Meeting Minutes > February 2007

Taberna Master Homeowners Association Board of Directors Meeting Minutes February 13, 2007

Bob Constanzo, President
Bernadette McNulty, Vice President
Suzanne Forsythe, Treasurer
Alva Windham, Acting Secretary
Representatives: Martha Daniels, Jim Krise, Terry Smith

Board Members and Guest Present: Bob Constanzo, Suzanne Forsythe, Alva Windham, Martha Daniels, Jim Krise, Terry Smith,Jeff Wood, East Carolina Bank, Don Brinkley, Manager, East Carolina Bank

Minutes of January: Minutes presented by Acting Secretary, Alva R. Windham. Motion to accept by Suzanne Forsythe, and seconded by Jim Krise. Motion passed to accept the January Minutes.

Treasurers Report:

Financial Reports as of 12/31/06:

The year-end reports were delivered to the Board members beforehand so that they would have time to review them ahead of the meeting. Treasurer asked if anyone had questions about the reports. Question was raised regarding the CPA's cover letter and its wording about notes to the financial statements not being done although standard accounting practice includes these. Response was that the cover letter contains boiler-plate language that recognizes footnotes were not included and that the CPA is protecting herself in the event that someone complains. Footnotes have never been included in the reports. As no further questions were offered, the Treasurer stated that the reports had been reviewed and accepted by the Finance Committee, contained nothing out of the ordinary, and that the final actual figures for the year were reasonably in line with projections. The reports were entered into the minutes.

Accounts Receivable:

Invoices totaling $216,050 for the Master and Sub-Assn. 2007 dues were sent out in early January. As of Feb. 9, 2007, there was $29,235 still uncollected. This unpaid balance represents 13.5% of the total.

Cash on Hand:

As of Feb. 9, 2007, the checking account balances were:
Master $173,266
Abbington $3,939
Boleyn $9,205
Tab. Landing $6,151
OTW $10,050
Total $202,611'

Late Fees

Invoices for late fees were sent out to six property owners in January and again in February.

Finance Committee:

This committee met on Feb. 7 to review the 12/31/06 financial reports and to begin the review of the Sub-Assn. Reserves, including Taberna Townes. Each member was assigned to a specific existing Sub-Assn. Discussion about Taberna Townes brought to light the potential complexity of this Reserve calculation. Research must be done on the storm water drainage system and water retainer walls as well as the two interior roads that will become the responsibility of the Sub-Assn. These were not in estimates compiled two years ago as it was not known at the time that these items would be included. The calculations for Taberna Townes will be done by the committee as a whole under the guidance of Chairman Wayne Maruna. The Treasurer offered her praise of the Committee members for their enthusiasm and professionalism in getting this particular research started.

We need to look into the office space. Our lease will be up shortly.

New Business:

President – Update of Front Entrance
On Feb 19, 2007, Bob and Suzanne met with Fred Morton and Ron Barnes, owners of Morton Development, purchasers of the properties at the front entrance, to discuss the status of the property.
It appears that Morton Development is willing to leave the entrance as is including the fence, with its entrances accessing from Taberna Way. They would like for us to continue to maintain the fence/walls, and keep the fee structure as it is today, but split the fees proportionately among the future owners of the properties. Bob will continue to work with Beth Atkins, our attorney, and Fred to obtain appropriate written documents before anything is fully agreed upon and accepted by the Board.
Bob also relayed to the Board that Weyerhaeuser Company has stated to him that the front entrance as designed, which includes the fence, belongs to Taberna and that they would stand up for it if necessary. Questions continue as to the ownership of the fence and walls. This will be clarified at a later session.
The Board requested Bob to continue to follow up on this situation and report back as necessary.

Violations:

Lot #323 has on it a large 6'x10' dog pen covered with a green tarp. Jim could not find a specific violation of the covenants for this type of structure. No plantings are around the structure and children's toys are strewn around the yard. There is also a truck that sits in the drive that appears to have expired plates on it. Bob will check out the truck and report. As the property is an eyesore, the neighbors have decided to plant evergreens in their yards to shield their view of the structure.
A number of violations have been occurring on Neuchatel. B&G Committee has reported garbage cans and gas tanks needing to be screened. It is believed that several of these are rental properties. Letters will be written and forwarded to the tenant with a copy to the owner. Discussion continued as to whether the violation letter should go to the owner, rental agency or the renter. This will be clarified at the next Board Meeting.

Proposed Covenant Letter/Article:

President had previously forwarded to the Board members a proposed letter/article for their consideration.
Discussion at the meeting highlighted his concerns regarding Home-Based Product Sales Parties and the difficulty in enforcing covenants for these types of events. How could we obtain evidence of such events without a resident who attended the function coming before the board as a witness? The Board concurred that stiff letters should be forwarded to alleged violators in order to protect the covenants.
Bob requested that we continue to review the proposed letter/article over the next few days and provide suggested changes and ideas as to whether or how they can be published.

East Carolina Bank –

President introduced Jeff Wood and Don Brinkley, Manager of ECB. Dorsen White, area VP of ECB was named but was not present.
Alva pointed out that the meeting was being recorded. They said that they had no objections.
ECB has purchased approx. one acre of the larger lot on the west side of the main entrance to build a branch of ECB. The Board had been made aware that the question regarding the restriction imposed thru the smaller commercial lot had been resolved by legal verbiage in their purchase papers stating that no financial institution would ever be built on the smaller lot. ECB wanted to meet with the Board as an introduction and to show us what the structure may look like. Discussions followed that included:
ECB understands that we expect the fence to remain.
The bank, when completed, will probably face Hwy 70. They have no legal say on the other types of businesses that may be built on the lot at a later date.
The Taberna HOA must approve the architectural design of any structures on the site.
Construction may be started on the bank by end of 2007.
ECB is hoping to arrange for an introductory reception for all Taberna homeowners prior to ECB breaking ground.
Bob will be in contact with Don within a couple of weeks for further discussions.
Don passed out a brochure on the bank's background.

Old Business:

Proposed Website – Contact has been made with two web designers; Sixth Street Web Designer and PRISMA. The proposal will be filed with the minutes.
The Board decided to hire Sixth Street Web Design because it is a local company. Having the designer local is good business and will assist us if any problems arise.
Alva Windham will purchase the software to maintain the site once it is up and operational.
Jim Krise made the motion to accept Sixth Street Web Design to construct the TabernaHOA website, an invoice will be forwarded to the treasurer for $300.00 as down payment to establish the site and another invoice for setting up the Domain and server space to include Traffic Facts (count of how many access the site) will be forwarded. Bob Constanzo seconded the motion. Motion Passed..

Update on “Townes” was covered in the Treasurers Report.

Meeting will be changed for next Month. Check e:mail for time and place.

Meeting with Buildings and Grounds to further discuss the beautification project will be scheduled.

Submitted By:

Alva R. Windham
Acting Secretary