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Meeting Date:
Regular Meeting
Minutes Status: Approved
Minutes Approved:

2026-03-24 Annual Meeting

Board Members Present (In person) President - Nelda Fink ,Vice President - Harry Payne ,Treasurer - Thanh Nguyen ,Secretary - Shelly Murphy

Agenda

Meeting Validation:
  1. Meeting called to order by current President, Nelda Fink at 7:12 PM
  2. Validate Meeting as per bylaws,
    • notice presented, BOD quorum met,
    • BOD members validated.
  3. Ms Nicole Jantz from American Dream Realty was also present since it was the Annual Meeting.

Reading / Summary / Approval Past Minutes

Financial Review

  • $278,000 total funds as of February 28, 2026. See below.
  • ~42 delinquent accounts (35%) from pennies to thousands. $72,000
  • 4 accounts with attorneys

Elections & Open Forum

There are no open positions this year and therefore no elections. This will be a regular meeting with open forum extended as long as necessary. 

  1. Issue raised about continuation of cutting back of the bushes behind the fences. The BOD agreed that the landscaping contract does not call for continued cutting and will address it with the landscaping contractors.
  2. Request to have the outside water turned on for car washing. BOD offered to turn it on the next weekend after we got over the short cold spell.

Motion & Discussions

BOD Expense Sheets

  • Ms Fink:
    • Bench restoration materials purchases Sherwin Williams exterior acrylic paint – $125.
    • Outdoor maintenance – wheeled outdoor hose cart to water Belmawr beds and trees: $185, 1 contractor 50′ 3/4 inch high power hose: $65, 1 contractor high visibility contractor 50′ 3/4 inch high power hose: $85.
    • Total ???
    • (I don’t have receipts with me.)
  • Ms Murphy:
    • Meeting signs print and laminate.

Other Motions

  • Review Price Landscaping Snow invoice Response

      • breaching the snow removal contract .See post with details.
      • Price’s Invoice for snow removal Jan 2026.
      • emails and texts detailing the conversations have been preserved and are available.
      • Owner requests BOD to reconsider payment – email.
      • Moved by Ms Fink that the BOD stand on their disputed price and to hold on their payment price of $3170 and that an email response would be composed and sent to Price Landscaping stating the issue is closed. Motion seconded by Mr. Payne. Motion approved – ?? in favor, 0 opposed
      • Here is the email sent to Mr Price on 25 March 2026.

  • Governing Documents Reprinting Process

    • Original documents have been OCR scanned to produce searchable PDF documents.
    • Need process to ensure correctness.
    • Need review of costs and procedures to file new published documents into land records.
    • Notary may be able to perform the verification that it is a true and complete replica of the original.
    • This was tabled until April.
    • and more.

  • Basement Exterior & Meeting Room Exterior Lights Replace 

    • Review Bright Ideas contract, includes basement exterior entrance lights, basement interior lights, and meeting room entrance lights replace with new LEDs. Exterior lights replaced with photocell providing light during night time. Total cost $1010.00.
    • Question to clarify that even though the long term plan is to eliminate the basement storage units, putting new lights in will still be beneficial. 
    • Proposal For Review
    • Moved by Ms Fink to replace the interior and exterior basement storage lights and the meeting room exterior light as per the extimate provided by Bright Ideas for a total of $1010 to begin as soon as possible. Motion seconded by Mr. Payne. Motion approved – 3 in favor, 0 opposed.
    • Note: After installing and completing the contract, Bright Ideas determined that the exterior light on 8341 was not getting electric and proposed additional work to troubleshoot and install new line to the light for $325 which was approved by special meeting on April 10, 2026 and completed shortly thereafter.

  • Jira – Issues management plugin for website to track and manage bylaw violations

    • Online Violation Tracking System Proposal

    • Moved by Ms Fink  Motion to set up Jira in a draft demo mode to determine if it can meet our requirements. Motion seconded by Mr. Payne. Motion approved – 3 in favor, 0 opposed
    • and more.

  • Pool repairs for 2026

    • Temporary closing of baby pool
    • tanker to fill pool instead of hose
    • repairs to main pool our share (26.5%, $3132.30) of the main pool repairs totaling $11,820.
    • Verbal approval given because contract states all necessary and reasonable repairs must be allowed. (We don’t get to say no.)
    • Motion to approve the repairs of $3132.30 made by Ms Fink, and seconded by Mr. Payne. Motion approved – 3 in favor, 0 opposed.

  • Neighbor requested inspections

    • Need to document and execute process for neighbors to initiate an inspection of another neighbor without it causing neighbor disputes. 
    • Community inspections have not been done by the BOD for over 10 years.
    • 578 issue
    • 586 / 588 issue
    • 8371 – 8375 fence issue
    • Putting a tracking system in place and having community inspections annually or regularly will solve the problem so that a neighbor should not have to request an inspection on their neighbor.
    • Tabled.

  • Budget Committee

    • We need a budget committee to provide on-going budget analysis. Neal volunteered to helped.
    • Need to adjust annual meeting schedule to allow for budget review in Oct with approval in Nov/Dec.
    • We need a budget committee to help generate budget each year and then monitor it throughout  the year. Please volunteer to help with this! Must have computer and be able to access and manipulate simple spreadsheets.
    • Motion seconded by: . Motion approved – ,  opposed.

  • Volunteers needed – watering of beds, trees, cleaning of 6 stairwells on bi-monthly basis

  • Urgent Sewage Estimates Maximum Automatic Approval (Tabled)

    • Need to define a maximum approval amount for urgent sewage backups so that progress and repair are not delayed by calling a special meeting. Estimates over the maximum will require BOD approval.

    • Modification to sewage backup guidelines 

      • Needs to specify that if backup is under control that additional costs to utilized after hours services will not be approved for reimbursement or paid for by the Council. Most sewage backups do not require after hours services which are an additional $250+ expense. This was already approved at the 9/30/2025 special meeting. Review of the procedures is all that is necessary at current meeting.

    • Modification to building water main shutoff guidelines 

      • If a council member requires the main shutoff to the building to be turned off if the council member’s contractor is not willing to shutoff the main valve, the additional cost to have the Bod’s preferred plumber perform that service will be invoiced to the council member requesting the service. To avoid this additional cost the council member should simply hire the BOD’s preferred plumber, Howard Plumbing for all their plumbing needs.
    • Documenting Above Changes
      • Need current posts to be revised. 

  • Parking Issues Committee

    • Form committee to analyze parking solutions for certain scenarios.
      • someone parked in my spot
      • someone continues to park in my spot
      • I’m having a party and need multiple spots for guests for the day / for the weekend
      • my home business has employees who meet me and park for the day
      • Can I park my commercial truck or car in my space or an unreserved space?
    • Due process must be followed for violators.
    • Neighborly approach first
    • solutions promoted
    • Motion seconded by: . Motion approved – ,  opposed.
    •  

  • Fire Blankets

    • Fire is one of the most expensive tragedies and many people don’t have enough insurance on their units to cover the neighbors should the fire be started due to their own negligence or wrong doing. 
    • Most units still have gas stoves and oven. Some still have gas dryers. Furnaces are more safe and less likely to cause fire. Stoves however are open flame and could easily cause fire. 
    • Fire blankets can easily put out a oven / stove fire in seconds. 
    • Bulk purchase fire blankets drastically reduces the price. 
    • Moved by Ms Fink to purchase 130 fire blankets at reduced cost and then resell to each homeowner at cost so that every unit has one of these fire blankets. Seconded by Mr. Payne. Motion approved – ? in favor, 0 opposed

  • Tot Lot Rules and Signage

    • Need new signs at tot lot. 
    • Review of current rules as per signs.
    • Age restriction currently 8 years old. Recommend all non-adults (16 or 18??) require parents / owner present to stop the misuse of the equipment.

New Project Discussions:

  • Natural property barriers perimeter for 2027 budget
  • Engineer for 581 Basement reinforcement and completion.
  • No trespass signage
  • Spring 2027 inspection? After issue tracking system in webpage installed and set up. 
  • Meeting room transformation to community room (2027)
  • Homeowners 101 class(es) / web pages
  • electronic email notices reminders

  • Motion 3

    • Moved by Ms Fink that … Motion seconded by Mr. Payne. Motion approved – 4 in favor, 0 opposed
    • and more.
    •  
  •  

 

 

Meeting Notice Sent

Meeting Notice that was sent via email and USPS mail on or about 3/12/2026

Hello Neighbor!
Happy spring and we hope everyone is enjoying the warmer temperatures!
We have our annual meeting coming up, and hope everyone can join us. Remember the annual meeting is usually the time for our board of directors’ elections, as well as the time for you to bring up issues and communicate with your board members in the open forum. This is an unusual year where we don’t have any elections. This is because each director sits for a 3 year term. Because some of the directors over the past years resigned from their positions early, we now have this year without any director position open. But this could easily change in the future if another director resigns prior to the 3 year term ending.

As for the open forum, we have that first on our agenda for the 2026 Annual meeting. If you cannot make the meeting at the beginning, and come late with a question or concern we will take the time to hear your concern. While we are open to hearing concerns throughout the year, the Annual Meeting is legislated as a time where we MUST hear any concerns. So come late if you have to, come on time if you can, but please do come! It is a great time to get to know your neighbors better and to learn what your current Board of Directors is doing for your community.

A few notes going forward:
1) We are required by state statute and by the Bylaws to communicate with the Council Members (that’s you!) through open meetings. Sending us an email or sending American Dream Reality an email regarding an issue you’re having does not satisfy the open meeting laws governing us. If you have concerns or issues, you must come to a meeting to discuss it openly. You can contact one of our secretaries to have the issue added to the agenda, or just show up and let us know at the beginning of the meeting that you would like to be added to the agenda.

We are very accommodating with the meeting agendas when someone from the Council wants to address the BOD. So,
* Do not send emails to a board member or to the management agent (American Dream Reality) regarding an issue or concern you want to discuss,
* Bring your issues to the next meeting to have the BOD address it. If you cannot attend the meeting, talk to a secretary to ascertain when you can address the BOD with your concern in an open meeting format.
* Emails in the future will be responded to only with an invitation to the next Board meeting.

2) We have a website that has not yet been “published” to everyone. It is usable and you can find many things regarding meeting minutes, contracts and inspections there. In it’s unpublished state, it is somewhat difficult to navigate, but we hope to get it to a “published” state by the end of 2026. The website when “published” will be legally considered an open meeting format, by opening posts to comments and discussions.

3) As the Board walks the neighborhood we sometimes find food scraps on patios or in the grass outside of the patio. Please do not throw your food scraps out side, as this does attract rodents. In fact this is one of the reasons your garbage needs to be enclosed in a plastic garbage bag, to keep rodents out of the dumpsters.

4) Council members who own and walk their dogs on the common areas must pick up after their dogs. Think of the dumpsters as huge doggie stations. Pick up the poop and place it in the dumpster. It is not fair to the others in the community to have to clean up after other people’s dogs, or to pay to have someone to pick up after other people’s dogs. We may in the future assess a fee to dog owners to pay a service to pick up the doggie poop. If you don’t want this to happen the dog owners need to police themselves.

5) Park in your own space, or in a reserve space. Please only park along the curbs when it is temporary, especially if it is your visitor(s). We were lenient with the No Parking areas because the Board recognizes we don’t have enough spaces. But do your part and do not park along the curb overnight or for long periods. This applies mostly to Norwood and especially in front of Building 1 (8301 – 8319).

That’s it! This is your notice / news letter for both March and April. The next notice will be sent by USPS mail at the beginning of June prior to the June 23 regular meeting and will encompass the June and September regular meetings. The meeting schedule is on the website here – https://sussexsquarecouncil.org/#schedule

The agenda for the March Annual Meeting is also on the website here – https://sussexsquarecouncil.org/meeting-minutes/2026-03-24-annual-meeting/

Agenda For March 24 / April 28 (anything not covered in March will be covered in April) 7 PM
* Elections & Open Forum
* Review Price Landscaping Snow Invoice Response
* Governing Documents Reprinting & Verification Process
* Basement Exterior & Meeting Room Exterior Lights Replace
* Jira – Issues management plugin for website to track and manage bylaw violations
* Fire Blankets
* Neighbor requested inspections process development
* Budget Committee
* Volunteers needed – watering of beds, trees, cleaning of 6 stairwells on bi-monthly basis
* Urgent Sewage Estimates Maximum Automatic Approval (Tabled)
* Modification to sewage backup guidelines
* Modification to building water main shutoff guidelines
* Parking Issues Committee
Hope to see you all on Tuesday March 24 at 7 PM in the meeting room. Here’s where to find the meeting room: https://sussexsquarecouncil.org/council-happening/wheres-the-meeting-room-the-council-hub/

Sussex Square Board of Directors

Additional Referenced Documents

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