Indian Hills Community Club

Update: The donation of IHCC property to the City of North Little Rock is slated to be on the Monday, May 12th, 2025 City Council Agenda. City Council meetings begin at 6:00 PM and all those wishing to speak must sign in before the meeting.

SPECIAL MEMBER MEETING MINUTES
February 27, 2025 | 7:00 PM | First United Methodist Church
Attendance: 16 out of 45 member households and approx. 8 guests.

AGENDA

Motion 1: To authorize the Indian Hills Community Club Board of Directors to sell Parcel # 33N0140210001 (pictured below) to Jerry and Carol Roberts at its assessed total value of $1,760.00, with the buyer to pay all costs associated with the sale.

The motion was made by Bernadette Rhodes, seconded by Vicki Gonterman. Vote held by paper ballot. Motion passed unanimously (16 for/0 against).

Motion 2: To authorize the Indian Hills Community Club Board of Directors to donate Parcel # 33N0130001000 (pictured below) to the City of North Little Rock for maintenance into perpetuity as a public park and stormwater retention lakes, and, upon completion of the deed transfer, to dissolve the Indian Hills Community Club organization.

The motion was made by Bernadette Rhodes, seconded by Vicki Gonterman.

A motion to amend was made by Steve Ringgold, seconded by Chris Gonterman, to specify that there shall be utility easement access only around the lakes and that there shall be no public access except where it already exists. A vote was held by show of hands. The motion to amend failed.

A motion to amend was made by Phil Balest, seconded by Vicki Gonterman, to limit public lake access to the land at the levees and existing boat ramp on Flintrock where access already exists. A vote on the motion to amend was held by show of hands. The motion to amend carried with 11 votes for the motion.

A motion to amend was made by Elizabeth Dussex, seconded by Ashley Vickers, to authorize the current 7-member IHCC Board of Directors to negotiate the terms of the property donation with the City on behalf of the IHCC membership if necessary. The Board members shall inform the membership of the status of negotiations via email, upon which members may express their opinions back to the Board. However, the final vote of the Board to accept terms of the donation agreement to the City shall stand. A vote on the motion to amend was held by show of hands. The motion to amend carried with 15 votes for the motion.

The vote on Motion 2, as amended, was held by paper ballot. The motion carried (14 for/1 against/1 abstention).

The meeting adjourned at 8:10 PM.

SUMMARY
The IHCC members present voted with a more than 2/3 majority to authorize the Indian Hills Community Club Board of Directors to donate Parcel # 33N0130001000 to the City of North Little Rock for maintenance into perpetuity as a public park and stormwater retention lakes, and, upon completion of the deed transfer, to dissolve the Indian Hills Community Club organization. The terms of the donation offer include that the City of North Little Rock limit public lake access to the land at the levees and existing boat ramp on Flintrock where access already exists. Should negotiation with the City of North Little Rock on the terms of the donation be necessary, the current 7-member IHCC Board of Directors is authorized to negotiate the terms of the property donation with the City on behalf of the IHCC membership. The Board members shall inform the membership of the status of negotiations via email, upon which members may express their opinions back to the Board. However, the final vote of the Board to accept terms of the donation agreement to the City shall stand.

REMINDER! Two motions will be presented for an all-member vote tonight.

Motion 1:
To authorize the Indian Hills Community Club Board of Directors to sell Parcel # 33N0140210001 (pictured in comments) to Jerry and Carol Roberts at its assessed total value of $1,760.00, with the buyer to pay all costs associated with the sale.

Motion 2:
To authorize the Indian Hills Community Club Board of Directors to donate Parcel # 33N0130001000 (pictured in comments) to the City of North Little Rock for maintenance into perpetuity as a public park and stormwater retention lakes, and, upon completion of the deed transfer, to dissolve the Indian Hills Community Club organization.

At the IHCC Annual Meeting on Feb. 13, 2025, the IHCC board members informed the group that the Urban Service District effort had failed and that, with no source of income, the only logical next step is to offer the Indian Hills Community Club property to the City as a donation and ask the City to take over maintenance of the land and lakes. The IHCC would then dissolve.

IHCC's bylaws outline the following process for dissolution:
___________
**ARTICLE VII - DISSOLUTION**
The organization may be dissolved only with authorization of its board of directors given at a special meeting called for that purpose, and with the subsequent approval by no less than two-thirds (2/3) vote of the members present at the meeting.
_____________

The IHCC board of directors is calling a meeting for the purpose of property donation and subsequent dissolution on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, at 7:00 PM at First United Methodist Church (6701 JFK Blvd). This meeting was originally announced for Feb. 20 but has been postponed due to winter weather.

THE FOLLOWING MOTION WILL BE PRESENTED FOR AN ALL-MEMBER VOTE:
A motion to:
Offer all properties owned by the Indian Hills Community Club to the City of North Little Rock as a donation; and
Dissolve the Indian Hills Community Club once the deed transfer has been completed.

IN ORDER TO VOTE:
- Your household must have an active Indian Hills Community Club membership. Given the circumstances, we have extended all 2024 memberships into 2025. Email [email protected] for a list of current members.
- You must be physically present at the meeting.
- Each household will have ONE vote.
- Anyone not listed who would like to become a member and vote on the motion must bring a $100 membership payment to the meeting on Feb. 27th (cash or check made out to IHCC).

Note: Once IHCC dissolves, any remaining cash in the bank will be donated to a local charitable or community service organization.

At the IHCC Annual Meeting on Feb. 13, 2025, the IHCC board members informed the group that the Urban Service District effort had failed and that, with no source of income, the only logical next step is to offer the Indian Hills Community Club property to the City as a donation and ask the City to take over maintenance of the land and lakes. The IHCC would then dissolve.

IHCC's bylaws outline the following process for dissolution:
___________
**ARTICLE VII - DISSOLUTION**
The organization may be dissolved only with authorization of its board of directors given at a special meeting called for that purpose, and with the subsequent approval by no less than two-thirds (2/3) vote of the members present at the meeting.
_____________

The IHCC board of directors is calling a meeting for the purpose of property donation and subsequent dissolution on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, at 7:00 PM at First United Methodist Church (6701 JFK Blvd). This meeting was originally announced for Feb. 20 but has been postponed due to winter weather.

THE FOLLOWING MOTION WILL BE PRESENTED FOR AN ALL-MEMBER VOTE:
A motion to:
Offer all properties owned by the Indian Hills Community Club to the City of North Little Rock as a donation; and
Dissolve the Indian Hills Community Club once the deed transfer has been completed.

IN ORDER TO VOTE:
- Your household must have an active Indian Hills Community Club membership. Given the circumstances, we have extended all 2024 memberships into 2025. Email [email protected] for a list of current members.
- You must be physically present at the meeting.
- Each household will have ONE vote.
- Anyone not listed who would like to become a member and vote on the motion must bring a $100 membership payment to the meeting on Feb. 27th (cash or check made out to IHCC).

Note: Once IHCC dissolves, any remaining cash in the bank will be donated to a local charitable or community service organization.

Indian Hills neighbors and IHCC members,

This is Bernadette Rhodes, secretary of the Indian Hills Community Club. I wanted to personally invite you to attend the IHCC annual meeting on Thursday, February 13th at 7:00pm at First United Methodist Church, 6701 JFK Blvd. It is important that you attend to discuss next steps for our neighborhood property. Below is a summary of where we are at right now.

After submitting 570 signed petitions in favor of the $8.50/mo. Indian Hills Urban Service District (USD) to the City Clerk in December 2024, we were informed this January that the City Attorney is requiring each signature collector to sign an affidavit attesting to witnessing the signatures they had collected. Affidavits have not been required of other Urban Service District petitions and there was no way we could have anticipated this requirement. Since this would require volunteers to re-contact 500+ signers, and lacking support from city officials, the IHCC board members felt it was not feasible to successfully submit the petition. As a result, the Urban Service District petition will not go before the City Council.

With no source of reliable income to maintain IHCC property, the IHCC can no longer in good faith keep the park, lakes, and dams in its possession. Two IHCC board members recently resigned, leaving the organization with 7 board members, 2 short of the 9-member minimum per its bylaws. No other volunteers have shown strong interest in joining the board. As a result, there will NOT be board elections at the annual meeting. 2024 memberships will be honored and extended through 2025. With inadequate board leadership to run IHCC, the most likely outcome is that the City will be asked to take on ownership and maintenance of the park, lakes, and dams. Once the property is transferred to the City, IHCC will dissolve.

We truly appreciate the support we have received from kind and generous neighbors over the past year, and are truly sorry that despite our best efforts, we were not able to overcome the obstacles to creating a sustainable solution to ensure continued private ownership, maintenance, and improvement of the neighborhood property.

The Indian Hills Community Club's Annual Membership Meeting will take place on Thursday, February 13, 2025 at 7:00 PM at the First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall at 6701 JFK Blvd.

IHCC members may run for a position on the board of directors and vote in the board member election. Annual membership dues cost $100 per household and go towards lake/property maintenance and insurance. Dues can be paid by cash or check (made out to IHCC) before or at the annual meeting.

The board of directors consists of a minimum of 9 and a maximum of 13 members. There are currently 9 directors, 2 of which are up for re-election. That means that 6 positions will be voted on. To be added to the roster of board candidates, please email [email protected] indicating which position # you would like to run for (see image). Note that terms are staggered to ensure that we have roughly the same number of people rolling off each year.

Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you!

USD Update: IHCC was notified by the City Clerk that since signature pages were collected in parts and by different people, all signature collectors needed to sign an affidavit swearing that they saw each person signing the petition. This is not something that has been required of USD petitions in the past, nor is it mentioned in the USD statute in state law, so there was no way to anticipate this requirement. Since signatures were collected over a long period of time and from many different sources, including mail, there are many people who will need to be contacted to confirm their signature in order for a volunteer to be able to sign the affidavit. IHCC has retracted the petition for now and will reach out to many of you who have signed for confirmation.

The effort to fund a sustainable future for our neighborhood continues! *We thank all of you that continue to support us, know we are volunteering and working diligently to get this passed and need your continued support to help make this neighborhood a better place.*

Update: IHCC has met its goal of 550 signatures, which puts the petition in favor of an Indian Hills Urban Service District over the 25% threshold needed to present the Urban Service District to the City Council for consideration. We are deeply grateful to those who have supported this effort to maintain our neighborhood facilities long-term, and feel a responsibility to them to move this effort forward. Canvassing has ceased, but we are still following up with folks who expressed interest but have not yet signed the petition. If that is you, please message us! We are also working with the county to resolve a few issues with voter records, including at least 8 deceased voters and 75+ people who have since moved out of the neighborhood. Once it's determined whether these issues can be resolved, the USD will be presented to the City Council.

USD update: Thanks to all who have signed the petition in favor of the USD! IHCC volunteers are verifying the validity of all petitions collected and will announce the number of petition signatures once they have been verified. We'll also announce if and when the petitions will be presented to the NLR City Council.

The Central Arkansas Master Naturalists are offering free trees to replace those lost due to the tornado. Check out their website for more information! https://arkansasmasternaturalists.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=250502&module_id=647949

Application form: https://arkansasmasternaturalists.org/docs.ashx?id=1289093

We're so close! But if you support the establishment of an $8.50/month Urban Service District to keep maintaining and improving our neighborhood property the way our neighborhood deserves, we need you to sign NOW and ask your neighbors to do so, as well. Signatures will be collected through Sunday, November 24th. Email [email protected] or visit www.indianhillsnlr.org for more information.