A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Williamsburg Settlement Maintenance Association, Inc. was held on Tuesday, October 16, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. at the Williamsburg Settlement clubhouse, 1602 Hoyt, Katy, Texas 77449.
ATTENDANCE
Board Members present were Cyndy Thompson, Walter Smith, Floyd Ball, Don McClelland, Martin Spears and Dave Ellis. Also, in attendance were Officer Chad King and Dolores Sue representing Planned Community Management, Inc. (PCMI).
With a quorum being established, the meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m.
MINUTES
The Board reviewed the minutes of the September 18, 2012. A motion to accept the minutes as written was made by Walter Smith, seconded by Martin Spears and unanimously approved.
HOMEOWNER CONCERNS
There was one homeowners present who is concerned about the current KISD policy of denying school bus transportation to children who live less than one (1) mile away from their school. He related his frustration with the lack of responsiveness of the KISD administration officials to his concern over the safety issues associated with children having to cross busy roads and walk along roads with no sidewalks. He believes that this issue could become even more of a problem in future years and could be reflected in lower property values in our community.
It was suggested that he may have more success by contacting KISD board members (elected officials) and that if he wishes to enlist some residents in lobbying for a change to this program that our Association would be prepared to help by making the web site Guest Book available and by forwarding emails he would like distributed to the WSMA email list. Martin Spears offered to support the resident in this endeavor.
PATROL SERVICE REPORT
Martin Spears presented the patrol service report. It was a quiet month. At this time the Board thanked Officer Chad King for attending and he left the meeting.
FINANCIAL AND DELINQUENCY SUMMARY
Dave Ellis presented the financials. As of September 30, 2012 the money in the bank totaled $498,503.00. 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 September 30, 2012 totaled $16,693.26.
OLD BUSINESS
Perimeter Fence - Floyd Ball reported that the perimeter fence work days have been scheduled for October 19 and October 20, 2012. As the perimeter fence maintenance work is ongoing and to avoid the necessity for multiple requests for the incremental release of funds, Floyd Ball requested that the Board approve up to the $3,000.00 per month that is in the budget for this purpose. A motion to this effect was proposed by Walter Smith seconded by Cyndy Thompson and unanimously approved.
Previously the Board had agreed by unanimous written consent to make necessary repairs to two segments of the perimeter fence while the grass was short enough in that area to make the repairs. The repairs would be performed by Juan Garcia for a cost of $2,341.00.
At this time the Board rearranged the agenda for an Insurance Presentation
At this time the Board introduced Tim Brady and Jeff Brady from Brady, Chapman, and Holland. They explained that their company has been in the insurance business for over thirty (30) years and has qualified PCMI for a special master insurance program that can be offered to the Homeowner Associations that it manages. They explained the benefits of moving the WSMA insurance to their company and assured the Board that if their proposal was accepted as of November 1 as is being proposed it would in due course receive a prorated insurance rebate from the current policy holder. Their proposal has some additional coverage and is being offered at a slightly lower price than we are currently paying. The Board asked if the offer would still be valid June, 2013, the date at which our current policy expires. They said that it is probable that the offer would remain the same, subject to whatever premium increase might be applicable at that time. The Board stated that it would consider the offer and thanked them for attending the meeting.
At this time the Board moved back to the regular agenda
OLD BUSINESS CONTD.
Pool Company Selection - Pursuant to last month’s meeting, the Board had unanimously agreed to terminate the contract with Houston Recreation Management (H-Rec), the current pool company, for poor performance principally in regard to the lifeguard service. The cancellation clause in the current contract does allow an opportunity for the company to resolve such issues and upon hearing of the Board’s decision it responded with a revised offer to address the problems and provide a financial incentive if the Board would reconsider. After some negotiation H-Rec agreed to include in a revised contract that no lifeguard would be younger than eighteen (18) years old and would have at least one (1) year of experience, or without experience he or she would have to be at least twenty (20) years old. Further, H-Rec agreed that it would replace any lifeguard at the Association’s request. As a further safeguard, H-Rec agreed to grant the Association the right to terminate the contract without cause at any time should it deem this to be in its best interest. With these changes H-Rec will offer their service for 2013 at their cost, reverting to the previously contracted price in 2014. These changes would provide the Association with far more control over the lifeguards than we would have with any competing company, and at a considerably lower price.
With all the above safeguards and the financial incentive a motion was made by Dave Ellis to rescind last month’s decision to terminate the H-Rec contract and to accept its revised contract at a price of $28,866.10 in 2013 reverting to the original contract price of $33,079.10 in 2014. Martin Spears seconded the motion which was unanimously approved.
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Playground Mulch - The Board reviewed three (3) proposals to top-up the mulch on our playground. A motion was made by Floyd Ball, seconded by Cyndy Thompson and unanimously approved to purchase the mulch from Adventure Playgrounds for a cost of $2,630.48.
NEW BUSINESS
Kitchen Dishwasher Replacement - Dave Ellis proposed to replace the deteriorating dishwasher in the clubhouse kitchen at a cost not to exceed $400.00. The motion was seconded by Walter Smith and unanimously approved.
Lifeguard Chair Replacement - Dave Ellis reported that one of the lifeguard chairs is broken and made a motion to purchase a replacement at a cost not to exceed $200.00. This motion was seconded by Walter Smith and unanimously approved.
Contracts Expiring Prior to February 2013 - At this time the Board discussed whether to sign on to the PCMI master insurance program that was presented earlier in the meeting. The dilemma is that the Association has a great deal of confidence in our current provider, HRH Insurance. In recent years this company has supported without question our claims both for Ike damage and for a complete replacement of both roofs at our clubhouse plus has provided an appraisal of our assets at no charge to the Association. In addition annual price increases have been reasonable. With this background the Board felt that it would be prudent to delay a decision to switch to the new carrier – which is at this time an unknown entity - pending further research. It was therefore unanimously agreed to contact the current carrier regarding the issues associated with the additional coverage being offered under the PCMI master insurance program and to defer a decision as to whether to switch until a later date.
Floyd Ball stated that the landscaping contract expires in December, 2012. The Board feels strongly that the current contractor is providing excellent service and has performed extra work over and above the current contract. This being the case the Board will not place this contract out for competitive bidding at this time.
Floyd Ball also stated the patrol service contract will be expiring January 31, 2013. As the Board is well satisfied with current performance and the hourly rates for 2013 will be unchanged from 2012 it unanimously agreed to continue under the existing contract for the coming year.
ADJOURNMENT TO EXECUTIVE SESSION
At 7:00 p.m. the Board adjourned to executive session to discuss delinquencies and deed restriction matters.
DECISIONS MADE DURING EXECUTIVE SESSION
Delinquency - Floyd Ball reported one (1) account which had not made the promised payment and thus had been sent back to the Association attorney for collection.
Deed Restrictions - There were one hundred ninety-one (191) violations noted in the month of October, 2012. The Board unanimously agreed to send three (3) violation accounts to the Association attorney.
With no further business the meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m. The next meeting will be November 20, 2012 at 5:30 at the clubhouse.
