Personal Notes, HOA Meeting 09-19-2018

HOA Meeting Notes 09-19-2018

Directors Present:  Scott Kiefner, Chris Andre, Dave Quinsey, Ed Wenz, Tom Wright

FirstService Residential, Richard Ford, Senior Community Manager

Bravo Three (security) is sending reports whether there are significant incidents or not.  Discussed whether there should just be an incident report rather than a report of all of their activity, including non-significant activity.

Landscape report:  there are issues with landscape

Scott said that he has received many complaints.  He said that they took workers off other duties to complete brush clearing.

HOMEOWNER FORUM

#1

Update on mailbox move on Castilla.  The homeowner contacted the Post Master again.  She asked if the Postmaster contacted Richard Ford in response.  HOA Response:  Ford says that she did not contact him.

Is there someone to discuss proposed plans?  Specifically, she has plans that need to be resubmitted and she wants to ensure the plans are OK.  HOA Response:   Talk with the Design Review Committee.

#2

Two homeowners discussed their unique situation.  He said there is an LMD (Landscape Management District) easement across the front of their property.  They are having to maintain their slope.  Landscapers could simply prune i.e. they are not asking for extensive maintenance.  These homeowners have planted landscape on the lot.  Plants have died for lack of water.  They need a commitment from the board regarding a watering schedule.  They have to ask the landscapers to turn irrigation on manually.  The landscaper said that they were told not to work on his property since they planted on it.  Their slope is very visible to going up the hill, and its condition can affect property value.  They said that brush clearing is not being done by their property and it is putting them at risk.  Dead brush has accumulated.  Brush has grown through the fence.  There is no water on the back side anymore.  The homeowner maintains the front slope.  The landscape company lets the plants die.  She said that Dave Quinsey failed to respond to email, not even an acknowledgement.  Dave said the inquiries were lengthy and detailed, and he meets with the landscape company.  Dave said he would help but never followed through.  She said her texts, email, and phone calls went unanswered.  She said it is rude.  She told Dave that maybe he need helps.  She said to him, if you want to be part of the team, be part of the team, or get off.

Scott responded by saying that the fire marshal approved the brush clearance.  Scott said he doesn't walk the whole neighborhood, and thanked them for the feedback.

She said they've heard the same excuse from previous boards.  She asked, when will something be done?  Ed, apparently in response to her unsuccessful communication with Dave Quinsey, told her to contact the management company.  She replied that she does.

#3 Homeowner addressed the previous homeowners and said that the board is fully aware that there are landscape issues.  He said he brings it up in meetings and in correspondence.  He said landscape rarely appears on the agenda.  The board talks about other issues instead.

Homeowner showed photos following recent brush clearing.  He said the CC&Rs include a duty to maintain the property, not demolish it.  The HOA should not neglect landscape and then simply clear it as brush when it dies.  It should be maintained.  Why is there irrigation?  In the photo he points out that there is nothing left to irrigate.  Is irrigation to water the weeds that return?  What about erosion?  He asked if they are eventually going to demolish the landscape at the entrance and along the roads too.  Why not?  The landscape behind the homes was supposed to be maintained too (including City Code).  This works out great for TVRI (landscaper).  The areas by homes were neglected, now they cleared it as brush and the barren area requires less maintenance.  He assumed TVRI hasn't reduced their bill to the HOA, and noted that Dave Quinsey refused to answer that question at the last meeting.

Original guidelines maintained aesthetics and complied with the law.  Variances, rule changes, and lack of enforcement have complicated the rules, degraded the community, allowed code violations, and created unfair situations.  Homeowner showed a photo of a shed and said that the shed doesn't have a compliant roof and doesn't appear to meet code requirement for setback.  He said he spent over $1000 for a complaint shed roof that few can see, but other sheds are not compliant.

#4

Can we put up a no loitering sign?  At the end of Sevilla they hang out, leave trash, joints etc.  Can something be done?  Chris discussed the prior discussions, including cameras.  He said homeowners can now call BravoThree directly.  Homeowner #2 said the HOA may be liable if a driver runs a stop sign and someone gets hurt.  Homeowner #3 said that years ago he asked City Council to pass an ordinance allowing Sheriff to enforce infractions on non-City streets, but more people would need to speak up.

#5

Piles of beer bottles at bus stop on Triana.  She spoke to Sheriff, they will come for underage drinking, smoking weed in cars, kids hanging out below Brockton etc, but not ticketing drivers running stop signs.

October 28 fall festival.  They will clean up the park before the meeting.

END HOMEOWNER FORUM

Approval of minutes, financial statement, and documentation for a foreclosure.

NorthStar and Sky Ranch Cost Sharing Budget:  NorthStar owes $1414 for 2016.  Sky Ranch owes $232 for 2017.  For shared areas NorthStar pays 40% based on the number of homes.  Approved.

Draft Revised Design Guidelines--Ed Wenz

Homeowners have provided useful comments even grammatical changes.  Ed says that they needed to delve more deeply because of the interconnected issues.  Some items need to go to the attorney.  The latest revision should be reviewed by the board.  Once revised and reviewed it will go back to homeowners to review for 30 days.  They will have the attorney simply review changes.

Fence Maintenance:  Ed identified fences adjacent to HOA areas.  He said that they don't want homeowners walking up HOA slopes damaging slopes to maintain the fences.  The fences should be done at the same time to avoid patchwork appearance.  Scott said that he and FirstService do not have documentation clarifying which fences they are responsible for, in particular, homeowner fences that HOA needs to maintain.  Scott wants clarification from the attorney.  Kathy supplied Scott some documents for an early phase.  He said that he needs clarification of what fences are HOA responsibility. 

Ed asked what they should do if a homeowner takes care of one side of a fence, but the other side is not maintained by the other homeowner.  Ed said his fence is warping because of that.

Post Office Mailbox Relocation:  Homeowner will contact PostMaster again.

Homeowner Correspondence:  Scott said directors should read the homeowner correspondence.  Some of the messages are private, some have already been discussed.  Directors should let Scott know if any of the items should be brought to Open Session.

Brockway Access Requests (homeowner and Habitat Manager want access restricted via fence):  Scott said that they dealt with this previously.  The CC&Rs show the road and lots adjacent are not part of the Conservation property.   i.e. Can't restrict access as requested.

Another annual meeting will be held on Thursday October 4, 2018, at the FirstService Conference Room, Kearny Villa Road.  The prior meetings did not have enough ballots/attendees.  The threshold for quorum is reduced to 31 ballots at this next meeting.  There are already sufficient ballots for the meeting.  The meeting will only cover approval of the minutes and counting ballots for the tax handling proposal.  Inspector of Elections will handle the ballots.  The meeting will last only minutes.

Next board meeting Wednesday, October 17.