Board Meeting Date:April 18, 2009
Meeting Place: Holiday Beech Clubhouse
Beginning Time: 10:00 Ending Time: 12:00
1. Call to Order
Karen called the meeting to order. Board members present: Karen Alexander, Yvonne Clay, Jesus Hernandez, Fatima Hicks, and Saul Moore. Howard Esko by phone. Absent, and Charlie Robinson, Claude Chapman, Judy Flemming. Quorum is present.
2. Recognition of Homeowners
Dub Hicks.
3. Comments from the President: Karen welcomed everyone. Minutes of 10/18/08 were approved as written and are posted on website.
4. Board packets prepared by Renee were sent to each member.
5. Yvonne gave the financial report (attachment 1—financial reports are not posted on the website). Bank balance is 20,563.57. We have $2815 in delinquents. We also have approximately $12000 left from the loan. One of the issues that is currently impacting the association financially is a loss due to a broken pipe in D building in a unit where the heat in the unit was turned on low and the outside temperature was below freezing. Larry found the D214 to be very cold and the heat to be turned to low instead of at 50 degrees. There were no other leaks in any other parts of the building. The pipe is located in the space below D214 and above D115. The D214 homeowner’s insurance has denied the claim that the homeowner is responsible. HBV disagrees with the forensic engineer’s findings from State Farm for D214 and will submit a statement to this issue. Since the association has a policy that each owner keep the heat on in the unit to at least 50 then HBV will need to have our attorney send the owner a letter that the owner will be held responsible for the loss and that it will be the owner’s responsibility to resolve this issue with his insurance company. Most of the water damage occurred to D115. The bill for water extraction and electric is the responsibility of the homeowner for D115 since this expense and any others associated with damage to the inside of the unit should be covered by that unit’s insurance or the owner if uninsured.
6. Jesus gave the maintenance report. We had unanticipated expenses this winter due to repairs for D building. We have begun the seasonal program April 1. We have hired a laborer contractor to complete low skilled jobs. Lee Rustrian lives on the mountain and comes highly recommended and carries liability. He has started a general property cleanup and organization of building behind A building. He will then finish the painting of the front decks for H building and then begin to paint all of the new wood for the back decks and new staircases. Larry will be working 8 days a month and will be responsible for more skilled jobs. Homeowners requesting maintenance are to continue to complete the form and give it to Renee. The back improvements of C decks have been completed. The next project is fixing the leak in front of B building that is allowing water to enter Carey’s unit. The Gruman unit has been sealed from the front to prevent leaking to the unit below. This repair could not be started in the winter due to risk of freezing pipes if siding was removed to assess leak. We have a bid from JC but have not been able to receive any other bids as of yet due to it been a lower cost job. Board voted to approve the B building repair based on lowest bid received that can complete the repairs quickly and try to get this finish before Memorial day when homeowners return. Larry inspected the B staircase and said that it did not need to be replaced as a priority. The G building also has a problem with leaking behind the gutters on the front side. The roofer inspected this building and stated it is not a roof issue. This project will need to be placed on the list and is not funded. The back deck structural improvements for H, D, B, have not been completed for $15000 and have not been funded. The tree trimming was completed this fall. There are two saplings that were not cut at the side of E. There are also two diseased hemlocks one behind G and one behind F that may need to be removed. Renee needs to call Tony to cut these since they were supposed to be cut this fall. Renee will get the approval from the town for removal of diseased trees if needed if the trees cannot be preserved. We also have not funded the continuing door repairs for approximately $6000. Other projects not funded are new building signs and refurbishing the individual lights for the front of each unit. We also need funding to have the water cutoff separated for D and E. Some of the outside sills for windows exposed directly to the elements are also damaged and need to be replaced. We also need to restore the driveways since these funds had to be rolled over to unanticipated maintenance needs this winter. The board discussed the possibility of expanding the asphalt in the parking areas especially in ABC as requested by Nick Rossin at the annual meeting. After discussion it was decided not to pursue anymore asphalt at this time. Estimated repairs needed that are not funded range from 90-100,000 including paying back the loan. Saul made the motion to do a one year assessment of $1000/one bedroom and $1500/two bedroom to be paid all at once or in 4 quarters or divided over 12 months beginning July 1st. Even though the economy is tough for many people right now, delaying these needed repairs will only increase the costs to owners over the long run. Borrowing more money is not a good option. Renee will send a letter to homeowners about the planned assessment ASAP so that they can begin to get their finances in order. Jesus will ask Renee to get estimated for repairs for front of G and sides of H and G and all building outside window sill repairs for exposed windows.
7. It is recommended by national condo groups that associations have 12-20% of budget in a reserve fund. Saul conducted a study of funds required. NC does not have a statue mandating this. One method for accomplishing this is for associations to require monthly contributions to be made to a reserve fund for projects such as roof replacements. HBV has relied on special assessment but this process only affects those owners occupying the units at the time instead of all over time. This year’s assessment will place money in the capital fund to make sure we have at least $20,000 in this fund at any time.
8. Saul will update the annual outcomes to include the projects discussed under maintenance.
9. Fatima plans to create a notebook that will categorize the decisions made by email so we can archive these.
10. Howard reported that we need to increase our insurance amounts based on the increased value of the property and liability to 2 million. Howard does not believe that this will increase the premium significantly. We also will get a quote for a policy with a smaller deductible. We will ask Renee to poll all homeowners about what unit individual homeowner insurance they carry and make a spreadsheet about this so we can see if there are owners without insurance. Mortgage holders require insurance but if the units are paid for they may not have insurance. Florida just passed a law that requires all condo owners to carry unit insurance or the association can get a policy and assess the homeowner for all costs associated with getting a policy. The board will explore if this is an option for HBV in the future.
New Business
1. Foreclosure to D315. We need to follow our policies for trying to get funds not paid.
2. G building water dripping behind gutters addressed in maintenance report.
Respectfully submitted,
Jesus A. Hernandez
Board Secretary