Leewood Homeowners Association

April 13, 2004 Board Meeting

Minutes

Open Forum

Ron Filadelfo expressed the need to update the reserve study this year.

Tony McSorley asked if we could post a sign to claim ownership of the five parking spots at Braddock Mews, to be included in the budget for replacing the “Leewoods” sign at the entrance to the development. Several present cautioned against “claiming” those spots without reviewing previous plot surveys and reserve studies to first determine that Leewood HOA actually owns them.

Approval of Minutes

None were presented. Judy Currier indicated that none of the 2004 minutes have been presented yet and she would like to get them onto the website. Anne will work on the February minutes and Ron will help with the March minutes (annual meeting).

Communication of Board Roster

Each of the newly elected Board members introduced themselves to those gathered and indicated what position he had accepted. The new roster is listed above under Attendees.

Commercial Vehicle Ban Enforcement

We must ensure that all homeowners and residents have been notified of the passage of the ban before enforcement can occur. The Leewood website contains information about the ban and the fact that it was passed at the Annual Meeting, but we cannot be sure that all homeowners and residents read the website. Next steps were discussed. It was decided that personal notification of each homeowner by certified mail was optimal. Ken and Anne will draft and send the letter to every address in Leewood, as well as off-site owners, before the May meeting. Any letters that are returned as non-deliverable will be hand-delivered. Enforcement of the ban will begin on July 1, 2004. Violators will receive a ticket for the first violation, and then will be towed for any subsequent violations.

Committee Reports

Grounds & Maintenance

Al reported that the G&M Committee now has three members plus himself. Ron reported that Leestone Court was patched following the work that was done by Dominion Virginia Power’s electrical contractor. However, several areas of grass need to be reseeded. Al & Ron will follow up. Also, one mailbox on Leebrad still needs to be repaired. Al and Ron will take care of this. Al reported that “The Care of Trees” will be rehired this year to maintain the health of the trees in the common areas. He spoke with Richard’s Tree Service and one other company but they don’t do this kind of work anymore. Anne volunteered to be the on-site contact for the tree company. The new contract includes horticultural oils and IPM programs, which are new for us this year. Yards Are Us will remove two trees (Leestone Street and Leebrad Court) and five stumps (painted orange) for an estimated $1400. Al will write a newsletter article and put up notices on Leebrad about disposing of paint cans. They need to be placed in plastic bags in order for the trash company to remove them. The first mowing of the season was delayed by rain. The mowing will be postponed until the ground has had a chance to dry and then the clippings will be removed too. Al will look at the bushes that were planted last Fall to see if they need to be replaced.

POAA

Betty reported that she has changed the disclosure form in the POA packets to reflect the new Board members. Also, the budget info now included in the packet is old and must be updated. 7012 Leestone sold again in a very short time, with all of the ARC violations communicated to the new buyer by Pam.

Architectural Control

Pam reported that she has had a lot of volunteers and hopes to meet with the new committee members next week to go over the procedures for inspecting a house for ARC violations. She plans to break up the committee into small groups, with each group responsible for inspections and letters for one part of the community. Leona currently maintains the database of existing violations. During the Spring walk-through, old violations will be re-inspected and then Leona will update the database and send any violation letters. After the third letter, the issue will be brought before the Board.

Website

Judy reported that the website is being used regularly as a reference tool for bylaws, ARC forms and contact information. We’ve also had a good response from realtors. The new bylaws regarding commercial vehicles have been posted to the website. Judy suggested posting the agenda and minutes for upcoming meetings on the website as well for residents to view ahead of time. The website can also be used to inform residents about emergency announcements. The message board is currently being used mostly for announcements. Judy asked for more timely submission of news items, agenda/minutes, and financial reports. Suggestions were solicited for encouraging residents to check the website more often. Jim volunteered to design a small magnet with the website address on it which would serve as a handy reminder. The Board approved an expenditure for this purpose not to exceed $300.

Consumer Affairs

Judy reported for Maryann Wilson. Nancy Austin may take over this function. Merrill will call Nancy to see how we can get the committee started up again. Judy suggested setting up a vendor rating service on the website which would be anonymous, but some were worried about vendors hacking into it.

Newsletter

Jim will be handling the layout of the newsletter, but not the writing or editing. He will also serve as the collection point for articles. The newsletter schedule will be as follows: by the 3rd Tuesday of the month, Jim will have collected all articles and forwarded them to Anne and/or Merrill for editing. Within one week, edited materials will be returned to Jim for layout. Layout will be completed by the 4th Tuesday of the month and distribution of the newsletter will be completed by the 1st Tuesday of the month to provide residents with time to read it before the Board meeting which usually occurs on the 2nd Tuesday of every month. Anne & Merrill will work together on editing. Articles will be edited for clarity, grammar and length, but not content. The newsletter will then be published on the website as is, without further editing, possibly as a PDF file. Objective criteria are needed for determining what is appropriate editing. It was suggested that a new section of the newsletter be added entitled “Letters to the Editor” wherein homeowners’ opinions about community issues could be clearly labeled as opinion, not fact. It was also suggested that another section be added for residents’ feedback about vendors.

Adjourned 10:00pm.