2023 Spring Newsletter

Spring 2023 Newsletter

The long winter is finally winding to a close, although Mother Nature doesn’t seem to agree. Almost all of the snow has melted, and the lake ice has thawed. A huge thank you goes out to Rick and Adam Hayes for all of they’re hard work plowing our private roads this winter.

The RLCA and RWA boards have been in talks to merge the two corporations into one, forming a water system standing committee. This action would allow the water system to apply for grants and loans for much needed infrastructure improvements.  These grants and loans would benefit the whole community and still provide money for specific needs of the water system, and be readily available.  It would allow oversight and transparency by the whole community, to prevent some of the problems that have plagued some of the previous RWA boards.  This should’ve happened many years ago. The water system and water rights have always been owned by the RLCA membership. The first step for this merger took place on March 18th, where the RWA members voted by a large margin to dissolve the RWA Corporation (by being acquired by RLCA) and merge with the RLCA Corporation. The next step will be a vote of the entire RLCA membership.

There will be an informational members meeting on April 22, 2023 from Noon to 2PM for members to get their questions answered.

The Special Meeting and Vote will be on May 13, 2023 starting at Noon, with polls closing at 2PM.

Both meetings will be held at the Community Center.

The Special Meeting Notice will go out soon.

The vote will be to approve the merger as well as a bylaws amendment for the operation of the water system. This bylaws amendment would include the following:

• The water system committee will consist of water system users only.
• The water system committee is responsible for the collection of all water system fees.
• The water system will maintain a separate bank account from the RLCA general fund bank account.
• Water system funds may not be commingled with RLCA general funds.
• Water system users will pay for the operation, maintenance, upgrades, and legal fees of the water system.
• Water system users are responsible for any liability incurred by the water system.
• The water system will maintain separate property and liability insurance, paid for by water system users only.
• Water system committee members shall be 100% volunteer, and shall not be compensated.
• No water may be delivered outside of the plat.
• The Executive Committee shall be a Chairperson, a Co-Chairperson, Secretary, and Treasurer.  Each of them shall be elected by the members of the committee, on an annual basis.  Executive Committee members must be in good standing with their water bill.

If the RLCA members approve this merger the RWA has agreed to pay for all acquisition costs.  It is my hope that merging the two corporations could end the decades old east versus west feuds, and we can finally be one lake, one community, and one association.

The Board of Directors is looking for community members for the election committee. If you are interested in volunteering for this very important committee, please attend the first meeting which will be on Wednesday April 19th at 6PM at the Community Center.  State Statute (RCW 64.38.025) prevents the board from directly running the election of members of the Board of Directors, however, it does not disallow the board from forming an election committee.  The Bylaws are clear that the Board of Directors has the power to designate the place for holding of any members’ meeting or meetings; and to appoint an Executive Committee and other committees (Article VI, section 4d, and 6f).  The board will not be involved in the Election Committee other than arranging the first meeting, after that the committee will act independent of the board and run the election.  There are two director positions up for election this year.

Unfortunately the lawsuits are still in full swing, and the lawyers are the only ones not spending money!

The Lee/Powers/Bishop/Emry/Kimball lawsuit is stayed, pending final settlement.

The Third Party Complaint against the RWA, has been dismissed after the RLCA and current RWA board signed a settlement agreement.

The Banner Bank lawsuit is being appealed for the second time by Mr Powers. The Washington State Court of Appeals expects this case to be heard sometime in late summer or early fall of this year.   See RLCA’s response to this second appeal here:

If you have not paid your dues in full, please contact Franklin Accounting at 1-509-276-5056 for balance due or if you have questions, call me at 509-292-8581.  We currently have two liens about to be foreclosed on and a lien to be filed.  Funds are tight and the pressure will be on for members to pay dues owed.  The board would prefer not to vote for a special assessment prior to the August 1, 2023-2024 annual dues.  Should our legal expenses continue, curtailment of other lake projects is probable.  All bills must be paid–a monthly treasurer’s report and bills paid are available on our webpage: reflectionlake.net.

My optimism of last fall has faded.  The reality of people using the legal system to drain lake funds seems to appeal to a few members.  Those who want the old appointed board and professional and costly lake managers continue these legal challenges.

We have many new residents at the lake who should be made aware that from 1980-2020 we had only two lawsuits: one over a fence and one over a horse, lasting less than a month.  September 2020 through today (32 months), we have had three lawsuits:

•      1. Contesting a valid election (on appeal by Mr. Powers)
•      2. Suit filed to put the association in to receivership and hire professional management (still pending by Mr. Lee et al) but currently stayed.
•      3. Suit filed to require the return of RLCA property that was illegally transferred (settled by the current RWA board and RLCA).

Reflection Lake is full of great people, wildlife, recreational activities, consistent low dues, and great volunteers that keep the costs down for the community.  If we fail to answer to a lawsuit, the choice is made by the court system;   Our Covenant and Bylaws allow the community to decide whether we stay a volunteer organization or become a managed private community association.  In 2020, the dues were $175 per year ($31,850).  With hired management, dues would jump to at least $750 per year ($136,500).

We are a Community Association.  Any member can serve on a committee or run for the board, and we welcome your volunteer time, money or expertise.  Come to a monthly meeting and get to know your neighbors.

A long winter is behind us.  We hope to get a few projects done this year.  However, we have a funding issue as you may be aware of.   With volunteer hours and some donations for materials, we could install a dock at Turtle Beach.  But first and foremost we need to repair the lakeside part of the emergency valve on the south dam.  We hired a diver last fall to examine what needed to be done. The  Dep’t of Ecology is requiring updated surveys of our dams.  We are in contact with the DOE to work on these issues.  After discussions in the CMD Committee and Board of Directors Meetings, we are asking for donations to buy fish this year.  A GoFundme has been set up by Danielle Cox for stocking the lake with fish. Here is the link: https://gofund.me/1718db82

If you are able to donate for fish that would be great.

Clean up day has been set for Saturday, May 6th, in which dumpsters will be provided for garbage and clean green.

We are hoping to build a plant pen near Turtle Beach in which we will fence off an area for aquatic plants to flourish without carp getting to them again with donations for materials.

Lastly, as you  know, our funding for all lake operations are being devastated by legal costs.  With federal infrastructure funds available through the state, communities like ours are eligible for grants and such. However, we need to be free of legal battles to receive funding.  This is a once in a lifetime opportunity with a limited timeframe to qualify.  So please, help with ending these legal challenges.

Please be conscious of your fertilizer use for your lawns.  Fertilizer leaching into the lake adds to lower water quality by causing algae blooms.

     Yours truly, Dan Loos

Wildfire Preparedness Day is May 6th.  The DNR will again this year pay for two dumpsters for our community.  One will be for trash and one for clean green yard waste.  They should be delivered on Thursday, May 4th.  Please make sure you place all of your trash (yard waste and trash) in the appropriate dumpster.  Please no appliances or large furniture.  If they become full we will attempt to have them emptied and replaced over the weekend.

The DNR will also pay for the remaining rock we need for our South Dam that the state is requiring.  If you see any of our DNR or Fire personnel at our luncheon please thank them for their continued support.

Thanks to all that participated in the Christmas Carolling around the lake.  We had a great turn out and a fun time was had by all.  Thanks to Angie and Kent for hosting this event.  We appreciate all of those members that have stepped up to help with meals for our community facing serious health issues.  If you would like to be added to this list for future purposes, please let me know.

      UPCOMING EVENTS:

• Coming up is our Wildfire Preparedness (aka Spring Clean Up day)  We will be starting at 9AM on May 6th at the community center and will be hosting tacos and a potluck afterwards.  This is always a fun event, with some work, that does so much for our little community.  Please show up and help and meet your neighbors. Any little ones that show up will get a goodie bag for their efforts.
• Also, we will be doing a road clean up day for Milan Elk coming up soon.  Those dates will be announced later.  We are shooting for April 15th, but  I am waiting for confirmation from Spokane County.
• The community yard sale is coming up in June again this year, during Elk Days. We are currently accepting donations but would prefer you wait until May.  These funds raised will NOT go toward legal fees, but towards projects that are needed in our community.  Please go through your household and drop off your donations at the Bennett house to help better your community.  Last year we raised over $4000!  We will also be having a bake sale during the community yard sale.  There will be many pies, cookies, breads, and cinnamon rolls for sale.  If you are able to donate flour, sugar and butter to help offset the cost that would be very much appreciated.  Please bring your donations for the bake sale to the Kokinda home or the community center during any meetings.

Unfortunately, we have had a few deaths in our community lately.  Two of those necessitated an emergency contact of family members.  For one of them, I happened to have a contact; but for another, it took hours to find a contact on Facebook. For this reason, I am requesting emergency contact information for the membership roster for everyone in our community.  Please designate an emergency placement for children and pets as well.  In addition, make this information readily available for first responders to see.  They suggested the refrigerator being a good spot to post this information.

The East side members/owners have spoken and it was overwhelmingly voted to dissolve the RWA corporation. This comes after many years of neglect, embezzlement and infighting with the RLCA and its own members. The truth is that we have a very simple system and a great satellite operator, as well as a good local accounting firm to keep track of our dues and taxes and we have many good volunteers to work together as a committee to make the decisions for growth and infrastructure. Jim Powers has taken the members’ funds out of the bank accounts and is keeping as much as $65,000 of the members money in a safe place. He did this without board approval and after three elections which voted him out. He is not registered with the secretary of state as a governing agent of RWA and had no right to do this. This is the same thing he did with the RLCA in 2020 and he is still appealing that election. That case will be heard late this summer in the State court of appeals, the very same court who has already deemed him frivolous and made him pay the RLCA legal fees. Why he is doing this to us is anyone/s guess? There have been police reports made but as long as he keeps appealing the wishes of the owners he will continue to tie us up in court and cost us all money. It was he and Susan Weeks who sent us letters threatening to raise our water fees by 1000 percent a couple of years ago. The quickest way to end this is to dissolve the corporation and turn our water system back to its rightful owners.

If you have water billing questions please send an email to [email protected]

• $20 monthly late fees for those behind on their dues and have not made arrangements to pay through Jim Boothby or Franklin Accounting
• Donations are being accepted for fish and projects around the lake–checks can be sent to RLCA,  37708 N Sheets Rd, Elk WA and specify what you are making your donation or there is a go fund me for fish on our facebook site.
• Please put your name and block and lot numbers on your boats that you keep at our community beaches
• Please clean up after your pet
• Follow the speed limits and keep our children and members safe
• Don’t forget to use our Little Community Library by the North Dam–there are also a lot of children’s books available there.
• A bylaws committee is forming soon with Sandi Bennett and Jeff Toffer chairing.  Please let Jeff or myself know if you are wanting to be on this committee by June 1st
• Do not throw rocks off the dam–we pay for those!
• Like us on Facebook
• Reflectionlake.net has all the lake information on it including the lawsuit rulings and filings
• Gate keys and passes are available for all members current on their dues.  Please call Sandi Bennett or reply to this email.
• Quiet time after 10:00 PM
• If you have read this, please be the first to reply and you will receive a $20 gift card from a local restaurant.
• Any reply to this email will be seen only by the Secretary and President of RLCA

In Memoriam

Nan Bullish, Jeannie Keehn, and Glenn Grant

Thank you for your contributions to our community.  Our sympathies and condolences go to your families.