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Candlelight Oaks Civic Club, Inc
Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting
August 8, 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, Mike Kuhnen, A.D. Koen. Absent: Johanna Wolfe, Darin Lee.
Guest: SEAL Officer Sal Capetillo, resident Dan Gonzalez

Sandy opened the meeting at 7:30 pm and asked SEAL Officer Capetillo to make his report. During the month of July, no crimes were reported to SEAL while they were occurring, but patrolling officers were told of the recovery of a stolen car from Oakhaven, and of a 10:00pm prowler seen by several residents in the 4800 block of Droddy. As our favorite SEAL officer Sgt Bonsey has left SEAL, Officer Capetillo was interested in comments of board members as to how we rate the patrols we have had lately. Marilyn praised recent reports by Officer Jasem Ibrahim who is showing initiative in getting out of the patrol car and talking to residents when he finds open garage doors, vehicles with doors or trunk left open, etc. to be sure the resident is home and is aware of such things. There were complaints that when SEAL officers park the car and get out for foot patrol during the day, they need to be sure not to block mailboxes or trash trucks. Security Chair A.D. has been trying to arrange a meeting with SEAL management to work on a new contract with them.

Pool: Lori reported the pool currently has 74 member families. Sandy has all the supplies needed to replace some missing tiles on the kiddy pool. They will probably wait until local schools open to make it easier to close the pool for a day or two while this work is being done. There was a discussion of the upcoming necessity to have the pool replastered. The timeline will be to get a realistic estimate of the cost, and possibly to select the company to do the work, in time to get this into next year’s budget for the October election. If/when approved, the pool can be closed down for a while in early 2020 for the draining and plastering job. Lori thanked board member Cassie Ramsay and her husband Graham for picking up some new furniture approved for the pool area this year and getting it transported and set up.

Deed Restrictions: The August drive-through will be Sunday the 25th, 11am-1pm. Mike, Marilyn, and Cassie will do it. There was a discussion about storage pods that are still sitting on a few driveways, 2 years after Hurricane Harvey, and Mike suggested we send “friendly grams” to those homeowners, inquiring how much longer will that be necessary.

Social: Cassie already has a graphic ad for the Labor Day Luau she will host at the pool on Monday, Sept 2. We may ask Gill to print it as a 1/4 page handout that we can put in mailboxes the weekend right before that holiday. OaksFest will be held on Saturday, October 12. The Election Edition of the Acorn will be delivered weekend of Sept 28-29, in order to have the ballots available 10 days before final counting at OaksFest.

Treasury: Charlie did not attend the meeting, but had sent spreadsheets to the board earlier in the day, which showed a cash balance on hand of $211,700.80. Sandy reported that of 5 Demand letters recently sent to homeowners with very large unpaid assessments, 3 have paid in full, and the other 2 have made partial payments. There are still 2 properties that are due to get Demand letters, but one may be sold soon and the debt to COCC paid off at closing.

The Directors and Officers insurance is due to be renewed, at the same price that has been paid for a number of years. Charlie is recommending that a bond that protects the COCC assets be switched to a 3-year period, costing $1149.62 but saving money compared to the annual renewal rate. Sandy moved to purchase the 3-year bond, A.D. seconded, and all board members present approved.

Security: A.D. needs to get the new SEAL contract ready for the budget, to be published with the October Acorn. Lori reminded A.D. that we want to be billed monthly, not weekly, for SEAL payments, to cut down on the number of checks that have to be written.

New Board Member: Dan Gonzalez, who came as a guest of his neighbor Mike Kuhnen, expressed an interest in helping with the Treasury. Lori moved that the board induct Dan into our vacancy that has a term expiring in December. Mike seconded, all approved. Dan will work with the board through December, and he will run for that seat in the October election for 2020-2021.

Meeting was adjourned at 9:05 pm.

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.

Candlelight Oaks Civic Club, Inc
Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting
June 13, 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, Mike Kuhnen, Marilyn Harper, Johanna Wolfe, Cassie Ramsay, A.D. Koen. Absent: Darin Lee, Charlie Bowman
Guest: SEAL Sgt Bonsey

Sandy opened the meeting at 7:32 pm, and asked Sgt Bonsey to start with his report. The month of May had the smallest number of calls for service to SEAL in several years. There were, however, 4 instances of people trying to get in to the pool, or found to be already inside the pool enclosure, who did not have access cards. In 2 of these cases, SEAL was responding to calls from actual pool members, reporting non-members and/or disruptive behavior at the pool. Upon discovering that people driving in to the COCC pool parking, or already inside the pool, do not have a card, they are advised that the pool is reserved for members and guests, and are asked to leave.

Pool: Although Darin could not attend the meeting, he had sent email earlier showing that the contracted repairs to the pavilion floor, and painting the whole structure, had been done that day. Mike said that he had bought some wood stain to be applied to the 2 new picnic tables he had brought to the pool on Splash Day May 27. Sandy said she has purchased the tiles and adhesives needed to repair the wall between the kiddie pool and the regular pool. It will probably be necessary to close and lock the pool for 1 full day to allow the tile-set to dry thoroughly before water level is raised again. New signs have been ordered for the pool to make it clear that the pool is reserved for paid members and their guests (up to 10, unless you want to pay for a Pavilion Rental Party). Resident Craig Pennington wants to show children’s movies at the pool, dusk to +90 minutes: Coming soon.

Deed Restrictions: The next drive-through will be held on Sunday, June 23, starting 1 pm. Mike will drive, Cassie will take photos, Marilyn will note the addresses and violations that are found. Several board members commented on how they had noticed yard maintenance seemed lax in many yards so far this Spring/Summer. That was easy to understand when it was raining almost every day, but it’s time to keep the grass mowed.

Social: Cassie said her next social event will be a Labor Day Luau, on Monday September 2, from 2-6 pm. It will be an Open Swim holiday. There was a discussion of whether the signs for events like this — featuring free food, free swim for CO residents — should be posted where the general public might see them and misunderstand who is invited. It was suggested that event signs should not be posted on Bolivia or anywhere that pass-though traffic would see them.

Security: A.D. said he had not been able to get in touch with his contacts at SEAL to discuss the current contract. It is proceeding on a month-to-month basis, and he believes that SEAL will want to increase their rates next year. They have not had a rate increase in 6 years.

Treasury: Charlie emailed the board the current financials, comparing 2019 to 2018 as of May 31. One noticeable difference was 27 Pool Memberships paid for last year by start of Summer, and 37 Memberships for 2019, with Sandy saying she was still getting checks for pool memberships. Sandy also said 3 homeowners’ accounts are going to our attorney for non-payment of their dues for 2 years.

Sandy adjourned the meeting at 9:15.

Due to hail storm that evening, COCC meeting was canceled on May 9, 2019.

Candlelight Oaks Civic Club, Inc
Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting
April 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, Darin Lee, Cassie Ramsay, A.D. Koen, Mike Kuhnen.
Absent: Johanna Wolfe, Charlie Bowman.
Resident: James Tiemann Guests: SEAL Sgt Bonsey, Patrick Coleman, City Councilwoman at Large Amanda Edwards.

The meeting started at 7:30 with Sgt Bonsey giving the SEAL report covering the month of March. That was the month that quite a few CO residents reported on the Facebook Group that their cars and in some cases their back yards had been entered by persons unknown, resulting in loss of loose change left in cars. Several video cameras in the neighborhood had showed two young men walking the streets after midnight and stopping at cars. On March 22, Sgt Bonsey saw 2 young males inside the swimming pool fence, and knew that there had been NO purchase of 2019 pool memberships at that point. He drove around to the Tidwell parking entrance and observed them leaving in a vehicle he recognized, and gave that address in his daily report to the Board. One incident of tires being slashed was reported in the 5000 block of Droddy.

At 7:40, the guests from City Hall were introduced: Amanda Edwards and her assistant Patrick Coleman. Sandy said she had been asked 3 weeks before the meeting if Councilwoman Edwards could come to the board meeting and speak to residents, but this was never followed up on and confirmed, so no announcement about it was made to the neighborhood. We had 7 Board members present and one resident, so Ms Edwards spoke to the small audience and answered questions. Her main topic was the Proposition B raise for the Fire Department, and how unusual it was for an employee raise to be voted on by the public, and not negotiated in collective bargaining. She answered a question about red light cameras, which she said are now outlawed in Houston. When asked if the City could help Candlelight Oaks get better fencing along Tidwell, similar to the sound barrier fencing that lines freeways running past residential areas, Ms. Edwards said that CoH has no program currently that could help with that. She recommended talking to District A Councilwoman Stardig and arrange to speak about public safety issues on Tidwell at the Council’s regular Tuesday afternoon session.

At 8:00 pm, resident James Tiemann said he was there to find out why he had received a Deed Restriction “Second Letter” in January, but had not received the “First Letter” which was referenced from November. He will be provided with another copy of his November letter. He inquired how many DR letters are being sent out, and was told that the January drive-through resulted in 42 letters being mailed. He said he drove around on his street after he read his January letter and counted 14 homes that had dark stains and mold-and-mildew as bad or worse than the pictures he was sent of his own home. He was told that doesn’t mean that he was singled out to get a letter, but that many homeowners simply ignore their letters. Marilyn had with her a list of 8 addresses where the same problems had been observed for a year or more. It was already on the agenda for this meeting to discuss the return of some DR penalty for those who get letters for the same uncorrected infractions, seen on every drive-through.

The board discussed the possibility of a $25 fine to incentivize DR improvements. This would be addressed in the 3rd or 4th letter, in the form of an advisory that if the infraction(s) were still present during the next drive-through — and no Plan to make corrections had been communicated to the DR Committee — a $25 fine would be added to the homeowner’s account. Some board members wanted there to be a board vote, on review of the letters and supporting photos, before assessing a fine. Sandy suggested that in lieu of a fine, an unresponsive homeowner’s DR history would simply be turned over to the attorney. No decision was made, but Sandy will discuss with the attorney.

Pool: Lori said she has already placed the 2019 Pool Membership forms in the document holder at the pool gate, and they will be posted on our social media. Tables and furniture at the pool area need to be cleaned up for the upcoming Easter egg hunt. Darin is going to treat for ants in the mulch of the playground. Mike made a motion to spend up to $750 for some new outdoor furniture to replace broken pieces, seconded by Sandy, approved by all. The Board has known for a while that the floor of the pool pavilion must be repaired or replaced. Marilyn moved that Darin’s company replace the floor boards and paint the entire pavilion for $1000, seconded by Mike, and all approved. There is a longer-range plan to put in a concrete floor the next time the treated wood eventually rots out again.

Landscaping: Darin moved to act on a $600 bid from his mowing contractor, previously discussed in Board meetings and emails, to clean up and haul away branches and vines along the sidewalk easements on Tidwell. A.D. seconded, all approved.

Treasury: Charlie and Sandy have been working on the list of homeowners who are delinquent in their COCC dues for over 2 years. These homeowners will soon receive a demand letter, a last chance to sign up for a payment plan, before their accounts go to the attorney. [See footnote #1 below.]

Security: A.D. had brought in copies of the current contract with SEAL, where he had highlighted for discussion several clauses that he wants to change or clarify at his upcoming meeting with SEAL management. The old contract contains confused wording as to whether CO pays monthly or weekly, and we would prefer monthly payments which are less hassle for our board. We want to continue with SEAL setting the schedule as long as about 1/2 of the patrols occur during hours of darkness.

Sandy adjourned the meeting at 9:33pm.
Footnote #1: Sandy sent information on Friday evening that there were 7 demand letters being mailed.

Candlelight Oaks Civic Club, Inc
Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting
March 14, 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 Relations

Present: Sandy Ericksen, Lori Bulla, Marilyn Harper, Michael Kuhnen, A.D. Koen, Johanna Wolfe. Absent: Darin Lee, Cassie Ramsay, Charlie Bowman. Guest: SEAL Sgt Bonsey.

Meeting started at 7:35pm with Sgt Bonsey’s report on SEAL activity. It was discussed how the SEAL Report Summary Page for February noted only 3 incidents of Burglary of a Motor Vehicle, while there have been many more reports of late-night BMVs posted on social media in February, and in March. Sgt Bonsey said that when residents flag him down on patrol to tell him about a previous BMV, and he asks if it was reported to either SEAL or HPD upon discovery, the answer is generally No. He encourages all residents to promptly report all crimes, no matter how minor, to both SEAL and HPD. Reporting to HPD is the only way to influence having more police cars cruising through CO.

Pool: Lori said she checked on whether the pool expenses had risen enough to require a higher cost for Our Savior Lutheran to hold their swimming classes here. She concluded that $400 was still equitable, same price as last several years, and same conditions as far as schedule and non-exclusive use. Lori made a motion to keep the OSL price at $400, seconded by Marilyn, all were in favor.

Lori said the pavilion floor must be replaced before the 2019 season gets in full swing. She has a bid from pool caretaker Ray Cowart to buy new treated lumber floor boards, install and paint them, and paint the rest of the pavilion wood in the same color for a price of $1500. After discussion, it was decided to ask Landscaping Chair Darin Lee if we should get other bids before deciding.

Landscaping: Darin was not at the meeting, but had sent the board an email showing the recent trimming on the entrance esplanade at Bolivia. He said his contractor had just mowed and edged on Tidwell, and had said they could cut and remove tree limbs hanging over backyard fences along Tidwell for $500-$600. After discussion, it was agreed that cutting of privately owned trees would not be done without notifying the homeowners involved. Sandy volunteered to walk along Tidwell and try to identify the homes that have trees hanging over their fences and the public sidewalks. Marilyn said that identifying addresses from Tidwell might be an easier job now, using the subdivision map that Gill created for his Deed Restriction Booklet, since it has the lots and their addresses on it.

Treasury: Sandy reported that Proledge and Charlie have issued invoices for those who had past dues in March. Checks in the mailbox really picked up after that, and while there are still some accounts that are not yet caught up, Sandy said there are only 2 accounts that are badly overdue. Those will get one more letter from the board.

Story Lady: Board member A.D. Koen reported that his wife Bobbie wants to schedule her first reading session for Saturday April 6, on the cul-de-sac on Oakhaven in front of the pool. After that, there is expected to be a rotating schedule each month to have Bobbie reading at the other two Children’s Library locations. A.D. said that printer Gill Daoust will make a sign for the program that will be put up on the cul-de-sac where a reading is going to occur. We will also have announcements in our social media.

Marilyn mentioned that some residents have asked her about getting more Library stands, as the three we have are often over-filled. We will ask Richard Solis, who got us the ones we have, to inquire if HISD can provide us with an additional 3 stands this Spring. A.D. went along to pick up the stands last year and said it was an easy process, once we had permission to go get them.

Planning & Government: Johanna was surprised to find that when she was absent from the February meeting, she had been assigned to a new task of handling Government Relations. However, she accepted this request to assist with local government outreach. Her first task will be to inquire if there is any “seed money” available to put up safety barrier fencing along Tidwell where it winds its way through Candlelight Oaks. She will contact Council member Brenda Stardig’s office, to determine if the city of Houston has any resources to assist or can provide direction. Working with others on the COCC board, she will also contact the Near Northwest Management District to see if they have any suggestions regarding the problem of cars crashing into backyard fences..

Sandy adjourned the meeting at 8:50pm.

Candlelight Oaks Civic Club, Inc
Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting
February 14, 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

Present: Sandy Ericksen, Lori Bulla, Marilyn Harper, Charlie Bowman, Cassie Ramsay, Michael Kuhnen, A.D. Koen. Absent: Darin Lee, Johanna Wolfe. Residents: Elva Medina, Celia Montalvo. Guest: SEAL Sgt Bonsey.

The meeting began at 7:35 with Sgt Bonsey’s SEAL report. The 2 residents at the meeting had come because one of their cars had been ransacked during the crime spree of pre-dawn Feb 12. Two juveniles, as seen on numerous surveillance cameras, had walked the neighborhoods in both CO and COV, trying car doors to find those not locked. It was appalling how many cars were not only unlocked, but contained items that their owners were later sorry to find had been stolen. If you can’t park your vehicle in a locked garage, it is essential to not leave valuables in it, and lock the doors.

The meeting continued with another complaint from one of the residents, namely of people parking in front of their mailbox. This is a common problem throughout Candlelight Oaks, due to so much street parking. Many people have found that the current carrier will not get out of the mail truck for a mailbox that is blocked. The resident believes her curb gets blocked by teenagers visiting her neighbors’ teens. She agreed to speak to the adult neighbors about the problem. Board members agreed that the Deed Restriction drive-throughs would not cite any home that tried a No Parking sign in front of their mailbox.

Treasury: Charlie gave the Treasurer’s report that our cash balance the night of the meeting was $215,830.55, with a deposit in transit of $360 from a dues payment. To date, about 65% of the homeowners have paid their 2019 dues in full. Some payment plans have been set up, and the remaining homes have not yet taken any action. Charlie said the current policy is to not let any past due account exceed $1,000, as beyond that point it is much harder to recover the unpaid balance. Sandy wants to post a reminder of the 2019 invoice on our social media, for anyone who may have just forgotten to pay it. Since Jan 31, a $5 penalty is added every month. To top off the financial report, Sandy applauded Charlie’s efforts to keep our records in good shape. Some payments to vendors were late or missed recently, but all is in order now.
Pool: Lori reported that the long-planned tile repair needs to be done before the next CoH pool inspection in May. There is also a pool pump needing repair, and a broken gate on the pump enclosure — due to the vandalism incident in December. It is expected that pool maintenance contractor Ray Cowart will be able to fix both. Lori said that the cost of pool chemicals has gone up quite a bit recently, so she may need to increase the cost to Our Savior Lutheran for their summer swim lesson program to use the COCC pool. She is going to research the past years’ history of charges to OSL and have that info for the March Board meeting, as a guide to a reasonable price increase for OSL. Sandy said the white brick wall on Tidwell needs a good cleaning, and Mike has a power washer, so we will probably try to schedule a work day this Spring. The homeowners on both sides of the Bolivia entrance will be asked if the workers can connect to their outside water to get the cleanup done.

Social: Cassie went over the list of social events she had been given last month. She requested a copy of the budget for each social event. Charlie gave her that information, which was originally worked up by Richard Solis, the previous Social Chair. The budget is a max amount to spend from the COCC account for each event. Cassie’s first event will be Easter, with her Egg Hunt to be held at the pool/playground on Saturday April 20. The eggs — plastic eggs with various goodies inside — will be brought by families who attend with their children, and then hidden by Board members. COCC will furnish beverages and sweet treats for both youths and grownups, and Cassie has a plan to have children create some crafts during the event.

Deed Restrictions: Mike set March 24 as the next Drive-through. He, Marilyn, and Cassie will go. Cassie was curious whether there was any way to use info from previous drives to assess improvement in real-time. Marilyn said that she has a spread sheet containing the condensed info from all her drives (found to be a total of 8, dating back to January 2018). But there simply isn’t enough time to refer to the chart during the drive. Cassie asked whether the DR letters — which currently contain photos of the problems — could be printed and used as reference during the drive. Marilyn said that would be even harder, considering there were 42 letters created for this January’s drive. It takes at least 2 hours to do the drive, and shuffling though charts and letters will not speed it up.

Charlie said he would like to ask new Board member Johanna Wolfe if she would like to do a Government Relations program to promote policies and methods that could benefit Candlelight Oaks. An example he gave was to find out if there is any way to get noise-abatement fencing along Tidwell, which would also address the long-sought advantage of more uniform fencing along the back yards on that corridor.

Sandy adjourned the meeting at 9:18.

Candlelight Oaks Civic Club, Inc
Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting
January 10, 2019

2019 BOARD MEMBERS:
Sandy Ericksen President
Lori Bulla Vice-President & Pool Committee Chair
Marilyn Harper Secretary & Acorn Editor
Charlie Bowman Acting Treasurer
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

Present: Sandy Ericksen, Michael Kuhnen, Marilyn Harper, A.D. Koen, Darin Lee, Cassie Ramsay, Johanna Wolfe, Charlie Bowman, Lori Bulla. Guest: SEAL Sgt Bonsey.

Meeting started at 7:30 pm with Sgt Bonsey’s SEAL report. He was happy to say that he has not seen dog poop near the playground since the PICK UP THE POOP sign was printed and put up near the corner of the pool fence, just before the path out into the parking lot and the walkway to the playground.

There was a discussion of a vandalism at the pool that occurred on Friday, December 21 during the afternoon. When SEAL officer arrived to check the pool, playground, and park around 5 pm, items of furniture and pool safety gear had been thrown into the water. There was some damage to the pump house gate and lock. It was reported that a nearby resident had observed 3 teenage males inside the pool enclosure around 2:30-3pm. The SEAL officer helped Pool Chair Lori Bulla to retrieve the items from the pool, and pool custodian Ray Cowart was able to repair the damages that had been inflicted.

Lori also reported there had been a problem in one of the bathrooms at the pool, about a week earlier in December. The ceramic lid of a toilet had been dropped and broken. Ray fixed the toilet and repaired a water leak that resulted in a visible puddle of water that ran down toward the pool gate.

There was a discussion of Landscaping issues, and Chair Darin Lee reported that the City is expected to do a mow on the Tidwell esplanades in January. The new landscaping company is scheduled to do regular maintenance and prune the crepe myrtles at our Bolivia entrance on January 11. Darin said he had called 3-1-1 about the backyard tree of a home on Bayou Vista that collapsed onto Tidwell on Dec 27. The eastbound lanes of Tidwell were completely blocked for several hours, until some CO men went out with a chainsaw and cut the fallen tree into pieces they could move out of the traffic lanes. The tree had recently been severely trimmed away from the power lines by Centerpoint. 3-1-1 told Darin that the tree debris could be picked up off the Tidwell esplanade by our January Heavy Trash Tree Waste run.

Charlie reported that bookkeeping needs to be updated, once all the records have been retrieved from the former Treasurer Jill Prado who has resigned. He said there are only a few homeowners who are delinquent at the end of 2018, and it may be necessary to have some demand letters sent.

New board member Cassie Ramsay said she has some ideas about improvements for CO, including additional patrol time by SEAL, although she realizes that will mean paying more to get the increased service. Marilyn asked Cassie to write up her thoughts as an article for the February Acorn.

There was then a discussion of whether COCC needs to start planning for a campaign to increase the annual dues. Charlie said that because all the services we are paying for — security, landscaping, utilities, Proledge assistance with bookkeeping, etc. — will eventually cost us more, we need to be sure we will have the funds to provide these services. Charlie noted it has been a long time since the increase from $240 to $360. (See #1 below.) CO has not been hurting for the past several years because Sandy and Charlie have been very successful at getting most homeowners who were badly delinquent to get on a payment plan and get their accounts caught up. But now that most owners are current, there will not be much more boosting of that type. Marilyn said that the main downside of a dues increase is the huge amount of time and effort needed to get the organized signatures of approval from a majority of the homeowners in all 4 sections, and then get all 4 Deed Restrictions updated and registered with the County Clerk.

The board then undertook to organize the 2019 Officers and Committees. There were currently 2 unoccupied seats. Marilyn Harper was inducted into one of those vacancies to finish out the term through December 2019. Another 1-year vacancy remains and several board members mentioned neighbors that might be interested in stepping in. TBD.

The following Officers and Committee Chairs were approved by show of hands:
President – Sandy Erichsen; Vice President – Lori Bulla; Secretary – Marilyn Harper.

Treasurer – Charlie Bowman will serve as Acting Treasurer, while Sandy and Lori have agreed to assist with various tasks as needed, such as visit the mailbox, process checks and take to bank, write checks, interact with Proledge company, etc — while hoping that a new recruit can be found to assume the office of Treasurer. Charlie will continue as the Assistant Treasurer even if a new board member can be found to take this position.

Pool Committee – Lori Bulla; Landscaping – Darin Lee; Deed Restrictions – Michael Kuhnen; Security Committee – A.D. Koen; Cassie Ramsay – Social Committee; Johanna Wolfe – Long Range Planning.

A.D. Koen had brought in some large glossy photographs taken by Don Kiger at the COCC Party with Santa held in the well-decorated front yard of his home. Board members were asked to look through the collection for neighbors they recognized, so the pictures could be given to the families.

Sandy adjourned the meeting at 9:13pm.
Footnote #1. During the meeting, no one could remember when the last dues increase had occurred. Charlie looked it up and emailed the Board the next day. The campaign to increase from $240 to $360 succeeded in 2002, and took effect on Jan 1, 2003. Thus it has been 16 years since that increase.

Candlelight Oaks Civic Club, Inc
Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting
December 13, 2018

2018 BOARD MEMBERS:
Sandy Ericksen President
Lori Bulla Vice-President (temp)
Darilene Bonnet Secretary
Jill Prado Salyers Treasurer
Lori Bulla Pool Committee Chair
A.D. Koen Security Committee Chair
Michael Kuhnen Deed Restrictions Chair
Richard Solis Social Chair; Acorn Delivery
Darin Lee Landscaping Chair
Charlie Bowman Assistant to Treasurer
Marilyn Harper (temp) ; Acorn Editor

Present: Sandy Ericksen, Lori Bulla, Marilyn Harper, Michael Kuhnen, A.D. Koen, Darin Lee. Absent: Richard Solis, Jill Prado, Darilene Bonnet, Charlie Bowman. Guest: SEAL Sgt Bonsey.

Sandy opened the meeting at 7:35 pm and asked Sgt Bonsey to give the Security Report. November was notable for having so few incidents reported. There was an uptick in the SEAL patrol reports of dog poop left in the parking lot at the CO playground. There were reports of suspicious people in the neighborhood, but one turned out to be a home reconstruction worker in a hazmat suit. Comcast had people surveying their cable boxes in back yards, and there were teenagers soliciting for school team uniforms. Two potential criminal sightings were reported: one woman got a late night call from her neighbor who had just seen a man walking away from the woman’s garage. The other was a possible 2-man burglary team with one knocking at the front door while the other tried to get in the back door. It was reported that the woman of the house was at home and managed to scare them off.

Darin reported the new landscaping company is in their 3rd month now. One of their hardest jobs is getting the edging on Tidwell up to snuff after many years of it not being done. They are also finding a line of rock-hard dirt along the curbs, and are using shovels to get it loose, then pitching it up onto the esplanades. With city mowing machines, those hard clods should be broken up and blend back in with the soil.

The board went over the arrangements for all the events scheduled for Sunday the 16th. Richard Solis and his Santa Claus will be at the Kiger Family home on Oakhaven to get started at 2 pm. A.D. Koen’s wife Bobbie will be reading holiday stories at the cul-de-sac in front of the pool. There was a discussion about who is going on the Holiday Lights judging drive. After allowing for time for supper, then A.D. will drive by to pick up the other judges at 7 pm. We will remind everyone with a post to social media to have their lights on that night if they want to be in the contest.

Sandy said one of the old Christmas signs is too worn out to use again this year, and will be replaced with a new sign. There was also a discussion of whether we could again have a NO DOGS sign at the Oakhaven entrance to the parking lot. Most felt that the problem is not the dogs, but the owners who walk them. Therefore a new sign will be made, politely asking dog walkers to pick up the poop if their dogs make a mess at the playground entrance or in the parking lot. Sandy said there is also a problem with lots of dog poop on the cul-de-sac on Droddy, so a Pick-Up-The-Poop sign should be placed there also.

DR Chairman Mike Kuhnen said he wants to have the next drive-through in the 2nd half of January, depending on everyone’s schedule. The date and who all will go on the drive will be decided at the January 10 board meeting.

Sandy reported that the COCC financial audit that was started during the summer has not finished yet, which seems to be running too slowly. She is going to check with another HOA in the area that is using the same auditing company and see if it is normal to take this long.

Sandy adjourned the meeting at 9:05 pm.

Candlelight Oaks Civic Club, Inc
Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting
November 8, 2018

2018 BOARD MEMBERS:
Sandy Ericksen President
Lori Bulla Vice-President (temp)
Darilene Bonnet Secretary
Jill Prado Salyers Treasurer
Lori Bulla Pool Committee Chair
A.D. Koen Security Committee Chair
Michael Kuhnen Deed Restrictions Chair
Richard Solis Social Chair; Acorn Delivery
Darin Lee Landscaping Chair
Charlie Bowman Assistant to Treasurer
Marilyn Harper (temp); Acorn Editor

Present: Sandy Ericksen, Lori Bulla, Marilyn Harper, Michael Kuhnen, A.D. Koen, Jill Prado. Absent: Darin Lee, Richard Solis, Charlie Bowman, Darilene Bonnet.
Residents: Gill Daoust. Guest: SEAL Sgt Bonsey.

Sandy opened the meeting at 7:35pm and asked Sgt Bonsey to give the Security Report. The October summary patrol reports were full of incidents regarding dogs and cats. Attention was called to cul-de-sacs with curbed circles that are being damaged by City heavy trash trucks, due to too many resident vehicles parked around those curbs. Residents should know when heavy trash day is, and park in your own garage and driveway so there is room for the big trucks to make it through the circles. Also, Sgt Bonsey advised the next newsletter should have an advisory for the upcoming holiday season – unfortunately the time of year when package theft and other property crimes usually increase.

Resident Gill Daoust, who is now the volunteer webmaster for candlelightoaks.com, reported that he has fixed some problems with email forwarding. The special handling for emails directed to Treasurer@candelightoaks.com and DeedRestrictions@candlelightoaks.com is working now. There had been some problems with the catch-all email board@candlelightoaks.com, but all appears to be working now.

The board discussed numerous announcements for the upcoming holiday and social events. The Christmas Lights contest will be judged the evening of Sunday, Dec 16. We will remind everyone in social media to have their lights on that night if they want to be in the contest. Social Chair Richard will be asked if he wants to do the COCC Party with Santa Claus earlier that same day. It was also discussed if the first “Story Hour” might also be presented that same afternoon by Bobbie Koen at the library stand on Oakhaven in front of the pool. Gill will be consulted about erasable signs that could be used at the library stands, announcing the day, time, and subject of an upcoming Story Hour,

A request was made for an announcement in the next newsletter about the new landscaping contract that covers everything COCC normally maintains, except for the pool/playground area which is still being done by Ray Cowart. Ray also has the maintenance contract for the pool operations. It is convenient to have pool mowing and pool cleaning done by the same company, to coordinate the short time that the pool needs to have the CLOSED sign on the gate.

Pool Committee Chair Lori Bulla said that nothing much is happening at the pool as the weather gets colder — except for pulling fallen leaves out of the filter baskets. A light on a pole overlooking the pool/playground area, that is believed to belong to Centerpoint, was reported to be working erratically. A.D. Koen who lives nearby will check the pole to see if it has a pole number and a phone number to call for service.

Treasurer Jill Prado reported that the balance was currently $174,433.35. Reminders sent out by Proledge, and personal coaching by Treasury Assistant Charlie Bowman, have led to several overdue accounts that have gotten paid up before the 2019 invoices go out. Invoices are expected to go out on Nov 15-16. Homeowners will now have an option to receive their invoice letter by email instead of paper letter delivered by US Postal Service. A trial run of this new feature has been conducted by emailing a test invoice to all the email addresses that COCC already had a record of. If you were paid up, your balance was $0.00. If you owed something, that email served as a reminder. Email addresses that bounced back as undeliverable have been removed from the COCC business list. Marilyn will post instructions on our social media, on how other homeowners can sign up for this. Annual dues are due by Jan 31, and late on Feb 1.

Deed Restriction Chair Michael Kuhnen reminded the board that the next DR drive-through was already set for Nov 17, 11 am to 1 pm. Newly elected board member for 2019, Cassie Ramsay, had requested at the October meeting to ride along to become familiar with the procedures. Marilyn will contact Cassie to get her address and remind her of when she will be picked up.

Sandy adjourned the meeting at 9:10 pm.