Board Meeting Minutes (January 11th, 2007)

January 11th, 2007

The meeting was called to order at 7:30pm at 1607 Woodstream Ln.

Present

• Robert Butler - President
• Yesika Fletcher - Vice-President
• Howard Fisher - Treasurer
• Stephanie Butler - HOA Management

Items discussed

• Review meeting minutes and action items from the last meeting.
  • Rob - Finish the newsletter, print, and distribute. Done.
  • Rob - Contact City and try to get water restriction ordinance changed to allow for issues with commercial property. Ongoing.
  • HOA Management - Contact Yesika, find out if she has reserved the meeting room at the library / school for next meeting. Otherwise, Stephanie will reserve it. Yesika had not reserved the meeting room, Stephanie did so.
  • HOA Management - Get bids for having the stone slabs (with the neighborhood name) at the entrances on Bethany and Shelley cleaned and repainted. A number of companies have been contacted for bids, but none yet have actually followed through with showing up and providing a quote. Will continue to work.
  • HOA Management - Find contact info / get bid from an off-duty police officer or security company for watching the area along Shelley and the brick fence for damage. Two companies contacted, one did not call back. The verbal bid was for $30 per drive by inspection.
  • HOA Management - File or update liens on all delinquent properties. Write off the small charge still listed on Hackberry. Liens filed.
  • HOA Management - Send Perfecto out to mow 1615 Oak Brook; the house is vacant and unmaintained, even though it is still listed and owned by the homeowner and has not been foreclosed. Previous attempts at contact have not been successful. Done.
• Rob created an form letter page for lien filing and lien release that will pull the necessary information directly out of the database.
• Rob created an form letter page for when new homeowners purchase a house, but the title company doesn't properly collect delinquent assessments from the previous homeowner.
• Rob received an email back from Andrea Smith with the City that she was back in the office. Rob called and left a voice message.
• Rob received a call back from Andrea on 11/14 at 11:30am, and talked with her for about 20 minutes about his concerns with the watering restriction ordinance. Andrea said that she talked with Steve Massey about Rob's email, and her department's primary responsibility is in the enforcement of the restrictions, and that they cannot give preferential treatment to one group or another regardless of the circumstances. She said that the only real changes they saw forthcoming were in the possible removal of warnings all together (neither Frisco or Plano give warnings), as well as the option to make the citations an administrative fee only rather than requiring people to go through the court system (the same option discussed in the meeting on 10/11). Rob asked whether it was possible to work through Andrea's department if/when we receive a future citation to get it dismissed like they did with the others, and Andrea said that that was pretty much a one-time favor from Steve to do that, and that the system is really set up so that any challenges have to go through the court system. Andrea mentioned that one neighborhood in the city has a homeowner that walks their entire sprinkler system every day, and asked whether it was possible to get a volunteer in our neighborhood to do the same; Rob replied that it most likely wasn't going to happen given the level of participation we usually have. Additionally, Rob said that even if we do notice a problem, we still rely on our landscape maintenance company to come out and resolve the issue, and that we don't even have the ability to turn off the sprinkler system on Malone by ourselves, since the HOA only has one controller, and the landscape company has possession of it. Rob asked whether this was something to bring up with the City Council, and Andrea said that would be the best path forward and to make sure and mention the inability to turn off the sprinkler system on our own. Rob also asked whether it was possible for him to be involved in any future changes to the ordinance to provide a different perspective than that of either a traditional resident or large corporation, and Andrea said she would try and do so. Andrea mentioned that the Plano City Council discussed this topic on their agenda last night, and that among the changes they were looking at was to remove the personal misdemeanor clause (ie, allow companies rather than individuals to sign), and also to allow the water department greater leeway in determining citations. We discussed notification requirements for contractors, and Andrea said to ask Janet Moeri about it, as the engineering department should be the ones receiving notice from contractors when they perform work.
• Rob read through the relevant sections of the Plano city council agenda and the council packet that Andrea referenced. He saw the changes allowing for administrative fees rather than criminal offenses, but did not see any references to allowing the city of Plano water department greater leeway in determining citations. Also, there are no provisions for differences between residential and commercial properties, only one unified customer definition.
• Rob sent Andrea a follow-up email:

  Hi, Andrea, thanks for calling me back today on my questions about the watering restrictions. I did have one additional thought after our conversation, specifically about leeway and variances: is it possible to request a variance?

  Such that we (the HOA) will comply with all restrictions provided for under Stage-3, but allow for an opportunity to resolve issues prior to the City issuing a citation?

  • This is meant only as an opportunity to resolve and repair, and not allow for any additional watering as would normally be requested under a variance.
  • Furthermore, it could be codified such that the HOA would accept and pay for violations that cannot be shown to have resulted from anything other than damage to the system (eg, broken head, valve, etc.). The HOA would provide copies of invoices from our landscape maintenance company if requested.

• Rob sent a message to Howard and Yesika:

  FYI, we received a letter in the mail yesterday from the IRS stating that we were being assessed a $600 fine for filing the tax return late. I called Beth yesterday, and she said she would look through her records.

  I hadn't heard back, so I called her again today. She said that she looked, but couldn't find a copy of the filing extension form, so she's assuming they forgot to send it.

  We are allowed to send a letter explaining why the filing was late, and to request that the penalty be waived. We had the same thing happen in 2004 when we found out that Excel had neglected to file taxes in 2003. Beth is going to look for and send me a copy of the letter she sent in 2004. I'll update it and send. If we are unsuccessful in getting it waived, then I believe Beth should compensate us for the fine.

  On a brighter note, we received the closing check from NMI today, so I'll stop by the bank and deposit it tomorrow morning.

• Stephanie filed 10 liens on delinquent properties after performing a title search and verifying that NMI had not done so. Two other new homeowners had inherited delinquencies because the previous homeowner and title company failed to pay at close. Stephanie mailed letters to them asking them to contact us ASAP regarding the debt otherwise liens would be filed.
• Rob deposited the final check from NMI closing the CAB accounts, $1,787.72. He also requested a new signature page so Yesika can be added, and a debit card for Stephanie.
• Rob went to the courthouse for his courtdate on the HOA water violation. After talking with the prosecutor, they agreed to drop one of the two citations, leaving $100 to be paid. He also gave Rob 30-days deferred adjudication (reduced from the normal 90-days) so that it won't show up on his personal record. Afterwards, Rob ran into Andrea Smith, and they discussed the citation and the variance request he had made. She didn't think it would be accepted, but didn't have a final answer. Rob has to sign the disposition form, have it notarized, and return it between December 16th and January 13th.
• Rob sent an email: I had a thought last night, do we want to accept credit cards for payment of HOA dues? My thinking is this would allow us to possibly receive payments sooner, and cut down on the number of delinquencies. We went back and forth a few times in email and approved it as an option. Howard: Okay -- I suggest we offer the credit card option to those who'd rather spread out their payments (at obscene interest) rather than pay us timely. Below is a chart comparing a few options:

  	Chase	Intuit	Paypal
  Setup Fee	$100.00	Free	Free
  Cost Per Month	$10.00	$24.90	Free
  Cost Per Transaction	$0.15	$0.23	$0.30
  Overhead	1.95-3.25%	1.76-3.95%	1.90-2.90%
  Phone / Fax Orders	N	N	$20.00 / month
  Website Integration	N	Y	Y
  Customer Phone Support Available	N	N	Y

  Overall, Paypal works out to be the cheapest with the most options. There are three additional benefits:
  1. We (the HOA and/or Board Members) never see the credit card numbers,
  2. Phone orders are possible,
  3. eventual website integration.
  Plus, people know and (for the most part) trust Paypal. Rob went ahead and created a Paypal account and added the information to the board member info page.
• During an email thread about suggested topics for the December 4th open-forum meeting, Yesika wrote:

  Hey there, I am back from my weekend away.....

  I do have some feedback on getting people to participate. Unfortunately, it has been discussed before and was voted against. I hate to bring it up again, but we may need to seriously consider it. As I have stated before, I have a friend who lives in an older community and they have a large number of their homeowners participate because they have a good mix of fun for adults and children.

  Can we consider offering Alcoholic beverages at our block parties? Believe it or not, this brings people out of the woodwork. I realize that there may be some people who will oppose, but we already have a group of those people, who appose almost everything. Everything we do is for the children, but we also have couples who do not have children and see no reason to participate at our social functions. I feel that once we have a couple of events where we provide alcohol, we will then have more people to socialize with and encourage them to participate in all other areas.

  When I say let's provide alcohol I don't mean let it be a huge drunk fest, but I do think that a nice balance of adult fun and fun for the children will bring a nice balance to our community.

  […]

  I realize that this may be a sensitive subject, but I still think it is worth discussing.

  Howard responded: Forgive my short-term memory, but what was brought up before and voted against? I think beer (canned, not bottled) at festive gatherings would be a welcome addition. We can't be sure than underage kids won't try to fudge, but that's life. I think we could control it. Whatever works. Rob responded back to Yesika and Howard:

  Yesika brought it up at a social committee meeting earlier this year about providing beer during the block party.

  I'm strongly against this for a number of reasons (even excluding my own aversion to alcohol), such as:

  1. We would need a liability waiver / coverage from our insurance carrier.
  2. We probably would need some type of license from they City. We're not selling, but certainly distributing. There's also a City ordinance concerning drinking in public, and I don't know how / whether it would apply.
  3. While you might get a handful of complaints about HOA dues spent on events that are kid-focused, I can virtually guarantee complaints from dues going towards alcohol.
  4. Some religions - most notably Islam, Sikhism, the Bah'i­ Faith, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Nikaya and most Mahayana schools of Buddhism and some Protestant sects of Fundamentalist Christianity (Baptist, Mormon) - forbid, discourage, or restrict the consumption of alcoholic beverages for various reasons. If nothing else, we have a diverse neighborhood and some homeowners may object on moral grounds.
  5. We barely have enough volunteers to run activities as it is. Where are we supposed to find more to make sure that no minors possess / consume, no one removes / leaves with any, drinks too much, etc?

  I'm all for holding more "adult" activities, but I don't see how / why the HOA providing alcohol would magically bring in more people. Some ideas:

  • Chili cook-off
  • Arrange for a neighborhood tour of homes.
  • Poker / bridge / movie night
  • Group meet at a new restaurant each month

  Howard wrote back: Unfortunately, I agree with most of what you said. <s>
• Rob stopped by Chase and dropped of a coupon he received in the mail for a free $75 to have it applied to the HOA's accounts ($25 for completing an account review, and $50 for opening a new account). Frankie said it should show up in the account within a week.
• Rob sent a follow-up email to Andrea asking about the status on the requested variance. She responded back:

  I've talked with Steve and he is working on drafting a revision to the Ordinance that will include a provision where HOAs, corporations, etc. can elect to have administrative penalties attached to their water bills rather than go through the court system. There will be a process in place that will allow the responsible parties to appeal to the Director or Assistant Director of Community Services. There will also be a provision (if things aren't satisfactorily resolved) where the case can still be referred to the Municipal Court. I told Steve that after he drafts his proposed changes, that I would send them to you to add any comments or suggestions since you've expressed an interest. The revisions will still need to have legal review. We are really hoping to get this on the January Council agenda.

  As far as your suggestion about being notified that there is a problem and allowing you to fix the problem and bring paperwork proving you've made the corrections -- that would be something that you would bring with you in the appeal process and the Director or Assistant Director would have the authority to reduce or dismiss the administrative fee. I think that this process would accomplish what you are seeking.

• Rob remembered that the 27th was the response date to the IRS on the penalty letter we received, and he hadn't received the copy of the previous letter she sent in 2004. He called the IRS and explained the situation. They said we probably already had another reminder letter in the mail since the system sends them out about every 20-25 days. They also put an additional 4-week extension on the file. Rob drafted an explanation letter, and sent it to Howard, Yesika, and Stephanie for review. It was mailed the following day.
• Rob sent a message to Howard and Yesika:

  If you're still wanting to include a homeowner survey with the 2007 dues invoice, can ya'll provide me with a list of questions? I'm running extremely short on time and won't be able to do this myself in the near future.

  I'll need specific, completely worded questions, along with any multiple choice answers, yes/no, or fill-in-the-blank details.

  Howard replied back I'll whomp up suggested questions and add to and subtract from the survey taken a couple years ago -- if I can find it again on our website. Help?, and then later:

  The more I ponder this, the more I'm convinced that we shouldn't try to outguess or spoonfeed the membership. Let them do a little thinking on their own. <s>

  Rather than a lengthy questionnaire, I'd suggest something short and sweet, viz:

  As we face a new year, The Maxwell Creek Homeowners Association needs your ideas and suggestions.

  What are the 5 most important things you'd like the Homeowners Association to do or accomplish in the coming year?

  And how would you implement your ideas?

• Rob completed setup of the PayPal account, and sucessfully sent money to and refunded it.
• Rob drafted the proposed budget for 2007-2008, the dues cover letter, and survey, and sent out for review.
• The annual contract with TruGreen Chemlawn for fertilization service is up for renewal.
• Rob sent a message to Steve Massey with the City:

  While going through the records for the Association (The Villages At Maxwell Creek), I was unable to find any records for 1720 Elm Spring Ct., which is the address of the lift station. From reviewing the Covenants of our Association, it appears as though the City is responsible for paying the annual membership dues for that lot. You can read the exact wording online: http://www.maxwellcreek.org/community/hoa/documents/covenants/#article_3_section_1

  If you have any documentation or records that show otherwise, please let me know; otherwise, I will be mailing out an invoice next week.

  Steve replied back:

  I'll forward your HOA document extract to the City Attorney for review. The land was donated to the City by the developer to operate the sewer lift station for the benefit of the residents, not purchased.

  We have, of course, never paid HOA dues before.

  We then received a reply from the City attorney, Peter G. Smith, shortly afterward:The city is not subject to private deed restrictions nor may the City's property be subject to assessments and liens. Further any liens filed against city property are not enforceable. Moreover Article III section 11 exempts lots owned by the city. Rob replied to Steve and Peter, OK, great, thanks for your quick response. I'll update our records. I believe the invoice went out already, please ignore when you receive.
• Rob cashed out the Comerica CD that matured on 12/4, and deposited it at Chase. Once we start getting money in from the annual dues, Rob will open a new CD at Chase.
• We received a blank form 1096 in the mail from the IRS; Rob wasn't sure what it was for, so he called and spoke with Ron Pardo #2910088. We only need to complete and file this form if we are filing one of the other forms listed, otherwise we can disregard. Rob will email Beth and ask her whether any other forms need to be done.
• Rob noticed on 12/13 that the $75 credit for the coupon he dropped off at Chase still hadn't been posted. He called and spoke with Joshua who said that he saw it in the system, and that they normally post on Wednesdays. He said to check again tomorrow.
• We received our first payment via PayPal on 12/15. Rob set up the money market account that PayPal offers, we're currently getting 5.03% interest on the account.
• Rob had the 30-day deferred adjudication for the HOA water citation notarized and dropped it off at the courthouse on 12/21.
• Rob had a conversation with Marty Brandon from Perfecto about how his business has been doing, since Rob had a few concerns after talking with a previous employee and noticing that some work was taking a long time to complete. Marty said that 2006 was a bad year, but that the company was in good shape and he would let us know if he had any intentions to shut down the company. He also said he would take care of the few items that were still outstanding in the next week.
• Rob talked with Andrea Smith with the City about the current draft of the new water restriction ordinance. There are some improvements such as allowing violations to be an administrative fee rather than a criminal citation, but there are still two major concerns that aren't addressed:
  1. Each and every day a violation occurs is a separate violation; in principle, this isn't a problem, however, the only method of notification to the property is via first-class mail — by the time the notice is received, any warning has already passed into a violation without an opportunity to cure. Andrea said that informally they try to call owners when they have that contact information, or by placing a written notice on their door, but the City doesn't have telephone numbers for everyone, and the HOA has no physical location to place a notice.
  2. There still is no expiration / reset time on violations / warnings, and there should be a one calendar year reset or something similar. This ordinance will be on the books forever, as will the violation(s). A warning today means that there will be an immediate violation 10 years from now with no warning.
  Andrea said that Steve Massey is strongly against any expiration dates on violations, and that Allen is one of the few cities in the area that gives warnings. Rob asked Andrea if the amendment was still on the agenda for the January 23rd City Council meeting, and she said that Steve currently has the city attorney reviewing the wording and is trying to get on the calendar for that date. Rob will try and attend the council meeting, as that's going to be the last time he can attempt to get the ordinance changed.
• Someone drove over the cul-de-sac on Mapleleaf Falls Dr.
• Rob updated the HOA timeline document again.
• Good news, the IRS accepted Rob's explanation letter and waived the penalty we were assessed due to the late filing on the tax return.
• Rob opened a new 7 month $10k CD at Chase, this one is at 5.30% interest as well. He also inquired as to getting a better interest rate on our accounts; we're currently getting 5.03% on funds in PayPal, and there's no reason to transfer them out.
• We reviewed and signed the contract for services with HOA Management.

Action Items

• Rob - Get quotes for new signs specifically for the neighborhood garage sale, open forum, block party, and Halloween party.
• Rob - Contact City and try to get ordinance changed on contractor construction notification.
• Rob - Drop off signature page at Chase.
• Rob - Update violation category to allow for sending landscape crew.
• Yesika - Take down Christmas decorations on Shelley.
• Howard - Get quote for having a printer print and mail meeting reminder postcards.
• HOA Management - Get bids for having the stone slabs (with the neighborhood name) at the entrances on Bethany and Shelley cleaned and repainted.
• HOA Management - Find an attorney to mail out default notices, and follow up on one to file foreclosures.
• HOA Management - Find out when PO Box comes up for renewal, renew if necessary.
• HOA Management - Call Frisco Electric to look at the electric outlet on Shelley.
• HOA Management - Call First Texas again about the trash from workers blowing along Shelley and Fir Harbor Ct.
• HOA Management - Get fertilization quote from Perfecto. Done, the quote from mid-2006 is still valid, and on the floppy Marty delivered at the time.
• HOA Management - Get quotes for storage unit.