Board Meeting, 7/08/2015

Called to order: 6:31 p.m.

Present: Tom Keenan, Brad McCampbell, Jim Parker, Chester Martin, special guest Bob McGuire, and Juli Neace.

Minutes from previous meeting of May 27, 2015 motioned by Jim, seconded by Brad, and agreed by all.

Agenda item #3: The recycle center, located behind the Fire Station.

Bob McGuire presented an explanation of the operation of the Recycle Center. It was created around the same time as the startup of the volunteer fire department. The Recycle Center was built cooperatively with the Upper Sabine Valley Solid Waste District.   “The Fire Department considered it a community service that gave people a favorable impression of Land’s End and the Fire Department and, hopefully, encouraged local community residents to donate to the Fire Department when the annual donation letter was sent.”

There is no direct revenue produced by the LE Recycle Center. The HOA funded the upgrade of the facility in 2011. The upgrade replaced the original bins with a new set of bins that are in use today. Other “nearby” places to recycle are the Solid Waste Stations located in Yantis, Golden, Hawkins, and Winnsboro.  Other unsupervised locations, operated by the Solid Waste District, have been closed because of cleanup, maintenance, and trash issues.

The USV Solid Waste Management Center in Quitman picks up our cardboard weekly and other recyclables every two weeks. The truck driver removes items (that qualify as recyclable) from the newspaper, aluminum can, and plastic bottle bins that have been bagged. Loose items and items considered trash will not be picked up. Flattened cardboard boxes are also removed from the cardboard bin.

Cleanup and disposal of the trash has been the responsibility of volunteers from the fire department and residents of Land’s End. Cleanup of a bin involves use of brooms and shovels to bag items left behind. The bagged trash and larger items (plastic hose reels, for example) are currently being placed in the unused steel can bin until a trailer load is accumulated. One trailer load is typically accumulated every month and it is hauled to Yantis for disposal. The HOA currently pays $1 a bag to dispose of the trash.

Trash buildup is the result of a complicated set of rules related to the recyclable items, poor bagging of items, along with the large and small trash items thrown into the bins in order to get rid of them. The Newspaper bin, for example, can no longer accept shredded documents. A recent trash run to Yantis included approximately 20 bags of shredded documents. Loose cans and plastic bottles, plastic containers, glass and steel items also add to the trash problem. All of these issues can be addressed to improve operation and reduce the junky look of the facility if residents are prepared to support the effort.

Guillermo Hernandez has been hired by the HOA board to clean and maintain the bins. The volume of recycle items, along with the trash, has increased dramatically during the past 5 years. The Recycle Center is a popular facility that is used by many LE residents and residents from surrounding communities. Chester Martin asked if we knew what percentage of the usage of the recycle bins comes from Land’s End. Bob was not sure, but guessed about 60%.

Bob presented a number of possible changes to the Recycle Center operation that could reduce the trash, provide the fire department some revenue and engage The Links, the fire department, and local residents in the operation of the facility.  Click on Items for Discussion to review.

Brad suggested sending out an email to residents of LE and Wolf Creek, the Fire Department, and The Links in order to form a committee to review the current operation and suggest improvements to the facility. The Upper Sabine Valley Solid Waste District will also be involved in these discussions. The response to the email will indicate the degree of interest for retaining the Recycle Center. The alternative is to close the facility or to continue the center as it currently exists.

Tom likes the idea of a group doing this. Bob will contact Guillermo to see if he wants to continue to do the cleanup.

Agenda item #4.

Tom went around the neighborhood today and made a list of the lots that need to be cleaned up. Grass has to be cut when it has grown to a height of 1’-6”.  Jim has a spread sheet that breaks down what needs to be done (mow, dead trees cleared, burn piles, etc.) that was developed by Drew and he will send it to Tom. Policy resolution #4 states the parameters of LOT maintenance. Tom wants to get a handle on it before it gets worse and he will get with Sharon to get the letters out soon. Some of the yard debris and trash is on Sabine River leaseback. It’s possible they will not permit that—Tom will look into.

Agenda item #5. 2015 road resurfacing.

Tom said Pave Pro is supposed to have provided the netting to stop erosion on the sides of the pond but have not done so yet. PR5983 is the last road to be paved out here and will be done soon. Brad wondered if they needed to wait until the house construction at the end of the street had to be completed first and Tom said no. The streets that were paved last year will be sealed this year.

Agenda item #6. The Williams’ want to dig a trench to run the water that pools in their front yard to run down beside the house and into the lake. Chester said the Williams’ water flow is supposed to go through the culvert in front of his house, over to Lanes’, through Strauss’ and then down to the lake, but it does not do this because the culverts do not line up. Tom said we need to come up with a general plan for the neighborhood and then the individual homeowners can get guidance from the HOA. Marion Reynolds has a transit level that we can use to measure all the elevations, mentioned Jim. Jim will get with Jerry Busbee to see if we can come up with a plan.

Agenda item #7. Deer count.

It was asked if the deer can be relocated and the answer was yes, but it is expensive. It was decided that a count will be done this year to see where we are compared to previous years. Brad thought no action should be taken until the population becomes a problem. Tom agreed.

Agenda item #8.

JR Douglas would like to build an enclosure around his A/C unit. Brad said he should submit an application for the enclosure and they would review it, but did not see a problem with it at all.

Agenda item #9. Club Sale.

Brad asked if there were any more talks with the bank. Tom responded that John Strauss was coming into town on the weekend to discuss what was happening with the sale with Tom and that Tom would then go over the financials with Mickey Link. Tom will then go to the bank and discuss the sale. He stated that there was no way the cash flow works if you don’t get rid of the debt.

Chester motioned for the meeting to be adjourned; it was seconded by Jim, and approved by all.

Meeting adjourned at 8:01p.m.