November Annual Meeting Minutes

November 6, 2008

CALL TO ORDER
Annual Meeting of homeowners was called to order at 7:04 pm.
In attendance: Joe Merlo (5), Steve Easthope (61), Michael Vavrinec (14), Wade Albee (10), Hugh and Alice Paugman (13), Scott Thompson (66), Christine Birdwell (42), Leona Upton (9), Sean Elock (59), Joe Latkowski, Property Manager- Cornerstone Properties

QUORUM ESTABLISHMENT
The minimum requirement of 10% attendance has been met.

BOARDS ADDRESS TO HOMEOWNER
The board members (Joe Merlo, Scott Thompson, Michael Vavrinec) introduced themselves and commented on the activities of the past year.

ELECTION OF NEW BOARD
The ballots were counted and the Steve Easthope has been elected.

FINANCIAL REPORT
The current financials are on budget. Michael Vavrinec provided a report of the past years summary of financial data for all attendees.

SPECIAL REPORT FROM REGIONAL PAVING COMPANY

A presentation was made about the various alternatives for repairing our streets. A sample pavement of the “slurry” repair was presented for all to review. The costs of oil has not reduced pricing for the slurry process as of now but might be lower next year. The information was very helpful for all to understand what needs to be done to maintain our streets.

OLD BUSINESS

• New plants on the 26th street were recommended. A motion was made to purchase the plants from Moon Valley nursery so we could have the benefit of their warranty. Approved.
• The street lights on the east entrance have been replaced.
  

NEW BUSINESS

• A discussion was held on the monthly assessment. An increase from $52 to $55 was recommended and a motion made. Approved.
• The proposed budget for 2009 was presented. It will be updated to reflect the changes in monthly assessment and will be approved when modified.
• A lengthy discussion of how to move forward on our street maintenance was presented. The cost requirements to do the “slurry” process will require a special assessment.
• However, the crack sealing can be done separately and the HOA has sufficient reserves to cover the cost (about $6000). A motion was made and approved to proceed with the crack sealing. The Board will prepare another special assessment request for approval early next year.
• New light post for area between #56 and #57 will discussed at the next board meeting.
• The “Green Sweep” container application has been submitted to the city of Mesa.

MANAGEMENT REPORT
There are no homeowners in a serious situation with payments at this time.

ADJOURNMENT
Meeting was closed at 8:30 pm.

Annual HOA Meeting

More will be coming later about our annual HOA meeting today...but here is a start.

We had a great open discussion regarding options for street repair with Jerry from Regional Pavement Company. The discussion centered around the quality of our streets, the affects of trends in gas prices on street repairs, and the options available for maintenance going forward. Jerry indicated the normal life of a road in Arizona is about 20 years (ours are just about 20 years). While working in our neighborhood in the past, and while observing our roads for bids, Jerry has noticed that our roads were cracking in the middle, where usually they crack on the side of the roads. This indicates that perhaps when the roads were paved, the foundation of the road had not been settled completely and that there may have been some structural problems during its construction. The foundation should have settled now over the years. One original homeowner indicated that when Continental Homes bought the development from the original developer and finished moving trucks and building all the homes, Continental left the roads, in their opinion, in pretty bad shape. Although asked, the developer didn't do anything.

The two options most viable for our roads as they are now are the rubberized overlay or the slurry seal. Other options are either not sufficient (slurry coat) or very expensive (take out roads completely and replace them).

The rubberized asphalt overlay is frequently done by the city of Mesa. They take a few inches off the top of the roads (they don't take out the road altogether) and put a layer of rubberized asphalt over it. Rubberized asphalt is the same stuff that is being done all over the freeways. The cost of rubberized overlay for our neighborhood would be about $150,000 right now or about $2,000 per home. The advantages are that it can be good for around 20 - 25 years or so. It also takes less regular maintenance than a regular asphalt overlay, which is done with regular asphalt. The overlay treatment is different than taking the road out all together and replacing it (that would cost about $250,000). About 2 or 3 years ago, Jerry had recommended to the board a rubberized overlay for our streets.

Another option is the slurry seal, which the board recommended this fall. It is about a 1/4" covering of the road (deeper depending on where it is), and it usually has about a 5 year life. According to Jerry the slurry is a great option as well, although it won't last as long as a rubberized overlay until it needs another slurry seal or an overlay such as the one described above. The total cost of a slurry seal right now is about $32,000, including $5,400 for a crack sealing (which he definitely recommends). Jerry says he prefers that people drive on the slurry seal as soon as possible after it's laid because it helps to pack it in.

It is important to note that the slurry seal treatment is different from the slurry coat treatment that was applied a few years ago on our roads. Jerry describes the slurry coat as a "paint job." All it is is spraying of oil and sand on the roads. He said that treatment isn't very good. The slurry seal takes adds about a 1/4" overlay to the entire road and they put rollers on it to smooth it out. In some places where there are cracks or holes, the depth of the seal is greater as it fills in the cracks.

Jerry said that timing is important for street repairs. For rubberized asphalt, May - June or October are the best months to apply. For slurry seal, he recommends October or November so that it settles before the heat comes.

Jerry brought samples of a slurry seal that was put down in a AMF bowling ally 9 years ago and was just recently replaced. Pictures of the samples are shown below. The deeper piece has the approximately 1/4" slurry seal on top of the underlying pavement. The smaller pieces are the slurry seal itself. This is what it looked like after 9 years. He said sometimes a slurry seal can last that long. To see in person, they are at the home of Steven Easthope (#61).

The meeting also focused on the price of oil and how it affects street repairs. The rubberized asphalt overlay is more material intensive operation, while the slurry seal is more labor intensive. As a result, the price of the asphalt overlay fluctuates more than the slurry seal with the price of oil. With oil prices dropping significantly in the past few weeks, they have not yet seen a decrease in prices from their suppliers. Jerry explained that in his industry and the construction industry as a whole it takes about 1 - 3 months for his costs to decrease/increase after the price of oil decreases/increases.

The board is looking at options again and will provide more information as it becomes available.

If you have any questions about the street repair discussion, please contact any member of the board or homeowners who attended the meeting tonight. We had four of the five board members and six other homeowners in attendance tonight.

October 7 HOA Meeting Minutes

CALL TO ORDER

Meeting was called to order at 6:35 pm.

In attendance: Joe Merlo (5), Kathy Adamson (34), Michael Vavrinec (14), Eugene Kirby (43), Joe Latkowski, Property Manager- Cornerstone Properties

APPROVAL OF PRIOR MEETING MINUTES

The September minutes were approved as published.

HOMEOWNER DISCUSSION

Eugene Kirby came to discuss the board’s issue with the screen door color. He informed the board that the original screen door was installed in 1995 with no concern raised about its color. He recently replaced the door and that was when he was notified of the concern with the color. He did submit an ARC form that was requested by the board, but he did not feel that he wanted to paint it so it has been removed. Board recommended and approved that any fines related to this issue will be dismissed.

FINANCIAL REPORT

The current financials are on budget. The October year-to-date financial information was requested by Michael Vavrinec so that our past 5-year summary may be prepared prior to the annual meeting.

ARCHITECTURAL COMMITTEE REPORT

There were no requests submitted for consideration.

OLD BUSINESS

Volunteers will be needed to assist with the layout of the new plants on 26th street. A recommendation was made to purchase the plants from a nearby nursery so we could have the benefit of their guarantee/warranty.

An effort to inform the HOA members of the need for street repairs will be done at the annual meeting in November. One of the contractors bidding on the street work will be present to answer questions from the homeowners.

The amount needed for the new special assessment could be significantly impacted by the recent reduction in oil prices. This will be determined by new bids which are again being solicited.

The discussion on the need for a new street light between 56 and 57 was deferred.

The 2009 budget proposal was discussed by the board but no action taken on monthly assessment changes. This will be topic for all homeowners at the annual meeting.

NEW BUSINESS

The update to the R&R booklet has been delayed because it was found out that the last revision was on a floppy disc that had to be uploaded via an older, legacy pc so the latest changes can be incorporated. The board is planning to have copies available at the annual meeting as well as for distribution to all homeowners.

An application is being submitted to the city of Mesa to provide a trash container for our neighborhood as part of the Green Sweep program.

New signage is now available and will be installed by Joe Merlo.

The board recommended having all six (6) lamps replaced on the light poles on the east entrance. There is already one that is out and the HOA is responsible for replacing these since they are not covered by our SRP contract.

Kathy Adamson made a recommendation that all homeowners need to take responsibility for keeping the street in front of their properties clean and free of rocks and other debris. It would be a cost effective way to keep our properties looking nice and keeping them safe. This could be a neighborhood event that could be done once a month.

Next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 6, 2008 at Stapley Jr High School’s media center beginning at 7 p.m.

MANAGEMENT REPORT

There are no homeowners that are significantly delinquent at this time.

Violation letters from the property inspection will be submitted for the “serious” violations.

ADJOURNMENT

Meeting was closed at 7:55 pm.

September 18 HOA Meeting Minutes

CALL TO ORDER

Meeting was called to order at 6:30 pm.
In attendance: Joe Merlo (5), Scott Thompson (66), Kathlee Admanson (34), Steve Easthope (61), Wade Albee (10), Joe Latkowski, Property Manager- Cornerstone Properties

APPROVAL OF PRIOR MEETING MINUTES

The August minutes were approved as published on the blog.

HOMEOWNER DISCUSSION

Kathy Adamson is concerned that there a several homes that have “faded” screens and one home that has “damaged” interior blinds. There was discussion about if there was any course of action the board could take to rectify these concerns, as some board members felt no formal course of action could or should be initiated. As a result, a board member will approach the homeowners informally to discuss the concern to see if any changes could be made.

FINANCIAL REPORT

The current financials are on budget.

ARCHITECTURAL COMMITTEE REPORT

There were no requests submitted for consideration. It was noted that #43 has a new screen door that appears to be recently installed that has not been painted to match the trim of the house. An ARC request will be required.

OLD BUSINESS

Planting new bushes will be deferred until mid October. The proposed layout will be “flagged” so installation and drip tubing can be installed.

An effort to inform the HOA members of the need for street repairs will be done at the annual meeting in November. The issues raised during the special assessment voting will be helpful to educate everyone on why street repairs are needed sooner than later. The board will look at the concerns raised by homeowners, and seek to address those concerns regarding road repairs.

Another special assessment vote is being evaluated. The request for new bids will be made due to the recent changes in oil prices which might impact the amount needed. There was a request made to get clarification on “eligible” voting members that can impact the amount of votes needed to pass an assessment.

NEW BUSINESS

The “pink” R&R booklet will be updated and reprinted for distribution to all homeowners. This is intended to ensure that the basic operation of the HOA is known to everyone since it is believed the HOA documents provided at the time a home is purchased are stored away, forgotten, and/or missing in many cases.

The winter lawn will not be planted this year to save costs (especially with road repairs in mind) and support the city of Mesa’s request to conserve water.

A proposed budget for 2009 was submitted by Cornerstone for review. The monthly assessment adjustment for next year is tied to the CPI which was 5.6%. This would allow a $2.91 increase. The proposed increased would be to $54 from the current $52. The details will be available for review at the annual meeting in November for discussion by all attendees.

A notification of the upcoming annual November meeting will be mailed to all homeowners.

Steve Easthope provided information obtained from SRP about installing street lights. SRP provided the power layout for the subdivision and guidelines on locations that will make it easier to install. The HOA is responsible for getting the footing and trench to the power source and the monthly fee of approximately $20-$35 for 20 years for the pole and light. The installation of street lights in the common area between #56 and #57 and in other places is being evaluated.

Next board meeting is scheduled for October 7, 2008.

MANAGEMENT REPORT

There are no homeowners in a serious situation with payments at this time.
Violation letters from the property inspection will be submitted for the “serious” violations.

ADJOURNMENT

Meeting was closed at 8:00 pm.

LOCATION CHANGE FOR SEPT MEETING

The meeting location had to be changed for our meeting this Thursday - it will now be held at the Thompson's (House #66). The time is still 6:30 pm. Please come and participate!

Thanks.

September HOA Meeting

Our September HOA meeting will be held on Thursday, September 18, at 6:30 PM. The location is house number 14 - the home of Michael Vavrinec.

Please make an effort to attend! We will be discussing the following:

1. Homeowners reports, questions, and feedback
2. Old business
3. New business
4. Voting for board positions (President, Vice President, etc)

Thanks.

The Vote Is In

The final tally for the special assessment is in. Thursday, August 28th was the deadline to submit the ballots.

The final total was: 27 "yes," 23 "no", and 1 "blank," so about 53% - short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass the special assessment (one ballot was mailed in without a yes or no vote). The quorum requirement was met. Approximately three -fourths of the total ballots sent out were returned by homeowners.

Some concerns expressed by homeowners before and at the meeting and written on some ballots were:

1. a desire for more information about what a slurry seal is
2. a desire to hear about what other reasonable street repair options are out there, if any, and how much they would cost
3. tough current financial situations
4. not feeling that the streets need repair at this time
5. a desire to understand other options, if any, for funding the street repairs

The board will look at ways to address these concerns in the near future. The roads do require our maintenance, and it is important for all to know what options (both for repairs and for financing the repairs) are out there so that informed decisions can be made. The main vehicle for HOA information are the monthly and annual meetings. The board tentatively scheduled the next meeting for the week of September 15 - most likely on Tuesday the 16th or Thursday the 18th. They will shortly let the neighborhood know the exact location and time as soon as it is available. Please come and participate.

In addition, feel free to also call any board member at any time for more information. If a board member doesn't know an answer, they can find out for you. They want to encourage suggestions and help with concerns that come up.

For your information, Joe Latowski did contact street contractors about getting samples or diagrams of a slurry seal to show to the homeowners in a meeting. The contractors do not have samples or diagrams that can be provided for a meeting, but they can provide locations where people can look at slurry seal jobs they have completed, which is helpful. In our July meeting, questions came up about the speed bumps as well. The speed bumps can be modified, but any change must be voted on by the board. Removal of a speed bump will run about $1,500, and modification from a speed bump to a speed HUMP runs from $1,250 to $1,500. Joe also confirmed with the city of Mesa that we could have an independent city inspector inspect slurry seal job, should the time come.

Another thing to anticipate putting on your calendar: our annual meeting will be coming up in early November, where the budget will be discussed and determined. Please take the effort to come and share your thoughts.

City Maintenance of Streets?

-- Some interesting insight about the possibility of the city taking over our neighborhood street repairs. This weekend, Steven Easthope spoke with someone who is on the Kensington Groves HOA board - Skip Carney, who helps care for Terry Bush in home #62.

They discussed the recent letter Terry received about the road repairs. Skip shared some insight about Kensington Grove's experience. The streets in Kensington Groves are owned and maintained by the city. At one time, their HOA board was considering making their neighborhood a gated community, much like their neighboring community, Arboleda. They did extensive research and found out the following:

1. Gating their community would cause their streets to become "private" and they would no longer be able to have city maintenance on the streets.
2. In their discussions with the city, the city cautioned them that once a community opts to make their streets private, the city would, in their words, "never" take them back. This was one reason they chose not to put up the gate.
3. In their discussions with several realtors, they discovered that gating a community did not improve property values significantly.
4. They also discovered that gating a community did not significantly reduce crime in a neighborhood. In fact, they found out that in Arboleda, a gated community, there was more crime related activity than in Kensington.

Skip said there were several reasons he felt the city would not take our streets. One reason is mentioned above. They were told by the city that the city would never take back private streets once a community (in our case the developers) chose to make their streets private. Another reason is that when our streets were made they were not paved up to city standards as far as width and depth. He felt this was probably a cost saving measure by the developer when the streets were put in. The city does not want to take on the maintenance of roads that are below standard.

Fortunately for them, Skip mentioned their roads were recently just repaired by the city with a seal and they "love" them.

Some interesting insight from a neighboring community. It wouldn't hurt to ask the city, but unfortunately it seems unlikely they would take them.

-- Before publishing the post above, Steve sent the post to Skip to see if he had any clarification, facts, or additional information that would be helpful. His response is below:

"Dear Steven--

Your summary of the Kensington Groves experience is exactly right. One additional note for our consideration was that the city would require extensive street improvement work at our subdivision entrances to install a turn around area at each gate---very expensive and all at our expense plus the costs of gates.

A key factor for us--and against the gate idea was the no police patrol in the area. Long term maintenance of both streets and drainage structures was another factor.

OK with me to publish the data. I would be glad to visit with others about my experience and visits with the City of Mesa. As you may know, I retired six years ago as a city manager---worked in serveral midwest cities as manager, including Little Rock, Arkansas and Des Moines, Iowa. So I have some background in the subject...

Skip Carney"

August Newsletter

Our first newsletter was distributed on July 26 - here is the text of the newsletter:

Dear Neighbors,

In our HOA meeting on Wednesday, July 23, the general consensus from board members and various homeowners in attendance was that there is a need for improved communication between homeowners, the HOA Board, and the property management company. For this purpose, a newsletter was proposed…of which this is the first!

The frequency of a newsletter is still to be determined. We hope it will provide improved communication about neighborhood events, HOA meeting times and minutes, and other happenings in the neighborhood.

Alternatively, information can be accessed at a new HOA and neighborhood blog - http://2560nlindsayrd.blogspot.com. To save paper, if you would prefer just to access the newsletter information online and forgo a hardcopy of the newsletter, please email your request to steven.easthope@gmail.com with your name and house number.

We would love any input from you. If you have questions or concerns about the HOA, have any ideas for the newsletter or improvements in the neighborhood, or see items that may need to be addressed, let us know. If you would like to volunteer in any way, please also let us know. For example, there are opportunities to participate on the architectural review committee and on a proposed street lighting committee at this time. Our contact information is below. Increased communication is essential to improving our neighborhood, maintaining the value of our property, and fostering a safe environment to live in.

Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, August 23, 2008 at 6:45 PM, tentatively at home #61. The location may change to accommodate a larger turnout. If so, it will be posted beforehand on the blog and mailbox and also on the door that evening. We encourage you to come.

If you are leasing the home, please also share this information with your homeowners.

Thanks,

HOA Board Members

Joe Merlo (#5) 480-962-7076
Michael Vavrinec (#14) 480-659-7900
Scott Thompson (#66) 480-649-8803
Kathy Adamson (#34) 480-969-6607
Steven Easthope (#61) 480-335-5903

Voting for Special Assessment

Voting ballots for the special assessment were mailed this weekend. Most homeowners received theirs on Saturday, July 26. There may be a little confusion on the process....In order for the special assessment to be approved, there needs to be at least 44 homeowners who vote "yes" this first time around. If there are not enough ballots received, then a second round of voting will take place, in which case the quorum requirement is less.

To vote, you can either send in your ballot using the prepaid stamped envelope or you can bring it to the meeting on August 28.

Our meeting to count the ballots and discuss the street improvements is Thursday, August 28 at 6:45, tentatively at home #61. We will have more detailed information available about the repairs at that time. Please come!

Thanks.

HOA MEETING - July 23, 2008 - SPECIAL ASSESSMENT

Dear Neighbors and Friends -

The HOA board held a meeting on July 23, 2008 mostly to discuss a special assessment for a slurry seal repair on the streets. Other items were also discussed.

Those in attendance were:
Joe Merlo (#5), Scott Thompson (#66), Kathy Adamson (#34), Steve Easthope (#61), Joe Latkowski - Property Manager Cornerstone Properties, Leona Uptain (#9), Ryan Ricedorff (#58), David Griffy (#52), Mary Griffy (#52), Paul Dunham (#28), Rick Lehtinen (#19), Lynn Bailey (#67), and Beth Specht (#4).

STREET REPAIR

Several items were discussed, including the expected rise in costs of street repairs, the legal ownership of the streets belonging to all homeowners as a private community, the several bids received from contractors for the repairs, the desire for a contract with the contractors to lock in a price for the repair through December, the amount of a special assessment for the homeowners, the ability to get a third party inspector (possibly from the City of Mesa) to make sure the repairs were done correctly, the inclusion of the speed humps, and the timing of payment.

Two proposals submitted by contractors required rebidding, while one could only hold their price for 30 days. Two other contractors would hold their bids through December - KFM ($36,000) and Crossroads Grading ($75,000). Because the price for all of the bids is anticipated to increase above the $36,000 within the time frame required for a special assessment, the motion was made to accept the KFM bid with the condition that KFM would lock in a ceiling price at $36,000 through December, stipulating that if the cost of oil decreases during that time, the association would pay the lower market price.

The association's financials were presented to all present. The association currently has approximately $22,000 in available reserves. With the bid of $36,000, (after taxes it's $38,000) the special assessment for $300 will raise approximately $21,000 for street repairs, and the reserve would pay the remaining $17,000.

Ballots will be sent out in the next few days to every homeowner to vote on the special assessment. The next HOA meeting to tally the votes and hear from homeowners was then scheduled for THURSDAY, AUGUST 28 at 6:45 PM, tentatively at home #61.

OTHER ITEMS

Other items presented either from homeowners or board members in the meeting included:

• Addressing the need for better communication between the HOA and homeowners
• Possibility of a neighborhood newsletter
• Ideas and legal restraints for convenient submission of ballots (drop box near mailbox, etc)
• Landscaping improvements - plants on 26th street, etc
• Individual homeowners voluntarily buying sage plants, etc, to help with landscaping improvements
• A large hole needing repair in the southwest common area
• A proposal for a street light in the common area between #57 and #56
• Requesting written documentation from the City of Mesa with denial of request for taking street ownership

A street lighting committee was proposed at the end of the board meeting, headed by Steven Easthope (#61), regarding a proposed street light between #57 and #56. If any homeowners are interested in participating, you can contact Steve at (480) 335-5903. SRP leases street lights under long term leases for such situations. The committee will solicit information from SRP and from any homeowners (especially those most affected by the proposed street light) to evaluate its options.