LEEWOOD HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION MONTHLEY BOARD MEETING MINUTES

 

MEETING: DATE JULY 10, 2018

TIME: 7:30 P.M.

ATTENDEES:

Board: Leona Taylor, Nathan Parsons-Schwarz, Gideon Abebe, Justin Edwards, Khaleaph Luis.

Sentry Management: Birgit Burton

Homeowners: Nancy DeVera, Ron & Lou Ann Filadelfo, Maggie Pittoti, Janet Rourke, Susan Sickman, Leslie Sweet, Bereke Tsegay

The meeting convened with a full quorum

 

Open Forum

There were eight home owners in attendance at this meeting who reside on Leebrad Street and Leestone Court. There were issues brought to the board by these residents regarding issues on Leebrad Street and the community as a whole.

The main issues were:

·         Multi dwelling homes

·         Rental of homes as Air Bed and Breakfast

·         Parking issues resulting from rental properties with multiple dwellers

·         Trash disposal violators

·         Properties being purchased by investor for the purpose of renting

·         Egress being made on community property by homes with multi- family dwellings

 

            These issues were addressed by the board as follows:

Regarding the issue of multi dwellings/multi-family dwellings, at the moment the Association does not have the authority to take any kind of action. This issue would need to be addressed by revising the covenants of LHOA with a 75% owner vote and to the extent allowable by County law.

 

Regulations regarding rental of homes on Air B&B was being discussed by Fairfax County on July 10, 2018, and the Board will follow up on the County’s action as it becomes available to the public.

 

The parking issue is an ongoing problem. Some of the solutions suggested were having parking stickers for residents. But this requires hiring a company that monitors violators. So far there has not been a clear solution, and the pros and cons of each solution need to be looked into carefully.  Again, a possible solution might involve amending the covenants which requires 75% of the home owners to vote on the amendment.

 

Trash violations appear to be a recurring problem. It is difficult to identify those who put out trash earlier than the scheduled time and date. Even if identified, currently there are no measures that the board can take other than sending a notification.  It was suggested that there should be some kind of monetary penalty. This also requires a change in the LHOA covenants. The residents also raised the issue of delayed trash pickup on July 6, 2018. The board was never informed about the scheduled delay as claimed by the trash collecting company.

 

Another issue was related to property owners who neglect the upkeep of their properties. The property on 7045 Leebrad has weeds growing in the yard, displays a strobe light and the gutter needs repair. This will be addressed once Sentry Management and the ARC complete the walk- through inspections of the community and present their report to the board.

 

The next issue raised by the home owners is to limit the number of homes owned by investors. The county law is not clear about this issue. Currently out of the 195 homes in Leewood, approximately 27 are owned by non residents. This type of restriction is something that also would require amendment of the covenants of the LHOA and require 75 percent vote of the homeowners.

 

Leona advised the residents that the first priority of the Board is to get policies & procedures in place with the new management company arrangement.  Then the Board was planning to focus on reviewing the LHOA governing documents to see what changes may be needed to address the issues raised by this group as well as the Board.  If the governing documents are to be amended, there should be a group of volunteers to encourage owners to vote and attend the annual meeting.

 

It was also suggested that there be communication with residents on trash delivery and rescheduled pickups.  And advising owners of the new POA resale packet fees might be useful, including explaining why the fees have increased.  One home owner asked about whether pre-emergent was being applied for weeds (Leebrad Street).

 

Approval of Minutes

The board reviewed and approved the minutes from the June 12, 2018 meeting.

 

Officer Reports

·         Vice President: No report

·         Secretary: Gideon reported that Capitals banners are being displayed by residents not in compliance with standards.

·         Treasurer: No report.

·         President:  

o   Leona asked if there were any suggestions for updating the message box notices for July

o   Leona reminded the Board that the bank & investment statements and reconciliations needs to be reviewed by the Board to be in compliance with the Leewood insurance policy.   Leona reviewed the April statements and reconciliations.

o   Leona also reviewed the monthly financial statements and noticed that Sentry has not loaded the budget correctly (it does not match the approved budget).  Birgit has been provided the differences to get this corrected.  The Board discussed the review process going forward and that the Treasurer normally should be monitoring the monthly statements.

 

Committee Reports

·         Birgit reported that she had inspected approximately 49 homes for ARC compliance.  She sent the report of potential violations to Leona for next steps.

·         No new volunteers came forward for revising ARC standards, and no suggestions for revisions were received.  Nathan will go ahead and start the process for revising the standards with the current volunteers.

 

Old Business

·         The survey for tot lot produced only six replies. The board discussed issues that needed to be addressed when building a tot lot. Some of the issues to consider include the types of equipment and construction material that are safe for kids, as well as the suggested locations. Due to lack of interest from the community, the Board decided not to proceed with any additional action.  The home owner who requested the tot lot will be notified by Sentry.

·         There was no response from residents to volunteer for the National Night Out. It will not be held this year.

·         No response from Dominion Power regarding a street light that has been out.

·         Sentry has not gotten the proposals for the identified tree work.  Some additional tree issues have been identified and will be included in the proposals.  The cost of removing a tree that has fallen on the Leewood fence (behind 7027 Leestone St) will need to be added to the proposal.  Birgit updated the Board on her communications with the owner of the property on which the tree is located.  We have been given permission to remove the part of the tree that is on Leewood property.  Birgit will also look into proposal for repairing the fence, and the Board will need to consider if the repair is just done or if an insurance claim is submitted.

·         Car that has been ticketed on Leestone Street still has not been towed. Gideon can contact Henry’s Wrecking Service to have it towed, as he is both the complainant as well as an authorized person to call for towing.

·         No proposals yet for the fence cleaning & sealing.

·         Sentry presented two proposals for sidewalk repair.  Issue is that the proposals are not comparable in that contractors have identified different repairs, including some not on Leewood property.  Sentry to work on the proposals.

·         Nothing could be decided on reinvestment of reserve funds since proposals are not available for repair and replacement work.  Sentry will go through the reserve account and present a report.

·         Proposals for the street repair and remarking are still pending.

 

New Business

·         The Board reviewed the proposed procedures for trash violations, parking enforcement, homeowner complaints, and architectural review.  A motion was made and approved to implement these procedures.  Leona will check to see if these policies and procedures can be placed on the Sentry website portal for use by future Boards.

·         ARC, trash and parking issues should be mentioned in the next newsletter.

·         Trash issues and penalty methods for violators to be discussed at the next board meeting including how to implement parking and trash enforcement in the covenants.

·         7048 Leestone has a sump pump that is pumping water in the common area and neighbor’s property. Sentry will send out letter to the homeowner.

 

Executive Session

·         Leona inquired if letters were sent to the 4 homeowners who were approved to be sent to the attorney for collection last month.  Birgit indicated that letters were sent notifying the homeowners that their accounts were to be turned over for collection.

·         The Board approved sending 6 additional accounts to the attorney for collection.   Birgit to send letters to those 6 home owners notifying them that the Board has approved the account for attorney collection.

 

The meeting adjourned at 9:00 pm.