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The agenda for last night's board mtg was trimmed down quite a bit to give adequate time for the bond counsel, Steven Gortler, and bond attorney, Brian Hirai, to give their presentation and answer questions from the board and peanut gallery. They were both very thorough and informative. Both have worked w/their local gov't and state doing bond work. Gortler's from the San Francisco area, and Brian Hirai has done extensive work for most of Hawaii state and is working out of Honolulu w/the McCorson law firm. Mr Hirai was educated and worked for many years in the mainland before coming to the islands.
Gortler and Hirai both emphasized that since HPP has had a good track record over the past 10 yrs w/our current Bond, that we now have this great opportunity to refinance. Our current interest rate is 6.92% and w/the new bond it will be 4.30%. The current bond requires a $1.2 million reserve and w/the new bond it would be approx $200,000. I believe Gortler said that each year we'll be saving up to $145,000. In 9 yrs it would be in the $1.2 million range. Hirai said that the 2007 bond had tight covenants and this can be loosed up a bit bc of HPP's good track record.
There is more work to be done w/the indenture finalizing all the provisions. Their intention is to make sure all the documents are drafted to our best benefit so there are no regrets. They're both advocating for HPP's best interest. The "rush" was over the lender this deal is being pitched to to show no one is dragging their feet, that all parties involved are truly interested and want to move on it which is why he pitched "by the end of this year". He doesn't know whether the bank won't be interested if we take a little more time and it goes past the end of year date, or not, but it's possible the work won't be done until January.
With that, I believe I can say that almost all members, including the board reps, in attendance felt really good about the proposed new bond and the board voted, motion passed on signing the Resolution. The treasurer abstained stating he hadn't attended yesterday morning's informational gathering. The board Pres motioned that the Resolution be posted on the HPP website for all members and transparency.
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A deadline is a great motivator to get something done. This is normal for just about all business dealings. My understanding is the process for this new bond started sometime in September. If so, then I wouldn’t consider the deadline to close as “rushed”.
Puna: Our roosters crow first
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HPP Public Park Meeting
Hawaii County Parks & Rec have scheduled two public meetings to present their proposals for a public park in HPP. The park will be located on the 20-acre parcel bordered by Kaloli Drive, 25th Avenue and 26th Avenue. The master plan includes:
* baseball and softball field
* soccer and football field
* tennis courts
* skate park
* playground
* covered play courts
* community center
The meetings will be help at the HPPOA Activity Center:
Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018, 3-6 PM
Monday, Feb. 19, 2018, 3-6 PM
"Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm." -James Madison, The Federalist Papers, 1787
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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quote:
Originally posted by EightFingers
A deadline is a great motivator to get something done. This is normal for just about all business dealings. My understanding is the process for this new bond started sometime in September. If so, then I wouldn’t consider the deadline to close as “rushed”.
8digits, You are correct with your comment...except for how the whole bond proposal was handled by the general manager, Don Morris and some on the board.
Under a normal situation with a non-scheming/non-obstructionist/non-obfuscating GM and directors, the bond would have been an open and honest process rightfully starting with the Finance Committee. It can not be over stated that the GM hid his dealings with the bond broker, Mr. Gortler, from the FC and as we all know he would have continued to block the FC from knowing anything about the real process being conducted in secret. Isn't it true that what the FC understood they were discussing and looking at, as far as bank proposals, and were under the impression from the GM and the treasurer, that they were reviewing bank loan proposals? Did the GM even meet with the FC at all of their 4 meetings? No. Wasn't it only 2 out of 4? Did the treasurer at the FC meeting Dec. 12 know that it was a bond? No. He still had no clue but the only reason the FC knew by that time was the board Pres. sent 4 bond documents to the FC intending to enlighten them and try to include them.
At the Dec. 12 FC meeting, the treasure tried to continue to obstruct the FC (the GM didn't attend, remember he is an ex oficio member) by not even putting the bond on the agenda for discussion.
That forced some members of the Association's FC to scramble to read every thing the Pres. could send them, also remember that half the board including the Pres. were left in the dark as well, so that they could understand all the legalize financial bond language in just a matter of days.
So yes, a bond process starting in Sept. (who really knows when) should have been a reasonable amount of time to digest all of the documents and RIGHTFULLY participate in the process for the Assciation.
I hear at an informal meeting yesterday with Mr. Gortler, that a few FC members were able to ask questions and get some of the language in the Indenture covenants changed. Because they took their fiduciary responsibility seriously.
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Other business for 20 Dec 2017 Board mtg.
The President reported that at last month's exec session meeting that board members tried to remove her as President and reprimand her. Both motions failed. The other motion made during the exec session mtg was to remove the GM and it failed. She also reported the resignation of Dist 3 rep and the vacancy was posted on the website this past Monday the 18th. Murdoch mentioned wanting to add the vacancy to the agenda (to fill that night?!) but the board pres said no, that they have to see what applications come in. These people need to be watched like a hawk as this maneuver is completely illegal if the membership hasn't been given ample opportunity to apply. This has happened at least twice over the past year. As you can see, the board Pres is watchful that the membership is being represented in ALL ways.
The treasurer's report will be uploaded on the HPP website since he wasn't there to give his report.
The GM reported that the backhoe's in the shop and we're renting one. The John Deere's back on the road and we still need a side arm mower. Road striping and reflectors question came up w/the GM. This topic has been brought up over and over and we're past the 3 yr mark of not having proper striping and reflectors on our main drags. I personally added (during owner input) that Beach Rd should be included, as Beach Rd used to have reflectors...you can see evidence of it. It's a main thoroughfare for those on the lower end of the park to get from one side to the other. The GM's reply again was that the one bid that came in is very high. The board Pres said the potential liability of someone getting killed or injured can cost us more if nothing gets done. She'd rather they put something down temporarily just to have something on the roads until we get the roads striped and reflectors on. The rain was heavy last night and the pres stated on a night like last night, it's even more dangerous. When boards keep neglecting the call to take care of safety, it then becomes willful negligence and insurance may not cover that.
No committee reports were made, some were tabled to give time for bond discussion, and some chairs were absent.
Old Biz:
Chip Seal contract: Under advisement by the FC, and vote of the board, the Triple K contract was terminated immediately. Triple K has not had the proper insurances, NO contractor's license, no workman's comp, etc. The old reps have stalled and hindered this termination and the question is WHY? Members warned the board in early 2015 that Triple K had no contractor's license yet the board ignored ALL warnings. The boards 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 are responsible for conducting business in a negligible manner which opened up the association to potential liability. Dist 5 Maynard and Dist 2 Mizuba were strong advocates for Triple K and pushed the CS agenda despite Triple K not being in compliance. Past board minutes reveal who the reps were. The GM signed the contract which is strictly forbidden per our Corporate Policy. The GM stated the board told him to sign the contracts. He's still supposed to follow our bylaws and policies as an employee. The question now is, what's going to happen to the shoddy CS work? Who's going to pay for it's removal, the transport of contaminated material, and having to fix the road foundation after the CS removal? Who's pocket is that coming out of? Since the 3 previous boards arrogantly removed the membership out of the equation, they should be held responsible.
(Being that the new bond is going to free up $$$, we should talk about getting asphalt paving going again. The DOH would be pleased if we started that up again as that was the original agreement w/them until the past 3 boards started the CS agenda which ironically got us our first DOH fine.)
Grasshopper Contract: Under advisement by the FC, and vote of the board, the Grasshopper contract was terminated immediately. Grasshopper has a bad rating and no workman's comp insurance. Again, the obvious question is how the 2 past boards conducted business for the association in such a negligible way? Dist 6 Murdoch put up a good fight to not terminate this vendor...seemed like it was 20 min's worth of his obstruction. The majority of the reps, and the FC, wanted a clean cut but he wouldn't have it. Murdoch stated Grasshopper's contract ends at the end of the month, let the guy finish up his contract...he refused to accept that it's for the protection of the association and he still continued to obstruct. Round and round and round they went. He was annoyed that the FC was even involved in advising the board. It's astonishing when you have reckless reps like this one on the board who could care less about potential liability to the association. Insurance will not cover willful negligence.
In the discussion of the terminated contract w/Grasshopper/s, Dist 4 rep offered the option to purchase another lawnmower so easement maint could be done by our OWN CREW. What a novel idea. Before CS came along, our road crew was able to handle doing easement maint for the entire park, not perfect, but that was their job. The board voted to have Dist 4 rep and the GM w/a $22,000 budget, to go purchase a new mower. If one isn't available immediately, then they'd rent one.
Forensic Investigation: The board pres made a motion to have a forensic audit. She added that she's had numerous emails from members wanting the forensic analysis to happen. Other reps chimed in. She said the membership voted for it unanimously and therefore the board needs to do the forensic analysis. Dist 2 Mizuba said, "10 people voted for it and we have to do what they say?" The pres stated there was a lot more than 10 (there was 50+) Then Mizuba said the bond counselor said we don't need to have a forensic analysis to which the board pres stated that's not what she heard...the bond counselor said forensic analysis is ordinary business. There are others that can confirm this and Mizuba was trying to obstruct this for the 2nd meeting in a row. Why? Why all this effort to obstruct and deny the acts of the membership? There's absolutely NO reason unless.....
New Biz: Meeting Minutes Approval Method and Audio Recording Handling Discussion. The board pres motioned that no exec session audio recordings are to be destroyed until they can discuss and research this further by their Jan 2018 mtg. (Historically previous boards kept their audio recordings and the board pres was the holder of the recordings). Dist 6 rep thinks they should all be destroyed afterwards as they'd like to know they can speak freely during exec session mtgs w/out anyone having access to them.
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C.E., Of course you’re also right.
Puna: Our roosters crow first
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On one of the HPP facebooks someone said Obie was hired in the office. They said the board of directors and HR were left out and there wasn't any advertisement for the opening. They went on to say the office manager was hired for the bookkeeper job. I went into the office to get some information and didn't see ***** sitting at the desk. Then another source said she was on Maui. Can anyone confirm the hirings? How can a new hiree be on vacation allready? How can the general manager bypass all these check points?
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quote:
Originally posted by leo
On one of the HPP facebooks someone said Obie was hired in the office. They said the board of directors and HR were left out and there wasn't any advertisement for the opening. They went on to say the office manager was hired for the bookkeeper job. I went into the office to get some information and didn't see ***** sitting at the desk. Then another source said she was on Maui. Can anyone confirm the hirings? How can a new hiree be on vacation all ready? How can the general manager bypass all these check points?
leo, everything you stated is true (except maybe the obster part, but the ***** part is true), it has been verified by a couple board directors. One thing you didn't mention, that still has to be verified, is the GM may have also hired a new road crew employee recently to operate the new mower for the main drag maintenance.
Of course everyone needs to understand that any time this man hires or fires he is in violation of our bylaws and corporate policies and yet some on the board keep enabling him. Their actions and constant obstruction of those on the board and other members who struggle to have things done in a lawful manner reflects a cavalier and reckless attitude toward liability for the Park.
When I just recently returned from a trip, my coconut wireless was over flowing with information about the lawless ones on the board and the GM. There was so much that has occurred lately, I actually don't have the time to post it here.
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quote:
How can the general manager bypass all these check points?
Because he is empowered.
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Leo, it's true about the recent hiring and the questionable process. It's true the new hiree is ****, who posts here on PT threads from time to time. She also used to work in the HPP ofc before.
Since the new board came on in July 2017, the GM's mantra has been that he's been authorized by the previous boards to hire/fire and sign contracts. The board shouldn't be handing over their authority to the GM. Robert's Rules states that the board can't make illegal motions, which is anything that is adverse to our bylaws, state law and articles of incorp, and if they have, it is null and void. So in other words, the authorization the GM received is null and void....YET he continues on making decisions w/out board oversight and approval. The majority board, Dist 1, 2, 6 and 8 supports him and that is how this behavior continues. As Old Croc so accurately states "bc he is empowered" these illegal actions continue.
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