Minutes: 06/29/2011

MEADOW WALK BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
June 29, 2011, 6:30 PM at the Fruitville Branch of the Sarasota Public Library

Directors Present: Gary Walsh, La Nae Duchesneau, David Bennett, Betsy Dane: Meeting called to order at 6:35 p.m.

Status of HOA fees was discussed-
There is a little accounting in 2009 left to clean up the books. We are in pretty good. Gary opened the meeting by reading a letter from Bill Swan regarding fees charged to homeowners in Foreclosure. While Bill felt homeowners in this situation should not be charged fees when they are down on their luck, Gary explained these were not fees created by the HOA, but rather responses to documents sent from the courthouse regarding the foreclosure that we are required to reply to and need to pay fees to file. We do not make any money on these fees. We currently have 9 houses in foreclosure.

Financials-
As of the end of June we have $32,658 in the bank. Postage was up this year due to more mailings and our legal fees are also up, though we collect most of the legal fees back when we collect the past due monies as we charge delinquents for the legal and filing fees.

We paid legal fees of $10,366 to Debbie in the last 2 years and have collected back $7775.00 of that due to this process so far, monies we may not have collected otherwise. We pay Debbie a reduced rate of $150 an hour.

We still have $12,000 in uncollected debt; $6500 of this is on foreclosed homes. Most of this money due on the foreclosed homes will be collected at the time of sale. We are putting liens onto the homes that are not paying.

Our current operating budget is set at $30,000 to pay all the HOA fees for one year. We are in a good place financially to get us through the rest of 2011.

Lakes-
Our lakes had an algae bloom blossom in them about 6 weeks ago and it cost $200 to treat the lakes. The lakes had turned an off color but now with the recent rains it should flush them clean.

Fertilizer is going into the lakes and as a reminder to everyone whether you use a lawn service or do it yourself, please be mindful and tell the lawn service providers to not fertilize on the banks of the lakes as the rains wash the chemicals down into the waterways and can kill the plant life and the fish. If that happens it is very expensive to fix, and the burden will be passed to all the homeowners.

Modification Committee-
One homeowner wanted to paint their house; paperwork was sent out and sent back, approved and then painted.

Items brought up at meeting-
It was asked who was allowed a fence, and clarified that houses on the lakefront are allowed to have fences. They just cannot have a fence along the water line; this does not interfere with those wanting a fence on the front or side of their home.

It was mentioned that we need to change the docs to be accurate of the changes in the neighborhood. While this has been done in the past and changes were made, the process was never completed. It will be looked into again in the near future. This will take a little time, as after we complete the changes they have to be reviewed by a lawyer.

Two changes to the docs were made in the past, one on plantings and one on fines. Betsy Dane volunteered to look at the red line docs that we had created in the past but never completed.

There are 2 lights on the exit side of the neighborhood that are off their posts, broken and showing wires. John is going to get some inexpensive posts and plant something in front of the lights so they are not so noticeable and hopefully this will keep them from being broken again. This was estimated to cost $200 to fix.

It was mentioned that homeowners need to paint their lamp posts, many are chipped and peeling.

The directory for the neighborhood has come to a halt. Some people do not want their private information shared, so a directory will not be published. If you need information on a resident please contact a board member and we will get that for you.

We will be printing a newsletter quarterly so email Betsy Dane if you want something in the newsletter. Betsy's email is bonaire110@aol.com

Renters in the neighborhood-
Since we began the form for the renters the HOA has been making sure the tenants are getting copies of the deed restrictions.

Front Wall-
The front wall was cleaned. There were a few cracks that were found and fixed, so it is in good shape now. We were charged $500 for this service.

Front Entrance-
Our committee met with the landscape company to get ideas on how to improve the front entrance. Pictures were looked at at the meeting. While it was pretty, it was discussed that it was too high maintenance and too expensive as the bid came in at $10,900. We are going to meet with more landscape companies to gather more ideas and quotes before proceeding with the project.

Meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m.