2024-09-19 (Budget Review)

Meet & Greet New Management 6:45 – 7:15 PM

Meeting Validation:

Called to order at 7:15 PM. Notice of Meeting presented. All BOD members present meet voting requirements. Quorum met. Meeting valid.

Reading / Summary / Approval Past Minutes

• Motion to table the reading and approval of the minutes until next meeting. Seconded by Mr Payne. Approved 3 in favor, 0 opposed.

New Management Role & Duties

Management agent works for the Board and is your interface for administration tasks. (Christi) Christi Campo was introduced. Main point was that the management agent’s main function is to assist the Board and takes their direction from the Board. Their day to day tasks include paying the bills, collecting the dues, handle and coordinate maintenance requests, behind the scenes activity to run the association.

The portal allows mechanism to request maintenance requests and to log and track maintenance that the home owners recommend to fixed.

Also explained that home ownership / council membership is being determined from the State Department of Assessments and Taxation. A few council members had issues as a result due to SDAT data not being updated. These issues have been resolved for those who alerted us. If you are not receiving your notices in the USPS mail, please let us know ASAP as you may also have SDAT data issues. (Contact Christi at info@americandreamrmnet.net)

Status of Projects

• Tot Lot – completed at cost $5300 by Price Landscaping. See special meeting approving higher cost and change of contractor.
• Bushes – finally completed. The contract was discussed in many open meetings and no one complained or offered any concerns about the cutting back of the bushes. The bushes needed to have a hard cut back so that they could be maintained better. We had multiple landscaping experts recommend this. The BOD had to pay an extra $2000 to the contractor because many home owners interfered wrongly claiming that the bushes belonged to the owner. To be clear and according to the Declaration, anything outside the fence is the ownership and full responsibility of the association, not the home owner. Please refer to your Declaration for further clarification. All bushes have since started growing back nicely proving all complaints were unjustified.
• Sewer
  • 561 – 565 main sewer line repair. Under kitchen floor. Needed to open the concrete of 563 and 565 after 561 and 563 backed up. Pictures and story here (link coming soon). Cost was
    
    • plumbing – $8000 (rounded up)
    • tear-out and restorations – $12,000 (rounded up)
  • 8367 Kitchen back up.
  • guidelines for overflow situations
  • minimize backups
• Electrical lighting – still getting bids on this. 2 new – $25,000. BGE may be no upfront costs. Last year”s bids were $7000 – $9000. May go back to previous electricians and request new bids.
• Gutter repair – Now My Brothers Construction at $3200 includes all new gutters, down spouts, soffit, facia, drip edge. This was voted on and approved in Special Meeting in order to get it started sooner. At the time of the meeting, we are still waiting on My Brothers to schedule the repairs.

Motion & Discussions

BOD Expense Sheets

Motion to the Board to reimburse Nelda Fink for copying expenses as per the receipts and spreadsheet submitted totaling $334.59. Motion seconded by Mr. Payne. Approved 3 in favor, 0 opposed.

Planter Boxes Contract

2 Bids  – $45,000 (Annapolis Coatings), Hot Shots – $11,545 Includes:

• planter boxes – $9600,
• mailbox cleaning – $270
• Building 10 brick wall cleaning – $200
• wood benches – $800
• Council Meeting Room cleanup – $500 (Includes painting)
• Council Meeting Room driveway cleanup – $125
• $50 if homeowner does not remove shrubbery and plants from the planter box edges and will be billed to the homeowner.

Motion to Board to hire Hot Shots to perform all work as per the proposal submitted with $9600 of capital expenses towards planter boxes as a one time courtesy cleanup, and remaining expenses to be drawn from the reserve funds for maintenance and repair of buildings and structure at a total cost of $11, 495. Seconded by Mr. Payne. Approved 3 in favor, 0 opposed.

Bulk Junk Removal

Need new vendor. 2 companies from Next door. Cousins in Baltimore and Junk Knights MD of Severna Park (Round Bay). Both are comparably priced and use a trailer, rather than a truck. Minimum looks like $100.

Motion to BOD to hire Junk Knights to provide service on an as needed basis to remove the bulk trash up to $150 per month for the remainder of the 2024 fiscal year. Seconded by Mr. Payne. Approved 3 in favor, 0 opposed.

Asbestos Letter Rescind

Motion to rescind previous letter This letter was previously included as part of the Resale Package. This letter is wrong, and puts liability back on the Council.

Condominiums – Asbestos Disclosure

This law mandates specific disclosures regarding asbestos presence in condominium units. For initial sales, Declarants (original owners of the condominium property) must include in the notice whether they have actual knowledge of asbestos presence on the site, its location, abatement history, and dates of abatement. Similarly, for resales by unit owners, purchasers must be informed of asbestos presence, its location, and abatement history during the owner’s occupancy. Originally, the bills required similar disclosures from the unit owners’ council to purchasers, but these provisions were removed due to concerns about potential liability implications.

Motion to BOD to rescind the previously included resale package asbestos statement and to provide information to the home owners via email and on the website that the Council is NOT responsible for any asbestos found in any unit. Seconded by Mr. Payne. Approved 3 in favor, 0 opposed.

Collections Process (Owners in Arrears)(Payment due First of Month)

Details still coming on this. Basic plan is this:

1. for those with current large outstanding amounts  (> $5,000) – have hearing with the BOD to allow owner to offer a payment plan, possibly waive late fees and interest, offer other ways to help pay the debt, file the lien, work with the mortgage holder. Reason – they were paying $15 late fee, + 30% to attorney per month exponentially increasing their debt.
2. as soon as an owner gets 2 month behind, the process will be started to have hearing to offer payment plan and file the lien if necessary. This minimizes attorney / collection fees.
3. we are considering ending the 15 day grace period.

This motion is tabled until more details can be discussed with Christi and attorney.

Budget Introduction & Review (Comment process)

Click here to download or review the budget.

30 day comment period from Sept 19 – Oct 20. BOD then has 30 days to consider and incorporate those comments. Final budget will be voted on at the next meeting – 19 November 2024.

Minutes approved 19 November 2024 2 in favor, 0 opposed.