MINUTES OF THE
BOARD MEETING
June 12, 2002
BOARD
MEMBERS PRESENT: Bob Martin, Kim
Feliciano, Dolores Tappert, Paula Groppe, Ed Kocher
COMMITTEE
MEMBERS PRESENT: Harriet Martin, Gladys Pfeiffer
ASSOCIATION
ATTORNEY PRESENT: Mike Sicola (arrived at approx 9:25pm)
HOMEOWNER'S
PRESENT: Cheryl Smielewski, Ken Bertch,
Helen Bertch, Mandana Yazdani, Tammi Horowitz, Ron De Vaughn, Gene-Ann Pesano,
Phil Pesano, Lillian Hughes, Lynne Monteiro, Robert Brodowski, Beverley
Brodowski
The
meeting was called to order on June 12, 2002 at 8:02 p.m.
·
First
Order of Business – Approval of Minutes from the Previous Meeting
The
minutes of the May meeting were distributed to all trustees prior to this
meeting. Bob Martin made a motion to accept the minutes from the May 2002
meeting of the Board of Trustees. Paula Groppe seconded the motion. All were in
favor.
·
Second
Order of Business – Bank Signature Resolution Forms
Ed
Kocher inquired as to the status of the Bank Signature resolution forms. Robert
Martin reported that the paperwork was completed for both accounts and that he
delivered them to the bank. The bank advised Bob that, if there were any
problems, the bank would contact him.
·
Third
Order of Business - Siding project
Ed
Kocher reported, to the best of his knowledge, the Miller siding project is
done. Ed Kocher is still waiting on two
invoices - but he has a good enough picture of them that he feels we will have
about $150.00 per unit remaining. Ed Kocher said that, when he receives those
invoices, he going to go ahead and refund the balance of funds to the Miller
unit owner's of record as of 9/25/99 – or as specified by sales contracts after
that date.
·
Fourth
Order of Business – Buffer between Buildings 6 and 12
Bob
Martin stated that this subject is a continuation of discussions from prior
meetings, and gave a brief description of the situation for those who were not
familiar with it. Bob stated that some affected homeowners are in favor of the
buffer, some are against it, and some were undecided – some like the open area
aspect while other homeowners want the privacy that the buffer might provide.
The purpose of this evening’s discussion is to get the opinion of those who are
undecided. Bob advised that, twice, he had gone over to the buffer site and had
marked the approximate place where the buffer would go. Ed Kocher stated that
Ms. Bertch and Ms. Bailey are both in favor of the buffer, and that Ms. Smielewski
and Ms. Horowitz are opposed. Ed Kocher
asked Ms. Yazdani to state her opinion. Ms. Yazdani replied that if the
Association was willing to put up a fence around the parking area behind her
unit, and if the Association would leave much of the landscaping installed
behind Ms. Bertch’s unit as is, then she would be in favor of the buffer.
Otherwise, she would be opposed. Ed Kocher then asked if Mr. or Mrs. De Vaughn
was present – Ronald De Vaughn was. Ed Kocher asked Mr. De Vaughn for his
opinion. Mr. De Vaughn stated that he was opposed to the buffer. The discussion
was tabled because a clear consensus was not reached. Ed Kocher stated that the
Trustees would discuss this situation in the closed portion of the meeting and,
if a vote were taken, it would be included in the minutes of the open portion
of the meeting.
Note: At a later
point in the meeting, when she was advised that her fence proposal would not be
approved, Ms. Yazdani changed her position and stated that she was opposed to
the buffer. It should also be noted that, due to time constraints during the
closed portion of the meeting, the meeting was not re-opened, and no vote was
taken on this matter.
·
Fifth
Order of Business - Presentation by the Owners of 1, 3, 5, 7 & 9 MD
Ed
Kocher stated that he received a petition signed by the owner of all five units
stating that they wanted a buffer installed between their building (#9) and
Drum Point Road. Mrs. Pesano made the presentation to the Board on behalf of
the owners in Building 9. Mrs. Pesano presented a proposal for planting trees
facing Drum Point Road from the back of Manhattan Drive. The issue for these
unit owners is that all of their patios, and all of their back windows face
Drum Point Road (which is heavily trafficked). The unit owners stated that
Mignatti verbally promised some kind of buffer, but were told that it would
take several years for the buffer to grow to the desired height – Ed Kocher
stated that such a buffer was not included in the site plan. Another issue is
the road noise. The third issue is the general appearance of the front of the
complex along Drum Point Road – they feel that the common bed in that area
could be improved to upgrade the appearance of the entire community to
outsiders. Some of the unit owner’s suggestions were to use evergreen trees or
shrubs that are dense and fast growing to be used as a buffer, and then take
the rest of the plantings that are already in the common bed, replant them in
an organized manner and add a few shrubs to supplement them. Mrs. Pesano showed
the board a plan she had made up of where the homeowners propose the taller
evergreen trees would be installed. She advised that she went to several
nurseries, talked to George Morano and also got several suggestions and took
photographs of what other communities had done. She had stated that their first
preference for the taller evergreen trees would be the Norwegian Spruce. She
stated that these trees turn silver in the winter and has the blue-green color
in the warm weather. The approximate cost would be about $1,800. + labor +an
additional $200 - $250 for the additional shrubs. Ed Kocher asked if it was the
homeowner’s intention to pay for this themselves or were they seeking funds
from the Association for this purpose. Mrs. Pesano advised that they wanted the
Association to pay for it. She also volunteered to supervise the planting to
make sure it is done to everyone's standards. The discussion was then tabled.
·
Sixth
Order of Business - Miller Lawns
Ed Kocher
stated that anyone who owns a Miller unit probably had noticed that portions of
their front lawn had been carved away. Ed stated that those were the areas that
were dead or dying, and that within the next week or so, those areas and
possibly a few others, will be replaced with fresh topsoil and fresh sod. The
total cost for this maintenance would be approximately $5,680.00. Once that is
done, Ed Kocher stated that those areas would be watered more – as allowed by
the water restrictions now in place.
·
Seventh
Order of Business - Mignatti lawns
o Robert Martin reported that
the landscaper had recently replaced the mulch in all the common beds on the
Mignatti side, as well as a few small areas on the Miller side.
o Ed Kocher reported that, due
to the poor condition of the Mignatti lawns, he solicited a proposal from the
landscaper to replace the front lawns of six of the Migantti units (sprinkler
zone 4 – front of 30, 32, 34, 36, 38 & 40 MD). Ed emphasized that we are
not considering this proposal for approval at this time, but rather, Ed wanted
to get an estimate of what it might cost to replace all the Mignatti lawns if,
in the future, it is determined to be the appropriate course of action. Ed also
stated that he requested the same estimate from another landscaper, but had not
yet received it. Ed stated that the proposal received from George Morano is to
remove the existing sod (4,850 sq. ft., not including the driveways), dig down
3 inches and remove the sand that is there, install about 40-45 tons of topsoil,
and then install blue grass sod on top of that. The total estimated cost for
this is $5,077. Ed Kocher extrapolated that to approx $80K to 100K for the
entire Migantti side, making it impractical. A unit owner suggested that
someone speak to the owner of 44 MD to determine what he is doing to keep his
lawn looking so good – it was suggested that fertilization was needed. Ed
stated that the lawns are being fertilized and that we are watering them as
much as the law will allow.
·
Eighth
Order of Business - Fence behind Building 10
Bob
Martin reported that he has located the surveyor’s monument and he now knows
where the property line is. As a result, he is going to solicit estimates for
installing a fence behind building 10. Bob stated that we have received several
complaints from homeowners in buildings 10 and 11 about trespassers from
outside the community entering the property by way of Myrtle Avenue either by
foot or on bicycles. Also some of these same trespassers are walking their dogs
on the property and not cleaning up after them. Bob stated that the fence would
be approximately 240-250 feet in length. The fence would extend from our
neighbors existing fence to a location well beyond Myrtle Ave. Bob Martin is going to get a couple of
estimates for this fence.
·
Ninth
Order of Business - Open Financials
Ed
Kocher distributed a financial report to those present. Ed advised that these
figures were slightly inaccurate as it was prepared on 5/28/02 and some things
changed slightly up until 5/31/02. He stated that the latest version would be
available on the web site shortly. Ed stated, of the total receivables figure
of $4,368, that two units represent a large percentage of the total (approx
$2,800), and that liens are being placed on those two units. Ed stated that the
$4,255 in replacement fund payables was in regards to the Miller siding project
and has subsequently been paid. Ed stated that he still can't get our
accountant to send us an invoice, so we have a $10,000 accounting fees payable
on the balance sheet – representing two years worth of accounting work,
although one of those years is not collectable yet because the accountant
hasn't performed the service yet. Ed pointed out that, on the expense
statement, that the telephone expense includes once-per-year internet costs of
approx $75 - $85.
·
Tenth
Order of Business - Old or New Business
o Tammi Horowitz (a Mignatti
unit owner) requested permission to install a 23’ X 10’ patio, 4 inches in
depth. Ed Kocher stated that she should send a request letter to the
Association, and that we would reply with a letter stating that her request was
approved subject to certain restrictions. Ed emphasized that if anything needs
to be moved to accommodate the patio (such as the sprinkler heads), it will be
done at the unit owner's expense.
o (discussed earlier in the
meeting out of regular order) Mandana Yazdani asked what the status was
regarding her proposal to install a fence around the parking lot behind her
unit. Ed Kocher stated that the Board discussed her proposal, and although no
vote was taken on the subject, it was clear that the Board was opposed to the
concept. Ed Kocher added that Mandana already received a letter approving the
installation of a fence next to her patio at her expense.
o Mrs. Bertch stated that there
are six trees owed by Mignatti in the area behind her building, and she stated
that these were on the site plans and were never installed. Ed Kocher stated
that it might have been owed by Miller, and it is clear that Miller is not
going to install anything.
o Mrs. Bertch provided the
Board with copies of the bond estimates for both Miller and Mignatti, along
with as many as 12 pages of site plans for the property. Mrs. Bertch requested,
and received, a receipt for these items, and Ed Kocher promised that they would
be returned to her no later than 6/17/02.
o Ken Bertch asked as to the
status of the negotiations with Mignatti regarding the pool removal. Ken stated
that his company did a recreation facility project (on a smaller scale) for
another community and the cost was in excess of $325,000, and Ken basically
wanted to know why there was a delay in bringing this matter to a conclusion.
At Ed Kocher’s suggestion, Mike Sicola answered Ken, and stated that there
might be some ambiguity as to how the third party is to be selected for the
purpose of determining a value for the pool. Mike stated that Mignatti had
offered us $70,000. Mike said that the Association has obtained two estimates,
both of which are a multiple of the figure offered by Mignatti. Mike was not
willing to share the exact amounts of the estimates, but he did say that they
were both in excess of the $325,000 figure presented earlier by Ken Bertch.
Mike stated that we sent a letter to Mignatti stating that we cannot reconcile
his offer with our estimates, and we want Mignatti to provide a basis for his
estimate, and that we are currently awaiting a reply Mignatti in this regard.
The
open portion of the meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:40 p.m.