December 13, 2022

Minutes of the Hickory Farms HOA Board held on 13 December 2022 

Location 

Zoom 

In Attendance 

Jim Bever-President 

Telah Jackson- Acting Vice President 

Tad Weed- Associate Treasurer  

Ken Sorg- Treasurer 

Ben Noviello-Secretary 

Carlie Mensen –Member at large 

Melissa Stark- Member at large 

Pam Barrett – ACC 

Meeting was called to order at 7:00 

Motion to approve minutes was delayed because not everyone had been able to read them 

Old Business 

Microsoft 365 

Ben reported that 8 one-year licenses of “Basic Business” Microsoft 365 had been purchased. 

Carlie described her success in transferring documents from Slack, and explained how to gain access to Teams and the related Microsoft software tools once invitations had been submitted.  

Ben promised to provide training resources that he had identified.  

Trash Collection Issues 

Jim reported that about 30% of homeowners appeared to have trash cans from American Disposal, and that he planned to communicate this to Chenggui Chu, the concerned homeowner. There was also a general agreement that American Disposal had improved performance, which was attributed to efforts at the county level. 

Dumping of Yard Waste  

There was a discussion of homeowners dumping yard waste in the common area. It was stressed that this was a HOA issue as it affected mowing services. Jim agreed to write something regarding this for the newsletter 

 Purple Martin Houses 

It was reported that the line-of-sight concerns expressed earlier were not shared by affected homeowners. The cost of these houses was reported to be $1328. 

Roberts Road Path Concerns 

Jim reported that he would facilitate communication between affected homeowners 

ACC Report 

Pam reported on the need for an Executive Session to be held after the regular HOA Board meeting 

Treasurer's Report  

Ken reported the healthy financial status of the HOA, while noting an unexpected charge regarding a Safety Deposit Box. Ken and Tad will coordinate with Jim to look into this. 

There was a discussion of the new electronic payment methods being investigated, and possible testing with HOA Board volunteers. 

Appreciation of Departing Board Members 

Jim expressed gratitude to departing members of the Social Committe (Sarah Tropiano and Meredith Perkins) as well as HOA Board Member Carlie Mensen.  

This was enthusiastically endorsed by all.  

Commons Areas 

Melissa reported on efforts by her and homeowner Larry Rogers to coordinate the removal of two dead trees in the commons area with the county. 

New Business 

Jim expressed pessimism about the viability of using the "Little Libraries" to facilitate distribution of the newsletter.  

There was a discussion of using existing directory of emails to enable direct email delivery.  

Ben promised to investigate how to do this via Microsoft 365 capabilities. 

Ken indicated that new advertiser rates for the newsletter had been shared with Jennifer 

Jim and the Board discussed his concerns regarding "Cotton Farm" as a street name.  

At 8:50 the Board Meeting was adjourned for the Executive Session, which the understanding that a high-level statement would be presented at 9:05. 

At 9:30 the Executive Session concluded and the following statement agreed to: 

An Executive Session, attended by the HOA President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and the ACC Chair was held to discuss findings related to 4 properties that continue to be in violation of the Hickory Farms Restrictive Covenants. A unanimous decision was made to pursue appropriate remedies as needed, to include authorized fines, liens, and hearings.