The meeting was called to order by HOA President Gary Moore at 6:00 PM in the University Woods Club House. The following members of the Board were present and were introduced:
Toby Terrell
John Harper
John Gensinger
Amber Stotesbury
Jeb Black and Joe Stewart representing Wilson Property Management were also introduced.
The following homeowners were present and introduced themselves:
Lisa Whitley
Albert and Lorine Calloway
Joanna Alexy
Ed Karazin (representing Lloyd Schnieders)
Paul & Debbie Atkinson
Karleen Gross
Keith & Jen D’Allessio
Johnnie Perdue
Peter and Julie Smith
Mark Selz
Russ Copersito
Brenda Schwab
Sharon Carducci
Christopher Wilson
The minutes of the previous meeting (12/10/2014) were distributed and approved.
Ed Karazin (EdKarazin@remax.net, 919.924.4991) gave a brief report on sales activity and prices with University Woods during the past year.
A financial report was given by Amber Stotesbury and Jeb Black. Amber is the treasurer for the HOA and reported that the Capital Reserves Account has a balance of $88,924.93. Jeb reported that the Operating Account had a balance of $35,574.55 as of the end of November. It was noted that $56,000 had been moved from the reserves account to the operating account in the spring. Otherwise the Association would not have been able to pay the monthly bills. The potential deficient was created by higher than expected water bills, costs associated with the five year comprehensive fire inspection and a 2014 operating budget that was insufficient. The budget comparison and balance sheet distributed at the meeting is attached in a separate file.
Jeb Black and Joe Stewart provided a verbal management report. Wilson Property Management has only been on the job for a little over a month but has already walked the property numerous times, identified a multitude of maintenance issues that need to be addressed, obtained quotes for work to be performed, and developed a budget that provides for the maintenance to be performed. A PowerPoint presentation was made that highlighted some of the maintenance issues that are to be addressed in the near future. A copy of the slides is attached as a separate document.
Wilson will start issuing citations for trash and other violations soon.
The security company that patrols the complex has been replaced. Wilson is meeting with our other vendors to assess their work and costs.
A study of the long range maintenance and the Capital Reserves Funds made by Ted Sherrod was discussed. Ted is a licensed professional engineer and former board member. He did an exhaustive study of University Woods and brought in roofers, arborists, building contractors and paving experts to assess the current status and project the long range infrastructure needs. That report was attached to a recent newsletter but is also attached. The bottom line is that we need to get serious about building up the capital reserve fund. Ted’s recommendation was to set aside $64,000 a year. This could be done by monthly dues increases or by having a special assessment.
Toby Terrell reported on the water sub-metering investigation. No decisions have been made and the presentation was primarily to share information. The Board has met with Guardian Water and Power. Basically Guardian goes into each unit and inserts a metering device into the pipe bringing water into the unit. The metering device sends an electronic signal to a centralized computer that records the water usage. Once a month Guardian bills each unit for the amount of water consumed. The amount collected is forwarded to the HOA. It would cost $350-$375 to install the devices and get the city plumbing permits (per unit). The HOA would pay Guardian a small monthly fee per unit to provide this service. Basically this would shift the cost of the water to the tenants. It is anticipated that homeowner’s dues would then decrease and more money could be redirected to the Capital Reserves. Currently between 40-50% of the monthly HOA expenditures are for water. The Board is gathering data from other complexes that have done this.
During the Open Forum for the homeowners the following points/statements/request were made:
The Board was commended for changing HOA management companies.
The need for homeowners to carry insurance on their property in addition to the insurance carried by the HOA on the complex was discussed. The HOA insurance covers the buildings in case of a fire, tornado, etc. but does not cover the contents of the individual units. Nor does the HOA insurance cover damage that is caused by mishaps in your unit that damages other units such as an overflowing bathtub that causes damage to the unit below.
In case of suspicious activity or crime, the first call should be to the police. Law enforcement is actively monitoring the complex to determine if there is any criminal activity occurring.
The HOA has a contract with an exterminating company for outside control of pest. However, the contract might include some treatments within units. The property managers will check into this. If you have an insect problem please let Joe Stewart (joestewart@wpminc.net, 919-856-9188) know.
It was requested by the audience to inform the homeowners that Wilson Property Management does have a division that handles the rental of units. Their fee for handling the rental of units is very competitive. Wilson Property Management has not been advertising this service, but it is available.
It was strongly recommended that fliers be posted on the doors of all units soon after January 1. The fliers will inform the occupants that there has been a change in management company and the polices regarding garbage bags outside the units, grills and furniture outside of the units will be enforced and fines will be levied. The policies will be listed on the flier.
In regards to fines for violations, it was discussed that we don’t know who is actually living in the units. Therefore, a notice of any violation and fine will be posted on the door but a bill will be sent to the owner for collection. It is the responsibility of the owner (or rental management firm if there is one) to collect from the occupants.
A proposed budget for 2015 was presented and discussed. Because of the major maintenance that needs to be performed to bring the complex up to standard and the need to start making deposits into the capital reserves fund, a $25 a month increase was proposed. This would raise the monthly dues to $215. A motion was made, seconded and passed to adopt the proposed budget with the provision being that any budget surplus (anticipated to be $43,000) be transferred to the Capital Reserves Account. The approved budget is included in the attached filie. Wilson Property Management will be sending out payment coupons along with instructions for electronic payments soon.
The final item of business was to elect a Board for 2015. The following individuals were elected:
Lisa Whitley
Tiffany Alexy
Amber Stotesbury
Toby Terrell
Gary Moore
John Harper
John Gensinger
The meeting was adjourned at 7:45 PM.