Woodland Hills Sanitary District

August 2022 Minutes

Roll Call: The meeting was called to order at 6:30pm, August 17, 2022. In attendance were Lois Lund (WHSD Accounting) and Dylan Striebel (Clearwater Consulting) along with board members: Bobby Sadler, Garry Colasardo, and Peggy Severson. 3 residents also joined. John Knight and Jared Nooney were unable to attend. A voting Quorum was recognized.

Adoption of Agenda: The agenda was presented and approved by a 3-0 vote.

Income Report

July highlights:

· Total revenue was $8,076.89

· Net loss was ($11,416.82) due to well pump replacement of $16.698

· Four accounts were unpaid in August, 7 accounts past in July and 3 accounts past due from June and 1 account is past due 3 months. (Please pay your bills on time, we are not a bank or lending institution.) We make our payments on time to the lending institution that holds our loans for our water system. The board has been forgiving with late fees in the past and in fairness to the community we will need to impose substantial late fees in the future.

Water Report: Clearwater Consulting provided a proposal from Dakota Pump for well house plumbing updates. The proposal was $8,753 which is for parts & labor. Garry indicated that he thought the proposal was high and that we should seek another quote and that this quote should be itemized of costs for parts and labor.

Water Loss Statistics	Gallons Pumped	Gallons Sold	Loss Rate
July 2022	663,083	611,200	7.8%
July 2021	687,400	629,900	8.4%
July 2012	1,353,200	755,688	44.2%
July 2007	1,491,600	893,658	40.1%

Road Report: No tax deposit or expenses in July.

Old Business:

The board got an estimate of $349, 925 from Simon to patch, overlay and chip seal Woodland Drive. The overlay would extend from the entrance of Woodland Hills to near 9005 Woodland Drive. A chip seal would cover the remainder. The road account has a balance of $50,817. Simon estimated an increase of the project cost of about $40,000 to $50,000 for next year. The board will seek resident's comments on how to proceed. Just some basic math would look like a five-year period with the cost of about $60 per month per resident over five years.

The Board will schedule future meetings of the residents to address options going forward. The longer we put this off, the cost will increase. All residents use Woodland drive from the first property to the last. This is our, at a minimum access for emergency services and other services including Trash, Mail, Septic, Propane and other delivery services.

New Business:

A discussion was held regarding road repairs and needs to be done and why. Prices will continue to go up and along with more damages to repair. This should take up to 18 months to get this done thru property taxes.

New snow quotes for snow removal – seek out someone that can remove snowfall of 6 inches or more and be done before residents leave for work.

Lark Lane road condition that affect Woodland Drive and neighboring properties were discussed and Lark Lane residents need to address those issues.

Board member comments: The following should address many issues that always seem to be repeated at the meeting.

Resident comments: Road repairs and forest service access

Board response to residents:

The following comments address our discussions in the new business and resident comments portion of our meeting.

Residents wanted to know why they can’t access the Black Hills National Forest (BHNF) from Woodland Hills (WH) properties with ATV’s. Access to the BHNF is through approved trailheads with BHNF annual Motorized Vehicle pass. Property owners who allow access from their property are in violation of US Forest Service rules. Fines for violations start $280 plus environmental impact fees added. Any questions should be directed to BHNF law enforcement (Officer Eric Carney, 2014 N Main St, Spearfish SD).

To all residents:

Many calls have been made to Board members homes regarding issues outside of the responsibility of the WHSD. Unless it is an emergency involving our water or road systems, please make yourself available by attending the monthly board meeting to share your concerns & address these issues. Our Communications Director (Jim Stewart) is an unpaid volunteer not a sounding board for your concerns or complaints. Jim is no longer on the Board and has served for many years as well as many other residents. ‘’Thank You’’ to all current & former board members who have volunteered their time to serve this community.

The board members of the WHSD & WHRD are elected by the residents and serve the community with infrastructure oversight. They are unpaid & give of their time for you the residents in that capacity. Please respect their personal time and attend monthly meetings with your concerns.

Now addressing complaints that the WHSD & WHRD have no jurisdiction over, i.e - grass clippings on the roads, noisy dogs, junk vehicles, unkept properties & basic covenant violations etc. These issues are the responsibility of the WH Community Association (WHCA). WHCA is registered with the Secretary of State and is current through July 2023. The registration has been paid out of pocket by a few residents to keep the WHCA in good standing with the State of South Dakota. WHCA is a volunteer board that is no longer operating to address these afore mentioned issues due to ZERO participation from the residents of WH.

Please get involved in your community to maintain your property values, lifestyle and pristine forested community that we share.

We have many new residents that should attend a meeting to understand the unique community we live in and their personal responsibilities. WH is not a city or a township and has unique features that require the residents to take upon themselves tasks that they would find provided by a city through taxation. We would encourage residents to work together and with their neighbors to resolve issues that come up at that level. The WHCA currently has ZERO Board members to function and to provide its intended service to the residents. Please do your part and serve for the betterment of our community.

Thank You

The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 pm.

These minutes were written by Garry Colasardo.