MINUTES OF ANNUAL MEETING
LEEWOOD HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION
April 20, 2006
Board Members: Julie King, Mohammad Umar and Bob Chilakamarri (who has been serving on the Board on a temporary appointment)
The meeting was held at the Phillips School, Springfield, Virginia and was convened at 8:05 PM. The meeting was attended by twenty-five homeowners and spouses or roommates. Twenty-eight proxies were received.
The first order of business was a presentation by Officer Jim Nida, Crime Prevention Office, Franconia District, Fairfax County Police Department. Officer Nida spoke on safety issues in Leewood. Officer Nida discussed the area that the Franconia District covered and presented crime statistics for the district. He then discussed specific crimes that had occurred in Leewood over the past few years including indecent exposure which occurred in March 2006-perpetrator not yet caught; a missile (object) thrown into a house in October 2005-perpetrators caught and remanded to parents for discipline; and, other instances ranging from loud parties, vandalism, suspicious person to public drunkenness. Officer Nida advised that it is better to report suspicious incidents to the police and let them to investigate rather than ignoring them. When questioned about graffiti, he said that it should be reported on the non-emergency number to the police who would photograph it immediately. At that point the LHOA should immediately remove it. Gang activity is an increasing problem in Fairfax County and should be reported immediately. The Franconia District has the highest rate of stolen vehicles in Fairfax County. Several of the top ten most stolen vehicles are Toyotas, Hondas, Ford F-150 trucks and jeeps. The county will be undertaking a two month program aimed at catching stolen vehicles as they are happening. This program will involve random stops particularly at night. He suggested the following to avoid having your vehicle stolen: don't leave the keys in your car; don't leave the car running, i.e. to warm up in the winter or while you run into a store for a cup of coffee (7-ll thefts are particularly high); don't hide a key under the floor mat/get a magnetic or velcro mechanism and hide the key elsewhere on the car; use antitheft devices such as a steering wheel lock. He also discussed a neighborhood watch program which would involve one training session. FXCPD will perform home security checks as part of that program. He encouraged street or other lighting. He encouraged homeowners to volunteer for the auxiliary program which involves administrative duties freeing up officers for street duty, neighborhood watch, programs that work with children and even working along side a police officer in actual crime prevention duties. Finally, he discussed the CAC (Citizens Advisory Committee) which discusses how various Fairfax communities are dealing with crimes. It meets the 3rd Wednesday of each month at the Franconia District Station from 7-8 PM.
The Grounds and Maintenance Committee presented a report. The G&M Chair, Al Sanford, thanked Al Carchedi for the work he had done on the perimeter fences and the mailbox stand on Bradwood Court, Ron Filadelfo for his work on having parking space numbers painted, Juan Laguna for the work he did liaising with Verizon to repair the areas they had dug up last summer and all those who helped with spring cleanup day. This year the major project is paving Leestone Street and Court. There was also discussion of the bent street sign and Judy Currier provided an office that will repair these signs.
Judy Currier discussed homeowners accounts and stated that there were only a few delinquencies. The website is going well and she will be making minor, unnoticeable changes to it to make it more efficient.
Julie King stated that the ARC had done a lot of work last year issuing over 300 notices of violations. The architectural standards have also been revised and distributed to all homeowners. In 2006, the initial spring walkthrough resulted in over 130 letters being issued.
Leona Taylor gave a presentation on finances. Assessments have remained the same for 2006. The LHOA is getting a higher return on investments due to higher interest rates and a rising stock market. Additional funds will be added to the reserves. The trash contract will likely go up when it is renegotiated. Grounds and Maintenance will remain the same.
The President announced voting for a new Board member, a by-law change (making a quorum of two members sufficient to do board business), and the tax resolution. A lively discussion ensued over the need for a property manager. As part of the discussion, some homeowners felt that a property manager was needed in view of the shortage of board members. Several homeowners (Pam Stover and Larry Westberg) commented on previous experiences with property managers and indicated that either they were inadequate or in one instance HOA funds disappeared. Some indicated that a property manager did not lessen the work of the Board but in fact increased it as the Board and various committees still had to approve work and oversee its completion. Bob Nelson made a motion that the new board consider allowing board members and major committee chairs not to pay assessments during their service. The motion was seconded although there was an indication that this might not be legal and should be checked with the HOA lawyer. There was a nomination from the floor of an additional Board member. Rose Webber agreed to allow her name to be put on the ballot. Her nomination was seconded. There was also discussion of the by-law change. The dissenting view was that only two board members should not constitute a quorum and be allowed to do Board business. The point was also made that even if three board members were in attendance, only two affirmative votes would be needed to carry an issue. Votes were taken and tallied. Rose Webber and Bob Chilakamarri were elected by a majority vote. The tax resolution and the by-law change were passed.
The President then reminded homeowners of the upcoming street painting project and to read the signs posted throughout the neighborhood on the schedule for moving cars. The President also gave a brief presentation on lights. However, time constraints limited the discussion. The survey passed out on lights was collected. Some homeowners wanted to send in the survey later after studying it. This was agreed to.
During the brief question and answer session, Chris Taylor wondered if the HOA was addressing the problems of Board members quitting. Some felt the lack of volunteers was due to the fact that this was the first home of many homeowners and they had not developed an interest yet in the community. Others felt that it was a lack of time on homeowners part with children's activities, work and outside activities. Again there was a short debate of the pros and cons of a property manager. Some felt a paid executive aide might be the answer rather than a property manager. It was agreed that no decision would be made at the meeting, but that the Board should study the issue looking at other HOA's with property managers to ascertain problems/issues encountered, particularly HOA's of the same size and age as Leewood. It was felt that Leewood's past experiences with property managers should be reviewed.
Door prizes were drawn and six lucky winners received $300 among them in prizes.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:20 p.m.
Janet Rourke, 06-04-21
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