Personal Notes, HOA Meeting 08-04-2022

HOA Meeting Notes 08-04-2022 2:30pm

Meeting conducted via teleconference (WebEx)

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

Directors Absent: Scott Kiefner

FirstService Residential

Nadine Bell - Community Manager

Social Committee Budget Increase Request

The committee did not request a specific amount and did not attend the meeting. The board did not take any action.

REPORTS

Work Order Report

Lighting at monument. Nadine asked if it had been repaired. Wenz said it is still flickering but he will check. Chris said it flickers below the R & A in “Sky Ranch.”

Chris noted that the plants are becoming overgrown there and beginning to obscure the sign. Nadine said that she will relay that to the landscape vendor.

HOMEOWNER FORUM

Homeowner #1 in the area of Cala Lily between Bella Vista and Triana said that last year he complained about bee attracting plants. It creates housing for snakes and bees. His daughter is allergic. He says the bees reside in the tops of the plants. The landscaper lopped off the tops of the plants but it will only work temporarily. He said the bees come over the fence to get water from his pool. He finds 5 to 6 bees in his pool.

He said there is a tree on Bella Vista dropping debris onto his yard.

He said that there is no lighting in the area. He recommended that the HOA get solar lights for the mailbox area. He said they cost $36 at Costco or Amazon. Cars come and hangout in the darkened area. He says people shine headlights to light the mailbox.

Homeowner #2 said that on April 29th the HOA said they would prepare a disclosure for distribution to the membership of the costs and attorney fees paid to the Ballos in the pool slide to the roof case. Some homeowners believe that the HOA intentionally botched the case by failing to file it within 5 years, thereby having it thrown out due to the statute of limitations. “Delaying release of the information will not help you. Hiding your heads in the sand won’t make it go away. Just get it over with and admit the damage you’ve done. The landscape by our house continues to be neglected. Plants are dead and dying, brush is overgrown, and irrigation isn’t working right.”

“Before any rumors get started, I want everyone to know that I don’t believe that the HOA is intentionally neglecting the landscape to provide us further evidence for our lawsuit. Unlike the pool slide case none of the HOA directors are attempting any ‘over the fence’ resolution as Dave Quinsey stated in the pool slide case where he said they were ‘eager to avoid suing our neighbors.’”

A vague item from the Social Committee was placed on the agenda, yet he said he can’t get relevant and detailed items on the agenda, proving that he is treated differently. He also said the tree littering homeowner #1’s yard was one of the many trees planted to hide barren homeowner slopes. He said it was done during a drought, while the HOA failed to address the dying landscape by his home.

END HOMEOWNER FORUM

CONSENT CALENDAR

Approval of Minutes July 2022

Financial Statement June 2022

Investment Recommendations

Approved unanimously, Chris abstained.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Tree trimming proposal/s Update: tabled

Four Seasons vendor proposal.

Nadine asked if they saw it. She said it came in yesterday, Tom said he first saw it today.

Nadine said that Jack Rush (O’Connell Landscape Maintenance) was available to discuss tree trimming and irrigation controllers.

Cellular service for the irrigation controllers needs to be updated from 3G to 4G. 5G modems are not available yet. Ed asked if 4G will solve the issues. Jack said he thinks the subscription has not been paid. They need the daily weather information via subscription. Jack wanted Flavio on the line. There was a recurring fee with Rainbird via Richard (former FirstService Property Manager).

Why do we need to upgrade, the modems? Will it solve the current problem? Is it correct that the service has not been reactivated? Flavio responded that the proposal is to upgrade the system. It will come with one year of service. Jack asked if the service lapsed? Flavio said, it expired. Wasn’t it on a credit card? Flavio said, yes, it is on the Internet. After the first year you can pay. Nadine asked if it is a yearly subscription. Flavio said, yes. When did the system expire? I don’t have the date with me. Months ago or years ago? Months ago? Annual fee per controller? I believe it is $150 or something like that. Nadine, asked how many controllers? $1500 (Jack) we’ll get exact numbers. There are 15 controllers.

Dave said that since we installed the system we were promised water savings via rain information and the system making adjustments, but he’s seen no evidence that we are getting that information to the controllers. Jack asked if they could pull water bills and he will show the savings. Dave said he wants to know that it is working as promised. Jack, asked Flavio if there are water consumption reports. Jack asked if there is water flow information. Flavio said yes. Ed said we (board, landscape committee) were told we could access the information, though not make changes. Are you aware of that? Flavio said, that isn’t available on all controllers. He’ll check if it works with our models. Jack asked Flavio, do you have it set for catastrophic flow alert? Flavio said, yes. They explained that it works by the sensing an increase in gallons used.

Chris said it hasn’t worked. Dave also mentioned pipe breaks. Chris said a homeowner at the meeting has alerted them to leaks.

Homeowner#2 interjected that he knows of pipe completely severed, that has been in that condition for months. Jack asked where. The homeowner said he would not say where. Jack said that he’s not playing games. The homeowner said they should inspect the irrigation. Jack said there are miles of irrigation. The homeowner said that they’re supposed to inspect the irrigation and he’s tired of wasting his breath. He said he was informing the board because they are reviewing a system that’s supposed to detect leaks, though he said there would be no flow information if the water is turned off. Nadine speculated that the pipes were related to an issue he reported about an issue on Mirador (at Ruocco). The homeowner said that he has never reported the severed pipe.

The issue was tabled.

O’Connell Landscape Proposal Plant Installation Cul-De-Sac, Claret

Irrigation is acceptable, just need the new plants, 2 types of Bougainvillea.

Jute netting, one gallon plant material, ground cover, and container plants.

Ed asked if the dirt should be taken off-site or returned. Jack said that hauling it offsite would prevent slippage.

Proposal for landscape plant installation $2955 approved.

Claret Street Retaining Wall Proposals:

Nadine wants another proposal. She wants O’Connell to make a bid. She asked if the board reviewed the block color variation in the two block types. Ed against asked whether the proposal was submitted. She said, no. Ed said he would rather review local samples. Chris emphasized the need for consistent color, even if extra block had to be purchased. Ed noted that block installed by the City is different than Lennar installed walls, and Lennar installed two different kinds. Ed said he’d like to match at least one of them. Ed said they could’ve given an estimate with the block as an add-on. Ed said that his preference is to deal with a contractor who does the work themselves, the other directors agreed. Ed says he prefers to avoid buying extra block that has to be stored.

Jack suggested a pre-construction meeting. The goal is to keep irrigation working during the construction. The construction vendor has not been selected yet.

Issue tabled.

Jack said that his tasks are, check pipe breakage, severed pipes, cost of service, map of tree trimming by species.

Chris asked Nadine to compare the tree trimming proposals that vary by specification. It’s not apples to apples. E.g. one trims all of them, another trims some the first year, but others the next year, while another vendor might not plan to trim all of the trees.

NEW BUSINESS

Architectural Review/Variance Request

Nadine said that there are two variance requests.

She had photos for 6000 Cala Lily <Note: There was confusion because Nadine said that she put the 6000 Cala Lily variance request in the board packet twice. She didn’t include the 5174 Iris request, though she said it was in the previous board packet. Tom said, to the effect, “The meeting that I didn’t attend?”>

Ed said that he couldn’t tell where the post is based on the images. He understands the question, but the picture shows the front of the house. Tom said the same, and didn’t see what will go over the post. Tom said the post is 6 ft away (10 ft required), but it isn’t clear what goes over the post and how close it gets to the lot line. He said they’ve approved variances within 5 ft. Ed said that they need a site plan to know where it is.

Chris and Dave had signed the neighbor awareness form but neither of them remembered what goes past the post.

The architect approved everything except the patio cover. Directors asked if the architect had additional information. Nadine requested the info.

5174 Iris Street, they noted the diagram is not to scale, it is hand drawn, and Ed said that he’s surprised that the architect accepted it. Based on the text in the application they compared it to the hand drawn image. The architect rejected it due to setback, hence the need for variance. Tom also had issues understanding the request. Ed said that he wants the variance to be approved by the Design Review Committee to minimize the delay. Chris asked that the homeowner be contacted, and Nadine said yes. Dave said the request for the variance should have included a copy of the plans.

O’Connell Straw Waddle Replacement Claret Street

Ed recommends not taking action until the wall is completed. The wattle won’t be needed if they install the wall. It is the whole purpose. Ed said it got worse when the wattle was installed to comply with the City.

Tom left the meeting.

August 31st, Bravo Three last day of service. Chris said that he ended the contract on a positive note.

Security First seems willing to meet our needs. Chris said they will note RVs. Ed said that the monitoring requirement forces them to go up every street

FirstService Residential Increase

1% increase approved unanimously

Adjourned 4:04 pm

Next Meeting, September 8th