LEEWOOD HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION MONTHLEY BOARD MEETING MINUTES

MEETING DATE: October 9, 2018

TIME: 7:30 P.M.

ATTENDEES:

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

Sentry Management: Birgit Burton

The meeting convened with a quorum of four board members and the Property Manager

Approval of Minutes:

September’s monthly meeting minutes were not available for approval. They will be submitted at the next meeting.

Leona reminded the board members that Sentry Management is not to take minutes for the board as it is not part of the contract.

Board Officer Reports

Nathan: ARC standard revision follow-up meeting to be held with Pat, Janet, Dana, Nathan and Leona. Nathan will send email to confirm October 24 as the date of the meeting. The team will go over questions and issues that were raised previously.

Leona: Tax returns were sent out. Leewood owes additional taxes, and there is a penalty associated with it. The 2017 audit is still pending; the auditors have not finalized it.

Justin: Recorded the trash company dropping recyclable boxes in the street. He sent a copy to Birgit. Birgit confirmed that she has forwarded it to Nikki at AMERICAN DISPOSAL.

Committee Reports

None

Old Business

2019 Budget

The Board reviewed the draft 2019 budget.

· Leona reported that after reviewing the contract with Sentry, she realized how little the company is required to provide under the contract in regards to assistance with the budget. The report they provided to the board lacks detail; therefore she had to go back to the old format that has previously been used. Birgit told the board that if they are providing the template that the board has been using, they can work off that to prepare a budget for LWHOA.

· Next issue discussed was related to reserves. Leona stated that we need to review the reserve study and assess if we need to increase our reserve contribution and, in return, raise the assessment. The auditors are proposing to report that we are underfunded on our reserves. But this is because of the accounting method they used. They were looking at the Vanguard Mutual Funds without including the appreciation of the fund. As a result of this accounting view, we appear to be underfunded, so we may want to contribute more to reserves; alternatively, we could sell and buy back Vanguard shares to realize some of the appreciation.

· Leona has gone through the annual calculation to figure out what by how much we can increase assessments for 2019. Per our governing document, we can only increase assessments by the amount of the change in CPI from July of one year to July of the following year. The increase in CPI was 7.22. Based on our current assessment, we can raise it up to $286.49 but can also choose to charge a lower amount. Historically, we have increased assessments without going to the maximum. The current proposed 2019 budget assumes $260 assessment.

· Leona then reviewed the various budget line items. The current bottom line budgeted for 2018 is a net income of $24,000.00 for the year. It was set up this way because we knew we were going to a management-run association but did not know exactly when or the cost for the management company. The way it is budgeted now the bottom line for 2019 is $7,000.00, and the main reason for the reduction is the Sentry management fee for a full year.

· The drainage study meeting with consultant revealed that, in addition to areas that everyone has complained about, there are more areas that have long-standing drainage problems. These areas are located all along Leestone St. and behind Leebrad St. The consultant suggested that we need to build up our reserves to deal with the drainage issues because some areas are eroding badly. We could put extra money in the reserve to fund these projects and also increase our operating budget to deal with the drainage problems. Our current reserve may not cover the cost because it is brand new construction. The reserves we currently have are based on infrastructures that are ongoing now. Any new project may require an increase in reserves.

· Leona received input from the Board on what items are needed for the 2019 budget. The new budget needs to be approved by the next meeting so that if there is an increase in assessment we need to give residents notice by December and Sentry needs to prepare payment coupon books and notifications. Leona will update the budget based on the discussion for presentation and approval at the next meeting.

Tree Removal and Trimming

The Board discussed the proposals received from Professional Grounds and from Richards Tree Service. Leona did a cost comparison, and the Professional Grounds proposal is much lower. The Board approved using Professional Grounds for the initial tree work that was identified. The Board discussed and approved the separate proposal for trimming of the tree in front of 7001 Bradwood for $200. Cost to trim it is $200. The Board also decided to remove the crab apple tree behind 7052 Leebrad ($625) rather than just trim it ($250).

There is a second list that Birgit has been accumulating based on homeowner complaints, but no trimming cost estimate has been solicited yet. For instance,

· It has been noticed that some of the birch trees that the board planted to resolve drainage issues need to be trimmed.

· As a result of the drainage issue at 5263 Leestone Ct., the maple tree outside the fence needs to be removed as well as the cedar trees next door.

· At 5277 Bradgen Ct, LWHOA owns the first three segments of the sidewalks in front of the house and we need to add them in the side walk repair cost.

In order to make sure the work is competed in 2018, the Board approved up to $12,000 be spent with Professional Grounds on tree removal. The Board will leave it up to Leona to work with Professional Grounds on identifying the work to be completed in 2018.

We also have $6,000 budgeted for planting new trees. Leona will work on getting proposals to replace the peninsula tress that have been removed.

Drainage and Standing water

The Board was updated on the meeting with the drainage consultant:

· Most of the sump pump discharge pipes being used by the residents in our community don’t meet the Virginia code. The pipes should be placed 10 ft away from the house and 1 ft down elevation wise. People are not supposed to drain into the common area. We can cite some of the people especially if they are draining onto the side walk. This is a safety issue during the winter.

· The issue at 5273/ 5275 Leestone Ct. is a result of the sidewalk slanting towards the house where water is being discharged, causing a potential safety hazard.

· At 5263 Leestone Ct. we need to remove the trees and re-grade the area behind the units. The other problem with 5263 and 5265 is that they have big flexible tubing attached to the gutter that is draining into the common area. It was never written in the POA package and needs to be addressed later.

· The area near Leona’s house where Verizon had done utility work needs to have the overhanging trees trimmed to allow sunlight and then possibly be graded since it is eroding.

· The other area is 7046 and 7048 Leestone St. where the home owners run their sum pump into the common area/sidewalk. The water will freeze in the winter and cause hazardous conditions. Once what the law says is determined, we need to send letters to the home owners. The letter will basically tell the owners that if they decide to run a pipe outside their back yard, they need to sign a whole harmless agreement and cover the cost of re-routing the pipe into the drain hole in the street. The sum pump issue and the gutter extensions need to be included in the revision of the design standard along with an application for exterior change.

· Another drainage issue is on Leestone St, where the soil and silt is eroding into the sidewalk.

· 5288 Bradgen Ct, the issue the home owner complained about is not our responsibility. There is no apparent flood issue on his property, but he is draining his sump pump into the common area, and it causes the wooded area to stay moist and muddy. We just need to fill the hole where the home owner is draining his sump pump with rocks.

· The French drainage system on Leestone Street behind 7059-7073 was not constructed properly. The consultant has suggested redoing it.

· 5275 Leestone Ct has a water proofing issue that is causing the basement to flood. Because the homes in our community are aging, the basement walls have lost the water proof coatings put on during the initial construction. Thus the home owner may experience water in the basement and it is up to the home owner to work on it.

· Some of these issues will be addressed in the news letter.

Concrete

Sentry has sent out revised RFP’s for sidewalk work.

Trash

The trash pickup contractor had its workers monitored during trash days and concluded that the problem is the non compliance of our residents when disposing trash. Justin has captured a few videos that show the trash pickup truck rolling while the driver was out of the vehicle and other videos showing where the guys did not pick up trash at all or dropping bottles in the street. He will forward it to the company. He has also volunteered to do a walk through during trash day to make sure all residents are in compliance.

The Board is not pleased with performance of the company. The original contract is poorly written, and it expires in 2022. At the moment, there is not much that can be done on our end since we do not have enough grounds to cancel it as per the contract. One thing the Board can do is change the rules by requiring residents to use black trash bags or trash bins. Pat has volunteered to police our residents on trash day to confirm compliance of the rules. Currently we have no enforcement mechanism other than sending notices. We need to update our governing document to include an enforcement method and add monitory penalties for violators. Birgit has so far received 150 emails related to trash complaints.

The Board asked for standard notices that can be distributed when trash violations are observed. Leona will draft some notices. Justin also asked if we could draft a new trash resolution and have it reviewed by our attorney to see if we can implement stricter rules. Leona will work with the attorney.

Parking

Parking is deferred to the next meeting.

Asphalt Proposals

Proposals for asphalt work are still pending per Sentry.

Fencing Proposals

Leona walked the property and identified all fence areas that need repair and provided this list to Sentry. Sentry is to obtain proposals for all the fence work, not just the portion of the fence where the tree fell down.

Cleaning/Sealing of Fence

Sentry was not able to complete the work due to no water being provided by homeowners. To get the work done, the Board authorized Sentry to select either Ploutis or USA Contractors to do the work for up to $2,200.

New Business

Sentry provided the American Disposal winter/holiday schedule.

The meeting adjourned at 9:00 pm