Category: COCC Meeting Minutes 2020

Candlelight Oaks Civic Club, Inc
Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting
February 13, 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: Sandy Erichsen, Lori Bulla, A.D. Koen, Michael Kuhnen, Marilyn Harper, Dan
Gonzalez, Johanna Wolfe, Cassie Ramsay, Darin Lee. Guest: Victor Colmenares of
Outreach Strategists.
Sandy opened the meeting at 7:40 pm.
The guest Mr Colmeranes was from the same group that had sent an employee to sit in on
our January meeting. Outreach Specialists has been hired by some city department to
monitor HOA board meetings to see what services neighborhoods are talking about.
Treasury: Dan reported that the bank balance was currently $16,970 ahead of where we
thought we would be at the end of January, according to the predicted 2020 budget.
About 35% of the homeowners have not yet paid their 2020 dues, which are officially
overdue as of January 31. There are still some accounts not fully paid up from last year,
but Dan said 80% of those not paid are from this year. Payment plans will be set up to
accommodate those not yet paid. The total currently unpaid is $43K, with $8K of that
being overdue more than 60 days (i.e. from 2019).
Pool: Lori and Sandy made visits to 2 references that had replastering and other work
done by (1) Guthrie Pools and (2) Texas Aquatic Enterprises. Guthrie’s reference was
more favorable than the other. Lori likes Guthrie Pools and presented a detailed work
proposal with itemized costs from them. Mike wants to try to meet with Guthrie at our
pool next week, preferably Monday when he has a day off, to get some idea of what
concrete work, e.g. walkways around pool, they recommend. The options on the Guthrie
proposal were all discussed, and only those most essential to getting the pool repaired
were added up: 1) prep and chip-out to remove the old surface, 2) plaster with upgrade to
50% quart for durability, 3) replacement of missing tiles from kiddie pool, using those
that Sandy bought last year, and 4) “start-up” procedure after pool is refilled to condition
the new plaster over a 4-day period. Mike added up the cost of these options, which came
out to $25,867. Lori proposed to the board that we approve spending this amount to hire
Guthrie Pools, Sandy seconded, and all present voted Yes to proceed.
There are still some issues related to concrete walkways needing repair, and upgrading
the lights around the pool, which can be addressed later, and can be voted on by email.
But it was essential to get the basic pool renovation started ASAP, so it will be ready for
Spring activities. We will have a Spring Spruce-Up event on a Saturday, and hope we can
get residents to come over and help us. Mike will work up a list of chores and minor
repairs that willing volunteers can do, and we will announce when the list is ready.
Security: A.D. reported that he never was able to contact any references for the
American Guards Security company that was visited way back in November 2019. He
has met with Homeland Protective Services and passed around their handout. This seems
like a good possibility for a new hire, and A.D. will ask them to send someone to meet
the board at the March meeting.
Landscaping: Darin reported that City of Houston has never responded to his requests
for removal of a few dead trees on their esplanades on Tidwell. He said he might just pick
them up himself, using a chainsaw to cut trunks into size that would fit in his truck. Mike
said he might be able to help too. No specific date and time were mentioned.
Social: Cassie said she will have a new scenario for the Easter event this year. No longer
will people have to bring their own plastic eggs, nor line their children up for egg hunts at
a specific time. She is going to buy plastic eggs that can be reused, to be traded in for
prizes. Edibles will include chicken nuggets, sweets, and drinks. There will be an Easter
invitation flyer delivered to mailboxes explaining the new event — Should be much easier
for everyone.
Deed Restrictions: There was a discussion of how DR is being conducted these days.
We had a full house, all 9 board members being present. Unlike other discussions of how
and why it had come to pass that COCC quit using the $25 fine as an incentive for
homeowners not to simply ignore DR letters, this time there was more interest in reviving
this practice. It has not been used for some years now, during which DR drive-throughs
were being conducted, and letters sent out. It was agreed that Sandy will speak to our
HOA attorney about the use of fines for ignoring DR letters, and Marilyn will look into a
modified version of the verbiage that used to be found in these letters, back when paid
HOA management companies were handling DR for COCC, Inc. We are now saying that
DR letter recipients can simply let us know what their plan is to fix things, and that will
stop them from getting further letters. Some people have filed a plan, but it then may take
further nudging to get something happening. The biggest problem is people who simply
ignore the letters completely.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:20 pm.

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.