MINUTES I Call to Order · Chair: Dan Ryan, Acting Secretary: Mary Gibbs · Introductions. Report excused absences All board members were present: Dan Ryan, KC Elander, Jon Heim, Dayna Wittman and Wendy Sotolongo. Also present were Woodcroft managers Ruth Bowman and Mary Gibbs and guests Sean Stonham, Ann Duepree, Todd Parrott and Derrick Hensley. II Board Photograph III Review May Minutes May minutes approved via email IV Adjustments to Agenda · New Topics from board members or guests Additional agenda items were approved for inclusion. · Chairman’s comments V Guest Topics · ABC Store – Derrick Hensley was present to share his discussion with the ABC board regarding their plans to open a new store in the vacated BB&T building at the Woodcroft Shopping Center. Derrick indicated that ABC plans to close the Farrington Rd. store . ABC has indicated that few changes will be made to the exterior of the building. The ABC board has provided the following contact information for citizens to request information and offer comments: o Comments can be directed to the ABC Board via mail to 3620 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd, Durham NC 27707, via phone at (919) 419-6217, Ext. 225, via fax to (919) 489-0933, or via email to info@durhamabc.com. · Request from South Durham Green Neighbors/Green Living in Woodcroft for WCA list serve email and website link – Woodcroft neighbor of the year, Ann Deupree was in attendance to request a link from the Woodcroft web site to the SDGN website. The board discussed the current groups hot linked on our web site under the Community Groups tab and agreed that this group meets the board’s requirements. Jon Heim moved that we add this listing to our web site, KC seconded and the motion was unanimously approved. VI Financials · Review May Financials – The board received the financials via email earlier this month. All board members reviewed the financial reports and there were no substantive questions. It was noted that all expense accounts both year- to- date and for May are under budget resulting in a net income year to date of over 13K more than budgeted. Dayna moved to approve the financial reports as submitted, Jon seconded. The financials were unanimously approved. VIl Old Business A. Resident Issues · Resident concerned about possible multi-family presence in WCA residence zoned for single family. What are appropriate WCA actions? – Wendy Sotolongo reported that both homes she viewed had at least five cars, parked neatly in the driveway and one yard was cluttered. Dan inquired if there is a city entity whose responsibility it is to investigate Durham resident complaints of this type. Wendy will research this question and report back to the board next month. B. Community Issues · Tower and island irrigation, lighting, and replanting / reseeding update –Todd Parrott was present to briefly discuss his proposal to develop a specific irrigation, lighting, and landscaping plan for the area around the Woodcroft tower and the Woodcroft Parkway island that is adjacent to the tower . The board agreed that this spot is the “front door” of the neighborhood and should be as attractive as possible. Guest Sean Stonham mentioned that the widening of Hope Valley Rd. could result in changes to the median at this intersection. Since the board intends to install new lighting and irrigation in this area, the board requested information regarding the specific city plans prior to the board contracting for a plan to be designed. It was agreed that Todd’s proposal be emailed out to board members and the city contacted for information about how their work might impact this intersection. The board also discussed a preference for the plan design to utilize plants that are more mature so that they will look full and attractive upon installation. · Trail repair update– The engineer’s specifications for this work were distributed to three asphalt contractors who had responded to our request for bids. The board reviewed the estimates received and discussed the compliance of the bids with the engineer’s specifications. The board indicated that the work is to begin a.s.a.p. and be completed no later than September 1st. Dayna moved to accept the low bidder which was Lyon Blalock and Sons, Inc. Wendy seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved. Related to this work, the engineer will be asked to provide a proposal forauditing compliance of the trail repairs with the specification. His proposal will be emailed to the board. · Tower repair and preservation update –Three contractors were presented with a scope of work for this project. At the time of the meeting, only two estimates had been received. The estimate from the contractor who performed the recent brick replacement and repair lacked sufficient detail. He will be asked to provide a more complete description of work to be done and the third contractor will be given another opportunity to present his estimate. This additional information will be emailed to the board. · Matching grant for fitness trail update, additional quotes – Jon identified a number of additional companies that install fitness stations. He will contact them for bids, and will provide the board with at least three estimates for equipment similar to that approved in the grant. · Pine straw event results and future plan. Assignment of leader to coordinate messaging, timing, annual mailing contents –The board discussed the success and popularity of this event and decided to offer it again in the spring of 2012.. KC volunteered to assist in coordination of the communication to the neighborhood which will include a reminder in the January 1st mailing, emails to the Yahoo group, an order form and information posted on the web site, an ad in the Woodcroft Gazette and posting on the neighborhood signs. New signs will be made to clarify that the offering is for Woodcroft neighbors only. Delivery is expected to take place in late March or early April, 2012. C. Board Issues · Audit of WCA financials – Wendy Sotolongo identified three accountants with HOA auditing experience. Mary contacted all three for information and a ballpark estimation of cost. One firm declined to offer their services due to a conflict of interest related to one of their partners living in Woodcroft. Wendy also presented a web site which contains a sample request for a proposal (RFP) to use in contracting with a CPA for an association audit. Mary and Ruth will prepare the form and email it to the board for review. With the board’s authorization, they will then present the RFP to the two accountants already contacted. Wendy will locate a third firm for receipt of the RFP. The results of this solicitation will be shared at the July board meeting. · Office lease update –A two year lease has been signed at the previous rental rate. The owner of the space has agreed to cover the cost of painting the community room and installation of a new tile floor. Ruth will additionally request installation of new blinds in the office and community room. If there is a cost to Woodcroft for this, the board agreed to move ahead provided the total does not exceed the amount previously approved for blinds. · Mailbox Specifications – (See Mailbox System agenda item – new Board business) · ARB Meetings – Review of board member assignments. Number of ARB members. ARB Operations –The ARB currently has six board members, but has historically had seven. ARB member present, Sean Stonham was asked to share his opinion on the optimum number of members. Due to absences and the need for a quorum for approvals, Sean expressed a preference for a seven member board. Further discussion revolved around the need for a designated chairman. Sean reported that an acting chairman is chosen at the beginning of each ARB meeting. Dan inquired about the whether there are minutes taken at these meetings. Currently the minutes consist of a brief recap of the discussion and details if needed, of the approvals or denials. Dan requested that the minutes be emailed to the WCA board and should include member attendance information. The following monthly rotation for WCA board member representation at the ARB meetings was agreed upon: Dayna-June, Dan-July, Jon-August, KC- Sept, Wendy- Oct, Dayna- November. This rotation will remain in place with board members who develop a conflict having responsibility for finding another board member to cover for them. · ARB letter of interest –The board reviewed a letter of interest in an ARB position received in April. The board voted unanimously to appoint this neighbor to the ARB. · Laptop Software –The new lap top now has all the required software installed and seems to be working well. · Woodcroft Gazette – Informing neighbors – Update – Dan, KC, and Dayna met with a Gazette reporter to share information about the process and benefits of joining the Woodcroft Yahoo group. This story will appear in the July issue. The board discussed contacting the Gazette in the future to explore their interest in running other stories about topics important to the neighborhood such as the 2011 Woodcroft beautification campaign. VIII New Business A. Resident Issues B. Community Issues The following items were added to the agenda:
- New Soccer Camp Requests – The office has received requests for two weeks of soccer camps this summer from TUSA and one week from Metro soccer. Priscilla, manager of the Woodcroft Swim and Tennis Club approved the dates requested. Dayna moved to accept these requests at the previous rate of $250 per week. KC seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved. Given that the city has raised their unlighted field rental rates to $20 per hour, the board agreed to adjust the WCA field use rate to $20 per hour from our current price of $15 per hour staring this fall.
Results of May ARB Meeting
21 Copper Hill fence approved as submitted
25 Falling Water new roof and exterior paint approved as submitted
7 Westridge new roof approved as submitted
5 Rabbits Glen Terrace shed approved with conditions
4709 Highgate approved but door must be the dark green or black
1 West Bridlewood exterior paint conditional approval if colors are chosen from the same color grouping
10 Churchwell retaining wall not approved
3 Saddlewood replace screen doors and deck boards approved as submitted
2 Cottage Woods exterior paint approved as submitted
8 Weathergreen Ct. paint front door and storm door approved as submitted
20 Birchcrest Ct. fence approved with conditions
435 Tall Oaks fence approved as submitted
3 Weathergreen fence approved as submitted with a copy of Cross Timbers approval