Carriage House Timeshare Association
Annual Meeting Minutes*
Alexis Park Hotel, Las Vegas Nevada
March 24, 2007
The meeting was called to order by President, John Blevins at 9:30 AM. He introduced Directors, First Vice President, Mike Lincoln; Second Vice President, Dotty Catanese; Secretary, Art Mencher; and Treasurer, Bruce Wilkes. He then introduced Carriage House Timeshare Association (CHTA) General Manager, Amy Lowell and John Fitts, President of Outrigger Lodging Services (OLS).
President John Blevins welcomed the members and thanked them for their attendance at today’s meeting. He stated that he was completing his first year as President and seventh year on the Board of Directors.
The Membership Voted to unanimously approve the 2006 Annual Meeting Minutes.
The candidates were presented by the Nominating Committee of Richard Hammerle and Gloria Harpenau. Ballot Counters were announced and those candidates present were allowed to make statements to the membership. They also answered questions from the audience. Prior to the election, it was explained that the voting interests for the weeks owned by ILX are in a trust for the Board of Directors to vote. While the ILX votes were used at this meeting so that a quorum could be met, they were not used in the Election of Directors. Dotty Catanese and Robby Frank were elected to serve three-year terms with 1,138 and 758 votes respectively. Mr. Wilkes will serve as an alternate with 683 votes.
Mr. Blevins reported that he continues to be impressed by how our Association property and finances are so well managed. As per usual, the “State of the Association is in excellent condition both physically and financially. This situation is by design and due to the following: The owners who point out possible improvements, offer suggestions and otherwise look after the property while visiting, and of course pay their dues on time. The owner volunteers who volunteer their time such as Nominating Committee members, Gloria Harpenau, Dick Hammerle and Ballots Judge George McCambridge. The Directors who volunteer their time in oversight and policy making, OLS, the CHTA management company who guides the Directors in these decisions and oversees the on-site staff. Finally, the Department Managers and Staff who work diligently to make our owners feel “at home”.
At this time, Mr. Blevins asked former Carriage House Board of Director President, Gloria Harpenau to come forward and make a presentation to Assistant General Manager Lenora Wilson who has recently completed 20 years of service at the Carriage House. Mrs. Harpenau reflected on Lenora’s career at the Carriage House beginning with her first job at the Front Desk when she was a student at UNLV. Mrs. Harpenau concluded her comments with a bouquet of flowers for Ms. Wilson and a gift of two extra weeks of vacation.
General Manager Amy Lowell spoke about the importance of security. She reported that recent changes to the hotel include the addition of security cameras to the building exterior as well as the ground floor. Last year new door locks were installed on the front and back patio doors so that after 10 PM, only those guests with room keys can enter the building. As was reported last year, the elevators can now only be accessed by a guest room key. There have been many favorable comments regarding these changes. Additional measures that have been taken are increased lighting around the property and participation in regular meetings with other businesses in the Harmon area including the Las Vegas Police Department. At these meetings security in and around Harmon Avenue is discussed. Other steps taken to make the property safe are an Annual Review of the Emergency Plan and the discussion of safety issues at all employee meetings and numerous training sessions including CPR and First Aid, Security Guard Training, Swimming Pool Maintenance, Soft Target Terrorism Awareness, Data Recovery and Prevention o
OLS President John Fitts then spoke on the state of the lodging industry, specifically the Las Vegas market. In 2006, there were 39,000,000 visitors to Las Vegas which represented a slight increase over 2005. Last year, the Carriage House had an overall occupancy of 86.2 with an average rate of $106.20 for the rental units. This was up $5.95 from the previous year. Much of this rate increase is attributable to the physical improvements in the overall property. This year the Carriage House website will be redesigned and hopefully will continue to bring more rental business to the Carriage House to occupy the rooms not being used by the owners. He concluded his comments by stating that he continues to enjoy working with The Carriage House Board of Directors and the management team.
First Vice President, Mike Lincoln reported on the considerable amount of building going on in Las Vegas. In a recent article in the Las Vegas Review Journal there is over $14.6 Billion dollars in construction planned for the Harmon Avenue corridor now sometimes called the “Second Strip”. The projects includes 2 Fifty Story Timeshare Towers across the street from the Carriage House on the Aladdin/Planet Hollywood property, 2,000 units on the corner of Koval and Harmon for a new “W” Hotel, 950 new guest rooms at the Hard Rock Hotel and continued building of the 895 timeshare units being built by the “Marriot Grand Chateau” which is in front of the Carriage House. The largest project is the $7 billion dollar “City Center” being built by MGM and Mirage at the end of Harmon on the “Strip”. Mr. Lincoln advised that despite all of this interest in the Harmon area, there have been no calls from Developers interested in buying the Carriage House. There are still land parcels available for sale and it would be very difficult if not impossible to sell the Carriage House as the majority of timeshare weeks are deeded real estate and would take a consensus of all of the members, something that is not likely. However, Mr. Lincoln encouraged all of the Carriage House owners to continue enjoying our property that has no debt, very well managed and financially sound.
Second Vice President Dotty Catanese reported that in 2006 over $900,000 was spent on renovations, none of which had to come from a special assessment. The major project completed last year was the complete renovation of 4 One Bedroom Masters – Lockout Floor Plan and redecorating of 10 guest rooms, bringing the total renovated units to 151 out of 155. Other projects included improvements to the heating and air conditioning systems, new furniture, draperies and carpet for many of the guest rooms, upgrades to the TV Pay per View channels which now provides more choices of movies, music and games, and all rooms received new CD/Clock Radios and DVD/VCR players. A new entrance sign was installed on Audrie Avenue, security cameras purchased for the outside of the building and lobby, new
communication radios for the staff and water softeners for the laundry, In 2007, $1,200,000 in improvements is planned. This will include renovation of two more of the One Bedroom Master
Lockout units, redecorating of 10 guest rooms, new awnings for the building, a new entrance sign, block walls and fencing along Harmon Avenue, a new telephone system, and remodeling of the ground floor which will include a new mini-market, fitness center, front desk as well as upgrades to the housekeeping and maintenance work areas. Again, all of these improvements will be made without a special assessment. She thanked the owners for the support she and her husband have received and stated that it has been an honor for both of them to serve as Directors.
Secretary Art Mencher began by stating that it has been a privilege to serve on the Board of Directors, the past two years. He then spoke about the relationship that ILX Resorts has with the Carriage House. In 2001, ILX purchased 600 weeks from the Carriage House. They paid the CHTA $870,000 in cash which was added to the Reserve Fund to help pay for the continued renovation of our building. Since then they have purchased additional weeks from owners wanting to sell their week or at the CHTA foreclosure sale that is held in October. They now own 2,147 weeks and are responsible for the Annual Maintenance Fees which total almost one million dollars. ILX does not resell the Carriage House weeks but uses them for the members in their vacation club.
At the time of the initial purchase, the Board of Directors was concerned with one entity or owner having a majority interest in the property. However, ILX’s primary business is selling interests in their vacation club and they were not interested in managing or operating the Carriage House. Therefore, they offered, and the Directors agreed, that all of the ILX voting interests would be placed into a Voting Trust for 15 years, the maximum allowed by Nevada law. The terms of the Trust allow the Board of Directors to use those votes in the best interest of the association.
In the past six years the Board of Directors HAS used the ILX votes to meet the requirements for quorums at the Annual Meetings, to approve the Annual Budgets and Annual Long Term Capital Reserve Study, and to revise the Association documents to eliminate term limits. On an annual basis, so far, the Board of Directors has chosen NOT to vote the Trust in the election of Directors. The relationship with ILX and the Carriage House has been a win/win situation. It is in the best interest of ILX to have a functioning resort that is well managed and requires minimum effort on their part. And, it is in the best interest of the Carriage House to have the financial benefit we derive from having 2147 dues paying members.
Director Bruce Wilkes gave the Treasurer’s Report. He began his report by reminding the owners that there has not been an increase in the Annual Maintenance Assessments during five of the last eight years. He stated that The Carriage House ended 2006 in sound financial condition. He explained that two separate accounts are used to fund all of the expenses of The Carriage House: a Replacement Reserve Account and an Operating Account. The Replacement Reserve Account is for capital improvements to the property. At the end of 2006, the Replacement Reserve Account balance was a healthy $1,576,000 even after spending almost $910,000 on improvements the past year to the hotel and grounds. The major expense
from the Replacement Reserve Account each year for the last several years has been the renovation of the rooms. In 2007, it is planned to spend approximately $1,200,000 on capital improvements.
The Operating Account handles the expenses that keep The Carriage House up and running on a day-to-day basis. This account pays for all of the salaries, taxes, insurance, utilities, building and grounds maintenance. Operating revenue comes from several sources, the two main sources being the Annual Maintenance Assessments and hotel rental revenue from nights not occupied by owners. Although The Carriage House has seen continuing increases in energy costs, property taxes, and insurance premiums, the budget was held to last year’s amount and the Directors did not have to increase the Annual Maintenance Assessments for the owners. He concluded by stating that the firm of Huber, Erickson & Bowman recently completed the 2005/2006 Annual Audit. The Carriage House received the best rating of an unqualified opinion. The 2007 Operating Budget, the 2007 Long Term Capital Reserve Study, and the Investment Policy were all reviewed and approved by The Carriage House Timeshare Association Board
A question and answer period took place. One owner requested that he would like to see more communications from the CHTA. Ms. Lowell answered that due to financial considerations a decision had been made to limit the newsletter to one per year. However, the owners do receive mailings with updates in December with the Annual Billing and in January with the Annual Meeting Notice. The Carriage House website also has a link for Owners. This will be updated later this year. In the meantime, owners are encouraged to call the Carriage House with any questions they may have. A manager is on duty seven days a week. Two owners then requested that the Carriage House consider purchasing a defibrillator for the property. Ms. Lowell advised that she would look into that purchase and would report back her findings.
The meeting concluded with honoring Employee of the Year, Lilia Moreno from the Housekeeping Department. A drawing was held for two complimentary seven night stays in a One Bedroom Suite at The Carriage House. The winners were CHTA members, Mr. Storlazzi and Mrs. Vasquez.
There being no further business to discuss, a motion was made to adjourn the meeting at 11:30 AM.
*Minutes to be approved at the 2008 Annual Meeting.
