Minutes: 09/28/2010

MEADOW WALK BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
Sept 28, 2010, 6:30 PM at the Fruitville Branch of the Sarasota Public Library

Directors Present: Gary Walsh, Joe Stewart, Shana Bickel, La Nae Duchesneau: Meeting called to order at 6:40 p.m.

Finances
We have only 2 families who haven't paid the 2nd quarter dues and they are accruing interest. We currently have $8410 in outstanding collections, past due notices have been sent out. The banks have been paying us HOA fees plus interest. On 1 house we are now forbidden to collect ad they have filed chapter 7 bankruptcy. We will need to appear in court in Tampa or we will lose the money, the bank is not responsible to pay. They owe us $1268 but we probably won't get it.

We are aggressively going after foreclosures but we need to collect from them before they declare bankruptcy.

Currently we have 9 houses in foreclosure. 2 of them are now owned by the bank: the Tausigg's and the Kings. Banks are supposed to be cutting the lawns of abandoned homes in foreclosure, but sometimes Gary has to cut the lawns and is charging the HOA a fee.

The DelSanto foreclosure case was thrown out of court, we do have a lien on the property and we are taking them to small claims court for the $2500 they owe us. The court went to their home 2 weeks ago to serve them. On September 23rd they did a no show in court. We have incurred a lot of legal expenses trying to collect from them and we have been awarded $700 in legal fees that they need to pay or they will be in contempt of court. If they do not pay, they can get a bench warrant for their arrest.
If we incur unnecessary expenses, the homeowner is responsible.

We currently have $22,600 in bank. Our only bills for the rest of the year are lawn service, water and electric.

We are hoping to roll back the dues to $500 per year in January of 2011; we have enough in the bank now to be able to do that. We are considering opening a CD with the monies in our account so we can get a better rate of interest.

Modification Committee-
A reminder- any changes to your home need to go through the modification committee.

The Front Entrance to our Community-
We now have the money to redo the front entrance and we again spoke of leveling that area and planting shade thriving plants. Kids are trampling through the plants and we discussed ways to curtail this problem. Complaints have been made to the HOA that kids are throwing rocks at the passing trucks and what needs to be done.

Pot Hole on Deer Creek Crossing
The pot hole on Deer Creek Crossing has now been fixed. Thank you Chris!!

Wetlands-
Joe spoke with the county about renewing our contract of inspections to every other month instead of monthly to lower our costs come the new year. He also asked them to power wash our front wall and a few homes down by the construction at the end of the project. The county has already replaced a few blocked pool filters that had gotten clogged with the dust and debris. They are now done moving dirt and the project should be done in a couple of months. It will be a benefit for the neighborhood to have a park with walking trails so close.

It was asked how often the bushes in front of the wall are trimmed. That is handled by the county and it is up to them.

Some people with fences in their back yards are not taking care of the fence side that is facing the road, the HOA can do nothing about that issue and it is recommended you call the county if you have complaints.

Front Wall
All the cracks in our front wall have been sealed, they were pretty minor and most of them appeared down by the construction site. These were different cracks than the last time we repaired the wall. Joe spoke to the county about power washing the wall when they are through with the construction project.

Jimmy did a very nice job on repairing our wall and used good quality paint. The cost is $800-$900 to power wash the wall and touch up any cracks. This is cheaper to do on a year basis then making it a bigger job that would cost $9000. Our wall is now in shape to last 8-10 years and it is holding up well.

Drug Activity in the Neighborhood
It was brought up at the meeting that kids are smoking pot by the front entrance. The sheriff has been made aware of the problem and is patrolling the area. It has also been made aware to them that we have a home in the neighborhood selling prescription drugs.

The police are on to them as well and we are blessed that we have a policeman living in the neighborhood.

We all need to be more observant of what is happening in our neighborhood and if you see an infraction please alert the authorities. We don't want these incidents to lead to bigger problems and concerns.

Gary has confronted the kids about the prescription drugs, and their license number has been reported to the police.

New Business
Speeders- we still have a few people speeding through the neighborhood and they were talked to and told to slow down.

Halloween is coming up. Again we will have our block party, remember if you are out driving to be extra vigilant of kids in the neighborhood. We are known as the "safe" neighborhood and we get many children coming to trick or treat in our neighborhood.
We have some front lights out and one that is covered with a plastic bag. Letters will be going out on these issues. Some people are parking across the sidewalks and this is a violation. They have been spoken to. Please don't park across the sidewalks and block access. You can now have as many cars as you own in the driveway, but please don't block access to the sidewalk or you will be getting a letter of violation.

The tire swing has been taken down.

It was brought up again that we need new rules and regulations governing rentals in our neighborhood. We need a stipulation of how many homes can be rented out at one time, it was brought up that 10% is a going rate in other neighborhoods. It was also advised that we interview possible renters. We currently have 3 rentals in the community. Remember, tenants in a home need to be family members and you cannot rent out rooms.

When someone sells their home the HOA is given the information on the new owners. This is what we need in place for renters. HOA needs the information on the renters for security purposes and in case of an emergency. We need a method in place to solicit this information. With all our foreclosures we may get more renters and need something in place.

The board will be meeting on these issues before the annual meeting so we can vote on the changes at our annual meeting in December.

We will also be coming around or sending something out to get an updated list of phone numbers and emails. We did this not long ago, but already emails are bouncing and this information needs to be gathered again.

We will be holding elections for board members and the proposed budget at the annual meeting in December so please make sure you attend.

Meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m.