HILLTOP HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2017
JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS CHURCH
Keith Miller, President of the HOA brought the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. He shared with the members the meeting would be recorded and nobody had any objections. He shared a story from the Willow Valley Retirement Community via his wife Sherry. He informed the members the community was 33 years old. He went into the fact that the community was aging and many of the attributes and physical parts of the community need to be repaired and this fact needed to be taken into account.
Keith also explained the change in the board and that the elected President from 2016 had moved from Hilltop and Keith has graciously accepted the role of President upon her departure.
Jess brought a lot of energy and ideas to the board and worked very hard. Her legacy will not be forgotten. He asked for a show of hands of new residents and only 2 were in attendance. He asked for committee attendance and asked for people to visit the sign- up sheets by the refreshments.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Architectural Committee: Bids were accepted for the painting and staining and Atkins and Livingston which does an excellent job. We power washed about 18 sides of townhomes this year, in most cases the north side, where the moss grows. We did this quickly before the cold weather hit. Next year, we will power wash along with staining to ensure Atkins will not need to come out twice and we should be able to save money. Also, we will send out letters to determine the residents needs in this regard. Gutter repairs were rather low because the year before, 2016 was a bit high in gutter repairs. Ken Judd, 234 Winding Hill Dr. asked, “why are residents not power washing their own homes” Keith and Becky replied that it is in the best interest of the community to do this for the members because not power washing leaves the whole community unsightly and the declarations and bylaws leave us in a gray area. The 18 home sides we washed cost us $2,000. Gutter policy, if you feel you have a problem, contact the Architectural Committee and we will inspect it and have the company come out to give us an evaluation and cost.
Janet Havner,116 Pinnacle Point discussed the gutters were installed incorrectly, the HOA will inspect this and try to repair the problem. Another member mentioned his fence boards are rotting. Keith stated this is the responsibility of the home owner. Keith mentioned that the rules, regulations, bylaws will be up to date and will be on the website under legal documents.
Compliance Committee: Keith gave this report for Linda DePatto who was out due to illness. The compliance committee is very active and sends letters out regularly. This is not a fun committee, but for the well-being of our community in terms of property values, and other concerns, it is necessary. Please keep in mind, before you make any changes to your property, be in touch with the board. You may need approval, you may not, but it is good to know. You may get letters, you may get a fine. They start at $100 and move up to $500 and you may have to change the improvement. Sherry Dobsy, 146 Treetops, asked how to get permission to install new windows. Keith gave her the information.
Landscape Committee: Adam Westgate gave his report to the members. He has been on the HOA for one year. He works a full-time job and takes a multitude of phone calls. He explained making choices on safety issue projects vs esthetic projects. He discussed the retaining wall repair done by Knutsen that was a large expense. The second expense was gravel strips on the end units to prevent siding damage. Two projects for 2018 are repair of the erosion on Pinnacle Point tree line and an adequate and affordable lawn treatment program. He received many complaints on weed control this year. A member discussed a flea and tick spray for dogs to be sprayed on the grass. Adam stated he would look into it. Stan Snyder, 100 Eagles Nest Court, asked about the board’s position on trees, pear and otherwise. Adam said the pruning is still done, but it is not the responsibility of the HOA to remove fallen limbs due to high winds.
Pam Wise, 108 Winding Hill, Pear trees are dead and should be removed. She said ZJ removed limbs at the bottom making the tree top heavy. Adam said he would look into it and evaluate the changes. Pam also mentioned the stumps not being removed. Kathy Sobeck 137 Pinnacle Point, commended Adam on his job as the Landscape chair. She also expressed concern on the work ethic of the landscaping workers. Adam stated that the maintenance contract was bid on one by company, ZJ. Keith mentioned that we will hold ZJ to a standard and discuss these issues with him. Ken Judd mentioned that if ZJ got mad and quit we would be stuck without snow removal. Keith said it was a two-way street. Gene Mummau said ZJ is extremely responsible and worked hard to correct problems when he was Landscape Manager. He said the board cut out the weed budget and for the good of the community we can’t cut this out of the budget. Keith said he understood but he still has a budget he is accountable for, and decisions have to be made to keep the community sound. Structural landscaping took the precedent. Mummau said the reserve fund should have been used. Joanne Kirsch 120 Treetops told the landscapers that the grass looked great and their snow removal was superb. This year was like hell. A very long discussion took place regarding ZJ and his workers.
A discussion took place to send Johnny (ZJ) a letter from the attorney regarding his duties and responsibilities. The board responded noncommittally. Mike Freshwater suggested that ZJ does personal landscaping at a reasonable price.
The members commented that new retaining wall on Winding Hill is beautiful.
Media and Hospitality: Keith reported on this and asked for help. He discussed the get together this summer at Spring Ridge Court. We would like to do more of these.
Finance Committee: Bonnie reported on this, and plugged Knutsen Landscaping. She also thanked Adam Westgate for his work on Landscape. He went above and beyond the call of duty. The attorney for the HOA did not specialize in HOAs. Jess, the former president and Bonnie hired another firm that specializes in HOA’S. This helps the board to keep on top of the ever-changing laws that affect the HOA. We are currently dealing with Bankruptcy’s, Sherriff’s sales, and we need to keep on top of this so that the board is not financially affected. This is your money.
We also looked at the Merrill Lynch accounts, which is where all of our CD’s are. The conference call with our rep was very interesting because we are doing very well, we are making over 3 percent on the CD’s, which is good. When things start coming due which is years down the road, we will see what the financial climate is.
The age of this community is becoming more and more of a challenge. Thank heaven we got new roofs roughly 12 years ago and they are 40 year roofs. Budgeting was never done to set aside to $ for roofing in 30 years. Bonnie discussed the repairs that are upcoming before the roofs will need to be repaired. We are having to space things out and make decisions. The weed cost is $25,000. We had to cut it this year.
Finance Statement – Scott Sterner Scott reviewed the balance sheet. Four units are behind and it is a legal issue and will be handled by the attorney. A question was escrow and prepaid fees Scott stated they are fees that will be paid out when the owner leaves. The owner must request the escrow when he leaves. Kathy Sobeck is there a chance to make a change and make the buy in fee nonrefundable. Impossible, it would require a 90% homeowner agreement. Keith stated we are $58,000 to the good, which we can use for investments, etc.
Election of Officers:
Becky Mullaney is leaving December 31, 2017 and Linda DePatto has agreed to stay. Are there any volunteers to the board. Jeffrey Butch, 104 Winding Hill Dr. retired teacher,Oxford High School Chester County, Member of Oxford School Board, member of American Legion and VFW, along with many other accomplishments volunteered for the Board.
The motion was made by Becky Mullaney and passed by all members.
Next item of business was the budget of 2018
Keith explained the monthly fee was being increased by $10 per month. $111 to $121 per month. The reason for this is to keep from asking the residents for an assessment. We want to avoid this and build up our reserve for future necessary projects. Gene Mummau asked a question about the Management Company, Boyd Wilson.
Keith explained the necessity of hiring a management company to help the board manage a 193-unit townhome community. Boyd Wilson will help us manage the community without taking over the finances of the community. The company is basically a property management company and they will help us set up a plan to replace items, i.e. trees, weed management, resident disputes.
Boyd Wilson presentation: Heather Brumbach, started with the Village of Olde Hickory. They explained they are available to guide the board. They do not make decisions. They assist the residents as well. Mike Freshwater asked about fielding phone calls, will there be a system available to get questions to the chair without calling them all the time. Heather stated this is a huge plus to the board, and these inquiries are collected and sent to the board member.
Keith also explained that BW has a level of expertise that the board does not have which will be helpful to the board. Everyone will get a welcome packet from BW at the end of December. BW also sends out email blasts and everyone will be notified about what will be happening in the neighborhood. BW will work within our rules and regs, by-laws, etc.
Kathy Sobeck asked questions about how they will handle the landscaping, Heather said she will walk the grounds with the landscaper and talk to him at that time. Heather said she must know the problems before that time.
Mike Mullaney confirmed with Keith that this is a one year contract.
The contract begins 1/1/18 thru 1/31/18 and the new attorney has reviewed the contract.
Keith stated there will be contingency plans for those without emails.
BW will notify residents 48 hours prior to the event taking place.
Renters do not get this information, however BW must, by law, contact the owner. Should the renter contact BW, the renter will be contacted on their email.
Scott stated that BW will be handling the resale certificates. Ken Judd discussed a plumbing problem he had concerning the wrong size pipes installed in his unit. Scott Sterner said the same thing had happened to him, this was discussed and hopefully the members attending are forewarned.
Keith Miller, President, adjourned the meeting at 9:00 PM
Respectfully submitted,
Rebecca Mullaney
Secretary
Hilltop HOA