave that ~$7,000.00 off the budget as a sort of “reserve” for capital improvements needed later. Jim said we could show it on the Balance Sheet. Steve asked John to ask Scott Bessire as to how we account for interest on the Budget, P/L and Balance sheet.

Washing Machine-Dick Lindblad, is donating a coin operated washing machine to require a more up to date fee $.75 which he feels would probably generate around $500/yr. which could be used to eventually maybe purchase a new dryer, though the one we have seems to work at present. MANY THANKS DICK!!!

Branch Chipping (again) Steve brought up some questions that Dick Carver had regarding who the second guy was as mentioned in the budget. John said that it is usually him and Rich, especially when there is a lot of chipping to do. It was again mentioned that we need to encourage more people to participate in the program.

Office Upgrades-John mentioned that Karen Reneau has been instrumental in helping us upgrade our office systems with a new version of Quickbooks, etc. Scott Bessire had mentioned in our audit that we needed a more up to date set up for an association of this size. Sean asked about whether we had a backup for our files, and John said yes, he has them as well as Linda, plus we have our “memory stick”.

Pool –Steve asked about the pool filter and housing, and John said we did indeed need to replace it as it is too small to handle the use (and occasional abuse) that it gets each summer. He added later, that like some other items on the budget, (i.e. campground roof) we could choose to spend the money or not, depending on how we want to allocate our funds. (Most felt that the campground roof needed to be addressed.)

Road Improvements-Centurytel did not really backfill the edges of the road properly, which is causing the pavement to crumble there. Linda will try and get a hold of the guy who can direct us to the right person to talk to about helping in the repair/camouflaging of the road/ugly boxes.

Weed Control- It was brought up we may have a sprayer deteriorating somewhere which had previously been used to help control noxious weeds. It may have been discarded due to the fact that one must now have a license to apply the herbicides needed for such weeds. Linda commented that she would like to look into getting a license to apply these. A good bladed weed-eater would also help in mowing down roadside weeds before they go to seed (If we don’t have one - we need one).

Carol made a motion to accept the budget, as amended which was seconded by Sean. The motion passed, and John said he would make a few changes that had been discussed.

Long Range Planning- Jim reported that the first four projects to upgrade our water system were the most critical. (see Mel’s water report). The cost would be around $143,500.00. The 5^th priority (Bitterbrush) would be evident when John notices problems. The Coop will help offset some of our costs as they will be laying down 3 phase lines at the same time we upgrade our water pipes, etc., thus saving us some excavation costs.

Jim moved that we move forward on this, seconded and approved. There was agreement as to the critical nature of keeping our water system functioning, for obvious reasons, as well as fire.

Jim wanted direction from the board for the second part of our capital improvements, upgrading our roads (dust, etc.) (see Mel’s report for cost breakdowns, etc.) There was much discussion that followed. Sean met with Jim McCallum about the material applied to Rendezvous Rd. which he thought was very effective. Information was given to Jim and John to look over. Concerns about chip seal (large shoulders bordering 10’ chip seal could cause problems) as well as the cost were brought up. Many in the community are opposed to any type of paving. Steve mentioned, however that the dust issue has been on ongoing and emotional issue that has not been addressed. The necessity of having the roads graded properly was again mentioned. Our tractor is not made to grade our roads properly, and any chemical treatment will be scraped off. The amount of sanding we do each year also contributes to the dust problem. John mentioned that with chip seal, we could have a sweeper remove the sand.

Stan asked what would these road improvements do to help the community. Jim replied that our ditches are clogged and getting worse, that the roads are eroding, etc.

Concerns about the cost of doing either chemical or chip seal treatments were brought up, how would it be paid for, etc. Steve commented it took 3 years to get the roads of Twin Lakes to significantly reduce their dust, etc., at a cost of $20,000.00 a year, and Edelweiss has more roads than they do. Chip seal lasts 10 years. Stan asked if we are prepared to impose an assessment to deal with dust, since it is not an issue for everyone. Steve said if we spent $20,000 a year, it would amount to about a $70.00 a year increase in fees. Sean suggested we do Homestead and Highland every year.

John again brought up the fact that he would not be able to grade the roads without tearing up the treatment. Several thought that we need to actually try using lignin on Homestead to see how it works, but Jim mentioned we still have to pay for it. John mentioned the possibility of getting a loan and just doing Homestead . John suggested we add a new assessment for new construction, to be earmarked for roads in a separate savings account. There was unanimous support for this, especially in light of the fact that so many “spec” homes are being built in the community.

Steve ended the meeting by going over parts of the agenda that we can postpone until later or do via email. He then made a series of motions:

1. The LRP Committee will provide 2 plans, one for chip seal, and one for lignin (or other chemical treatment) with costs and recommended actions, and that the board will commit to some action for dust abatement in 2007. These plans would then be presented at the annual meeting for membership review and possible approval.

2. Apply for the $100,000.00 interest free loan offered by the Electric Coop (amortized over a 10 year period, which John felt we could repay) to be used for capital improvements for road treatment.

3. Change the building fee to add $3000.00 for a total of $4,200.00 as a non-refundable fee for the establishment of a road account, said fee to be adjusted each year according to the CPI, as are our other fees.

All expressed their sincere appreciation to Jim McDonald for all his hard work, not only as Treasurer of the Board, but as a tireless, efficient chairperson of the LRP Committee, which has made tremendous progress in planning improvements and giving us guidance to improve our infrastructure. Sean commented, and I think most agreed, that Mel’s work was money well spent. Jim will be stepping down as chairperson of the committee due to family obligations.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 . The next Board meeting will be in March, the date to be determined later.

Respectfully submitted, Linda McWhirter, substitute for the Secretary Carol Volckmann, who had to leave early. Thank you Linda - you are always there to save the day!

The Meeting was called to order at 4:30 PM at the home of Linda and Larry McWhirter (Thank You!). In attendance were: Steve Cleaves, Linda McWhirter, John Caesar, Jim McDonald, Stan Wentzel, Anna Carver, Dick Carver, Dick Lindblad, Sean McCabe, and Carol Volckmann. (Dick Volckmann came later to report on his committee) Larry Goldie could not make it.

Ann - Suggested that the “Minutes” not be accepted until we had a better understanding of the “chipping” policy i.e., why EMC was now charging for chipping when in the past it was free.

Steve - Suggested the Board discuss the “chipping” policy when we got to the Budget.

Water Meters - John reported he still cannot find at least 10 isolation valves. He bought a metal detector, but it is still very difficult in locating the valves.

Sean - Suggested there may be something with in the State’s grant monies that can help subsidize the costs of putting in new water meters.

Water Certification - John and Larry McWhirter will take the Certification Test in October.

John - Remarked how important it is that Edelweiss have a “back up” person as the process is very comprehensive and that our system in Edelweiss is larger than the town of Winthrop .

Dick C. - Asked if it were necessary to have two individuals if Rich Moltz is licensed?

John - Rich is a sub contracted on as needed basis - he looks the “books” spending about 3 hours/quarter, helps prepare tax returns and will help out part time with snow plowing the roads

WATER TANK - John reported the new tank is in place. Doug Haas will complete the excavation - Scott Alexander will fill it, sanitize it, check for leaks then the Health Dept. will come out and certify the tank. It will then be empted and brought on line in the spring.

John - Answered that the tank’s pumps would cycle on twice a day when Edelweiss would not need the water would over the winter. But John would ask Mel Hartwig if there was a reason we needed to keep the tank filled over the winter.

“… we have to drain it during winter as EMC does not have enough demand to cycle enough warm water (52°F) through the tank to prevent freezing. I predict that in 2 years the tank will be left in service year around.”

Dick L - At the present time Edelweiss has: 38-40 full time residences, 157 part timers and 300 lots.

MANAGER’S REPORT - John reiterated from his “Manager’s Report” sent out in the “Summer’s Newsletter” that the number 1 priority is Edelweiss’ water system and number 2 - roads: extreme need to rebuild the drainage system, build and or rebuild culverts, and ditch repair. Dust Abatement, traffic calming power & telephone infrastructure upgrades needed etc…The Long Range Committee will take this on and will report back to the Board what needs to be done, when and how it can be financed.

UPGRADING POWER AND TEL. INFRASTRUCTURE - John that he, Dick Volckmann (Fire and Emergency Notification Committee) met with Ray Ellis of the Co-op and Ray said they would pay up to 50% for the first 3 feet in depth for a new trench for new installation of lines which would completely upgrade our infrastructure.

Snow Plowing - John - Recommended that we contract out the snow plowing to Jerry Palm. John does not feel it would be cost effective for us in that our equipment up to another long wet winter snow as it is predicted for this winter. Our Russian Tractor is not a snow blower and the trucks we have are not heavy duty enough and….. the maintenance would be costly. And… we can not afford “down time” on our equipment.

Jerry Palm has the right equipment - he would keep his equipment here at the sod hut - and has promised to have Highland and Homestead plowed by 7:00 AM . John will work as his back-up.

Jim - Remarked that Edelweiss bills out the costs and his approach seemed reasonable. Jim also recommended the Edelweiss consider increasing membership percentage of the costs from a 50/50% to 60/40 (membership paying 60%).

Carol - made a motion to move forward with a contract with Jerry Palm for snowplowing.

Dick L - Opposed - he could not vote for Jerry Palm - he had heard there had been problems with an individual who lives in the Lost River area where Jerry was contracted to do the snow plowing.

There was much discussion and decided to make sure we had a strong contract that could be canceled with Jerry and that our issued would be spelled out very carefully and, further that John would monitor Jerry’s work

AUDIT - John - Reports that Scott Bessire is doing one very through job - he still has some questions but we will have a final Audit very soon.

John is training Linda McWhirter with the bookkeeping with the help of Kristy Caesar. It is all going very well - our receivables are already down by $30,000 from last year. Linda is totally customer focused and is a real advocate for the community!!

BUDGET - John feels that with everything that needs to be done plus maintaining all our equipment etc. our funds will be depleted very quickly.

Steve - Asked John to make changes to the budget and present a new budget to the Board.

Stan - Asked John to come up with a list of services and amenities that can be offered to EMC owners, i.e. chipping, plowing driveways etc. that could raise funds for EMC’s balance sheet.