HOA Board Meeting August 11, 2022
Members present: President John Rodgers, Secretary Lori Rodgers, VP Chelsea Faust, Cody Faust, Donna Cook, Tony Winter, Phillip DeCoster
- At 7 p.m. John called to order a Special Session of the board, and made a Motion, waiving all considerations of time requirements re: announcement and voting. to install Tony Winter (1821 Delaware) as Treasurer. Motion Seconded by Chelsea, unanimously approved. The Special Session was adjourned at 19: 03.
- The Regular session was called to order at 7:04 by the President. He reminded the attendees that the President, VP, Treasurer, and Secretary are the only voting members, though other members do have a voice, and there will always be an attempt to reach a consensus.
- The previous minutes were read and approved with no corrections. There was a discussion about adding minutes to the HOA website. It was moved and seconded and unanimously approved that Board Minutes beginning with 2022 will be published to the HOA website. Cody will send the Secretary information on the WordPress account so she can post them.
- The Architecture Committee is the only standing committee of the HOA and is a very important one. John moved, and Tony seconded, to add Phillip DeCoster (1813 Delaware St.) as a new member of the Committee. Unanimously approved. It was noted that due to Hannah Kinmonth-Schultz’s moving, there is now an opening for a third committee member.
- Report on Management Company search: Lori reported that she had contacted several management companies:
- PMI Management, Topeka, never replied to her May 11 request for info via their website
- She spoke w/Melissa Hickam of Phoenix Management HOA & Rentals, Lawrence, on 5/12/22. She does work with small HOAs.
- Gage Management, Inc. is not accepting new HOA clients at this time.
- Jim @ Sentry Management in Overland Park: 913-693-4266 sent a form that asks for basic information, including a copy of the HOA budget. He has an employee who lives in Lawrence and it would be possible to have her drive around to see the area.
After a discussion as to whether to continue looking into a management company, since a full board would still need to be voted upon and do oversight of any managing company and since a lot of the bookkeeping is done by our accountant, members agreed that with our small budget it might be more economical to have things done by the board, rather than spending money on a full management company’s offerings. Further discussion was tabled until the new Treasurer has had time to study the budget.
- Treasurer report: the President has been serving as interim treasurer since Sandra moved.
- One owner is again in arrears of more than $500, which means the Board is able to refer the debt to a collection agency. That has happened once and the same owner needs to get one: A motion was made and seconded that a letter to the owner will be sent reminding him to pay or else it will be turned over to collections. Motion to send letter by John, seconded by Lori. The motion was unanimously approved. .
- ThePresident made the payment to Douglas County for our property tax bill.
- John and Tony will meet with the bank to add Tony to our bank account. Chelsea requests being taken off the account once Tony is added.
7. Architecture Committee report:
- Cody has received no requests since the April meeting. John did receive a request regarding the posting of political signs and referred the owner to the Architecture Committee Guidelines.
- President noted that many trees in the HOA are in bad condition or dead. In particular, the ash trees are showing rapid defoliation. Per the covenants, property owners must replace them with similar trees. One homeowner took responsibility for removing one of the dead trees in the entry area common area. Cody will ask if that owner is interested in serving on the committee. Tony made a motion to request that the Architectural Committee, with Donna’s help, make a survey of all trees in the neighborhood and report at the next Board meeting which common areas need replacement trees and which owner properties have dying trees. The Motion was approved unanimously.
8. Irrigation system repair: There has been no power to it for several months. Donna will call Turfmaster and get a bid to repair.
9. Street paving update: John will forward the engineer’s report to new Board members. New bids need to be requested, based on the recommendations in the report. Cody suggested sending the same companies the report and telling them which option we prefer; companies can provide bids based on that. It is best to get the work done before freezing happens, and a board member will have to be present to oversee the work.
10. HOA policy on rental housing: A request was brought to the Board by Hannah (VW); she and Nick have already moved out of the area and asked if the Board would grant them the right to rent their property. It seems to be a moot point now that there is a contract on the house, but after discussion the Board would not be in favor of allowing that. Wording in the HOA documents refers to properties as being which our attorney and legal opinion is that this is ‘owner occupied’, currently only 2 outliers now, after considerable work by board. Tony noted that he purchased last year based on knowing this was an owner occupied neighborhood.
11. Other business:
- John expressed his thanks to the new Board members for volunteering their time and skills. The next mtg will be Sept. 26 @ 7 p.m. The agenda will include discussing the budget for 2023, and if there is a need to raise dues or do a special assessment to cover upcoming costs for road paving, etc. Information on how to attend will be posted on the HOA website, to increase transparency for owners.
- Update on May gathering: Donna and Philip agreed that the event, which was organized by Hannah and Breck was well attended and a good opportunity to meet neighbors.
- Tony: Voluntary directory at previous HOA – paper, old style. Helped foster sense of community. Any interest here? John: privacy issues have changed, who would control it? Be online? FB page? If someone would volunteer, could be done outside of the board.
- John: An email account for the Vice President needs to be set up.
The Meeting was adjourned by the President at 8:35.
Lori Rodgers, Secretary
