Annual Meeting - September 20, 2016

Annual Meeting: September 20^th 2016, 7:30 pm

 

See attached form for homeowners in attendance

 

President (Paul) opened meeting up with a greeting, “Thank you for coming. The meeting will come to order at 7:30 pm.” Dale seconded followed by Rob.

 

Purpose:        

1.      Discuss Past year

2.      Upcoming Year

3.      Election of board

 

Paving:  Discussed by Rob

At the annual meeting last year it was agreed to have the paving project started.

There were 3 bids, each one varied some.

Over the summer, the board accessed the money & paving needs. The board chose to go with JW Paving for a total of $19,400. Also, 64 driveways got sealed (paid by individual homeowners).

JW is willing to do a walk-around to access other needs of the community & work within our budget to continue to maintain roads over time instead of waiting for roads to need repairs on a larger scale. This will be under the discretion of the board in 2016-2017.

 

Solar lights: Discussed by Paul

We have a total of 14 lights. Three lights were replaced with solar. Med-Ed was never contacted about replacing the lights. The three original lights were removed and have disappeared. The solar lights installed were not the ones that were supposed to be installed according to some of the past board, but there is no paper trail on what was supposed to be installed. The bill has been adjusted and it appears to be around $40.00 dollars less for the past 3 or 4 months. Would LED be cheaper than bulbs currently using? The future idea of solar lights will need to be reviewed upon going forward with the board in 2016-2017.

 

Communication: Discussed by Paul

The HOA now have a Facebook, a website, a blog and the newsletters have started back up. The plan is to have newsletters sent out quarterly with community information and contact information for the board.

 

Trash Cans: Discussed by Paul, then Rob

Reminder that trash cans need to be removed from street within 24 hours after pick-up.

Also, put out within reasonable time before pick-up.

Hopefully with the new, larger recycle bins the community we will see less debris than from the smaller recycle bins.

If you do have a lot of trash, try to bundle it together.

(Rob) The HOA Board is looking at getting the trashed picked up on the odd side of the houses (access road) because of having to tote two large cans around now.

A call has been made to Penn-Waste to confirm and the board was waiting for road to settle from the completed work of paving.

 

Homeowner at #135: About 10-15 years ago they were told they would not be able to use the service road to pick up trash because of the weight of the unit.  (Rob) He did discuss the condition of the road with Penn Waste over the phone and they did not seem to think it would be an issue. (Paul) Penn Waste will physically come out to review the road before a decision is made.

 

Homeowner at #203: What way would they drive around? (Paul) Unsure

 

Homeowner at #213: She apologized that her husband works late and that they would be more prompt about putting trash cans away.

 

Attorney: Discussed by Paul

Our by-laws state that we need to have an attorney on retainer

The current board decided on an attorney. Her name is Jody Leighty, from Stock & Leader, and she knows the HOA & Real Estate laws. We have a letter of engagement on file with her and can use her as a needed basis.

 

Homeowner at #203: Why do we need an attorney?  (Paul) To assist with anything legal such as insurance, liens, and liability policy.  Both the President and Treasurer have to sign checks to prevent fraud. The upcoming board in 2016-2017 will need to decide if we have funds available to have by-laws reviewed. They are outdated. We are the max that we can charge for annual homeowner’s dues which is $600.00 annually. The dues should have been raised years ago.

 

Budget Review: Discussed by Jon & Paul

The current homeowner’s fees are $50.00/month, $600.00 annually.

(See attached reports) The lawn/snow continues to be a big expense.

 

Homeowner at #125: Why is the treasury fee $275.00/month?  (Paul) It was determined by the previous boards. We do not feel it is outrageous. Bonnie had collected $275.00 for years. Also to have full disclosure, Jon is employed at Santander who handles our finances, but does not have access to our accounts.

 

Homeowner at #212:  With having experience living with the treasurer, he does do a lot of work with collection of payments and banking.

 

Homeowner at #110: What about the delinquent dues? (Paul) No liens were placed on the houses per the Board decisions. (Jon) Out of the 3 houses behind dues, 2 are father behind. The homeowners are working on making payments arranged by them and the board.

 

 

Homeowner at #125: Why don’t we take them for 6 months back pay which better than nothing? We need to file a lien; we have lost 10k from previous boards. (Paul) One is paying currently and the other homeowner made arrangements to pay current and back pay. Jody, (attorney) advised no judge would agree in our favor. It makes more sense for us to collect what we can than to pay for liens, paperwork cost, and the lawyer. Bonnie was not sure of the correct procedure on how to file liens and therefore not many were done under her terms. The current board decided to work with each family to obtain the fees.

 

Homeowner Donna Knaub: I would like to applause the board on handling the delinquent accounts over the previous year. (Paul) We started out with 20-30 delinquent accounts and are down to 3-4.

 

Homeowner#?: Will we get payment coupons? (Paul) We are working on the Fall Newsletter currently and will plan on coupons being sent out in December.

 

Homeowner at 118: I have information about newsletter. I belong to a HOA in the South and we send out one every month. We make $1000.00 in advertising by using the church bulletin. (Paul) We are currently using laptop & printing out at work to keep cost down.

(See attached of financial track) (Paul) If we continue with same HOA fees by 2016 our account will be in the negative balance.  The board for 2016-2017 will need to review the budget. Can we increase dues? Should we look at lawn care bids? How can we save cost? What other avenues of income can we get?

 

Open floor discussion:

Homeowner #215: Can I change my front porch light out to this? Do I need to submit to Architectural Committee?  (Paul)Did you get the last newsletter because the committee is in there. It is Donna, Sharon, Karen, & Carly. Architecture committee was not utilized well last year. I would submit form to committee.

 

Homeowner #184: How did we make out with repairs needed from the infraction letters? Are you happy with the results? (Paul) Just to verify, it was not a true infraction letter because we did not fine individuals, but wanted them to be aware of things to clean up in yards. We are happy with the results. A lot of homeowners did work on their houses after those letters were sent.

 

Homeowner #118: What do I do if I want to do something in my backyard? (Paul) There is nothing in the by-laws about back yards. If it is a replacement to deck, adding a structure, exterior home, you may have to contact York Township to get a permit & submit to Architecture Committee to let them know what you are working on. If you are replacing a plant of the same size, no need to submit form.

 

Homeowner #152: There is a weeping willow that overhangs onto my back yard, but is rooted on Warner property? Can I take it down or trim it? (Paul) Report it to the township and ask who owns it. If the confirm it is Warner’s advise them they are maintaining it.

 

Homeowner #119: Do I have to fill out the architecture form if I am replacing my windows? (Paul) Technically, yes. Questionable if it is the same window.

 

Homeowner #213: If replacing the support bracket for a deck do I need to do architecture form? (Paul) No, because it is a repair.

 

Homeowner #119: What about the blue/purple shutters? Do you have official colors? (Paul) The board does have official colors. Homeowner #203: At one time the board said you could change the colors. (Paul) There are only 5 colors and if change was done the door & shutters still had to match to maintain uniform.

 

Homeowner #141: Thank you for cooperation over paving.

 

Homeowner #206: Our neighbors have huge dogs with big poop and never clean it up. Looks like landmines. And will throw the poop up into the trees. Even the lawn guy is tired of poop getting into his equipment. (Paul) The by-laws say the homeowner needs to pick up after pets. I have no issues with walking over to their house and talking to them about it.

 

Homeowner #?: What about adding dog post with doggie bags for picking up poop in community? (Paul) It would be good in theory, but added cost to HOA.

 

 

Election: Discussed by Paul and Dale.

(Paul) The election committee is Dale/Holly/ Sharon.

(Dale) By-laws state nomination is needed. In past newsletter, it said if anyone was interested to let current board know. No one was interested. (Paul) One voting ballot per household, there are 5 votes needed, but cannot vote one person 5 times. Any questions? (No) Please include house number on voting ballot.

 

Geri & Jon counted the votes. The 2016-2017 board will remain the same, Paul, Dale, Sharon, Pat, & Rob.

 

Next Meeting: Discussed by Paul

Any homeowner is welcome to these meetings. The next meeting will be October 18^th, 2016 at 7:00 pm at House #141.

 

Meeting adjourned at 8:33 pm per Paul. Seconded by Dale, then Rob.

 

Minutes respectfully submitted by Geri Leidy.