Hawks Nest Homeowners Association Annual Meeting Minutes
March 23, 2023, via Zoom
Members Present: Bharat Krishnan – President Andrea Larsen – Vice President, John Aman – Treasurer, Heather Schucter – Landscape Chair, Suzanna Farver – Communications Chair,
Mr. Riggs called the meeting to order and presented the minutes from the prior meeting. The minutes were unanimously approved by the board members present, and are attached as Exhibit A.
Mr. Aman presented the Treasurer’s Report, which consisted of the 2022 financial results and the 2023 budget. Mr. Aman explained that total expenditure was significantly lower than budgeted because of fewer than expected mailbox replacements and the absence of social events due to COVID. The Financial Statements are attached as Exhibit B.
Mr. Aman commented that certain items in the 2022 budget reflected price increases related to inflation, and Mrs. Larsen suggested that such increases be incorporated into the budgets for social events as well. Mrs. Rathi inquired about other social events, such as Diwali celebrations. Mr. Riggs explained that the social events exist to recruit volunteer board members to avoid hiring a management company that would represent a significant cost to homeowners (far above the cost of the events). To that end, to the extent there are volunteers willing to coordinate events that are open to the entire neighborhood, the nature of the events in the budget can be flexible, and Mr. Aman added that the budget was really set at the broad category level, with all social events in one allotment bucket. Mrs. Farver and Mr. Riggs also added that the HNHA e-mail list can be used to publicize any neighborhood news and events, not just those funded by the HOA.
Mrs. Rathi also inquired about the potential for snow removal services to be part of the HOA scope. Mr. Riggs pointed out that as snow removal is not a service in the charter of the HOA, adding such services would likely require an amendment to the governing documents and dues increase, which would require a neighborhood vote. No one at the meeting was clear on what the voting threshold would be for such an item, but it was noted that only 51 of 208 ballots were returned for the annual meeting election. Mr. Riggs also pointed out that there could be liability considerations related to adding a snow removal service but suggested that if a group of homeowners had a passion for that or anything else, they should explore the costs and build an understanding of how much neighborhood support there would be for such an item.
The final matter related to the budget was landscaping at the neighborhood entrances. Mrs. Schucter presented landscaping proposals from 9 Trees and gave an update on the City of Dublin Neighborhood Beautification Grant Process that HNHA applied for in February. Mrs. Schucter reported that HNHA is one of 6 finalists for a grant of up to $5,000 in matching funds from the City of Dublin, and that last year there were 5 recipients of the grant. Mr. Aman raised concerns about the volume of plants included in
the proposal, and the board agreed to hold a meeting at the Muirfield entrance at a later date to discuss specific options. Based on the range of potential costs and the projected HNHA cash position, the board decided to include $25,000 for landscape entrance improvement in the final budget, which was unanimously approved by the members present, and is included as Exhibit C.
The final order of business was election of the 2022 Board. Mr. Aman reported that 51 ballots had been returned, and that the following officers had been unanimously elected.
Bharat Krishnan – President Andrea Larsen – Vice President John Aman – Treasurer
Raj Govindaraj – Secretary
Raj said that with his work and travel commitments increasing, he would like to step down as the Secretary as soon as the Board found a suitable replacement. In addition, Mr. Aman reported a significant number of volunteers, including Heather Schucter volunteering to continue as Landscape Committee Chair and Suzanna Farver volunteering to continue as Communications Chair.
The Board unanimously ratified the results of the election. There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned.
Exhibit A – Prior Meeting Minutes
Hawks Nest Homeowners Association
Minutes of Landscaping Meeting – Tuesday January 11, 2022 7.30 PM to 8 PM EST
Members Present – Matt Riggs, John Aman, Suzanna Farver, Heather Shuchter, Andrea Larsen, Raj Govindaraj
All prior items including budget amendments were ratified and approved.
The board discussed the issue of upgrading landscaping at the Brand Road and Muirfield Entrances including lighting and the relevant tasks and budgets that would be required including the application to City of Dublin for the Beautify Your Neighborhood Grant (BYNG).
The landscape committee Chair Heather Shuchter informed the board that the task of clearing out the dead trees, overgrown shrubs and weeds both entrances were completed. In her opinion, while these made the entrances look much better, the landscaping could use an update. The board considered the proposal from 9 trees who had quoted $ 6,792 for the Jacana & Avery Entrance, $ 41,593 for Muirfield and $25,231 for Brand Road entrance. It was decided that even including the money from the grant, the association could not go ahead with the proposal as it stood. The consensus was to narrow the focus and to decide in the March 2022 board meeting, what was important and what was not.
Options suggested was to limit to one entrance or to two entrances if it was only planting and reduce paver stones and opt for grass instead.
The board considered the information about the BYNG provided by Heather including copies of previous winning grants. It was decided that Heather should proceed with the application for the 2022 grant cycle that deadline for which is February 1, 2022 with the Muirfield proposal as the qualifying project.
The board also considered the matter of the landscape lighting at the Brand and Muirfield entrances needing to be replaced. Multiple shorts, GFCI outlet faults, and improper electrical connections are causing the lights to work intermittently. After discussion with the irrigation company, this has been an on-going problem with short term fixes over the years. While this maintenance has saved money over time, the systems are now in need of replacement. Quotes were received from the irrigation company $4,200 and an electrician between $3,500 and $4,000- both have serviced the landscape lighting in the past. No decision was reached in the meeting on selecting the provider and the discussion was noted.
There being no other landscaping matters, the meeting was adjourned.