Bent Tree Property Owners’ Association
Board of Directors’ Meeting Minutes
September 10th, 2007
Monument Sanitation District Office, 130 2nd St., Monument
Attendees: Board Members: John Heiser, Tom Hilfers, Chris Patterson, Debbi Maser
Others: Jerry Lopez, Darin Manis, Jim Maser, Jeanne Thomas, Red Oaks, LLC
1) Review and approval of August 13th, 2007 Board of Directors Meeting Draft Minutes
a) Motion was made by John Heiser to approve the August 13th, 2007, Board of Directors Meeting Draft Minutes with minor changes; seconded by Tom Hilfers, and all votes in favor.
2) Hearing(s) if any
a) Red Oaks Associates had sent a hearing notice to owners regarding repeated parking violations. The hearing notice was read by the BOD, and the owners were provided opportunity to present their case and ask questions before the BOD went to executive session to make decision. Ruling by the BOD was that the parking violations cited had been addressed and fixed, and did not warrant additional action other than it was asked that the owner notify the CCC if they were planning on having extended guests in the future. If there were future violations, however, this event may influence the BOD’s decision. Action for Debbi to send letter to owner to close the issue. Completed.
3) Final Preparations for Annual Meeting September 13th
a) Agenda / Meeting Notice: Completed – Debbi completed and mailed letters 8/31/07.
b) Woodmoor Barn - Completed – Debbi paid deposit and booked the meeting room.
c) Refreshments – Chris Patterson volunteered to take care of refreshments NTE $150.
d) Handouts – Debbi got direction on how many copies of each of the various documents to have available for the meeting.
e) Debbi asked if the Proxima was going to be needed for the presentations and the answer was no.
f) Jim Maser asked if in preparation for the Annual Meeting had the BOD made a decision about increasing the annual dues, and if so, to what? John Heiser referred back to the February Annual Budget Meeting notes and that the recommendation was to propose an increase to $120 per year per lot. After discussion regarding anticipated and unanticipated costs, Debbi Maser made a motion, that was seconded by John Heiser, that the proposal of an increase in the annual dues to $120 be presented at the September Annual Meeting, and all votes were in favor.
g) Jim Maser asked for clarification in preparation for the Annual Meeting what the specific requirements were to change the covenants? John Heiser summarized that to do this the recommended change would have to be presented to the owners, there would have to be a controlled written ballot, and two-thirds of all residents (owners/lots) in Bent Tree would have to vote in favor of the change for it to be implemented.
h) There had been email discussions regarding a proposed topic to present at the September Annual Meeting regarding contracting with one vendor to do all of the trash pickup in Bent Tree for a fixed (reduced) rate. The BOD members present felt that this was not something that fell under the authority of, nor could it be mandated by the BOD. John Heiser made a motion that trash removal would not be contracted by the Bent Tree BOD/HOA, the motion was seconded by Chris Patterson, and all votes were in favor.
4) ACC Report: Tom Hilfers
a) Lot 161 – Builder / Owner wants a variance to build closer to the property line. The ACC requires County approval to do this, so the owner has been directed to provide written approval from the County to the ACC, and also submit revised site plans to the ACC for approval.
b) Lot 165 – Septic system has not been approved. Duane is working with the owner to resolve.
c) Lot 246 – There are issues regarding water / drainage to the adjacent lot that are being worked.
d) Tom announced that the ACC now has regularly scheduled meetings the third Thursday of each month and that agendas and minutes are planned to be posted on the website. The ACC committee members are also working on drafting ACC-specific R&R’s.
e) There was discussion regarding when trees are an ACC or CCC issue, and it was clarified that live trees fall under the purview of the ACC, and dead trees fall under the purview of the CCC.
5) Treasurer’s Report: Debbi Maser
a) Bills paid:
i. Ck #2346, 8/13/07 – Monument Sanitation District Mtg $15.0
ii. Ck #2347, 8/13/07 – Reimbursement $72.30
iii. Ck #2348, 8/14/07 - Justin Armstrong (41 hrs) $451.00
iv. Ck # 2349, 8/13/07 – Pinnacol Assurance $339.00
v. Ck #2350, 8/14/07 – Red Oaks, LLC for $1342.50
vi. Ck #2351, 8/17/07 – Renewal of PO Box $26.00
vii. Ck #2352, 8/17/07 – Lebel bill $102.50
viii. Ck #2353, 8/29/07 – WIA to reserve for Annual Meeting $120.00
ix. Autopay for Mt. View Electric $30.00
b) Deposits made: None
c) Provided Lot 50 HOA Statement to North American Title.
d) Debbi Maser to replace Kathy Decker as the Bent Tree “registered agent.” In process.
6) Committee Reports
a) BEAUTIFICATION AND TRAILS: BOD Liaison - Tom Hilfers – John Stahl CC
i. The BOD expressed dissatisfaction with the work that was contracted for trail enhancements. There has been no visible progress, work to be done has not been completed, and there were concerns regarding payment of $2500 but not receiving / seeing the expected improvements. July 9th, 2007: Action for Tom to contact John Stahl to follow up on this and bring status and resolution to next BOD meeting. August 13th, 2007: Pending. September 10th, 2007: Still pending although it looks like some work is planned as the Sullivan equipment has been parked in Bent Tree.
ii. Discussion regarding landscaping maintenance and / or additional future work needed. June 11th, 2007: Action for Tom Hilfers to work with the Beautification and Trails Committee to define needs and budget requirements. September 10th, 2007: Pending approval of 2008 budget.
iii. Chris Patterson stated that various entrances have burned-out lights... September 10th, 2007: Chris took action to replace the lights.
b) COVENANT COMPLIANCE: BOD Liaison - Duane Fitch / Jim Maser CC
i. One lot needs help with removal of a satellite dish. June 11th, 2007: Action for Dr. Hatfield to work with owner to resolve this. September 10th, 2007: Pending.
ii. Multiple lots have dead trees on them. BOD discussion and decision that dead trees are a nuisance and detract from the beauty of Bent Tree and that they need to be removed by the owners. June 11th, 2007: Action for CCC to notify Red Oak to send notices to owners with dead trees of this decision by the BOD, and that owners may contact the BOD if they need help removing dead trees. Red Oak notified to prepare and send letters but CCC has not received status or responses from Red Oaks. September 10th, 2007: Action for CCC to review and ensure letters are sent as needed for this as Red Oaks hasn’t sent yet.
iii. There was discussion regarding interpretation and fairness in citing parking violations, as these are the most common violations noted by the CCC and Red Oaks’ tours, and where most of our covenant enforcement costs go. The Bent Tree R&R’s do allow for day visitors, and therefore there is a strong possibility that cars that are outside during the tours may be allowed under the interpretation in the R&R’s. The clarification was provided, and will be addressed at the Annual Property Owners’ Meeting, that it is Bent Tree residents’ vehicles that are parked outside that are covenant violations. If owners have regular visitors such as babysitters, housekeepers, etc., these do not need to be cited but the CCC needs to know about them. September 10th, 2007: Action for Red Oaks, LLC, to include comments in all parking letters that she sends asking if the vehicle cited was due to a regular and repeat visitor, and if so, to notify Red Oaks and the CCC of the make and model of the vehicle and it’s purpose, so that it wouldn’t be cited again.
iv. BTPOA has not yet received payment for fine imposed at previous hearing. September 10th, 2007: Action for CCC to send reminder email, and if not received, Debbi to send reminder notice via mail. Both actions completed.
c) DIRECTORY AND WEBMASTER: BOD Liaison / Debbi Maser – Steve Fuhrmann CC
i. Question was asked if multiple owners were interested in holding a garage sale, could an announcement be posted on Bent Tree website? Yes, just need to let Steve know when.
d) ENGINEERING: BOD Liaison – John Heiser
e) FOREST MANAGEMENT: BOD Liaison – Tom Hilfers / John Anderson CC
i. Steve Furhmann stated that he would like to post forestry information on the website, to include a PDF of a forest management plan, links to Colorado websites on forest management, Bent Trees goals and objectives, “Help” or “How to” reference information for owners, and also an annual report on the health of the forest around us. June 11th, 2007: Tom Hilfers took action to contact John Anderson to gather some of this information and provide to Steve to post on website. September 10th, 2007: Completed.
f) NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH: BOD Liaison - Chris Patterson
i. Chris provided summary of various activities in the neighborhood, to include sheriff presence was due to preventative action in neighboring sub-division, and that information had been publicized regarding issues with a resident in Bent Tree. Question was raised whether or not that information could or should be posted on the Bent Tree website, and BOD agreed that legal advice was needed. September 10th, 2007: Action item and approval for Chris to contact the BTPOA lawyer to determine if this was appropriate.
g) BTPOA COMMUNICATIONS: BOD Liaison – Debbi Maser
i. Do we want to do a Fall mailing of a Bent Tree Log? September 10th, 2007: Action will be to do a fall mailing after the 2007 Annual BTPOA Owner’s Meeting and include the approved minutes of that meeting.
h) WATER AUGMENTATION: BOD Liaison – John Heiser / Jerry Lopez CC
i. Status of owners’ water surveys: Approximately 8% of the residents had not complied with this requirement after repeated requests / letters. Action for Debbi to send Notice of Hearing for covenant violation to those remaining. Completed, however, Debbi didn’t have the most recent list and inadvertently sent letters to owners who had already responded. Those owners were very quick to let us know that they had already provided their input and Debbi and others apologized via email and phone to owners who were sent the hearing notice in error.
i) WELCOMING: BOD Liaison – John Heiser / Wayne Claybaugh CC
i. Only change noted was sale of Lot 50 and comment from Debbi that she had included in the HOA statement for realtor comments regarding the water restrictions included in the covenants. Duane will also work with the Welcoming Committee to ensure new owners are aware that if they have purchased one of the 36 reportable lots, an externally readable meter is required to be installed at owner’s expense if it not already done.
7) Future Board Meeting schedule
a) Next BTPOA Meeting will be the Annual Property Owners’ Meeting on September 13th, 2007.
b) Next BTPOA BOD Meeting will be held October 8th, 2007, at 7:00pm, at the Monument Sanitation District Office, 130 2nd St., Monument.
8) Any other business.
9) Resident remarks, if any, on topics not on the agenda.
Meeting adjourned at 10:15 pm
Minutes prepared by Debbi Maser, BTPOA Secretary / Treasurer, 9/29/07
Approved at BTPOA BOD Meeting 10/8/07