These notes are provided by volunteers and are not official minutes or part of the Board’s functions.
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October 19, 2020 Open Session 7PM via Zoom
David established the quorum.
David motioned to approve the minutes of the prior meeting. Minutes were approved by 4-1(abstain).
Summarization of items approved via unanimous consent since last meeting:
Price Wagner Landscape one year contract was approved.
Breaker and light fixture expenses for the pool were approved.
Executive meeting: No actions taken.
Management Report:
Ransom posted the balance statement, etc. in the October Agenda under the Documents section on the villagewest.org website. (log in required)
Ransom went to 6 plumbing contractors for bids.
American Pool wants to know if we are going to renew our contract that ends in December, with or without life guards. Candy and Anthony said the pool company did a good job. Dianne wants to know their charge before agreeing. Mark was not in the meeting during this discussion so this was tabled until BOD has more information.
Mark wants topic on pre-announced agenda item for homeowner input on lifeguards before making a decision.
Money from attorney was collected in September, but Ransom did not receive it until October. Therefore it is not reflected in the balance statement.
Ransom needs a motion to write off # 8 in Directors Packets. Motion was made and carried to write it off.
Ransom asked about removal of the lifeguard stands. We have a bid for $650 per stand, David feels that is too high, we will get more bids. Pool closes in 10 days, will not reopen until Feb/Mar 2021 so this is not urgent.
New Business:
Anthony spoke about our gates entry system and the need to replace it. This is in the Reserve Study with a 2024 date and needs to be changed to 2021. We need to evaluate cloud-based vs local solutions. There is concern on data storage, either locally or on vendor’s system. Anthony and Mark prefer that we store our data locally on our own machine so we would have control of our data, and protect homeowners’ privacy. With a cloud-based solution, there is a chance the company might share or sell the data we provide.
2021 Assessment. The budget in the Board Packet is not the one that the board is discussing and apparently Ransom was not sent the new one. Dianne sent the BOD and email on 10-15-2020 with her proposed changes. Dianne says with NO increase we can put $25,000 into Reserve. Ransom disagrees with Dianne. Mark says that Dianne has zero creditability on Reserve Funds. You do not budget off of cash flow.
Anthony stated that this is not the year for an increase in the annual fee and David says it is compassionate at this time not to increase. Mark says that we should at least do a cost of living increase of 3.5% to keep up with inflation. David wants Dianne’s opinion. Dianne stated that the Reserve Study says we need $250,000 in the reserve account. We currently have $150,000 and can transfer $100,000. Anthony says we need to stay in budget. Ransom stated that 32 of his HOA’s so far are not increasing fees because they had adequate funds. No increase was passed 4-1 (Anthony, David, Candy and Dianne – Yes and Mark – No).
Dianne Tesarek Resigned: Dianne made a motion for Randy Nickerson to replace her on the board. Candy seconded it. Anthony wanted to review his resume. Randy is to forward his resume to David, Candy, Mark, and Anthony after tonight’s meeting. It was unanimously voted for Dianne’s resignation to take place at the end of this meeting and for Randy Nickerson to join the BOD. The election of officers will take place at the next board meeting.
Open Forum:
Homeowner 1: We are going to have Taco Tuesday with Luchi & Joey’s Taco Truck at the Clubhouse on Oct 27th from 5:00 to 7:15. Everyone should come out. Children will get a treat bag. We are also going to be doing WHAM donations in November. More details to follow.
Homeowner 2: If there is a shortage, and the budget can’t be stretch to accommodate the shortage, how do we intend to handle that? Is there going to be a special assessment? BOD could not answer.
Also wanted to know how committees are organized and what committees are in existence right now. Was advised that currently there is only a Pool Building Committee and expertise was used to select members. There is no formalized procedure for selecting committee members. The homeowner reminded the BOD that there is no way they know the expertise of all 425 homeowners so they are overlooking potentially valuable talent.
Homeowner 3: It was brought up at the last meeting that no responses should be expected from the BOD on social media, and concerns should be communicated using the “Contact Us” tab on the Villagewest.org website to contact the board. Then, issue would be addressed at the next board meeting. A homeowner received no acknowledgement that their email had been received and no issue was addressed in this meeting. The Board needs to be accountable.
Homeowner 4: Stated that she used the Contact the BOD tab on Oct 3rd asking about the Landscape Contract: when was it signed and when did it go into effect, because the esplanades had not been mowed. She received no response and it was not addressed at this meeting. BOD promised to work on a better protocol for responding.
Homeowner 1 again: She is on the VW Garden Club and they want to give a plant valued at $25 to each new homeowner as a welcome gift and would like the BOD to approve this in the budget. Mark said they would have to get back with her on that.
Homeowner 5: Would like to know what the insurance company said about the slide during SAYOR. Ransom said it was not the insurance company. It is part of Texas law. Caller said his children love the slide and he doesn’t want to lose it. Candy said the board will investigate it further.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 PM.
YTD Financial Snapshot
2020 Assessments are 97% collected. This compares to 98% at the same time last year, 2018, and 2017.
