Candlelight Oaks Civic Club, Inc
Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting
January 9, 2020
2020 BOARD MEMBERS:
Sandy Ericksen President
Lori Bulla Vice-President & Pool Committee Chair
Dan Gonzalez Treasurer
Charlie Bowman Volunteer Assistant 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: Lori Bulla, A.D. Koen, Mike Kuhnen, Dan Gonzalez, Darin Lee, Marilyn Harper. Absent: Sandy Ericksen, Cassie Ramsay, Johanna Wolfe. Guest: Ana Ulloa of Outreach Strategists.
As Sandy was out of town on a business trip, VP Lori Bulla called the meeting to order at 7:31 pm. Again, SEAL did not send a security speaker for this meeting, but no one had contacted SEAL and asked for them to send a speaker. We aren’t sure why no speaker is coming to the meetings, but the November meeting was held one week early, and no one thought to contact SEAL about the change, so the usual speaker may have come on the 2nd Thursday in November and found no one there. This mix-up may well be our fault.
Landscaping: Darin reported that the “landscaping extra” project that was approved by the board in December got done. Landscaping Extras was a line item in the 2019 budget, not an extra expense. This project was to cut and haul away tree limbs that were obstructing the sidewalks on both sides of Tidwell. These limbs were hanging down over fences from back yards, and should be kept cleared away by the individual homeowners. However, a majority on the board thought that this project was a good use of the Landscaping Extras item in the budget.
Treasury: Dan reported that COCC was currently less in arrears than had been expected at the time of the October 2019 election, according to the budget published at that time. He reported that one new method of payment had been added: Zelle. Other online payments may be added this year to make it as convenient as possible to pay dues.
It was reported that the attempt to save money by emailing the 2020 dues invoices to homeowners that we had an email address on record did not work for everyone. But some homeowners who were sent paper invoices also complained they did not receive it. The email complaints may have been due to the info we had not being up-to-date, or perhaps the invoice ended up in the user’s spam folder. Next year we hope to have a more accurate emailing list, and do a better job by informing homeowners ahead of time to check for COCC email.
Marilyn complained that the homeowner contact list she had been given to use for Deed Restriction letters was never up-to-date. Mike recommended that we need to have just one copy of our list, online, and used by everyone who needs to know names and addresses. Just a few board members would have update permission to change names and contact information, when a home is sold or a new email address is reported to us. Mike and Dan discussed keeping a master list in a Google app, and setting up the permissions for it. This will be discussed at the next board meeting before being implemented.
Pool: Lori reported she expects to have the 3rd bid very soon for replastering the pool, and is checking references and will soon decide on a company. Several people reported that the wooden benches between the parking lot and the pool fence are falling apart and need repairs. Mike suggested we have a Spring Workday at the pool/playground, with a list of chores to be done and tools to bring. Several board members remembered that we used to do this every Spring. Mike and Darin will coordinate this event, and we will publicize to get the best turnout of volunteers that we can.
Social: Cassie was out with the flu, but Lori and Marilyn noted that Easter, April 12, will be the first event of the year.
Deed Restrictions: The next DR drive through was set to be Jan 26.
At this point, our guest Ana Ulloa was asked to speak to the board about her organization, Outreach Strategists LLC. Ms Ulloa told us her company was contracted to meet with and get information from Houston citizens about specific problems they have and what their expectations are for solutions. She said that flooding was a high priority topic. She and others in her company will be going to HOA board meetings in areas affected by recent floods, but she was surprised that COCC board meetings usually attract few or no residents. In future, if she plans to attend our meeting, she will let us know she will be there so we can publicize it, in case CO residents want to ask questions.
Security: A.D. reported that he had called the 3 references he was given by the American Guards Security company that had been interviewed in November. But 2 of the references had full voicemails and the 3rd one never answered. A.D. had invited the contact for another security company to stop by at around 8-8:15 pm that evening and meet with the board, but that person did not show up. The question came up as to whether Candlelight Oaks Village was satisfied with the Pioneer Security they are using, and Marilyn volunteered to ask a COV homeowner about this.
Lori adjourned the meeting at 8:30 pm.