601pm – Scott called the meeting to order
Board Attendees – Rick Munch, Alberta Gautier, Heather Lukse, Josette Williams-Castell, Scott Padgett, Rob Ray
- A question was raised about a form that was suggested the board should be sending out, a CIFT 620 Income and Franchise tax form. No one present knew what that was, but the board will look into it.
- A question was raised about if the Louisiana Secretary of State’s office is updated of new board members. The board updates the SOS site every year after the annual meeting with newly elected board members, but how/when to update the SOS site during the year, such as when a board member steps down before the next election cycle, is unknown. The board will look into this.
- Amy Turner was nominated and elected to the board. The 2023/24 board members are Amy, Rob Ray, Derrick Guillory, Alberta Gauthier, Heather Lukse, Rick Munch, Josette Williams-Castell, and Scott Padgett. Since there were only 8 incumbents/nominees, a vote was not held.
- The budget was printed and reviewed with the neighbors present. However, it could not be voted on, because the board did not deliver a copy of the budget along with the annual meeting notice per the bylaws. A copy will be delivered door to door to the neighborhood and a new budget meeting will be held April 13 for the neighborhood to vote.
- Common violations: It is recommended by the board for neighbors to please be aware of common violations, like grass/flower bed maintenance, parking on street, trailers/RV’s/boats, etc. The board will be stepping up enforcement of this in 2023/24. Rick will be updating the entrance/exit signs to remind folks of the covenants for the neighborhood. It is requested that neighbors help each other to maintain a clean and safe Old Mill.
- Improvement suggestions/Open Floor:
– Re-do the fence on hwy 73
– Add lights to the crepe myrtles on 73 entrance
– Add some sort of decorative trees/shrubs/something to “hide” the hwy 73 fence, so it’s not just a long run of fence that people look at.
– The board clarified that 2 members are required to be present when reviewing camera footage.
– Clarification that pool furniture as a whole has not been purchased in previous years, and was piece-milled together over the years. This is partly why new pool furniture as a whole was purchased in 2023
– The board is considering going up on dues and clubhouse fee. No amounts, dates, etc. have been talked about or decided yet, but will be necessary as costs continue to rise for basic necessities like insurance, lawn care for common areas, and pool maintenance.
Many people voiced their concerns about not being able to contact the board members. The board recounted that their previous emails, which were their primary means of people getting in touch with the board, got deactivated by Google, and were probably out of commission for maybe 4 months until the board got new ones. During that time, a lot of correspondence from the neighborhood just didn’t happen as we worked to get the emails back up and running. However, the board is not intentionally ignoring neighbors’ requests, comments, suggestions, etc. The new board emails are oldmillhoa.treasurer@gmail.com, oldmillhoa.president@gmail.com, oldmillhoa.secretary@gmail.com, oldmillhoa.welcome@gmail.com. Additional communication channels of neighborhood Facebook page and Old Mill Nextdoor website are also available.
Josette created a Google form for neighbors to be able to update their contact information, located at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeIVXLjTfmlIqG3VlYbCoMN39Od5fJ-33CNAITeu_56epVepg/viewform
The board asks for all neighbors to update their contact information if they have not done so already as a means of further communicating the goings-on of the neighborhood to the neighbors.
725 After a final call for open floor/feedback from neighbors, Scott motioned to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Alberta.