Candlelight Oaks Civic Club, Inc.
Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting
June 14, 2018
Present: Sandy Ericksen, Jill Prado Salyers, Lori Bulla, Darilene Bonnet, Michel Kuhnen, AD Koen, Richard Solis, Charlie Bowman. Absent: Amelie Fredland, Darin Lee. Residents: Gill Daoust, Patrick Ball, Marilyn Harper, Gerard Bohorquez. Guests: SEAL Sgt Bonsey, Lt. Garza
2018 BOARD OFFICERS:
Sandy Ericksen President
Amelie Fredland Vice-President
Jill Prado Salyers Treasurer
Darilene Bonnet Secretary
Lori Bulla Pool Committee Chair
A.D. Koen Security Committee Chair
Michael Kuhnen Deed Restrictions Chair; Long-Range Planning
Richard Solis Social Chair; Acorn Delivery
Darin Lee Landscaping Chair
Charlie Bowman Asst. to Treasurer / Financial
*Marilyn Jo Harper Acorn Editor 2018
President Sandy Ericksen called the meeting to order at 7:35 pm.
SECURITY: Sgt Bonsey discussed the May SEAL reports. Candlelight Oaks has very low incident reporting.
PRESENTATION: Special presenter was Gill Daoust, who has been working on his Home Owner Information Booklet, including Deed Restrictions, Amendments to Restrictions, and maps showing all 4 sections. There was a brief discussion regarding the history of Candlelight Oaks and its Sections; it was noted that Candlelight Oaks was established in 1969. All Board members were encouraged to submit corrections or ideas by email to Gill by the end of June. Gill’s goal is to provide each homeowner a final copy; printing will be provided free by Gill, however, stamps, if used, will need to be a cost to the Board. Note: The Architectural Control Committee has been expired, as noted on page 27 of this booklet. The reason for the ACC when CO had one was to discourage the modifying of homes so they are then out of character with other homes.
TREASURER REPORT: Charlie and Jill were pleased to provide the Board with documents 2016-2017 Actual YTD Profit and Loss December Statement, 2018 Proposed Budget (Budget, Actual, Over/Under YTD), Comparative Profit and Loss Statement (Internal Use only) Including Income and Expenses, 2017 Budget as Compared to 2018. Regarding 2017, everything looks pretty good, and we’re $13,519 better off than the prior year. On the Income and Expense, we did a lot better on income, dropping a lot more money to the bottom line. Also in a comparison to Budget for the full year 2017, we had budgeted a $7,049 loss, but we made approx. $20,000. When the accounts were merged in 2016 and 2017, the charter of accounts were different in both years, making a merge difficult and not matching. Charlie did his best with Jill to reconcile. It was noted that some assets in the past 2 years should have been appreciated and were not: normally the work of a tax accountant.
Charlie passed around a list of Past Due accounts shared among the Board members only since names are confidential. 7 past due accounts were turned over to the attorney (totaling $9,200 a year ago), those who are over $360 past due are on a payment plan, and 2-3 are in dispute for $360 from a prior year. Past Dues that go to the attorney are not quickly cleared because a formal collection plan is followed. Collection rate for 2018 is the highest in years; only about 25 homeowners are behind in their payments, thanks to Charlie and Jill. We must balance the budget every year and did very well last year. Our savings balance has gone up from approx. $100,000 to $151,000. Jill stated that we did budget for 2018 to break even. Copies of YTD Budget & Actual 2018 were distributed by Jill. We will transfer the accounting to Proledge, and Sandy once again acknowledged the hard work of Charlie and Jill,
MOTION MADE: A motion was made, voted upon and confirmed to schedule a Full Financial Audit in July/August, using Canady & Canady PC, specializing in HOA audits, for $1,500, which was not included in this year’s budget. The company has good references and a thorough letter of proposal, per Sandy. Jill will need to be available for the proposed end of July session to answer questions.
There is a size of HOA for a mandatory financial audit; CO is under this size but Sandy and Charlie want to propose this audit, since CO is in the best financial shape in years. Darilene shared a generic checklist to prepare for an audit with the Board. A part of this audit will be to send out a survey to owners and gather their responses, which will be shared anonymously with the Board, in order to improve our internal checks and balances moving forward. To prepare for an audit, we must submit “approved minutes”, currently in draft form; we are two months behind, per Darilene. The Board acknowledged this was due for April and May 2018. Charlie proposed that in 2019, there be a financial review for a reduced price, then another audit the year after with follow-up, certainly as it relates to a transfer of documents from one treasurer to another.
LANDSCAPING: Darin could not attend this meeting but is in communication with Michael. Darilene noted that she submitted to the Board a bid for a One Time Clean Up Tidwell Bid (not approved), of areas adjacent to the owner fences (outside their yards), normally the owner’s responsibility, to improve the “look” at our main entrances to CO, and that it would be useful to know the landscaping projected expenses/budget from now to year-end.
Darin submitted a bid for General Maintenance with Scope of Work, months ago, so it would be good to know the money left in the budget to spend in 2017. Charlie said the Board should see a breakdown of all the bids to compare apples to apples, so they can make a good decision. Michael suggested that Darin coordinate a Scope Committee to discuss scope, frequency, areas and special services, then put this form out to bidding. Ray could be invited to bid with others; Michael has no problem with other Board members collecting bids, as Darilene had done. Point is, contractors need a well defined schedule and scope of work to be able to bid fairly and do the work. The City is supposed to cut and trim the esplanades on Tidwell every 21 days, per Parks and Recreation. Trash build-up continues to be a problem on Tidwell. Darilene suggested to send out a letter from the Board to the Residents/Owners backing up to Tidwell, asking them to either take care of this area or “sign-off” and allow the Board to cut down all trees outside their yard, backing up to their fences and/or those near storm drains to allow for proper drainage. Another suggestion was to inform owners that, per Michael, the owner must maintain this area including the sidewalk, with certain exceptions
MOTION MADE by Michael: A motion was made, seconded and voted upon to purchase shrubs for both sides of the sidewalk near pool area entrance, Ligustrums (or other) for up to $400 + taxes for 15-20 plants, plus dirt and mulch to improve the look. Michael will pull old plants up with his truck. A.D. will be involved because of the proximity to his home (and he waters plants).
LONG RANGE PLANNING: Michael will get a bid to replace the picket fence around the playground for 2019 budget.
DEED RESTRICTIONS: Drive-through is planned for July, no dates confirmed, per Michael.
SOCIAL: We had a great Memorial Day Party, as reported in the Acorn and our social media.
PLAYGROUND: Michael visited the shack located on the vacant lot and shut off a water valve, which had been running water for days, which was done to help the landowner. Marilyn said that although the road to the pool was recently leveled off and potholes filled in, this is not a permanent solution and will have to be redone occasionally.
Meeting adjourned at 9:25 pm.