June 26, 2006

Highland Park Homeowner’s Association

Minutes of June 6, 2006 Meeting

Meeting Attendees

Dennis O’Toole, Treasurer

Bill Dickey, Vice-President

Lisa Wurster, Secretary

Coleen Ellis, Board Member

Mike Coombs, Board Member

John Price, Board Member

Meeting started at 6:30 pm and adjourned at 8:00 pm.  Held at Dennis’ house.

Brian Benham sent a written update on issues he has been working on; those updates are incorporated in various subjects in these minutes.

Neighborhood Newsletter

Coleen is still working on compiling a newsletter and asked for input from all Board members.

Budget

Dennis distributed budget through May.  All but one homeowner has paid annual dues.  Dennis contacted the homeowner but has had no response.  The house is new construction and does not yet have a mailbox.  Dennis will stop by to discuss with the homeowner.

All tree invoices have been paid.  Steve Plummer sent a letter with his check, indicating that the tree was planted on his property but should have been planted on his neighbor’s property.  Dennis returned the check to Steve due to the error.

Entry

Capping on bridge is complete and the guard shack has been repaired.  There was an accident on Saturday that resulted in a destroyed light pole.  Bill collected information on the accident report and driver of the car.  He contacted the insurance company and is arranging to have the light replaced. 

Violation Issues

Basketball Goal Violation – Still no response from homeowner on the letters sent addressing the violation.  Mike Coombs wondered if we could simply approve the basketball goal since the homeowner has no other place to install it.  Bill is concerned about setting a precedent with respect to exceptions.  We will check with Brian upon his return to see if any further communications have taken place.

Maintenance of lots – Bill inquired as to the guidelines addressing maintenance of lots and we found that it is addressed in Section 20 of the covenants.

Miscellaneous yard signs – Miscellaneous signs (i.e., advertising services, political support, etc) have been posted in yards.  As they have appeared, they have either been removed or the homeowner has been requested to remove.

Uniform Real Estate signs – The Board agreed that uniform real estate signs are the most attractive look, and decided to incorporate the standard green and beige sign as the accepted design.  Ideally, adding to the covenants a sample picture of the sign would help clarify the requirements.  Dennis will call ReMax as a starting point to see if the signs currently posted in Highland Park can easily be replaced with the uniform sign.  

Lake owner’s meeting

John Price attended a lake owner’s meeting recently where a number of subjects were discussed.  He reports that the following information was discussed at the meeting:

• Ten of the twelve lake owners attended this meeting that was held some time over the past several weeks.  One of the meeting attendees raised a concern about HPHOA Board being sued by Brocton Manor.  (In this meeting of the Board we noted no knowledge of a lawsuit, or of any pending dissatisfaction with Brocton Manor.  In fact, in October our Board sent a response to Brocton Manor’s recommendation on allocating shared lake expenses, and agreed to their recommended approach.)

• Lake owners are researching information on the plat and what is filed at the county’s engineer office.  The final plat indicates that it is the responsibility of the homeowner’s association to maintain costs associated with detention ponds.  They have spoken to an engineer who believes that every lot in the subdivision benefits from the detention ponds and that none of the lots could have been developed without the detention ponds.

• Lake owners are fearful of liability related to the lakes and therefore do not want to form their own association, nor do they want to pay bills on their own; they would prefer for all expenses related to the lake to go through HPHOA. 

• Lake owners would like to meet with the Board again to revisit their thoughts and concerns about the lake.  They compiled a fact sheet addressing their issues and concerns and some possible solutions.  Copies of the fact sheet were distributed to the Board for review. 

• The lake owners would like to meet with the Board to discuss.  If the Board declines a meeting, they may go ahead and try to solicit 25% of the homeowners to call a special meeting. 

Members of the Board will review the fact sheet and will provide John feedback over the next few weeks.  The Board’s initial response is that this is the same issue that has been raised many times over the past three years, without any new information.  There seems to be a fundamental disagreement between the Board and the lake owners, over the function of the fountains and pumps.  Lake owners believe that HPHOA should pay for the repair of the pump, as they believe it is essential to the maintenance of the lakes.  Over the past three years, the Board has consulted the Purdue Cooperative as well as an engineer from Johnson County and conclusions from both are that the ponds are self-maintaining and do not need the pumps and/or fountain.  

Enforcement of the Covenants

Bill inquired with the Sheriff’s office, the best way to obtain help in situations where a homeowner chooses not to abide by the neighborhood covenants and it results in removal of property.  They advised the best way to handle is through small claims court.  If the small claims court issues a judgment and orders the removal of property, the Sheriff’s office is then in a position to uphold the judgment.  Bill talked with Lynn Gray about it briefly and will meet with her formally on June 13 to discuss the issues currently at hand and how we proceed with these violations.  We would also like to set forth procedures with Lynn so we have a formal process in place for future issues that elevate to this degree.  Bill will also discuss handling intermittent violations and will establish guidelines specifically around those situations as well.

Mowing and Landscaping Services 

The Grounds Committee submitted a recommendation to terminate Mowing by the Hills due to their failure to provide services outlined in their contract.  The recommendation included hiring Brickman to provide services for the remainder of the year.  Brickman’s contract was submitted to Dennis for the budget, and the Board unanimously approved this change.

Upcoming Meetings

Thurs, Aug 3 – 6:30 pm (Coleen’s house)