A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Williamsburg Settlement Maintenance Association, Inc. was held on Tuesday, February 16, 2016 at 5:30 p.m. at the Williamsburg Settlement clubhouse, 1602 Hoyt, Katy, Texas 77449.
ATTENDANCE
Board Members present were Gail Owen, Floyd Ball, Dave Ellis and Martin Spears. Also in attendance was 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 minutes of the January 19, 2016, Board Meeting were reviewed. A motion to accept the minutes as written was made by Dave Ellis, seconded by Martin Spears and unanimously approved.
HOMEOWNER CONCERNS
There were two (2) homeowners present. Floyd Ball welcomed the attendees.
One resident attended the meeting with his son who is with Boy Scout Troup 1103. The troop is offering a flag service to the neighborhood. This service consists of scouts installing a flag holder at a price of $35 per year for each, and then putting out into each installed holder a 3’ X 5’ flag on a 10’pole for the duration of each major holiday. The Board expressed its appreciation for this service and deferred a decision on whether to purchase one or more for installation at the clubhouse until a vote could be taken later in the meeting. The Board also invited the scout to provide a write-up of the service so that it could be made available to all subdivision residents to allow those interested to also participate in this program.
The second homeowner attending the meeting was Katy Hall, who is the swim team liaison. She informed the meeting that the swim team Board is gearing up for a great swim season.
At this time Floyd Ball introduced Tiffani Moyer of A-Beautiful Pools. Tiffanie is the A-Beautiful Aquatics Director who will be responsible for the running of our pool this season, replacing Marty Wadsworth who has left the company for another business opportunity. Tiffany has been with A-Beautiful for five years so brings a lot of experience to this assignment. She expressed her pleasure at being able to work with Williamsburg Settlement. The Board thanked Tiffani for attending the meeting.
PATROL SERVICE REPORT
The Board reviewed the patrol service report. Martin Spears reported there has been one burglary of a residence since the January report was published, but overall the subdivision is doing well with few incidents to report.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
Dave Ellis presented the financials. As of January 31, 2016 the money in the bank totaled $669,293.51. This figure 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. The delinquency for the period ending January 31, 2016, was $159,449.47. This amount includes maintenance fees, accrued interest, the cost of force mows and legal fees. He did report that the 2015 year-end maintenance fee delinquency was less than one percent. At this time the delinquencies are high but it is the beginning of the year and the amount will (hopefully) fall significantly in February and subsequent months.
OLD BUSINESS
Perimeter Fence - The Board reported that most of the 2015 and 2016 scheduled fence replacement has now been completed. One outstanding section is the portion on Colonial Parkway that has been removed to facilitate the Bucktrout drainage construction project. This will be completed at the conclusion of that project and the MUD 61 has donated a check to the Association to cover the cost of replacing this section.
There is an additional almost two thousand feet (2000’) on the West end of the subdivision that will need to be considered for replacement in 2017 or later.
Recreation Area Drainage - Dave Ellis reported that after an investigation following from the January meeting where a homeowner brought to the Board’s attention a drainage problem in the area between the parking lot and rear fences of the first two homes along N. Rebecca Burwell, Larry Crain and he met with the Association landscaping company. The proposed resolution is to install two drains in that area, one connecting via a 4” pipe into the existing line that drains the car park and another that will take water along the edge of the fence towards Hoyt. The price to complete this project would be $2,500.00 plus tax. A motion to accept the proposal was made by Floyd Ball, seconded by Gail Owen and unanimously approved.
Call for Candidates for Upcoming Annual Meeting - An e-mail will be sent to our email distribution list and a post will be made on our web site requesting that anyone interested in seeking election to the Board at our April 19 meeting submit their names to PCMI before March 4, 2016. This will allow their names together with the two (2) incumbents who are seeking reelection to be included on the printed ballot that will be mailed to all residents with the meeting notice. If the March 4 date is missed, a resident may still be nominated from the floor during the meeting.
Annual Meeting Notice, Proxy/Ballot and Pool Tag Distribution Notice - The Board reviewed and approved the annual meeting notice and the proxy ballot. The pool tag memo was also reviewed and is ready to be mailed. The dates for distribution of the 2016 pool tags will be Sunday March 20 and Saturday March 26, 2016. Volunteers for March 20 will be Gail Owen, Walt Smith and Floyd Ball and for March 26, Dave Ellis and Floyd Ball and one other Board member to be assigned.
NEW BUSINESS
Contract Renewal - The Board unanimously agreed that bids be invited for the renewal of our trash and recycling collection service the WCA contract for which expires at the end of June. Proposals will be solicited based on a continuation of garage door pick-up for household garbage and curb-side pick-up of items for recycling. So as not to preclude companies that already have a full schedule on Mondays and Thursdays, alternative pick-up days will also be allowed. In the contract the Board wants an explicit statement included that trash collection be suspended on homes that have not paid their dues. PCMI was instructed to send the cancellation notice to WCA, however WCA will be allowed to submit a competitive bid for continuation of their service.
Ratification of Board Decision to Make Common Areas Gun Free-Zones - As the decision to make the common areas of the subdivision gun-free zones was voted on during the Executive Session of the January meeting without notice to the residents, ratification of that decision was delayed until this meeting to allow discussion in open forum. Thus ratification of that decision was posted as an agenda item and the Board revisited the topic. After due discussion the motion to make the Association’s recreational facilities gun free zones as is the school in our neighborhood was approved with a vote of three for and one abstention.
Sprinkler Repair Issues - Dave Ellis reported the risers on the sprinklers system around the clubhouse need to be replaced with 4” Sprayer heads and the sprinklers that are along the edge of the tennis court fence should be closed off to minimize the amount water that blows onto the court surface during the irrigation cycle. The landscaping company presented a proposal for $360.00 plus tax to implement these changes. A motion to accept the proposal was made by Dave Ellis seconded by Martin Spears and unanimously approved.
Mildew on Tennis Courts - Dave Ellis reported that the tennis courts have a lot of mildew on their surfaces and need to be pressure washed. The last time they were washed the work was performed by the current landscaping company, which has now given a price of $650.00 for all 4 courts. A motion to accept this proposal was made by Dave Ellis seconded by Gail Owen and unanimously approved.
Trimming of Crepe Myrtles at Front Entrances - The Crepe Myrtles at the four entrances on Franz and Colonial Parkway are causing damage to the flags when they must be lowered to half-staff. Dave Ellis has obtained a quote of $700.00 plus tax from the current landscaping contractor to trim these Crepe Myrtles back to a height of 4 to 5 feet. This will keep them low enough, at least in the short term, to avoid further damage to the flags. A motion to accept this proposal to have the Crepe Myrtles trimmed back was made by Dave Ellis, seconded by Martin Spears and unanimously approved.
Flag Pole Maintenance - Dave Ellis presented a proposal from Kronberg’s Flags to replace the pulleys and ropes on the four flag poles at our entrances. A motion to authorize Kronberg’s Flags to perform this work for a price not to exceed $600 was made by Martin Spears, seconded by Gail Owen and unanimously approved.
Scout Troop 1103’s Flag Service - The proposal to allow the Scouts to provide the flag service discussed earlier in the meeting was discussed. A motion to have them provide two flags, one at each side of the path to the front gate of the clubhouse, for an annual price of $70.00 was made by Floyd Ball, seconded by Dave Ellis and unanimously approved.
ADJOURNMENT TO EXECUTIVE SESSION
At 6:36 p.m. the meeting was adjourned to executive session
Decisions Made During Executive Session
The Board reviewed and discussed the delinquency. At the time of the meeting no new accounts will be sent to the Association attorney.
The Board discussed the deed restriction violations. At the time of the meeting no new accounts will be sent to the attorney for legal action
With no further business the meeting was adjourned at 7:02 p.m.
The next meeting will be held on March 15, 2016 starting at 5:30 p.m. at the community clubhouse.
