November Old Mill HOA Executive Meeting
November 18th 2020, 7:00pm
Present: Stephanie Brown, Rick Munch, Richard Thompson, Kristin Stair, Allison Mitchell,
Damian Manning, Alberta Gauthier, Rob Ray
The meeting was called to order at 7:02pm by Kristin Stair, Old Mill HOA Secretary
Approval of October Minutes/Old Business
Kristin Stair reviewed the minutes of the October board meeting.
Kristin moved to accept the minutes as sent
Rick Munch seconded the motion
With no objections, the motion to accept the minutes was approved
Treasurer’s Report
Richard Thompson reviewed the Treasurer’s report that was send to the board via email.
The HOA currently has $99,836.47 in savings and $408.56 in checking. The HOA currently has less in the accounts than we typically do at this time of the year. More money has been spent this year on both the parking lot repaving and bulkheads.
Richard reached out to the tax assessor’s office to inquire about property taxes for the HOA. He was told by the office that HOAs that have large ponds and playgrounds are now exempted from property taxes.
The fences repairs were also discussed, the adjustor came to view the damages to the fence on October 21st and met with Richard and Rick Munch. The office contacted Rick this week for a follow-up. All of the fences that were reported damaged were covered by the claim. The estimate was based on $44/foot for a total of $15,840. The report still has to be approved before we can guarantee that we will receive the full requested amount. We have replacement costs on the fence and the company makes payments based on a depreciation holdback of 25% on deductible and 50% on depreciation. Once the work is done, the remainder of the money is released minus the $2,500 deductible. So, the full amount will be paid out in two increments.
Stephanie Brown asked if homeowners could be notified once the amount is officially approved. Rick agreed that they could be notified now, but should be told that the claim is still being finalized.
There may be a delay before the fencing company can get to the repairs. Once the official pay-out is made, we can start making repairs and possibly upgrade as needed.
Richard followed up with the homeowner of the unpaid dues. The certified letter was returned four times as no one available for delivery. For the other houses that are not paid, one is still in probate and the other still has not been sold.
It was discussed that small claims court may be the next step. Richard will talk with the attorney to help decide next steps.
Rick Munch moved to approve the Treasurer’s report.
Stephanie seconded the motion.
With no objections, the motion passed
Architectural Committee Report
Damian Manning reviewed the suggestion of sending certified letters to homeowners who are not maintaining their homes. It was discussed that the violations are decreasing.
It was discussed that first offenses could possibly be an e-mail and then second offenses could move to written letters with the third offence being a visit.
It was discussed that we could add a box to the form where people could check a box to notify the HOA with concerns or if they are experiencing hardship. Possibly, something such as “If you cannot fix this violation in the next 30 days, please don’t hesitate to contact us” or something similar.
Damian experienced an issue with the servitude for one of the homeowners. He had received a complaint about the servitude not being taken care of by the homeowner. After Damian contacted the homeowner, the homeowner sprayed for weeds, but did have several complaints about being forced to maintain the servitude.
Welcome committee report
Alberta Gauthier had one new homeowner move-in and she delivered a welcome package to them which included a pamphlet of info about the subdivision.
Social Committee Report
Old Mill Reindeer Run
Allison Mitchell texted everyone a picture of the shirts that she would like to have printed for the Old Mill Reindeer Run. She was hoping to do the run over Thanksgiving but due to the increase in COVID, decided to wait. She suggested that the date be set closer to Christmas with the route starting and ending at the club house with hot chocolate, etc. Participants will be able to run or walk, as well as ride bikes or scooters.
She also suggested a Jambalaya or chili cook-off. She also suggested a craft table location for kids to make reindeer food. Rob Ray suggested possibly raising a little additional money that could be used for community outreach. Possibly adopting a local family or two to spend the money on.
It was suggested that December 19th might be a good date for the event with the deadline for shirt orders to be set for December 3rd. She will post online and on Facebook.
Rick Munch will make signs for the event.
Rob suggested that if we contact the Gonzales newspaper they will send someone out to take pictures for the paper.
It was also discussed that we can use the Santa mailbox that day to collect letters for Santa as well as donations for the families. Allison will check with a new resident who works with the Red Cross to see about also collecting cards for a recently deployed military unit to send Christmas Cards for soldiers as well.
Pool committee
Pool Repairs
Now that the estimate has been approved, Stephanie Brown is currently waiting on the company to move forward with the next step of repairing the pool. Rick Munch met with Stephanie and Pedro for the pool grouting estimate. Since the estimate was approved by the board, they asked the contractor for the scope of work. That will be ready this week. The grout that is currently submitted for review does not explicitly say it can be used on pools. Rick will be looking more into products and will need to approve the choice of grout for use.
Parking Lot Maintenance
Clean sweep came out this week. Rick spoke with them and sent them some pictures of the damage.
Pond Lot Owner Yard Maintenance
Stephanie discussed that some pond lot owners are not maintaining their lots near the pond. She suggested that Damian may need to send violations to those owners.
Beautification Committee
Online Homeowner
Kristin will be putting the survey online this month for final approval at the December meeting.
Christmas Tree Recycling Program.
Two parking spaces near the club house will be set-up for Christmas tree drop off January 1-15. Kristin will arrange for someone from LSU AgCenter to come out on the 15th to help sink the trees.
Vice-President’s Report
Club House A/C
Rick Munch mentioned that we have had issues with the air conditioner in the club house in the past few months. A repair person was called out and originally believed that the system would have to be completely replaced. A new technician came out and reported that a wire was burned out and could be replaced instead of buying a new system. A new kit to change the wiring was approximately $300. A new system will be approximately $10,000.
Playground/Camera Repairs
Also this month, the swing set was broken and has since been replaced and repaired. The total cost was about $400 to repair the set. Rick also moved the cameras to help prevent the cameras being blocked by the trees around the club house.
Other Club House Repairs
On the canal side of the clubhouse there is some rotting boards that will need to be replaced. He and Kenny will look into replacing them.
Old Business
- Hwy 73 Entrance Landscaping
It was discussed that it is actually looking better, we think we can postpone it for now. New annuals have been planted at the entrances. Richard mentioned that someone may need to keep an eye on the sprinklers to make sure they are irrigating the flowers correctly. - Water Bill
A few weeks back, the sprinklers malfunctioned. The system has been repaired. Richard Thompson reached out to the water company to see if they might offer credit, but they stated that that isn’t a common practice for them and refused to offer credit. - Old Mill Sign
Rob Ray mentioned at the last meeting that he knows a homeowner who can paint the signs. It was also mentioned that the bricks on the Hwy 74 entrance need to be pressure washed. It was discussed that this could be a work-day project. Diaz signs painted the sign a few years ago. Rob will contact the resident and see what they need to paint the signs. - Tree Damage on Pond
Two pond lot homeowners were originally contacted that we were going to cut the large trees down beside the pond. There was some push back from the homeowners about cutting them down. It was discussed that we need to invite these residents to the next meeting to see what their concerns are discuss the process of removing them.
Rick will take another look and double check whether the trees are on common property or homeowners property *NOTE: After the meeting is was confirmed that the trees are on common property.
After discussion, it was decided that the pond lot owners with properties on the tree line will be invited to come before the next meeting December 9th at 6:30 to discuss the concerns and come up with a plan to remove the trees.
Rob Ray will make the presentation to the homeowners. Kristin Stair will forward the email she received to Rob so he is prepared. Kristin will email the homeowners and CC Rick Munch and Rob on the email.
Adjournment
With no further business, Kristin Stair moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:46pm.
The motion was seconded by Stephanie Brown.
With no objections the motion passed.
Items for follow-up at next meeting:
Old Mill Reindeer Run
Christmas Tree Recycling Program
Old Mill Sign Painting
Process for Landscaping Violations