Annual Meeting Minutes

Board Members Present:  Jim Davidson, President, Dick Vautravers, vice-president, Daryln Hansen, Secretary, Ruth Manke, Treasurer, Steve Imes and Marlene Davidson.

Staff: Don. McIntyre

The meeting was called to order at 2:08 p.m. by President Davidson.

President Davidson asked if there were any new residents in attendance and to stand and state their names and addresses.

President Davidson introduced the Board of Directors and Administrative Assistant Don McIntyre and thanked Stan Martin and Ruth Manke for their diligence in handling the moneys coming in and flowing out of WGHA, Ruth was recognized for her six years of faithful service and presented with a glass plaque/trophy as well.

President Davidson confirmed that there was a quorum in attendance.

President Davidson asked for approval of the 2013 Annual Meeting Minutes.  A motion was made and seconded that they be approved. The motion carried.

Dick Vautravers extended a very special thank you to the candidates willing to run for the Board.  He introduced James Davidson, Glenn Miller, Connie Strohmeyer and Tom Johnson.

Each candidate made a presentation to the members which were followed by questions for the candidates from the audience.

President Davidson called a recess so that members could cast their ballots.

The meeting was called back to order and as the votes were being counted, the officers gave their annual reports.

President’s State of the Association – James Davidson

Jim reported that Wellington Greens has had a good year for 2013-14.  Our accounts receivable is 1%, not perfect, but manageable.  We are actively pursuing action to bring the delinquents up to date.  The grounds crew has work very hard to keep the campus in shape.  We are about 80% complete with the new maintenance building and the goal is to be finished by December 1.

Long Range Planning and Sewer – Dick Vautravers

Many of the decisions regarding prioritization of our long range planning needs took place during the prior fiscal year.  As reported at last year’s meeting, the Board identified the top needs of the Association as:  new maintenance building, clubhouse update, and irrigation system for the golf course, restoration of turf and common areas including updated irrigation system, concrete repairs and ongoing maintenance for sewer lines.  The Board then voted to explore in more depth three options – maintenance building, irrigation system for golf course and common areas and concrete repairs.  I should mention that we did find money in the operating budget for concrete repairs and ongoing maintenance for sewer lines.

After analyzing the costs of the maintenance building and irrigation systems for the golf course and/or common area, it became obvious that we could only tackle one of these projects at a time.  The board voted to pursue construction of a new maintenance building, due to the badly deteriorated condition of the old building, and the lack of space for our equipment.  After hiring an architect, getting approval from city planning and letting bids, the project got under way in July of this year.  We are on schedule for occupancy before December 1.

This will be our major project for the foreseeable future.  As you will hear later, the work of the Hospitality Committee has increased interest in updating the Club House.  So there will be  some follow-up on what interim steps we might take to begin those improvements.

The installation of clean outs and the mapping of the sewer lines was completed in September, 2013.  We spent about $147,000 to complete that project.  During this fiscal year, the board debated how to use the installed clean-outs on an ongoing basis.  We decided to do four courts in the first year and gauge how much debris had accumulated in the two years since the lines were cleaned.  We chose the four courts with the most problems noted during the initial phase of the project.  We were pleased to discover the lines were relatively clean, and we plan to go forward on a basis of 4-5 courts per year, at a budgetable cost of $2,000 to $2,500 per year.  We remind all of you that 88 units are connected directly to city or common area sewer lines.  Those units must be cleaned from within each unit, and are the responsibility of the unit owner.  I do have a map of the sewer lines and if any of you have questions you can see me after the meeting.

We will also continue the policy in 2015 of informing courts that will have common lines cleaned, so that buildings can have the lines running under their buildings cleaned at the same time the common lines are being cleaned.  This arrangement will save money for homeowners and maintain a schedule for those units.

Dick answered questions form the audience.

Secretary, Maintenance Building, Hospitality, Court Captains and Concrete – Daryln Hansen

Daryln stated that the Maintenance Building project was on schedule for mid-December occupancy.  The Grounds Crew is very much looking forward to their spacious new work space.

The newly formed Hospitality Committee has been active during the past six months, holding ice-cream social and Octoberfest events at the club house.  The events have been well received and well attended.  A Holiday tour of homes is scheduled for December.  Daryln introduced her committee and thanked them for the enthusiasm and support.

The court captains were asked to stand and be recognized for their efforts during the past year.  The captains play an important role in bringing concerns of residents to the Board, and communicating Board actions to residents.

Daryln indicated that concrete repair on driveways will be taking place in the near future before snow season.  We have a bid for about $20,000 of work to be completed on what were deemed to be the highest priority areas.

Daryln answered questions from the audience.

Treasurer Report – Ruth Manke

Ruth introduced herself and reported that the finance report was available to those that wish to view it.  She said, in addition to being a member of the Board, she is also the chairperson of the finance committee. She thanked the other members of the committee.  One of the primary responsibilities of the finance committee is to prepare and present to the full Board the annual operating budget for their approval.  Then, actual operating income and expenses are compared to the budget on a monthly basis, and all material variances are reviewed and discussed by the Board.  The Board has determined there will be no increase in monthly dues for the upcoming year.  The annual budget for the next year has been approved by the Board based on no increase.  The preparation of the annual budget is not without its challenges, including current economic conditions and Mother Nature, but the overall financial position of Wellington Greens is very sound.

Architectural – Steve Imes

Steve thanked the Board for their time, experience and expertise.  He gave a special thank you to Ruth and said she will be missed.  He thanked the members of the Architectural Committee and Don McIntyre for getting the letters out.  He said that his personal contact with residents of the community was rewarding and apologized to those that he missed calling back.  The spring walk around turned into the spring, summer, fall walk around.  Many letters were sent to units that were in need of some repairs.  Most of the problems were taken care of and at least one was repaired by the Board and billed to the owner and if not paid by the owner will have lien attached to the owner’s property.  The three major categories are clutter, minor repair and significant repair that could affect neighboring property values.  Dry rot and paint appeared in a majority of the letters. The paint codes have been updated to the extent possible and are on the web site.  Some paint colors are outdated and some are no longer produced and in those cases the residents must match the new paint to the old as close as possible.

Landscape – Marlene Davidson

Marlene said I am so proud to be a part of and serve a community like Wellington Greens.  We have great people and a landscape that is gorgeous.  Our maintenance crew is the best-kept secret.  We have folks who work extra hours just to keep the area presentable and functioning properly.  To get this type of expert and professional knowledge could be much more expensive.  Along with being a licensed arborist, Dan goes to classes continually in order to stay in compliance with acceptable procedures.

We have gone from mowing dirt in some areas, to mowing our lush green lawns.  Dan and his crew have seeded and over seeded grass all year, taking advantage of the wonderful rains we received.  When planting grass hasn’t worked well, they have sodded certain areas.

There is a schedule for taking down trees that cannot be rejuvenated any longer.  Then they plant suitable replacements.  The constant process of taking down old trees and planting new ones, keeps our grounds looking fresh and new.

The squirrels have taken their toll on our maple trees.  Dan brought a branch to one of our board meetings showing how they strip the bark.  When they are successful in stripping it in a complete circle around the branch, the tree eventually dies.  So again, cute as they may be, do not feed the squirrels, enticing them to hang around.  They do that very well by themselves.

Since I am across town most days watching grandchildren, I cannot keep up on all the landscape issues alone.  I rely heavily on you to keep me informed when something is not quite right.  Without your help, our little community would not be as beautiful as it is.  The association pays for and maintains the two entrances into our area at South Street and Old Post Road.  When you want something done in your cul-de-sac, meet with one another and your court captain.  Bring your ideas to me, and I will share them with the board.  Any reasonable plan will be approved.  In your private dwelling, use the same scenario, Pass your plan to me; I will share it with the board.  After their approval, you are free to proceed with your planting.  This is only to keep some semblance of order and consistency in our landscape.  We just don’t want a 50’ cottonwood tree inside a small patio area, or a tree or bush that will eventually hang over on the neighbor’s side.  Also, sometimes roots can cause upheaval in foundations and walls.  We just want to eliminate ugly situations in the future.

Finally, we are approaching the winter months and inclement weather.  When we have mountains of snow, (or even a little snow), save all the phone calls telling how they haven’t scooped your court yet.  Have another cup of coffee and enjoy the snow falling outside the window.  The crew starts about 3 a.m. to remove snow, unless there is wind.  Then they have to wait until it is feasible to begin.  If the snow is heavy, they make one pass through every court, so folks can get out if they need to.  Then they come back to fine-tune.

We also do not need calls saying they only cleaned a little snow and not all of it.  Given time, they will get it all done properly.  So let’s be patient this year and be glad they are doing it so we don’t have to.  Instead, we might think about greeting them with some hot coffee or hot chocolate and a cookie.  Or we could even try a mere “thank you”.  That could cause a few heart palpitations.

This is truly a wonderful campus in which to live.  Let’s each make an individual concerted attempt to make it the friendliest most beautiful place to call home.

Golf – Addie Egan

Addie said, I would like to thank the board for entrusting me with handling golf this year- it has been a lot of fun and I have met some very nice people. Thank you Tom Johnson for helping me with golf tournaments this year! We had a great turnout for our tournaments in June and July. We plan on having four tournaments in 2015. If you get a chance, please thank Dan for taking excellent care of our golf course – especially the greens- I hear compliments all the time about how nice our greens are even compared to courses like Firethorn. 25 new golf memberships were sold this year for a total of $6,150 which included two youth memberships for boys ages 14 & 15. Please consider buying a child (grandchild, neighbor kid) a youth golf membership. I will accompany them during a round of golf to make sure they use proper golf etiquette and understand the rules.  Youth memberships are only $55 for the entire year and make a great gift. Golf tags for 2015 have been changed- they are beige and hang horizontally. Please be sure and place your 2015 sticker on your golf tag when they are sent out with your HOA statement in January! A lot of stickers are thrown away with the envelope and I get phone calls for people needing new stickers. If your golf tag is falling apart please let me know and I will make you a new tag. We are now allowing the use of golf carts on a case by case basis if the person is disabled or cannot walk the course. The person must sign a liability release form and provide their own golf cart. We will no longer be able to loan our maintenance golf carts and no, my personal golf cart cannot be loaned out! If anyone suspects someone on the golf course who should not be there, please talk to them- check for a golf tag- ask if they are a guest- or call me and if I am available I will find out who they are and if they should be here. Please check the newsletter during the spring and summer months for golf tournament information- anyone is welcome to play in our tournaments including residents, members, league members and non-members It is a pleasure to serve our great community and thank you all for being so kind and patient with me during my first year of being your golf chair. Addie asked if there were any question.
Residents’ questions to the Board members were taken.

Election results were announced.  James Davidson and Tom Johnson were elected to the Board of Directors.

President Davidson thanked the volunteers that worked today.  He reminded everyone of Bridge and Pitch in the clubhouse.

President Davidson declared the meeting adjourned at 3:44 p.m.

Respectively submitted: W. Don McIntyre, Administrative Assistant