The Minutes
SLE HOA BOARD MEETING
Date May 13, 2024
Location: Cup of Grace
Board Members in Attendance: David Petersen (Pres.), Gus Ferguson (VP), Brendan Mills (Treasurer), John O’Neil, James Stover (phone) & Bryan Pettit (Members at Large), Tisha Dore (Secretary)
Quorum: YES
Call to Order: 7:00pm
Minutes from the last meeting: Accepted (Motioned by: Tisha Dore, Seconded by: Gus Ferguson)
FROM HOA PRESIDENT, DAVID PETERSEN – Welcome to the Spirit Lake East HOA semi-annual meeting held at Cup of Grace on May 13, 2025 at 7:00pm.
This is going to take us about an hour. We expect to adjourn by eight o'clock. We've allocated time segments for each section of business so that we don't get behind, we stay in a timely fashion, and so that we don't waste your time or you feel like we're not making any traction.
If you haven't already voted, you may do so during the meeting or after the meeting. There's a polling booth over there. If you've already voted once online or mailed in a ballot, that's it, you can't vote again. Voting closes at 8:30pm, results will be announced as soon as they’re available, should be pretty quick.
Candidates for board positions…there's three up for election…three positions open, six people running. Each candidate will be given two minutes to address the audience. That'll be coming shortly.
This is when they can state their position and request your vote, say this is why you should vote for me. Of course, that's for the people that haven't already cast a vote.
The two-minute segments will not be the time for the audience to question the candidate or make other comments. This is just their opportunity to say their piece.
Once we're done with that and we're going through the agenda, the board will present each segment of the agenda such as the Treasurer's Report, Roads, Architecture, etc. Only after they've completed the presentation will the floor be open to questions. In other words, we don't want a bunch of interruptions.
Please don't interrupt them as they present. Let them get the information out because they may answer your question by the time they're done. To be fair and to allow everyone a chance to speak or ask questions, there will be a two-minute speaking limit per person per topic.
Once those two minutes are up, then they need to yield the floor. There's a timer over there that we’ll be controlling. Once somebody is recognized, we'll start the timer, and they'll have two minutes to say their piece or ask their question.
If you wish to speak on a particular topic and you can speak on every topic if you so desire, raise your hand and wait to be recognized. There may be a number of hands that shoot up. We'll get to as many as we can. Understand that we want this to last an hour. So, if we start to drag down, we'll have to start putting a limit on how many people have an opportunity to speak.
No favoritism, it's just whoever's hand goes up.
When you're recognized, give us your name because we want to put that into the minutes and tell us how long you've been here in Spirit Lake East. In other words, David Peterson, I've been here five years.
It helps us understand who you are and if you're a newbie or if you're a 26-year veteran. When you're speaking, we have that two-minute rule. Once they're up, they're up.
You can't buy, beg, borrow, or be given time from somebody else. In other words, you can't say, well, I'm going to give my time to Gus. You have two minutes. So, make the best of it.
Please be concise and clear as you're asking the questions or making comments. The board will then respond to the speaker's questions in as quick and efficient a manner as we possibly can.
But we're not going to get bogged down in lengthy explanations or trying to answer something that would take 20 minutes. Should a question require an in-depth reply or specific documentation, that info will be provided to the speaker at the next monthly board meeting, or perhaps we can do it by email. But we can't dig through the records here at this meeting.
To prevent the same questions from being asked and answered, and asked and answered, and asked and answered, it'll be the duty of the president—me—to determine if that question or comment has been already asked and answered.
If the same question keeps popping up and the same answer is given, there's no sense in us wasting our time hearing the same thing over again. And if that ruling is made, then you should yield the floor.
And then failure to yield, it makes it uncomfortable. We're grownups, let's treat each other with respect and dignity. But if you don't yield the floor, and you cause a disruption, then action will be taken.
We're not going to allow this to devolve into a shouting match. Please be considerate of everybody here. Comments or actions, and I shouldn't have to say this, but I do…
Comments or actions that are rude, profane, insulting, vindictive, slanderous, aggressive, threatening, disruptive, will not be allowed. If you make those comments or you act inappropriately, you'll be asked to leave. Just simple Golden Rules tonight. Let's be kind and nice to each other.
We may not agree, but we can disagree with each other respectfully. Finally, you've noticed that we have representatives from the Spirit Lake Police Department.
KERRY THOMPSON (interjecting): “Of course you do.”
David continued…We thank them for their service. They're here because last November at the meeting, things got a little bit testy. Many board members later reported to us that because of the tone and the way things were going, that they felt intimidated and unsafe. We can't have that happen again.
We have to come out of this with a smile on our face, even if we lose the election or we don't agree with the final outcome. The other reason that they're here is because threats have been made against board members—people sitting at this table—and that behavior is just inexcusable.
How and why anybody here would threaten board members is beyond me. Come on, guys. We're better than that. If you're involved in that, please reconsider your actions and consider the consequences.
All right. I have said everything I need to say, and at this time, Gus will do candidate introductions.
HOA BOARD ELECTION
Candidate Introductions
BRENDAN MILLS – Hello, everybody. Thanks for coming. I appreciate it. I've lived in Spirit Lake East for going on seven years now. (MEMBER: Can you stand?). Yes, I’ll try to use my big boy voice, thank you.
I was born in Africa—interesting fact about me—and raised in Canada. I did most of my career in law enforcement, 24 years, Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
When I first moved to California, I started my own landscaping business. I had three employees with me, managed my own company, did the books.
When I went into law enforcement, I was responsible for one of the units that was offsite in the hospital. Responsible for budgeting. I had 16 employees under me, deputy sheriffs, which I managed.
Retired, thank God, and I made it out alive. Came up here. Do most of my time, I volunteer now with Real Life Ministries, helping out the youth ministries, kids, young adults, pre-marital counselor.
Putting time back into the community as much as I can, because I've seen the other end of it, and I didn't like the outcome. So, I figured it’s my turn to pay back to society and help the younger generations get a good head start in life.
I've been working with this board here for a year and a half, two years, about a year and a half, and the board really works well together. I'm really happy to work with these guys.
We communicating well. (TISHA DORE: Five seconds). Sorry, hopefully I got it all.
VERN PETERS – How y'all doing? I'm Vern Peters.
Hope y'all can hear me. I'm just running for the board. I don't want to change nothing.
You know what I mean? I'm not trying to implement anything. I'm trying to make everything run smooth. I'm not trying to make sure we go into black.
I'm trying to make sure that we spend our money properly and we do the right thing.
A little bit about me. I did 22 years in the United States Army. Did five combat tours. Led hundreds of men and women into combat, and we all came back. Maybe not all together, but we came back.
I really ain't got much. I've been on the board before. Well, I've lived here for about nine years, and I volunteered for the road committee when I got here to help out.
I figured instead of complaining and everything like that, I might as well do something about it. And the only way to do something about it is to go on and show that I'm a volunteer and work as hard as I can for the community. I am about community.
I'm about no drama or anything like that, and I'm about doing things to accommodate everybody the best that I can. I'm not here to single anybody out.
I'm not here to disrespect anybody.
If while on the board, if you got a question, I ain't going to degrade you. I ain't going to do anything of that sort. I'm going to answer it to the best that I can.
That's pretty much it. I'm not trying to, whatever. My public speaking, I wasn't ready to get up and stand up and talk, but it is what it is.
I just want to make sure that the community is good and healthy, and we all get along, and everybody's needs are met the best that we can. That's about it.
DAVID PETERSEN – Okay, I'm sorry. I'm not going to stand.
I don't feel very well having had surgery, so I'll sit where I'm at, not out of disrespect, but out of necessity. I've lived here for five years. I'm retired.
I came on the board through unexpected circumstances.
There was a vacant Member at Large. I was asked to sit for that, and shortly thereafter, John [O’Neil] decided he needed to step down, and so then when he stepped down from the president's role, I was nominated for the president, and suddenly I find myself the president of the association.
Well, what is my job? My job is to manage or assist the other members of the Board. I don't really have a specific job other than oversight, and it's my job to make sure they have what they need, that they can go about their job effectively.
I don't micromanage or meddle with what they're doing because they're all doing a great job, and if you've driven down the roads in the last few weeks, you would have to agree.
The roads are in the best shape they've ever been. Roads and snow, those are the two things that we struggle with. Snow, we did a pretty good job on that, too.
My job is to make sure that these things run smoothly, that the bank accounts are taken care of, that we have money to work with, and everything that's needed to bring this together.
Sometimes I'm the face of the association, and I get heat from it because I'm willing to stand up and speak my piece against detractors. Everybody's entitled to an opinion. But I'm not afraid of taking that position and speaking for the board and defending the board when sometimes they come under attack, as I just spoke about earlier.
I would appreciate your vote. I'll work hard for you, like I always do. Thank you very much.
BRIAN PETTIT – I'm Brian Pettit. I kind of recently fell into this. There was a vacant spot, and so I'm trying to help out, and listen to some of the meeting issues that were coming up.
My wife and I have been here for…we're coming up on…our fifth year. Love it. We do a lot of gardening.
I’m retired electrician, utility electrician. Done some pretty crazy jobs over the years. I had a lot of responsibility doing shutdowns for the 911 dispatches.
BAE, we did a lot of work for them. Lockheed Martin, NASA. Some super highly-complicated deadline stuff, a lot of budgets, and finally got to retire out of that after 38 years.
So, had some fortunate experiences, and I feel that it's going to be helpful with this.
I've been playing in the dirt for 38 years, so I know what we're talking about as far as compaction, trenching, directional boring, all that stuff that's been going around in our neighborhood. The power cutovers, I've been talking with some of those guys, walking with them when they're doing them. They're doing a good, decent job.
But I feel I'm a pretty good fit to help out, making some of the decisions. I care about where we live. I don't like the trash that's along the road. That's another subject.
All and all, we love it here.
We go to the Spirit Lake Calvary Church, volunteer there for helping out with the video and audio stuff, just kind of have that background.
DAVID PETERSEN: That’s probably about time. Wrap it up.
GUS FERGUSON: I apologize, I messed up on the clock.
Bryan closed: Anyways, I’d just love to help out.
GUS FERGUSON: Is everybody ok with that? I forgot to hit the button. Is that fair? Sorry.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: You’re fine.
DALE ZIRBEL – I’m Dale Zirbel. I was born and raised in Montana.
I moved here about 25 years ago. Me and my wife moved to Spirit Lake East about five years ago now. I run my own carpentry business in construction, pretty much my whole life, since I was in junior high.
I just want to help out in the community.
I’m not a great speaker. I just want to help out. Just tired of kind of stuff that’s been going on, people getting just kind of stepped on it feels like, and shut down.
Just want to change the culture a little bit.
I'm not looking to cause any chaos in the community. Definitely no micromanaging or anything like that.
Just want to make sure the money's being spent where it should be spent, and not wasted. Seems like that’s been going on a little bit, so, that’s it.
MURISA ZEDALIS – I’m Murisa Zedalis. A little about me. I’m was born and raised in Idaho, Southern Idaho, and Vern and Dale and I all kind of share the same sentiment.
We're not here to change anything.
We're not here to micromanage anything. We just really want everyone to feel a part of this community, and so that's why we really want to join the Board.
It's just, when people ask for receipts, it’s just kind of a problem, and we just want to be transparent.
Everyone to feel like their voice matters in a rural community. That's basically it.
DAVID PETERSEN: Okay, so we've heard from all of the candidates for the board positions. I want to thank every one of you who have stepped forward, whether you're on my quote team or other team. It takes a lot to do this job, and people that are willing to step forward and volunteer, it's a great honor.
That's a noble thing, so thank you very much for being willing to serve. We'll let the election speak for itself. We'll move on from there. Hopefully we can all become friends in this great community.
Treasurer’s Report:
Current in checking account: $ 20,012.22
Current in savings account: $ 21,598.24
Current in petty cash account: $ 201.00
Total in bank accounts: $ 41,811.46
35 PROPERTY OWNERS ARE DELINQUENT ON THEIR DUES (TOTALING NEARLY $13,000).
That’s $12,761.35 to be exact that we have outstanding.
4 lots owe on multiple years – demand letters sent certified mail on 5/10/2024, liens placed in 6/2024.
31 lot owners owe dues for this year and monthly finance charges will only continue to accumulate.
As of April 30th, interest is no longer being waived, and we’ll be taking next steps with collection.
*** THIS IS A LOT OF DELINQUENT ACCOUNTS FOR A SMALL, PRIVATE COMMUNITY ***
If you know anybody who's delinquent for one reason or another, talk to them, get them to pay their dues so we can move forward and, like you say, spend the community's money wisely.
I'd like to thank Trudy [Shrigley, long-time previous and 2024 Auditor]. Unfortunately, she's not here, but came out of retirement to complete the 2024 Audit, posted [TISHA: Last week].
So, everybody has access to the audit and her findings.
The 2024 Audit can be found here along with reports + receipts for up to end of Q1 2025: https://www.spiritlakeeast.org/financial-reports.
If you're behind on your dues, please just send a payment. We still are using PayPal. [CLARIFICATION: We’re considering the removal of PayPal as a dues payment option because some don’t pay the 3% fee, then we have to add it back onto their owing balance and pursue that fee even as part of next year].
PLEASE WORK WITH US TO CATCH UP ON YOUR DUES NOW OR SETUP A PAYMENT PLAN ASAP.
WE DO NOT WANT TO HAVE TO PLACE LIENS, IT’S COSTLY, SO WE’LL HAVE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BILL.
Behind on your dues? Send payment ASAP or contact Brendan Mills, at treasurer@spiritlakeeast.org. For more info on payments + donations (mailing address + PayPal): www.spiritlakeeast.org/payordonate
Motion to accept Treasurer Report by: John O’Neil
Motion Seconded by: Gus Ferguson
*Treasurer’s Report Questions & Answers can be found at the end of this document
Roads Report
JON DORE – Winter and spring were pretty rough on our roads. We will continue to grade as long as there's, like, moisture in the roads, especially before summer. Hopefully we can get them all tuned up before they harden up that they're in good shape.
We're trying to get out there this Thursday and then this weekend again because we had rain here now. On the [May] 7th, we had an opportunity to grab some free base and asphalt mix. We're trying something different for the roads to see how this works.
There are some bigger chunks that went through the crusher so fast, and we will be knocking those down on Thursday [May 15th] here. The problem was is, like, I had one day to grab that material before it was sold. And we were able to grab that for free so we had to put it down when the roads were dry.
Hopefully with the rain, they're tracked in. Like I said, Thursday we'll be out and we'll knock all the big stuff off. What we're trying to do is fill these potholes and see how it is with dust control, and I can tell you by just driving over those right now, the dust is a lot less with the asphalt mixed in there.
So, we're going forward. We're going to try and see if we can grade the roads as smooth as possible and then come in with the mix of the base and the asphalt, and cut down on the dust as well as it's going to bind a little better, it seems.
That's our initial goal is to try and keep this stuff, the roads, you know, bound, stop the potholes, and then cut down on the dust all in one fell swoop because I know just last week it was starting to get bad with the dust already. And noticing these patches of asphalt here, driving over them, it was crazy how much less the dust was going over them. So going forward, we're going to kind of try and do something like that.
I guess some questions come up like with Joe. We're using Joe Sandbank as our trucking and as our grader. Joe lives in the community here and has a trucking service.
His son Jake grades for a living with the exact same grader that we have. And his other son is a mechanic. So that family helps out quite a bit in here.
Joe also—when we're trucking in—he charges us $125 an hour. Basin charges $150/hour and CDA paving is $185/hour. So, he gives us a break on the trucking, and when he's trucking, he grades for free.
So, he’s usually doing 8-10 hours of free work on the grader to help us out, and cut us a break here where no one else is. The other thing with the grader, since it seems to be an issue still, that last grader was falling apart. The blade literally, like, was not working and had to be taken completely apart and fixed and was breaking down every time we were using that.
The old grader had a 14-foot blade and required multiple passes to do the complete roads on a lot of places. This new grader has a 16-foot blade, so it's usually two passes, and we can get through that. It's a much heavier piece of equipment and it's much stronger.
And that's what we need. Our roads are rough in here. So, our whole goal here is just to make these roads as best as possible.
Like I said, as long as we have rain and some moisture in the roads, we will continue to grade for summer to get it all as good as we can. The other thing, if you are planning to oil, reach out to us. We'll see if we can hit in front of your house before you oil, and get it as nice as possible, and then we won't touch it.
So, those are the other things. I think that is about it for the Roads Report.
DAVID PETERSEN – Slow down. You know, we bang the drum about going 15 miles an hour. That's really slow. That's painfully slow for all of us.
But at that speed, you won't damage the roads. If you go faster than that, the hydraulic effect of water and a rock, it just pounds that road to pieces. So, if you can, please slow down.
I know that in front of my house on Hayden, guys will go past there at 45, 50, 60 miles an hour. We can't do anything about it. We have no enforcement ability.
We can't string a cable across the road. We can't put in speed bumps. We can't really do anything other than to ask our residents to please be considerate of the roads that they're paying to have fixed.
And yet when you drive crazy, you beat them to death. So please slow down as much as you can. Every time you feel like you got to hurry, just remember that damage to the road is coming out of your pocket.
Email Q’s to roads@spiritlakeeast.org. For roads form for reporting issues: www.spiritlakeeast.org/roads
Motion to Accept the Roads Report: Gus Ferguson
Motion Seconded by: Tisha Dore
*Roads Report Questions & Answers can be found at the end of this document
Architecture Report
JON O’NEIL – There were some questions about county regulations. No new builds. If you have building plans (or questions to prep), contact ARC Chair, John O’Neil, at arc@spiritlakeeast.org. If you sent something, I haven't seen it. I'm not saying that you didn't send it. I just haven't seen it. So please reach me at the end. And I'll make sure that I get your name. And I'll respond back to you as quickly as possible.
For info on building in SLE + Architectural Form for approvals: www.spiritlakeeast.org/building-info
Motion to accept ARC Report by: Brendan Mills
Motion Seconded by: Gus Ferguson
*No ARC Report Q&A, but misc. questions were asked that can be found at the end of this document
Timber Report
GUS FERGUSON – We’re getting to the end of the time to safely burn slash piles. Fire restrictions have started. They say closed burning but it’s not really closed burning. You have to get a permit. It’s free.
It's not so big brothers looking over your shoulder. It's so that if your neighbor calls into the fire department, that the forest is on fire and they see that you got a permit, that they'll call you and make sure it's not out of control instead of showing up with fire engines.
I think it’s Idaho Department of Lands is where you do that permit. It’s free, it’s easy. Once you bookmark it, you just pull it right back up, and resubmit it.
DAVID PETERSEN – One point of clarification, you know, if you need to clear dead trees and things like that, you don't need [approval].
But if you're coming in and cutting down a bunch of trees, we're concerned that somebody will clear cut their land. We don't want that. So that's why you would have to get approval ahead of time. Just common sense. If you have a question, call the board. We'll give you an answer.
GUS FERGUSON – Timber approval is for commercial logging.
Send timber/logging questions to: timber@spiritlakeeast.org. For links to the Commercial Logging + Timber Exemption Forms, visit: www.spiritlakeeast.org/timber
Motion to accept Timber Report by: Tisha Dore
Motion Seconded by: Bryan Pettit
*No Timber Report Q&A, but misc. questions were asked that can be found at the end of this document
Welcome Report
TISHA DORE – Hello, Welcome! So, if you're new and you're not Alex or Austin, is there anybody else here that's new? Like one, two years new? Come and see me after because I’ve got a little something for you.
We just keep asking everybody who's new or has never maybe done this process or if you are somebody who's been here for 20 years and has gone through a dozen different email addresses.
Just go to www.spiritlakeeast.org and click on Newbies. And then you can enter your info like you're a newbie. But we'll update our system and then we’ll have the latest + greatest info on you.
Questions? Contact me at welcome@spiritlakeeast.org. Newbies who have yet to register for HOA billing/mailings, please fill-out the new resident form: www.spiritlakeeast.org/new-residents.
Motion to Accept Welcome Report: Gus Ferguson
Motion Seconded by: John O’Neil
Old Business
BRENDAN MILLS – Yeah, really quick. I replaced all the street signs. I got the stop signs replaced too.
If you do see a street sign or a stop sign, anything that needs to be replaced, taken down, fixed, I took down the bus stop signs that were throughout the community, because buses don't stop inside the community anymore. They're out on the 54. So. as far as I'm concerned, that's done.
But please, by all means, if you see anything else that needs to be done, don't hesitate. I don't mind getting out there and fixing what needs to be fixed, trimming trees so signs are visible, whatever it may be.
Thank you.
TISHA DORE – All right. And I'll just address the newsletter really quick. The spring issue was out. You guys saw that. I'm working on the summer issue. If you have any ideas or things, we're going to be addressing the usual summer stuff, you know, fire preparation, roads update. And the entrances will be addressed.
A lot of people said, when are we going to address that in the newsletter about the entrances being fixed by IDT and collaborating with our Road Crew. So that'll all be in the summer issue, and hopefully it'll be done by then. And we'll be like, ta-da, it's all done or here's the latest (if there are any delays).
So, if you have any information on that, just send it over to newsletter@spiritlakeeast.org. I'd really appreciate it. We love to have articles and people like Lois [Tarnowski] and other previous board members have submitted some great things for us recently and we really appreciate it. And events…
If you know of something cool that's happening around, it doesn't have to be in Spirit Lake, but we like to highlight the surrounding area as well. Newsletters & Ad Info: www.spiritlakeeast.org/newsletters
Motion to Accept Old Business: Gus Ferguson
Motion Seconded by: Bryan Pettit
*Old Business Report Questions & Answers can be found at the end of this document
NEW BUSINESS
DAVID PETERSEN – Gem State Water, we have no say in the increase in the water rates, wish we did. They've got their own agenda. I hope everybody is opposing it. It's outrageous. You can call public utilities.
Kootenai Electric, the crews are removing the last of the old poles. Power is going to be transferred underground. That's sure been going on for a long time. It is what it is. Watch out for their trucks.
Intermax, [fiber] Internet, they're still doing it at no charge for trenching. Get a hold of them. They have reasonable rates [tiered service, $80, $100 and $130/mo…208-676-0471 intermaxnetworks.com/fiber].
TISHA DORE – Just a reminder for after the meeting that Leora and team are waiting patiently over there, having counted all of the votes that have already been submitted, and invite you guys to vote after this.
DAVID PETERSEN – Yes, if you haven't voted, you have until 8:30pm, and then that's it. You’re done.
The donations. We always appreciate donations. I know we pay our dues. If you feel community spirited, you can make a donation to the HOA, which will be used to the best ability possible. Also, Cup of Grace, a great community service serving the needy of our community. If you can, drop a dollar, 5, 10 in the jar.
It really goes a long way. They're a shoestring operation, but they serve the community with clothing for the kids in school and also meals. They had a meal tonight. So please support Cup of Grace.
TISHA DORE – Also, they would love it if you go to the grocery store and grab a little extra ground beef, bring it over for those Tuesday dinners. So, if you could swing by Mon/Tues afternoon, they would love it.
DAVID PETERSEN – Yeah. They'll accept clothing. They'll accept canned goods, things like that.
Motion to Accept New Business: Tisha Dore
Motion Seconded by: John O’Neil
*Old Business Report Questions & Answers can be found at the end of this document
CLOSING STATEMENT
DAVID PETERSEN – Finally, in closing, we want to thank the election committee led by the chair, Leora Price-Abell. They'll have the results posted shortly.
And then those results will show up on the website. I want to thank everybody for being here tonight. The meeting went exceptionally well.
Some really good questions. Everybody got along. We played well together.
Let's make this happen in the future. Thank you again for being here. And thank you to my neighbors for being in part of this community. It's a great community. With the primary goal of leave me alone and let me live my life, but give me minimal support when it comes to roads and snow and stuff like that.
But thank you very much for being here. And with that, I will call this meeting adjourned. Thank you.
- Motion to adjourn at 8:17pm by: Tisha Dore
Motion Seconded by: Gus Ferguson
- Meeting was adjourned at: David Petersen
*See below for a rough transcript of the meeting Question & Answer sessions followed by a printable version of the entire meeting including Q&A.
