A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Williamsburg Settlement Maintenance Association, Inc. was held on Tuesday, June 17, 2014 at 5:30 p.m. at the Williamsburg Settlement clubhouse, 1602 Hoyt, Katy, Texas 77449.
ATTENDANCE
Board Members present were Gail Owen, Floyd Ball, Walt Smith, Dave Ellis, Larry Crain and Michael Wood (part time). Also in attendance were Dolores Sue representing Planned Community Management, Inc. (PCMI) and Officer Paul Wilburn.
With a quorum being established, the meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m.
MINUTES
The minutes of the May 20, 2014 Board meeting were reviewed. A motion to accept these minutes as written was made by Walt Smith, seconded by Larry Crain and unanimously approved.
HOMEOWNER CONCERNS
There were five (5) homeowners and three (3) representatives of the pool company in attendance.
One resident informed the Board that some Academy employees are parking on both sides of the Earl of Dunmore street at the entrance to our subdivision and this practice is impeding traffic. The resident has called the Academy Human Resource Department at 281-646-5200 which responded that if the license tag numbers are provided the employees concerned will be notified and instructed not to park in that location. The resident was asked to post this information on the Association web site Guest Book.
At this time management representatives of the pool contractor, Houston Recreation Management (H-Rec), were introduced having been asked to attend the meeting as a result of poor water quality during the previous week as well as to address some lifeguard issues. The Board stressed the necessity for the H-Rec supervisor to be monitoring the water quality daily and initiating preemptive action to prevent a repetition of the totally unacceptable water quality that was allowed to develop during the previous week. On the issue of lifeguards, the Board has received a few observations of inappropriate behavior. These were passed on to H-Rec which asked that their prominently displayed office number be called immediately by any resident noting any such behavior so that it can be addressed as it occurs. This instruction has been sent out in an email to all residents who have registered their email addresses on the Association web site. The other major lifeguard issue is their poor performance in addressing all items on the checklist of actions required in the restrooms prior to the guards departing after closing the pool each night, as well as keeping the restrooms properly clean during the periods when the pool is open.
A resident who is a regular pool user expressed his concern that the lifeguards are not carrying the required fanny pack containing items required to support any needed CPR activity. He also expressed his view that the guards are spending too much time playing around and not being sufficiently attentive to the pool.
The pool company reiterated that if there is a problem with the lifeguards to please call their office immediately so that the issues can be addressed, and expressed the view that most of the lifeguard issues are a result of their lack of maturity. This drew a strong response from a Board member who stated that if this is the case, either the lifeguards should be replaced with those who have the maturity to take responsibility for their actions, or that more supervision is needed.
Bill Cholewin, the H-Rec owner, confirmed his understanding of these issues and will endeavor to ensure that his staff will work to avoid such problems in the future.
A Board Member, noting that at one point there was only one lifeguard on duty last weekend as the other had called in sick, asked about the procedure to handle such situations. Bill Cholewin explained the procedure they use to have a back-up guard in place as soon as the new guard can drive to the location.
The Board thanked the pool company for attending the meeting.
Another homeowner expressed the view that some parts of our infrastructure are not looking as good as they once did. She cited the County owned roads within the subdivision, the KISD owned property around the school where the grass is often in need of cutting, as does the grass immediately outside of our perimeter fence along Colonial Parkway. Larry Crain told her that our landscape contract calls for the Association owned area outside our fence to be mowed once a month, which was fine when our rainfall was light. But this year the increased rainfall has allowed it to grow much faster. The Board agreed that this summer we should increase the cutting frequency of these areas to twice a month.
Another homeowner drew the Board’s attention to the deterioration of the concrete sidewalk immediately in front of the clubhouse main gate.
PATROL SERVICE REPORT
Officer Wilburn explained it has been another quiet month. There have been no burglaries this last month.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
Dave Ellis presented the financials. As of May 31, 2014 the money in the bank totaled $840,952.00. 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 May 31, 2014 was $31,279.00.
OLD BUSINESS
Perimeter Fence
The committee has been unable to meet and review the repairs required to the perimeter fence. It will conduct an inspection and report its recommendations at the July, 15, 2014 meeting.
Clubhouse Repairs Needed
The Board noted that following heavy rain or after the sprinklers have operated there is standing water under the canopy of the pavilion and along the edge of the storage shed nearest to the playground. This is the result of inadequate drainage and is causing deterioration of the canopy posts and the lower part of the storage shed walls. Larry Crain will look at this and recommend a course of action which will be discussed at the July 15, 2014 meeting.
The major portion of the wrought Iron fencing around the pool which was not replaced after Hurricane Ike is in need of repair, or if not cost effective, replacement. If a repair is feasible, this could be done now to extend the life of the fence for a few more years. Larry Crain will take the lead on obtaining proposals for such a repair and for the alternative of a complete replacement. If a repair is not cost effective the Board will decide when to proceed with fence replacement.
NEW BUSINESS
Insurance
Dave Ellis presented the prices for the annual renewal of the Association’s insurance policies. The total increase was 2.32%. Larry Crain made a motion to accept the new policies, Walt Smith seconded and the motion unanimously carried.
ADJOURNMENT TO EXECUTIVE SESSION
At 6:30 p.m. the meeting was adjourned to executive session
Decision Made during executive session:
Williamsburg Settlement Residents Forum
The Board has received a request from a resident to provide a link and endorsement of a prototype Williamsburg Settlement chat room web site forum that he has set up at his own expense for Settlement residents to promote better communication of topics of mutual interest. After reviewing the current design, which duplicates some of the functionality of the current Association web site, the Board has reservations that in its present form residents might be confused and tempted to post questions or issues on that site expecting responses from the Board, but instead receiving well-intentioned but not necessarily accurate answers from other residents or from the site moderator(s). Dave Ellis, the webmaster of the official site and responsible for Association communications, will inform the resident of the changes that the Board will require as a prerequisite for its endorsement in the newsletter and linkage from the official site.
Deed Restriction Violations
The Board reviewed all deed restriction violations. It was unanimously agreed to turn one (1) new account to the Association attorney for legal action. Further, the Board reviewed two (2) requests reporting that businesses were being run from two (2) different homes. The Board instructed PCMI to send a letter to each explaining that the Association is in receipt of a complaint and if true, informing the resident that such activity is a violation of the deed restrictions and request they cease the action. At this time this is the first step and will be discussed further when responses or any further complaints are received.
Delinquencies
Delinquencies were reviewed. Two additional accounts will be sent to the Association attorney for collection
ADJOURNMENT
With no further business the meeting was adjourned at 7:06 p.m. The next meeting will be July 15, 2014 at the community clubhouse at 5:30 pm.
