A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Williamsburg Settlement Maintenance Association, Inc. was held on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 at 5:00 p.m. at the Williamsburg Settlement clubhouse, 1602 Hoyt, Katy, Texas 77449,.
ATTENDANCE
Directors in Attendance were Alan Blair, Dave Ellis, Don McClelland, Linda Moore, Richard Erbert, Sue Dean Smith, and Stefanie Falk. Also in attendance was Dolores Sue representing Planned Community Management, Inc. (PCMI)
A quorum being established, the meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m.
HOMEOWNER CONCERNS
There was one homeowner present. This homeowner stated that he has lived in the community for 25 years and his concern was regarding the Deed-Restriction-of-the-Month article in the November edition of the newsletter on the subject of the signs that residents are allowed to display in their yards. This article stated that garage sale and political signs are allowed. He correctly pointed out that such signs are not permitted by the deed restrictions without the written consent of the Board and if blanket approval for such signs is to be given then the deed restrictions should be amended accordingly. The Board agreed in principle, but believes that granting blanket approval for such signs meets with the approval of the majority of residents and that other subdivisions that have attempted to ban political signs have been embroiled in freedom of speech issues and have paid the penalty in legal fees. Furthermore, the difficulty in obtaining the votes of the required two thirds of our homeowners that would be required to amend the deed restrictions for the acceptance of such a proposition would make the effort non-viable. On another subject, he expressed concern regarding the probable increase in maintenance fees in 2006. He believes that a fee increase that would recoup the loss arising from deficits from previous years would be illegal and that the Association should seek legal counsel on this subject. The Board assured him that whatever fee increase is proposed for 2006 will be both legal and within the provisions of what is allowable by our deed restrictions. He also sought clarification of the 10% that would be levied on homeowners who do not meet the January 15, 2005 deadline for paying their maintenance fees. The Board confirmed that the 10% is the annual interest applied to the outstanding balance, not a penalty of 10% of the maintenance fee.
The Board thanked him for attending the meeting.
MINUTES
The Board reviewed the October 19, 2004 minutes. A motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved to accept the minutes as written.
SECURITY REPORT
The security coordinator presented the security report for the month of October.
FINANCIAL/DELINQUENCY
The Board reviewed the financials for the month of October, 2004. The total delinquency was $21,597.81 and the money in the bank was $199,923.94. This includes checking and money market accounts and is the money to cover both operating expenses for the year 2004 and the necessary reserve to fund maintenance and replacement of the Association's capital assets.
OLD BUSINESS
Pool Contract - The Board reviewed three (3) proposals for the pool contract for the 2005 swim season. The Board liked the proposals but agreed that a committee would be formed to meet the contractors at the pool to review the provisions of each offer and what assumptions each company is making regarding any costs that the Association is expected to bear. The committee will consist of Sue Dean Smith, Alan Blair and Dave Ellis.
After due discussion a motion was made, seconded and unanimously agreed to instruct PCMI to terminate the current pool contractor as of January 1, 2005.
Tennis Court Lights - Dave Ellis presented the Board with technical and economic summaries of the issues involved in changing the lights at the tennis courts to 400-Watt Metal Halide fixtures. After reviewing the analysis and due discussion a motion was made seconded and unanimously approved to accept the quote from Advantage Electrical Company for the price of $14,952.00. There was a question as to whether freight was included in the bid. Mr. Ellis said he believed that to be the case but would confirm that this was so.
Pole Painting - The questions was raised do the poles holding the tennis court lights need painting? It was agreed that some of the Board Members would meet November 17, 2004 at 11:00 p.m. to look at the poles in the daylight to assess their condition.
NEW BUSINESS
Carter's Grove Entrance Lights - Mr. Ellis sought the Board's permission to replace the non-functioning fluorescent lights at the Carter's Grove entrance with a single HID fixture similar to that installed at the Gatwick entrance last year. The Board gave approval to accept the quote from Advantage Electric for $725 to perform this work.
Meeting - The Board unanimously agreed to not have a December meeting, thus the next meeting will be held on January 18, 2005.
CLOSURE
With no further business to come before the meeting, the meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m.
