A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Williamsburg Settlement Maintenance Association, Inc. was held on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. at the Williamsburg Settlement clubhouse, 1602 Hoyt, Katy, Texas 77449.
ATTENDANCE
Board Members present were Cyndy Thompson, Floyd Ball, Martin Spears, Dave Ellis, Larry Crain and Don McClelland. Also in attendance were Officer Paul Wilburn and Dolores Sue representing Planned Community Management, Inc. (PCMI).
With a quorum being established, the meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m.
MINUTES
The Board reviewed the minutes of the April 17, 2012 meeting. A motion to accept the minutes as written was made by Cyndy Thompson, seconded by Dave Ellis and unanimously approved.
HOMEOWNER CONCERNS
There were three (3) homeowners present.
A resident asked if the Board was aware of the Municipal Utility district Number 61’s installion of slip liners to repair some of the damaged sewer lines. The Board stated that they had not received formal notification but some members had received a notice on their doors as did the other effected residents. One of the residents in attendance said that some workers had been on his property probably because he has a manhole cover in his backyard.
PATROL SERVICE REPORT
Martin Spears presented the patrol service report. It was explained that the burglary which was listed was of a lawn mower stolen from a garage where the garage door was not locked. Officer Wilburn asked that residents be reminded to always lock all doors including closing and locking both garage and vehicle doors.
There was also an attempted burglary where a screen was cut while the homeowner was at home. He turned on the light and access was not gained into home. No suspect was located. Another incident involved a brick being thrown through a back door window. No one was injured and no suspect was found.
Officer Wilburn stated these incidents appear to be juveniles who were on foot and not the acts of a criminal. At this point Officer Wilburn was thanked for attending the meeting and subsequently left.
FINANCIAL AND DELINQUENCY SUMMARY
Dave Ellis presented the financials. As of April 30, 2012 the money in the bank totaled $685,505.85. This includes checking, savings accounts and CD’s and is the money to cover both operating expenses and the necessary reserve to fund maintenance and replacement of the Association’s capital assets.
Delinquency for the month ending April 30, 2012 totaled $43,135.69. Recovery of delinquent assessments is progressing well.
OLD BUSINESS
Pump Room Door Replacement - Martin Spears reported the door has been replaced and will be painted in the near future.
Update Perimeter Fence Repair Project - Good progress has been made on the perimeter fence repair project. However, the area along Mason Creek still needs about 300 to 400 more boards to be replaced. As the weather is beginning to get hotter the Board will look into having an insured independent contractor give us a price for completing this remaining section. It was also noted that the 2 remaining sections of the perimeter fence that do not belong to the Association also need repair and the Association will be taking action to so inform these residents.
Tree Trimming and Landscape Issues - Larry Crain reported that the trimming of all trees that were identified as needing attention has been completed. He stated that he has spoken to the Association landscape company and they would be willing to mow and weed-eat a 6’ strip along the outside of our perimeter fence for a cost of $90.00 per month, or on an as-requested basis for $150.00 per trip. The purpose of the Association considering this would be to protect the integrity of the fence and thus extend its life. Larry was asked to pursue alternative scenarios, such as having it done once per quarter, and report back to the Board at the next meeting. It was noted that the pipeline easement along the back of Spatswood is being well maintained by the pipeline company.
There was also a discussion of the lack of mowing of the 2 acres of land at the NW corner of Mason and Colonial. A request to have this mowed has been sent to the owners, Westside Venture Ltd., but so far without a response.
These issues were deferred until the June 19, 2012 meeting.
NEW BUSINESS
Contracts with Termination dates in June:
1. Insurance Contract - Dave Ellis presented the quote received from the current insurance carrier, Willis Insurance, for the renewal of the Association’s insurance policies for the coming year. The cost increase would be $504.00 or 3%. Considering the excellent support we have received from Mr. Mark Conner from Willis in pursuing claims, the most recent being a complete replacement of the clubhouse and pool building roofs, and the appraisal of our assets by an independent company that was done last year at no cost to the Association, he recommended that we accept the renewal quote.
A motion to accept the insurance renewal contract with Willis Insurance Company was made by Dave Ellis, seconded by Cyndy Thompson and unanimously approved.
2. WCA Trash Company - Dave Ellis reported that the contract for the trash company is not up for renewal, however the contract allows for an annual adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for trash collection services. The increase for the coming year will be forty seven cents (.47) per month per home. The Board agreed that great service is being received from the company.
3. Planned Community Management (PCMI) - The Board discussed that PCMI serves the Association via an “evergreen” contract on which there has been no price increase since 2007 and PCMI has agreed to hold the current pricing for a further year. The Board agreed that they continue to receive excellent service from PCMI and saw no reason not to continue operating under the current contract for the coming year.
A motion to continue the contract with PCMI for an additional year was made by Cyndy Thompson, seconded by Martin Spears and unanimously approved.
Miscellaneous Signs and Posters being attached to Street and Traffic Signs - Floyd Ball reported that he has received complaints from residents about the many signs that are being posted on street lights and traffic signs. These signs detract from the appearance of the neighborhood. The Board unanimously agreed that a reminder to residents will be posted on the web site and included in the newsletter that this practice is against the law and citations may be issued to help curb this practice.
Rules for Pool Rental - Dave Ellis proposed making a change to the pool rental rules. Currently during pool open hours on Tuesday through Friday private parties can have only a total of 20 or fewer persons and Saturday and Sunday they can have only 10. It seems that most people attending these parties are residents who have tags anyway and the pool attendance is sufficiently low that it seems it might be time to revisit these rules. There was general agreement that these restrictions should be relaxed and the Board agreed to accept the recommendations of a subcommittee consisting of Dave Ellis, Larry Crain and Martin Spears as to the exact changes that will be implemented.
ADJOURNMENT TO EXECUTIVE SESSION
At 6:45 p.m. the Board adjourned to executive session to discuss Delinquencies, Deed restriction and contract matters. The Board thanked the residents for coming to the open session
ADJOURNMENT OF EXECUTIVE SESSION
At this time the Board reconvened to open session to inform residents of decisions made during executive session. There were no homeowners present.
DECISIONS MADE DURING EXECUTIVE SESSION
Association Attorney
After reviewing proposals from other attorneys, the Board authorized PCMI to employ the Butler & Hailey Legal firm in addition to the continued service of Messock & Walton to assist the Association with legal issues. Messock & Walton are currently pursuing the collection of about 50% of the outstanding Maintenance Fees and are also seeking corrective action for certain violations of Deed Restrictions. Butler & Hailey (while employed by PCMI) were particularly helpful to the Board in understanding changes that needed to be made to policies and procedures as a result of the 2011 Laws passed by the Texas Legislature. The Board regrets the necessity to turn any account over to Legal but in order to fulfill it's fiduciary duties, that is a necessary step for some accounts.
Deed Restrictions – The Board agreed to close 3 files for deed restriction violations that were currently at the attorney. The Board approved one new fence and instructed PCMI to send 1 new violation to the current Association attorney.
Delinquency
The Board agreed to turn 12 new collection accounts to the Association attorney for legal action and one collection matter will be turned back to the current Association attorney for legal action on not fulfilling the terms of an agreed payment plan.
It was also unanimously agreed that Dave Ellis, Floyd Ball and Walter Smith will continue to make needed decisions on accounts at the attorney and to which attorney the accounts will be sent.
With no further business the meeting was adjourned at 7:35 p.m. The next meeting will be held on June 19, 2012.
