WATKINS FARMS HOA DRAFT OF MEETING MINUTES

                                               

                                               FEBRUARY 24, 2010

 

                                          BENNETT FIRE HOUSE

THIS IS A DRAFT ONLY AND IS NOT FINAL PENDING APPROVAL BY THE BOARD AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS AT THE NEXT MEETING.

 

 

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:

Bob Essek

Lori Hasty

Marcie Thorpe

Lacie Pachas

 

COMMUNITY MEMBERS PRESENT:

Jose LaFontaine

Terri Pepe

Mark Hasty

Terry Lewand

Greg Lewallen

Gary Gillespie

John and Sue Garrett

 

 

MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING:

 

The minutes of the last meeting of January 27, 2010 were read and approved.

 

TREASURER REPORT;

 

Treasurer report was presented by Lacie Pachas.  The leftover money from the CPMG account of $138.65 was transferred to the reserve account and this account was closed. The reserve account has a balance of $7025.37 as of 12/31/09. The checking account has a balance of $21,420.39 as of January 31, 2010.  Bank statements for all financial accounts will now be sent to the PO Box address.  The 2010 Budget was reviewed showing total expenses of $13,724.23.  This budget includes transfer from the operating account to the reserve account for a projected cash balance in the reserve account of $8625.37. 

 

CORRESPONDENCE:

 

The board received an email from someone interested in buying a lot in the area. A copy of the covenants and bylaws will be sent to the individual.

 

Jim Katzer with the Arapahoe County Roads Department and a supervisor will be attending our next meeting on March 31, 2010.  Mr. Katzer will address the road conditions in the area and provide the community with options for repair such as leaving the areas as they are, using chips to repair the cracks which will provide us with a temporary repair until the County can repave the roads in the next 3-5 years.

 

The Board did receive an email from Terry Lewand regarding requests for copies of the submissions to the ARC from the ThorpeÕs. Terry expressed his frustration at this issue has not been addressed.  The board has acknowledged his request and is reviewing the covenants and bylaws to determine the proper way to address these concerns.

 

The Board was notified by a resident that two mailboxes were damaged by the newspaper delivery personÕs vehicle. Marcie Thorpe sent information to both residents involved on how to replace the mailboxes and posts.  Terry Lewand advised that the post can be obtained from Accent.

 

OLD BUSINESS;

 

The Prairie Dog Mitigation may not be able to take place on Saturday, February 27, 2010 due to the ground condition and weather.  If this does not take place, the community will be notified of the new date.  Jose LaFontaine tried to call Dale regarding the handling of the mitigation plan.   The cost of the initial mitigation is $2250.00.  There might be a need to have follow-up doses over the next few months.  The budget for this procedure is $3000.00 and will not be adjusted at this time until we know that no other expenses are needed.

 

All dues have been paid except for 4 residents. The accountant will send out notices to the individuals regarding the past due amounts.

 

All but 2 water readings have been received and reported to the state. 

 

The Board has reviewed the bank accounts and we are being charged $17.00 per month for our checking account if we have a balance under $25,000.00.  The Board is reviewing the accounts and checking into other banking facilities regarding free checking or low fee checking accounts.  Terry Lewand mentioned that Schwab does have checking accounts that pay a high interest.  The concern is that the facility may not be local for the members to make deposits but it could be mailed.  The Board is also looking into accounts that allow deposits to be scanned.  The Board would like to have this addressed by the next meeting.  The Board currently has 3 members that have signature authority.

 

The website was discussed and we are currently paying fees of $58.99 for host site and $32.99 for site analysis.  Lori Hasty advised that the board will drop the site analysis and continue with the host website with Go Daddy.com.  Lori and Greg Lewallen will work together to bring the website up and running.  We will also look into a user friendly banking system that will allow bank statements to be posted on the website.

 

The Board is looking into getting bids for the mowing of the common areas, cistern and the fire roads.   Concern was made about Cowboy not able to mow around the bridges.  The board will request that all bids include mowing those areas as well.

 

The budget was reviewed. The board has included items of a CPA audit at a cost of $800.00 per year and a legal review of the covenants and bylaws at a budgeted cost of $800.00 per year.  The CPA audit is indicated in our bylaws. The legal review is being requested by the current board to advise the board of the responsibilities and the legal requirements.   The board also added a board discretionary fund to pay for those items that may come up during the year. This fund is budgeted at $100.00 per quarter.  The 2010 Budget was reviewed showing total expenses of $13,724.23.  This budget includes transfer from the operating account to the reserve account for a projected cash balance in the reserve account of $8625.37.  Mark Hasty made a motion to approve of the budget and the 2010 budget was adopted.    

 

OPEN FORUM;

 

Terry Lewand advised the board of his frustration that his appeal has not been addressed and that our website remains broken.  The board advised Terry that we have received his request of appeal and will be addressing it shortly.  The website will be addressed with Lori Hasty and Greg Lewallen to get it up and running.

 

NEW BUSINESS:

 

Jim Katzer with Arapahoe County will be here at the next meeting and the board invites all community members to the next meeting to hear about the CountyÕs recommendations to repair the cracks in the roads in the community. 

 

The board did receive a resignation from the board from Pam Vincent.  We are asking for nominations from the community to complete PamÕs term until 12/31/2011.  The nominations are to be accepted until March 3, 2010. The board will then send out the voting ballots by Saturday, March 6, 2010.  The ballots will be counted on 3/31/10. 

The reason for the short time frame to get someone on the board so that we can move forward with business of the community. 

 

The board also advised that we are accepting nominations for the ARC board.  The ARC will consist of 3 individuals from nominations and 2 people will be appointed by the board.  The nominations for the ARC will be due by March 31, 2010.  If we have more than 5 people nominated for the ARC, voting ballots will be sent out to the community.

 

Gary Gillespie asked about the secret balloting procedure. The ballots are sent to all community members and are sent to the PO Box.  The envelopes are not opened until the return addresses are confirmed to be from community members.  The ballots are separated from the envelopes at the same time and the voting is not counted until all the ballots are separated from the envelopes. 

 

Terry Lewand suggested that Jose La Fontaine put together his recommendations for proper conduct of voting and on-line voting or a neutral third party for future ballots.

 

Terry Lewand requested that an email be sent out to the community tonight after the meeting to advise of the resignation and the deadline of the nominations for the board member.  Lori Hasty will send out the email. 

 

Any current or pending ARC submissions will be handled by the board until the ARC is complete.  The board will not be a member of the ARC but will have one person be a liaison with the board and will attend their meetings as an advisor only.  All ARC submissions will be reviewed by the Board as well.

 

Terry Lewand mentioned that the board provides the ARC with a written notice of their responsibilities. 

 

Board Nominations:

 

Gary Gillespie nominated his wife, Cindy for the board.  No other nominations were received at the meeting.

 

ARC Nominations.

 

Rich Pepe has nominated himself to the ARC committee.  No other nominations for ARC were received at the meeting. 

 

Sue Garrets suggested that an email be sent to the community to remind everyone of the meetings for attendance.  The board also indicated it was looking at placing signs on the entrance areas in the community to remind members of meetings. 

 

Gary Gillespie made motion to adjourn, 2nd by Jose LaFontaine.

 

***The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 31, 2010 at 7:00 pm at the Bennett Fire Station.   This is a change from the regular meeting of the 4th Wednesday to coincide with the due date of the nominations of the board and ARC and the guests to the meeting.  There is a change to the due date for the Board nominations due to the resignation of Marcie Thorpe.  The 2010 budget will be sent out by mail to all residents for review and final approval.