August 30, 2007

Highland Park Homeowner’s Association

Minutes of July 16, 2007 Meeting

Meeting Attendees

Brian Benham, President

Bill Dickey, Vice-President

Dennis O’Toole, Treasurer

Lisa Wurster, Secretary

Coleen Ellis, Board Member

John Price, Board Member

Mike Coombs, Board Member

Meeting began at 6:30 pm, adjourned at 8:15 pm and was held at Mike’s house.

Sprinklers at the front of the subdivision have not been working properly. The controller is under warranty and will be replaced at no cost to the Association.

Coleen has been working on the directory. She has a signed contract with Torrey Becker and ads are being solicited. The directory should be complete in August/September timeframe. Torrey may also be a prospect for administering our website.

Lot 108 Homeowner continues to park cars in the street (he left three vehicles out while on vacation) and we continue to get complaints. Sheriff was called and the cars were tagged. Tag expiration was Saturday. A Board Member called the sheriff’s office on Sunday and spoke with Doug Cox, but was told they do not tow on weekends. We will follow up with Sheriff’s office on this one.

New homeowner Lot 87, is interested in knowing who is responsible for correcting the drainage area at the back of his Lot. Bill contacted Koe Engineering to assess the situation. Koe Engineering records indicate that during construction of the subdivision some drainage tile behind these lots was installed. A preexisting drainage tile was unearthed during site development, and the developer was required to perpetuate this tile by the County ordinance. It is several feet deep and by law could not be abandoned and was extended to the drain line to the north. It does not affect Lot 87 drainage. Bill spoke with Greg Allen’s office and found that they have been working with Dennis Steeb for the past two years by adding drainage improvements for the homeowner at no cost to Steeb. The findings of Koe Engineering are unrelated to the work that Greg Allen has been performing for Mr. Steeb. The Board determined that the Association is not responsible for this issue. A letter was subsequently sent to the owner of Lot 87 approving his plan to improve and beautify the drainage swale at the back of his property.

A lake lot owner and their attorney joined the meeting to discuss concerns and a proposal for maintenance of the lower lake in the front of Highland Park. This homeowner has met with contractors and engineers to understand the topography of the lake. He had a visual prepared by Siteline, Inc. that showed the lake perimeter as it currently exists in comparison with how he believes the lake should look. His information compared the original design of the ponds to their current states. The visual also showed a man standing in the lower lake to illustrate the shallowness. This homeowner believes that the dredging issue should be separate from the aerating issues and has spoken with other lake lot owners about the maintenance of this lake. He also wanted to speak with the Board to see if the Board could lend any help. From his research, he believes it will cost approximately $40-$50k to drain and dredge the lower lake and remove dirt. Access could either be through the vacant lot on the lake or through his yard. We do have an easement but he would like to have as little yard disruption as possible. This homeowner believes it is the responsibility of the Board to maintain the lakes, even though the covenants indicate that the lakes are private property and the responsibility of the Board is limited to storm water drainage system. This homeowner proposes putting up $25k of his money to fix the lower lake, if the Board will pay for the rest. He also mentioned that there may be a volume discount if the Board chose to take the same approach on the upper lake. He also believes that in order to prevent the same problem from reoccurring, riprap or a seawall should be installed. The Board is concerned about what the covenants convey as to the Board’s responsibility of the lakes versus the desires of the lake lot owners. There is also a limit to the amount of funds the Board can expend without triggering a special assessment, which requires ratification by a significant number of all Highland Park homeowners. There is concern about the Board’s general liability exposure on the lake private property. In that the homeowner who approached the Board had retained counsel the Board decided that it’s best to discuss the covenant obligations regarding maintenance of the lakes with attorney Lynn Gray. A meeting with Lynn Grey will be scheduled to discuss this issue and get her recommendations.

Next Meetings

Sept 17

Annual Homeowner’s Meeting