Meeting Minutes
The Promontory at Soda Creek – HOA
February 10, 2015
The meeting was called to order at 7:39 pm by Chan Pollock at Tuscany Tavern restaurant in Evergreen, Colorado.
Board Members in attendance included: Chan Pollock, Mike Dobson, Fabrice Fonck, Roxanne Smith, Allen Richardson and Leanne Fesenmeyer. Other attendees included: Mike Paules, Christine Thompson and Dave Evans.
Approval of Agenda and Prior Meeting Minutes:
The meeting agenda was presented and Christine made a motion for approval, which was seconded and approved. Fabrice reminded the group that the minutes are posted on the website and Chan shared them prior to the meeting. No corrections or comments were suggested and as such, the meeting minutes stand approved.
Treasurer Report:
Allen Richardson, Treasurer, shared that he has spent some time with our bookkeeper to better understand the HOA budget and has since separated our Operating (ongoing) budget from our Road Maintenance (long term) budget and reserves. He noted that we had $64,496 in our Platinum Money Market account to cover the long-term road replacement.
The Treasurer presented an analysis that used road maintenance and replacement assumptions the Board has previously approved and it shows that we should raise the $50 road reserve quarterly dues to $67 per household on a go forward basis, which is $17 more than our current charges.
The Treasurer also presented an Operating Budget analysis and noted that monthly waste removal fees were increased recently $2 per month to $22 per household. He called competing companies to find they charge $25 per month. In spite of the current provider increase, and in keeping with continued good cost management practices, he forecasted that we should lower our $150 current quarterly charge to $138 per quarter. When combined with the $67 road reserve increase, this yields a net $5 increase in total quarterly dues from $210 to $215 per quarter.
The Treasurer recommended that we propose an increase in quarterly HOA dues of $5 (beginning July 1, 2015) in order to compensate for the slight increase in waste removal and to allow for the appropriate funding of the road maintenance fund. There was considerable discussion about the board assumptions for road maintenance and replacement and whether or not a $5 increase is warranted at this time. A motion was made to bring this recommendation and discussion to the homeowners at the May annual meeting and it was approved on a 4-2 vote.
Finally, the Treasurer also proposed that we purchase one or more CDs for our cash funds to improve our interest earnings and will explore options to be presented at the next HOA meeting.
A motion was made to approve the Treasurer’s report, which was seconded and approved.
Architectural Review/Road Maintenance Committee Report:
Mike shared that we should review www.asphaltrecycling.com to better ascertain the dynamics involved in our future road repaving project to better understand and project our expenses related to road replacement including the percentage of current asphalt that we can use / recycle.
Mike shared that there has not been much activity other than one homeowner conducting improvements on their front porch, side entry and back deck.
Other Items:
Allen shared a new form to be used for new homeowners to use when purchasing or leasing a new home in the neighborhood. He also proposed a $100 fee that would be required to submit the form, to be paid at closing. The form would more quickly capture new homeowner information and would cover the administrative costs to add them to our bookkeeping and communication processes. The board also requested that we have a similar process for new leases with a similar charge. Chan made a motion that we empower Allen to finalize the form(s) and proceduralize them with the book keeper and real estate processes, which was seconded and approved.
Mike Dobson suggested that we add a budget item for fence maintenance and staining (from the corner of CO-74 and Squaw Pass Road down to Northeast corner of neighborhood along Belford Ct. and Bross Ct.). In the past, neighborhood families handled the maintenance but it was suggested that we explore the requirements to ensure what is needed to perform the required work and possibly invite neighborhood teenagers to help complete the project. A motion was made to support Mike’s efforts to explore need, timing, options along with a cost and labor estimate, which was seconded and approved.
Allen shared our insurance policy and suggested that we determine whether or not it has the appropriate balance of cost and coverage for an HOA of our size and scope. He was going to solicit information from insurance experts and report back to the board.
Next Meeting:
We have set the annual meeting for Tuesday, May 19th at 6:30 pm. At 9:23pm, Mike made a motion to adjourn which was seconded and approved.