Fountain View Homeowners Association Annual Meeting February 25, 2018 Kirkendall Public Library, Ankeny Iowa Official Business Minutes: The official annual meeting of the Fountain View Homeowner s Association was called to order in the conference room of the Kirkendall Public Library by President Jon Grannis at 2:31 PM on Sunday, February 25, 2018. Twenty-four association members were in attendance. The meeting agenda, a 2017 financial recap and a 2018 budget were available as handouts for all members. The meeting began with the introduction of current board members. The current board members are as follows: 2017 Officers: President Jon Grannis Vice President Russ Adams, Nick Hyde Secretary Cindy Sippel Treasurer Todd Hasstedt Board Members: Steve Evans Melvin Ward Mike Haws The meeting continued with self-introductions by all association members present. Secretary Cindy Sippel read the minutes of the 2017 annual meeting. There were no additions or corrections and the minutes were approved as presented (motion by Russ Adams; second by Nick Hyde). The Financial Recap and Financial Highlights reports were presented by Todd Hasstedt. For the year of 2017: The beginning 2/1/2017 cash balance = $23,952.46 Revenues = $44,243.42 Operational expenditures = $24,111.24 Capital expenditures = $11,231.46 The ending (1/31/2018) cash balance - $32,853.18 The Highlights report included a breakdown of the top 5 budget items in each of the past four years. For 2017, the largest expenditure items were as follows: Repair/replace fountains $12,269.53 Electricity fountains/lights $ 8,673.34
Lake maintenance, algae control $ 7,296.71 Property insurance $ 2,479.00 Common area repair (new pump/upgrade path lights) $ 2,073.42 Total $32,792.00 Discussion of 2017 expenses included the increase in property insurance from last year. Due to the claim related to the fountain, our premium increased substantially from last year. The deductible also increased. The Board looked into a different policy but with the claim found that rates would not be cheaper with a different company. We also discussed that we are taking a proactive plan with lake maintenance and will be using biochemical on the algae. Fountain #2 is on its last legs and will need to be replaced at some point. We were able to increase the rainy day fund by $9,000 this past year. Todd is accepting dues today. We have looked into putting some of our funds into a CD but the rates are not much better than the savings account and the money is locked in for a certain period. We may look at other short term investment options to try to earn more interest. Russ Adams made a motion which was seconded by Ruth Hobin to approve the Treasurer s report. The motion passed. 2017 Accomplishments Trees We had one lumberjack party to remove dead trees. We will need to have another this year since we did not get all of them. Path Lights All of the lights have been converted to LED bulbs. There is one pole that has an electrical issue that will need to be looked at. We are working on getting the timers correct for the path lights. We are already seeing a benefit in electrical savings with the LED bulbs. Pole painting We will be asking for volunteers to help paint the light poles this year. The Association will supply the paint. We would like people to adopt 4 poles to paint. The alternative is to hire a painter to do the job. Fountains Fountain #3, which had been hit by lightning, has been replaced and should be in good working order. It was noted that a system that changes color for LED lights for the fountains is not available. There is a new fountain in the front pond which had a 5-year warranty. We now have one vendor that we are working with for the fountains rather than two. A+ Lawn and Landscape is our provider. They will be doing two algae treatments a month and the blue dye treatment, either three or four time this summer. We will also add bacteria to the water which will eat a lot of the crap but does not affect the fish. The lake is losing depth because of the gunk at the bottom. We discussed that the fountains do not run 24/7 and there is a schedule for the times they are on. Oil encased mother should last longer. VFDs (variable-frequency drives) were mentioned as a way to run the fountains. Lake - The health of the lake is not good. We had large algae blooms this past summer. We are working with the city on lake health. Mussels were mentioned as a possible way to clean the water. There are some mussels already in the lake. It was noted that they are being used in controlled environments.
The Board can look into this. Run-off from storm sewers including leaves has contributed to the poor water quality and decreasing lake depth. This will also make algae more difficult to control. New Website The Association has a new website. http://fountainviewestates.info Association members are encouraged to check out the pictures and information on the new website. Communication The Board sends out regular communication to the association members. Bylaws The Association bylaws were updated this year and with the new updates available on the website. Lien process A lien process has been established for homeowners with unpaid dues. Curb issues We have notified the city of Ankeny about problems with curbs in the neighborhood. Jon said that the city will fix the areas as they have down time (within 1-3 years). There will be no cost to the association for the repairs. We also discussed handicap accessible sidewalks and that we have to indicate a need for handicap accessible sidewalks to the city. Struggles The biggest struggle we face is the need for volunteers to help with projects. It was noted that we had excellent response to the first lake clean up in the spring but the second clean up in the fall was not as well attended. 2018 Project List Replace Fountain #2 We hope to get another year out of fountain #2 before replacing. The approximate cost to replace is $9,500, which includes the fountain, wiring, circuit board, etc. Path repair The path is not as wide as it should be nor as thick. It should be 8 ft. wide and 4-6 inches deep. We have done repairs on the path but there are big cracks which are a safety concern as well as detract from the look and appeal of the path. The least expensive estimate to replace the path is $42,500 which would be 8 ft. wide, 4 inch deep asphalt. Another option would be concrete. We would need a quote for a concrete path. We will plan to hold an open meeting on path repair in the future. It can be done in stages. We will also have to look at drainage issues with path replacement. Front entryway The brick is crumbling on the front entryway. We have and estimate of $25,000 to fix it. The four columns behind the gazebo and sign could be taken down rather than replaced or fixed. Lake dredging - The Board has the research and ideas from 2013 related to dredging and have started discussions on plans. Items to be considered with dredging plans are the smell, algae, the depth of water and fish. The most expensive component has typically been hauling away what is removed from the lake. The city has said that we can use up to an acre of common area to put the dredged material without getting a permit from the DNR and it does not have to be tested. We have also learned that dredging technology has changed in recent years. We are working with Dave Ingle from Dave s Dozing
in Mitchellville. He uses special trucks which have less weight and can run loaders down to the lake and haul away. Next steps in the process: City wants a plan, will work with Dave Estimate amount to remove Plans to mitigate the smell Determine where to put the dredged material The inlets are the key areas to start. Dave has proposed building cofferdams at the inlets. This will allow us to clean out the inlets. We will need to coordinate the level of the lake water with the city. We have not gotten any price quotes for the proposed work. Steve Evans met with Dave and will work to put a plan together to submit to the city. The city should sign off if we don t use more than an acre. Potential estimate of the cost is $165,000-$200,000. It is possible to do one inlet at a time. Based on our discussions with the city, our plan should be in compliance with the city. Invitation to Join the FVHO Board Jon Grannis extended an invitation to association members to join the FVHO Board. Andy Smith volunteered to join the Board Proposed Board Members for 2018 Returning members: Jon Grannis - President Steve Evans Russ Adams Vice President Melvin Ward Todd Hasstedt - Treasurer Nick Hyde Vice President Mike Haws Cindy Sippel Secretary New Board Members Andy Smith Nominations from the floor were closed. Russ Adams moved to approve the proposed Board. Don Peterson seconded the motion. The motion passed. Open Forum Controlled Burn It was discussed that we need to do a controlled burn on the north side of the creek. We will need to get a permit and check into doing the burn.
Trees Todd will follow up on the trees that we planted by the city. We will also look into adding trees to fill in spots. Cindy Sippel moved that the meeting be adjourned. Todd Hasstedt seconded the motion which passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 4:13 pm. Respectfully submitted, Cindy Sippel Secretary