Meeting Minutes Aug. 30, 2022

A quarterly meeting, in the same quarter as other quarterly meetings. I think they need to work on their fractions.

This is also labeled as a Bi-Annual Road Inspection. Dontcha kinda wish that boards could just use the same terms each year? The same formats? So you know what to expect and when? But like regular politicians, they want to put their individual stamp on things. And like politicians, what they generally get remembered for is screwing something up and breaking laws.

Of course, I’d be excited if this board just followed the basic laws.

This one is kind of fun. I wonder if the Board remembers that they say things… and people keep the files. People like me.

But I get ahead of myself. Let’s start at the top.

The trustees are present. And ya know why nobody else is? Because nobody else knows about it. And that’s the way the board likes it.

Take a note- Total balance of $15088.74 on hand at time of meeting. Still awaiting receipt of an additional $800, in annual fee collection.

That $800 is likely 2 years of a landowner’s balance. Why mention it? Because Crystal Farrokhi decides to use this against that landowner 2 years later. Suddenly it is important. In reality it is an excuse to oust somebody who won’t lap at her heels.

I’m getting ahead of myself again. You’ll see this reference in March of 2024.

A total of $5300 paid out to Miller Construction on the road improvements to date, against our allotted annual budget of $10,000. This leaves us with a remaining improvement budget balance of $4700 available for the year.

Paid for what? Any invoices? What part of your road did we pay that for. It sure wasn’t our road or a part we use. And of course, using the word ‘improvement’ twice in 2 sentences. Road Districts are created for construction and repair, not improvement. And the Attorney General says there is a difference.

A total of $1805 in miscellaneous and maintenance expenditures paid out to date.

For what? To whom?

The Board members performed a review of the total length of Saddleback to survey both the road improvements to date, and the damage caused by the recent heavy down pour.

There’s that ‘improvement’ word again. Plus, a mention heavy rains damage the road.

Reviewed the road widening and culvert extension at the far end of Saddleback. The entire length now meets State and County guidelines for minimum road base width.

This is an interesting note. This is an improvement. An unnecessary one. Dale Ruzicka mentions here that the reason for widening of the road and the culvert extension was because of state and county guidelines. The state has no guidelines. The county’s guidelines don’t apply to us, as the road is older than the guidelines. Had they simply had a legal meeting, they might have learned these very basic facts rather than spending our money wastefully.

The Trustees discussed timing of road repairs to address damage from recent heavy rains. Ruzicka informed that Miller Construction would be onsite on 8/31 to begin work. (Motion had been passed in previous week to authorize the expenditure). Ruzicka also stated he expected to complete clearing of blocked culverts by weeks end.

Motion had been passed in previous week to authorize the expenditure. It was passed in an illegal meeting. A meeting with no notice or participation by members.

Ruzicka asked for approval of a motion to purchase needed culvert repairs supplies, from Miller. Motions were made and request unanimously approved.

This is just pencil work. They each come in, already knowing what they want to do, they tell the others to make a motion and then second it, and voila… they do what they want and make it look legit. They use words like ‘motion’ and ‘unanimous’ and it means nothing because it is just them. And buying material from the contractor? Can you imagine the markup? I have to imagine the markup because there is no notation of price checking anywhere.

This is a potential way to get kickbacks. This is something that should be watched. But in order to watch it, you need the board to follow even the most basic laws, like Open Meeting, so that we can question how much that contractor is charging for a culvert and where else we can get one… and what it will cost elsewhere. There’s a word or phrase for this… what is it… oh yes! Public Comment!

Trustees agreed to perform follow up review once repairs were completed to determine additional actions/expenditures, and how/where to spend the remainder of the $10K annual road improvement budget.

There’s the ‘improvement’ word again. And more of them just telling us what they are going to do with our money. Keep in mind, this is a Special Assessment, not a levy. So, you can’t just spend them the same way.

Board briefly discussed increases in costs we are seeing for Contractor Services, materials, and miscellaneous expenditures to help maintain the road. On average, costs are up approximately 20% from last year. The Board agreed to further discussion at the next meeting.

Board is again having meetings with just themselves, that we all should have been part of.