Minutes: Autumn Walk 2017 Annual Meeting - Draft

The 2017 Autumn Walk HOA Annual Meeting was held on Oct. 30, 2017.

Highlights:

• HOA is in strong financial shape, ahead of schedule in saving Reserves
• Monument Sign: Chose a design (see bottom) and will proceed to installation
• Landscaping:
• Need to spend $2100 to replace shrubs in small island
• Possibly killed by dog waste, cannot proceed till this is addressed
• Will defer maintenance/replacement of crepe myrtle trees/knockout rose on large island
• Landscaping contract issues this year
• Severely behind schedule early in year, inconsistent even later
• Landscaper not identifying issues (such as the dead shrubs)
• Have discussed with vendor, will monitor performance in final year of 3-year contract
• Water problems coming from neighboring HOA addressed via Emerson HOA
• Initially not noticed behind houses because Autumn Walk HOA is maintaining yards
• Elections
• Two positions with 2-year terms elected
• 2018 Board:
• President: Dharmesh Patel
• Vice President: Fred Leong (also Secretary & Communications)
• Member at Large: Tammy Penning

Details:

1. Quorum was established

• Board Quorum Established
• Two of three Board Members in attendance (Dharmesh Patel, Tammy Penning; absent: Mike Fitzgerald) 
• Homeowner Quorum Established
• 12 houses needed to establish quorum (elections)
• 5 houses were present
• 9811, 9836, 9840, 9844, 9854
• 9 houses submitted proxies
• 9804, 9810, 9814, 9832, 9834, 9848, 9858, 9862, 9864

2. Call to Order and Introductions

• Mr. Patel calls the meeting to order at 7:10 PM
• In attendance:
• April Day, CAS Management
• Board Members: Dharmesh Patel (President), Tammy Penning (Member at Large)
• Residents: Bindu, Raghu, Aru, Fred

3. Adoption of 2016 Annual Meeting Minutes

• 2016 Minutes taken by Fred were adopted by the Board unanimously
• Fred will once again act as secretary for this meeting

4. Financial Review

• The Board conducted a review of the FY18 Budget
• Copies were provided to all in attendance
• Previously mailed to all owners in Autumn Walk
• April reported balances for Operating Funds and Reserves
• Both Operating Fund and Reserves increased in the past year
• Discussion of Reserves:
• Two-thirds of Reserves in a Mutual of Omaha CD that is maturing
• New CD rates were provided by CAS
• 25 month term was the highest rate 1.65%
• Current Reserves are not laddered
• Other funds are held in a money market
• CD earns much more interest than money market 0.15%
• Potential benefits of laddering:
• Higher overall interest rates in a rising rate environment
• Always have a CD maturing in case the money is needed
• Board deferred decision until amount needed in the Reserve is determined (later discussion on monument sign project, though none of the Reserve funds are needed at this time)
• We have too much in our checking: CAS recommends moving some into Reserves or using it
• Auditors:
• Long-time auditor changed personnel and does not seem to be able to keep up with workload
• Were only able to complete FY17 recently - had to file for an extension on taxes
• Some Boards are opting to do the audit themselves
• Save the cost of the audit
• Avoid late filing
• CAS is testing a new company for some small communities
• Limiting to HOAs below 50 units to ensure this company is not overwhelmed
• CAS did due diligence on new company
• They have been performing HOA audits for 16 years
• After discussion Board directed CAS to query the new auditor on our behalf
• We have not signed an engagement letter yet
• May actually be less expensive
• Social expenses
• Will have some additional expenses from the Chili Cook-Off
• Insurance
• Four types of insurance are carried by the HOA
• Liability for common areas (e.g., if someone trips and falls)
• Directors and Officers (most important)
• Protects the Board from being sued
• Workman's Comp
• Not mandatory but highly recommended
• Covers vendors who might not be insured
• CAS however always checks that vendors have insurance (currently only applies to landscaping vendor)
• Protects HOA if the vendor's insurance has lapsed, etc.
• If have it for 5 years without claims start getting refunds
• We are at the point now where we should start getting refunds
• Fidelity
• Crime, embezzlement coverage
• 3 months' dues plus a percentage of reserves
• Maryland began requiring this coverage because an association in Bethesda lost $1.5M to embezzlement 4 years ago
• Legal Fees
• Have not had to use this so far
• This line item can rise sharply if we must use it
• Management Fee
• Rate is staying the same, but the fee is going up slightly
• CAS pays a fee for the storage of records for HOAs being managed
• This fee has been rising, so this year they decided to pass on $50 of the increase
• Improve and Replace Landscape
• Increased this line item slightly by reallocating other funds that weren't being spent
• See later discussion
• Landscape Contract
• We are in the final year of the 3-year contract
• As a reminder, after the one-time annual Spring Clean-Up, it is homeowner responsibility to weed, trim, and mulch front flower beds (not covered by contract)
• Extended discussion of the vendor's performance this year
• Very difficult start this Spring, not just our HOA but throughout Emerson as the vendor has contracts in most of the community as well as the Master HOA
• In past years, the landscapers came every Thursday, but this did not seem to be the case this year
• Over the course of the summer performance improved, though they seemed to send much smaller crews and take longer to complete all of Emerson
• In addition the landscaper does not seem to be flagging issues as they have in the past
• We have had issues with dead shrubs, water problems, etc. that went unreported until residents brought to HOA's attention
• Vendor should be doing multiple walkthroughs each year reporting problems
• Plan going forward:
• Have discussed this with the vendor's supervisors, believe they do not want to lose contracts
• Will ask them to notify us if they are behind schedule
• Provide a plan for catching up
• Also provide a report when they do come out
• Notify us when they were on site
• Also catalog what they saw (issues)
• Provided on weekly basis to Board
• Unclear if we should continue signing 3-year contracts
• (In past, these contracts provided price stability)
• Another community has invoked a contract termination clause (30 days written notice) to exit their contract 1 year early
• Dharmesh has been tracking their service visits
• Tammy also offered to make walkthroughs
• We want to see them return to the expected level of service
• Snow Removal
• Was good last year
• Vendor emails Dharmesh before every potential event with options that the HOA must choose (come out, don't come out, etc.)
• The FY18 Budget was adopted by the Board.

5. President's Report

• Things going well, have had Picnic and Chili Cook-Off as community gatherings
• Community Entrance Signs vs Landscape Beautification
• Extended discussion of whether to complete both projects
• Entrance Sign
• Three concepts (provided to those in attendance) from two vendors
• Both vendors could provide, but one was lower in cost
• CAS is confident both vendors can provide a quality product
• Discussion of the three concepts by all present
• General agreement that the third concept (wall) is too large for the space where it would be installed; plus cost is 1.6X other two concepts
• Other two concepts are variants on the brick columns seen in several other Emerson communities (e.g., Skylark Ridge)
• Brick structure
• Precast cap
• Cast bronze plaque (black and gold)
• Second option includes 2-foot stone base
• Feather over "Emerson" dropped because it would add 50% to cost
• Board chooses Option #2 (brick column with stone base)
• Budgets funds to include permits (less than $300) and processing fees ($100/hour)
• Will transfer from Operating Funds to Reserves to cover the cost of the sign
• Then will pay for the sign from Reserves
• No net decrease in the Reserves
• Note that we are ahead of the Reserve Study projections by roughly this amount
• 2015 Reserve Study projected the amount that must be saved every year to cover long-term costs (repaving parking spaces, replacing retaining walls, etc.)
• Timetable
• If signed contract with site plans completed immediately, might be able to get rebar in the ground by end of November (must be above 30 degrees)
• Precast (face of the pillar) would take the longest
• Site plan needed - may be able to use the one form the builder
• Warranties and Maintenance
• 1 year warranty, but expected to last forever
• Probably need periodic cleaning as the other signs do
• Fixing Landscaping
• Half the shrubs on the small traffic island at the front of the community are dead
• Will cost $2100 to replace (taken from Operating Funds)
• Possibly from dog owners allowing their pets to relieve themselves on these plants and not picking up dog waste
• Cannot replace the shrubs until we are sure they will survive
• Large island at back of community
• Crepe myrtles need to be trimmed, potentially replace the knockout roses
• Deferred at this time due to cost of repairing the small island 

6. Resident Forum

• We had a serious problem with water from neighboring community washing out the yards behind one row
• Neighboring house developed a water problem
• Not noticed for a while because yards are maintained by HOA landscaping contract
• Yards/hill were washing away, standing pools of water
• Landscaping equipment tearing up yard, leaving deep ruts
• Because this crossed HOAs Autumn Walk referred the matter to Emerson HOA, which worked with the neighboring HOA to resolve
• Water stopped about 2 weeks ago, area is recovering quickly

7. Elections

• Once business was concluded Elections were held for two positions
• Autumn Walk HOA has two-year terms
• Two were elected in 2015, one in 2016
• No nominating forms were received, so nominations were made from the floor
• 2018 Autumn Walk Board will be:
• President: Dharmesh Patel
• Vice President: Fred Leong (will also continue as Secretary & Communications)
• Member at Large: Tammy Penning

8. Meeting Adjourned

• Meeting adjourned at 9:10 PM by President (Dharmesh Patel)