BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING, HeatherRidge Umbrella Association (HUA), August 23, 2011

These minutes have not yet been approved by the HUA Board.  Any corrections, additions, or deletions  will be made at the next regular HUA Board meeting prior to official approval.

President Todd Campbell called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm.  Present:  Todd Campbell, Owen Hill, Mark Hutchison, Paul Kelly, Cris Mekuly, Linda Kirby, and Carole Stern.  Absent:  Sam Dent and Terry Potash.     

PRESIDENT’S REMARKS:  Todd Campbell asked that Terry Potash be kept in thoughts and prayers as he continues his recovery.  School is starting, residents are encouraged to be extra-careful of the young people waiting for buses or walking on the roadway areas. 

JULY 26, 2011 MINUTES:  Carole Stern made a motion to accept and approve the July 26, 2011 minutes, seconded by Mark Hutchison.  At vote, all aye, motion carried.

TREASURER’S REMARKS:  Treasurer Paul Kelly gave the highlights of the Treasurer’s Report.  Cris Mekuly made a motion to receive and accept the Treasurer’s Report, seconded by Linda Kirby.  At vote, all aye, motion carried.

 

MANAGEMENT REPORT:  A Management Report was submitted in writing and was available to the audience.  Al Villasenor noted that the budget is near final draft, the Department Heads will review once again before being turned over to the Finance Committee and presentation at the September meeting.  The paving of HeatherRidge Drive has started, and hopefully will be done by the end of the week.  Storm damage repair and cleanup continues, some non-safety issues like broken branches higher in trees will still be done as time and labor allow.  The follow-up meeting for assessment collection procedures will be held on September 6, 2011 for Property Managers and residential association board members.  Residents will be allowed to attend, but will not have any input to the actual meeting, nor will individual assessment issues be addressed.  Owen Hill made a motion to accept the Management Report, seconded by Cris Mekuly.  At vote, all aye, motion carried.

STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Architecture and Maintenance Committee.    No formal report or motion required.  

Audit Committee:   The audit is on-going.    

Finance Committee:  The meeting minutes were available to the Board.  The July financials were reviewed and HUA is moving ahead with the processes needed to collect past-due assessments.  The issues brought by the TLLCISI Committee were reviewed and will be presented in New Business.  The Treasurer has reviewed the checks issued for the past month and they are appropriate.  Carole Stern made a motion, seconded by Cris Mekuly, to receive and accept the Finance Committee Report and the report of expenditures for July 2011.  At vote, all aye, motion carried.  

General Election and Oversight:    No formal report or motion required.

Golf and Tennis Committee:   No formal report or motion required.

Landscape Committee:  No formal report or motion required.  

Ponds Committee:  No formal report or motion required.  Work on ponds 12 and 13 ponds is in progress.

Recreational Activities Committee (RAC):  A meeting was held August 16, 2011, Carole Stern recapped the agenda items.  Committee is considering continuing the highly successful Friday Burger Night after the golf season is ended and the Chili Cook-off is planned for October 9 with setup at noon and tasting at 1 pm.  Future events may include Karaoke Night, Sinatra Night, and a New Year’s Eve Party that will be “family friendly.”  Even an “Indoor Golf League” is possible.  A flat fee of $25 for non-residents to use the Picnic Grove was approved by Committee (note that the existing usage and cleanup fees also apply) and will be presented to the HUA Board.  A Newsletter Committee may be formed to support newsletter input and production.  Linda Kirby made a motion to approve the RAC Report, seconded by Mark Hutchison.  At vote, all aye, motion carried.

Security Committee:  No formal report or motion required.  A resident had questioned why speed bumps are not being installed for the summer season, and it was explained that the Village will not allow them to be used as they obstruct emergency vehicles.  Pedestrian crosswalk lines have been painted.  The speed limits on HUA and Village streets was discussed. 

Tax, Legislation, Law, Contracts, Insurance and Special Issues (TLLCISI):   TLLCISI met and made recommendations that were presented to the Finance Committee and reviewed in New Business.  It is noted that the work on the Covered Bridge is the “cover” or roof of the bridge, not the roadway structure.  The first phase will be an engineering inspection and evaluation.  Carole Stern noted that there are sidewalk areas in the StoneyBrook area that need repair or replacement.  The Architecture and Maintenance Committee will review the options to repair or replace.  Paul Kelly made a motion to approve the TLLCISI Report, seconded by Linda Kirby.  At vote, all aye, motion carried. 

Welcoming Committee:   The August meeting welcomed nine residents at the Welcoming Committee meeting.  The next regular meeting will be Tuesday, September 13, 2011.  No meetings are held in November and December.

OLD BUSINESS:  None.

NEW BUSINESS:

Ponds 7, 8, and 9 Retaining Walls (enclosure).  Al Villasenor explained the decision to put retaining walls around ponds  7, 8 and 9 as the banks and grades are very steep and dangerous.  Three quotes were received and there were evaluations that recommend engineer block rather than timbers or boulder walls.  The Finance Committee recommends using Villarreal Landscape and notes that they are familiar with the property and provide many different services to HUA in a professional and cost-effective manner.  Mark Hutchison made a motion to accept the Villarreal Landscape proposal of $51,125 to install retaining walls on ponds 7, 8, and 9, with a five-year warranty and work to be performed this year.  Motion seconded by Carole Stern.  At vote, all aye, motion carried.

Hidden Hills Recreation Center Siding (enclosure).  The Hidden Hills Neighborhood Committee has recommended that the HHRC be resided and that Apex be selected as the vendor (of the three bids received).  The siding will be done in hardi-plank.  The proposals were reviewed by the TLLCISI and Finance Committees and Apex is recommended as the vendor.  Paul Kelly made a motion to accept the Apex bid for residing the HHRC at the cost of $40,860, with workmanship and material warrantees, seconded by Linda Kirby.  In discussion, Owen Hill asked that the contingency (in case of additional structural repair required once the siding is opened) of $6,129 (15%) also be included in the motion, but President Todd Campbell stated that should that be required, the Board would do a further vote on the additional work if necessary.  At vote, 6 aye, 1 nay, motion carried. 

Covered Bridge Cover (enclosure).  The Village of Gurnee does semi-annual inspections on several HUA areas and has recommended HUA do some necessary repairs on the Covered Bridge roof “cover” structure.  The concerns are in structure integrity, and are not immediate safety issues.  Three engineering firms have been asked to propose and it is anticipated that there will be three phases of project completion.  Phase 1 is an engineering study to determine potential problems.  Phase 2 would be recommendations of work needed and costs, and Phase 3 would be the actual structural repair work.  Cris Mekuly made a motion to accept the LONCO, Inc. Phase 1 evaluation at the cost of $1,250, seconded by Carole Stern.  In discussion, Mark Hutchison asked that additional proposals be received from civil engineering structural firms.  The original motion was voted upon, all nay, motion failed.  The Community Manager will solicit additional evaluations.

Golf Maintenance Parking Lot (enclosure).  The Board, Community Manager, and Department Heads have developed strategy to determine roadways that need paving or resurfacing attention, many roads were repaved in the past year.  The outstanding area is the Golf maintenance and parking lot.  Three bids were received, and after review, the TLLCISI and Finance Committees recommend Rabine Paving.  This also takes into consideration the work Rabine did in HUA last year, and the warranty work (crack-fill and repair) that needs to be done on Mitchell Court.  Rabine has agreed to re-mill Mitchell Court completely in conjunction with paving the Golf Maintenance lot.  Mark Hutchison made a motion to accept the Rabine Paving proposal, to include the re-mill and repair of Mitchell Court, at the cost of $44,986 with a 12-month warranty, seconded by Linda Kirby.  At discussion Cris Mekuly asked Al Villasenor to check on the further Mitchell Court warranty.  The Maintenance Head will be monitoring the work and the concerns of oil leaking from Rabine trucks that could damage roadways.  At vote, all aye, motion carried.

Block Party in Hidden Hills Townhome Neighborhood.  Al Villasenor has been advised by a resident that a block party is planned for Beth and Mitchell Courts on Sunday, August 28.  It is noted that the Security Department has denied requests in the past, but that sometimes block parties have been held by residents without any notification or apparent problems.  President Todd Campbell noted that since HUA has been advised, it is their responsibility to request the sponsors to abide by some reasonable guidelines.  Even though the Declarations do not directly prohibit these events, use of common area property must be approved by the HUA Board.  The group has already contacted the Village of Gurnee and Fire Department.  Paul Kelly made a motion to permit the Block Party on Beth and Mitchell Courts on Sunday, August 28, 2011.  Further, Al Villasenor is asked to develop an approval letter that notes the rules for common areas, hours allowed, liquor liability restrictions, required cleanup, emergency access requirements, and designation of responsible sponsors.  Motion seconded by Cris Mekuly and at vote, all aye, motion carried.

OPEN DISCUSSION FOR HOMEOWNERS: 

Joan Karkow of the Hidden Hills Townhome neighborhood noted that other block parties have been held with no problems.  She also agreed with Owen Hill that the contingency funding for the HHRC siding project is important and if required, must be processed expeditiously.  Board President Todd Campbell acknowledged her concerns. 

Joan noted that a willow was taken down after the storms behind Dunham Road and asked about replacement.  Storm damage is still being repaired.  Many trees that were lost still have stumps that must be removed, and a timeframe or product cannot be determined at this time.  The issue is noted.

Barbara Doyle of the Hidden Hills Townhome neighborhood noted a tree near her home has a large crack and has had branches come down in storms.  The tree in question has already been reported and is in the work order system.  Ms. Doyle is also concerned that willow trees are not desirable and hopes that replacements for the ones that were destroyed in recent storms will not be with willow trees.  There was discussion of the planning and scheduling of replacement trees, those decisions will be made by the Landscape Head.

Pat Doucet of the Hidden Hills Townhome neighborhood is concerned about general liability should block parties have problems or property damage.  Pat thanked the Landscape and Maintenance Departments for their exceptional work in damage repair after the storms.  She also raised issues of landscape damage to a planter and shrubbery around her front entrance.  Al Villasenor will consider her complaints and noted that there are restrictions on what can be added to common areas around townhome units.

Jackie Larson of the StoneyBrook neighborhood noted that she had requested that the pool lights for SBCRC be turned on for safety.  They have been, but she does not think it is economical to have them on 24-hours a day.  She asked about using timers.  Al Villasenor noted that timer equipment does not hold up in a pool equipment room with the chemical and humidity elements and other options will be considered.  The bathrooms in the SBCRC are very cold, yet other portions of the building can be very warm.  Al Villasenor will ask Maintenance and possibly the newer HVAC contractor see if there is a viable solution.  Jackie asked if aerators would help maintain ponds.  The aerators are actually very expensive and run on electric power.  It is also a problem that muskrats and rodents will chew through the wires, causing aerator failure and great expense for repair.

Cris Mekuly made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Paul Kelly; at vote, all aye, motion carried.

Adjournment at 8:10 pm.                                                         Next Meeting – Tuesday, September 27, 2011