Minutes of Headwaters Landlord Association Board of Directors Meeting

Date: January 17, 2013

Call to order: A Board of Directors meeting of the Headwaters Landlord Association was held in The Cabin Coffeehouse and Café, Bemidji, Minnesota on January 17, 2013. The meeting convened at 3:06 pm, President Duane Sea, presiding, and Jessica Sarauer, note taker.
Members in attendance: Andrew Erholtz, Terry Duy, Kathy Guess, Duane Sea, Lorrie Richardson, Harry Aylesworth, Jeff Grabowski

Members not in attendance: Jeff Janiksela

Welcome: Duane welcomed all members to the meeting and handed out an agenda.
Secretary report: Harry passed around a copy of the minutes. Motion: Moved by Duane to approve the minutes. Seconded by Harry. Motion carried.
Treasurer report: Harry provided a copy of the Treasurer’s report. Since the last meeting, eight more members have renewed their memberships by paying dues. Motion: Moved by Andrew to approve the treasurer report. Seconded by Terry. Motion carried.

Old business:

Membership Report Update

Not all old members have renewed their dues. It was suggested the Board members could call those you have not renewed and encourage them to come to the general meeting, join again, and determine why they have not renewed their membership. A list of these members will be put together and the Board members will call non-renewed members.

Meeting Comments Disclaimer

At the beginning of the next general meeting a disclaimer will be stated concerning comments from members to notify the general membership that the comments from members are their own personal opinions, biases, and experiences, and are not necessarily the stance of the Headwaters Landlord Association.

Banner Ad

A banner ad for the quarterly meeting would cost 200 dollars. The Board decided to not have a banner ad for this meeting, but to call members, email members, and update the website about the next meeting. Terry will call members on Monday.

Agenda for January 24 Quarterly Meeting

The panel will consist of Kathy and Duane and Andrew will be the moderator. They were unable to meet before this meeting, but will meet Monday at 11 am at the Wild Hare Bistro.
Topics
- Leases and Leasing (Clauses you need in leases to protect yourself)

Snow removal and lawn moving issues

Security deposits and interest on deposits

Lead Disclosure

Address posting in rental agreement for evictions

Tenant’s Rights Handbook availability

Notices for lease renewal

Taking fees from security deposits

Minnesota Energy Resources 4U2 Program

Policy changes

Crime Free/Drug Free addendum

Handouts to members will include a list of topics, Minnesota Energy Resources 4U2 Program application, and Crime Free/Drug Free literature.
Lorrie inquired about group communication. Suggested communication types include email, webpage, Facebook, phone calls, etc. Harry mentioned that Facebook can get very time consuming. Kathy suggested asking the membership at the next meeting.
The Board will collect the numbers of rental units that the Headwaters Landlord Association represents anonymously from each member. Members can elect out of sharing this information.
Others topics that won’t be covered at this general meeting, but are potential for the Spring meeting are screening, marketing, and evictions.

Brochures

·         Lorrie updated the Board on the membership brochure. The committee is attempting to have a booklet ready by the general meeting. The booklet will be mailed to members when they pay their dues, along with the booklet will be a membership card and other information.

·         Lorrie was wondering if the HLA member’s names and contact information could go into the booklet. Kathy suggested asking the membership at the next meeting to see if they would be willing to share their information in the booklet. Harry suggested getting this information (phone number, address, email, etc,) from sending about a membership form. A presentation will be given at the general meeting about the renewal membership package during the new business portion of the meeting.

·         The booklet timeline is as follows: introduced at January meeting, membership information filled out at April meeting, those who don’t come to that meeting will be emailed the membership form, and those you don’t respond via email will be mailed the form.

·         Harry suggested allowing associate members to put an ad in the booklet.

·         The vendor brochure will not be ready by general meeting. The vendor brochure will be a trifold brochure with the third panel being an application (removable with a perforated edge). They are printing 250 vendor brochures that the Board members will handout to potential vendors. The vendor brochures will be available for general member distribution at the April 18th meeting. Andrew mentioned he would be willing to type of a quick vendor brochure for the next general meeting.

New business:

County Survey

·         Duane handed out a letter from the County Assessor’s Office that he received. The letter inquired about rental units and rental levels. Duane said there is no obligation for landlords to fill this survey out and send back.

Fire in the Home

·         Duane saw this program on KARE and requested a DVD. From this program Duane learned that grease fires have a higher rate of incidence in apartments and rentals in general. This program also gave a lot of tips on fire prevention. He mentioned a product called Stove Top Fire Stop, which is two little canisters on the stove vent that automatically go off when there is a fire. Each costs $25 dollars, but the HLA could work with the Fire Department and get a grant to get these for members (could possibly get Stove Top Fire Stop for all people who want them as well). The Board will ask for support for the grant at the next general meeting. There could also be a showing of the video at a meeting (Harry mentioned showing the video before the meeting at 6:30) if there is interest. Other areas of concern for fire in the home include Christmas trees and candles.

Spring Quarterly General Meeting Date

·         The Spring Quarterly General Meeting date has tentatively been scheduled for April 18, 2013 at Beltrami Electric at 7:00 pm

Announcements:
Next BOD meeting: February 21, 2013, Cabin Coffeehouse and Café, 3:00 pm

Next general meeting: January 24, 2013, Beltrami Electric, 7:00 pm
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 4:25 pm. Motion: Moved by Harry to adjourn. Seconded by Andrew.   Motion carried.

Minutes submitted by Jessica Sarauer.