Contents
1. Joint POA – Country Club Marketing Study
2. Community Name Change
3. Operating Reserve
4. 2014 Financials
5. Road Curtain Drains
6. Walkways
7. Holiday Fund
8. POA Web Site
The October 21 meeting was partially completed, temporarily adjourned and then reconvened and completed on October 30. The POA attorney was in attendance for almost all of the October 30 portion of the meeting.
1. Joint POA – Country Club Marketing Study
The study has now been posted to the web site for all to read. Feedback from the community will now be solicited to determine the next steps. The Board “is looking for consensus on how to go forward” and on “what we should be doing”. Based on comments I heard at the meeting, the Board feels the community is very satisfied with the report.
2. Community Name Change
Within the Immortology report is a recommendation that the community consider changing its name. It is mentioned on page 79 of the slide presentation.
Based on comments made at today’s meeting, the POA Board seems very much in favor of making a name change. They claim that the feedback they have received is overwhelmingly in favor of changing the name.
However, during the community meeting, the Country Club directors made it clear that they were not going to consider a name change for the club. Therefore, if there is a change, it would be just the community name. Without going into all the pros and cons of the idea, Sam Osborne asked for a show of hands at the meeting as to how many people would support a name change. Based on comments made at this board meeting, the POA Board apparently feels that the show of hands showed great support for the idea. (Other people have commented to me that they felt the number of hands raised was less than 50%; and that this was without a thorough understanding of the issue.)
Nevertheless, based on this show of hands and the separate feedback received, the Board appears headed in this direction. Three directors (Kelley Hunter, Becky Berrey and Judi Anderson) all strongly voiced their support, and I did not hear any director question the idea.
I mention this for a reason. I do not know whether such a change would require a vote of the community. Perhaps it could be implemented by the Board alone. And it is clear that the Board is listening to feedback. If you have an opinion on this issue, you might want to consider making it known by sending an e-mail to all the directors. Addresses can be found here: Board Contacts
3. Operating Reserve
Before looking at year to date 2014 financial results, the Operating Reserve needs to be outlined. I was not aware until last month that this account existed. It is separate from the Reserve Account. Our Reserve Account is clearly shown on the balance sheet and serves two main functions.
First, it is a fund that accumulates cash for major capital projects; including, but not limited to, road rebuilding projects. Second, it can be tapped for emergency capital projects; thus potentially avoiding the need for a separate capital or emergency assessment.
As noted in previous summaries, 2013 ended with a year-end surplus of $134,000. I mistakenly thought this amount had gone into our Reserve Account. In fact, that cash was not transferred there but rather left in the balance sheet as an Operating Reserve; and combined with some minor cash surpluses from previous years.
At the present time, Bill Colton estimates that the amount in the Operating Reserve is somewhere between $135,000 and $160,000. It is not in a segregated account on the balance sheet and thus cannot be easily determined by somebody looking at the financial statements. Rather, it is contained in the cash accounts with the offset being a portion of the Fund Balance account.
The Operating Reserve can cover unexpected overruns in the operating accounts in any given year. I believe this means that if, for example, there is an overall deficit of, say, $50,000 at the end of a given year, it can be covered by cash from the Operating Reserve; thus avoiding the need to take funds from our Reserve Account. While that year end statement would show a deficit, cash from the Operating Reserve would cover those expenses.
Knowing of the existence of that account will make the next section easier to understand.
4. 2014 Financials
Estimated infrastructure budget numbers were reviewed at the meeting. I was not given a copy, so all I can offer is a general idea of how work in this area might affect our year end results.
There are two significant issues. First, roughly $60,000 of infrastructure work was deferred from last year to this year. That $60,000 was part of the $134,000 surplus we had at the end of 2013. You may recall that the Board asked all the committees to reduce spending until the final numbers on the road project were known; which is why there was such a large surplus. But it appears that it was understood that the deferred infrastructure amounts would be spent this year; because the work eventually needed to be done.
Second, two unexpected storm drainage problems have recently arisen; both of which need immediate attention and which will require unplanned expenditures.
Therefore, the infrastructure maintenance budget will most likely be exceeded by year end. At this point, the amounts are unknown pending completion of the required repairs. In turn, it is not known whether the Operating Reserve will be able to cover any overage. If it does, there will be no need to dip into the Reserve Fund.
However, if there are not sufficient funds in the Operating Reserve, the Reserve Fund may be tapped to cover a portion of the overage. As outlined in the previous section, that is one reason we have a Reserve Fund; namely to cover unexpected capital expenditures that must be addressed.
(Editorial Comment: This type of situation is one of which the community should be aware. We accumulate funds in the Reserve Account to cover all capital expenditures, not just road re-building projects. And it also serves as an emergency reserve. Like our roads, our storm drainage systems need constant maintenance, and we cannot discount the possibility of more emergency repairs arising in the future. Having an adequate reserve allows us to better deal such issues and to more effectively plan required levels of assessments.)
5. Road Curtain Drains
Roy Thorton gave a presentation on a proposal to install curtain drains alongside key sections of Governors Drive on each side of the entrance to the Country Club and on a portion of lower Manly. The total cost of around $150,000 was approved by the Board and will come out of the Reserve Fund.
Insufficient drainage is a major cause of pavement deterioration and failure. Test borings showed these areas to have deficient drainage, and these new drains should significantly slow the deterioration of these sections of road. It appears that the original drainage systems were less than optimal and that this may have shortened the life of the original pavement.
The new drains are to be located alongside sections of road slated for eventual reconstruction; which reconstruction would, in any event, have included new and better drainage. So, these new drains will, at some point, become part of any reconstructed roads. We are simply constructing them early. And, by constructing these drains now, it will help avoid major repairs that might otherwise occur before eventual reconstruction.
6. Walkways
Les Stuewer briefed the Board on alternative walkways currently being studied. These include alternative sidewalks from the bottom of Morehead Lake to Wilkinson Park, from Governors Square to Red Parker Drive and from Wilkinson Park up Morehead to McLean. Estimated costs were reviewed, which ranged from $150,000 to $450,000 per project. There appeared to be general agreement that, once the options were refined, community input would be sought.
All of this is very preliminary. Les will continue to work on these studies, but future actions and decisions will be left to the new Board.
7. Holiday Fund
The Board decided that this year’s Holiday Fund recipients will include the gate attendants, five Bland Landscaping personnel, and all of the POA staff (with the exception of the General Manager). Solicitations will be e-mailed shortly.
8. Web Site
Kelley Hunter briefed the Board on efforts to redesign the POA web site. The new volunteer web master is Mary Ann Anderson. Numerous changes have been made to the format of both the public pages and the community pages. In particular, the public landing page and information pages have been totally re-done. These are the pages which potential buyers would see if they came to the site. You may want to explore these pages to see what has been done: POA Web Site