The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM.
Present were: Gary Van Horn, Dave Martin, Herb Jolliff, John Horn, Norm Rainey,
Andy Andersen, Craig Cowles, Gail Hill, Robert English, and Kelly Wilson. Denton and Jane Honbeck arrived later.
SECRETARY: The minutes from the April meeting
were posted on the web, and all those present had a chance to read them. Gail
Hill moved that the minutes be approved as posted, and Dave Martin seconded.
All approved by voice vote.
RESIDENT COMMENTS: Andy stated that Shawn Irvine has been asked to contact Paul Peterson, the owner of the electric aircraft factory being relocated to Oregon from Florida, regarding possible locations here. Andy further stated that Mr. Peterson did not wish to own land but wanted to lease approximately 30,000 square feet of industrial space for the factory. He also needs three engineers to help design batteries and motors etc. since his current engineers do not want to relocate to Oregon.
Denton Honbeck stated that he had been surprised by the IAHA board's stance regarding hiring an attorney, and that he had moved his business to Salem because of what he referred to as "harassment." In response to his complaint that the Board was against helicopters, Gary attempted to explain that the issue was not helicopters at all, but rather the operation of a business out of his place of residence. Denton further stated that no one on the Board had contacted him personally beforehand. Dave Martin replied that three board members had contacted Denton personally before the attorney came into the picture. John Horn agreed with Dave. Denton stated that he was done talking, and Gary Van Horn agreed that we were done talking, so he and his wife left. Dave stated afterward that it is possible that Denton has been harassed by pilots on the field, but certainly not by anyone on the IAHA Board.
Gary stated the primary concern was that all aircraft operations be in compliance with current FAA regulations. The CC&R's and Access agreement provide for business operations if there is approval from the State and it is in compliance with the City zone code as a permitted use. John Horn further stated that the IAHA board did not go looking for problems with Denton, but the Board started discussions with Denton because of complaints received from the neighborhood. The Access Agreement and CC&Rs do not allow any resident here to operate an aviation business out of their home. Further, the Board had a responsibility to enforce the existing agreements to protect access rights for all: to do so, we must bring those into line who are putting the agreement at risk through ongoing violations.
Gary added that Denton had threatened the Board
with a lawsuit for "harassment" before the Board ever talked to an
attorney at all, and he asked that this detail be included in the minutes. He went on to read the general provision
regarding enforcement of the CC&Rs (section 3). The attorney bills incurred so far add up to approximately
$1,625.00. Dave suggested tabling this
point for a month, and wait to see what Denton's attorney does. Herb reminded everyone that there was a
deadline of September 1 previously agreed upon, and those present agreed that
this was a good date to take up again the point of possible expense
recovery. Herb was asked to state this
as a motion, and he made the motion that
we meet on the 6th of September (assuming the EAA hangar is available) to
reevaluate the position with Denton Honbeck.
Gail Hill seconded. All approved by voice vote.
Gail Hill made the motion that the cap on the attorney's fees be raised to $2,500.00 even if we never go that high. Dave Martin seconded. Motion carried by voice vote.
TREASURER: Gail passed around a pie chart and
the year-to-date report, showing the expenses and income up to this point. The biggest bill is the repair work done by
Valley Custom Seal Coat, with the transfer payment to the Oregon Department of
Aviation for ingress/egress fees being a close second to that. A third sheet was passed around showing
existing balances of the accounts.
Gail stated that the manager at Sterling Bank
asked whether the bank could buy ad space in the "Loud and Clear"
newsletter. Gary said he saw no
problems with that, and Norm Rainey chimed in that this would set a good
precedent. After some discussion, a
prevailing rate structure was cited from a car club newsletter, for example a
business-card size ad (camera-ready artwork) would go for $25.00 per issue. Gary suggested that the decision about the
amount be tabled until the September meeting.
Gail will ask the manager at Sterling about what size they were
considering and what rate they had in mind.
Gail further stated that there are a total of
three liens that have been filed because of non-payment of homeowner dues and
access fees: two liens are on the Muis properties, one on Cessna and one on
Stearman, and a third lien is on the Miles Towner property. The cost of filing a lien has gone up, and
is being passed along to the homeowners in question.
ARCHITECTURE: The committee met once and
approved a room addition at the McGlynn house, between the hangar and house.
Buzz Thede is doing the work.
MAINTENANCE: Gary first thanked Craig for
organizing the ditch cleanup last weekend. Craig went on to describe the people
and equipment involved. There were about six people and they cleared it all up
inside of an hour.
There was a taxiway hole, 2 inches by 6 inches
and maybe 6 inches deep, that needed to be repaired. Craig called the asphalt
company and they came out with a truck and filled the hole with cold
material. The repair looks good, and
the contractor fixed that with no additional charge to the Board.
On the east end of Bonanza, there are two
funnels (part of the drainage system) that needed to be redone because the
water would back up into them during heavy rains. A plumber came out and did the work with no asphalt damage, and
Craig apologized for not bringing it to the Board's attention first. Gary reiterated that, in the future, Craig
should bring something like this to the Board's attention before work
starts.
The taxiway work received some complaints from
residents because the contractor wanted to get going right away once the sun
started shining. The quality of the
work was not the issue: the taxiways got closed without adequate notice for
residents as to exact day and time.
Gary said he wanted a better job to be done in the future regarding
notification with exact date and time of closures so people can plan around
them. There were also complaints about
work being done on ODA's property because of misunderstandings of where the
IAHA boundaries leave off and State property begins.
PRESIDENT'S REPORT: Gary stated he has been
asked about possible liability issues if someone gets injured on our
taxiways. Much discussion ensued about
fine points, i.e. where does IAHA property end in each case, etc. Gail said that Carole Gabel had followed
that line of inquiry years ago and did some in-depth research; Gary said he
would call them to gain the benefit of their wisdom. John said that the question was not whether there would be an injury, but when, and we
need to find out what kind of coverage is available.
The flooding issue is being followed up on with
the City, and is still on the table waiting for the City manager to get back to
us with something more definite. The emails received from the City offices have
been forwarded to the Board members for their review.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 8:32
PM. Respectfully submitted by Robert English, IAHA secretary.
Meetin0726.doc