Management minutes, Tu Aug 1, 2023

Topics: book-keeping, insurance meeting, pay or play update, certificates of deposit. Maintenance: structural engineer, tree removal, structures (sheds, gazebos, patios), sprinklers, solar, painting.

Decision: Waive June pay or play charge for Ben. 

Time: Tuesday, 7:00-8:40 p.m.

Present: Kay, Joe, Scott, Robin, Jorge, Ben, Vinnie, Cheryl, Carol, Linda 8:00

Action Items & Schedule

Vinnie will call Atlas to schedule the tree removal sometime the week of the 14-18th.  He will ask if they need payment upon completion or will invoice.

Cheryl will set up an appointment with Butler Tax & Accounting for her, Jorge, and Linda.

Cheryl will set up an appointment with AmFam.

Cheryl, Kay, Robin,and Ben will work on a proposal for updating pay or play.  Schedule a meeting.

Jorge will talk to the unit behind on fees.

Structural Engineer

Vinnie would like to get an assessment by a structural engineer of his porch, Carol's foundation, and a few other issues. Under $200 for ~an hour.

Tree Removal

Awarding tree removal contract to Atlas. Vinnie will schedule them the week of August 14-18..  Blue Stakes needs to mark before the stump can be removed.

Structures (Sheds etc.)

Robin noticed that the CCR says approval is needed for "storage", not "storage sheds", which was what she had been told.  What is the process for getting approval?

We haven't been good about keeping a central record of who has got permission for pergolas, sheds, patios, etc. It's scattered in proposal book and minutes.  Some people have asked permission, others haven't.

Joe recalls that the painters didn't attempt to paint the soffit above the #4 pergola and #6 shed because the ladder would have to be at an unsafe angle.

Need to distinguish between portable and fixed structures.  Fixed structures need architectural review.  Difference of opinion among members whether portable sheds should be approved by Management or ACM.

Should set standards for what is okay, put it in the CCR.

Sprinklers

We will get two invoices, one for the work by the common house and one for everything else.  They fixed six leaks in the trench that Gardner made. Jorge's understanding is that everything is fixed.

Cheryl & Vinnie will map the zones for the east sprinkler control box.

The west berm is currently set for 99 minutes.  This week it has been every day, to replace soil moisture; Vinnie will make it less often this week.  [Determined following meeting: The actual zones don't match the map, which happens when someone changes the control box wires.  #5 was the northwest berm drip, now it is a spray zone by #1.]

Book-Keeping

Butler Tax and Accounting would charge $350/month.  There would be an initial one-time charge for any clean-up the books need.  Jorge suggests that he, Cheryl, & Linda meet with Butler.  Joe says $350/month is reasonable in his experience as an accountant.

Linda's experience with using an outside book-keeper is that it takes longer to explain to/supervise them than to do the work ourselves.

Kay would like a report every month showing all expenditures, for the minutes.

Insurance Meeting

American Family Insurance has availability August 18 or 25.  Cheryl, Jorge, & Kay are interested.

Solar

Agreement was signed.  They are supposed to contact Cheryl to schedule turning on the system.

The west solar panels are bigger and newer/more advanced than the east ones.  The east panels were already producing more electricity than we used.  When the east panels eventually go out, the west panels will still provide more than we use, even with greater numbers of EVs. We might consider planning not to replace the east panels, which would mean they don't need to be in the reserve, which would free up reserve money for other things.

Painting

Repainting doesn't look good where the wood is bad.  Unforgettable Coatings' contract only specified they would replace wood on Units 3 and 4.  Turn issue of wood replacement over to Maintenance Committee.

Pay or Play Update

The CCR allows Management to require participation or charge, but changing what's been approved will require a proposal in an ACM. Since Management sees the need to update it, the proposal should come from Management. 

To persuade the community, we need a narrative of why updating pay or play is desirable.  We have a lot of "deferred" (undone) maintenance, which means higher replacement costs. We need either higher fees or more work from members. Raising the amount charged recognizes the value of having people work. Just narrowing what counts would go a long way.

Do we want to start with a proposal (recommendations) or with ACM discussions leading to a proposal? Concern that, without a proposal, discussion will wander. Having a framework (proposal/recommendations) will help focus the discussion. The original discussions started from a proposal, written by a single person but amended during discussion.  It was designed to be modular; every line in the final version has a separate consensus date.  That kept each discussion narrow and doable.

Ben is requesting a waiver of the June invoice he received for pay or play. He worked; he forgot to enter the hours.  The Management Committee is aware he does a lot and is okay with waiving it this once.

Bookkeeper's report

Linda & Jorge opened a money market account at Mountain America to keep most of the checking float, plus five $2K CDs, four for six months & one for a year. At UFirst, moved all except $10 in checking & $10 in savings into the money market plus $55K in 10 CDs.

On budget vs. actuals, maintenance is way over budget, because expenditures include the payment for repairs to the kitichen from the leaking upstairs bathroom, ~$3,700, and purchase of equipment.  There should be offsetting deposits from AmFam insurance for the kitchen, one last year and one in January per Ben, totaling roughly $2,700.  The charge should be under 'contract labor' line 8350 rather than 'maintenance'.