February 2017 Celebrating 42Years of Creating Community

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1 February 2017 Celebrating 42Years of Creating Community Laguna Village Owners Association: Board of Directors The Laguna Village Owners Association Board of Directors for are as follows: Kevin Fenn: President Derek McCauley: Vice President Jeff Eldon: Treasurer Janelle Cranch: Secretary Jerry Evans: Member at Large Richard DiCapua: Member at Large Thomas Chancler: Member at Large Your Laguna Village Management Team Rob Spencer General Manager address: Jay Hage Assistant General Manager address: Pegah Takhsha Administrative Assistant address: Laguna Village Homeowners Association Santa Vittoria Drive Laguna Hills, CA (949) Monday-Friday 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM Website:

2 Message from the Board President President s Report: So far in 2017 we have been blessed with quite a bit of rain which is really helping the drought situation here in Southern California. Unfortunately, along with the rain comes water intrusion issues that the Association must repair. Hopefully with the ongoing infrastructure projects, we will get ahead of these problems so that future rains will be more of a pleasure to see come. Happily, the water intrusion issues are much less serious than previous years due to ongoing repair efforts. Unfortunately, some of the roofing projects have had to be placed on hold due to the rains. More unfortunately, a Board Member has taken it upon himself to interfere with the work of contractors without any approval from the Board and thus stopping a scheduled roofing project. The Board is working diligently to address this issue. NEW LAWSUIT In late December, the Association was served with a lawsuit pertaining to the recall election of last year. This lawsuit was filed by Thomas Chancler (a Board Member) and is a rehashing of a lawsuit that was dismissed by small claims court in September 2016 that was filed by Current Director, Jeff Eldon. The intent of these lawsuits is to remove 4 Board Members on the current Board and replace those Directors with homeowners who lost the election count. It should be noted that Thomas Chancler, a new Board Member at the time, unilaterally decided to represent both the Board and the Association before the small claims court. Now four months later, Thomas Chancler has filed the exact same lawsuit under his name, this time in Superior Court. The additional litigation may place the LVOA insurance coverage at risk. If the Association s insurance is cancelled, there will most likely be increased insurance cost for finding a new carrier. We are already labeled as a high risk according to insurance agents we ve consulted with. As for the outcome of this litigation, I am confident that the Association will prevail. The Association has properly conducted its elections. The extra legal cost of this litigation is of course unexpected and has put a burden on our legal budget. It may be necessary to impose a special assessment in order to cover legal costs incurred in defending this new lawsuit by Mr. Chancler and others.

3 The other Members of this Board have strived to avoid lawsuits but the Association must defend itself when it is sued. Except for the two Directors mentioned above, we are a cohesive group and will remain committed to the ongoing business and function of our community. An unfortunate further result of this most recent lawsuit is that it will be necessary to once again have the Association attorneys present at all general & executive session meetings until these legal issues are resolved. In order to accommodate the schedules of all Board Members and legal representatives, the January Board meetings had to be rescheduled from the 18 th to the 26 th. NEW BYLAWS NEEDED These recent legal gambits would not have occurred had last year our Association been able to pass the new bylaws (which would have answered the very questions of which now Mr. Chancler complains). Therefore, I strongly urge all homeowners to get involved in the implementation of updated Bylaws. As I said before, these are 41 year old documents that are outdated and considered to be antiquated and ambiguous by most legal professionals in the HOA industry. Moving forward, this will be a major focus for this Community. In the past, the Board has tried to revise the Bylaws but the effort was not successful due to misinformation presented by many of the same persons who are pursuing this lawsuit against the Association. METERNET ERROR A clerical error was brought to our attention regarding a report submitted by our vendor who handles the water billing assessments, MeterNet. We apologize to any homeowners who received a letter regarding a delinquency on their account. Apology letters have been sent to all homeowners who received such letters by mistake. If you received a letter by mistake and did not receive an apology letter from Management, please notify the business office. Once again, persons have posted erroneous information on NextDoor.com. Please note that the Association does not endorse NextDoor.com as a reliable source regarding this Association s business & dealings. Anyone can say anything on the site, seemingly with no consequences, so consider the source.

4 SOLAR INSTALLATIONS One other issue I would like to address is solar panel installation on the community roofs. There are a number of issues that make this a challenging proposition. The following issues would need to be addressed should LVOA decide to consider installing solar panels on the common area roofs at some point according to a maintenance contractor that we have met with: Access to sunlight will trees need to be removed/trimmed? Is roof area large enough for the required number of panels? Engineering will be required for roof load & attachment. Roof membrane will be penetrated for attachment to roof. Who will be responsible for maintenance & repair? In most cases, roof area will be visible to neighbors located at higher elevations which could be an aesthetic issue for those neighbors. Who will be responsible for the cost of the project? LVOA IS IMPROVING In spite of these challenges facing the community, I feel that we are moving in the right direction with ongoing landscaping renovations, street repairs, and building repairs with wood replacement and fresh paint. The community is truly starting to look more like the community that all homeowners envisioned when they purchased their home. The Board is committed to continuing to focus on the infrastructure repairs until we get to the point where repairs turn to routine maintenance. At that point, the Board can turn their attention to other priorities that have had to be put on hold while the necessary infrastructure repairs were completed. I d like to thank all of our homeowners for their support and ask that they will consider becoming more involved with their Association going forward for the betterment of the community. Kevin D. Fenn Board President Laguna Village Owners Association

5 LAGUNA VILLAGE OWNERS ASSOCIATION Notice of Proposed Rule Change Regarding the Current Fine Policy Adoption of Amended Fine Policy Notice is hereby given pursuant to Civil Code Section 4360(a) that the Board of Directors met on December 14, 2016 to discuss and vote on the adoption of an amendment to the Laguna Village Owners Association Rules and Regulations to amend the current fine policy to allow for Management to schedule a hearing after only one violation letter. The current fine policy states that Management sends out 2 violation letters before scheduling a homeowner to a hearing. The proposed rule amendment is intended to streamline the violation process since most homeowners do not respond to a second violation notice if no action is taken after the initial violation letter. The Board invites your comments on the proposed rule amendments and will consider all comments received from homeowners prior to voting to confirm the proposed amendments.

6 Message from Board Secretary Hello Everyone, I hope it is not too late to wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous Things have started out well for us in our Association in that the rains have finally come, and we are saving ourselves a bundle of money by not having to irrigate our grounds. Frankly, I have never seen our Association looking this good. Hats off to Artistic, they are doing a superb job. Every two weeks, Association President Kevin Fenn and I accompany our Seabreeze General Manager and the Artistic Supervisors and drive around our complex, addressing trouble spots overgrown areas and bare ground. I love the improvements that have been made so far and will be made in the future. Give us a couple of years and this place of ours will be gorgeous. Last month the Board approved the purchase of a four seater golf-cart costing under $6,000. Association President Kevin Fenn and LVOA General Manager Rob Spencer have been researching some second-hand vehicles and it is looking positive that we can find what we are looking for under budget. It will be a useful vehicle to get about the complex and go where a regular car cannot access. You will be kept posted. On Wednesday January 18 th Assistant General Manager Jay Hage and I attended the Laguna Village Traffic Commission meeting. At that meeting I petitioned the Commission to grant LVOA members permission to park along Ridge Route, between Mill Creek Road and Santa Vittoria. I brought to their attention the fact that our complex is 40 years old, and that once upon a time most families were a one-car family. That is simply not the case now, and we are running out of parking spaces. I presented photographs of the section of road we are requesting to park on and pointed out that previously we were allowed to park along that section. Furthermore, I showed them photographs that illustrate that openings are still in place that permit our members to walk from Ridge Route into our complex. We will have to wait for a review of this request. As soon as we hear anything you will be notified of their decision. The fact that we had previously been permitted to park along Ridge Route will hopefully carry some weight. I feel compelled to make a comment regarding the impending lawsuit regarding which you have all been informed. I am deeply disappointed concerning this new lawsuit that John Chancler has filed against the Association Board. In this lawsuit Mr. Chancler and his 76 fellow plaintiffs have three complaints. 1.) Determination of Results of April 2016 Recall Election, 2) Determination of Person Entitled to Office of Director in July 2016 Election and 3) Violation of Election Procedures. This lawsuit impacts and is harmful to all homeowners because in fighting this lawsuit we again have our lawyers attend each of our Board Meetings and this is an expensive undertaking. To fight this lawsuit will ultimately be paid by every one of us Homeowners through our membership dues. This is such a set-back at a time when our Association was looking positively to the future with a new management team on board, our Administration Office now being open every Tuesday, office hours staggered to accommodate our members and an elected Board of Directors determined to improve our Association. How very sad. But let me end my report on a positive note. I am proud to announce that our Association Board President, Kevin Fenn has been nominated as one of California s outstanding Board members of the Year. This is a singular honor. Do you know how many Homeowner Association Committees there are in California? No? Well neither do I, but I should imagine there are a great many of them, and our very own Association President is a nominee. This is a great honor for us and for Mr. Fenn. Congratulations Kevin, we are very proud of you, and grateful to have you at the helm. That s it for this month, dear people. Keeping you informed Kind Regards, Janelle Y. Cranch Secretary, Board of Directors Laguna Village Homeowners Association janellecranch@iusd.org

7 Holiday Decorations Rules and Regulations As the holidays are now concluded, we'd like to remind everyone of the Common Area Rules and Regulations regarding Holiday decorations, which can be found on page 9, item 21 of the LVOA Rules and Regulations, which reads as follows: "Holiday decorations and lighting are acceptable if not in the common area. They may not be displayed earlier than 30 days before the holiday event and must be removed within 15 days after the holiday." Management, on their weekly inspection of the community will note non-compliance with the above and violators will be sent notices. We ask that you comply with the above Rule, thus avoiding unnecessary embarrassment and/or fines. Large Item Pickups CR&R Trash Disposal In the last several weeks, during weekly property inspections, onsite Management Office has observed items such as furniture, televisions and other large items placed in front of units with signs on them identifying them as free. Please know that the LVOA Rules and Regulations, page 6, #4 states that all rubbish, trash and garbage is not allowed to accumulate in the common area. Large items, such as old furniture, televisions, etc., are considered trash or rubbish items. CR&R, the trash disposal company will pick up large items at the request of LVOA Members and residents. In order to arrange for the pick of large items, please contact CR&R at (800) CR&R will advise you of any limitations or restrictions they may have in regards to large trash items. Thank you in advance for keeping your community beautiful! Safe listing of Vehicles If you will be parking your vehicle your vehicle for an extended period (up to 2 weeks) in a common area parking space, please contact the onsite Management Office to safe list your vehicle. Safe listing of your vehicle ensures that it will not be ticketed by Patrol Masters or towed for violating the LVOA Parking Rules and Regulations during the safe list period. The safe list process is as follows: Contact the onsite Management Office ahead of your planned absence. Provide your name, telephone number, vehicle make, model, color, license plate as well as the number of days your vehicle will be parked in a common area parking space. Once the Management Office is provided with all this information, a safe list form is sent to Patrol Masters via . After Patrol Masters processes the safe list form, they provide the Management Office with an confirmation number, which confirms the placement of your vehicle on the association s safe list for the specified time period. Management will contact you via telephone or and provide you with the safe list confirmation number for your file/information If you have any questions in regards to the safe listing of vehicles, please contact the Management Office at (949)

8 LVOA Financial Snapshot LVOA Annual Budget Monthly Dues $ Monthly Budget $448,300 Monthly Operational Expenses $303,561 Monthly Reserve Expenses $144,739 Reserve % Funded 11% Total Annual Association Expenses $5,379,615 LVOA Annual Budget Monthly Dues $ Monthly Budget $439,153 Monthly Operational Expenses $300,599 Monthly Reserve Expenses $138,554 Reserve % Funded 20% Total Annual Association Expenses $5,269,836 LVOA Annual Budget Monthly Dues $ Monthly Budget $433,550 Monthly Operational Expenses $281,291 Monthly Reserve Expenses $152,258 Reserve % Funded 18% Total Annual Association Expenses $5,202,600 LVOA Annual Budget Monthly Dues $ Monthly Budget $367,876 Monthly Operational Expenses $251,616 Monthly Reserve Expenses $116,260 Reserve % Funded 21% Total Annual Association Expenses $4,414,520 LVOA Annual Budget Monthly Dues $ Monthly Budget $364,093 Monthly Operational Expenses $247,833 Monthly Reserve Expenses $116,260 Reserve % Funded 11% Total Annual Association Expenses $4,369,116 LAGUNA VILLAGE OA IMPORTANT DATES & EVENTS IN PROGRESS COMMON AREA PROJECTS LVOA Executive Session Monday, February 6, 2017 LVOA Conference Room 6:30 PM LVOA General Session Board Meeting Wednesday, February 15, 2017 LVOA Clubhouse 7:00 PM Section 2: Exterior Painting Scheduled to begin in January Section 1: Exterior Light Replacement New LED lights and individual photo cell installation for Section 1 is continuing. As the electrical vendor has identified additional issues with photo cell systems in Section 1, the vendor will be re-inspecting all photo cells in Section 1 and upgrading old photo cell systems. Common Area Grass Over Seeding Section 1 common area grass over seeding is currently underway. Landscaping renovation signage will be posted throughout the project Fitness Center Key Fob System Notification letters to all LVOA Members in regards to the implementation of the new fitness center hours and distribution dates of new fey fobs will be mailed out in the near future. Roofing Project Contract for next phase has been approved by the Board of Directors. PCW will be starting the next phase of the roofing project soon. Notices will be posted throughout the community. Street Repairs Contract for next phase has been approved by the Board of Directors. JB Bostick will be starting the new phase for street repairs soon. Notices will be posted throughout the community. Laguna Village Voice January 2017

9 After Hours Emergency Contact Information: If you have an after hours property threatening emergency, please contact the 24 hour emergency line at (949)

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