SUNLAND DIVISION 17 OWNERS ASSOCIATION
Board of Directors Organizational Meeting, Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Location: Sunland’s “The Gathering Place,” Ground Floor Meeting Room
**Approved at the October 14 meeting**
Call to Order: An organizational meeting of the Sunland Division 17 Owners Association board of directors, a continuation of the September 15 organizational meeting, was called to order by Tom Steffen at 10:02 AM
Roll call and Quorum: Attending were continuing board member Tom Steffen and newly-elected board members Richard Edes and Jim Jones. Absent was newly-elected board member Jill Hummel. Tom announced that Terry Main was moving out of the division, and had submitted her resignation, effective today (September 30).
The board members present agreed that Tom should chair the meeting, and Tom confirmed a quorum with three of four members present.
Purpose: Tom explained that the only item of business appropriate at this organizational meeting was designation of officers and other transition activities.
Officer Positions:
Tom asked immediate past-president Susan Hamman to recap the history of board makeup, which included board composition of less than five members and the president lacking the year of experience called for in the bylaws.
By consensus, board members agreed to the following officer positions:
President: Richard Edes
Vice-President: None was named
Treasurer: Jim Jones
Secretary: Tom Steffen
Member-At-Large: Jill Hummel
Transition Actions Needed:
The new board had been provided binders with reference materials, including a list of transition actions that needed action as soon as possible. Tom walked the board through the list of actions, which included:
- Notify owners of election results: Tom will work with outgoing Secretary Judy Field to notify owners by email of the annual meeting election results, including approval of the 2016 budget and the board officer positions;
- Maintenance of association files: Susan Hamman agreed to continue as association archivist, and will be further documenting what is in the association files;
- Notify insurer of board changes: Tom will notify CAU of the association’s new officers, for appropriate transfer of the Directors & Officers Liability Coverage;
- Transfer Treasurer Authorities: New Treasurer Jim Jones and Susan Hamman will meet Friday to transfer bank signature authorities; Jim has already met with outgoing Treasurer Terry Main, and will also schedule a meeting with Robin Reese, the association’s accountant;
- Owner Contact Records: Outgoing Secretary Judy Fields will provide the latest-updated owner list to new Secretary Tom Steffen, and had already transferred other board secretary files;
- Basecamp Subscription: Susan Hamman said the association’s annual Basecamp subscription (approx.. $250/year) is pre-paid until February, but that Richard, as the new President, will need to have the account changed to his credit card (and then be reimbursed by the association);
- Grievance Committee Chair: This committee needs to be chaired by a board member, and the previous chair, Judy Field, is no longer on the board; Tom Steffen agreed to chair it;
- Board Meeting Schedule: It was clarified that the board meeting schedule would remain as set by the previous board through the end of the 2015 calendar year, in order to retain the existing room reservations, which can be hard to get; and that the new board would discuss the 2016 meeting schedule at a future meeting.
- The remaining 2015 board meeting dates are: Oct. 14, Nov. 3 and Dec. 1, each from 2:30–4:30 PM, and all meetings will continue to be held at The Meeting Place, in the SLOA office building. Barbara Brooner will contact the webmaster with the necessary information.
Outstanding Issues
Tom then took the board through a list they had been provided of Outstanding Issues, being key items that came up during the previous board’s tenure that remain to be resolved.
These issues included:
- Vacant board positon: Whether and how to fill the newly-vacant fifth board position;
- Insurance Deductible: Need to clarify who is responsible under the association’s master insurance policy for payment of the deductible;
- Annual Assessments: Need to look at a long-term plan of incremental association assessment increases to better address the recommended level of reserves;
- Exterior Maintenance Policy: a draft list of what is covered and what is not covered was compiled by Richard Helmenstine but needs further discussion and board action (possibly as an addition to Rules & Regulations, TBA); this is an item that is significant for both the association’s operating budget and its Reserves requirements, and Tom suggested it be an early agenda item (i.e., Oct 14);
- Landscaping Maintenance Guidelines: Draft guidelines were prepared by Eldon Dennis, to help the next Landscape Coordinator, but this also needs board review and action; Eldon reported this is a regular source of confusion for owners;
- Greenbelt Committee Chair: Tom Steffen agreed to chair the greenbelt committee.
- Notify Div. 11 of new board contact information, so that the new board can be notified of future tree-cutting; the board will then notify Division 17 homeowners; Tom will contact them.
Call for Board Nominations:
The board decided they do want to fill the fifth position, and will call for nominations from the floor at their Oct 14 meeting. Tom will announce this to owners in his Sept 30 email announcing election results and who holds each officer position.
Other:
October newsletter postponed to November: The new board concurred with Renee Jones’ emailed recommendation to postpone the anticipated October newsletter to a November distribution, instead. Tom will advise Renee.
Robert’s Rules of Order: It was agreed Gene Ross will purchase copies of a condensed Robert’s Rules of Order for interested board members, at an est. $10/copy, and be reimbursed.
ADJOURNED AT 11:14 AM, by consensus.
Submitted by: Barbara Brooner, Volunteer Recorder.