Board Meeting Minutes
Holiday Beech Villas Homeowners Association
Meeting Date: September 3, 2011Meeting Place: Clubhouse
Beginning Time: 9:00
Members present: Jesus Hernandez, Karen Alexander, Judy Flemming, Howard Esko, Ed Anthony, Don Westmoreland
Members absent : Janet Parker, Lazara Hurd
Owners present: Cecile Esko, Irene Alvarez
Call to order: Karen called the meeting to order at 0900.
Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the July 2011 meeting were approved unanimously.
Comment from President: Karen discussed that Renee will be preparing a point by point response to concerns expressed by Treasurer Lazara Hurd through an email dated 9/2/11. The board will review this document and call a meeting if needed. Lazara Hurd has submitted her resignation from the board and it was accepted unanimously.
Karen called for a moment of silence in memory of Charlie Robinson on his untimely death after recently being selected a Vice Chair for HBV. The community had a gathering to support the family at the clubhouse. Charlie provided much need legal perspective being a lawyer for another state. His wife, Carol Robinson, is considering taking his place at large on the board and the board will address this in a future meeting. Our thoughts, prayers and support continue to be with Carol and the Robinson family and friends. Most recently, Charlie had been a leader in tree management, dealing with raccoons and long term planning. The association will miss him and his service to HBV as a board member for several years.
Old Business
Financial reports: The report was discussed (Attachment One). Howard suggested that the board have the names of delinquents and we will ask Renee to provide this information only to the board rather than just unit numbers. There are privacy rules that prohibit publishing these names to the association but the board can have a separate written attachment with this information for their meetings. Information must not be sent by email to protect privacy.
Maintenance: Jesus presented the maintenance report prepared by Renee (Attachment 2). Report was accepted. Progress continues on several scheduled projects. Irene asked about planks to be built for the first floor of E building. We will begin with B and then D. The H building is having work completed on the decks and the contractors need to provide improved access to units. We need to add to list, adding additional boulders to F cul de sac to prevent cars from slipping down ravine with ice on the road. Renee has asked for bids to replace F wall on first floor that is damaged. So far Larry is not bidding.
Long term planning: Ed has agreed to serve with Karen on this committee. One of the major projects which is in the process of bidding is the replacement of the shingles for all the remaining roofs with Hardiboard.
We will add to our Maintenance policy a designation that if someone opts to pay on half of an Association project, e.g., shingles, that this project not be brought to the top of maintenance list, putting other scheduled projects behind it.
Archive: No report.
Bylaws: The bylaws were amended last in 2004. Given the many recent changes to the NC Condo association laws and the way technology is changing the way associations conduct business it would be prudent to review them again carefully for possible needed changes. Howard and Jesus will review the bylaws and the declaration and present a report to the board. We have already made changes to the foreclosure policy to reflect changes in the law as per advice from our attorney.
Insurance: Howard advised the board that we need to make sure all of our buildings meet the building codes. Karen explained that we are grandfathered for old construction and that new construction for replacements is being built to the current code. Jesus said all new construction has been permitted and inspected by the town and those documents are on file. There were a couple of projects that had to have additional changes after inspection to meet code and those were completed and then passed. Renee stays in contact with the town and we have discussed this issue before. Jesus will ask Renee to review our documents to make sure that we are in compliance with codes. HBV has done well recently with insurance claims and none have been filed. We have a $10,000 deductible. Irene brought up a concern about water entering units in bottom areas from occasional flooding. This occurred when we had hurricane Ivan dump so much water in a short period of time. Jesus reminded the group that the association does not have flood insurance as we are not in a flood area, but that flooding has the potential for occurring for a heavy rain event. There is no way to prevent rising water from entering buildings as no building is water tight and it will seep in as the water stands and rises even if the water does not enter through the doors. Homeowners have the option of purchasing their own flood insurance if this is a concern for them and they live on the bottom floors.
Unfinished Business
Board Appointments: Don Westmoreland will serve a one year term and was elected as treasurer and Ed Anthony will serve the longer, three year term, and was elected to vice chair. Both were elected unanimously. The board thanks them for their service.
Raccoons: New spray deterrents seem to be working. The damage continues to be repaired.
Pet policy: Request by Pat Kyle to amend pet policy. The board received several comments on this suggestion from owners. The board voted not to change the pet policy. We will ask Renee to investigate adding a baggy dispenser and sign about curbing pets. Many owners are allowing their pets to defecate in public areas and this is unsanitary and against HBV policy. Renee will investigate if there are any recent changes to the town pet policy on leashing or curbing pets.
New Business
The owner in C 209 has asked to spread paying this year’s special assessment over two years instead of one. The board reviewed the policy for special assessments (attachment 3). The owners have expressed financial difficulties, but at this time it is not known now if an additional assessment may be required next year. Approving all of these requests would encumber the association’s ability to conduct business if all special assessment requests were approved. The policy does allow for the special assessment to be paid late, but there are additional fees and penalties that are applied. Any owner needing to pay late should review the policy and see if it would be to their advantage to pay late. Once payment is more than 120 days the association may begin foreclosure procedures as listed in the policy. When an owner becomes delinquent in payments and at risk for foreclosure the association may consider creating a payment plan to enable owners to prevent losing their units as recommended by the CAI and according to our foreclosure policy (attachment 4).
There is a request from an owner to put metal mesh as a quick temporary measure on the intact shingles to prevent damage from the raccoons. This has been asked before and denied. We have used mesh or chicken wire before to protect and area that has been damaged until the final repairs are completed. Covering intact areas with mesh is expensive and unsightly and sends the wrong message to prospective owners as to how we handle solutions to our problems. The final solution is replacements of the shingles with Hardiboard and that is what we have plans in place to accomplish over time.
There have been numerous complaints about the prominently visible and located private satellite dish that is installed on the rear deck of F326 and extends to common space. Renee will write a letter to the owners that they are to move the dish to another location where it is not as visible. The association will permit the dish to be moved and installed on the roof at the owners expense as long as it follows the same installation procedure used for the association dishes. Only owners that require additional programming not already provided by the association may be given permission by the association to have a private dish. Owners must request a private dish in writing to the association for approval. FDC rules prohibit associations from denying use of private access to satellite if the association does not provide the channels that an owner wants to access in the association package. Since the association is providing a premium package it will be a rare occasion where this will be needed. The owners will be given 30 days to comply with the relocation of the dish.
These same owners in F326 also have a gas grill on the rear deck that has been reported. Renee has sent several notifications to all owners that any open flame propane or charcoal grill is prohibited by NC law. If anyone reports seeing a grill on a deck Renee will make a report to the city to make an inspection of the grill for any owners that are in violation and let the city handle the violation if the grill is not removed. Only electric grills are permitted and owners having one of these on a deck need to notify Renee so that the association can verify that it is electric and not report it to the town. The town will issue a citation and fine any owner that does not comply with the state law. Several associations in NC have experienced severe fires and destruction and even loss of life as a result of grills on the decks. The association provides a gas grill for owners to use at the clubhouse. Since the clubhouse is not a multifamily building the grill is allowed.
Bids for Special Assessment Projects: Renee has sent out requests for bids for several of the funded projects. So far she has only received a few bids for some and none for others. Since starting on these projects in a timely manner is so important with our short season the bidding process will be closed two weeks after the letters for bids are sent. All bids are sent to the board for approval (attachment five). The board will have Renee ask Larry is he would be willing to match the lower bid for shingle replacement. If so we could have Larry and George de Laura both be working on the replacement of shingles in different building to expedite the project. There was a discussion that many factors must be considered in context when approving a project. Larry Parish has provided excellent service to HBV as a contractor for many years. He has a proven track record of doing quality work and is very reliable. As our emergency responder he has handled multiple emergencies over the years and has reported promptly to problems with frozen leaking pipes in sub zero weather and during a snow storm. He also provides reliable snow removal services. The board agrees that he will remain our preferred provider as long as his bids are within industry and local standards even though we are not providing right of first refusal. The board wants to commend Larry for his continual excellent service to HBV and let it be known that the board believes that he along with Renee are responsible for our many accomplishments and successes over the last 6 years. There may be times when jobs may be offered to multiple bidders if they are very large. Larry often chooses not to bid on small jobs and those will need to go to other bidders. All of the bids were sent to contractors that have a reputation on Beech for providing quality service and reliability. If any contractors have a reputation for poor workmanship, or customer relations, or have pending legal difficulties, those contractors will not be included in the bidding process to protect the interests of the association. Owners are encouraged to send Renee the names of contractors that they have had positive and negative experiences with in order for the association to improve its bidding processes. The structural engineering report completed by an engineer almost a decade ago identified priority projects that need to be addressed at a cost of nearly 1 million dollars. Since then the association has completed the identified priority projects plus many additional projects identified since the original report at a fraction of the anticipated cost. These savings have occurred in spite of rising costs for materials and labor over time. These savings are due to the fiscal accountability of the board and prudent use of its resources.
Garbage Containers: Danville Container Service will be replacing the dumpster lids at F building cul-de- sac. The new lids will need to be opened easily by a small woman which the current lids cannot because they are too heavy. These new lids may need to be plastic or have a spring loaded mechanism to assist opening them. The lids will be secured with chains and latch hooks like those at D to deter bears and other wildlife from accessing and scattering the trash. This will also reduce the number of wildlife coming to HBV for food. Owners are requested to take food and edible refuse to the town garbage sire across form Fred’s to decrease the food supply available to wild animals.
There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 12:15
Respectfully submitted,
Jesus Hernandez