Pine Forest Owners Association
Membership
Meeting
December 29th, 2007
The meeting was held at Sun Mountain Lodge.
Board members present were Dave Chantler, Lynn Lewicki, Jim Rogers, Kent Hitch and Kris Guttormsen.
Charlie Segale was also present. About 25 people attended in addition to the Board.
Dave called the meeting to order at 3:05 PM.
Budget
Dave gave a brief overview of the proposed budget which would result in expenses exceeding income
by about $19,000. The snow plowing budget is $30,000 and any amounts in excess of this will be covered by special
assessments. Dave also reported that the Board has decided to increase general dues by $50 per year per lot for each
of the next 3 years in an attempt to balance the budget.
Mark Schuetz stated that he thought there was an inequity in charging owners with only lots the same amount as those
with houses and thought that increases in the general dues should apply only to those owners that have houses.
Kent Hitch stated that the bylaws clearly state expenses are to be “shared between all properties” and therefore changing
the dues structure would require changing the bylaws. Changes to the bylaws require a 60% majority of all property owners.
To reduce expenses, it was suggested that Summer Road not be plowed in the winter. Dave responded that the additional
cost is not that much and by using Summer Road in the winter, traffic on both roads is reduced. It is also a safety
issue with only one access to the top of Pine Forest. Pete Lewicki suggested a show of hands to determine how many
people use Summer Road in the winter. This showed that at least half of those in attendance do use the road.
Fencing
Dave reported that the Board has not reached any conclusion about what to do. A perimeter fence would cost at least
$40,000 plus a significant amount for annual maintenance. Considering our financial situation, this would be quite a
significant burden. A lively discussion followed.
Casey Ruud asked if there are any sensitive areas, like wetlands, in Pine Forest. There might be grant monies available
to protect such areas. He volunteered to look into this further.
Stuart Hall suggested that, although he could see the need for better “cow protection”, we should concentrate on balancing
our budget before spending lots of money on fencing.
Forest Stewardship
Casey Ruud, a relatively new permanent resident, stated that his main concern with living in Pine Forest is forest fires
and he questioned if we are doing all we can to prevent damage in case of fire. Lynn Lewicki gave an overview of what
we are doing and what we need to do in the future. There is a draft of a fire plan for Pine Forest which is still
being reviewed by the agencies. It will show escape routes, etc. Diane Revelle said that after a fire exercise we
had several years ago, the recommendations of the fire agencies was that, if escape through the normal roads down the
hill is not possible, the safest place to assemble is in the clear area near the beginning of our access trail to the
MVSTA trail system, at the end of Nighthawk Ridge Road. Kris Guttormsen said that our access trail and the MVSTA trails
can be traveled by car, thereby providing emergency access/escape to the Thompson Ridge Road. This will be verified by
the Forest Service at a later time. Lynn asked for volunteers to work on the fire suppression efforts. At least
one person said he would like to help.
Other Issues
Jim Klosterman said he was glad to see the latest newsletter address dogs and the problems they sometime cause. Several
people expressed frustration with dogs. There was a suggestion to publish some general guidelines for what the majority
of the membership does not appreciate such as barking, out of control dogs, bright lights at night, dumped barbecue ashes,
etc. These guidelines could be added to a future newsletter.
There was a question whether we had considered lignin treatment of the roads for dust control. Dave responded that we
have considered this, but it is a cost issue, since we have about 5 miles of roads in Pine Forest. He said we may do a
test section at the entrance to see how well it works and determine how much it would cost.
Larry Anderson said he had damage to several electrical appliances after a power outage earlier this year. He suggested
installing a surge protector at the meter if this becomes a problem.
Casey Ruud commended Charlie for excellent snow plowing.
Pete Lewicki stated that this had been a very good meeting with lots of excellent input from the members. He encouraged
people to consider serving on the Board. Dave said we just had a resignation on the Board.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:05 PM.
Kristian Guttormsen
Secretary
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