The meeting was hosted by Carol Wyant at 7 Topkie Drive.
Attendees:
Carol Wyant
Bob Martin
Margaret Thurman
Bob & Donna Berry
Rick Dembow & Nancy Lattanzi
Steve & Philippa Atterbury
Regrets:
Gary Dorer
LoRee Parker
David Thurman
Bob Berry called the meeting to order at 5:30 PM and we established that we had a quorum.
Steve moved that the minutes of the meeting of December 12, 2012 be accepted as distributed. Nancy seconded. All were in favor.
Rick stated that the current balance is $7,951.06. The bank (BMO) had started to charge us $15.00 per month inactivity fee. Rick questioned this with the bank and they were supposed to correct this to waive the fee. As of the meeting date, it had not been corrected. Rick said he is planning on going into the bank within a week or so, and will take up the matter then. The only outstanding annual dues at the time of the meeting were those of Gary Dorer, LoRee Parker and Margaret and David Thurman. Rick said he would like those paid ASAP before his trip to the bank so that he can make a deposit.
The issue of multiple garbage trucks on our street came up again, due to the Sheffields having added a third truck, by switching to Patriot. Bob Berry revisited the reason for trying to keep this down to one truck, and the history behind it. Bob Berry questioned the pothole being fixed, and had noted that the city contracted Brewer Brothers to do the work, which he had completed in a very satisfactory manner. Philippa said that she had called the city, and they had responded by getting the job done within a week of her phone call. Steve thanked Bob Berry for providing proof that Topkie Dr is indeed a city street. Steve pointed out that we have multiple trucks driving up and down anyhow, e.g. FedEx and UPS. Bob Berry expressed his opinion that one cannot dictate to homeowners which service they should use. If all eight votes were for the same service that would be different, but they are not at this time. Nancy addressed the issue of recycling, that Patriot only recycles 10% of possible recyclable materials, and that this had been pointed out to everyone, including the Sheffields. Steve moved that we should leave choice of service to the individual. Bob Berry seconded the motion, all were in favor.
Steve questioned the need for annual dues, as no money is currently being spent on the common areas. He also suggested that if there was a need to spend money, there should be a process to make this easy. Bob Berry noted that in the past the president had a discretionary fund that he could use without getting the whole neighborhood involved in lengthy discussion. This discussion resulted in revisiting the idea of hiring someone to do a simple cleanup of the two islands, to include removal of debris and dead plants. Nancy, Margaret and Philippa reiterated that they had received one quote that was very high, another that was feasible, but they recommended that the HOA hire a day laborer to do the job at a rate of $15 per hour, plus minor expenses e.g. lunch and a small gratuity. Bob Berry suggested we appoint Philippa and Nancy as an informal 'beautification committee' and provide them a budget to clean-up the islands. Bob Martin suggested that we allow $300 for this effort. Steve moved that we go forward with island cleanup to be managed by Philippa. Carol seconded the motion, all voted in favor
Nancy questioned whether we want to do anything about the front entrance. Bob Berry said there had been gravel and flowers years ago. Donna stated that she did not think flowers were a good idea. Bob Berry mentioned John Sheffield's benches as a possibility. Nancy and Philippa as the informal 'beautification committee' agreed to come up with a plan to submit to the HOA, and see what the interest is in continuing at that point.
Nancy gave us a concise and informative recap on smart meters. Nancy thanked those who had opted out already, which she said of the homeowners had done for a variety of reasons. Nancy expressed the hope that any HOA members who have not opted out at this time, would reconsider in view of the far-reaching effects of these smart meters have on the entire community. Steve expressed his concern that APS has done nothing to reach out to the community and explain what they are doing, or why, so why buy in at this time. Rick addressed the expense of installing these meters, and questioned this outlay by APS in view of the fact that these smart meters do nothing to improve our service. Bob Berry expressed that his decision to opt out, was concern for his neighbors, in conjunction with apprehension that having a smart meter might have a negative effect on future attempts to sell his house. Rick was also concerned that any information retrieved by APS could essentially be sold to a third party. Nancy mentioned that there is nothing wrong with analog meters, so why change.
Bob Berry offered his resignation having served many years as an officer of the HOA. He gave his regrets at not having managed to arrange a meeting in 2013 due to extended travel. Bob expressed that the old timers had paid their dues, and that he would like to see newcomers take their turn. He also thanked Carol at this time for kindly hosting our meeting. He suggested that we may choose to have a summer meeting going forward around Memorial Day or Labor Day. Steve questioned whether it is the president's job to arrange these meetings. Bob Berry confirmed this, and also pointed everyone to his web site which contains the HOA bylaws. This is
Bob Berry adjourned the meeting at 6:15 PM.
Prepared by