Old Mill HOA Meeting Minutes 12/4/23
Call to Order
Scott called meeting to order 6:26pm. Alberta seconded.
Roll Call of Officers
Present: Rick Munch, Scott Padgett, Heather Lukse, Alberta Gautier, Josette Williams-Castell (virtually)
Absent: Amy Turner
Approval of Minutes of Nov 2023 Meeting
No significant updates, Scott motioned to approve minutes as is. Alberta Seconded.
Treasurer Report
- Josette emailed expense report to the board members for review. No significant updates or changes besides normal course of business activities.
- Review and documentation of what determines “service hours”
Scott brought up for Board discussion that the practice of awarding service hours is not written down in the Covenants or Bylaws, and wants to add a definition of service hours to the Bylaws. After discussion for a while, the consensus was as follows:- “Service hours can/will be awarded to all Association Members participating in activities for which the Board, at their discretion, determine are eligible for service hours. Service hours will be a $10/hr adjustment to yearly Association Dues, recorded with the Treasurer on an annual basis.
Such activities include, but are not limited to:
I. Activities for which the Board would otherwise have to hire a 3rd party (landscaper, plumber, bookkeeping, pool services, etc.) that Association Members assist with handling.
II. Neighborhood service hours, such as clean up activities, beautification, pool covering, etc.
III. Any other activity that the Board votes and agrees upon that it can be eligible for service hours credit.
The awarding of service hours, regardless of activity, will be approved by the Board at a regular monthly meeting of the Board, and will be recorded by the Treasurer for credit toward Annual Dues for that
Year. These hours will be recorded with the Homeowner’s name and address.”
- Review of service hours to be recorded for November
- Scott Padgett (13) – Hours, pool covering & repairs on Hwy 73 gate
- Josette Williams-Castell (5.5) Hours – Bookkeeping, deposits
- Alberta Gautier (7) Hours – Christmas wreaths
- Erin Cronan (2) Hours – Re-planting flowers at entrances
- Kenny Brown (4) Hours – Updating signs, pool covering
- Lonnie Causey (2) Hours – Pool Covering
- Damian Manning (2) Hours – Pool Covering
- Rick Munch and Heather Lukse to provide their hours at a later date, did not have on hand for the meeting.
Scott motioned to accept the Treasurer’s report as listed above. Seconded by Heather, unanimously approved.
- Discussion about division of treasurer responsibilities
Scott brought up the option of assisting with Treasurer duties, since the Treasurer duties are extensive and keep increasing with things like payments for pool cards, gate clickers, etc. Josette agreed to try this method such that Treasurer demands for the neighborhood are not overtaxing to one individual and Treasurer duties remain smooth.
- Review recent event about checks not clearing and justification for different payment methods
Scott brought up that 3 checks recently that were written to the neighborhood had not cleared. This was resolved, but Scott proposed an electronic payment option to accept small payments like gate clickers and clubhouse rentals would help with this. Josette suggested investigating if Zelle could be used with our existing Capital One account(s). Scott will investigate this, as this could be a viable option.
President Report & New Business
- Review of Gate system/clickers/etc. Current state post-repair
- The Control Board, memory, and keypad have all been replaced new. This was a substantial cost to the neighborhood but should last for well into the future.
- During the troubleshooting process, the magnet holding the gate closed was discovered to have failed. Electric Gates proposed a repair totaling ~$500. Scott asked for a vote to approve, unanimously agreed.
- Scott would like to consult with a lawyer regarding clarifications in the covenants/bylaws, questions, etc. However, this will probably cost some sort of consultation fee. Scott asked for a vote to approve, unanimously agreed. Josette requested that this meeting be available to all board members, and Scott agreed. Will attempt to include other board members as availability allows.
- Dues notification letter door to door
- Some neighbors have requested that the dues letter that was sent out via Facebook and Nextdoor also be sent out door-to-door. The board agreed and divided up the streets of responsibility for them to deliver the letters.
- FYI, current covenants do not allow us to assess a “late fee” on dues, it just says assess interest on non-paid dues. Scott will discuss this with the lawyer.
- Scott would like to add a 2 week “grace period” in perpetuity for late dues. Aka, dues would be late after April 14, in which case a $50/month for 3 months penalty would be imposed.
- For 2024, Scott would like this grace period to extend to May 1 should the dues increase pass
- Scott motioned for a vote to approve this process for 2024/25 dues, seconded by Alberta. Motion carried 4/5 votes in favor.
- Scott brought up the idea of using some sort of electronic signature for proxy votes. There were no objections to this as long as we use a secure service like Docusign.
VP Report
- Lights were turned off for the underwater pool lights.
- Rick reminded that the water level in the pool needs to remain low to minimize impact from decaying leaves on top.
Clubhouse
- Heather requested Rick to change the code to the front lock. Rick said he would have it done by end of the week 12/8
Welcome/Garden
- Alberta resigned as the Welcome Committee lead. The Board thanks her for serving in that capacity.
- Entrances have been replanted with flowers for the winter time.
Pool –
- State of the pool & getting it covered
- The pool was covered the weekend of Nov 18. The pool company has reduced its visiting frequency to 1x/week.
Architectural
Scott proposed the following fee schedule for architectural violations for review only to the Board. Scott will discuss the appropriate way to assess fees for architectural violations in his talk with the lawyer.
– Proposed fees:
Grass/Flowerbeds $50 per month, per violation, up to 3 months
Street Parking: $50 per month, per violation, up to 6 months
Construction: $100 per month, per violation, up to 6 months
- Proposed Process:
Architectural committee representatives will first make and document “observances.” These observances will count as the first time a potential violation has been noticed. The date of observation, address and nature of the violation will be recorded.
If the observance has been in place for 10 days, a personal notification will be made to the homeowner via phone, text, email, or door to door notifying the homeowner of potential violation and ensuing corrective action. The date of notification will be documented along with the observance.
If the observance was not rectified 5 business days after personal notification, a notice of violation will be issued to the homeowner via hand delivered or certified mail per the covenants. If after 10 days the violation is still not rectified, a fine shall be assessed on the property via the fee schedule notated above.
This process shall not be adhered to when there is occurrence of egregious violation of the covenants (i.e. significant unapproved structural changes, unapproved paint, etc.). In such instances, the Architectural committee will provide immediate notification of covenants violation such that a resolution may be achieved with as little impact to the Association and Homeowner as possible.
Social
– Christmas decorations contest – Canceled
– Scott to make an Announcement of letters to Santa mailbox at the clubhouse
Scott motioned to adjourn the meeting 8:12 PM. Seconded by Heather.