Candlelight Oaks Civic Club, Inc
Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting
July 11, 2019
2019 BOARD MEMBERS:
Sandy Ericksen President
Lori Bulla Vice-President & Pool Committee Chair
Charlie Bowman Acting Treasurer
Marilyn Harper Secretary & Acorn Editor
A.D. Koen Security Committee Chair
Michael Kuhnen Deed Restrictions Chair
Darin Lee Landscaping Chair
Cassie Ramsay Social Committee Chair
Johanna Wolfe Long Range Planning & Government Outreach
Present: Sandy Erichsen, Lori Bulla, Marilyn Harper, Cassie Ramsay, Charlie Bowman, Mike Kuhnen by phone. Absent: A.D. Koen, Johanna Wolfe, Darin Lee.
Guest: SEAL Lt. McFadden.
SECURITY: Sandy brought the meeting to order at 7:30 and introduced Lt. McFadden to give the SEAL Report. Sgt Bonsey who has patrolled in CO for several years, and had attended the Board meetings and given the Report since Fall 2017, has left SEAL and gone into a business working for himself. Several board members commented on how much Sgt Bonsey will be missed, as he had come to know many residents and recognize their family members, cars, pets, etc. In the June SEAL Report, most of the suspicious activity, person, or vehicles reported turned out to be residents or solicitors. The pool was reported to have had an unauthorized party on the evening of June 13, with the pool and the bathrooms left in a mess. This had occurred during the June Board meeting while most board members were at that event. The 9-1-1 phone that the city requires to be available for emergencies was stolen that night. A drug baggy was reported found in the gazebo area by SEAL the next evening.
POOL: Lori reported there are currently 72 memberships, the highest number she is ever aware of. She has been looking at sale prices to make a good buy on 2 tables and 10 chairs, to build up the outdoor furniture inventory. She expects to pay about $336 plus tax, and Sandy made a motion to proceed, seconded by Mike, and approved by all present. Cassie said her husband Graham Ramsay could help with pickup and transport of the new items.
TREASURY: Charlie reported that the 2017 and 2018 tax returns had not been filled out and submitted for those years, so he had them done by the same CPA that Trenton Kelly had used when he was COCC Treasurer. As a non-profit organization, COCC does not actually owe much tax, but the paperwork does still have to be done. Sandy reported that the 5 delinquent accounts — unpaid for 2 years — have been sent demand letters, but only 2 of them had responded as of that day. She said the other 3 accounts may have to go to the Board’s Attorney to work out a settlement.
DEED RESTRICTIONS: The drive-through on June 23 had resulted in writing of 3 1st Letters and 7 2nd Letters for same violations. The DR Committee also handled 10 cases by the Neighborly Approach, where we email, call, or talk in person with a homeowner that we happen to know and/or live close to, notifying them of what was observed, and ask them to take care of it. This saves time in writing and printing letters, and cost of envelopes and stamps.
There were also 6 properties that were photographed with DR violations that had already received one or more 3rd Letters. The current 2nd Letter asks homeowners to please contact the Board with a plan for when they will be able to correct the problem(s) that are causing them to get DR letters. Our deal is, file a reasonable plan with us, and you won’t get additional letters as long as we can see that you are trying to rectify the problem. We do not currently have an official 3rd Letter, which once was the point at which a $25 fine was assessed for DR violations that were ignored. However, there are quite a few homes that have received numerous letters beyond their 3rd, and have done nothing except ignore them. Some of the current board members do not want to assess fines for DR violations. Sandy is going to ask our Attorney what he advises. We must find a solution to this situation, since the unequal compliance for the same or similar violations is not working well. If you clean the stains off your siding, but your neighbor does not, that does not mean that the neighbor did not receive the same DR letter that you did.
LANDSCAPING: Darin could not attend the meeting but emailed this report: Alex with Landscape Texas will be doing maintenance every week this month. He’s scheduled to pick up loose limbs on Tidwell next week.
Sandy said that we need to document fences that have falling sections on Tidwell, and perhaps run pictures of them in the Acorn, hoping to get people to be aware of and repair broken back-yard fencing.
ELECTION 2020: It is getting time to recruit any homeowner who would like to run for a position on the COCC Board in October. Someone with experience in accounting would be much appreciated, and Charlie said he would like to train a replacement.
Sandy adjourned the meeting at 8:45.