March 14, 2007 Meeting Minutes

 

 

Larry Velte called the meeting to order at 7:35pm.  Present: Velte, Meyer, Shinal, Messinger, Fredericks.  Absent:  Gorrell, Hovland.

 

The February minutes were presented by Fred Fredericks.  Joe Meyer moved that the minutes be approved and Jim Messinger seconded.  Motion passed 5-0. 

 

Bernie Shinal presented the Treasurer’s report.  The current balance is $45,597.73.  Of that, $41,368.28 is in the checking account and the remaining $4,229.45 is in the reserve account.  Bernie presented a $373 quote from our insurance company for a $25,000 fidelity bond which would cover the Association in case any of the money in the bank account were stolen by a director or by the property management company.  The Board had previously approved pursuing the fidelity bond.  During discussion, members of the board suggested that we should consider pursuing a $50,000 policy due to the size of our bank account balance.  Bernie indicated he would go get a new quote.

 

In anticipation of Jim Messinger assuming the Treasurer duties for the next fiscal year, Bernie has begun work to change the contact address for the Association from Bernie to Jim with both our bank and our attorney.  Additionally, Bernie and Jim will jointly work on the first draft of the 2008 budget, to be presented to the Board at the next monthly meeting.  Fred asked if, given that Jim has not formally been elected to the position, if our covenants or bylaws prevented any of these actions from being taken.  The board then reviewed those documents and concluded that there are no issues with any of these actions being taken at this time.

 

Regarding the homeowners who are still delinquent as far as their annual dues, Larry Velte commented that we have until July to file the liens.  The liens need to be filed by an officer of the Board unless we wish to pay our attorney to do it.  Larry asked if anyone would want to volunteer to go with him to the courthouse to learn the lien filing process for future occasions.  Jim Messinger volunteered to do so.  Additionally, Larry suggested that we cross-check with the county website the addresses that our property management company lists for the 21 homeowners who are delinquent.  Fred Fredericks volunteered to handle that task, and pass any discrepancies onto RCS.

 

Larry Velte reported that the printing company would charge only $60 to not only print but also cut, label, and stamp the postcards for our initial mailing about the annual meeting, saving the board members significant time and effort.  After a suggestion from Fred, Larry agreed to ask the company what they would charge for stuffing and labeling the envelopes for the annual meeting.  As they have machines that can do many of the tasks, it may be reasonably economical, given the 15-20 person-hours that the task takes to do manually.

 

Bernie Shinal provided an update on the Bessmer walkway project.  He believes the work is about 80% complete.  The railings were removed from the steps, and Mr. Barry (the contractor) welded pipe to the existing pipe that connected the railings to the steps.  The railings have all been reset, and repainted and are now secure.  The blocks of sidewalk were cut every few feet, and Mr. Barry lifted up each section and removed the roots that were underneath.  While some leveling of the sidewalk has taken place, the remainder of the task is to finish the leveling by adding sand and/or gravel as appropriate under the walk.  Mr. Barry has said that with the recent wet weather it would be better to wait for the ground to dry before finishing this part of the work.  Bernie indicated that he had paid Mr. Barry $1700  thus far, and was withholding $300until the work is completed.  Completion is estimated for early April.

 

The Board has received an invoice for $400 from Northern Virginia Tree Experts for removal of the tree on common land near Catterick Ct.  The tree on common land near Tapestry Dr. was deemed unsafe to remove by the tree company.  The board briefly discussed what to do about that tree as we were caught off-guard by the tree company’s unwillingness to remove that tree.  Fred Fredericks and Joe Meyer have both been by the lot to look at the tree in question, and it appears that the tree is pretty well surrounded by other healthy trees, so if the tree were to fall the likelihood is very high (in our unprofessional opinions) that the fallen tree would come to rest on a nearby tree or trees rather than fall and damage any homes.

 

Larry Velte reported on the Kings West Swim Club meeting that he attended on February 28th.  At that meeting, the Club membership voted to enter into a contract with a developer who has agreed to provide detailed drawings of a proposed four townhome development.  At the meeting it was mentioned that the road leading from Tapestry Dr. to the driveways of the homes may be owned not by the homeowners themselves but whatever homeowner’s association ends up owning that land.  Our Association has no other roads to maintain and this would pose a significant burden to us that should be investigated further should the Club ask us to put a vote to our membership as to whether or not we should annex that land as our membership approved we do at the May 2006 Annual meeting.

 

Fred Fredericks presented a list of houses from the Common area between Tapestry and Commonwealth that he had identified as possibly encroaching when he walked the common land earlier in March.  After reviewing the list and comparing it to property maps that Larry had, it was decided that several on the list did not in fact encroach.  Bernie also mentioned another home that was possibly encroaching from that area.  For those houses that were still on the possibly encroaching list, a second check by a separate board member may be warranted to confirm the encroachment before action is taken. 

 

Joe Meyer reported that the Architectural Committee approved on February 12th the 5273 Pumphrey Dr. renovation, which was discussed in detail during the February Board meeting. 

 

Bernie Shinal mentioned that we needed to purchase some filing boxes to organize documents in preparation for his transition off of the Board.

 

Fred Fredericks moved to adjourn and Bernie Shinal seconded.  Motion passed 5-0.  Meeting was adjourned at 8:55pm.