Minutes of the OTIA Board – February 6, 2019

Board members present: Ken Hohs, Kevin Shifley, Tracy Kleinschmidt, Colleen Hodges, Jill Bates, Nancy Krejsa, Ramona Triebold, and Greg Denny.

Members at large present: Ken Krejsa and Meridy Niederkorn.

The meeting was called to order by President Tracy Kleinschmidt at 7:00pm.

The minutes of the December meeting were distributed and a motion was made to accept the minutes by Ken Hohs. Nancy Krejsa seconded and the motion passed. Nancy suggested we find a way to post minutes before they are officially approved at the next meeting. Board members are asked to review the minutes within 3 days of receiving them and forwarding any corrections to the secretary for revision. The minutes will be posted to our website as a draft pending approval at the next regular meeting. When the minutes are officially accepted, they will be marked as such.

President Tracy Kleinschmidt began a round table discussion with Board asking members to report on their engagement in OTIA work over the last month. Each member, being asked to spend an hour an week in service to the community, reported their activities.

• Ken Hohs investigated the parking laws in Oak Terrace and found that it is legal to park on the roads even during snow events. Ken will be responsible for issuing boat launch keys this season and suggests we start with new locks and keys to offset the issue of people keeping their keys and using them without paying. He also reported that Diana O’Kelly, Fremont Township Supervisor, has called a special meeting for the purpose of investigating garbage consolidation options. Ken will be unable to attend this meeting, so Kevin Shifley has offered to go in his place and report back to the Board at the next meeting.
• Kevin Shifley created the graphics for the snowman event held at Lakeview Park. He made sure that it was posted on social media and the community board in the subdivision. He helped with the distribution of The Acorn and is working on email and social media postings for upcoming events.
• Tracy Kleinschmidt participated in the snowman event. She has also met with Treasurer William Yarbrough and past president, Greg Denny regarding transition and best practices to move forward. She spent some time reviewing members with past due balances and discussing what choices we have as we move forward on collections. She also attended a stewardship meeting for Diamond Lake and distributed the newly minted lake management guide created by Tori Trauscht. Each Board member received a guide.
• Colleen Hodges prepared the minutes for the meeting and began sorting through and organizing paperwork for the subdivision. She also spent some time talking with neighbors about the difficulty the township faces when trying to plow and remove ice on the streets when cars are parked there.
• Nancy Krejsa spent several hours working to update the website. She has added the missing minutes and is still learning the program in order to post new events and The Acorn as it is published. She also brought up the need to review and update the expectations of Board members and officers.
• Ramona Triebold welcomed a new neighbor into the subdivision and is currently creating a file with important information to be distributed to new residents upon moving into the subdivision.   She hopes to include our email address, social media pages, the website address, non-emergency numbers for fire and police, and any other information that may be helpful to a new member, along with information about our organization. Ramona is helping distribute the lake management guide with along with Katie Krejsa and others.
• Greg Denny has spent time picking up trash at the beach and throughout the subdivision. He helped with the distribution of newsletters and has spent time helping Tracy in the transition.

Tracy shared a proposed calendar for the upcoming year:

• 3/16 Spring Clean Up
• 3/25-3/29 District 76 and District 120 Spring Break
• 4/3 OTIA Board Meeting
• 4/20 Easter Parade and Egg Hunt
• 5/18-19 Subdivision Garage Sale Weekend
• 5/24 Front Porch Friday gathering at the Kleinschmidt’s
• 6/5 OTIA Board Meeting
• 6/22 Oak Terrace Summerfest
• 8/7 OTIA Board Meeting
• 10/2 OTIA Board Meeting
• 11/7 OTIA Annual General Meeting

The Board was in agreement that this was a good working calendar for the upcoming year.

Ken shared more information about his findings for street parking in the subdivision. He was able to print out the rules and regulations concerning parking within Lake County unincorporated areas and Ramona has offered to scan the document and distribute to Board members for review. Board members are asked to read through the document when received to understand the situation and consider possible steps we can take to alleviate this issue. Ken stated that it is not illegal to park on the street even during a snow or ice event. No parking signs would need to be posted throughout the subdivision for any parking restrictions to be enforced. Tracy will contact Bill Grinnell, Fremont Township Roads Commissioner, and Diana O’Kelly to discuss what options we have in this area.

Tracy distributed, via email, a document that would be available to our residents who would like to lodge a formal complaint regarding a subdivision matter. According to our bylaws, we do need to make this available to our members. Our attorneys shared a standard form and suggested we adopt it as soon as possible. Ken brought up the need to change some of the wording on the form including the addition of the word “Homeowners” in the name of the subdivision and referring to the homes as “units”. Greg Denny made a motion that we adopt this complaint policy and make amendments to the form as necessary once it is adopted. Jill Bates seconded and the motion passed.

Tracy will be keeping an ongoing log of the meetings including action items and who volunteered to handle them. She will distribute this log after the meetings.

Ken Krejsa commended Tori Trauscht for the work she did on the lake management guide and asked that the subdivision send her and anyone else it would pertain to, a note of thanks. Possible recipients include Mundelein Park and Recreation District and Lake County Storm Water Management.

There being no further business before the Board, Ramona made a motion to adjourn, Nancy seconded and the meeting adjourned at 8:08pm.

Respectfully submitted by Colleen Hodges-OTIA Board Secretary