Chapel Lane Village

Webmaster & Past President Ron says "This is my last hitch on he CLVHA Board"

In 1995,  Ron Bunnell and wife, Donna,  moved to Rapid City from Gillette, Wyoming  where he had been the Human Resources Manager at the Campbell County Hospital for over six years. With a staff of six people, Ron managed all of the pay and benefits for 800 employees, safety, recruiting and even a large child care center for children of employees. 

Black Hills Corporation had actively recruited Ron to become the HR Manager to serve within the highest levels of their corporation. Donna was a Registered Nurse training nursing students at the Gillette Branch of Sheridan Community College. 

The couple both hold Masters degrees in their fields: Ron in Business and Donna in Nursing. Had Ron been born 11 days later or Donna 11 days sooner, they would have shared exactly the same birthday dates as well.

Now, as the couple have both reached 76 years of age, they have lived in Chapel Lane Village for over half  of their married lives.  They have lived within this Home Owners Association (or HOA) for 27 years - well over half of the HOA’s existence.  So having said that, a lot has been learned about the HOA. Sharing this knowledge is important for those who follow and who want to do the best job possible and develop good decision making skills. 

Ron has always volunteered and actively served the communities where they have lived. He believes that where you live and what you do is the sum of many parts. Filling in by volunteering your service fills in the gaps which otherwise would go on unfulfilled.  

He believes that good active  people are like that. They often “burn the midnight oil” and are continually interested in learning , building  and improving through all that they do. They often go down their own path. Then, one day down the line, they pause, and reflect on where everything stands, especially in regard to the people or players involved in the environment around them. Ron believes in having choices in what we do, being smart, involving others and choosing  paths to be taken.

So it was in 1995 when Ron & Donna came to call Chapel Lane Village home. There really was not much suitable housing in the Rapid City area at that time. They finally bought their current house. It is fair to say that it was a terrible eyesore, but the structure was solid with 2x6 stud walls and a solid and very unusual three-story floor plan. The solid well-designed and well-built concrete foundation was built into the wooded hillside.  

When they arrived in Chapel Lane Village, they were actually a family of three. Their two sons were grown. One lived in Colorado and the younger son was attending Black Hills State University in Spearfish. Today both of the boys reside high up in the Colorado Rockies with their families.

Donna’s mom, Esther Schulze, had already been livng with Ron & Donna full-time for several years. She had always been a Black Hills person having been born “up on the limestone” north of Newcastle, Wyoming in the early 1900's. Her husband, Carl, who had passed away in 1989, was from the Hills too, having been born on the Fourth of July in 1897. 

Esther had moved  with Ron and Donna from Gillette. She was now in her late eighties, soon to be nineties. The newly purchased three story  house had a great floor plan for the Bunnell household but there was a great deal of work to be done. 

Esther had her own very nice bedroom with small walk-in closet along with the living room, kitchen and bathroom all  on the top floor. There was also  a nice view of the neighborhood. This was also where the family parked their family car in the single car garage up on the top  floor!

As Chapel Lane Village goes, we have come a long way in the last few years but there are many miles to go and no time to waste!  This will be my last hitch on the Board; however, I plan to continue working with my wife steadily in the Community Garden as long as we can. 

Make no mistake, The Community Garden along with the Tennis Court remains the focal point of our entire Community. Ron does not plan to personally continue all the work he has put into the Tennis Courts. This is his final year. He leaves it up to the Community and the Board Members who step up from within the ranks to Care for everything. 

As to the future, Ron has become increasingly more involved with his Downtown Lions Club which will be 100 years old in November, 2021. He is currently serving and in line to be District Governor of all the Western 2/3's of South Dakota in 2022.

Ron is drawn by the Global Nature of Lions Clubs International with 1.4 million members in 230 countries around the globe. A major challenge for all nonprofit service organizations is to grow their membership.  In 2015, while he was president of the old Rapid City Downtown Lions Club, they increased membership of that Club by more than 30%  - the first increase in many years!

Ron states that from June, 2013 until June, 2015, our HOA had been consuming around 60+ hours per week of my time. I must say, our small Board was steady and true during most of this initial time.  Fortunately,  a personal goal of having seven members on the Board was also achieved during this period and remains so today - but you have to work hard and be knowledgeable in order to maintain that level of interest. Bonafide knowledge of how things work is key to the success of any Board.

 Interesting point - As any/all of us eventually come to the Board of Directors or leave it - We don’t really go away from he Association unless we sell our house, decide to isolate, or just pass away. Me? I plan to be around for awhile with rather high expectations. One expectation is that Directors and Officers have the tools to know what they are doing and talking about without re-inventing the wheel over-and- over again!

 For these reasons, since 2006,  I have been preparing an overall set of  VUE’s (Village’s Unique Environment) for each and every interested person.  For your information  - The entire project began to take final shape on Christmas Day, 2020 and as of March 25, 2021 it was about 90% complete. It is a book in it’s own right with 260+ pages.  Your questions and discussion are all appreciated. 

The entire document entitled "HOA Notes of CLVHA, Inc 2006-2021" is available NOW to any bonafide logged-in home-owner in the "Documents" section of this, our Community Website. Under Documents, simpy scroll down to "H.O.A. Notes About ... C.L.V.H.A., Inc."

This is meant to enlightening reading throughout. It's target audience is current and future leaders of the H.O.A. It points out the many aspects of this "Village's Unique Environment" - VUE for short! For example: The Association remains in need of a good "Conflicts of Interest" policy that becomes part of the routine of doing business.  One of the many VUE segments points this out and offers up several feasable examples.  

This is a "living document" as it can be updated by Sections over time; therefore there are no page numbers. It is totally built around the concept of "Succession Planning" - where leaders plan ahead and look forward, around the corner and on into the future.  The Table of Contents is as follows:

  Title:
  H. O. A.  Notes of  C.L.V.H.A,  Incorporated  2006 to 2021
                                                                                         By Ron Bunnell

                           “2022 PLAN” Transition  within the “VUE” 
                                  Continuous Management Planning   
       FORWARD - Introduction & General Background *  ................... VUE -(I)
   ❏ Orientation, Welcome Wagon*, and Annual Meetings  ...........      VUE -(II)
   ❏ Guidelines, Myths and Best Practices of HOA’s *   .................     VUE - 1
   ❏ Association Rules and Standards IN EFFECT *   ........................ VUE - 2
   ❏ Communications & Handling Complaints*   ..........................   VUE - 3
   ❏ HOA Website, Transparency/Succession Planning*  .................  VUE - 4
   ❏ History of Income to the Corporation since the Year 2000 *.......  VUE - 5
   ❏ Financial Budget Planning in CLVHA, Inc. * ........................     VUE - 6
   ❏ Financial Cash Flow Planning in CLVHA, Inc. *  ......................  VUE - 7
   ❏ Bidding & Acceptance of Project and Cost Agreements *  .......     VUE - 8
   ❏ Ground Water & Storm Drainage into Canyon Lake *................  VUE - 9   
   ❏ Concrete Work Planning & Street Related Paving* .............       VUE - 10
   ❏ Street and Ammenities Repair & Maintenance  .................       VUE - 11
   ❏ Wintertime Street Maintenance     ...............................        VUE - 12
   ❏ Chapel Lane Community Gardens .................................       VUE - 13
   ❏ Street Signs and Other Signage    ...................................     VUE - 14
   ❏ Vandalism & Tennis Court     ......................................        VUE - 15
   ❏ Home Improvements/ Mail Box Shelters   ...........................  VUE - 16
   ❏ Basketball and Volleyball Courts  .....................................  VUE - 17
   ❏ Forested Commons / Easement Pathways are Unique  ...........   VUE - 18
   ❏ Firewise Community USA      .............................. ........       VUE - 19
   ❏ RV Storage Lot.........................................................      VUE - 20
   ❏ Kid’s Playground..........................................................  VUE - 21
   ❏ Mailbox - Cluster or Combined Box Units (CBUs)    .................  VUE - 22
   ❏ Proper Storage of Association Owned Property* ....................  VUE - 23
   ❏ Financial Reporting / Internal Auditing    ........................       VUE - 24
   ❏ Future Planning of Maintenance and Improvements  * ............   VUE - 25
   ❏ Feedback and Other Communications *.............................    VUE - ( A)
   ❏ Annual Financial Accounting Matrix (10 yr.)   .......................   VUE - ( B)
   ❏ Issues for Good Governance and Board Etiquette   ..........   VUE - (35 - 45)
   ❏ Troublesome or Problematic Issues*   .........................     VUE - (50 - 65)
   ❏ Potential Legal Issues and Actual Court Cases*     ............   VUE - (70 - 85)              * Evolved while working through the 2022 Plan. Developing basic 
         common understandings for moving forward with a Business Approach.



Why are we a FIREWISE COMMUNITY?  As of November 20, 2020

We are one of only eight Firewise Communities within the State of South Dakota. The Decision was hastened by the annual need to inspect and remove beetle infected ponderosa pine trees. The severe damage inflicted upon the forest by the Atlas Blizzard early in October of 2013 was a game changer.

With the blizzard damage on hand, a complete Fire Mitigation Plan was developed with the guidance and assistance of the Rapid City Fire Department and agreement of the elected Board of Directors. At that time there were only three Directors.

All of the forest commons would be thinned to twenty feet separation at the crowns. Ladder fuels would be removed up to ten feet from the ground. Because of a related problem  in the form of the Ips Beetle, all trees that were thinned out or trimmed would be completely loaded onto trailers and removed. 

In May of  2014, Firewise Community status was acknowledged before the City Council. A thorough Bidding Process of qualified contractors in the area was used to select the final Contractor! The winning bidder was a business partnership known as Stranded Outdoors. They would complete the comprehensive Fire Mitigation Plan of our 19+ acres of urban forest  in the late fall of 2014 and early spring of 2015.

The Annual Renewal of the Firewise Community is worked upon throughout the year and remains  intact since 2014.  Volunteer Work to renew the status is a reflection of remaining vigilant to home owner fire safety. It stands as an acknowledgment of the need for on-going Preventive Maintenance and care for the continuous growth of the forest; the grasses and ladder fuels on the forest floor and the need for fire safe zones established in and around housing in the community.

The planned on-going efforts have resulted in a more attractive forest back-drop for our community with healthier, safer looking areas around privately owned homes and apartments. All of these positive aspects are in the general best interests for all who reside and invest in the Community.

The entire actual cost to mitigate our entire urban forest commons came to $33,180. In 2015, after all the mitigation work was completed, Chapel Lane Village HOA was reimbursed with checks from the City of Rapid City amounting to $20,850. The Net Cost of the entire project totaled only $12,330 which included cutting down and removing four large “bugged” trees that year. 

To remain as a “Certified Member in Good Standing” with the NATIONAL FIREWISE USA program since May of 2014 is interesting. CLVHA,Inc. has never written a check to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) who is the founder and sponsor of “FIREWISE,USA”. 

The FirewiseUSA  motto “Residents Reducing Wildfire Risks” is reflected in their business model of all good works being completed on a volunteer basis. The Program is based upon donation of volunteer time and money. That time spent is converted into hourly volunteer dollars through a formula established by the NFPA. Many of our Board members and home owners  have volunteered over the years with work done around homes and amenities.

Examples of how Volunteer Time can also be accrued through these avenues:
     1) Annual Wildfire Preparedness Day activities in early May each year. 
     2) The organization of residents in the Valley known as Chapel Valley                           Community Emergency Preparedness formed in 2009 has been a great
         venue where some residents have been involved.
     3) The development of our community website.
     4) Planting deciduous trees and bushes in the forest.
     5) Removal of yard waste, cleaning of gutters, replacement of roofing, etc. 
     6) Attending related informational meetings.

The conversion of volunteer time and money over the years into hourly voluntary rates  for continued certification have been as follows:
                      Year Hourly Rate         Invested         Required
            2013          $21.79                 $6775.12              ---
            2014            22.14                   6775.00         $612.00
            2015            22.55                 15868.00           204.00
            2016            22.92                    695.00            204.00
            2017            23.30                    724.00            204.00
            2018            24.14                  2896.80           2269.16
            2019            25.43                  2537.84           2390.42
                                                     $36,271.96         $5,883.58

Beyond the Firewise Program, much other volunteer work is invested annually. When all is said and done - there have been no direct financial payments for CLVHA, Inc. to be a Firewise Community. Smart, dedicated volunteers have made a significant difference!

The deadline for the 2020 Firewise USA Renewal was: November 20, 2020. That has been completed. The total in computed volunteer hours required @ $25.43 per hour and stands at $2,390.42. Actually submitted for 2020 was $6,459.22 or slightly more than 250 hours to Continually Improve the area. 

Questions at National level? www.nfpa.org/wildfirecontact or  
               
                            Wishing Everyone the very best of New Years in 2021! 
                            Webmaster email: ronbunnell2022@gmail.com

                        
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