Village at Ocean Hill Annual Fall Meeting
Saturday October 12, 2013
Present in Person: Linda Flannery, Johanna Tucker, Stephen Hill, Dave Halla, Vicki Garvey & Dick Garvey
Absent: Bob Voldish
Attendance: 22 community members representing 16 lots (6.6% of membership)
• Linda opened the meeting with a welcome and an announcement about the beach chair rentals.
• A motion was made to approve the Spring, 2013 Community Meeting notes. Vote was in favor.
• Treasurer’s Report:
• The 2012 Audit was completed by Johnson, Burgess and reviewed by the Board.
• The estimated actual of the 2013 operating budget was reviewed. It is expected that the operating budget for 2013 will end the year at approximately $4,500 over the approved budget. This overage is largely due to the need to hire a trash roll back service.
• The proposed 2014 operating budget was reviewed. It was noted that Assessments are being increased by $100 per year ($50 of which is to be allocated to operating expenses and $50 of which is to be allocated to the reserves). The $50 increase in reserve funding was required due to inflation as specified and recommended in the 2012 Reserve Study. It was also noted that reserve studies should be undertaken every 3 – 5 years. The previous study was conducted in 2007. Community Members were encouraged to read the 2012 Reserve Study which is posted on the VOH website.
• Beth Lutton stated that a 2/3 vote of the membership is required to approve the budget. She also suggested that the community should be apprised more frequently when changes to the budget become necessary noting that the revisions to the budget in 2013 were necessary. The Board reported that all changes to the budget were reviewed during Board meetings and that those changes were duly noted in Board Meeting minutes. Community members in attendance felt that the Board Meeting minutes were not posted quickly enough. The Board committed to revising the approval process for the minutes so that they could be posted more quickly.
• Beth Lutton noted that Tom Lutton and Arlene Weltman volunteered to review the By-Laws and recommend changes to it as needed. The Board will give the establishment of such a committee further consideration.
• Tom Lutton made a motion that a committee be formed in 2014 to conduct the search for a new management company for 2015 when the Garvey’s retire. The motion was seconded by Kent Ellis and voted on affirmatively by the community members in attendance (note: with only 6% of owners attending the meeting, the vote was nonbinding). The Board thanked those present at the meeting for the suggestion and will give the request from Tom consideration.
• 2013 Capital Projects:
• The mid-Sandcastle Drive beach access boardwalk restoration went better than expected. The original plan called for replacement of one-third of the boardwalk including its support structure. Fortunately, the underlying structure was in more than adequate shape which then allowed almost total replacement of decking boards within the planned budget.
• Replacement of the main ocean access staircase next to the oceanfront pool came in over budget due to the need to replace the entire support structure that had been eroded by winter storms. The County’s Inspection Department condemned the structure when the storms revealed that the support pilings for the original staircase built years ago were only buried to a dept of 1-2 ft. as opposed to 16 ft. as required by the building code. The cost to deconstruct the entire support structure and to have a specialized company install pilings 16 ft. into the sand was not part of the anticipated and budgeted cost.
• A question was asked about adding a light to the main entrance of the community and to possibly look into solar light. The Board will discuss at a future meeting.
• Phase 2 of the Homeport Court drainage project was over budget due to the need to hand-dig the entire 550 ft. trench. The planned use of a backhoe was made impossible due to the existence of several major/mismarked underground electric trunk lines along NC12’s eastern right-of-way. In addition, the use of the state’s right-of-way necessitated the use of a more expensive and larger diameter drainage pipe and the repositioning of existing drainage swales. Another significant and unanticipated cost factor was the high water table which required the use of a wellpoints and gasoline pump to remove ground water simultaneous with trenching for the drainage pipe. The now completed system works as planned and has resulted in a solution to significant drainage problem that had plagued Windance Lane at the intersection of Homeport Courts East & West for years.
• A question was asked about filling a patch in the street at the intersection of North Windance and NC12. The cut through the street was required to install a drainage pipe as part of Phase 2 of the Homeport Court drainage project. The cut will be paved over prior to the end of 2013 or early in 2014. In the meantime, the street is useable.
• Routine maintenance of VOH streets will be a priority in order to preserve the asphalt surface. A hot tar crack-filling machine was purchased and we will take on the job filling voids in the streets on an as-needed basis. A road contractor will be hired to reseal all streets & parking lots (50% in 2014 and 50% in 2015).
• Sports Court Cracks- The contractor won’t honor the guarantee so we will attempt to repair the cracks ourselves.
• The playground equipment adjacent to the tennis courts was restored.
• A major pothole at the corner of Ocean Hill Blvd. East and NC12 was repaired.
• All street and information signs throughout VOH were restored.
• Total negative variance for 2013 Capital projects was $38,807 – primarily due to unanticipated costs associated with the Homeport Court Drainage Project and the construction of the new dual-staircase next to the oceanfront pool.
• An extensive and informative slide show of 2013 & 2014 Capital projects and repairs was presented by Dick.
• 2014 Capital Projects:
• $80,000 for capital projects was requested and approved – including streets & parking lots re-sealing, repairs to the perimeter of the lakeside and oceanfront pools that were mandated by a state inspection, repairs to rear wall/floor of the oceanfront pool building (including replacement of doors), maintenance of the entire storm water drainage system (including the retention pond that services Sandcastle Drive), partial replacement of deck boards on the dune walk-over at the main oceanfront access, electrical work in the pump rooms at both pools, etc.).
• Candidate Statements:
• Kent Ellis was first to give his statement.
• Linda Flannery followed with her statement.
• Environmental Committee Update:
• Currently the group consists of Board members, Dave Halla & Stephen Hill – and Management Company member, Dick Garvey.
• Dick and Dave conducted house-to-house maintenance evaluations in the spring and follow-ups in the fall. Letters will be sent to owners notifying them of maintenance issue before the end of the year.
• Restructuring the Environmental Committee to overcome several systemic problems in its operation will be a priority in 2014.
• Plans for two new houses have been approved by the Environmental Committee and construction has commenced.
• A question was asked about whether or not a three-member Environmental Committee (EC) is in compliance with the By-Laws and whether the owner appeal process to the Board is being compromised by having two Board members serve on the EC. We are in full compliance with the By-Laws and the owner appeal procedure will be served by having the three Board members who are not on the EC act on appeals from homeowners (the two Board members who are on the EC will recuse themselves from the appeal process)
• Landscaping Committee Update:
• This year’s goal was to enhance existing islands.
• A pine tree and a large Russian olive were removed.
• The Committee will work to improve street & sidewalk visibility for drivers and pedestrians by lowering mulching and cutting back trees/ bushes at the entrance to the community.
• Next year overgrown bushes on the sidewalk entrance to the lakeside pool will be removed.
• Election Results:
• Linda and Kent were voted onto the 2014 Board.
• The 2014 budget passed.
• Other Business:
• A 15 mph sign was requested for each entrance to the community. The Board believes that this is a good idea and will look into getting them.
• A solar light at the westside entrance was requested. The Board will give this consideration.
• Meeting adjourned.