ThornwildeBuilding Captain Meeting Notes

October 8th, 2007

In attendance:

Lot

/ Name
57 / Karen Carlson
73 / Marlene Schaefer
43 / Bob Bulmash
27 / Tony Lopez
16 / Carol Potratz
76 / Kris Mayo
51 / Becky Mulligan
47 / Nancy Romer
30 / Joe Klein
44 / Lynn Nuzzo
25 / Angie Wood
88 / Steve Benson

Kris called the meeting to order.

New Building Captain

  • Joe Klein (Lot 30) attended the meeting. He is interested in joining the Building Captains. There are quarterly meeting with the captains. You would communicate items from the meeting to your group. Joe Klein (Lot 30) accepted the position of official Building Captain.

Annual Homeowners’ Meeting

  • The Annual Homeowners’ Meeting will be on Sunday, November 18th, 2007 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.
  • Carol Potratz (Lot 16) handed in proxies. Angie Wood (Lot 25) handed in Lot 40 – Vicki Haines.
  • Proxies were distributed to all of the Building Captains. They were told to have everyone sign them even if they were going to the meeting.
  • It is very important to get these Proxies. They can write a letter if they would like. If they need more proxies, please let us know.
  • We need someone else to get Proxies from Lot 58 thru Lot 65. We can do this as a Board. Lot 66 thru Lot 71 is not covered either. We will have to cover this area as well. We need to talk to Linda Richardson (Lot 69) to try to get coverage.
  • Becky Mulligan would like to know more about the Reserve Study. Diane Cabrera (Lot 60) would like to know which way the Board will be voting. She would like information in regard to the Reserve Study prior to the Annual Homeowners’ Meeting.
  • We need to publish the agenda for the Annual Homeowners’ Meeting. The agenda must be mailed out thirty-days prior to the meeting. It is stated in the By-Laws.

2008 Board Meeting and Volunteers

  • As a current Board, we have discussed that Angie Wood, Nancy Romer, Kris Mayo, and Tony Lopez are going to go forward in 2008 in their current positions.
  • We are looking for the captains to re-up their 2008 terms.
  • We need at least two to three people as Board Members in 2008. We need the captains to talk this up. You can talk it up or join up.

Reserve Study

  • Kris Mayo stated we are still in the process of analyzing the report. One of the biggest things that we have learned is to stop calling the funds a reserve for siding. It is about capital expenditures. It is about every aspect of the building and the land. We need everyone to use this language.
  • We will have a Board Meeting on Sunday, October 14, 2007, to get ready for the Annual Homeowners’ Meeting.
  • Things that we were concerned about were not as high of a priority as we thought… and things we did not think about were brought to light.
  • Reserve Study was created by the Board hiring a professional engineering firm to do a study of our reserve and finances. It is an analysis of all of the components that the Association is responsible for. This study evaluates their current condition and then based on the life of that item they establish a fund schedule. This is done over a thirty-year period. Earlier in the year, the Board made a decision to hire HBIS. We will present it at the annual meeting. This study does not recommend any vendors.
  • Carol Potratz stated that you MUST state that they do not recommend any vendors.
  • We should say Capital Expenditure Reserves, instead of Siding Funds.
  • We feel that there will be some changes in the maintenance structure. There is potential of the rear decks not be covered.

Bat Situation

  • Tony Lopez contacted a company today and left a message for a man named Jim. Jim is supposed to call Tony back.
  • Angie Wood stated the Building Captains should be aware of who has a bat problem. Look for staining on the siding. This is urine from the bats. Also, look for droppings in a pile. Mike Vassar (Lot 89) has dropping all over his front porch. We need to make sure homeowners check in the back and in front. Most of the bats are in the rear of the units. If the Building Captains do ask homeowners and they state they do have a bat problem, please write down their lot number and let us know. Currently, we have the follow lot numbers with a bat problem recorded 15, 16, 18, 19, and 20.
  • Carol Potratz stated that the only person that has not noticed a bat problem in her cluster is Kristine Miller (Lot 21). Ronald Patton (Lot 15), Carol Potratz (Lot 16), and Marlena Aeschliman (Lot 17) are mostly in the back. Joel Cagwin II (Lot 18) and Ed & Melissa Sokasits (Lot 19) are in the front. There are some in the front as well. We will tackle this is this year. She told all of them if they find a dead bat, please contact the Hotline. If they are rabid, this will escalate the problem and may allow us to be able to get help from the County.
  • Angie Wood stated this is the bottom line. She had helped out last year. In order to detract the bats, Angie stated that homeowners need to leave a light on. Well-lit areas do not have a problem with bats. A bat problem can be taken care of by turning on a light. We need to add this to the newsletter.
  • The type of bat we have migrates. They typically leave in the winter. Carol Potratz feels that all of her bats did NOT leave last winter.
  • Angie thinks she found someone that is an expert that is recommended by the DNR. We will let you know whom we go with on this program.
  • Kris Mayo is here all week and is willing to help. She is unable to assist on Thursday and Friday.
  • Kris stated that we all know there is a bat problem. If there are people in your cluster that have a bat problem, they need to speak up.

Building Captain Reports

  • Carol Potratz
  • There is a bat problem with her units.
  • Kristine Miller (Lot 21) has a problem. She has a leak from when the roof was done. The leak is right at the top of the foyer area. We will have to check this out. The Cottonwood tree is an issue that was a Cottonwood. She is very concerned. Based on the budget, we are unable to go forward with the tree this fall. Kris suggested to Kristine that they are more than welcome to do something themselves. They can do a fertilizer treatment. We will be working with an Arborist. She is very free to take care of it at her own expense. We will be working with an Arborist in 2008.
  • In fact, Vicki Haines (Lot 40) did fertilize her tree and took away the wood from around the tree to fix the problem. It is a Red Maple. It took her a day and half.
  • Maintenance issues are not a job of the Building Captains, but homeowners should call the hotline.

  • Steve Benson
  • There was criticism of the landscaping we did this year. We need to do some stump removal.
  • Steve and his wife are always taking care of their yards. The garbage company does NOT pick up the land waste bags any more. He should call the Hotline and Sunrise will take the lawn waste away. We encountered this problem this year, because Grout decided not to pickup land waste this year.
  • Tree removal is important. He wants to know if they can rip them out themselves. The Care of Trees will put together a plan for us. The Crabapple trees are going south. They may be able to save some of them. We will wait for next year for this project.
  • Sunrise created a tree ring around one of their trees. He is not happy with this. He would like to know if the Maple will be mulched. We had complained about the contract and Sunrise did all of the edging around the trees to be in accordance with the contract. There are a couple of areas that need to be fixed.
  • Mario Coix (Lot 84) has cracked globes on their lots. Carol has a big globe and Angie has the mini-globes. We have relaxed the guidelines in the lighting. When we replace the siding, we will do the lights at that time. Crest lighting currently carries the entire line of the globe-type fixtures. Bob Bulmash also has one large globe as well. Homeowners can do as they would like.
  • Tony Lopez
  • Tony has nothing at this time.
  • Angie Wood
  • Angie’s cluster has a new owner at Lot 28 who is an investor. It is currently vacant. William Stoll is gone. Angie spoke to them and they are going to fix it up and sell or rent the unit. Angie stated we would prefer an owner, but a rental would be all right.
  • Bob Bulmash
  • There is an issue with Vicki Haines (Lot 40) with a bird hole in the side of her deck. Bob asked if he should get filler for this bird hole. Becky Mulligan felt the foam would last forever. Bob has a sander that will trim the foam. Bob would be happy to do something. Kris said that he should go to the hardware store and ask. Tony will check with his father-in-law as well.
  • We know have Tree rings of death. The landscapers are supposed to fix the dirt that is mounded up on lower portion of the trees. They should be donuts.
  • We have a stump down the street. Bob feels we should get rid of that trunk. Bob has a chainsaw and would work on it. That would be great! Bob will contact Mike (Lot 72) for a chainsaw.
  • John Bryant (Lot 39) has a front door that is a mess.
  • Becky Mulligan
  • Becky has nothing to report at this time.
  • Karen Carlson
  • She is very unhappy with Sunrise and the mess they have made. The hours of work we put into the landscaping earlier this year during the beautification project is frustrating when the Sunrise has blown away a lot of the mulch. Angie and Kris had a meeting with Sunrise. They got tired of Len repeating himself. Kris went off on Len and Angie backed her up. We are currently looking into a new landscaper. They destroyed everything we did. Karen continues to waive them off. They leave mud tracks through the grass.
  • Whoever the new landscaping company is, we will establish a form that will state what we do or do not do for each lot. We will establish the needs of each house. It is our goal by the Annual Homeowners’ Meeting to have this form completed by each homeowner. The bottom line is that the Association is responsible for the exterior of the property.
  • Karen is concerned that the current company will NOT be able to handle this request. She feels that they should cut the grass and do it nicely. Every other Association around here has a lot nicer grass than us. They whack down the bushes and then we struggle to get them to grow. We are as frustrated as everyone else. WarrenvilleLakes has a great landscaper. We have a few quotes already. We have a laundry list of landscapers to call. If we do switch landscaping companies, it will be a nightmare at first. It will take them a bit of time to get into the groove. We have had Sunrise for years. We have homeowners that are maintaining their beds very well.
  • She has a Crabapple tree in her front yard that will not allow grass to grow. Becky stated that we would not be able to replace the trees. The reserve study was initially built up for roof, siding, and fencing. It was when the roofs got completed, that we started calling it the capital expenditures.
  • Marlene Schaefer
  • Anne Haas (Lot 74) has a serious bat problem. Marlene needs to let Anne know that if she finds a dead bat, she needs to contact the Hotline immediately. This will allow us to take it for testing to the County.
  • Joe Klein
  • He will get his Proxies signed and make notes for future meetings.
  • Osamah Ali (Lot 29) was sent a letter from the Association that he had 90 days to hire a contractor to fix his foundation. We should hire someone that would fix the foundation. There is a deck that is over the cracked foundation. His father called our attorney to say that we were singling him out because he is a Moslem. And that we cannot justify this repair. He was reminded that there was a letter in the file when they closed on their property that stated the crack in the foundation was the homeowner’s responsibility to repair it. We had no idea that he was a Moslem. He has a safety issue. Joe said he spoke to him. He is waiting for us to get a price on the foundation. He would like a week’s worth of notice to seeing the pricing. He understands that they are not going to fix the deck until the foundation is fixed. He purchased the house like this and he knew he was responsible for it. Angie said that we should give Joe the paperwork from the City recommending a contractor. This literature was given to Joe to give to Lot 28. We do not have any bids yet. Joe should give him the paperwork. We should let him know that he should get multiple bids from several companies. Kris stated that the Board will follow up with Lot 28. Bob Bulmash stated if we have any liens against homeowners, we should apply interest to the loans. Joe stated that he is planning on staying there for three to five years. Bob Bulmash stated in regard to the anti-Moslem comments, we should state that we are not an anti-Moslem organization.
  • Joe Klein (Lot 30) has a lot of rust spots on his garage. He would like to put his garage door on the list for next year. This would be noticed in the Spring Walkthrough. We will note it in the spring walk through. He also feels that his front steps are a mess. Angie and Tony inspected his stairs. The bottom stair was repaired and the screw was so long that the repaired pieces cracked in half. He has bare wood on the bottom of his steps. They never came back and painted his stairs. All stairs have flaking paint. The last set of repairs that were done did not get painted. They are on the schedule to be painted next year. The repair was NOT done very well. This was most likely repaired by Mark Hoff. He drilled in and cracked the stairs. Kris stated that in previous years it has been normal for the paint not to be completed until the following year. He is happy as long as it is on the schedule.
  • He does not like Crabapple trees either.
  • Bricks have a lot of moss and green stuff. Do we need to get a chemical power wash? Angie stated Tilex works great!
  • We need to remind folks about the items we do as an Association. Go through garage doors, painting, etc. We have enough money to do three or four decks a year. Joe stated that we should do a write-up on the typical maintenance.
  • Lynn Nuzzo
  • Renters next door moved out without any word. We should call the owners to find out what the game plan is. Angie will call them.
  • Crabapple tree is now dying in the front. We have a lot of big dead limbs. She does not have a way of cutting them down. The late frost this year will mess up a lot of stuff. Who knows how it will look next year.

Miscellaneous Comments

  • Carol Potratz was confused on the foundation of the house issue. Becky stated that the By-Laws state the Association is responsible for normal wear and tear. We had the City out to make sure that it was not water settlement. Kris heard that there was a fire. There was a fire in the home of Osamah Ali (Lot 29) prior to them moving in. Lot 28 has a minor crack. The Board debated and discussed that it was the homeowner’s responsibility. They were notified through our attorney. They had asked for the deck to be repaired and then we realized that the foundation was cracked. At that time, she sold the house and the new homeowner was sent a letter. Carol stated that Joel Cagwin (Lot 18) is not going to sell and are going to stay until the spring.
  • Carol is looking for a bracket for his doorbell. She has gone to numerous hardware stores. Angie stated Carol should try Restoration Hardware.
  • Cindy & Jeff Stob (Lot 82) have sold their house. She stated she accepted a low price and sold it for $200,000. She called to apologize for taking the low pricing.

Edgebrook Shooting

  • Bob Bulmash stated that there is an alleged shooter that was put in jail. One of our homeowners walked over and talked to the homeowner. There are renters there. There was a party and then a shooting. It was a domestic situation. It looks like the renters are out.
  • Bob Bulmash felt that Edgebrook should disallow renters. They also need to raise their association fees.
  • We can amend our By-Laws with 90%. Angie stated the City started a program about Strong Neighborhood. The meeting was an education process by the City. They are currently surveying all of the neighborhoods. They were asking for ideas. It was in the newspaper and in the newsletter.
  • The Building Captains would like an updated address list. Nancy will e-mail to them.
  • Kris thanked everyone for their help this year and said that we will see them all at the Annual Homeowners’ Meeting.

Kris Mayo called the meeting to a close.

ThornwildeBuilding Captains’ Meeting – October 8th, 2007Page 1 of 8