Bent Tree Property Owners Association (BTPOA)
Budget Meeting Minutes - Thursday, February 16, 2006
Woodmoor Improvement Association Barn,
Minutes Approved at Annual Meeting on September 14,
2006
The BTPOA 2005 Budget Meeting
was called to order at 6:50 pm. John Heiser, President of the BTPOA Board of
Directors, presided.
1.
Call to
Order: The meeting was called to
order, John welcomed the group, introducing himself and Board members, Kathy
Decker and Gail Bates. All of the property owners in attendance, in turn,
introduced themselves. After checking the roster of attendees, the required
quorum (39 lot owners) was not present – 23 property owners were signed in. The
By-laws require an annual budget meeting and, in matters of any voting, a
minimum of 39 property owners present. However, without a quorum, the budget
can be adopted as proposed in the mailing to all Association members prior to
the meeting.
2.
Approval
of Annual Meeting Minutes and Election to fill Board Vacancies: These and all other voting issues were deferred;
remaining agenda issues would be open for discussion. John noted the
resignations of Tim McLaughlin and Lisa Stahl from the Board and solicited
volunteers for the vacancies. The vacancies can be filled by appointment by the
Board. Bruce Bates indicated that Duane Fitch, although unable to attend this
evening, would be interested; Bruce called Duane to verify. No further
volunteers were received. John urged the attendees to give the matter more
thought. The next Board of Director’s meeting is to be held March 9, 2006 at
Kathy Decker’s home – all Association members are welcome. (P.S. – it was noted
that Kathy does provide snacks and refreshments.) Sign-up sheets for all
Association committees were circulated.
3.
Treasurer’s
Report: Kathy Decker presented the
BTPOA financial report – copies of the report were made available to those in
attendance. As of December 31, 2005, total income for 2005 was $23,525.90 and
total expenses were $20,430.35 (the largest items being water augmentation -
$9,007 and insurance - $2,521). For 2005, total account balances were
$82,123.45; a growth of $3,095.55 over 2004. No questions from the floor.
4.
Management
Company Discussion: Bruce Bates and
John Heiser introduced the discussion by stating that our Articles of
Incorporation, By-Laws, Protective Covenants, Rules & Regulations, and
Colorado Senate Bill 2005-100 (SB 05-100) address the policies and procedures
governing our Association and ways to comply. Work is underway to amend the Association’s
By-Laws and Rules & Regulations to incorporate the mandates of SB 05-100,
particularly to establish consistency in covenant enforcement, fees/fines
structure, and a process for appeals. All aspects of SB 05-100 went into effect
on January 1. As the result of previous research, John (and the Board)
distributed a spreadsheet summarizing the services offered and fees charged by
Courtney & Courtney, Bennett-Shellenberger, and
Management Advantage. All three provide similar financial, physical, and
administrative services for fees varying from $48 per lot to $75 per lot, plus
some additional start-up costs and additional per hour services. Each firm
typically assigns a manager to work with the Association and generally arranges
for the property owner to report problems to them for action plus one to three
of their own drive-throughs per month to monitor
covenant compliance. Our own Covenant Compliance Committee does this now. Each
company does have their own “proprietary” financial management software, which could
present some problems interfacing with our existing member and financial data.
Several questions and comments from the floor led to further discussion. In
concluding, John cited that experiences with these management companies vary;
Management Advantage has been in business since 1992 and Bennett-Shellenberger has a good reputation. All contracts would be
renewing with 30-day notice. The general guidance offered by the audience was
for the Board to look more closely at having the company handle just the
covenant compliance portion.
5.
Well
Survey Discussion: John explained
that hydrologist Julia Murphy, at our annual meeting in September, discussed
some of the issues with groundwater in our area. She had described the
groundwater monitoring services she offers. Murphy had also noted that the
groundwater levels in some local wells are dropping one to ten feet per year.
In addition to water quality testing, she can measure the water level with
little risk of well contamination, using instrumentation at the well cap.
Discussion followed as to what action Bent Tree should pursue. A question was
posed whether homeowners were required to disclose a water level drop when
selling. Do we wait until our wells run dry? A community-wide well survey would
involve taking measurements in about 25 wells over several years. Rick Smith
questioned if this survey would be done with existing wells? Another owner
questioned the cost. There was no consensus to pursue a community-wide well
survey further at this time.
6.
Water
Rights Discussion: John Heiser stated
that developer Bob Moore and his partner Ken Barber retained all the water
rights from under Bent Tree. They assigned part of those rights to the Great
Divide Water Company (GDWC) that handles augmentation for Bent Tree (and several
other subdivisions) in accordance with water court rulings. Moore and Barber
have been offering to sell all the remaining rights. Jerry Lopez, the
Association’s liaison to the GDWC, noted that no one was interested in
7.
Woodmoor
Public Safety (WPS) Security Patrol Discussion: At the Association’s annual meeting, the WPS Chief
outlined the armed security patrol service they provide. The WPS Chief
indicated that they could extend their patrol service to cover Bent Tree at a
cost of $145 per house per year. Steve Bassett questioned whether the community
actually had a need for these services. John Heiser cited a couple incidents in
the past but noted that the crime rate is fairly low. Neighbor Watch has signs
posted at all entrances and this concept has minimized security issues.
Consensus of attendees calls for no action at this time.
8.
Setting of
Annual Assessment: In view of the
foregoing discussions, owners in attendance are happy with where we are.
9.
Budget
Discussion/Approval: The budget was
presented to all BT property owners in attachment to the budget meeting notice
mailed to all owners of record and were made available to all in attendance.
The only question that arose regarding the budget was whether or not the
Association could get a rate better than 3% on its’ CDs held. Steve Basset, Sr.
commented that the quality of life in Bent Tree makes the $72 assessment per
lot a bargain! With no further discussion, and as provided by our Bylaws,
without a quorum, the budget is approved as proposed.
10.
Schedule: John
Heiser asked what best night would be best for the association to hold its’
meetings. Since there did not appear to be consensus for any particular night,
upcoming meetings will set by the Board and may likely remain as stated in the
meeting notice/handouts:
a.
Annual Meeting -
Thursday, Sept. 14, 6:30 p.m. (“on or about September 15th”)
b.
Next Board
Meeting - Thursday, March 9. Kathy and John Decker’s house
c.
Other Events -
July 4th Potluck?
11.
Any Other Business…No further business, the meeting was adjourned.
Minutes recorded and prepared
by Jerry Wagner, revised by John Heiser. Approved by the
Board of Directors May 12, 2006.