The Villas at Falls Run Condominium
Unit Owners Association
Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Directors
September 15, 2008
The Villas at Falls Run Condominium Board of Directors met on September 15, 2008, at the Center. The meeting was called to order at 1:01 p.m. by Sherri Burke, President, who determined there was a quorum. Members present: Sherri Burke, President; Paul Niemi, Vice-President; Nancy Garner, Treasurer; Joan Bitely, Member at Large; and Carlos Sutton, Secretary. Also in attendance were Liz Krafft, JCA, and nine members of the Association.
Minutes of the Board of Directors meeting of August 18, 2008, were approved as corrected (lawn irrigation is every three days) and the minutes of the special Board meeting of September 5, 2008, were approved without change.
Sherri Burke reminded owners that comments are due by October 2, 2008, on the Administration Resolution regarding the requirement to use the Association’s contractor for backflow testing. She also reminded owners of the September 19, 2008, deadline for nominations for the upcoming Villas Board of Directors election. Two positions will be vacant and no official nominations have been received to date. If necessary, the Board will contact the attorney to determine how to handle vacancies that cannot be filled by nomination. Walt Martley has accepted the role of Chairman of the Building and Grounds Committee, has met with the Board to discuss expectations for the Committee and will be meeting with B&G volunteers shortly. In addition, several items on the agenda were deferred until the September 25, 2008, meeting.
BOD members had not received the JCA report prior to the meeting, but Liz Krafft reported on bids for replacement trees, lawn renovation, and concrete wall/foundation painting. The work being done on the railings is taking longer than planned, but is well done.
Nancy Garner gave a brief financial report including asking again for corrections by JCA to reflect monies in the proper line items. The Finance Committee is watching the situation with Lehman Brothers very carefully, but the Villas money invested there is FDIC insured.
Joan Bitely reported that a new light is being installed at the Gladstone gate, the waterfall will be modified to reduce the water flow and increase the number of plants, the pool heaters have been installed and the dressing room heaters are working. There are five candidates for the FRCA Board. Armstrong will be sending out a mailing regarding the age census.
The Modifications Committee received three new applications, including a screen door and a new deck that will match those installed by Del Webb. A request for interior work to improve a basement was marked, “no action” and referred to the Villas. The owner will be told to proceed and the Board will discuss this type of request in the future. There was further discussion about the completeness of the modification files at JCA. FRCA will be taking pictures of the properties in Falls Run for use in determining, when a property sells, whether modifications exist and if they were approved. However, if an unapproved modification is identified, it is a buyer/seller issue requiring either correcting the issue or obtaining a modification approval.
Goldklang and Cavanaugh still has not submitted the final 2007 financial audit to the Board.
The action item list was reviewed and updated and the respective Board members reported on the five items on the priority list.
The Board reviewed the recommended adjustments to the 2009 budget prepared by JCA . Every effort is being made to keep annual increases to a minimum. However, some areas, e.g., lawn improvements, replacement reserves, etc., must be funded. Owners are reminded that we can fund anything we wish, but that every $2400 represents a $1/month increase in fees. The Board commended the Finance Committee on their work and expressed regret that several items requested by the various committees were either reduced or eliminated. The Board requested that the Finance Committee complete the budget proposal at its meeting on September 25th for presentation to the BOD at its meeting that night.
Sherri Burke made a motion, seconded by Nancy Garner, to approve an expenditure of $41,717.00 for lawn renovations. The renovations would include special care on the front and side yards and normal care for the back yards. Some areas would get additional soil and seeding, others would be aerated and have either power seeding or slit seeding. All areas will get compost and seeding of some sort. After discussion, Liz Krafft was requested to rewrite the proposal into contract form and e-mail to Nancy Garner. The motion was tabled and will be reconsidered at the September 25, 2008, meeting.
Sherri Burke made a motion, seconded by Nancy Garner, to replace the seven trees identified by the Board, giving home owners some choice of tree, not to exceed $2400. After discussion, the motion was revised to replace seven maple trees, 2 to 2½” caliper, not to exceed a cost of $2400 and passed four (Burke, Niemi, Garner and Sutton) to one (Bitely).
Paul Niemi presented the Standard Operating Procedure for Reporting Problems within Villa Units or Common Elements after receipt of comments from one owner during the comment period. Only additional minor modifications were made.
Carlos Sutton made a motion, seconded by Sherri Burke, to change Regulation 3-06 to read that plants must not grow higher than 36 inches and that flower boxes are permitted on railings year-round provided they contain live, seasonal flowers. The Covenants Committee recommended the changes to eliminate confusion on current language. After discussion, the Board changed the motion to a maximum flower height of 24 inches or to the window sills, whichever is higher, and specified the date of November 1 for removal of flower boxes from the railings. Approved unanimously. The Covenants Committee is requested to report to the BOD at the September 25 meeting regarding this decision. During the Owner’s Forum, an owner expressed disagreement with the Board’s decision that there be a restriction on in-ground flower heights since there are no restrictions on height or type of plants in pots and that there should be no limitations on either in ground or potted plants.
The Board reviewed the Villas Owner/Association Responsibility Matrix (9/15/08) and made no further changes. Carlos Sutton will post the important contacts information on the Villas web page.
During the open forum, an owner requested information about the Update on the Web. There have been problems recently, but Sherri Burke is working with the web managers.
President Burke adjourned the meeting at 4:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Carlos J Sutton, Secretary
NEXT MEETING: Thursday, September 25, 2008, 7:00 p.m.