Bent Tree Property Owners Association (BTPOA)

Annual Meeting Minutes - Friday, September 16, 2005

 

The BTPOA 2005 Annual Meeting was called to order at 6:35 pm. John Heiser, President of the BTPOA Board of Directors, presided.

1.      Quorum – After checking the roster of attendees, it was found that a quorum (39 lots represented) was not initially present. John decided to proceed with reports and discussion. All motions and votes described below were deferred until about 7:30 p.m. when it was determined enough property owners had arrived to achieve a quorum.

2.      Call to order, welcome, introductions, and conduct of the meeting – John welcomed the group. The property owners in attendance introduced themselves. John summarized Robert’s Rules of Order and its application in the conduct of the meeting.

3.      Motions to accept the tellers and approve the agenda – Ron Britt and Ken Blutt volunteered to act as tellers in all matters requiring balloting. The tellers and agenda were adopted by unanimous consent.

4.      Treasurer’s Report – Kathy Decker presented a BTPOA financial report. Copies of the report were made available to those in attendance. As of September 14, 2005, total assets were $84,134 and total liabilities were $3,682. For the current year though September 14, total income was $16,128 (annual dues accounting for $13,591) and total expenses were $16,208 (the two largest items were water augmentation accounting for $9,007 and insurance accounting for $2,521).

5.      SB 05-100 status and concerns – John noted that all aspects of the bill are to go into effect on January 1, 2006. He added that the final signed legislation and other materials are available on the NEPCO web site at www.nepco.org. The materials include a checklist for policies and procedures and a comprehensive analysis of SB05-100 and ways to comply. John said the new law necessitates changes in our Bylaws and Rules and Regulations and asked for volunteers to form a committee to prepare those changes. Steve Bassett, Helen Fichtel, Duane Fitch, Ed Herlik, Dave Hollenbach, and Lisa Stahl volunteered to help prepare the changes needed to comply with SB 05-100.

6.      Covenant Compliance Discussion – Claude Todaro, Chair of the Covenant Compliance Committee, reported that cars left out and barking dogs continue to be the most common covenant violations. He added that 37 covenant violation letters had been issued and one matter was referred to the association’s attorney, James Duve. Steve Bassett, Gail Bates, Duane Fitch, and Tim McLaughlin volunteered to help with covenant compliance.

7.      Management Company Discussion – John reported as follows on his research into the services available from local management companies and associated costs:

a.       Management Advantage (phone 473-5000): John reported the Ridge at Fox Run uses Management Advantage. Their representative is Shirley Haskew. Management Advantage performs a wide variety of services including recordkeeping, preparing minutes and newsletters, sending invoices for assessments, covenant enforcement, and obtaining bids for landscaping, detention pond maintenance, and tree inspection. With roughly 250 lots, Fox Run’s annual assessment is $208 ($52,000 per year), much of which (perhaps $30,000 per year) goes to the management company. The Donala Water and Sanitation District serves all the lots so Fox Run does not have a water augmentation program.

b.       Bennett-Shellenberger (phone 471-1703): John reported that he spoke with property manager Max Gross. Max lives in Sun Hills and would likely be the property manager for Bent Tree if we elected to use Bennett-Shellenberger. Max estimated covenant compliance for our 257 lots would take 2-3 hours per month to write letters with occasional drive-throughs to check compliance. Max said he would mostly rely on residents to call him with concerns about covenant violations. Max said the hourly rate is $75. Bennet-Shellenberger, which has been in business in Colorado Springs since 1890, is a full-service property management company offering a variety of services similar to Management Advantage.

c.       Warren Management (phone 534-0266): King’s Deer uses Warren Management for covenant compliance and office work including bookkeeping and billing for assessments. King’s Deer consists of about 560 lots of which about 140 are still owned by the developer. The annual assessment is $182. John noted that Warren Management has been involved in litigation with Stratmoor Hills residents over covenant enforcement methods.

d.       Woodmoor Improvement Association (phone 488-2693): Woodmoor has employees who handle management of the association including a security patrol. They are no longer offering management services to other associations although security patrol services are available.

e.       Others: John reported there are a variety of other management companies operating in the area including Muldoon & Associates (phone 591-8332).

The attendees requested that additional information be obtained for discussion at the February 2006 Budget Meeting.

8.      Woodmoor Public Safety Discussion – Woodmoor Public Safety (WPS) Chief Kevin Nielsen described the armed security patrol service they provide. If they apprehend a crime suspect, they make a citizen’s arrest and hold the suspect until the sheriff deputy arrives. If requested, they also assist the sheriff’s department and police officers from Monument and Palmer Lake. WPS responds to security alarms and complaints about noise and fireworks and, if requested, will check on houses while the residents are on vacation. Nielsen said they have 8 full-time officers who complete a total of 40 hours of patrols per day. For 16 hours each day, there are two officers on duty. He said they could extend their patrol service to cover Bent Tree at a cost of $145 per house per year. Since there are currently about 200 houses in Bent Tree, the total cost per year would be about $29,000.  Discussion on whether the BTPOA should contract with WPS for patrol services was deferred to the February Budget Meeting.

9.      Groundwater Discussion – Geologist and groundwater hydrologist Julia Murphy (Groundwater Investigations, LLC, 495-0661) discussed some of the issues with groundwater in our area and described the groundwater monitoring services she offers. In addition to water quality testing, which costs about $240 per well, she also uses a sonic water level instrument that can measure the water level with little risk of well contamination. The cost for one measurement of the water level in a well is about $157. Murphy noted that groundwater levels in some local wells are dropping one to ten feet per year. A community-wide well survey would involve taking measurements in about 25 wells over several years. It was noted that one Bent Tree property owner’s well failed and was successfully re-drilled. One of the attendees reported that the failed well did not go dry but rather had problems with silt. Discussion of whether to contract with Murphy for a community-wide well survey was deferred to the February Budget Meeting.

10.  Minutes of the Special Meeting March 22, 2005 – The minutes of the March 12, 2005 Special Meeting were published in the July/August 2005 Bent Tree Log. Those minutes were approved by unanimous consent.

11.  ACC Election to fill three 3-year positions – Bruce Bates, ACC chairperson, described the ACC’s authority and responsibility. Due to turnover on the ACC all three positions needed to be filled. Bates, Duane Fitch, and Tom Hilfers were nominated for the one, two, and three-year positions, respectively. They were elected to those positions by acclamation.

12.  Election of Director – One three-year position on the Board of Directors was up for election. Lisa Stahl was nominated from the floor. No further nominations were received. Lisa was elected by acclamation.

13.  Other Business – None.

14.  Adjournment – The meeting adjourned at approximately 9 p.m. and was followed by a short meeting of the board of directors.

Minutes prepared by John Heiser, President, BTPOA, February 11, 2006. Notes taken by Tim McLaughlin were used in preparing these minutes. Approved by the Board of Directors, May 12, 2006.