Pepin Pava Homeowners’ Agenda       

Annual Meeting Minutes

May 25, 2024

The annual meeting of the Pepin Pava Homeowner’s Association was held at 10am on Saturday, May 25, 2024 by Zoom.  The meeting was presided over by Kenzie O’Keefe, president.  Other officers in attendance were Molly Troutman, treasurer; Jenn Tomini, vice president and Amy Backman, secretary. 

The meeting was called to order by Kezie O’Keefe.  The attendees were counted, and a quorum was confirmed.  Attendance.  Approval of Proxies.  Confirmation of Quorum.

Election of Officers:  The position of Treasurer is open as Molly Troutman will be stepping down from the role. Paul Solyntjes has been unanimously voted as the next Treasurer of the HOA for 2025.

New members were introduced and welcomed:

  • Matt and Linda Demma
    Jim and Jill Nuss
    Claire Warren Family

Review and Approval of 2023 Minutes. Approved

Committee Reports

Roads:  Don Hovde (Bob Walsh committee member).

  • Essentially the roads are in good shape. 

  • We were slightly over budget in 2023 due to heavy snows Jan – Mar 2023 and we were able to save a bit Nov – Dec due to mild winter.

  • Washboarding effect is created by fast driving, please slow down.  Also, be careful on curves as it is difficult to see oncoming traffic. 

  • Please clean out your culverts

  • Several trees have been or are scheduled to be removed due to emerald ash borer. If you need to remove trees near the right of way, please let Don know. 

  • If you have any road or tree removal concerns, please let Don or Bob know. 

  • Charlie volunteered to fill in a hole near the mailboxes.

Meadow:  Evelyn Gebhard

Meadow is in good shape, however prickly ash has been dug out of some of the prairie.  It is an invasive shrub that spreads rapidly through the prairie – do not eat!  Wild Indigo is starting to bloom, and if you’d like any help identifying any of the prairie flowers there is a book on the trail from the pool to the prairie to help identify. 

Pool (Membership B):  Al Gebhard and Charlie Wright.

  • The deck is complete courtesy of Charlie’s leadership and volunteer labor.  The project was completed under budget and with minimal effect on the pool reserve funds.  The pool is now ready for use. 

  • The small building at the pool needs to be painted – see Bob Walsh if you’d like to help. 

  • Charlie created a beautiful gate and can create any other signs as needed.  The general rule signage will be re-created elsewhere. 

  • We should evaluate furniture needs and let the committee know of any ideas. 

Tennis (Membership C):  Jim Keller. 

  • The tennis court is starting to show it’s age.  We received a quote to improve the surface for $11k, but it probably wouldn’t last more than five years.  To replace the court could be around $60k. 

  • It was decided that the tennis members should have a separate meeting to gather more info and discuss as a group what the next steps should be.  Dianne will coordinate. There’s about $4800 in reserves now, and if the decision is to go down the improvement route, they might be able to do it by next year.  For now, they will stick with a $300/year membership fee.

  • Just a reminder, the tennis court is for paying members only.  If you are one of the 12 paying “c” memberships, you are welcome to use the tennis court. 

It would be nice to set up tennis or pickleball tournaments.

Treasurer’s Report: Molly Troutman

  • Expenses were higher than expected in the roads budget and lower than expected for the pool project. 

  • Most of the other standard expenses are similar to previous, however we may add a buffer for tree removal

Community Update.

Local and Township—Joe Edlin. joey.edlin@gmail.com or 715-307-1638. 

  • Potential paving of O’Tool road

  • Funds may be available to pave to King’s place

  • Not sure when the county will have time to do it. No date set – could be next year – depends on county’s availability and Township budget

County--Angie Bocksell.  abocksell@gmail.com or text 715-559-0830.

  • We are still working on dispersing ARPA funds, and have a lot of good places the money is going. One of the areas we focused the money on was broadband. You may have noticed that there are trucks all over fixing power poles. This is an initial stage of getting the broadband lines up. Another way we have spend ARPA dollars is to improve our parks in Pepin Co. Both the Arkansaw Creek Park and the Holden Park Campground are getting some nice upgrades and the funds are matched by other grant dollars.

  • We did just review and pass the floodplain update for Pepin County. This is an ordinance that relates to elevations along our waterways. New elevations were taken. This is kind of a moving target type of ordinance. We need to have compliance for FEMA dollars, if there is ever a need. 

  • There has also been some great discussion on water quality as it relates to nitrates. In general, the Stockholm and Pepin Townships don't have a lot of nitrate concerns. I think there are a few cracks (sink holes) in the bedrock in the Stockholm township,  and in wells near those areas might be affected differently. Mainly, the groundwater nitrate concerns in Pepin Co are in the areas on the other side of Durand--- the Lima township has a lot of nitrate problems. But they also have a very shallow bedrock underneath. With that said, testing water is one way to monitor what your groundwater concerns may be. I would say it's not a bad idea to do it, but that if you don't do it regularly you won't be given a "big picture" result as results can vary from year to year. 

New Business

Annual Meeting Date for 2025

  • We will vote on a date that we can set for future meetings that are not on a holiday and also vote on whether or not we should meet in person, Zoom or Hybrid

  • 2025 meeting will still be on the 2nd Saturday in June and we will combine it with the Neighborhood Shuffle

  • This year’s Shuffle is an Italian potluck at the new pool deck.  All are welcome!  Saturday, June 15 at 4pm.

Neighborhood Communication

  • Amy is working towards getting all information on our website, including email groups for all members, pool or tennis, events, resources and possibly monthly newsletter.  If you have any information you’d like to share wih the group, please send it to Amy (abackman@me.com)

Old Business.

Randy Edwards property update:  Even though this is an issue the PPHOA as a group has decided not to pursue, Amy reached out to Joe Edlin prior to the meeting to find out progress on the clean up at Randy Edwards property.   Review December and January notes from Stockholm township. Joe encourages anyone with any concerns about the community to either attend the monthly meetings or reach out to Joe.

If you have any concerns, please feel free to reach out to Joe (phone is best – he does not email much) or attend a township meeting.  (See schedule here).

Adjourn.