Board Meeting Minutes.
September 27, 2012
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 September 27, 2012 at the League City Perry Family 
located at 1700 Brittany Bay Boulevard in League City, TX 77573.
IN ATTENDANCE
In attendance representing the Brittany Lakes HOA Board of Directors were Greg Ellis, Janet Alleman, Mariane Maximous and Todd Edwards. Absent with apologies was Tiffany Vance. Also in attendance representing Spectrum Association Management was Jennifer Roberson and Hoover Slovack attorney Jim Leeland.
CALL TO ORDER
With a quorum of the Directors present the meeting was officially called to order at 6:30p.m.
HOMEOWNER FORUM
Homeowners present were given an opportunity to discuss their issues or concerns before the Board. An owner present wanted to reiterate the point of improving on the ARC process to speed up request times. A report was also made that the water feature at the pool area was still not working. It was noted that during last month’s meeting, the report made and repair work completed was in regards to fixing the lake pumps that back fill the lakes (blue front amenity lake and pool area lake). No repair was made to the water feature following last month’s meeting.
Director Edwards proposed a method to improve on overall auditing of Association operating indicating a need to not just ensure financial efficiency, as is done through bi-annual auditing, but efficiency in the day-to-day tasks and maintenance of the Association. The Board inquired on obtaining a monthly ARC report to indicate reports that had been received each month to include dates received and if they were approved, denied or pending etc. Spectrum will review their system to verify the type of ARC reports that can be generated. The Board also noted they wanted to inquire on establishing quarterly playground inspections again to ensure they remained in compliance with any applicable regulations. Director Alleman inquired on if this was a service they were already supposed to be getting and Spectrum advisied that a monthly inspection, typically coinciding with the date of the monthly meeting, was conducted of common elements/areas however; Community Managers were not certified playground inspectors as had previously been being utilized, so certifications or official approvals or recommendations were solely being made based on appearance and aesthetic. Director Edwards noted a need for addressing regular inspections for functioning monument lights as he states many of the monument lights were out again and he felt that though Spectrum didn’t conduct inspections of the community at night to observe light function, it shouldn’t be his responsibility to check and report lights that were out. Spectrum advised that a contractor could be called to determine how lights could be checked during the day, if possible, and if not, determine a means for having a periodic evening inspection by a contractor who can make repairs as needed.
Director Ellis advised that the new lights at the Midway park were not operating and an owner also reported that there was graffiti on the tables at the Loon area park.
MINUTE APROVAL
The Board reviewed the August 2012 minutes, after review Director Maximous advised that the report on the Loon area parking lot damage from last meeting needed to be included. A motion was made by Director Alleman, seconded by Director Maximous and unanimously approved accepting the July 2012 minutes as amended.
FINANCIAL REPORT
The Board reviewed the financial reports ending in August 31, 2012. Spectrum advised of the current 2012 aged receivables as being ~3% delinquent with a current amount due of $19,275.23 and a total asset balance of $885,838.06. Spectrum noted that all of the changes that had been requested, for money re-distribution, including the addition of Capital Improvements-Lights, Capital Improvements- Park Improvements, moving of $10,000 from Engineering Services to Water and movement of $2,126.34 from General Admin to Newsletter Committee were completed. The Board was advised that the anticipated water costs for 2012 were still noted as being over budget even with the last re-budgeting. The Board was advised that a previous main water line break at the pool facility had been the cause of the last high month in water costs however, the City had shut the meter off so no new charges should have been accrued and yet, the most recent batch of invoices Spectrum had just received for water still show as being over $10,000. Spectrum advised that the City would be contacted to find out the source of the excessive use of water. Director Maximous noted that under Landscape Improvement, it was showing as being over budget in the year to date and it was noted that the costs for the light improvements needed to be moved to the newly created line item for Capital Improvements-Lights. Director Alleman inquired on the Community Events budget line item and Spectrum advised that following the last meeting a breakdown had been sent for all transactions posted in this line item. Director Allemen requested this be resent for her review. Director Ellis clarified that the Homeowner Assessment indicated under year to date was the accrued amount. Spectrum confirmed this was correct. The figure of $404,700 was the figure accrued or earned as of August 2012. Actual cash income was presented to the Board as being $587,775 based on the total amount still due for 2012 in receivables minus the 100% collection amount of $607,050 for that year.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
ARCHITECTURAL
No report at this time.
BEAUTIFICATION
The Board was presented with the landscape improvement map provided by ECM indicating their proposed layout of all new trees and shrubs. The Board made some adjustments to this map and requested the revised plan be sent to ECM for completion. Director Edwards also inquired on the playground improvement and Spectrum advised that based on the original update sent previously, McKenna reported at least a 6-week turn around before all materials were received. Homeowner Kirkland also confirmed that the McKenna had advised her that the shade structure would take the longest as they have to custom order the covers based on the sizes requested. Director Edwards asserted that he did want to keep the Loon and Essex park projects as pilot tests before moving forward with completing the larger scale Rec. Center playground replacement. Director Edwards requested that homeowner Kirkland obtain pricing on the full playground replacement and provide some options to be reviewed. Spectrum advised that this would be in addition to the proposals already obtained and submitted to the Board for the full playground replacement. The current state of the Loon area parking lot was discussed and Spectrum advised that repairs were being held off on until LAS could go out and review the damage to provide a second opinion on what the continued issue was with the buckling pavers.
SOCIAL
Director Alleman advised the September adult pool party had been cancelled due to the inability to coordinate the event with minimal volunteered assistance. National Night Out was the priority so the event was already underway and still planned for Oct. 2 with attractions such as Chik-fil-A, moon walks, a DJ and City service providers to interact with the community members.
COMMUNICATION
Spectrum confirmed the newsletter completed by Committee member Dunn had been sent for production last Thursday. Newsletters were anticipated as being in owner mailboxes by the end of the week. Website admin. Devries was on hand to discuss his findings on a cost-effective method for providing e-voting for the annual meeting. A process generating owner voting ID’s and incorporating this information into the meeting minutes was discussed and Spectrum will provide a homeowner list so individual login ID’s and passwords could be generated and included in the annual meeting notice mailout to go out as soon as possible.
NEW BUSINESS
Tennis Court Proposal- Ironshield
The Board reviewed the proposal submitted by Ironshield to install a new camera facing the tennis courts. Director Ellis motioned and was seconded by Director Edwards to unanimously approve the proposal as submitted.
2012 Annual Meeting
The Board discussed topics to present during the annual meeting which were to include:
– Future projects and improvements per the plan developed in 2011
– 2013 budget breakdown on planned repairs/improvements
2013 Proposed Budget
The Board was presented again with the 2013 proposed budget and Director Alleman advised, she had not yet had a chance to review the numbers presented by Spectrum to nail down a final budget. She advised should work on this and have it sent to the rest of the Board prior to the annual so official adoption can be made in October.
MISCELLANEOUS
Director Edwards requested some pricing be obtained for completing a grass improvement project for the rec. center and loon area parks so the Board could budget accordingly to improve the look of those areas. Director Edwards also noted that he wanted a bid for adding windscreens around the entire tennis court facility and not just on 2 sides. Director Ellis advised that there seemed to be an issue with the weed/grass trimming process of their current landscaper because it was causing the fence stain to be chipped away above the rot boards and needed to stop. Director Edwards also requested that a ball park timeframe for needing to complete regular fence staining be obtained.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
With no further regular business to discuss, the Board adjourned the regular meeting at 7:52pm and went into executive session at 7:53pm.
ADJOURNMENT
With no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 7:58p.m and the Board went into Executive Session.
The Board met with and discussed matters related to Willow Pond with attorney Jim Leeland and follow-up correspondence was requested to come from Hoover Slovacek’s office.
The Board discussed Spectrum’s current collection policy to ensure there was no issue, legal or otherwise, with the current process and agreed that the current process was effective and also placed the Association in no legal jeopardy.
NEXT MEETING DATE
Annual Meeting, Perry Family , October 25th, 2012 @ 6:30pm
___________________________ ___________________________
Authorized Signer Jennifer Roberson
Brittany Lakes Homeowners Managing Agent
Association , Inc.