A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Williamsburg Settlement Maintenance Association, Inc. was held on Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. at the Williamsburg Settlement clubhouse, 1602 Hoyt, Katy, Texas 77449.
ATTENDANCE
Board Members present were Floyd Ball, Cyndy Thompson, Dave Ellis, Walter Smith, Martin Spears and Don McClelland. Also in attendance were Trae Williams, area director for our current pool contractor, Houston Recreation Management (H-Rec); Officer Chad King and Dolores Sue representing Planned Community Management, Inc. (PCMI).
With a quorum being established, the meeting was called to order at 5:32 p.m.
MINUTES
The Board reviewed the minutes of the June 19, 2012 meeting. A motion to accept the minutes as written was made by Walter Smith, seconded by Don McClelland and unanimously approved.
HOMEOWNER CONCERNS
There was one (1) homeowner present.
PATROL SERVICE REPORT
Martin Spears presented the patrol service report. It was a quiet month.
POOL COMPLAINTS
Because Trae Williams of H-Rec was present and to prevent him from having to sit through the entire meeting, it was unanimously agreed to re-arrange the agenda to discuss pool problems and issues at this time. The Board reminded Mr. Williams that there have been an unusual number of complaints this year. There was an initial problem with poor water quality which took until June 16 to finally resolve. During this period the swim team had to cancel its May 22 practice and on June 13 the water was so bad that a resident requested that the pool not be opened. Residents have also complained about the baby pool being dirty. Fortunately, all of these issues have now been addressed and the pool water quality has been excellent for a number of weeks.
The other complaints received were focused on the performance of the lifeguards. These included pool tags not being consistently checked; occasionally there were too many people in the guard room; lifeguards have been observed sleeping in the lifeguard room or on one of the lounge chairs and have been seen using their cell phones while on duty. Although now considerably improved, there were also initial problems with the cleaning and care of the restrooms.
Mr. Williams stated that he comes to the pool most mornings and if he finds things that the guards have not done he performs these duties himself. He apologized for past problems and assured the Board that he will do whatever it takes to meet the Board’s expectations and to provide it with the confidence necessary to continue with the H-Rec pool management contract.
He also addressed the problem that occurred one morning when the lifeguards were involved in a vehicle accident while on their way to the pool. As soon as H-Rec learned of the incident another guard was dispatched to the pool. However, by this time there were many people waiting and when the guard opened the gate people poured in and for a brief period the pool was not under adequate control. The supervisor did come over and order was restored as quickly as possible.
Mr. Williams stated that the lifeguard issues are being addressed and he has posted step-by-step procedures they are to follow. Further, if a guard is seen using a cell phone while on duty this should be reported and the phone will be confiscated.
At this time the Board thanked him for attending the meeting.
FINANCIAL AND DELINQUENCY SUMMARY
Dave Ellis presented the financials. As of June 30, 2012 the money in the bank totaled $604,849.35. 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 June 30, 2012 totaled $29, 474.37. The Board is aggressively pursuing all delinquent accounts which increase the legal fees which are reflected in this total delinquency figure.
OLD BUSINESS
Pump Room Door Replacement - Martin Spears reported that if there is no rain the door will be painted, July 18, 2012.
Landscape/ Perimeter Fence Issues - Larry Crain could not attend the meeting; however Floyd informed the Board that the Municipal Utility District (MUD) Number 61 was performing work and taking pickets off the perimeter fence and replacing some of them with treated pine instead of the required cedar. The MUD Board was advised and it agreed that the contractor should have replaced the broken pickets with ones that conform to the same specification as those removed. (Cedar)
At this time a motion that “anyone performing work in the area that requires the temporary removal of pickets from the Association perimeter fence will be required to replace the removed pickets with new cedar pickets secured with industry standard fasteners” was made by Martin Spears, seconded by Cyndy Thompson and unanimously approved.
Letters informing them of this requirement will be written to the Municipal Utility Districts, Comcast, Centerpoint and all vendors who might be performing work in the area. WSMA Residents living along the perimeter fence will also be asked to have any contractors who they may use to follow this requirement.
Martin Spears reported that he has received a complaint about the land outside of the fence behind Spatswood being overgrown. The Board discussed this issue. This land does not belong to the Association and hence does not fall under WSMA deed restrictions. Therefore the Association has no authority to enforce the mowing of this property. If the grass gets so high as to violate Harris County standards, then that should be reported to Harris County and it may mow this property or issue a citation to the property owner to bring it back into compliance.
NEW BUSINESS
Fireworks - Some Board members had received complaints about fireworks over the July 4 holiday. Floyd Ball explained that a disturbance such as that caused by fireworks (when no burn ban is in place by the County) may be a disturbance of the peace or disturbance by noise, as opposed to a civil, issue and thus falls outside of the jurisdiction of deed restrictions. Firework complaints should be reported to the Harris County Sherriff’s office, although in this instance the Board understands that the Sheriff’s department had so many calls from across its area that it was not able to respond. There is an article on the web site asking residents not to set off fireworks within the subdivision and an email is sent out reminding residents of this immediately prior to each holiday period.
There was a complaint about the fireworks stand sited near the convenience store close to the Earl of Dunmore/ Mason Road entrance. The Board believes that this fireworks stand was located on commercial property.
Medicare Seminar - Mr. Mick Grassberger approached the Board and asked if it would be interested in him conducting a seminar on Medicare and related issues for our residents. Mr. Grassberger was out of town and unable to make the meeting so Dave Ellis read an email proposal from him. After due discussion a motion that “the Association offer to allow Mr. Grassberger use of the clubhouse without charge to perform a community service seminar for Williamsburg Settlement residents as long as it is not promoting any particular investment firm” was made by Martin Spears, seconded by Cyndy Thompson and unanimously approved. Dave Ellis will provide email and web site support to Mick in determining if there is any resident interest in such a seminar. However, responses will need to be directed to and managed by Mr. Grassberger himself.
Mosquito Spraying Frequency - With the amount of rain in recent weeks, the Board agreed that mosquito spraying needs to be increased. A motion to “instruct PCMI to contact the mosquito spraying company and request that it perform the mosquito spraying on Tuesday and Friday nights until September 1, 2012” was made by Martin Spears, seconded by Walt Smith and unanimously approved.
Selling of Barbeque - A Board member had received a complaint that a resident sold barbeque in his driveway on the weekend. The Board was made aware that it was a fund raiser and it was for two (2) weekends only. As this is not being done on a regular basis and was a special event it would not be characterized as the conducting of a business and hence was not in violation of deed restrictions.
Pool Repairs - Dave Ellis explained to the Board that it had previously approved an estimate from H-Rec to replace three (3) missing return jets and repair or replace four (4) additional return eyeballs at a total cost of $409.62. These repairs which were necessary to improve water flow into the deep end of the pool have been completed. However, further inspection revealed the need to replace an additional five (5) return eyeballs that are also damaged. This would bring the total cost for the repair up to $731.67. A motion to extend the scope of this repair to cover the balance of the broken jets was made by Dave Ellis, seconded by Walt Smith and unanimously approved.
ADJOURNMENT TO EXECUTIVE SESSION
At 6:40 p.m. the Board adjourned to executive session to discuss delinquencies, deed restriction and an architectural matter. The Board thanked the resident 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
Delinquencies - The Board unanimously agreed that the owners who owe small amounts (greater than $25) will have one final letter sent and if not paid by September 1, 2012 will have their trash service suspended. The Board also agreed to send four (4) accounts to Messock and Walton (attorney for the Association) for default of payment.
Deed Restrictions – There were one hundred thirty (130) violations noted in the month of July. The Board unanimously agreed to force mow and edge three (3) properties that have been become overgrown. Photographs were taken of the yards in question.
The Board also agreed that homeowners with dead plants and trees will be addressed more aggressively. Those that have been addressed already will be given ten (10) days from the August inspections to remove the dead material or the Association will do this and the cost will be charged to the owner’s account. Larry Crain will organize this task.
With no further business the meeting was adjourned at 7:20 p.m. The next meeting will be held on August 21, 2012.
