Crestview Estates HOA Board Meeting Minutes - July 2015

Get ready for a HOA party like no other!!!

HOA Board Meeting Minutes – July 15, 2015 (Weds)

Meeting Started at 7:10 pm.

In attendance – Roger Branch, President – Bob McLaughlin, Treasurer – Shawna Fletcher – Jeannie Branch

Treasurer’s Report:

Bob McLaughlin reported the balance of the account from the last bank statement. As per HOA policy, we don’t report our balance online, but that balance is available upon request. Expenses were reported as $54 for mailings regarding the announcement of the annual meeting and $45.98 reimbursement to Danny Larson for creating the annual meeting signs.

HOA Question from Annual Meeting:

There was a question brought up at the annual meeting regarding pros and cons of making Crestview a gated community. After doing some preliminary research, it appears most (if not all) gated communities are private roads. Since Crestview is a county road, we would not be allowed to close a county road with a gate. If we went to a private road, we would have to negotiate to do it, but then the costs of maintaining the road would fall upon the HOA.

Research also indicates that while law enforcement will respond to emergencies within a gated community, they will not routinely patrol a gated community. If we would want them to patrol, it would have to be negotiated and would cost the HOA.

On top of those issues, a gate would need a power line to run it, which the HOA would have to pay for. Solar could only be a backup as we could not rely upon an unstable power source to control road access.

It appears all of the negotiations and details would require quite a bit of upfront money, along with substantial ongoing money. With Crestview Estates HOA being a voluntary association with minimal yearly dues, it seems financially impossible for the HOA to initially fund the issue, let alone pay for ongoing maintenance and contracts with law enforcement. As a result, it was determined to shelve the gated community question for the foreseeable future.

Road sign change coming to clarify No Outlet status of Crestview subdivision:

Roger Branch talked with county officials regarding the possibility of installing a yellow No Outlet sign atop the Crestview Drive road sign at the front of the subdivision. It was discussed that drivers from outside the community seem to consistently miss the big diamond shaped No Outlet sign on the side of the road, which the county conceded they also realize about those roadside signs. Crestview has been put on the list to receive a yellow No Outlet placard for the front street sign. It will be a few months, at least, but we are now on the list. The possibility of getting a sign that marks the access road at the very back of the Crestview subdivision was discussed with the county, as well. Since drivers seem to think that access road might be a road to use, the county said they will consider adding a sign for that road, as well.

Registering By Laws: Now that the wording of the HOA By Laws was cleaned up and voted upon in the annual meeting, they need to be registered with the state to make them official. Roger Branch will type up the new By Laws with the approved wording and Bob McLaughlin will register them with the state when he receives them from Roger.

New HOA Board Focus: With the By Laws out of the way, it will be time for the HOA Board to look at cleaning up the wording of the HOA Covenants, as well as adding/changing/deleting anything they think might be important. Having the Covenants up to date will be a focus of future board meetings, so the Covenants can be voted on at the next annual meeting.

UPCOMING HOA PARTY!!!

Shawna Fletcher was in attendance to discuss tentative plans regarding a community wide party. She and Elizabeth Greenfield have taken the lead on coordinating and planning a party. Elizabeth could not be in attendance at the board meeting, so Shawna was there to discuss their initial plans.

Trying to pin down a summer date was proving difficult for their schedules, so alternative dates in October were explored. That way, the party can have a harvest or fall festival feel to it. October 3rd is the tentative date, since later in the year would make the chances of cold weather higher and the party will primarily be contained to an outdoor area at Elizabeth Greenfield’s house. A holiday themed community party was discussed that would take place in November, but the outdoor area makes the weather more of a factor, so the early October date was deemed more feasible.

With a fall season date, ideas were discussed in the meeting for family friendly activities like bobbing for apples, sack races, blindfold obstacle course, etc. Shawna threw down the gauntlet by declaring she was a “champion bobber” at 12 years of age. So anyone wishing to take that title from her should come prepared!

It was brought up that bringing a large plat map of the community and displaying it on a wall would be a big help in allowing community members to get to know each other a bit better. People could place their names on their designated parcel, which would help the rest of the community know who is who and be more familiar with where everyone lives within the community. Roger Branch said he would explore options to make that work. It is possible to get one printed up in a large format, but the idea was also brought up to see if anyone has an overhead projector. That would make things more portable and less expensive.

$200 from HOA funds have been designated to help with the party, per the budget approved at the 2015 annual meeting. Preliminary plans for those funds are to purchase the main meat dish for the party (brisket, pulled pork, etc.), as well as purchase paper products. Shawna and Elizabeth will be reimbursed up to $200 from the HOA.

A flyer will be created and Shawna said they will try to hand deliver the flyers in advance to everyone in the community. The flyers will contain more detailed information, along with designating side dishes or desserts by the first initial of last names. (For an example in this instance only - Last names starting with A-L might be asked to bring a side dish, while M-Z might be asked to bring desserts.)

Shawna and Elizabeth will continue to plan the party and more details will be forthcoming!

Meeting ended at approximately 8:42 pm (and 30 seconds)