Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting
Willow Meadows Civic Club, Tuesday, October 14, 2014, 7:00 p.m.,
United Orthodox Synagogue
Members in Attendance: Emory Glover, Steven Paletz, Phuong Vo, Jim Schroeder, Howard Lindsay, Stephen Polnaszek, Baruch Brody, Dan Oko, and Eric Wolz; Sharon Pope also attended.
Call to Order, Establishment of Quorum, and Adoption of Agenda—Emory Glover
Emory called the meeting to order after noting presence of quorum at 7:03 PM.
Public Comment (from visiting neighbors, if any; 5-minute limit): None
Reading of the Minutes—Jim Schroeder, Secretary
Minutes of August Board meeting had been circulated electronically and were distributed in hard copy. Minutes were approved without objection.
Treasurer’s Report—Phuong Vo, Treasurer
Phuong reviewed most recent profit/loss statement and balance sheet. We are $14,000 shy of budgeted amount for 2014 assessments. Picnic income and expenses were discussed; more expenses will still be reported. Legal fees for work by attorney for By-laws revisions were paid this month. Phuong noted that our Beal Bank CD will mature at the end of October. Emory asked her to check with BBVA Compass Bank about CD purchase; Baruch also suggested checking with Ally Bank. Jim noted that WMCC By-laws require that we only invest for one year at a time. The Treasurer’s report was accepted.
Standing Committee Reports
Technology Committee—Erich Wolz, chair
Eric reported that there are no major changes to or issues with the website. Jim asked if the issue of having all email addresses correctly included in Board of Directors in the email group could be addressed again since that group still does not work for all members of the Board. Eric will test again to see if anything can be done. The WMCC domain name and web hosting must be renewed; Eric will take care of that with budgeted amount for his committee. Stephen asked about being able to send email messages using Security Chair or Directory Chair, not his personal address. Eric will look into this. He will also check for others (President, and Secretary, for example).
Security—Stephen Polnaszek, chair
For the most recent month, there were two burglaries of a motor vehicle, one criminal mischief, one burglary of habitation, and one aggravated robbery. This robbery incident is an ongoing investigation with two suspects in custody.
Architectural Control—Baruch Brody, chair:
Baruch reported that his committee had issued four refusals for miscellaneous building projects including carports and a driveway. He also reported that the new house construction project on Lymbar has been postponed indefinitely.
Deed Restrictions Enforcement Committee—Lawrence Saenz, chair
Absent, report sent by email: Lawrence sent a listing of active violations including one of a resident running a business out of the house; one of an abandoned car which had been hit by a downed tree; and a trailer parked on resident’s property. There were also a few cases of big trash piles.
Maintenance and Beautification Committee—Cindy Mora, chair
Absent, no report.
Publications Committee—Howard Lindsey, chair
The next publications deadline is 11/17/14 for December newsletter. Lawrence should be reminded to write an article on the December election since By-laws revisions will be included in that ballot.
Motion to accept Standing Committee reports made by Howard, seconded by Stephen. Motion passed.
Special Committee Reports
Directory Committee—Stephen Polnaszek, chair
Stephen has now gotten complete resident information from Phuong and is checking information against HCAD to verify ownership/residences. The goal is to have Security, Treasurer, and Technology able to use the same information.
Deed Restrictions Revision Committee—Lawrence Saenz, chair
Absent, no report
Fall Picnic Committee—Margo Barvin, chair, not present; report given by Stephen Polnaszek
Emory asked Jim send a letter of appreciation to Margo for her work on the picnic and continued best wishes for a speedy recovery from injuries sustained in recent automobile accident. All Board members agreed that the picnic was a great success with over 500 residents attending, a higher participation than previous years. Stephen said Margo’s committee be discussing lessons learned from this event. Steven observed that serving Kosher food was viewed very positively. He also reminded the Board that unless the President of the synagogue approves a commitment, there can be no commitment. We also need to get clarification of how letters of participation for volunteers will be prepared, especially for students. Steven will take care of letters for Beren School students. Margo will need to handle letters for the Boy Scouts. Jim will donate new locks/keys for WMCC storage unit after current lock is removed.
Policy and Procedures Manual—Steven Paletz, chair
Steven will finish revision of manual before the end of the year.
Motion to accept Special Committee reports made by Howard, seconded by Baruch. Motion passed.
Unfinished Business
December election and vote
Steven moved that we put forward for vote items that are required by the State separate from those that we are proposing; Baruch seconded. Motion passed. Jim asked who does necessary work to prepare the ballot packet for the December. Election Committee is supposed to do this work. Lawrence and the attorney who worked with By-Laws revision will prepare that portion of the ballot package. Budget ballot must be prepared for vote; as chair of the Budget Committee, Jeff Peters should prepare that part of the ballot package. Emory asked Jim if he would prepare the ballot for officer election. Jim can get information from last year’s officer election from Phuong and add bios for candidates who didn’t run last year (Tina Meyer, Heather Deiss, Jeff Peters, and Margo Barvin). The proposed budget needs to be approved by the Board before it is submitted for vote. Robert Szefranski will be asked to chair Elections Committee. Steven will ask our attorney if we can lump all State-requirement proposals into one vote. He will also ask if we can have an “approve all” vote for items we will be adding. To print the ballot package, we will use the same person who has done work for us in the past but now is with a different company. Board needs to have a called meeting to adopt the Budget. Emory suggested October 19th or October 26th at 7:00 PM; he will check with Jeff Peters and notify Board members of the meeting date.
Outside accounting firm
In August, Jim sent a message to the Board via email detailing the division of work between inside and outside accounting work. Contained within that message was a recommendation to accept the proposal of Cy Sanders CPA to handle the outside accounting work. A motion was made by Jim and seconded by Stephen to accept the proposal of Cy Sanders CPA. Discussion: Steven observed that if the 2015 budget doesn’t pass, the next Board will have to take care of funding this proposal. This specific item was shared in September general meeting and in the September Newsletter during discussion of the Budget. Motion passed.
Collections
Jim reported that the effort to collect past due assessments started in May with the mailing of 212 notification letters in four categories of amount owed. In July, three categories of letters were mailed, totaling 124. In August, 99 letters in four groups were mailed. So far, we have collected more than budgeted amount for collection of past dues, but the remaining cases are going to be hard to collect. For the next step, we will need to begin sending certified “30 day” letters and will have to pay legal expenses for each which must be paid by resident with collection. Dan asked how the financial benefit in these cases works. Steven would like for Board members to see specifics of any cases that will be taken to court. Emory agreed and said that keeping Board members informed is a necessary step to protect the entire Board.
New Business:
Dan reminded members of the upcoming Red Elementary Rodeo Roundup on November 8th. Howard will represent the Board at this event.
Adjournment moved by Phuong seconded by Dan; motion passed. The next regular meeting of the Board will be at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, November 11th.
Respectfully submitted,
Jim Schroeder
2014 Secretary, 2014
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