COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD

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 PLEASE NOTE: IF YOU WANT TO RUN FOR THE BOARD, YOUR APPLLICATION HAS TO BE SUBMITTED BY SEPTEMBER 27.

The Executive Board of Briar Lake consists of five volunteers who are assisted by a property manager from the Horst Management Company.

Three of the five members will rotate off the Board later this year, so we are in much need of fresh input and involvement from you.

If you are interested in running for a  board position, you will be asked to complete a short questionnaire that indicates your interest and the gifts you would bring to the board. A letter will be sent to all unit owners with the information regarding your desire to run. At the next election in October, the new board members will be introduced at the annual meeting. This board relies on the experience and expertise of its residents do its work. 

The current board members have provided information about what each of them does. (This has been edited for clarity, and doubtless some details are not included.)

PRIOR TO THE ELECTION, THIS INFORMATION WILL BE SENT AGAIN BY EMAIL. Both outgoing and remaining board members will be happy to help new members through their initial learning curve.

• Conduct the meetings (or the VP in the president's absence).
• Go to town meetings or other meetings pertaining to the welfare of the community.
• Oversee that everything is running right.
• Receive / resolve problems within the community

All the board members share responsibility in getting bids for work and in the discussion of Briar Lake business.

It would be helpful is the person becoming Treasurer has accounting or finance experience and have a full working knowledge of spreadsheets in order to effectively manage the Association's money.   

The duties of the present Treasurer are:

1. Review and analyze the financial statements produced by Horst and advising them of any corrections.
2. Report the monthly financial condition to the Board.
3. Approve invoices to be paid by Horst on a daily basis or decline any that are in error.
4. Update all excel schedules monthly, i.e., the Capital & Operating Reserve Analysis, the Interest, Dividends & Capital Gains/Losses schedule, and the Equitable worksheet.
5. Prepare the Association's Federal Income Tax. 
6. Ask each committee to submit their budget for the following year and prepare the Operating Budget and submit it to the Board for approval.
7. Update the Capital Reserve Budget to Actual at year-end.
8. Conduct a special meeting to update the Capital Budget every fifth year.
9. Chair the Audit Committee.
10. Tell Horst to move funds at year-end to the Operating Reserve.
11. Invest funds in CD's and/or Board approved Mutual Funds.
12. Update the Capital Reserve Investment Plan.
13. Deliver the Treasurer's report at the annual meeting.
14. Update all schedules to the following year.

The entire Board has the fiduciary responsibility to ensure that the Association's money is kept safe. Monies should be spent based on what was budgeted. The Treasurer has the responsibility to keep track of spending versus budget. Un-budgeted items should be spent only if they are of an emergency nature.

Time spent by the Treasurer is mostly at the beginning of each month when analyzing the statements and preparing the schedules. 

To begin:

• Read all of the minutes to familiarize yourself with the history.
• Read all of the formal documents of Briar Lake
• Make notes that will help you in the discussions at Board Meeting
• Any information that will be attached should be in a PDF—that way all can read it.

Board Minutes

• Before the meeting, request items for the agenda. Once the agenda is set, send to the Board members and to Mary Ann (property manager) along with the Maintenance and Board Calendars.
• Record the Minutes of the Executive Board & Homeowner Meetings
• Send a PDF document of the Minutes to the Board members for approval—all members MUST approve.
• Once all have approved the minutes, print them out, sign them, put them in the notebook.
• Put the minutes into Drop Box
• Send the copy of the approved minutes to the community (PDF form)—use briarlake815@gmail.com. If you are unable to send out the minutes, send them to the website editors and they will send them out for you.

Board & Maintenance Calendars

• Include any items due and place on the agenda
• Send a copy of the calendars along with the agenda to the Board members for the meeting
• Note: Calendars are presently written on M/S Excel. Updated calendars will automatically reflect the current date of update. Save the files as M/S and PDF. Send the calendars as PDF.
• The calendars get updated on Drop Box.

Home Owner Meetings

• Request each person giving a report to send their written report for inclusion in the minutes. This way you do not have to take notes during the meeting. However, it is better to put them into the M/S format for inclusion. Most of the committee chairman do not use computers; that is the reason you will have to reformat their work.
• At the meeting, note the names of the attendees to be included in the minutes.
• Compile all the reports, names, etc. and write the minutes. Submit to the Board for review and approval; send a copy in PDF form to all residents using emails.
• Sign and file the approved minutes; upload to Drop Box.

Directory

The Directory is in a M/S Word format. There is one in regular print and one in large print. There is also one by street address—this is especially helpful for newcomers. This file needs updating when a home is sold.

The date any changes are made is automatic at the top of the file. Once a change is made, destroy the old directory under the old date. 

Also update the Contacts in briarlake815@gmail.com; label as residents, lady’s luncheon, etc. If you want another category, you can set it up. If you are unable to do this, ask the website editors to do it.

The Directory goes to Drop Box month when analyzing the statements and preparing the schedules. 

The board meets monthly; meetings are generally about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. 

Board members are assigned to a specific area of need, such as maintenance of the grounds, the clubhouse, snow removal or the lake, and they will do the research and connection with bids for work that may need to be done. But the entire board has the responsibility for these things and they work  cooperatively to get it done. 

It is advisable for anyone running for office to read the documents that are given at the time one closes on their home.  They are the Declarations, Bylaws, Restrictions.  Also helpful to have full knowledge, would be to read all the minutes. 

Anyone who would like this information can request it from the website or from Lynn Welge (current secretary).  Each position has different needs at different times of the month. 

NOTE: The Briar Lake bylaws (Article IV) permit the Board to add an assistant treasurer, assistant secretary, or "other" in order to facilitate and fulfill their duties. Those added persons would not be board members, but would report to the person they assist. The current openings on the Board are for the core officers only. The Board had advertised earlier in the year for an assistant treasurer; but no plan, provision, or decision has been made to recruit an assistant secretary.

Horst is a resource.  They provide sources for obtaining bids, print the checks, and provide the financials.  They deal with the board, not the individual homeowner with the exception of street lighting problems. The treasurer deals with our property manager with regard to the financial side; the secretary for other issues.