HERITAGE HUNT CONDOMINIUM I UNIT OWNERS ASSOCIATION

BOARD MEETING

July 8, 2008

 

 

I.    Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 2:04 p.m. by the President, Ed Plummer.  Also in attendance were Board members Warren Miller and Kay Franklin, SCS representatives Kerry Farmer and Dan Harrison, Building and Grounds Committee Chairperson George Field, Legal and Covenants Committee Chairperson Frank Hoss and a number of residents. There was a quorum present.

 

II.   Minutes of Previous Meeting

            A motion was made, seconded and approved to accept the minutes of the previous       Board meeting of May l3, 2008.

 

III.  Reports of Officers and Committee Chairs

TREASURER

Warren Miller presented the Treasury report.  Although SCS in its reports for May and June graded us as Good (SCS’s best grade), Warren characterized our financial condition as Excellent.  We have received a draft report of the audit and are awaiting the final report.  While there have been larger expenditures than expected in legal fees and water usage; other areas are below budget.  Interest income has been less than expected due to market situations.  Reserves have been used to complete the painting project.  Nevertheless, Warren says we are prepared to take care of obligations.            

 

PRESIDENT

Ed Plummer noted that the Finance Committee is encouraging residents to join the Committee in the planning and management of Condo finances, an all-important interest and responsibility of the community.  The next Budget meeting is Wednesday, July 16.  All are welcome.

 

Ed reported that AAA Trash recently increased its fees but we have challenged this and AAA has promised to make adjustments and follow the original contract.

 

Ed announced a Fire and Safety presentation July 29 at 2 p.m.  All are encouraged to attend in the Card Room in the Club House.  The program will be televised on the Heritage Hunt TV channel and residents at home may call in to participate and ask questions.  The presentation will include residents of the new Condominium II.

 

Ed commented that a recent Washington Post article offered a tax tip that capital improvements to the condominium may be claimed (proportionately) at the time of the sale of the unit.  A link has been added to our condo website in the “News Media Articles” section.

MANAGEMENT

Dan Harrison reviewed the Status of Maintenance.  All painting projects have been completed, the broken fence behind Building B has been rebuilt.  Rob Grove of East Coast Fire Protection has been asked to see whether he can obtain sprinkler and monitoring system plans from Prince William County.  CMC Maintenance can service our trash chutes.  The ABS building HVAC & fan contract has been renewed and the Board does not need to take any further action on this.  ECFP replaced all of the out-of-date gages in Building B Sprinkler Valve Room.

 

Dan Harrison recently found programming manuals for our electronic entry systems.  This means that both SCS and members of our Building and Grounds Committee can program the systems and we are no longer dependent on our current contractor.  However, as a situation could arise where either SCS or a contractor might have to be called for the programming and thereby incur expense, the Board should review its policy on charging for programming the entry system.

 

A motion was made, seconded and approved that the Board re-affirm Policy Resolution No. 4, which basically provides that, when a change of ownership is involved, the Condo Association will absorb any reprogramming charge but when a change of ownership is not involved, the unit owner will be charged.

 

Dan Harrison reported that he had a discussion with the owner of Cat Communications (which presently monitors Building A) and he now has a revised bid of $360 per year per building for a contract to monitor both buildings.  A discussion followed on contracting for the maintenance and service of fire and safety systems in both condo buildings.  SCS will confer on contractors.  The Board deferred a decision until sufficient information is available and expressed an interest in combining as many functions as feasible to avoid multiple and separate contracts.

 

East Coast will be testing fire protection systems July 15.  Residents can expect alarms to be tested and are advised to dial 911 in case of a true emergency.  ECFP will also service the fire extinguishers.

 

It was noted that the monthly delinquency reports continually show a number of accounts with continuing late charges.  It appears that much of this results from  unit owners having incurred a late charge but not having sent in enough within the next month to pay the late charge.  Payments are first applied to any outstanding charges with any balance applied to current charges.  Thus, if an owner does not add an amount to the payment to cover the late fee, the account will continue to show as delinquent, even though subsequent payments arrive before the 16th of the month.  The Board asked Dan Harrison notify all of the delinquent accounts of the problem and the amounts needed to bring accounts current.

 

BUILDING AND GROUNDS

George Field reported that the work of installing new diverters and enlarged gutters has been completed.  This was necessary to divert the large flow of water during heavy rains to avoid backup toward the building and alleviate washing around the foundation.

 

Work is underway to put aluminum cladding on all wood and trim on Barclay Models.  Leakage had been reported by some residents.  This was expected to be mostly a preventive measure but upon removing the façade, water damage and rotting was evident on some underlying wood.  This work was done now to prevent more extensive and more expensive repairs in the future.  In view of this disclosure, it may be prudent to consider protecting all wood trim with aluminum in the future.

 

After the failure of a battery in the fire protection system, all batteries have been replaced and will be replaced periodically to prevent failure.

 

LEGAL AND COVENANTS

Frank Hoss reported both the Committee and the Board approved an application for Unit A308 to make the kitchen pass through smaller and add a mantel and shelves around the fireplace. The Committee has approved the concept of permanent patio screens on the Chelsea units on the first and second floor of both buildings.  (These units have two side openings, for which automatic screens are not feasible.)  The applicant now needs to submit more detailed specs for his application to be considered further.

 

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Ed Plummer  reported the results of the survey to allow grocery carts to be stored in the garage.  26 voted FOR, 18 voted Against, 10 voted No Opinion, and 21 did not return the survey.  The Board was reluctant to make a change with these results and voted to keep the rule as is.  That is, grocery carts may not be stored in the garage.

 

The Board noted that many people wrote comments on the survey with equal passion on both sides of the issue.

 

NEW BUSINESS

Ed reported that SCS has recommended that the Board adopt a policy resolution with respect to investment strategy.  This came about because our accounts  recently exceeded the $100,000 FDIC insurance limit in one bank for a brief time.  This happened in part because the May Financials didn’t come out until late June and the invoices for the roof and siding work arrived later than anticipated.  SCS suggested that we consider brokerage-managed accounts that would monitor balances and automatically spread accounts among more banks as necessary.  The Board felt the situation was not likely to repeat and is reluctant to pay brokerage fees on top of the already low returns.  Further, the Bylaws already narrowly define what constitutes suitable investments.  The Board felt that there was no need to adopt the SCS-recommended policy resolution.

 

The Board asked Dan Harrison to look into the merits of, and what would be involved for the Association to invest in, Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS).

 

Ed noted once again that recycling is now paper and plastic combined in the same containers.  Some questioned whether the recycled materials are really being recycled.  A discussion followed on the difficulty of contracting with reliable providers.  There are fewer companies providing this service.

 

IV.  ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 3:25 p.m.  with the next meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008 at 2 p.m. in the Board Room of the Club House.

 

Respectfully submitted by Barbara Dunn, Secretary