September 8, 2015 Meeting

September 8, 2015 Meeting

Hawk’s Nest Homeowners Association

Board Meeting

September 8, 2015

7:15 pm – 9:03 pm

6157 Avocet

Dublin, Ohio

Attendees:

Steve McElroy, President

Todd Garwick, Vice President

Greg Waina, Treasurer

Tanya Ash, Acting Secretary & Landscape Chair

Elaine Borgerding, Social Committee Chair

Suzanna Farver, Welcome Committee member

Linda and Tom Neale, Welcome Committee member

Nancy Waina, Welcome Committee member

Terry Moran, Homeowner

Kevin Martin, CPA

  1. Steve McElroy called the meeting to order.
  1. All acts of the board occurring prior to the meeting were discussed, approved and ratified. The board further voted to defend and indemnify

the members of the board for all prior acts.

  1. Greg introduced Kevin Martin with Keeping Accounting Simple CPA’s to the board. Kevin is handling our neighborhood annual dues collections and accounting this year. His company focuses on small businesses and Homeowner Associations. Steve asked if there was anything our association could improve upon. Kevin suggested that we focus on setting up reserves for operating expenses as well as capital improvements. Kevin reported that our association had a total of 2 no pays (previous liens) and 4 late payments. This is a great improvement over previous years.
  1. The minutes from the April 20th meeting were approved by the officers unanimously via e-mail on April 25th and the approval was ratified at this meeting.
  1. Tanya gave an update on the neighborhood landscaping. All the mailboxes were stained over the summer. Tanya reported on how the change to using a large painting company worked. She suggested that we go with a smaller company in the future that doesn’t use subcontractors. We used a different brand of stain and we will determine if it is an improvement over the old Maxxum stain going forward. Tanya will change the mailbox information sheet going forward to reflect the new brand. Tanya mentioned that it is unfortunate that pet fence companies affix signage to the mailboxes in that it detracts from their appearance.

Tanya reported that the spruce tree that replaced a fallen spruce at the Muirfield entrance in 2014, died due to lack of water. Tanya suggested we replace it with a shrub instead, since the other spruces are getting quite large. This would require hand watering for two years since the sprinklers don’t get enough water to them.

The Avery Road entrance improvements including securing a water supply were discussed. Todd mentioned the tap in fee would approximate $3,400 and is hoping to have someone perform the hook-up and installation of a water meter at that entrance at a cost of roughly $1,500. Todd thought that the tap in could be done in October. Additionally, the overall project would include a new sprinkling system with approximately four sprinkler heads, landscape design, new plant materials and possibly a small light for the rock and installation. Todd thought that the tap could be done in October. Greg mentioned the City of Dublin’s matching grant program but this would require from advanced planning and would push parts of this project back another year. This project will be discussed again at the October board meeting.

  1. Elaine announced the dates of the remaining Social Committee engagements. The Neighborhood Block Party will be held on Sunday, September 27th, from 4-7 p.m. Elaine said she is looking for help and has e-mailed a Sign-up Genius out to committee members. The board discussed whether or not there should be a charge to attend, and it was decided that no charge felt more welcoming.

Elaine announced that the Halloween Pizza in the Park event would be held on Thursday, October 29th from 4:30-5:45.

Elaine announced that she had posted the Lunch Bunch meetings to NextDoor.

  1. Suzanna reported that the Welcome Committee has welcomed and given out a Welcome bag with neighborhood and city information to 25-26 new homeowners since the committee started last year.

Suzanna reported that the company producing our neighborhood directory would be publishing it again soon. It was suggested that the Welcome Committee add an information sheet to their welcome package to obtain new neighbor directory information in a more timely way.

  1. Steve went over old business. He mentioned that he would like to discuss changing the wording in the Code of Regulations to not be as punitive regarding late payment of annual dues in the future. Our current rules state that all dues paid after March 1st are considered delinquent and the homeowner incurs a $25 late charge for each month they are late. He thought this may become excessively punitive if someone is unable to pay dues, in that the late fees keep accumulating each month. Steve proposed we discuss minor wording changes to the late fees section of the Code of Regulations to make it less punitive. Any changes to the Code of Regulations require a neighborhood vote and re-filing of our Code of Regulations with the Franklin County Recorders office. Steve proposed we discuss it at the October meeting.

Teens at the park after dark causing a disturbance was discussed. Todd will look into seeing if the city could install a light in the gazebo. Neighbors are advised to call the police if they see people hanging out in the park after dark.

Steve set the date of our next board meeting as Tuesday, October 20th , at 7:00 p.m. Nancy will contact the police department to see if they would attend. Nancy was also asked to invite a representative from the police and the fire departments to the Neighborhood Block Party on September 27th and the Halloween Pizza in the Park on October 29th.

  1. Greg presented the Treasurers report for the second quarter of the year. On June 30, 2015 the Association had a balance of $57,048 (Checking $25,840 + Savings $31,208) and $2,325 of outstanding dues. As of September 8th, all 2015 dues have been collected but there were $100 in late fees still outstanding. Since all residents have paid their 2015 annual dues, no collection liens were filed this year. As of June 30th, the Association still had $1,750 of annual dues, late fees, and lien filing charges outstanding from past years.

As of June 30th, our YTD expenses are $18,165 of our annual expense budget of $32,590.

Greg discussed establishing a cash reserve for Operating Expenses to equal half a year’s dues ($18,000) and a Capital Improvements/Expenditures cash reserve to be available when needed and voted upon by the board. Greg anticipates finishing the year on budget, thus leaving approximately $15,000 available for Capital Improvements/Expenditures. He mentioned we could leverage the Association’s funds with the City of Dublin’s matching grant program that helps homeowner associations defray the cost of qualifying projects. This was tabled until the next Board meeting when we will start the 2016 budget discussions.

Greg stated that two residents had to rewrite annual dues checks they had put in his mailbox and were lost. Greg said that he would add wording to next year’s dues package letting neighbors know that they needed to mail their dues and not put them in the Treasurer’s mailbox.

  1. The meeting was adjourned.