VVA ANNUAL MEETING:
Sunday, March 5, 2023 @ 2:00PM
at the Winston R-6 School Gym. Each person must have their 2022 Membership card with them to be admitted to the meeting.
See this edition for: 2022 Financial Documents 2023 Projected Budget Annual Meeting Information
Lake Viking News
©Viking Valley Association | 144 East Main, Gallatin, Missouri 64640
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VVA Board of Directors Monthly Meeting Call to Order Board Pres. Marvin McNabb, lot 28, called the meeting to order, held in the upper level of the Clubhouse at 2:00pm. Board members present were: Troy Lesan, lot 576; Celeste Armanees, lot 62; Mike Booth, lot 2380; Doug Winter, lot 46. Not present (on Zoom virtually so nonvoting) were George Eshnaur, lot 505 and Allan Slavin, lot 181. Celeste Armanees led in prayer. Jeff Ferguson, Managing Lake Director, led the Pledge of Allegiance. Announcement: ANNUAL MEETING is on Sunday, March 5th @ 2:00pm. Location: WINSTON HIGH SCHOOL gym @ 200 W 3rd St. Winston, MO You must bring your current membership card to vote. Approx 2 weeks prior to the Annual Meeting, you will be e-mailed an Information Packet w/ the Ballot of Board candidates (3 seats open), ByLaw changes to be voted on, etc. If you don’t receive this via e-mail, you may pick up a hard-copy Info Packet at the Office. Doors open @ 1pm. Please plan to arrive EARLY for sign-in, as we expect an unusually large crowd due to ballot initiatives. Approval of Minutes Troy Lesan moved to approve the Jan. 2023 Board minutes. Seconded by Doug Winter; motion passed. Celeste Armanees moved to approve minutes from the Special Meeting held Dec. 3, 2022. Seconded by Troy Lesan; motion passed. COMMITTEE REPORTS: Handbook Committee Celeste Armanees reported: We have Handbook updates to reflect the new Condo online app, for vote later this meeting. Finance Committee Doug Winter reported: The Finance Committee met w/ all members present. Financial Reports were reviewed. VVA investments were up $25,000 in the last month. Campground: The Finance Committee recommends to the Board that the Campground electrical project can begin asap, using retained funds in the Campground line item to start the project. Also, the Finance Committee recommends Campground fees be increased from last year’s approx. $500/yr to this year’s fees @ $1,200 w/ sewer vs $1,100 no sewer. One attendee asked, “Why are we putting the burden of paying for Campground upgrades on the entire membership, when the Board a few years ago voted to make the Campground self-sustaining?” Mike Booth replied that self-sustaining came from the Campground Study, so the first year to track all expenses & income for the Campgrounds was ’21. Then CG fees went up in ’22. Another member said, “But we show the Campground made a profit for many many years before that!” Celeste Armanees responded, “That’s because not all expenses were included. Campground expenses were x% or y% or z% of so many different line items in VVA’s overall budget, it was impossible to do an accurate calculation, even if you tried. It was a mess. But we’ve separated
February 2023
Volume 35, No. 10
February 12, 2023
MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
ANNUAL MEETING March 5, 2023
The Viking Valley Association Annual Meeting will be held March 5, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. The meeting will have a change of location: Winston R-VI School Gymnasium, 200 W. 3rd St., Winston MO 64689. In order to attend the meeting, each person must be an Active Member in good standing. EACH PERSON MUST have their 2022 Membership Card with them to be admitted to the meeting. This is the only verification we have during registration that you are a paid member in good standing. A valid driver's license may also be required to validate identification. As stated in the Viking Valley Association By-laws, Article I and Article II, Renters and Associate Members are not entitled to receive notice of any meeting, to vote, or to participate therein. Only “Active Members in Good Standing” (record owner of a lot or tract of land located in Valkyrie Valley Subdivision) are eligible to attend and participate in the meeting.
Please remember: EACH PERSON MUST HAVE THEIR 2022 MEMBERSHIP CARD IN ORDER TO BE ADMITTED TO THE MEETING! Members should show up early for sign-in. Winston School entrance doors on south side will be open at @ 1:00 p.m. out all those ‘hidden’ CG expenses & put them all into a self-sustaining CG line item that started in Jan. ’21. That’s why Campground fees went way up in ’22--because for the first time, the CG expenses scattered in all different line items were finally included in the calculations, now captured in the self-sustaining line item.” Other questions ensued. Frank Armanees, lot 62, introduced himself as having been volunteered to head up the Campground Study’s ad hoc Committee which in 2020 published their report, recommending the Campground be made selfsustaining, because our committee found Campground expenses as part of many different “buckets” of VVA’s budget so were never “counted” in Campground calculations. Frank said RE: the recent $450,000 quote on electrical grid, that back in 2020, he & his committee members & Shad Mort (then Lake Mgr) walked both Campgrounds with a Farmers Electric rep, who told them it’d be very difficult to provide an accurate cost to replace the electrical grid, because the VVA Office has no records or “map” showing where all the lines are buried. So he told us that until you’re in there—i.e. underground, you don’t know what you’re dealing with, so the Farmers Electric rep wouldn’t even give us a ballpark price. Frank said that means the $450,000 electrical upgrade could end up a higher cost (unless VVA has firm bids that won’t escalate) especially combined with the septic system that our committee Continued on page 5