April 2017
First, I want to thank our all-volunteer committee members who continue to contribute so much to our association, from the Architectural Standards Committee members who review our architectural and covenant standards, to future capital investment planning by the General Plan Committee (GPC) and the financial oversight of those on the Finance Committee. In addition, our Elections Committee ensures annual elections go smoothly, and of course, our Giving Fund Committee volunteers provide extensive community outreach working with the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation helping to organize our collective resort ownership philanthropy to benefit important needs within the greater resort community in the North Lake Tahoe/Truckee area.
Our committees continue to work tirelessly to make Tahoe Donner a great place to live. At the meetings of our board of directors, and in partnership with our management team, our GPC is working to finalize a long-range capital infrastructure reinvestment planning document called the association master plan. This draft plan continues to be refined and reviewed with the board of directors at monthly board meetings, but will soon find itself in front of the membership for feedback in the coming months. Membership feedback will be extremely valuable as we narrow down the future capital infrastructure reinvestment plan for the association. On the community employee housing front, I’ve recently joined the North Lake Tahoe/Truckee Regional Housing Council to help find near-term and long-range solutions to support our important employee teams in obtaining local housing. It is our goal to support all the community needs to offer the variety of public and private services we all enjoy in our unique mountain community.
On the endless winter front, after experiencing several months of impressive snow accumulation, even greater than those at an elevation just 500 feet lower, I was extremely pleased to see the hard work of all our public agencies in keeping the roads clear and power on! Our two major snow removal companies even merged to find greater efficiencies in providing our homeowners with better service in private driveway snow removal. This recent winter has also highlighted the significant impact of snow berms on the edge of driveways between our individual private driveways and the neighborhood roadways. Snow removal concerns 25 years ago led to the incorporation of the Town of Truckee. With the same concern in mind, I’ve been working with the Town of Truckee to see how we can better use existing funding sources to address the long-voiced concerns of owners with regard to snow berm removal in the gap area between the road and private driveways.
As a large-scale homeowner organization, Tahoe Donner Association is registered in the state of California as a California Mutual Benefit Corporation, and with the IRS as a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. With a budget of nearly $25 million, our association is regulated by both federal and state laws which cross a diverse array of areas. It also has a set of governing documents (covenants and restrictions, articles of incorporation, and bylaws) which, along with the California Corporations Code and the Davis-Stirling Act, provide for very specific governance of the association, much like all corporations in California.
The board of directors is the governing and elected authority for the association, and as the general manager, I serve as the board’s principal employee and agent who manages and works with our great staff to deliver a wide variety of services to the membership in keeping with our strategic and long range plans. The board’s specific authority is clearly defined in our association’s governing documents. Corporate responsibility, known as fiduciary duty, requires board members to act in the best interest of the association and with adherence to the reasonable business judgment rule.
Board members are elected annually (on staggered terms of three years) by the membership, with required voting quorums of the 6,473 owners. With each annual election, articles are published in the monthly magazine, email blasts are sent to the owners, and hard ballot mailings are sent to all eligible owners. This year, we have two board seats up for election. Typically, we only see about 25–30 percent of the owners participate in the annual election. As a result, a governance model has been set up so the board can still take appropriate and timely action for the association/corporation. Board decisions and oversight are formed by membership feedback, as noted earlier with regard to the association master plan. There is also a communication information graphic depicting the capital planning process included in this month’s magazine on page 17.
Tahoe Donner, from its inception, has been an outdoor recreation resort community with well-documented plans, goals, and regulations covering its activities. Therefore, the elected board of directors, staff, and our volunteer committees utilize several major documents to guide their decision-making process. The annual budget process, the actual performance of amenities, the development of strategic plans and goals, and the solicitation of membership feedback are each guided by prescribed stipulations. Specific to the annual assessment calculation, there are several detailed processes that the association utilizes to make decisions that impact the assessment. The annual budget process includes comprehensive finance committee meetings and multiple board meetings to review and discuss every aspect of the annual budget, starting in late August and continuing through October. All meetings are open to the membership, and meeting minutes and recaps are published to the membership monthly followed by an annual external audit. And, new this year, all regular board meetings are streamed live on our website, with videos posted shortly thereafter.
The major influencing factor of capital investment annually is our Replacement Reserve Study and Development Fund project review process – newly updated in 2016 by the GPC, ahead of the currently ongoing Association Master Plan project. There are numerous opportunities for membership input during this process. With regard to development projects, these are funded with the development fund, which is included in the annual assessment.
In the continuing process of developing amenity improvement plans with our volunteer members of the GPC, some members have asked for clarification on what type of organization Tahoe Donner is, and why we reinvest in our amenities and support facility infrastructure. As previously noted, Tahoe Donner is a 501(c)(4) federally tax exempt social welfare organization, and a California mutual benefit corporation focused on providing recreational facilities and architectural standards for our community; amenities like the Alder Creek Adventure Center and Downhill Ski Area make a significant contribution to not only the membership’s recreational needs, but also the local economy, and the financial viability of our homeowner association business model, which in turn helps to mitigate the annual assessment. Tahoe Donner is not your typical homeowners association, nor should it be confused with other private clubs or tax-based funding institutions. Tahoe Donner was created in the early 1970s as a recreational homeowner resort community with the majority of its amenities and programs open to the public. Our mutual benefit association business model is focused on providing a vast array of recreational facilities for our membership, guests, and public in keeping with our covenants and restrictions, bylaws, California mutual benefit corporation status, regulatory use permits, and our federal 501(c)(4) social welfare status. These services are provided for in each year’s budget.
Lastly, I want to extend best wishes to our director of marketing, Brinn Talbot, as she leaves her current role with the association to pursue other personal and professional endeavors.
I look forward to seeing you all out enjoying the great community we share.
Robb Etnyre | General Manager