September Minutes

APPROVED

CROW HILL HOMEOWNERS’ ASSOCIATION, INC.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING

Meeting held at Juneau Downtown Public Library

September 13, 2011

1.    CALL TO ORDER AND ESTABLISHMENT OF QUORUM:  The meeting was called to order by President Iris Frank at 5:26 p.m.  A quorum was established with the following board members present: 

Iris Frank, President

Michele Metz, Vice President

Wanda Fleming, Treasurer

Sheila Box, Secretary

Members at Large, Patricia Young (arrived at 5:45p.m.) and Tresvant “Tres” Causey III and Jean Feakes

Property Manager Duane Gates was present, Wayne Bundy was absent with the flu.

 

2.    APPROVAL OF AGENDA:  Wanda Fleming moved to approve the agenda as presented, Jean Feakes. The agenda was Approved.

3.    INTRODUCTIONS AS NEEDED:  Lilly Walsh, “C” building E, 2156 was present.

4.    APPROVAL OF August 2011 BOARD MEETING MINUTES:  Jean Feakes moved to approve the August minutes as written, Wanda Fleming seconded.  The minutes were Approved. 

5.    OWNER COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS:  Lilly Walsh commented on a noise issue she was having with a bathroom fan in the unit below hers which is not working correctly.  Iris addressed the issue and noted that the owners were asked to replace the fan.

6.    PROPERTY MANAGEMENT REPORT ON DELIVERABLES:  Iris asked if Wayne had issued a letter to a delinquent owner, Duane was not sure but said he would check.  It was noted that the items that had been stored in the carport are now gone, so it is presumed a letter went to that owner.  Signature cards were distributed to officers, and cleanup on the carport has been done.  A check register was included in the packet to the board for this meeting. 

7.    OLD BUSINESS:

a.    Financial – FY2012 Budget Review: Duane noted that he and Iris worked on the format of the budget, and that a few line items had been combined.  Operating budget = current year, where the dues go for day to day operations.  Reserve = long term, projects for more than one year.  Cash on hand = how much cash we have, which is separate, but affected by the other two budgets.  The FY 2012 net Operating budget shows that $90,000 is going into reserves this year, minimum by FHA standards is 10% of homeowners fees, or for Crow Hill $32,000.  Reserves budget shows the increase of $90,000 and expenditures for water meter and insulation costs of $48,000.  Fire damage is not yet included, as insurance is still pending.  The net increase to reserves is $42,000 plus Operating cash of $50,000 cash on hand at the beginning of the year, and should remain the same.  $73,000 existing funds in Reserves, plus $42,000 = $116,000.   So the Reserve budget plus Cash on Hand budget for the end of the year should be $156,000.  The board set a meeting with Duane to go over the budgets and budget principals in depth at Exit Realty on October 1^st, at 3:00 p.m.  Duane suggested the owners get an invitation to this meeting as well.

 

Skipping to 8a. – Reserve Schedule – Duane noted that each part of the condo (i.e. the roof) should be noted – when it was replaced, how long it is expected to last, and how much it is expected to cost (approximately) so that the association can put away a small amount each year to equal the amount expected to be needed for future repairs.  FHA says that a reserve schedule analysis is a required part of the FHA approval process, which is why Duane says they have started the process.  He noted that the FHA package outlining how to do this is more complicated and difficult to read than the one he gave the board.  Sheila asked why it was allowed to expire.  Duane said it expires every other year and you have to resubmit and recertify.   Duane noted for the record that the boards at the other property associations he works with do their own reserve schedules, he just helps them to understand it.  Wayne does ours, as he is our property manager of record.  The monthly set-aside for Crow Hill should be $16,900 per month, in order to catch up and be fully funded at $203,000.  Michele Metz moved to adopt the reserve schedule as presented, Jean Feakes seconded it.  The motion was Approved.

It was noted by Iris that the AHFC approval has also expired, as noted on the AHFC website.  The board discussed that it was a two-year process, changed to one year, and that Wayne had been asked to complete this paperwork.  Duane noted that the approvals take between 2 weeks and 2 months.  Iris noted that Sheila is a member with a condo for sale, but that the association also has a vested interest in remaining on both of these lists without pause.

Back to 7b) Fire Update

i)     Iris said the police have a person of interest, but not someone in custody.  Insurance settlement is ongoing, the adjuster was in the hospital, so the process is delayed.

ii)    Rock Wall bids – Several bids came in at about $60,000 – and we could rebuild just the small section behind the carport, but the entire wall will need to be replaced before too long anyway, so doing it piecemeal would likely be more expensive.  It was noted that the drainage problem at the dumpster would also be addressed and possibly lessened as a result of the rebuild.  R&M Engineering firm was involved, and the companies bid based on that engineers report.  Bayshore Landscaping, our current landscaper, would like to be involved, but proposed that another construction company do the work and subcontract him for part of the work, as he is not a big enough firm to bid the whole project.  There were 3 bids. Bicknell Construction at $69,000 – Arete Construction at $49,000 - and $58,000 for the Channel Construction/Bayshore combination.   Duane suggested the board decide to go ahead with the project as a $61,000 project, and empower someone on the board to finish getting a contract from Channel and make the final decision. Iris noted that the association has already contracted with Bicknell for the carport rebuilding, and we might realize some savings by having them do it all.  Tres noted that cash flow may be a problem depending on what we can work out with the insurance company.  Iris said that it didn’t matter, since the engineers report stated the rock wall needed to be replaced, and now was the time to do it with the carport out of the way.  Wanda Fleming moved that the association move ahead with the rock wall replacement, and that we approve the president to accept a final bid not to exceed $61,000.  Jean Feakes seconded.  There were a few questions about the details, for example whether the rock wall and carport done together would result in a cost reduction, and whether the president was willing to take on this responsibility.  The motion was Approved.                    

7.c) Window Replacement group – didn’t meet.  Sheila noted that Wayne had been asked several times to get permission for Sheila to come and photograph new windows so they could be posted on the blog, but he had not done that.  Sheila also noted that there was a blog created, and she would be happy to teach someone how to update the blog if the board would like to continue that. 

8. b)  Snow Removal Contract – There were 2 bids, and a third one on the way. 

Carl’s and Frontier Services were given.  Carl’s has been doing the units for a while.  Each operator priced out the contract in a different way, by hours or by equipment and number of times they came.  Sheila asked if the association has a year to year estimate on the number of hours it usually takes to do the job. We do not.  There was a question about whether ‘hand shoveling’ meant the stairs and balconies, or just when an operator had to get out of the truck for something. 

Wayne was called to clarify that “hand shoveling” did mean stairs and balconies – and recommended we go with Frontier as it would be cheaper.  Sheila asked if there were references for Frontier, as the shoveling is so much cheaper we are not sure they could do it.  Wayne said he could get references.  It was decided to table the discussion for now, until a few questions could be clarified, and empower the president to poll the board via email, and accept a bid after taking an email vote.

(Email Vote -

9.    Board Requests of deliverables from Property Management team –

                                          i.    Whether a letter via the attorney to the person who is long delinquent with dues went out last month

                                        ii.    AHFC and FHA Recertification

                                       iii.    Rock Wall process finalized

                                       iv.    Who has new windows for photographing

                                        v.    Snow plow references

                                       vi.    Committee meeting – Windows – Duane noted that a few years past, the association did repairs building by building, instead of project by project.  Sheila asked if doing the projects one way or the other would make a significant cost difference – Duane said probably not, and it makes more sense to him to do it building by building.  He recommended a new group look at the maintenance plan for the entire complex, look at it building by building, and roll the windows into that discussion.  He noted that board members and owners need to be on this committee.  Iris suggested the windows committee be reformulated to be a maintenance committee, who would look at the association as a whole.  Michele noted that the membership needed to be informed so they could participate.  The following members said they would serve on a maintenance committee:  Michele Metz, Iris Frank, Lilly Walsh, and Wanda Fleming said that she would chair it.  This committee said they would meet in the next two weeks.  Homework for this group was to get together and look at the condition of all the buildings within the next 10 days, and write down what each building needs.

10.  October meeting – October 12^th, Wednesday, 5:30 p.m. at the Douglas Library

11.  Jean Feakes moved that the meeting be adjourned, the meeting Adjourned at 6:45 p.m.