Holiday Beech Villas Homeowners Association Board Minutes
October 18, 2014
9 a.m. HBV Clubhouse
Call to Order: 9:15 am
Board Members attended: Ed Anthony, Jorgene Barton, Rosemary Williams, Laurie Chilelli, and Marlene Rockwell
On Phone: Mark Deasaro
Recognition of Guests:
On Phone: Becky Laughlin D111
Attended: Susan DeCerce D312; Claude Chapman F326; George Varona G230; Judi Fleming D216 and H333; Jan Brokaw D216 and H333
Approval of the July 19, 2014 Minutes
Jorgene Barton made a motion to accept minutes as written, Marlene Rockwell seconded. A vote was taken and it was unanimous.
Committee Reports:
Financial: Renée gave financial report in Clyde Dills absence.(Financial Reports are not accessed on the web. If you would like a copy, contact that the office at hbvillas@skybest.com
Maintenance: Renée Castiglione
Raccoons caught at F326 and K345; need to catch another at F326 that is trying to dig in to post between doors. Need to try and catch another raccoon at F326 and E317.
Working on area across from B103 at the A crawlspace by putting in lattice and a doorway to access the crawlspace door. Also putting in French drain by B103 because water is getting under the wooden deck and could be a potential water damage issue for B103.
Old Business:
Dumpsters
All of our dumpsters are falling apart and must be removed.
If we opt to just get rid of all of them and have homeowners just use the recycling center we still have to pay the town for service even though we wouldn’t have dumpsters.
Plan for new dumpster was to get rid of old ones, go through Republic Services to provide bear-resistant dumpsters for same cost as what Town charged. Went to Town Council meetings and Council was open to this idea. Republic came to look at our dumpster area, and felt they couldn’t get to the D or F dumpsters. But, could get to the ABC dumpster.
Renée is still working, on behalf of HBV, with Republic Services and the Town to get bear-resistant dumpsters.
Homeowner’s have been asked frequently to use the Recycling Center, and not use the dumpsters due to safety and environmental issues. Some Homeowner’s refuse to go to the recycling center, and someone is actually chaining open the D dumpster, which allows all the bears to get inside which is a safety concern and allows critters to pull garbage out and get litter everywhere, which is an environmental concern.
Ed brought up the option to remove D and F dumpsters and place two Republic dumpsters at ABC for all Homeowner’s/guests to use and then build a fence around them for aesthetics.
George Varona suggested HBV provide to all units that are rented instructions on where to dispose of trash. This notice would be placed on refrigerators.
Renée will find out how much it will cost to get just two dumpsters from Republic. Due to the heavy rental period during the week of Christmas, Martin Luther and President’s weekend, HBV can request an extra pick-up should the dumpsters become full.
Due to safety and budgetary concerns all 5 members attending are in favor of removing dumpsters at D and F and put two dumpsters at ABC.
Ed would like to do a vote by email to include missing Board members. Homeowner’s will be made aware of the outcome of the vote.
Discussion of soffits
We will use a vinyl soffit material that everyone in this area agrees is the material to use that will withstand the weather conditions, as opposed to the metal soffits that have been used and rusted.
Ed proposed, as part of the assessment, we would put the soffit material on both the front and backs of 1st and 2nd floors as a way to protect our investment, by protecting as much of the siding and decks from the weather.
At this time we would do a test, and rather than put them everywhere, we will put them in the front and the back of the D building at just the 2nd floor. They will be trimmed out so that the critters can’t get access to the area between the soffit and the deck, so they can’t dig in to the buildings. Then we will see how this material wears during the winter months. If the product holds up, in spring we would add the soffit to the D building’s 1st floor.
We already paid $2500 for materials only for one floor. The question arose whether we want to spend additional monies to do all floors now; or to first just test the product and see if it works out.
Ed took a poll of the attending Board members:
Laurie—do all of it
Rosemary—test it
Jorgene—test it
Marlene—do all of it
Ed would like the rest of the Board to weigh in on this before a decision is made. An email was sent to all Board members for a vote. Homeowners will be made aware of the outcome of the vote.
An email vote was taken and the majority of the Board stated that they would like all of the soffits done on the D building. Therefore, both the 1st and 2nd floors, front and back, will have soffits put up as part of the Special Assessment.
Begin discussion of raising monthly dues due to budget constraints
Jack Wilson wants to go on record saying that he is against raising dues.
Laurie stated another homeowner is against raising dues.
Laurie is against raising dues due to selling the units with a higher monthly rate.
Ed discussed how fixed expenses have gone up since the last dues increase on July 2010. The Board was presented with a spreadsheet showing a Budget Comparison of exactly how much expenses have increased since that time. This spreadsheet is not accessed through the web. If you would like a copy, contact that the office at hbvillas@skybest.com
At this time, Ed’s objective is to educate Board members on the financial situation and that dues will have to be increased at some point.
Marlene asked, to save the Association money from General Maintenance, why homeowners can’t pay for their own leaf blowing and deck pressure washing?
A sheet was provided showing how much different incremental percentage increase affected monthly dues. It was discussed that Instead of raising the dues a lot at one time, do a 3 or 4 percent increase every year.
No decision was made and this item has been pushed to the next meeting in January.
Begin discussion of the next Special Assessment. How much? How long?
Ed will be getting an estimate from George on the work on the K building, along with an expected finished date.
Ed will require George be much more efficient while doing the K building by doing all of the back of a floor first, and then move to the front. This will limit the in and out of workers through a unit. Once the back is done, there’s no reason to go through the unit again. He is also going to require George to be an on-site supervisor.
At this point, after working with the A and D building, we know what to expect during construction so that the estimate will be more realistic with materials and labor.
By getting these estimates we should be able to estimate what future buildings will cost.
Renée will summarize the meeting with Ed and George and send out that summary to all homeowners.
George Varona suggests that Renée send out bi-weekly updates to homeowners on the work that is being done.
New Business:
Wood-burning Fireplace Chimneys Update
We are waiting on the estimates coming in from the first chimney inspector. We are getting a second opinion from another chimney inspector on Tuesday, October 21. The building inspector will be involved in this inspection of fireboxes. The fire chief, Bob Pudney, was invited to attend this inspection.
Renée is also getting estimates from propane gas providers for those owners involved who may want to change their wood-burning fireplace over to propane gas logs.
Once all information is provided, and a homeowner chooses to wait to fix, they will have to sign an affidavit saying they will not use the fireplace until it’s fixed, relieving HBV of all responsibility should a fire start due to said fireplace.
Discussion of outside closets of bottom and top floors:
Redesign of bottom floor closets at D building
A new closet with a slanted roof, real door and top made out of the soffit material will be installed.
Shelves in the closet are financially the Homeowner’s responsibility.
Some Homeowner’s at the meeting complained that the middle stairs going down to the first floor had not been completed. Renee told them that she told George to leave that last, as she felt the railings was more of a priority to complete. The Board agreed that was the right decision and the steps will be last. After the railings the closets will be next to be complete.
Top floor closets that are accessed from inside the unit
Because precedent has been set at the A building by keeping this type of closet on the top floor, all these closets will remain.
Triangular cut-outs of top floor mansard roof used for storage
Some top floor units have triangular doors to access the empty space in the mansard roof that is used for storage. There seems to be no record that these were approved by any Board, and are not included as part of the square footage of any unit.
Marlene made a motion not to replace the triangular storage area on the mansard roof when it’s taken away during the renovation. Laurie seconded. The vote was unanimous.
The question arose about what to do about a homeowner wanting to purchase their own storage box?
Renée will research options and add to New Business at next meeting for the Board’s discussion.
Adjourned at 12:45p
Adjournment: Proposed Next Board Meeting Date—January 17, 2014
Respectfully submitted,Renée Castiglione
Property Manager