ATTENTION!!! – From the HVL members against the Sewage Treatment Plant

VRUC Members (Lot Owners) – VOTE your BALLOT(S)

* Ballots must be submitted to the VRUC office by deadline - FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2007.

* For the first time in VRUC history:

1. You WILL NOT be able to vote at the annual meeting - Tuesday, June 26, 2007

2. A QUORUM (30% of eligible lot votes – approximately 1100 votes) is needed for any NEW candidate to be elected to the VRUC Board of Directors.

3. IF the quorum (1100 votes) is not obtained, the incumbent candidates can remain on the board even if they get the lowest number of votes cast.

VOTE for HAMILTON******** YAGGI***********ZIEGLER

If elected, we will accomplish the following:

• Sign fair 30-year sewage and water contract with Greendale.
• Repair our utility infrastructure.
• Have monthly checks on the lake for contamination.
• Oversee rotating monthly checks on the over 300 manholes.
• Stop Exorbitant Attorney Fees.
• Stop entering projects “outside the box” of Hidden Valley Lake.
• Big issues will be presented for members vote before projects are initiated.
• Change the By-Laws to lower the quorum voting percentage.
• Post the VRUC monthly meeting minutes on time in the Echoes.
• Have monthly meetings at the new POA community building.
• Receive a profit from the gas utility like we do from the sewer and water.
• Be more informed about water and sewage issues in our surrounding area.

Will the VRUC Board let the candidates with the most votes win their seats on the board and will they tell us the number of votes per candidate as they did last year? If the quorum is not met, will the present VRUC Board respect the vote of the members as in previous elections?

Stan Beeler, elected last year, is fighting for our rights. He tried to have an item added to the ballot to get our opinion on our right to vote on significant projects and issues. It was denied by the majority vote of the VRUC Board. The By-Laws were again changed to their favor. If the VRUC is going to require a quorum, why not make it a more realistic number?

In the HVL May Echoes a flyer written for the VRUC incumbent members, who are trying desperately to remain in position and power, said Jerry Hacker, Danny Armbrecht, and Bob Sypniewski think “outside the box”. The members of HVL/VRUC, are the “box”! They have been spending our money to support “outside the box”projects .

In 1994, the VRUC members and Board took on a neglected system from James Rupel and our money was to be used to fix the infrastructure problems, not to take on outside entities whose volume of sewage would increase our problems. Our community has grown over the years and so have our problems. The #1 priority, to fix the infrastructure was ignored! Sewer infrastructure has been failing due to neglect. In the 12 years of the current leadership, our problems should have been brought under control. This has not happened. It is appalling to compare the small amount of money spent on infrastructure repair versus that for attorney fees.

This spring, after 10 years under an ‘agreed order’ (an alternative to a monetary fine) from IDEM to repair various situations, the Indiana Attorney General fined VRUC $40,000 for repairs not accomplished. This ‘agreed order’ had to be finalized because VRUC will soon be under another ‘agreed order’ for violations.

Fair contracts with Greendale for sewer and water to benefit all the members have been negligently allowed to expire. VRUC refused to renew that contract jeopardizing our welfare. Obviously, members were not considered the #1 priority. There has been no sewer contract with Greendale from 2002, until the state forced VRUC to sign a 4-year contract.

Our sewer and water fees are among the highest in the state of Indiana. VRUC Board bills us more than double the amount charged by Greendale. Greendale, at least, uses their fees for processing our sewage, maintaining and updating pipes and equipment for both sewage and water.

A sewage treatment plant is planned by the VRUC Board to service areas “outside the box” (outside the boundaries of Hidden Valley Lake). We were not informed nor consulted of their multi-million dollar plans, even though they are already spending hundreds of thousands of our dollars on costly feasibility studies, engineering designs and attorney fees. One VRUC Board member remarked to an HVL resident: “There will be a sewage treatment plant and nobody can stop it.”

The members 1500 votes on simple ballots did make a difference! Our proxy votes, scorned by the VRUC Board, were taken seriously and respected by many others.

OKI (Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments) disallowed the NPDES permit submitted by IDEM, that VRUC needed for discharge from a sewage treatment plant into waterways such as Double Lick Creek, Great Miami River, Ohio River, etc. Although the denial of the NPDES permit was decided under Section 208(b), Clean Water Act developed in 1977, OKI was impressed by the members’ concerns and very receptive to a copy of our proxy votes.

IDEM, IRUC, IOUCC and others at the state level are very aware of our desires as expressed by our proxy votes.

Greendale respects our group effort and has been working closely with Jack Arduin, and Stan Beeler to attempt to finally get a fair 30-year contract for sewage and water service. The men who think “outside the box” are still spending money trying to arrange alternative service (such as an initial $18,000 study for a joint-venture in Ohio which, according to an OKI staffer has big obstacles). Obstacles mean money in the attorney’s already gold-lined pockets, thanks to VRUC thinking “outside the box.”

Dearborn County Plan Commission refused the Red Pine development presented by Andy Timmel and Realtor, Sammy Gutzweiler, due to inadequate sewage service promised by VRUC in documents signed by Floyd Ogden, for which Chairman Mark Mitter at the January 23, 2006 meeting, threatened to notify the Indiana Attorney General concerning the perjury.

Dearborn County Regional Sewer District (DCRSD), made aware of our 1500 proxy votes, were skeptical of VRUC. They became truly concerned when L. Parvin Price included the phrase, “most favored nation status” in the Agreement of Understanding (November 4, 2005 DCRSD regular meeting) between VRUC and the DCRSD. Since then, DCRSD has dismissed their original attorney and VRUC dropped it's quest to join DCRSD.

The Group Against the Sewage Treatment Plant spent a total of about $5000 to accomplish their mission, while VRUC has spent approximately $80,000 just for the meeting, held in January of 2006 at Agner Hall at the Dearborn County Fairgrounds, concerning the true election of officers, where they would not honor the VRUC members’ 1500 proxy votes. At that meeting, a VRUC member asked L. Parvin Price (VRUC’s Indianapolis attorney) how much money he was still owed by the VRUC and he refused to answer.

Money is truly an issue for the HVL/VRUC members. We have been paying our fees and monthly bills for years. In just the past few years, approximately $500,000 was paid to the Indianapolis law firm represented by L. Parvin Price. Currently, approximately $200,000 of is still owed the firm and is being paid at $20,000 per month. How many more months $20,000 will be paid depends on how much more VRUC thinks “outside the box”. Ask the HVL POA how much money of your money has been paid to attorneys for our new POA building, to develop our wonderful sports fields, or to improve our beach, pave our roads, etc. The POA has much to show for the use of our money without attorney fees. Mr. Price has been the VRUC attorney since it's beginning in 1994. Does the so-called experienced and knowledgeable VRUC Board really run the company with an attorney receiving this much of the members’ money? Mr. Price is definitely “outside the box” and VRUC needs to explain to the members.

Comments by members who regularly attend the meetings (POA and VRUC) that the people who don’t vote, don’t care, are not true. 1500 proxy votes were gathered a 6-month period of time! In our fast paced world, people generally don’t have time for politics. We chose a beautiful, private place like HVL presuming that the large amount of money we pay to live here, will have everything in good repair and done responsibly. We are hoping to make this an honest election. The winners should be determined just like they were in the past, since a 30% quorum was never achieved at any annual meeting. The By-Law should have been changed by lowering the quorum provide the members a legal election.


Place your ballot “inside the box” and hopefully each and every vote submitted will be counted. Be sure to enter a ballot for each of your eligible lots. Remember that for your vote to count, a quorum of approximately 1100 votes is needed! VOTE before the Friday, June 22, 2007 Deadline Date at the end of business hours.

Remember you cannot vote at the annual meeting on June 26, 2007!

submitted by Maria Larosa with HVL Members Against the Sewage Treatment Plant
Hidden Valley Lake, Miller Township