Board Meeting Minutes (January 3rd, 2008)

January 3rd, 2008

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

Present

• Robert Butler - President
• Yesika Fletcher - Vice-President
• Stephanie Butler - HOA Management

Items discussed

• Review meeting minutes and action items from the last meeting.
  • Rob - Write help document for homeowners wanting to pay with PayPal.
  • Rob - Go through all of the YOTM and send certificates and awards that haven't been mailed yet.
  • Rob - Contact City and try to get ordinance changed on contractor construction notification.
  • Yesika - Get quotes for new signs specifically for the block party and Halloween party.
  • Yesika - Take the HOA signs to the storage unit.
  • Yesika - Contact Mandy Diercks about the HOA's trash can that she's still storing, and move it to the storage unit.
  • HOA Management - Get quotes for repairing fence on Shelley. All of the companies contacted so far haven't been interested in jobs as small as we needed.
• Rob called Landcare and gave them notice of immediate cancellation.
• Rob called Lindsey's Landscape and spoke with Byron Lindsey, told them they had the business.
• Rob called Phil Brown with Brown's Fence & Repair, told him that the fence work looked great, asked him if he could trim one of the aluminum fence posts on Bethany that was sticking up above the top of the fence.
• Yesika sent a message:

  Rob, we have a large number of residents with pets. I see a lot of people walking their dogs daily. I think it would be a nice to add pet waste stations at every other cul-de-sac. This will encourage all dog walkers to clean up after their pets. It seems like a reasonable investment. One of my friends neighborhood has installed these. Let me know what you think.....

  Rob wrote back:

  Sounds like a good idea, maybe we can work it in with the fences. The only snag I can think of is getting it emptied regularly. We'd have to try and see if the landscape company can do it.

• Rob received calls from Joy with Landcare and Debra with Chemlawn about the cancellation, he wrote and faxed cancellation notices to each of the companies.
• Rob sent an email to David and Byron at Lindsey's Landscape:

  David, Byron, the contract has been signed, should go out in tomorrow's mail. There are a few questions I had for you, and then a list of items that I'd like to get started on as you have time in the next few weeks (as appropriate for the season).

  First, the questions:

  • We occasionally have need to mow homeowner yards, and have always been able to send out the HOA's landscape crew to do this. Is this something you can handle, and how much lead time do you need? On this, you would bill the HOA directly, and we will bill the homeowner.
  • Completely unrelated, can I get a quote from you on maintaining my personal yard?
  • Our previous landscape company advertised in the HOA newsletter. Is this anything you would be interested in? I think they ended up with 10-15 residences. See http://maxwellcreek.org/contact/advertising/ for more information, and http://maxwellcreek.org/community/hoa/committees/social/newsletters/4q2006/ (bottom of the page) for a previous ad we ran.

  Second, tasks to look into. I'll be happy to walk the property with you to go over these items, and provide whatever history is needed.

  • Reviewing the sprinkler systems, checking for leaks, etc.
  • Trying to straighten the trees on Malone and Shelley that are leaning.
  • There is one large tree on Maxwell Creek (east side, furthest from entrance sign) that is leaning significantly. It looks like the tree had some significant damage previously. I doubt it can be straightened, please advise on whether to leave it or cut it down.
  • A number of trees still have plastic and wire remnants (either in the tree branches or around the ground) from earlier staking and/or root balls. Please remove and discard.
  • Taking a look at the crepe myrtles on Shelley, and fertilize or take other actions if necessary to promote growth. They're 7+ years old and puny.
  • Check all trees for trimming (height underneath) / shaping. Not sure about the season on this, but will need to be scheduled eventually.
  • There are several areas along Bethany and Maxwell Creek where the ground has eroded/settled and needs to be filled with soil and sodded. Either bermuda or st. augustine as appropriate.
  • Review the current landscaping in the center median on Maxwell Creek Dr., and coming up with a plan to balance / replant where necessary (several plants died during the drought last year and were never replaced).
  • Coming up with a plan for fall/winter seasonal flowers for the center median on Maxwell Creek Dr. and around the two neighborhood entrance signs on Bethany and Shelley.

• While driving the neighborhood, Stephanie noticed that there was an apparent car accident that damaged the fence along Maxwell Creek Dr. Stephanie will call the APD to find out if there is a police report available, and also will contact Phil Brown (who just repaired the fence) to come out ASAP to repair again.
• We sent the HOA's landscape company in to mow 1607 Mapleleaf Falls, the owner will be billed.
• The fence on Maxwell Creek was repaired, and the entire wooden fence along Bethany and Maxwell Creek Dr is going to be cleaned and re-stained the second week of September.
• The delinquent residence on Oak Brook was auctioned Thursday 9/4, and no one purchased it, thus the HOA owns it by default. The attorney will begin drawing up eviction and change of ownership paperwork, although the homeowner still has at least 120 days to reclaim the property.
• Rob noticed another service charge on the Chase checking account, he called Sandy to clear it up. She'll look into it and call back.
• Lindsey's Landscape is charging sales tax, Rob created an exemption form for them and emailed.
• Rob didn't receive a call back from Sandy @ Chase, but he did notice that the service charge was reversed.
• Rob sent Yesika a reminder about the social committee meeting on Tuesday 9/25. She sent out a reminder message, but no one responded so she canceled the meeting. Yesika and Stephanie talked on the phone, the same basic plan will be followed as last year. Stephanie will order candy and toys from Oriental Trading, she and Rob will assemble goodie bags for the Halloween party. Yesika will see about renting the popcorn machine from her mother rather than the vendor we used last year, it would save us about $25.
• Howard Fisher sent a message and asked What's the status of the house the HOA was foreclosing on? Did the owner decide he'd pay up, or has the foreclosure gone forward? Rob replied:

  Only one house has gone through foreclosure so far, everyone else has at least made contact. That one house has been foreclosed, and "officially" the HOA is the owner. I don't know whether any of the paperwork has been filed yet, either with the county to change ownership, or for the eviction.

  [...]

  Assuming many (at least another 3-6) months go by and the HOA does officially end up owning the house free and clear, then the decision needs to be made whether to sell the house or to lease it out.

  If the house is sold outright, then theoretically the HOA could go without any assessments for a year or two.

  If the house is rented/leased, the HOA would have a source of income, and a fallback position if it ever needed emergency capital.

• Rob asked Lindsey's landscape about the replacement of plants in the median on Maxwell Creek Dr., filling in the low areas on Bethany, and winter plantings.
• Rob contacted Lindsey's landscape about installation of Christmas decorations; they don't usually do that type of work, but gave a reference for an accredited installer.
• Rob took all of the leftover Halloween materials (and some other items that have been in his garage) to the storage unit.
• Rob and Yesika discussed the dues rate for 2008, it looks like we can drop it by $10 to $220. Even though there's a large amount of funds still owed, we've been able to save money in other places and the budget is overall looking good. Depending on the capital improvement projects undertaken (electrical installation, fences in cul-de-sacs, landscaping), we will either break even or be slightly overspent.
• The residence we foreclosed on in September was due to go to court on 12/4 for the eviction hearing. The owners called the attorney on 12/3 and made arrangements to pay off all of the debt before the end of the year. They paid $2,555.81 in cash on 12/3, and will pay the balance on 12/28.
• Rob authorized three additional residences to go to foreclosure, all three owe at least $1,500 in dues and legal fees. One of the homes has been vacant for the last three months.
• Rob contacted Roger with Freedom Electric (972) 365-1336 for a quote to install an electric outlet in the median on Maxwell Creek Dr and across the street along the western border fence. The quote did not come in on time, and the ballpark estimate was about $8k more than expected. Rob asked Stephanie to contact several other companies for quotes.
• Rob contacted Kevin Woodard with Mower Medic at 972-466-9093 about getting a quote for installation of Christmas decorations. Stephanie contacted several other companies as well looking for quotes.
• Rob met with Nelson Keomt about installing Christmas decorations.
• Rob decided on Mower Medic for the Christmas decoration installation, they should be out the week of 12/2 to do the installation.
• Rob contacted the City about getting replacement "City of Allen" stickers on the street signs, most have peeled off or become so faded they're unreadable. The previous person in charge of streets, Stanton Foerster has moved on, his replacement is Debbie Morrison. Since Stanton has moved on, Rob asked about installing speed bumps again.
• When CWD came through, they broke a large tree limb off in the north alley of Mapleleaf Falls. Rob called the City and asked them to please clean it up.
• As dues checks come in, Rob has been transferring over funds out of the checking account into the savings account so we earn more interest.
• Rob told Byron with Lindsey's landscape to go ahead with the tulip bulb installation in January. He also asked for a contact name for a reputable electrician.
• There have been a few problems with the Christmas decoration installation, including wreaths installed in the wrong locations and lights that won't stay on. For some reason, the lights around the sign on Shelley keep tripping the GFI, and it needs to be reset every other day or so. Once he can find an electrician to meet with for the other bid, he'll have them check the outlet.
• Rob renewed two CDs that matured on 12/20 and 12/22. Both are for shorter terms (4-month vs. 7-month) and a lower interest rate (4.8% vs. 5.3%), but it's the highest we can get currently. Chase is not matching CD rates from other banks anymore; Rob will investigate transferring some of the funds to another bank next year if we can get a higher rate on the CDs.
• Discussed the delinquent homeowner on Fir Harbor who is suing the HOA. The trial is on 1/10.
• The HOA foreclosed on two additional homes on 1/1; one is past due $1600, the other $2300. One additional homeowner that was about to be foreclosed on paid in full at the last moment. Rob is working on getting contact information for the mortgage company so we can make arrangements to either convert the debt or make arrangements for sale.

Action Items

• Rob - Write help document for homeowners wanting to pay with PayPal.
• Rob - Go through all of the YOTM and send certificates and awards that haven't been mailed yet.
• Rob - Contact City and try to get ordinance changed on contractor construction notification.
• Yesika - Get quotes for new signs specifically for the block party and Halloween party.
• Yesika - Take the HOA signs to the storage unit.
• Yesika - Contact Mandy Diercks about the HOA's trash can that she's still storing, and move it to the storage unit.
• HOA Management - Get quotes for repairing fence on Shelley.