Woods Garden Club HOA Board Meeting Thursday, January 19, 2017 The meeting was called to order by Donna Dozier at 6:28 p.m. Other Board members present were Violet Bourns, Brett Morton, Marc Ritthaler, Ron Stutes, Ken Wheeler, Jr., and Vic Willman. Dawn Smith with East Texas Community Management was present. Visitors John Serio and Roslyn Arnholt were in attendance. Property Management Report: Dawn said that the replacement/repair of the missing street signs was in progress. The vinyl had been completed, but it was discovered that the posts will have to be removed and taken to Holiday Sheet Metal (it would be cost-prohibitive for Holiday to remove the posts themselves). We will look at having our handyman take the signs in. It turns out that only 2 signs are needed, because the third missing sign is not within our boundaries. Dues are steadily coming in well over 50% of the properties have paid. A drive through earlier in the week discovered a handful of violations and letters have been sent. Letters went out Friday, January 13, announcing the annual meeting. Five hundred and twenty-six letters were sent. Several board members indicated that they had received theirs today. James Strong, the handyman, looked at pool fence and determined that only minor repairs were needed and he will prepare a bid for painting it. He also inspected the railing at the MINUTES OF BOARD MEETING Page 1
creek near Rock Creek and determined it needed to be replaced. He will be getting a bid on the replacement, to add to the bid that Vic received from 110 Welding earlier. The pool chlorinator shattered, probably as a result of the very cold weekend. Doug (our pool guy) contacted East Texas Pool about a replacement. It needs to be changed. The replacement will have larger lines to and from the chlorinator, which should increase the flow and prevent future freezes, as well as give us more consistent chlorine levels Vic pointed out that the light on the tree on the west side of Woods Boulevard just inside the entrance needed to be repaired. Also, the Woods emblem on the front wall is broken. Old Business: Christmas lights. There was a good bit of discussion on the Christmas lights and the problems getting them to stay on. We received a separate bill from Lighting Empire. It was determined that it was a separate charge that we d paid half of in advance. The board discussed how to handle the second half of the bill that Lighting Empire was demanding to be paid. Donna s letter had not resulted in any adjustment. Donna pointed out that his statement that the lights were never tested in wet conditions was false, because we had been out in wet cold conditions when they weren t working. Also, his attempt to place the blame on the lack of GFCI covers fails because the Southwood entrance was new and had covers, yet we had issues there, too. Ron moved that we send the draft letter Donna had circulated, with an amendment to the last paragraph to pay 50% of the remaining balance. MINUTES OF BOARD MEETING Page 2
Vic seconded that motion for the purpose of discussion. Vic indicated his dissatisfaction, especially with the failure on Christmas Eve. He stated that a 50% payment was very generous because the lights were out a lot. Marc pointed out the failure to come out to address the problem. He came out once early, but said he would charge for any additional visits. Brett and Vic agreed that the service was simply not up to our expectations. Marc suggested that the language of the letter be more firm; rather than give us a break, say we don t owe it. Vic suggested that we send only $1,000, instead of about $1,700 (50% of the remaining balance). Violet suggested that we send a complaint to the BBB. Ken said he thought that he d accept $1,700, but maybe not $1,000. Vic suggested an amendment to the motion to send only $1,000, with a more strongly-worded letter. Ron amended his motion, Vic accepted the amendment, and the motion was approved unanimously. Water Meters. Ron s chart, showing the variations on the water bills, was discussed. The discussion demonstrated that it was difficult to ascertain where the various meters were. It was determined that sprinkler controllers may be primarily responsible. The conclusion was that Ron would embellish his chart (1) adding the bills paid in January; and (2) better describing where the meters were. Financial Report: Brett Morton, as Treasurer, made the financial report. He passed out the financial reports with the check register. The balance sheet showed an increase, but that was primarily due to early payments of dues. He noted that, as usual, expenses exceed income for the month, but this is on track for this MINUTES OF BOARD MEETING Page 3
time of the year. There are only a few expenses that are outside of what is expected. It was discussed regarding the extent to which the increased water bill was a function of the city s rate increase, a leak on the greenbelt, and some pool issues. New Business: Ken invited all to the City s 2017 Arbor Day celebration tree-planting at 9:30 a.m. at Lindsay Park. Also, the sapling give-away will possibly be about February 18 in the parking lot between Lowe s and Chick-Fil-A. There may be 1500-2000 trees to be distributed. Dawn will have the pens for the sign-up sheets. Also the necessary material for receiving dues. Ken pointed out that the donation of the property to the HOA came from Chaney & Wheeler. Board members will be asked to arrive at 6 to help set up. Forms need to be filled out by candidates. The church will put out directional signs and we will let people know what entrance to go in. We had to let the church know by January 5 whether we wanted a sound man to assist; Guy Bugg will be there to assist. Miscellaneous/Non-action Items Vic mentioned that we had, in the past, not ticketed parking issues during the holidays. Dawn said that rather than not ticketing, we had just told people to let us know that there are visitors that they will get a ticket, but we will let it slide. Ken mentioned that there was a property where we permitted a tree removal that was supposed to be MINUTES OF BOARD MEETING Page 4
replaced; we had given them a year delay in that, but it was time to be done. Violet mentioned that some of the plants that froze would be cut back to 2 inches, but the roses could not be trimmed until February (and they ll just have to look bad in the meantime). Vic noted that there was an area in Rock Creek that looked like it was starting to erode and it needed some rock. Vic mentioned that areas in the greenbelt were really struggling with grass growing; we need to consult with someone to give us advice on how to remedy this. It also applies to the corner at Rock Creek where we removed the trees. Vic will contact one or more landscapers to see if they can give us a cost estimate. Visitor Comments/Questions: John Serio asked about the candidacy letters, and was told that they should be arriving on Thursday or Friday. He also asked how we ensure that people with pool access are paying. Dawn said that everyone who gets a key gets billed until they turn it back in. If they report a lost key at the end of the summer, they will not be billed in the future. Adjournment: Vic moved that the meeting be adjourned and Marc seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Ron Stutes Secretary MINUTES OF BOARD MEETING Page 5