CROSSVILLE — The FGCC Board of Directors met at the Multi-Purpose Building Thursday, Jan 24. Vice President Bob Diller handled the meeting in the absence of President Bob Stackhouse. The County Property Assessor David Simcox was welcomed to the meeting by Diller. He commented that all Cumberland County or state-elected officials are always welcome.

VP Diller said the Community Club is analyzing the new Affordable Care Act medical coverage regulations to determine how the employees will be affected. However, most of the plan regulations have yet to be made public which makes it difficult to make decisions. There shouldn’t be any further changes for club employees until September 2014.

VP Diller updated current items: The Strategic Planning Committee has begun analyzing what can be done with the 876 returned lots in the club’s inventory. Also, currently there are 2,300 delinquent lots. Most are investor and C tier type lots. Cement cart paths are now being installed at Dorchester; pictures are available on the website.

Bob Weber attended a show in Chicago along with Fairfield Homes promoting our community for prospective retirees. Weber said that the event was very productive with several other Tennessee communities there as well. Additional shows this year will be held in New York, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia.

Gary Price reported the 2012 year results for the Architectural Committee: 61 single family detached homes vs. 51 in 2011; two mobile homes vs. two in 2011; 48 new homes are now under construction. 64 new homes were completed in 2012. Miscellaneous projects for 2012 totaled 562.

Sue Allen reported for the Tennis Committee. She announced that plans are being made for a huge tennis and pickleball tournament to be held in May. Flyers are being created to send out all over Tennessee and beyond. A survey is being created to send out to all members to assess interest in pickleball, which has increased tremendously, causing court availability problems. Three years ago pickleball only needed court time on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Now the courts are full seven days a week. New players keep coming on line with the beginner classes. Since pickleball is the fastest growing sport at FFG, Sue joked that perhaps one of the golf courses could be converted to pickleball.

John Conrad of the Trails Committee reported new trails being created and some current trails extended. The committee is looking forward to a big trail-building year. Maps are available at the Administration Building. There is a new grassy road trail with markers from Lake St. George to Lake Sherwood. Plans are to add on to the new North trail around the Good Samaritans complex.

Jim Etzel reported for the Volunteer Fire Committee. He said the Fire Department was called out 98 times in 2012 with 19 calls being actual fires. Lightning and electrical problems were the most frequent causes. Average response time was 4.6 minutes. Five new recruits are currently going through training.

The Engine #5 Campaign was very successful with $110,000 raised. That was $10,000 over the goal. Etzel thanked all the FFG members that contributed to this very important campaign. He also thanked the FGCC Board for a $30,000 contribution, as well as area businesses that contributed. Etzel said that the $110,000 will enable Chief Robb to find a better used truck than originally planned.

Chief Howard Robb described a six hour trip to Mississippi that took 10 hours due to snow most of the way. A fire truck was for sale with only 6,000 miles on it. The fire truck was thoroughly examined by putting it through a rigorous test of functions. Chief Robb said the price looked like a good deal; however, the rigorous tests showed up several serious problems causing him to reject it. Chief Robb promised he was going to make certain the $110,000 will not be spent on an inferior truck.

Year 2012 preliminary financial reports are now available according to Regina Welch. She presented them at the meeting reporting $3.7M cash on hand. Revenue for 2012 was $19.6M vs. $16.0M in expenses.

Chief Randy Hoover publicly thanked the Sheriff’s Department and the Crossville Police Department for the excellent working relationship during 2012.

For December, he reported: 15.5 radar hours; 26 traffic citations; 10 arrests; two burglary reports; six theft reports; 74 ambulance calls; 56 resident assists; 819 resident home security checks; four vehicle collisions; four ACC assists.

Bob Weber explained the basics of the new lot merger policy being developed. Weber explained the new policy will allow two or more lots to be combined upon ACC approval. This will also simplify club assessment and property tax billing. The ACC would look at each situation to see if a lot merger would make sense for the neighborhood. The fee would be five times the annual fee for the lot to be combined.

The new grinder pump policy is now on the website, identifying homeowner and Community Club responsibilities. Also, new policy on road striping and signage is posted on the website. The interior of the Multi-Purpose Building will soon be given an update for $25,000 and the exterior will be upgraded later in the year. Tim Martin and Bob Diller explained that old vehicles are moved from one department to another to save money for the club. An example was an old pickup truck, no longer acceptable for public road use, was transferred to the golf course to be used for course maintenance work.

Food and Beverage manager James Ivankovich announced several special events upcoming for February to be announced in the Glade Sun and on the website.

The board passed a motion to change the Tennis Committee name to Racquet Sports Committee in order to cover both tennis and pickleball.

The board approved increasing the 2013 Capital Budget $403,176 for items that were deferred from 2012. Treasurer Pete Cahill explained this is not an increase in expenditures. It is a capital transfer for expenditures that will occur in 2013 instead of 2012.

Several budgeted facilities maintenance projects totaling $261,000 was approved by the board.

Funds for golf course radio upgrades, required by the government, were approved ($11,229).

Golf Department funds for a detailed list of needed equipment were approved. When the Golf Director is offered exceptional deals on used equipment he can take advantage so that opportunities are not missed. The budgeted $225,000 was approved for this purpose.

Multi-Purpose Building renovations were also approved ($25,000).

There were no comments from the floor.