ECIA Liaison

Names of Members

Bruce Blossman, Jean Crawford, Pat Lavengood, Eddie Marshall, Janet Wise, Nolan Zisman

Meeting Time & Place

1st Tuesday every month at 4PM at ECC Conf. Room

Mission

The mission of the Facilities and Grounds Committee is to advise, assist and recommend to the ECIA Board of Directors actions that encourage long-range planning and development for the upkeep and improvement of facilities and areas in the community center complex and all amenities of the ECIA. The recommendations of the Facilities and Grounds Committee shall be based on their collective judgment as they balance the needs of the community with available financial resources.

August 5, 2008:  The meeting was called to order by Chairman, Fred Raznick, at 4:02 PM. Other committee members attending were Jean Crawford, Pat Lavengood, Nolan Zisman, Eddie Marshall and Bruce Blossman. Janet Wise was an excused absence. Bill Donohue attended but Malcolm McFarlane was not present.

The minutes of the July 2 meeting were amended by correcting the name of Robbie Dobyns and approved as amended. There being no one for the public forum, Bill gave his GM report. The new floor in the Depot building will be installed next week. Bill cancelled the order for the test cabana shade cover as the work had not started and there were insufficient funds remaining in the pool maintenance budget to cover the expenditure. He indicated the existing covers had been more tightly secured to the frames and were holding up nicely. Work on the horseshoe pits has started. Bill plans to go the the Finance Committee for support of a budget request for new doors for the Depot building. Bruce raised a question regarding the adequacy of run-off/drainage just outside the Depot building doors. He will review existing grading and drainage with Bill.

Old Business:

Noise Control- - Amplified Music: Bruce reported on the July 20 decibel test. He indicated that at the fence line bordering homes on Conchas Court, the ambient noise measurements were higher than those readings from the band playing on the large ramada. The highest readings were adjacent to the band, registering a high of 90 db and an average of 83. On the upper patio, the readings were 70 and 66. Bruce feels that between this test and the one made in 2005, due diligence has been accomplished. Eddie and Nolan will work on revising the rental agreement to reflect efforts to establish “reasonable controls over noise levels. Nolan moved that the Committee suspend any additional work on more sophisticated, expensive solutions (e.g., sound panels, screens, landscaping, etc.) until a reasonable use of less expensive, simpler controls has been tried. This was unanimously approved.  Item remains open.

Refurbish the Ranch House: Pat has not heard back from the vendors regarding getting an opinion from a decorator. Bill had a contractor look at the post in the foyer room but additional inspection is required. Robbie Dobyns has been contacted and has been tied up with other work and has not yet been able to meet with Fred. Jean advised that she had misspoken regarding the height of her proposed table in the foyer room. It should be countertop height, not bar height. Item remains open.

RFP for ILR: Bill has contacted three surveyors. He plans to get the RFP to them soon.  Item remains open.

Multi-use Facility: Committee members unanimously approved the proposed needs survey form that was submitted at the July 22 meeting. Nolan will prepare a script for use by committee members in contacting prospective users. Bruce’s list of Eldorado organizations was reviewed and each line item assigned to a committee member. The list of assignments is attached Contact and data gathering work will be pursued during the next month.   Item remains open.

Amenities Log: Nolan reported no new additions. The Committee agreed a review of the Log would be a separate agenda item, following the GM report, rather than an Old Business item.

New Business: Bill suggested the F&G Committee might wish to consider requesting a modest operating budget to cover the cost of items such as software for the master plan, etc.  Committee members were requested to bring back their thoughts on additional budget items at the next meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:55 PM.  The next meeting is scheduled for Tues, Sept. 9 at 4 PM.

Submitted by Nolan Zisman, Secretary

July 22, 2008: The meeting was called to order by Chair, Fred Raznick, at 4:05 PM. The purpose of this special meeting was to complete the items on the July 8 meeting agenda. Other committee members attending were Jean Crawford, Pat Lavengood, Nolan Zisman, Eddie Marshall. Bruce Blossman and Janet Wise were excused absences. A quorum was achieved. Bill Donohue and Malcolm McFarlane attended representing the ECIA.
The minutes of the July 8 meeting were approved as submitted.

Old Business:
Refurbish the Ranch House: Pat passed around a brochure regarding replacement furniture for the Living Room. We then did a walk-through of the room and the following decisions made: the couch, two red chairs and coffee table should be replaced as Phase I. Pat and Bill are to ask the two vendors being considered, Taos Furniture and Amish Furniture, to look at the room and offer their suggestions. As Phase 2, track lighting should be added to augment the existing ceiling lights to add overall brightness and provide focused lighting on selected parts of the room. In addition, Pat will investigate the cost of recovering the two side chairs now against the west wall. Item remains open.
In the Foyer room, Jean suggested a square bar-height conference table extending from the center post to 5 feet  from the fireplace wall, with 9 bar stools and a couple of chairs and coffee table against the west wall. Eddie suggested that the table be rectangular and attached to the east wall at the book case. All in attendance agreed there should be a defined passageway between the door to the enclosed porch and the two doors to the patio and Living Room. We also agreed the overhead fluorescent lighting should be replaced.  The committee asked Bill to determine if the vertical post and overhead beam can be removed as this will influence the design and layout of the room going forward. As there is some confusion as to the original use of the room and the artifacts that were part of the original ranch house, Fred will invite Robbie Dobyns to do a walkthrough of the main building with him to see if Robbie can recall what was here when it was a ranch house. Item remains open.

RFP for ILR: Fred had reviewed the draft RFP with a surveyor who felt the scope of the draft would result in charges exceeding the approved budget ($5,000). Bill agreed to discuss this further with reps from Sierra Land Survey to determine if the scope of the RFP needs to be reduced or otherwise clarified. Item remains open.

Noise Control- - Amplified Music: Those committee members in attendance unanimously agreed to recommend the following policy to the ECIA Board: “Music will be allowed at the Community Center. Reasonable controls over noise levels will be enforced to reflect community regard for the rights of adjacent residents to enjoy the use of their property.”  The attendees also agreed to table further discussion about the nature of such controls until Bruce could attend to explain the decibel measurement testing held on July 20 and Janet could attend to share her perceptions on the testing. Item remains open.

Multi-use Facility: Malcolm and Bill both reiterated that, while the ECIA Board has lowered the priority on determining the need for a larger, multi-use facility, the work should continue as part of the master planning process.  Nolan distributed a draft interview form/questionnaire that can be used either to verify previous need expressions (from the 2006 Pavilion Committee study), revise those expressed needs, or gather needs from groups not previously contacted. The Committee agreed to review the draft and come back to the next meeting with suggested revisions. Once the form has been adopted the list of potential users (previously made available by Bruce) will be divided up among Committee members, and the interview-driven data collection will be progressed over the following few weeks. Item remains open.

General Manager’s Report: Bill reported that work on replacing the depot floor had begun, but that “snags” have been encountered. He asked attendees their feelings about installing carpeting, in lieu of a wood floor. There was no favorable sentiment for carpet as a wood or comparable surface is needed for dancing and acoustical considerations.

New Business: Eddie had some questions about the scope of the F&G Committee deliberations. Specifically he asked about the rail-trail and the greenbelts. The rail-trail is outside of ECIA scope as it is the responsibility of Santa Fe Southern. The greenbelts are considered an ECIA amenity but it was felt the Conservation Committee should take the lead in dealing with any issues arising about the greenbelts. Due to the uncertainty about where ECIA and private property lines actually exist, the ECIA will not put up access or other trail-related signage unless those boundaries are known with certainty. Item is closed.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:55 PM.  The next meeting is scheduled for Tues, August 5 at 4 PM.

The meeting was called to order by Chair, Fred Raznick, at 4:05PM. All members of the committee were in attendance as were Malcolm McFarlane and Bill Donohue, representing ECIA Board. The draft agenda was approved as submitted. The minutes of the June 3 meeting were approved as submitted.

GM’s Report: The fence bordering the soccer field along Av. Monte Alto is being dismantled and will be replaced with a fence similar to the one enclosing the dog park.  Work has started on replacing the floor in the Depot building. The horseshoe pit construction will begin later this month. Bill asked Bruce to serve as an advisor to ensure the pits are properly positioned.

Old Business: Due to a sense of urgency and the anticipation of an extended discussion on the matter, Fred announced the initial agenda item to be considered was the issue of noise control at the Community Center. If there was time left over before we had to vacate the meeting room at 6 PM, other agenda items would then be addressed. In opening the discussion regarding control of loud noise at the Community Center, Bill reported the Board has put a moratorium on any new facility rentals for which amplified music is to be included. This is due to numerous adjacent neighbor complaints about loud parties being held on the back patio on weekends and the threat of a lawsuit from one of the neighbors. This moratorium will remain in effect until the Board is satisfied a workable solution has been put together by the F&G Committee. As there have been no subsequent requests to book such a gathering, the impact of the moratorium for the remainder of this outdoor season appears to be negligible.

Based on these guidelines and round-robin brainstorming, the following action items were adopted by the F&G Committee for recommendation to the ECIA Board:

1. Acquire or build acoustical panels for the large ramada- - would reflect sound toward the ranch house building from the rear and two sides of the ramada.

 2. Decibel measurement testing - - starting with the Eldorado Swing Shift band on July 20, take various ambient and volume level tests at the boundary line to determine an appropriate “reasonable” level. Representative adjacent property owners will be invited to participate.

1. Security deposit that would not be refunded after two warnings to the offending parties.

            2. Special rental charge for parties using amplification to cover cost of on-site technician   and/or ECIA staff person to monitor and regulate volumes.

            3. Limit number of days per month amplification is allowed at private parties.

            4. Establish a 5PM cutoff for use of amplification out-of-doors.

            5. Establish upper limits on wattage of amplified equipment allowed.

            6. Establish amplified equipment specifications that must be adhered to as part of the rental          agreement.

There being no additional time for other business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:00 PM.  The next meeting is scheduled for Tues, August 5 at 4 PM. A special meeting has been scheduled for July 22, at 4PM, to complete the July meeting agenda and to get a report on the noise level testing that is scheduled for July 20.

June 3, 2008: The meeting was called to order by Chair, Fred Raznick, at 4:05PM. All members of the committee were in attendance as were Malcolm McFarlane and Bill Donohue, representing ECIA Board. David McPherson, representing Eldorado Community Church, also attended. The draft agenda was revised to add two missing items of old business (Master Plan and Amenities Log Format).

David was asked to present to this committee the proposal by the Eldorado Community Church to provide funding for a new multi-use building. The church’s interest is an extension of work previously done by the former Pavilion Steering Committee to come up with a large multi-purpose facility in which large gatherings could be accommodated. Specifically they wish to be able to serve about 200 people in a single service, rather than the existing arrangement of multiple services due to limited capacity in the RR (Depot) building. This will require a contiguous interior space of approximately 1421 sq. feet.  They are planning to finance the cost of a basic “shell” building consisting of 4 walls, roof, window and doors over a slab. Any other enhancements would be at the expense of ECIA.  Their contribution would be as a donation to ECIA which would hold title to, build, and manage the new facility. The church is looking for a commitment from ECIA by late Fall.
The minutes of the May 13 meeting were approved as submitted. Malcolm had no information from the ECIA Board.  Bill presented his report. He is recommending to the Finance Committee a budget of $5,000 to make fence repairs along the soccer field and to move up the replacement date to 2010. Planning has begun on protecting the trees; he should have a more detailed report at the next meeting.  He reported on ECC bookings for the Month of May 2008. 49 groups booked our facilities 178 times during the month; 15 were parties. This averages out to 5.78 uses per day. During June, there have been 124 bookings thus far, or 4.13 per day. Bill believes May is a high month due to graduations, etc. while June is a low month due to school in recess, family vacations, etc.
The Old Business items were covered next. Janet Wise presented a draft revision to Section 6 of the Rental Agreement that would ban outdoor use of amplified systems. Most of the committee members felt this was unrealistic as it would essentially eliminate the use of live music at the ECC outdoors. Nolan suggested a compromise on holding amplified volumes to a level that would permit normal conversation. Malcolm suggested being specific as to volume level limits and enforcing via use of a decibel meter. Fred remanded the matter to Nolan and Janet to work out a reasonable compromise proposal for consideration at the next meeting. The proposal should take into consideration the need to educate the community and train staff on enforcement. It should also be easy to understand and simple to implement.
Pat Lavengood reported that she was looking at ranch-house style furniture and had begun working with Taos Furniture to determine candidate pieces. She will make a more detailed report at the next meeting. She is advocating getting rid of any existing piece that does not reflect a ranch-house motif.
The Amenities Log format was then discussed. The committee felt the draft format was complete but that dates should be shown in the two columns showing disposition to the Finance Committee and the ECIA Board. The Requestor column will also be moved to the right side of the table.
Nolan Zisman distributed copies of a presentation on a multi-use building made to the ECIA Board in March 2006, which included several slides on user needs. An informal survey of committee members suggested strong support for the concept based on a recognized need for a larger meeting space. The committee agreed to review this document prior to the next meeting and to be prepared to recommend a course of action to determine total needs of all potential users.
Bruce Blossman briefly reviewed the Master Planning Process document he had previously distributed. The committee agreed that this was a good starting point and we should proceed with the first couple of suggested initial tasks. Bruce and Bill will put together a request to the ECIA Board for approval to get a budget and have an Improvement Location Report prepared by a professional in this area. Fred will make some contacts to see if a candidate or two can be found. The request will describe the scope of the work requested and the expected uses of the results. There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:05 PM.  The next meeting is scheduled for Tues, July 8 at 4 PM.

The minutes of the April 8 meeting were approved as submitted. An election of officers was held. Fred was the sole nominee for Chair and Nolan was the sole nominee for Secretary. Both were unanimously elected to those positions.

Old Business: Nolan reported he had started the log of suggested amenities. It was agreed the log should be distributed with the minutes each month. The committee members were asked to review the format of the log and provide feedback at the next meeting. Jean suggested and the committee agreed to extend the consideration of cabana covers to other areas of the community center and not just the pool.

There followed a lengthy discussion about the proposed new multi-use building. Fred reviewed the complexity and issues associated with such a project. Malcolm expressed his belief that the “new board” would be interested in confirming a community-wide need for such a facility before making additional commitments to the project. Nolan indicated that a needs assessment had been performed as part of a predecessor study (by the Pavilion Sub-Committee) and that several groups had expressed a need for such a facility. Bill indicated that an average of three requests for meeting space was being turned down each week due to lack of space.  Malcolm also expressed a personal belief that the estimated construction costs were grossly understated, the dimensions undersized, and that the facility would need more than one toilet. He also feels the design of the facility should ultimately reasonably incorporate other items that would meet the needs of other community groups. The discussion concluded with Fred indicating to Malcolm that the F&G Committee would not take further “official” actions on this subject until and unless the Board specifically requests F&G to begin formal deliberations.

New Business: Jean suggested that if we were going to determine additional need for meeting space, we should “piggyback” off that effort to determine uses of existing facilities as a way of determining the right kind of furniture and related equipment for the clubhouse. Bill volunteered to compile a list of the uses of the various existing spaces for a representative heavy and light month. He will also contact Bill Schwent to determine if the Architecture Committee has already compiled data on uses of the various amenities. Pat volunteered to lead a project to determine furnishing needs for the clubhouse. Janet suggested and will investigate the use of students in the SFCC Fashion and Interior Design program to assist with this effort.

Janet then raised an issue regarding loud noises emanating from the patio and disrupting normal activities of other users of the community center facilities and adjacent homeowners. The specific incident was a party on the patio where the band had a monstrous amplification system making it very uncomfortable for others in the nearby area. She requested the F&G review amenity usage policies as part of its master planning. The existing rental agreement (item 6 under Terms and Conditions), a copy of which was given each committee member, is rather vague about tolerance limits for amplified music and other noises. Malcolm opined he could see no reason a more restrictive clause couldn’t be put into the user agreement. Janet volunteered to review the agreement and bring back some recommendations for consideration at the next meeting.

Nolan and Bill explained the various reserve funds maintained by the ECIA. He emphasized that the only fund the F&G Committee should be concerned with is the Capital Reserve fund. Bill noted that the balance in this fund is currently around $15,000. It is possible that the Finance Committee will recommend and the Board will approve transfer of some monies from the Contingency Fund to the Capital Reserve as there is currently an excessive amount in that fund.

The agenda was approved as were the minutes of the Jan. 8 meeting, as submitted. The minutes of the February 12 meeting had one revision. The reference to the “pool shade cover” should be changed to “pool shade cabanas”.  These minutes were accepted as revised.

Bill handed out the revised Committee Charter. This is to be reviewed and discussed at the next meeting.In Bill’s GM report, there were four items mentioned. As information, there was some vandalism to the railing fence which will be repaired. Bill has a bid of $5700 to replace the wood floor in the depot building. It appears the doors in the depot building will need to be replaced or repaired; he is getting estimates for this. The F&G committee agreed these two projects should be combined into a single request for funding.

Bill then led the group on a tour of the community center grounds/amenities. The F&G committee is of the opinion that a couple of short- term, relatively inexpensive actions can be taken now, but any other improvements should be part of the “master plan” for the community center.  The short-term improvements recommended for early installation include two benches near the tennis/basketball court complex and the installation of the approved horseshoe pits just across the bike path from the dog park, along with a bench.

There being no public forum, the Draft Charter was discussed. There were two suggested changes. In the first bullet under Scope and Level of Responsibilities on Page 1, the words “and oversight” should be added so the bullet reads: “ The F and G Committee will provide advice, support, and oversight to the ECIA General Manager in long-range planning for improvements, modifications, and additions to the amenities of the community center complex.”  The second change, in the last bullet on Page 1, adds the words “via the ECIA Finance Committee” to the end of the existing sentence. The attendees were asked to consider and bring forth other suggested changes at the next meeting.

Bill handed out copies of the 2006 ECIA Annual Report which lists and has photos of all ECIA amenities, and a copy of his maintenance plan for the next couple of months. He pointed out that some of the items are already approved and budgeted, some are necessary before the start of summer and others need to be addressed soon by the Committee.  Bill suggested, with the concurrence of the other attendees that there be two focal areas - - the Ranch House and the recreation area - - to get started. Fred reminded the group that we need to take a tour of the facilities before we can make any informed judgments about what needs to be done. It was agreed this would be done at the March meeting.

Criteria for prioritizing projects were discussed. The following criteria were identified as most important:

Safety, ADA compliance, usage frequency and volume, known defects or shortcomings, excessive maintenance.   Projects already started or approved should also receive a higher priority than others. Bill gave a brief description of each.  The attendees agreed the following should be the initial priority list:

1. Complete landscaping and irrigation work around the new patio.  We want the recommendations of some of Eldorado’s  master gardeners as to the best way to landscape the area. These will be solicited for the March meeting.

2. Replace the depot floor (wood surface). This will include consideration of new thresholds.

3. Replace the pool shade cover. Bill will contact Santa Fe Awning and Radar Awning to progress this project.

4. Review/revise the process (as necessary) and ensure the pool bathrooms remain clean and in working order during the 2008 swim season.

5. Pursue the approved capital projects in the Stable area.

As we go forward it was agreed that it is important for the F&G Committee to be aware of the Capital Budget and repair/replacement plans for the next couple of years. Bill will provide this information at the next meeting.

Bill then handed out a request for siting the new horseshoe pits. It was agreed the F&G Committee could not evaluate any suggested sites until the walk-around was completed. This request was tabled until after the March walk-around.

Bill distributed a draft of the Committee’s Charter as recommended by the ECIA Board. He went over the ground rules including the need to attend three consecutive meetings before being formally accepted onto the Committee. Until there are “official” committee members, Bill will continue to serve as acting chair. The attendees are to review the draft charter and bring back any suggested changes to the next meeting.

There was a brief discussion on the Committee’s scope of responsibilities. It was indicated that the intent of the Board is to have the F&G Committee make prior review of virtually all capital requests before they go to the Finance Committee. All assets, other than those used to operate and maintain the community’s facilities and grounds are to be considered in scope. Nolan suggested that the Committee define some “ground rule” priority criteria and this was tabled to the next meeting.

An early priority will be to take a walking tour of all facilities, grounds and amenities to “get the lay of the land” and to have a better basis for determining what needs attention sooner rather than later. Since some of the attendees are not as familiar with the amenities as others, Bill will bring a list of these, along with a list of items he’s thinking will need some attention soon, to the next meeting.

Because a couple of prospective committee members are against having evening meetings but not everyone can come to a meeting during the day, it was decided to try holding the next meeting at 4PM (as it should still be light out at the end of the meeting) and see how that plays out for a future start time. The next meeting will be Tues, Feb. 12, at 4PM. The meeting adjourned at 5:15PM.