RIVERVIEW ESTATES HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION

BOARD of DIRECTORS MEETING – January 12, 2015



LOCATION: Home of Steve Halstead

CALLED TO ORDER @ 7:10pm ATTENDEES: Steve Chantry, Tangie Ulrich, and Steve Halstead

AGENDA:

  1. Review minutes and report from past meetings.

Minutes from Oct 26 meeting distributed and approved. Report of Dec 15 meeting was reviewed and will be distributed by email and both will be posted on the Pavilion board.

  1. Discussion of 2015 Dues and Treasurer’s letter to members.

A number of changes were made to Joanne Sharpe’s initial letter. 1) The 'addressed to' was changed to Homeowners/Lot owners or HOA Members, 2) added statement from dues increased version in regard to survey showing our dues to be the lowest in the area, and 3) dropped the reference to an amount for the attorney’s fee on late dues payments.

  1. Review proposed 2015 Budget and adoption of budget.

The Budget Income assumes dues from 165 lots (includes undeveloped lots) but allows for $3,200 in unpaid/uncollected dues as well as $2,300 in collections of prior year’s dues.

Since the newly developed collection of dues electronically will require a secure web-site link, this will cost the Association an additional $120-$180 per year. A figure of $166 was added to the line item for Web Site (to make a round number of $500) and other figures adjusted accordingly. With reserve funds of $24,498 it was determined that there is no need for a dues increase in 2015.

  1. Late fees and lawyer charges.

Late fees are specified to be 10% in the association documents. The amount charged by our lawyer is based on the amount of work necessary to provide the service. For any account only overdue by more than 6 months, the charge is usually $50 but if a homeowner/member is more than one year overdue, the charge may be higher. There is no amount specified in this instance.

  1. Problems in community – violations of restrictions.

There are still several instances of By-Laws violations, including: 1) modifications to property without submission of architectural committee application, 2) storage of a disabled vehicle in a driveway, and 3) changes to property that were not included in the architectural application. The owners will be contacted to learn more about the situations before any Board action is taken.

  1. Dues collection using electronic processes.

It was learned that to collect dues electronically, our web-site needs a link to a secure web-site where encryption will safeguard any personal data. We will need help in setting this up so that a debit card can be used at no cost to the payer, but a 3.5% fee will be assessed for a credit card charge. Checks are still accepted.

  1. New Board member recruitment.

It was noted that Steve Chantry and Tangie Ulrich have served long beyond the normal 2 year term of a Director on the Board, and they have made significant positive contributions to the Home Owners’ Association (HOA). It is hoped that other individuals in our community will step forward and assist in the management of our association. We all will actively seek out new board members prior to the upcoming annual meeting. Please consider helping.



  1. Other issues:



  1. A letter will be sent out 60 days prior to the HOA Annual Meeting (May 14 or rain date 18) including a brief description of the intended subject matter to be discussed. This letter will solicit new Board members and also suggested changes to the Association By-Laws.

  2. The annual meeting agenda should include voting on recommended changes to the By-Laws. Note that we must have a quorum present (10% of HOA members who are eligible to vote in person or by proxy) and that the vote required is 2/3 of those eligible to vote. If a Member is not in compliance with existing By-Laws or has not paid their dues in a timely fashion (is overdue), they are not eligible to vote at any meeting(s) of the HOA.

  3. Steve Halstead will publish a Quarterly Newsletter and post a monthly Tips Letter on the web-site. If you have suggestions, please forward to the Board of Directors. The first such Newsletter is included in the 2015 Dues Letter to be mailed to all Members on January 15.

  4. We still need to update and verify any and all email addresses of HOA members. It will help us (the Board) tremendously if we can communicate with everyone by email (where possible) when there are issues of importance to everyone. We realize that not everyone checks the web-site routinely.

  5. Once again we want to remind everyone that, if you have a problem with a street light in your immediate neighborhood, please contact Kent County directly. See the web-site for specifics.



Meeting was adjourned at 8:15PM

Minutes submitted by Steve Halstead