April 8, 2010 Board Meeting

 

NOTICE

Pursuant to Article VI, Section 1 of the Bylaws of the Brittany Lakes Homeowners Association, Inc. a meeting of the Directors was duly called and held on April 8th, 2010 at the League City  located at 1700 Brittany Bay  Boulevard in League City, TX 77573.

IN ATTENDANCE

In attendance representing the Brittany Lakes HOA Board of Directors were, John Dunn, Ron Wright, Greg Ellis, Tor Savidge and Todd Edwards Also in attendance representing Spectrum Association Management were Jennifer Roberson and Shontele Redeaux.

DETERMINATION OF QUORUM

A quorum of Board members was announced by Greg Ellis and the meeting was called to order at 6:38pm and the floor was opened for homeowner comments and inquiries.

HOMEOWNER FORUM

• A homeowner inquired on trash cans as a violation. Owners were advised that it is a violation to leave trashcans in a visible manner after 6pm on trash pick-up day and also prior to 8pm the day before trash pick-up.
• An owner reported that there was a sinkhole located off of Brown Pelican and they wondered who was taking care of it. The owners were advised that the Association was not conducting maintenance on this area and that the work should be completed by the City of League City.
• An owner noted that there seemed to be an apparent lack of landscape maintenance occurring for residents in the community and the membership inquired on what Spectrum’s intentions were for addressing these, and other deed restriction violations. The membership was advised that Spectrum’s violation process includes 2 site inspections per month as compared to 1 inspection/month that previously was occurring with PCMI. In conducting inspections on a more regular basis, more follow-up on violations can occur enabling a prompter resolution to issues such as landscape and general property maintenance.
• Director Savidge asked Spectrum to provide any information they felt the membership should be aware of, the membership was provided information in regards to registering online at www.spectrumam.com in addition to their regular Brittany Lakes HOA website use. Owners were advised of the features and uses of the Spectrum site.
• A homeowner reported that she had noted that traffic on Brittany Lakes Blvd. seemed to have slowed down due to police presence and this was very helpful for residents in the community.
• An owner reported that there seemed to be in increase in illegal dumping at the end of Hobbs Rd. The membership was advised by the Board that this would be an item they would bring up during their next CAMSTAT meeting.

  Discussion was had in regards to the fencing throughout the community. Some homeowner stated that the fence in some areas was not aesthetically pleasing feared this acted as a deterrent to prospective buyers in the community. The membership was advised that the fencing in the community in actually homeowner fencing and is not owned or maintained by the Association. Previous understanding was that the fence was owned by the HOA but clarification by the Association attorney indicted this is not the case. The possibility of installing some tall shrubbery in areas to help shield the fence from view was mentioned. While on the topic of community improvements, the membership was advised that all exterior home improvements require the submittal of an ACC Improvement Request form. Owners were advised that improvements that require ACC submission include the installation of storage sheds and fence improvements (i.e.: extensions etc.).

  KICKSTART

  TRANSITION UPDATE

  The Board of Directors was advised that the transition process is still underway, currently, the latest financials and violation reports had not been made available from PCMI and as such no report could be provided at the time of the meeting.

  VIOLATION POLICY

  The Board of Directors was provided information on Spectrum’s violation policy and process. Force maintenance was noted as a corrective action allowing for entry onto a resident’s property to take corrective or maintenance action in the event of non-compliance with deed restriction notices. Spectrum presented an inquiry to the Board in regards to most noted or prevalent deed restriction concerns. The Board was advised that during an initial inspection prior to the meeting, some highly visible violations noted were: visibly weathered front doors, basketball goals in poor condition and/or lying down on the property, basketball backboards mounted to houses, mildew and landscape maintenance. The Board advised that they wanted notices to begin going out for issues such as weathered front doors and mildew. The Board also advised that basketball goals should be stored in a upright position and should be properly maintained at all times so those originally noted by Spectrum should receive notices. The Board also notes that for the matter of the basketball backboards mounted, this may be something that was approved in the past and noted that the files would have to be reviewed to determine what improvements were approved before a violation notice is sent.

  COLLECTION POLICY

  The Board of Directors advised Spectrum that they had just recently implemented a new collection policy and filed it with the State. A copy of the policy would be sent to Spectrum for review. In the meantime all resolutions and policies from Spectrum will be sent to the Attorney for Brittany Lakes for review prior to submitting to the Board. Director Ellis advised that part of the new collection process is to include the mailing of a reminder postcard mid-January to those owners that had not yet made payment on their HOA Assessments. In addition, it was noted that owners have 3 months to make their payment prior to the January 1 deadline since notices are sent out in October of each year.

  RISK MANAGEMENT

  The Board was advised that following the official takeover date, Spectrum’s Risk Manager completed an assessment on all community common areas and amenities in order to develop a Declaration of Values Listing for insurance purposes. The list was provided to the Board for their review. The Board requests a breakdown of how values are assessed including a description on areas included for fencing and landscaping. The Board also notes that the values from their last reserve study might also help determine the appropriate values. It was also discussed that a new reserve study needed to be conducted for 2010. Director Edwards also stated that he noted some areas in the community park where maintenance and/or repair was needed and he wanted to know if a regular inspection of the amenities would be conducted to stay on top of issues like graffiti or vandalism. Shontele Redeaux with Spectrum advised the Board that a thorough review of the community areas was conducted by the Risk Manager as well for any noted repairs and a list would be forthcoming on all items noted. In addition, Jennifer Roberson with Spectrum noted she would also conduct a monthly inspection of the common area park area.

  YEAR END TAXES

  Shontele Redeaux inquired on if the Board was aware of their year end taxes had been completed and filed. Director Ellis advised that their taxes had not been filed however all property taxes were paid. In addition, the Association conducts an annual audit and that had not been completed either. A contract had been awarded for both the audit and filing of the year end taxes. The Board request that contact be made with Joanne at PCMI to see who the vendor was and if this process had already begun.

  WEBSITE

  Available resources on Spectrum’s website were previously discussed during the Homeowner Forum.

  BOARD SERVICES

  The Board was advised that once they registered online the system would recognize them as Board members and they would have access to up-to-date violation reports, financial reports and aging reports. The Board inquired on how they can review invoices that need to be paid. The Board was advised that typically, Spectrum approves all invoices and the Board can review all monies paid in their monthly cash disbursement report. The Board was also advised that per Spectrum’s policy, no invoice is paid without Board approval if it is over $3,000 and services that may exceed $1,000 are not requested unless the case of emergency repair, without Board approval first. The Board requests that the invoice approval process be handled by the Treasurer. Shontele Redeaux advised that the system would be updated to allow Director Ellis access to approve invoices and that no invoices would be approved by Spectrum.

  VENDOR REVIEW

  All vendors for the Association were reviewed to ensure proper contact had been made and to determine what contracts might need review/re-bidding. The Board advised that current vendors, Playgrounds of Pearland and Hurricane Lakes might need to be contacted since the playgrounds appear to need maintenance for the kiddy cushion and also, water well reporting needed to be verified with Hurricane to ensure compliance with the Subsidence District. The Board also advised that Earthcare Management has been advised that their past invoices have not been adequate in itemizing the work and that all future invoices must be properly itemized before approval. Terms for landscape contract should be reviewed to determine when re-bidding is necessary. Gulfcoast Aquatics’ contract was just recently renewed and a new feature for 2010 will be that the pool is now open weekends in September.

  TASK LIST ITEMS

  The Board was provided the updated 2010 registration/waiver form with Spectrum edits. An example of the past form and the new form were provided. The Board accepted the form as presented. A motion was made and carried unanimously approving the 2010 pool tags to be the bracelets previously submitted to the Board for review. Pool tag distribution dates for 2010 should be in the same fashion as previous years. Director Ellis notes that a letter can go out in the same fashion as last years letter with similar distribution dates and volunteers to help distribute the tags will be obtained to fill the slots. A discussion was had in regards to the possible installation of a key card system to help eliminate the need to purchase pool tags on an annual basis. The Board would like to review proposals for this in order to help determine when such an improvement could be completed. The Board also discussed the matter of the fountain repairs needed for the lake located by the pool as well as the water feature by the pool. Director Savidge discussed his  past discussions with the lake management company in regards to the fountain in the lake, the Board determined that they would like to review the repair options more thoroughly before making a decision on which way to address the issue. In regards to the water feature by the pool, Hurricane Lake has suggested contacting Childers to come out and make the repair since they originally installed and serviced the feature.

  BOARDLINE TRAINING

  The various Boardline topic trainings were discussed with the Board and they were advised that they had the option of having their training online or in a face-to-face presentation with the trainer. The Board noted that they preferred a face-to-face training. A training schedule will be verified to determine availability.

  NEXT MEETING DATE

  1st Thursday in May.

  ADJOURNMENT

  With all business discussed and no other or new business presented to be discussed, the meeting was adjourned at 8:23pm.

  ___________________________   ___________________________

  Authorized Signer                  Jennifer Roberson

  Brittany Lakes Homeowners          Managing Agent
  Association , Inc.