Villages at Ocean Hill Annual Spring Meeting
10:00am
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Present: Stephen Hill, Dave Halla, Kent Ellis, Linda Flannery, Vicki Garvey, Dick Garvey
Absent: Fran Hamilton
Members Present – 18 representing 12 lots or 4.7% of total membership
Stephen opened the meeting at 10:00 a.m.
Vicki Garvey introduced Jamie Grigas who is taking over the beach chair & umbrella rental concession amenity that was started by his brother, Adam. Jamie has 9 years experience running and working at a similar concession at Corolla Light. It was suggested by one of the members that Jamie provide VOH community members with a flyer that can be posted in rental homes to notify renters of this amenity.
The Fall Meeting Minutes were approved.
Stephen announced that Fran Hamilton has agreed to fill Johanna Tucker’s position on the Board. Johanna resigned from the Board as she is no longer a property owner in VOH having sold her home. Johanna has not participated in board meetings since February.
Stephen informed the community where we are in the process of recruiting and hiring a new management company. A job description and an RFP have been drafted and will be finalized in the next couple weeks. To date, we have had five inquiries and we will be placing an ad in the local paper and with the National Community Association Institute. The deadline for initial inquiries will be May 1st with the deadline for proposals being June 1st. The interview process will follow.
Kent reviewed the treasury report informing the membership that the 2013 Books have been closed and submitted to the auditor for the annual audit. He also stated that 2014 operating expenditures are tracking as expected. Vicki reported on the assessment collection status for 2014 stating that 16 properties owe $22,000 with a total of $355,808 collected year-to-date. Vicki also reported that total long term past due assessments (pre-2014) stand at approximately $40,000 which are comprised of three property owners representing 7 lots. These long term past due assessments have been referred to legal and judgments have been obtained against each.
The $10,000 approved in the 2014 budget by the membership at the 2013 Annual Meeting was discussed. As presented at the Annual Meeting, these funds were earmarked for the transition from the old management company to the new management company.
A discussion about the inability of VOH to collect a Buy-in from SAGA was again addressed and discussed. As had been communicated to all VOH members, early in the year the Board consulted with two prominent attorneys, Everett Thompson and Hood Ellis, on this issue. Both attorneys reviewed the Association’s governing documents and have stated that we are not entitled to a buy-in from SAGA. The Board expressed their disappointment that VOH was not entitled to pursue buy-ins from SAGA, but accepts the ruling of the attorneys on this issue.
Landscaping Report was given by Chairman Beth Lutton. Beth reported that Saga has contributed $1,500 to the landscaping of the circle on Still Water Court. She also stated that the 3-year Landscape Contract with Leah Landscaping is up for renewal this year. Leah Landscaping has been our landscaper for 12 years and has done an excellent job. It is expected that their contract will be renewed. Russian Olives by the Tennis courts are being trimmed back. Beth also made a plea to all community members to have any of their pine trees infected by pine bark bore cut and properly removed. It is critical that this be done promptly and correctly as the infestation migrates quickly and easily to other trees. She encouraged people to contact Leah Landscaping if they had removal and disposal questions.
The Environmental Committee (EC) administers and enforces the community’s architectural standards, policies and procedures. Dick Garvey welcomed new member, Janemarie Morrison. The committee is now fully staffed with Dick Garvey as the Chairperson, Dave Halla as the representative from the board of directors, and Janemarie as member-at-large. The committee will conduct a thorough review of the community’s Environmental (Architectural) Policy & Procedures relative to the county’s new Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). Based on that effort, VOH’s Environmental Policy will be revised so that it is better aligned with the county’s architectural regulations.
27 Violations letters went out in the Fall of 2103. 20 homes are in compliance with 7 homes still in need of work prior to the start of the upcoming rental season. Dave and Janemarie will follow up with those homeowners.
North Beach Resort Management Update
• 2014 Capital Repair & Replacement Projects
• Street Repair, Maintenance & Upgrade: $35,000 is budgeted to fill extensive cracking in VOH streets and to seal (at least) Lost Lake Drive and Bear Foot Path. Inasmuch as these are the newest streets on the resort they will not be included in the upcoming 3-year effort to overlay all other streets & parking lots with 1 ½ to 2 inches of fresh asphalt. That effort will commence in 2015 and end in 2017 at a cost of approximately $350,000 to $400,000. No special assessment is planned for this crucial project – capital reserve funds will, instead, be used.
• Storm Water Drainage System Maintenance: With the 2013 completion of the last phase of VOH’s storm water drainage system, efforts in 2014 have concentrated on maintenance of the overall system – including clean-out of the retention pond that services Sandcastle Drive. Expenditures year-to-date are $3,438 or below the $5,000 that was budgeted. A new, previously unbudgeted project has been added to assess and implement a solution for rain water pockets that still plague Sandcastle Drive.
• Repair Oceanfront Pool Building Floor – and waterproof building: During deconstruction of parts of the oceanfront pool building floor to assess the degree of water damage to the floor, extensive structural damage was discovered that involved not only the bathrooms, but almost the entire perimeter of Sharkey’s Snack Shop. The problem was due to leaks in the water supply lines under the building that saturated the floors support structure. The tile and support structure to the bathrooms had to be torn out and much of the support structure for the building’s floor had to be replaced. This necessitated increased spending relative to the budget ($16,472 actual versus $10,000 budget). Included in this project was the installation of a new linoleum floor in Sharkey’s, new toilets and tile in both bathrooms and a complete re-paint of all walls in Sharkey’s and the bathrooms.
• Repair Oceanfront & Lakeside Pool Decks: VOH was cited by the North Carolina Inspector for a trip hazard around both pools (note: the pools had sunk relative to the surrounding wood deck at the lakeside pool and the concrete deck around the oceanfront pool). The problem at the lakeside pool was remedied by partial placement of the wood deck, but the problem at the oceanfront pool required that the old concrete deck be removed and a completely new concrete deck to be poured. $25,000 was budgeted for both projects – at the current time it appears that amount should be sufficient.
• Replace Deck Boards on Main Dune Walk-Over adjacent to the Oceanfront Pool: The initial plan was to remove the railings on both sides of the dune walk-over in order to replace severely worn deck boards. Based on the need to also shore-up portions of the walk-over’s support structure and the need to replace the ancient westside staircase that leads up to the walk-over, the budget of $2,500 budget was exceeded. Contributing to the $4,273 overage was the unbudgeted construction of 2 new benches on either side of the walk-over.
• Additional Capital Repair projects added to the 2014 list include:
• $1,133 added for repair of a leak in the Fitness Center roof.
• $2,500 added to attempt repairs of cracks in the Sport Court surface.
• All variances to the 2014 Capital Budget were approved by the Board of Directors. Attached is the Update #3 to the projected variances to the Capital Budget that as a matter of routine is provided to and discussed with the Board of Directors. Updates 1 & 2 were included as part of previous 2014 Board Meeting Minutes.
Discussion came up about the golf cart. The cart was purchased in 2006 for the roll-back volunteers who disbanded themselves last year. Due to the cart’s lack of use and the extreme need for storage (excess pool chemicals plus a large assortment of VOH-owned equipment), the board has contemplated selling the cart. If the board decides to keep the golf cart, there will be a cost to repair the cart plus building a new storage shed for about $5000.
Fall meeting date is Saturday, Oct 11, 2014 Time TBA
Meeting ended at 12:00 noon.