April 9, 2024

April 2024 Meeting Minutes 

Location:  

Microsoft Teams video 

In Attendance: 

Telah Jackson-Vice President 

Tad Weed- Associate Treasurer  

Ben Noviello- Secretary 

Melissa Stark- Common Areas 
Judy Deng- Treasurer 

Charles Chu – Member at large 

Pam Barrett – Member at large  

As a quorum was reached, the meeting was brought to order at 7:00. 

Melissa moved to approve the March minutes; Telah seconded; motion passed 

Old Business 

Commons Area 

Lower commons area 

Melissa reported that during the ad-hoc onsite inspection of the lower commons area held on March 16th at 4:00, an agreement had been made to forgo replacing the path in favor of removing the existing asphalt and installing a short section of sidewalk-like squares at either end.  She reported that she planned to seek three quotes for this project, with the expectation that the work would not begin for at least one year, and possibly more. The timing will depend on our budget and the rate at which the existing asphalt deteriorates.  

Ben agreed to draft a notification message for the community.   

Property issues of homes bordering the commons area 

Melissa reported that she had received complaints from several people who live next to the commons area.   These complaints included misdirected run-off, and encroaching branches.  Charles pointed out that these matters were covered by the laws of Virginia, while several board members mentioned that there was also relevant guidance in our community regulations.   

Melissa agreed to draft a summary of the relevant regulations for the community, 

Treasurers Report 

Filing of federal and state tax returns  

Judy reported that annual tax returns and associated payments had been completed.   She repeated an earlier offer to personally do the tax preparation in the future, as doing so would not be significantly more difficult than working with an external accountant, and would save the community money. It was agreed that we would table this until the September meeting. 

Judy also mentioned that there had been unexpected bills from our legal reforms.  Tad recommended that we obtain a more detailed invoice of charges.  Telah agreed to contact the lawyers, and also secure an updated copy of our agreement with them. 

 Update on 2 outstanding annual dues payments & 2 partial payments.  

Judy reported that all outstanding dues and associated payments were obtained from the delinquent homeowners except one individual who was claiming financial hardship. 

After a discussion, it was agreed that working with this individual to establish a “payment plan” was the least objectionable approach. 

Melissa indicated that she had placed some relevant information about delinquent payments in Teams. 

 New Business  

Community welcome wagon 

Melissa reported her assessment that the current approach to welcoming people to the neighborhood needed to be revised.  Pam mentioned that in the past useful information had been provided by the county supervisor.  Telah indicated that she would be willing to lead a new welcoming group, although it was also mentioned that this might be something that the social committee could be involved with. 

Melissa asked that we invite the Social Committee to our next meeting to discuss this and other topics. 

 Member & Resident Distribution Groups/Listserv Update  

The need to maintain an accurate record of who lives in our community was stressed.  Judy presented her assessment that the most accurate record was part of the “Money Minder” software. She offered to share this with Ben, who indicated a willingness to maintain an updated record in Teams. 

It was pointed out that to effectively communicate with all the residents over the internet, a second distribution list would need to be created. It was reported that Bryan Crabtree would do this.   

There was concern that not all the email information was correct, and plans to directly reach out to the community were proposed.  

Strategic Planning 

The need to update our existing long-term strategic plan was discussed.  The importance of leveraging past work was stressed, as was the importance of community involvement and support. Specific topics included pathways, entrance signs, and the approach to me monthly newsletter. 

A “walk around” to assess pathways was proposed.   

Ben agreed to draft a community announcement of a proposed Strategic Planning Meeting to be scheduled for some time in early June. 

ACC Engagement 

The importance of ACC engagement was discussed. 

Ben agreed to set up a folder for ACC engagement on Teams.   

Melissa moved to adjourn; Telah seconded; the motion passed.   

The meeting was adjourned at 8:22