The HOA meeting held on August 20, 2019, was lightly attended at Timberwood Park Elementary School. I’m sure many of you were enjoying summer vacations or an afternoon by the pool given our continued excessive heat! Here’s a quick summary of the board actions and topics covered during the meeting:
The meeting began with an approval of last meeting minutes.
FINANCIALS
The financials were reviewed with a brief discussion about clubhouse progress and payments being made on same, along with Accounts Receivable sitting at $151,000.00 in outstanding assessment accounts at meeting time. Discussion also ensued about the reserve account and $255,000+/- sitting in that account at this time.
Paul Rutkowski continued the briefing with discussion about the clubhouse progress and upcoming payments which will need to be made totaling around $190,000.00 coming out of the operating fund. It is anticipated that concrete will be poured sometime in September with about 3 weeks following to begin framing. Paul further discussed the process for approval to release a payment and the checks and balances in place to ensure the project is on track.
OLD EXERCISE EQUIPMENT TO BE USED IN NEW CLUBHOUSE
A discussion about the clubhouse and how it would be furnished took place. It was noted that the old exercise equipment will be re-installed in the new exercise room and no new equipment is slated for purchase at this time. No monies were included in the price of the clubhouse build.
RESERVE FUND EXPENDITURES
From the approval of the financials, discussion moved into a conversation about spending some of the reserve funds for capital improvement projects. Karen O’Neil explained that the funds were set aside for maintaining and repairing our existing assets and that we had accumulated monies which needed to be spent on some of the capital improvement projects. A repair to the pathway was discussed with a notation of 5 bids sought and only one answered for that project. Apparently, with construction booming in our area contractors are not particularly interested in taking on a “small” project of this nature. It is estimated about $30,000 will be needed to repair the pathway once bids can be established. No funding approval took place for this project at the meeting time.
A discussion ensued regarding the pool chairs, tables and umbrellas as Karen explained the furniture needed to be replaced. Karen indicated the 4 bids in place for this replacement ranged from $16-18,000.00 and she asked for a motion to approve the expenditure. A second board member Shawna Klein suggested the figure should be increased to $20,000.00. A motion was made and carried to approve $20,000.00 for the replacement of 17 tables and umbrellas and 62 chairs. One of the board members, Paul Rutkowski reminded the board that there was effectively no place to put this purchase given clubhouse storage was no longer available with demolition and rebuild underway but nonetheless the board approved the expenditure.
Just a Thought…… Since it was end of season for the pool and the start of pool season will not occur next year until around the April time frame in 2020, it might be a good idea to put this one aside until the date it is needed gets closer.
An expenditure to demolish and rebuild the kiddie splash pad was made by Shawna Klein. She discussed the initial installation which ran around $42,500, its failure previously which cost about $15,000 to remedy, the second repair this year which was attempted but unsuccessful and ran about $7,000.00, and finally the need to start over because the first installation had been a poor one to begin with and the company used is no longer in business. Bids are currently being accumulated, 5 companies have been approached and to date 2 have returned calls without bids at the time of the meeting. I don’t recall if a motion was made for the new project of rip-out and reinstall 2 mushrooms, concrete pad, and accessories and have no notes indicating it was, just underway for replacement awaiting the bids.
An audience member asked why Spectrum wasn’t assisting with bids for these various projects to get us best pricing and a better array of bids to choose from. There was discussion about including Spectrum in the process as appropriate moving forward.
NEW CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS
Lighting Around the Park was also discussed. 3 bids have been returned for this potential project thus far which range up to $100,000.00 to install adequate lighting which meets the Dark Skies Program and other details pertinent to the park. One bidder has explained it would take 5 or more orbs on each pole to light the park properly, and there would be a draw on the existing electric which would have to be taken into consideration. Distance between the commercial grade poles and lighting effects how many need to be installed to cover the park properly. Karen O’Neil noted that this is a new capital improvement project and not one for which money can be spent from the reserve account. A vote and approval would need to happen to get this project on the schedule for completion and would be considered based on clubhouse needs over adding new improvements at this time.
A question was asked about tearing out the golf course fence. Discussion took place regarding the need for a fence around the course and potentially replacing the existing fence. No further discussion took place.
LANDSCAPE COMMITTEE
The landscape committee distributed certificates of appreciation for those property owners who have contributed benches and/or trees to our park beautification program and ceremonies were held to thank those individuals for their participation in the program. There will be an upcoming tree installation ceremony in October with details to be provided in the newsletter and e-mail notifications.
SOCIAL COMMITTEE
There was a discussion about Halloween Around the Lake to be held in October and the upcoming Music in the Park concerts which are continuing to occur as scheduled during the clubhouse rebuild. More details to follow in upcoming newsletters and email communications.
ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT COMPANY REVIEW
A committee was formed to review management companies as our contract is coming due with Spectrum. The committee has reviewed 11 companies, looked at social media reviews, gotten bids and proposals from those companies which were thought to be capable of handling a community the size of Timberwood Park. The board at meeting time was at the stage of reviewing the top candidates the committee put forward for review and will be making recommendations based on that review later.
ELECTIONS FOR BOARD MEMBERS 2020
Four of the current board positions are up for election. Candidates who are interested in running for office should submit their candidate profile via e-mail or fax to Spectrum Property Management by September 3, 2019 in order to have their profiles published in the newsletter. The October HOA meeting will include candidate introductions and an opportunity for candidates to speak to the audience in attendance at that meeting. Of the four positions up for election, 3 current board members have announced they will not be seeking re-election with the 4th undecided at this time. If you are interested, please submit your profiles!
When is the projected date for completion of the clubhouse?
There was no projected completion date discussed at the meeting.