Contents
1. Front Gate Sign
2. Operating Expense Review
3. Long Range Plan
4. Miscellaneous
If you have not already read it, here is a link to the Board summary: January Splinters
It is worth reading, especially for the financial update. The few comments below are in addition to that summary. The POA attorney was present for the entire meeting, and there was an Executive Session which lasted a little over an hour.
1. Front Gate Sign
The status of the Mt. Carmel Gate sign was briefly discussed during this meeting. Apparently, there have been problems finding the correct color for the sign. The project was given to the Infrastructure Committee last month; and it appears that a final proposal will be presented to the Board within the next few weeks.
2. Operating Expense Review
As noted in the Board summary, the directors will be undertaking a “complete review of operating and capital expenses”. This appears to be a fairly all-encompassing project. Since the impetus for and reasoning behind the decision were discussed in Executive Session, I can’t offer any further information.
3. Long Range Plan (from December meeting)
Brief background: The most recent Long Range Plan was approved in early 2014. In the past, this plan has been done every five years. However, after the last one was approved, the Board decided to create a standing Long Range Plan Committee. I believe the idea was to review and update the plan on a regular basis; as opposed to waiting for the next five year anniversary.
That committee met throughout 2014 and 2015. I don’t recall ever seeing any minutes of these meetings, but its work has been referenced in other POA committee meeting minutes and occasionally in the Splinters summary. From that information, it appeared that the committee had been looking at various community improvement projects. For example, the May 2015 Splinters had the following note:
“The Long Range Planning Committee will prioritize the projects and updates being proposed for inclusion in a revised LRP. Once the items have been prioritized they will be presented to the Board for review and revision in preparation for distribution to residents.”
But it was then noted in the August IFC minutes that the LRP Committee had decided to make roadworks the number one priority and that all other possible projects would be put on hold for now.
And I believe the recent sidewalk survey (mentioned in the Board summary linked above) was related to this decision. The idea was to determine the community’s interest in separately paying for that type of a community improvement; particularly in light of the increased annual assessment. And, as noted in the Board summary, the interest is apparently is not there.
During the December Board meeting, Les Steuwer commented that, while the LRP Committee had made these decisions during 2015, no formal revisions or amendments had been made to the plan. My sense was that, while members of the committee and Board felt they understood the situation, Les was pointing out that it was not necessarily common knowledge within the community; nor was there any recorded, written summary of the committee’s determinations.
I believe it was decided that several committee members would attempt to draft an LRP update for the Board’s review.
4. Miscellaneous Items (from reviewing the Board packet)
From the Realtor Relations Committee: 57 properties sold in calendar 2015. Of those, 14 were through GC Realty, 17 through seven realtors doing multiple sales; and the remaining 26 were sold by 26 different realtors (not certain if this is referring to the listing agent or the selling agent). This did not include a number of pending sales that closed after year end.
Two other interesting items were in the packet, and both were included in the most recent E-News dated January 26th. They had to do with “Governors Club Cares” and recent happenings in local government. If you have any interest, be sure to check that newsletter for some good information. If you can’t find your email, here are links to the individual articles: