Meeting- May 21st, 2022

May 21, 2022

This is a summary of the events today- It is not Official- This is just my personal attempt to keep the community up to date on the happenings-

On Saturday May 21st, 2022 at 10AM a meeting was held in the club house- the original intent of this meeting was to be the Annual Owners Meeting, However with only 41 owners in attendance we failed to reach a quorum so there for the meeting became informational only in nature.

Topics discussed varied greatly however the highlights were the following-  Again,  Information and Q&A only since we didn’t have enough attendance to declare a actual Annual Meeting.

  • New Camera System
    • 4 cameras currently installed,  more to come and be installed on the buildings as the budget allows.
  • Pressure Washing and Painting to continue-
    • we have 2 buildings and the Office and Club House Remaining.
    • This got very expensive last year- Allen has volunteered to pressure wash the remaining units to help the budget- He has experience in this field.
  • Deck Structure Repairs
    • Many decks are in need of repair.  The Deck Structure costs approximately $1,700 to replace including labor.  This is the portion that the HOA pays for.  The top of the deck is the Unit Owners Responsibility and cost varies depending on the quality of the lumber used.  $300-$600 is likely a close guess.
    • The HOA Cannot replace the structure if the unit owner is not willing to also replace the top boards because we cant put the old rotten boards back and we cant leave it half repaired.   Some decks also require accessing the unit above or below to replace and some owners have been unwilling to allow access.
    • These repairs have really put a strain on the budget last year and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
  • Stair Replacements
    • There are many sets of stairs around the property that need replacement.  A quick look around yields 26 of them that really need to be replaced ASAP  and another 21 that are not in good shape at all.
    • A cost for this is TBD  but we are sure it wont be cheap just because of the volume and the cost of lumber right now.
  • Car Tags for Parking
    • Car Tags have been purchased and are expected to be delivered in the next couple weeks.
    • The tags are numbered and 2 will be assigned to each unit.
    • The tags will be delivered to each unit’s doorstep with a letter explaining how its all going to work.
    • Each unit is allowed 2 cars per the rules and bylaws.
    • Visitors or cars that are present less than 30 days are to be parked in the guest parking areas.
    • Cars that are parked illegally- Tagged or not- will be towed. Park in the spaces provided!
    • Cars without a Tag may be towed.  See towing company information on the Giant sign at the entrance.
  • Dues
    • The dues are staying the same for 2022.
    • In 2023,  the all dues will increase by 10%
    • The idea of changing the bylaws to allow for a flat fee dues structure was discussed, however it would take multiple steps to allow this-  we would have to have a Official Owners meeting and vote to have the vote to change the bylaws and then have at least 75% of the 100 units vote to change the bylaws.
      • Currently, each size unit pays a different amount based on their ownership percentage based on square footage. Any assessments are also based on this percentage.  So the 1 bedroom units pay a fraction of what everyone else pays.
      • This is a topic of contention.  Some say it’s not fair for the 2 and 3 bedroom units to pay so much and some say its not fair to raise the 1 bedroom units dues by such a dramatic amount.    There’s also a argument about the idea that the 3 bedroom units cost the HOA more to maintain than the 1 bedroom units which may be true in some regards but in others- not so much.
      • As the dues are increased, the fairness becomes more and more of an issue because the increases are based on percentage across the entire complex so 10% for the 3 bedroom units is a bigger deal than the 1 bedrooms.
    • We need to discuss this matter further with the community at a later date.
  • The Assessment
    • The need for an assessment was discussed thoroughly.  Our buildings are aging and there is a lot of deferred maintenance.
    • The budget information for last year and the upcoming year has been posted on the website under information.
    • Some disagree or question how HOA funds were spent previously and who makes those decisions.
      • The Owners elect a board.  The board then decides how to handle things- So if you disagree with how things are being ran then the owners can all get together and vote to remove the offending member(s) from the board and elect a new board.
    • One recurring item of contention was the money spent on the new sign last year.
      • This was voted for by the previous board.
      • The sign did need to be painted or replaced, and a lot of the complaints at the last meeting was how bad the place looked.
      • The option that was decided upon was expensive, but it was it is now.  and honestly that amount of money is a drop in the bucket compared to our other issues.
      • Again,  if you don’t like how the board is making decisions then step up and become a board member or vote in someone else.
    • Just walk around the complex and look around at all the things that need to be done.  It all costs money and it all takes time.
  • Fines for Windows and Blinds
    • There was discontent expressed about the lack of fines being issued for the failure to replace fogged over windows and non-standard blinds as was originally discussed when the motion to issue warnings about the windows and blinds was passed originally.
    • This ball has been dropped in the transition from the previous board.   We do still intend to issue fines, there has just been so much else going on that none of the board members have been able to take the steps necessary to actually issue the fines.
    • There was also question about why it was necessary to replace the windows in the first place-  there are several reasons but the big 2 reasons for starters is the windows that are fogged over are likely original to the building and are likely to be leaking into the structure which causes damage that we have to pay for later.  The other reason is how it looks.   The fogged over windows look terrible and make the complex look like its not well cared for.   Same for the non-standard or broken blinds.
  • Fines in general
    • Now that we have warning signs in place we can actually start fining owners for their violations, Same for towing cars that do not belong here.   We couldn’t really do that before because we had no warning system in place.
  • Communication
    • another item of issue was the lack of communication between the board and the owners.
    • This News article and section of the website is a result of this complaint.
    • We will do our best to post the happenings with the HOA here.
  • Lack of notice about the meeting
    • Our CPA was supposed to send out the notices but for reasons unclear to us, that didn’t happen. It was not intentional.
    • There were facebook owners group posts about it, but we understand that is a unofficial means of communication.
  • Board Members
    • Any owner in the community can be a board member-  If you are interested then just let us know!
    • Board members can be added or removed via a vote of the existing board.
    • If the unit owners as a whole- at least 75% –  disagree with the board then they can take action as owners to remove them per the bylaws which are available on this website.
    • There are no paid positions in the HOA.  It is a 100% volunteer effort. 
    • If there should ever become a time when nobody wishes to volunteer anymore then the HOA would be forced to be handed over to a Management Company which would be paid for their services.
    • These management fees are very high-  so the HOA dues would go up significantly and no real change would be witnessed as a result.
      • This is a primary reason the board members are willing to volunteer because we ourselves do not want to see this for our community. 
  • There are several other topics that needed to be addressed but with the meeting not being official and the length of the meeting it was decided to adjourn.
  • Our current President, Yadira Williams is selling her unit soon and must be replaced soon due to this.
    • A replacement has been Nominated by Yadira and the Board is expected to vote on electing that President at a upcoming meeting.
  • Another attempt at an Annual Owners Meeting will be made at a later date.  Notices will be sent well in advance.

There are probably some things I’ve missed but this is the bulk of it.

-Russell

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