Personal Notes, HOA Meeting 02-27-2025
HOA Meeting Notes 02-27-2025 5:04 pm
Meeting conducted via video conference (Microsoft Teams)
Directors Present: Chris Andre, Dave Quinsey, David Samo, Mita Schumacher, Ed Wenz
Directors Absent:
FirstService Residential
Tiffani Rivers - Community Manager
Carrie Heieck, General Counsel, Tinnely Law
I. CALL TO ORDER
II. EXECUTIVE SESSION ACKNOWLEDGMENT/ANNOUNCEMENT
III. HOMEOWNER FORUM
Homeowner #1
Brenna D spoke on behalf of the landscape committee.
Brenna D (Chairperson) <info cross checked with Facebook post>
Mita S (Board Representative)
Jeanette A (Secretary)
Mark C (Member)
Cathy J (Member)>
Areas (emergency access) previously in question are maintained by O'Connell. Specific details including addresses and photos will be provided. They will also be distributed via Facebook. A walk through with the Fire Chief is scheduled for May. <Note: Previous demand by the City for maintenance along the Emergency Access Roads.>
Homeowner #2
Requested update about the retaining wall.
Samo and Wenz met with four contractors last Friday. They are acquiring the bids. Three are already pre-approved as contractors via FirstService. Tiffani said that the prior contractor does not perform work for HOAs.
Ed said it is a landscape wall, not a retaining wall, given the low height.
Teresa said a neighbor is an engineer and he said it needs to be at least three feet high. Straw wattle is not tall enough and debris goes over it.
Homeowner #3
Request the link for the meeting be sent via email given the complexity of accessing and using pdf files on the FirstService web site. Rivers said she tried to send it via email but it didn't work, and she will check with their IT department.
Homeowner #4
Have bids been requested for a property manager?
HOA responded that it is contract related and therefore don’t have to disclose.
Homeowner said that contract negotiations may be private. Taking action to request bids is not a contract negotiation.
Putting items on the agenda when they have nothing to discuss defeats the purpose of agendas. And the HOA is again putting “Personnel Matters” on agendas when they have no personnel i.e. employees. Both violate the Open Meeting Act and can be rectified by simply posting accurate and specific agendas. The insurance ratification at the last meeting was merely theater, when they had approved it outside of a meeting as an emergency. They should simply be open and explain it from the beginning when it happens.
The landscape contractor should recognize prohibited plants. But the contractor has previously proposed planting hundreds of prohibited plants, so it is likely the large areas of prohibited plants were planted by the HOA.
Topsoil continues to erode and expose tree roots on the slope by his house. A branch has remained on the ground since January. A photo was displayed. <Note: How closely are they inspecting?>
The HOA should ensure that bills are sent to homeowners on time.
Did you provide the landscape plans to the newly formed landscape committee? The HOA did not respond. The homeowner said that means they didn’t. (See Homeowner #6 below).
The HOA did not tell the truth about the drought. The landscape degraded before the drought, and water restrictions did not impact the HOA.
You said that I’m the only one who complained about the landscape, but at the last meeting you mentioned work orders that resulted from numerous requests/complaints about the need for brush clearing.
Homeowner #5
Mark landscape committee: He is arranging a meeting in the park with the fire department.
Homeowner #6
Cathy J. said they, the Landscape Committee, did not receive information about the plantings i.e. Landscape plans. She never heard of plants that can't be planted. (No Plant List) She will discuss street signage with the City. She thinks homeless and kids are walking around/through, a gate at the bottom (Brockway St), then up to Monticello. She said the road was cleared 12 feet on each side.
Homeowner #7
So happy to live here. Very Grateful. Everything looks great. We’d like to have HOA fees lowered. We could live without a security service driving around, and he could use the money to put up his own security camera.
Homeowner #8
Two beehives in the irrigation system were killed by poison. Broke her heart. She asked about policy, but she said Mita wasn't aware of such a policy.
Tiffani--"We save bees" was hired to remove the bees, so she didn't expect them to be killed.
Homeowner said it is possible that there were additional hives that might not have been those handled by the contractor. The homeowner said the destruction she saw was poison as the combs and dead bees were there. She said it would look different if the hives were removed. She said she has photos.
Homeowner #9
Welcomed another new neighbor on Sevilla ST, sweet family, 5 year old, another baby coming. 5228 Bella Vista up for sale, as well as another soon.
IV. COMMITTEE UPDATE & INVITED GUESTS
A. SOCIAL COMMITTEE
Appoint Val Labore to draft newsletter.
B. FINANCE COMMITTEE
Biggest expenses landscape contract and irrigation, property management, security.
C. LANDSCAPE COMMITTEE
Heard during Homeowner Forum
D. WELCOMING COMMITTEE
Heard during Homeowner Forum
V. REPORTS
A. MANAGEMENT REPORT
Parking issues: angle parking
Holiday lights
Most of those reported have been taken care of, though feel free to continue reporting if violations remain.
Ed said she should drive the area at night to see the lights.
Chris said the contractor had lights that had electrical shorts so the contractor kept the holiday lights up longer.
B. WORK ORDER REPORT
5 open orders
2 closed orders
A couple irrigation leaks.
C. LANDSCAPE WALKTHROUGH/PUNCHLIST
VI. CONSENT CALENDAR
A. OPEN SESSION MEETING MINUTES - JANUARY 2025
B. FINANCIAL STATEMENT - DECEMBER 2024
Both items approved unanimously
VII. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A. RETAINING WALL UPDATE
Discussed during Homeowner Forum
B. NEW GARBAGE RECEPTACLE LOCATIONS
Tabled again
VIII. NEW BUSINESS
A. LANDSCAPING PROPOSALS
Landscape committee started yesterday or the day before, per Rivers. They will review the proposals.
Rivers said O'Connell still has not submitted a map for the landscape proposals. The HOA will now consider it mandatory for the contractor to submit maps with proposals.
Tabled.
B. INSURANCE RENEWAL
At last meeting board did an emergency approval. Umbrella, DNO, and others.
Again, another contractor provided the proposal within 24hours of deadline, so it was considered an emergency and approved.
General Liability policy previously approved, ratified unanimously by directors in this meeting.
C. WATER BASIN MAINTENANCE
6 CDS (S) units of storm drains are full. Chris said one of those is in NorthStar.
Maintenance unanimously approved--approximately $1000 each.
<Note: When CDS units are full they are in bypass mode. Therefore, the debris that they are supposed to collect is being sent into the storm water system. The City has issued notices to the HOA in the past for this. For example, September 28, 2021.>
D. COMMUNITY NOTICES
Kept on the agenda at the request of the board.
Chris suggested a notice about the 48-hour limit for RVs.
IX. NEXT BOARD MEETING
The next Open Session Meeting is scheduled for March 27, 2025 at 5:00pm via Teams.
Adjourned 5:58 pm.