IAHA Board Meeting
The meeting was called to order by President
Kelly Wilson at 7:00 PM. Present were:
Dave Martin, Craig Cowles, Keith Moes, Kelly Wilson, Herb Jolliff, Alan Wright,
and Robert English. Guests included
Dick Wildman, Gary Brown, Andy Andersen, Carole Gabel, Gary Van Horn, and Rena
Peck.
The main business before the Board tonight was
the latest version of the Ingress/Egress Agreement, and whether or not to
approve it as it currently stands. Dick
Wildman spoke first, saying that the advise of the North Annex was to take a
little more time with this negotiation based on two problems:
1) the
ODA's condition of keeping a list of tail numbers per lot, and
2) having
to keep records of accounts receivable when collecting on ODA’s behalf.
He went on to explain that a division between
State property (the airport) and Private property (the airpark), as illustrated
by the title of "through the fence," should mean that what is on the
private side of the fence stays private.
Collecting the dues on behalf of the ODA, and having to keep that as a
receivable on the Homeowner's Association books instead of passing the
responsibility of collection back to the State, is another unreasonable
condition that needs to be turned down.
While the current ODA stipulation that every lot must pay, whether
developed or not, can be sold to the membership, the North Annex agreement
stipulates clearly that unbuilt lots do not pay ingress/egress fees. Sticking with the current agreement would
benefit the North Annex, and the agreement currently on the table needs more
work before the North will sign it.
Gary Brown then spoke, saying that he was basically in agreement with
that, and that no one is entitled to know what is in his hangar unless he wants
them to know.
Dave Martin said that he was puzzled about the
ODA's stipulation that a list of tail numbers be kept, since the FAA has a
database with names and addresses on it, so this requirement is actually
redundant since the State can already find out which aircraft are stored
here. If there was a law that all
aircraft needed to be registered with the State, independently of the FAA, then
it would be different. Discussion
followed about taxation and what kind of registration is currently
required. The concern was that the
Homeowner's Association would be, in effect, the unpaid policemen to enforce
governmental tax laws.
Alan clarified the point that he was originally
willing to concede to the ODA, that was to declare the tail-number requirement
a voluntary submission of tail numbers to the State, rather than having this be
a demanded accounting. Herb Jolliff
said that his pilot registration included a section for the pilot to describe
which planes he owns; the point being is that this information is already
available to the ODA in one form or another.
Alan went further to say that people in the Airpark needed to know that
this condition was only a clarification of knowledge that the State already has
access to. It is not an invasion of
privacy since the tail numbers are already public record.
Later in the meeting, Alan pulled up the Oregon
rules & statutes from the Web that listed "monthly fee per
aircraft," which is probably the very thing the North is concerned
about. That was in OAR 738-010. The rate chart was probably lifted from
legislation from commercial operations, and ODA hasn't stuck us with that
stipulation yet, but they could. Gary
Van Horn said that was a rule, not a law, and suggested a brief phrase to
insert in the agreement saying "not withstanding" that OAR
stipulation. The better solution
would be to have Dan Clem take this issue to the Board to rewrite or remove
that rule, so that it cannot be enforced at a later date.
Dave asked what pressures were on us to finish
this up now. Kelly said that the
Association has already spent $7,000 in legal fees and that escalation needs to
end soon. Alan said that this amount is
small in comparison to what would be necessary to fight the ODA in court over
the right to keep access. The number of
non-paying lots is small, and for the entire agreement to be held up for their
sake is undemocratic.
The attention turned next to the "accounts
receivable" question regarding those who won't pay fees to the ODA for
whatever reason. Alan said that this
was something that our own lawyers suggested to us, as a means of streamlining
the process and keeping it out of State
hands. There was some discussion about
whether or not the City has some kind of agreement with IAHA to hold the lot
owner's charge against them. The fines
are easier to enforce against lots without buildings, since the ability to
build on the lot can be withheld legally until all owed fees are paid.
Alan and Kelly reiterated that the ODA should
not be viewed as an adversary. They are
actually our allies, and undue friction with them can bring immense problems
later. Gary Van Horn said that some
folks in the North are more reasonable, and we can tell Dan Clem that we're
talking with the North trying to bring them on-board with the existing
agreement. Alan said it would be
appropriate to hold a general board meeting for the membership so that all
residents can be educated about the relative benefits. Andy suggested it could be a
"workshop" rather than a meeting as such.
The consensus of tonight's meeting was that we
would massage this agreement a little more, paying particular attention to
removing OAR 738-010 from the rule books.
The date and time for the informational meeting
was suggested to take place after Spring break. It was agreed to schedule the meeting for Tuesday the 7th of
April, three weeks from tonight.
Informing everyone, including the absentee lot owners (who are
especially affected), was considered crucial.
That meeting might be in the EAA hangar if it is available.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 PM. Respectfully submitted by Robert English,
IAHA secretary.
Meeting0317.doc