Board Meeting Minutes (May 15th, 2006)

May 15th, 2006

The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm at 1607 Woodstream Ln.

Present

• Robert Butler - President
• Yesika Fletcher - Vice-President, Secretary
• Howard Fisher - Treasurer
• Beverly Coghlan - (NMI)

Items discussed

• Review meeting minutes and action items from the last meeting.
  • Rob - Finish work on the 2nd quarter newsletter. Done, printed, dropped off to Yesika.
  • Yesika - Distribute flyers for spring block party.
  • Yesika - Send information on the garage sale banner she had received quotes on.
  • Yesika - Comparison check into meeting costs at the library, senior center, and Joe Farmer.
  • Beth - Follow up with offer on 1607 Oak Brook.
  • Beth / NMI - Send update on account statements & letters for 1707 Woodstream.
  • NMI - Verify bank account and any other documentation for the correct association name: "The Villages at Maxwell Creek HOA".
  • NMI - Get new bids for HOA landscape and insurance policies. Beverly presented the landscape bids we had received thus far, and all were coming in higher than our current company, Perfecto. Beverly will send out a spreadsheet comparing the various landscape company bids she received. Still researching insurance company alternatives.
  • NMI - Contact lawyer about pursuing collection from mortgage company at 1600 Woodstream.
• Our previous contact with NMI was Katie, it has now changed to Beverly.
• Yesika gave Beverly several receipts requiring reimbursement, and Rob gave Beverly a receipt that had been charged to the old debit card. Stephanie will send Beverly the receipt from Chick Filet for the tea at the block party when/if she finds it.
• Beverly had emailed a question about the HOA policy for following up on violations:

  As far as the authority of the HOA documents we have to follow the law. If the Federal, State or City Ordnance/code is in conflict of the documents you must go to the higher authority: Federal ⇒ State ⇒ City ⇒ HOA. Even if your documents/policy state that you can fine after 10-15 days on a violation. Texas Property Code 209 states that you must wait a reasonable amount of time. Case law has proven that the courts feel a reasonable amount of time is 30 days.

  As previously discussed with Katie, this is a non-issue; the HOA's enforcement process document allows for the first notification of a violation to be a friendly reminder asking for the violation to be resolved within two weeks. The second notice includes the 10-day resolution period as specified by the Covenants. As NMI will only be surveying the neighborhood twice per month, the span between first notification and beginning of fining is already 30+ days.
• Beverly had emailed a question about the HOA policy for following up on violations:

  As far as collections you can not collect late fees more than the amount due. They can only incur one late fee during a billing cycle but you can charge interest each month.

  Rob had replied that additional cost recovery charges were allowed by the Covenants, and had also been vetted by our attorney at the time, Danny Vess. Beverly replied I don't know who your attorney of record now is but the files reflect Bob Blend. Please review the above with him. Rob said he wasn't sure who Bob Blend was, and is unaware of any dealings the HOA has had with him, and he's not listed on any of the documents we have. Beverly will review the HOA collection policy document.
• Beverly asked What meeting are you having on Thursday? Why has the meeting been called? This was the open forum meeting, there is no need for NMI to attend.
• Beverly asked We received the information from the annual meeting. Where are the election results? Your documents state that the terms are only for one year. Election results were given during the April 17th backup meeting, the 2nd quarter newsletter, and the April 21st meeting minutes.
• Beverly asked I know you have a PO Box, who is getting the mail? Do you need it anymore? We could close it and have all the mail forward to ours. For architectural change requests received, we would scan and send to the committee. This can also save money. We are planning to keep the P.O. Box for the time being, but have the mail forwarded to NMI. After the change from Excel to self-managed back in 2003, we continued to have people contacting Excel for two years after the change; thus, we feel it's prudent to keep the P.O. Box open for at least a year in case anyone tries to contact us through it. Same with the VRI voice mail box, which was discussed last meeting. We asked NMI to scan and email all architecture change requests to the Architecture Committee mailing list.
• Beverly asked On the web site it has a phone number listed. We had several Homeowners call and complain that no one answers the phone. I'm not sure about the phone but please post our number for contact information on the HOA. Please let me know how to handle residents that want your contact info. Would you rather be emailed or called? The contact information for NMI has been on the web site since mid-May. We're assuming people are calling the VRI box, and not NMI. Rob will check VRI and make sure it's still working. All board members agreed that we would prefer to receive email at officers@.
• We discussed a few issues / concerns that we've had with NMI since they took over management duties on April 1st. In general, response time has been acceptable, but there have been a few occasions where the response time from either Katie or Beverly has stretched past one-business day (Rob recalled at least two times approaching 3 days).
• There has been some apparent confusion over where / when / how dues where collected during the transition to NMI. Beth sent an email on May 12th:

  The last time I checked P O Box 2265 was on May 3rd. Any payments that were mailed to that address have been picked up and received by NMI. The PO Box is rented by Villages at Maxwell Creek. I believe that Rob has a key, if you would like the other key I can have it mailed to your PO Box or you can come by and pick it up. As I stated before if I did deposit the funds into Maxwell Creeks account then NMI has a copy of the check with a report from QuickBooks and a deposit slip attached to it. They are filed by month in folders labeled with the months typed on the labels. If you want the box forwarded to your box file out a forwarding form and have it forwarded.

  Beverly will pick up the additional key from Beth.
• Discussed questions regarding check cutting (timing), and exceptions and work-arounds when necessary. Specifically, our landscape company, Perfecto, is a small company and when they do large jobs for us (such as the landscaping around the front median) it's difficult for them to front the $4k in materials for very long. Beverly said that they customarily cut checks twice per month, on the 1st and 15th. When necessary, they can do same or next-day checks.
• Discussed the new debit card, Rob had some questions regarding the form required to be completed, from the discussion at the last meeting it appears that the form he has is different from the one Howard received. We completed the updated form, and Beverly will send it to the bank. She expects it to take about two weeks before we receive the cards.
• Rob had a few questions regarding the check for services, what information does NMI require, and how will it be handled as a "contractor". When the need arises for Rob to order supplies, such as paper or toner for the printer, or a book for the web site, what documentation is required? Beverly stated that she won't need any information until next year when she does the end of year paperwork.
• We need Beverly to send us information about the bank accounts, including: checking, savings, CD account numbers, contacts, etc. for both CAB and Comerica. We also need information on how homeowners can make electronic payments.
• We reviewed the May receivables report. Beverly is still working on sending out letters and reviewing accounts.
• We need information from NMI's on how they handle resale / refinance costs and process and will update the web site accordingly. NMI uses condocerts.com, where the realtor will enter most of the information needed online.
• Discussed resale certificates and new homeowner binders / paperwork. In the past, Beth would mail the new homeowner binders once the property closed. Now that NMI is doing the resales, most of this is handled electronically, and the homeowner receives just a printed copy of the Bylaws & Covenants. Yesika volunteered to deliver binders to new homeowners if NMI will send her the relevant information.
• Beverly sent an email message regarding two calls she had from the homeowner at 1715 Mapleleaf Falls concerning his dues and late fee invoice. He has just moved in in March. Further discussion during the meeting revealed that this was a communication problem with the homeowner's title company, not the HOA.
• NMI forwarded us a copy of a note from 1707 Woodstream regarding late fees from 2005 dues, asking for them to be forgiven. Rob asked Beth to review the account and let us know the status including when the dues became late, were paid, etc. The latest report we have shows charges in May, June, and July, but no other information. The board members discussed this dring the block party, and agreed that even though the homeowner is technically in the wrong since they did not pay the past amount due, Beth failed to send them invoices after July 2005. Beverly will draft and mail a letter to the homeowner letting them know.
• NMI forwarded us a copy of an architectural request that came in for 1613 Bur Oak. Since it had already been over two weeks since the request was sent in, and the request wasn't anything out of the ordinary, we went ahead and approved it without consulting the architecture committee.
• Howard asked about painting his front door red. The Community Beautification Standards specify that All exterior non-structural components of a home, including but not limited to gutters, siding, eaves, trim, doors, and shutters must be in earth-tone colors. Front doors of a home may be a color other than an earth tone, with prior Architectural Committee approval. Rob asked Howard to submit the change approval form so he could send it through the architecture committee for comment.
• Rob sent Beth an email asking for the status of any open issues that she was working on prior to NMI's taking over, specifically dues collection and foreclosures. He hasn't heard back yet.
• Rob created a public calendar on Google for HOA events. The iCal address is http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/0k337jka4pbuguns9sk5vplsd0@group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics and an online viewable version is at http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=0k337jka4pbuguns9sk5vplsd0%40group.calendar.google.com Rob sent an invitation to Yesika's Gmail account and set her account to be able to add and modify events.
• Howard asked Rob if he will contact Beth directly if we have any difficulty getting information transfered / relayed to NMI.
• Discussed the next meeting date, Tuesdays are best, possibly either June 6th or 13th.

Action Items

• Rob - Order a new spare black toner for the printer.
• Rob - Send 1712 Mapleleaf Falls congratulations letter and gift card for YOTM.
• Rob - Send NMI link to enforcement process and collection policy documents. Done.
• Rob - Check VRI ringing through. Done, working fine.
• Rob - Update architecture request form to reflect new P.O. box address. Done, found two other instances as well and updated those.
• Rob - Create more new homeowner binders and drop off to Yesika.
• Rob - Update the web site with electronic payment information.
• Rob - Update the web site with new resale / refinance request information.
• NMI - Send spreadsheet comparing the various landscape bids received.
• NMI - Get HOA P.O. box key from Beth. Done.
• NMI - Notify post office to forward mail received at box 2265 to NMI.
• NMI - Send contact information for the lawyer they use.
• NMI - Check into getting a copy of the 2005 tax forms that Beth should have filed.
• NMI - Send bank information: checking, savings, CD account numbers, contacts, etc. for both CAB and Comerica and information on electronic payments. Still waiting on the other information.
• NMI - Send information on using Condocerts.com resale / refinance costs and process. Done.
• NMI - Send contact information for new homeowners when they close.
• NMI - Send electronic copies of the reports. Done.