Columbia Lakes III & IV Homeowners Association

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Edgar Oliver
5 years ago
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1 Meeting Minutes Columbia Public Library 6:30 PM, April 4 th, 2018 I. Call to Order II. Roll Call a. Trustees Noland and Duguay present III. Approval of the Minutes IV. Financial Report a. Currently $53, in Commerce Bank account as of April 12, 2018 b. Total for 2018 dues already paid = $13, i. Includes several hundred dollars of back dues ii. 1 Lien was paid off that was paid last year iii. 102 outstanding invoices remain for 2018 dues that are due on April 30 iv. Payments have been roughly 50% online payments through PayPal and 50% through Checks mailed to the PO Box c. Susan Walla owes (per our calculations) $15, and has paid $13,965 i. Information on the case, along with all payment information can be found via public records ii. The Trustees don t know much new other than when checks have been received at the PO Box iii. In 2018 so far have received a payment each month, a payment of $500 at the beginning of each month including April. iv. All public information can be best found online at judici.com under Case # 2013CF98 in Monroe County v. Direct Link: =IL067015J,2013CF98,IL067015JL2013CF98D1 d. Checks written since last meeting: i. Lien Release (reimbursed through the payoff) - $59 to Monroe County Clerk ii. Dues mailer - $ iii. PO Box Renewal - $234 to U.S. Postal Service e. Forecasted Expenditures: i. Insurance for Common Ground with Country Financial: $1965 was paid last year on May 15 th for Business Liability Insurance for the common ground. Renewal for this is on May 11 th. V. Old Business a. Engineering Report from Heneghan & Assoc. i. This has been investigated for many years by past trustees, so we are looking to get a decision made.

2 VI. ii. An engineer from Heneghan Associates, Jim Vogt, talked about what we would be doing to repair the catch basin along Micah s Way: iii. Remove silt from the catch basin. Erosion issue along concrete swales and broken concrete at the bottom of the drain iv. Water is getting underneath the drain inlets v. Solution: Replace concrete pad at the bottom of the drains and replace with Flexamat (can have grass grow through it and be mowed very maintainable) or replace with wider concrete slab only along the downstream ends protects it from future erosion vi. Flexamat concrete pores that are raised in squares and meshed together follows the level of the ground that allows grass to grow through and dirt to flow underneath armors the ground so that it doesn t erode more advanced than riprap and more maintainable vii. All work will be done within the easements and on the common ground viii. Several Options: Erosion in swale areas: add storm sewer to catch water before it runs down or Flexamat to hold the ground in and prevent erosion ix. Concrete Pads replace with Flexamat or replace with a new wider concrete x. Sod or Seed after digging out all of the silt either option requires it to be watered to assist in growing xi. After consultation with the City of Columbia s Engineer this is our responsibility to fix. The flow rate of water in to our catch basin should not have changed from the original plans for the basin when our subdivision was approved with the city, although the Trustees will research what constitutes a Flow Rate Study, how they are done, and the costs associated. xii. Per the City Engineer, Brellinger has a detention basin to control the flow of water into our catch basin. Our water then flows into the Sportsman s Club Lake. xiii. Full plans and cost estimate will be posted to the website after the meeting along with the minutes b. Website Agendas are listed as well as these minutes after the meeting. Link is i. Updated with Documents and Calendar c. Election of Trustee opened the floor for nominations for Trustee i. Kamille Spirakis elected Trustee, effective immediately New Business a. Dam Maintenance Discussion i. Records obtained regarding ownership Documents posted on website are scans of what is referenced in our Trust and Restrictions. A homeowner from Phase 2 was in attendance and showed a willingness to help us in any way possible, with the promise that many Phase 2 owners are wanting to become involved with our HOA. We recommended that

3 Phase 2 homeowners find a copy of their Trust and Restrictions and attempt to reorganize per those documents. We will also be scanning and posting documents referenced in our Trust and Restrictions online that we were able to obtain at the Monroe County Clerk s Office along with these minutes. b. Mowing Contract Renewal Renewed contract with Ritzel Lawn Care amounts per cut are the same as last year; $72 per mow of the dam, $170 per mow of the common ground, $200 per mow of the catch basin. Forecasted total for the year of $6,480 will change depending on frequency and environment conditions this summer. c. Lake Maintenance Contract Renewal Renewed contract with Lake & Pond for a total of $9912 for 2018 calendar year. This is also the same price as last year. They use a product named AquaShade for treatments and use approx. 5 gallons each time they do a treatment. i. Several questions were asked by homeowners at the meeting, which Lake and Pond has since answered: 1. Is the only option to pay all at once? a. Would be happy to allow us to make two separate payments in the future for the year, once in March and another in June if we elect this option. 2. Why isn t the price going down? a. Algae will always be a problem for this large of a body of water. It receives a lot of sun, adding AquaShade to dye/tint the water starves all plankton and algae, making the water much clearer. There were 4 blooms last year that required extra treatments, which we didn t pay for because our contract is all-inclusive. Those 4 extra treatments were not cheap and cut way in to any potential profits for his business. 3. Could we get a better price if we signed a contract for multiple years? a. In short, no. There was no mutual interest in going down this route as chemical prices could change annually, and profits are not much for his business. 4. How often are treatments? a. Applications are every 2 weeks b. If water turns green, contact him right away ii. He also recommended any homeowners that live on the lake that are curious or worried about any erosion look in to a plant named Creeping Primrose. If this is added to the shoreline it would help with the waves hitting the bank. d. Dues Discussion and Financial Report 1. See financial statement at the top of this document

4 ii. Online payments accepted For the first time, we are accepting online payments through Paypal. Approximately half of payments for 2018 dues have been through Paypal to date. We are charged a 2.9% processing fee per paid invoice an amount the Trustees agreed is ok to assume and that will be partially or fully offset by late fees paid by homeowners iii. Payment by Check is still an option e. Discussion of Annual Assessment i. No reason to raise annual dues, 150 is enough per year to cover our main obligations (mowing, lake, PO Box, dues mailers, lien placement, etc.) f. Discussion of one-time Special Assessment for Catch Basin maintenance i. $52,000 cheapest option to fix the catch basin ii. Expecting 10k more in HOA account from dues this year, however subtracting at least 17k for annual responsibilities iii. We can put up 30k but would require at least 20k in addition, likely needing to come from homeowners iv. Met with the City Engineer about Brellinger and Sportsman Club and the issues we are having, they said that any water that comes through the inlets cannot exceed the flow rate of our detention basin as it was when our subdivision was approved v. If it is higher than that, we can go to City Council, but we are the owners of this land and it is ours to maintain if we have no definitive proof of anyone else s wrongdoing. vi. We have not maintained this catch basin for many years vii. At a minimum we need to dig out all the silt to dry it out to drain properly, but the inlets will continue to flood the catch basin and cause more problems both issues need to be dealt with together. Doing any work in phases would not be recommended viii. We can ask for a bid, but should we find a contractor that gives us a good bid, we would be unable to accept without having the financial backing needed to cover all associated costs ix. These contracts would typically require response within 30 days (if not sooner), which would not nearly be enough time to collect the money, either through assessments or dues. x. Because of this we really can t realistically ask for a bid until we have the money xi. All values that the Engineer has provided are estimates, and should be treated as such. All costs are not likely to exceed these prices due to an additional 20% contingency added to the pricing. g. Motions for assessments (if any) i. Trustee Kyle Noland s recommendation is a one-time assessment to cover the costs associated that the Association is unable to cover through regular dues and current savings

5 VII. VIII. IX. ii. A motion was raised by Trustee Noland of a one-time assessment contingent upon a successful bid, not to exceed $150 per homeowner. This would require $30k from the Association s savings account at this cost. Any remaining cost of the bid above the $30k from the Association s Savings would be covered by homeowners, calculated as the amount needed then divided by the number of homeowners in the Association. iii. There were questions regarding the process of doing a special assessment, if proxy voting would be allowed, and exactly what the Trust and Restrictions state. iv. Other homeowners felt rushed into thinking of a vote and asked for more time before voting v. A vote was held regarding the special assessment at the meeting only, of which 20 votes were cast. The results were too close to call. vi. Since the meeting, it is the opinion of the Trustees that the 20 votes cast do not accurately represent the views of everyone in the subdivision and that a vote for a special assessment needs to be reconsidered, along with the process more firmly agreed upon amongst all Trustees. The vote held at the meeting will not be considered going forward. vii. The Trustees are working to hold a meeting amongst themselves to discuss where things may go from here. viii. The Trustees will communicate with homeowners after this meeting takes place on what next steps will be (if any). Next Meeting Date a. All Thursday s are booked at the Library due to meeting of the Girl Scouts. b. Because of this, we have scheduled meetings for the remainder of 2018 on Wednesday s. c. Next Meeting: July 18 th, 2018 at 6:30 PM d. Fall Meeting: October 17 th at 6:30 PM i. Election of new Trustee at this meeting due to Trustee Matt Duguay s term ending Audience Participation / Homeowner Questions and Answers a. Open Q & A Adjournment

P= Attend in Person AT= Attend via Technology N= Not in Attendance

P= Attend in Person AT= Attend via Technology N= Not in Attendance Board Members in Attendance: P - Carla Guiher (President) P - Jim Susin (Vice President) P - Chad Langan (Treasurer) P - Bonnie Nungester (Secretary) P - Brad Wilson P - Kathryn Diaz P - Tom Thomas P=