Minutes

These Minutes have been APPROVED by the Board.

Meeting date: June 17, 2008

Present: Cindy, Amira, Erika, Tricia
Reg Menard

Guest Issues to be addressed at next meeting; first 30 minutes (maximum):

Reg Menard

1. Reg would like to know what documentation the Board has regarding the owner/landlord ratios set by lenders.  His inquiry is driven by the recently announced proposed amendment to the Bylaws presented by Fred Barnes and Judy Brown.
1. A: the Board does not have any documentation regarding this proposal; only the proposal as submitted by Fred and Judy.  While Erika did do some research to see if she could find anything online, the only thing she could find was that each lending organization (Freddie Mac, Fanny Mae, FHA, and VA – for example) each have their own owner/landlord ratio.  So, depending on which organization will be funding the mortgage, the restriction will vary.
2. To Reg, and the other homeowners who will be casting votes on this proposal, the Board suggests that you do your research and read the proposed Bylaw carefully.  During this discussion, Reg mentions that an attorney told him that a Bylaw like this is not legal.  It is possible that this legislation is state-by-state, but as none of the Board members are lawyers, we cannot speak to this possibility.  Make sure that you understand the intent of the Bylaw; the stated objective of creating a Bylaw change (as stated at the Annual Meeting in January, and under which homeowners agreed to convening a committee) is to limit the number of landlords in Woodbridge so as not to create mortgage problems for people.  During our discussions we were unable to find the part of the proposal that seeks to remedy this situation, but in the end the homeowners have to vote based on what they understand.  If they don’t understand the proposed Bylaw then it will likely be very difficult to enforce.
3. Other questions comes up.  Have people actually been denied a mortgage because we have too many landlords?  How do we know that a mortgager won’t give a loan if we are over whatever the percentage is?  How does this proposed Bylaw limit the number of landlords?  It appears to only limit how many units each person can own (so that no one owner can own more than two units), not how many overall units can be rentals.  Based on this proposal, 50% of Woodbridge could be rented out if each owner owned two units (live in one, rent one).  That doesn’t address the lending concern.
2. Paint doesn’t match on the new paint job of the multi-colored units.
1. It will never match with three years between paint jobs on the front and the back.  However, the trim color on Judy’s unit is significantly off  (as observed by Cindy D., Cindy C., Amira, and Tricia) and should be redone.  Cindy will talk to Gary.  Also on this project should be the scraping and painting of the fascia on Judy’s end of the building (Unit 1).  Cindy will ask Gary for an estimate as this was not included in the original request or estimate.

Cindy Dodds

1. Cindy wants to stain her deck and will get the stain needed to do the other four decks.  She wants to know if she’s still a signer on the hardware store account.
1. Those owners of the other three units who want to do their own decks will be offered the $25 as in past years.

Tricia Chatary

1. Privacy screens between decks; are they available?  When the decks on her building were redone the Board surveyed the owners to see if they wanted to privacy screens replaced.  At the time none of the owners expressed interest in having the screens replaced.  If interest is growing again then we need to find out who wants them, get an estimate for having them installed, and then we need to put the expense on the next fiscal year budget planning.

NEWSLETTER: Proxies are coming in for the Special Meeting, but some are incomplete or incorrect.  People sending in Proxys need to make sure to grant proxy to another person who will attend the meeting AND enter their vote (yes or no) on the proposed Bylaw.  Just voting on the Ballot/Proxy is not enough; you must also include a Proxy designation.

NEWSLETTER: We need a volunteer to stain the decks for those people who don’t want to stain their own.  This person would receive the $25 for each deck completed.  Anyone interested should contact a member of the Board.

Approve Minutes of last meeting; May
Tricia asks that we change “flicking” to “flickering”.

Motion to approve:	Cindy
Second:	Amira
Motion carried.	Minutes approved.

Current Business:

1. Treasurer’s Report.
1. All dues checks should be going to the post office box.

NEWSLETTER: please send all dues checks to the Post Office Box.  This is the most direct way to make sure that your dues are received and credited on the first of the month or before the end of the grace period on the eighth of the month.

1. Parking map to be posted by the mailboxes/parking lot lines
1. 03/11/08; Erika will bring copies of the map that she has and we will work on modifying it for this purpose.
2. 04/08/08; Erika brought the maps.  We’ll give this some thought and decide what we want to do with it next month.
3. 05/20/08: it is decided that posting the map isn’t necessary as visitors won’t necessarily think to look by the mailboxes for a map.  However, it is also suggested that while the lines on the paving are still visible we should arrange to have them painted again.  We’ll seek volunteers.  Erika will check for contractors to price it out.
4. 06/17/08: Lines and numbers on the parking lots (if done by a professional) run in the neighborhood of about $350.  We should put this on the budget for next year if we can’t get a volunteer this summer.

NEWSLETTER: seeking a volunteer to paint the lines.  We’ll provide the paint.

1. 05/20/08; Joan would like to try a “pilot” vegetable garden with neighborhood kids.
1. 06/17/08; garden is growing.  Issue closed.

NEWSLETTER: Garden update.  Tricia will send me something to put in the newsletter.

1. 05/20/08; Fred and Judy worked with an attorney to draft a proposed amendment to the Bylaws.  The stated objective is to restrict the number of units within Woodbridge that can be rental properties as banks look at the owner occupancy to rental rates when mortgaging homes in homeowner associations.  Erika will put something in the newsletter and the official meeting notice should go out June 2.  If unit owners have questions, comments, or concerns regarding the proposed amendment they should direct their inquiries to Fred or Judy, or a member of the Board.
1. 06/17/08; meeting scheduled.  Issue closed.

1. 05/20/08; Tricia is following up on a bike safety workshop that we talked about last fall.  She has some information and will work with Joan to schedule something with the kids.
1. 06/17/08; Tricia and Joan are working on it and will get it scheduled around the time of the block party.

1. 05/20/08; Dean is unhappy with the workmanship on the sidewalk on his unit (2 Woodbridge).  He feels that it is poorly done; it is crooked (“like a banana”), the finish is poor (quite rough), and the edges are rough and could potentially trip a pedestrian.  In addition, his front steps were torn out and not redone leaving him with a 14-inch step to his front door.  He would like to have it all redone.
1. 06/17/08; Gary inspected the sidewalks with Cindy.  He said that the only way to redo it is to cut it all out and start over.  They have completed the steps and the grass is growing in around the new path.  Gary is not keen to redo the work (at his own expense) particularly since he had difficulty completing the last few paths because Fred was using his equipment while the other path’s cement was setting up.  By the time Fred gave Gary his equipment back the setting cement was less malleable.

1. 05/20/08; Amira reports that Joan is reminding us that we need to renew our incorporation docs.  Amanda called Joan…Erika will contact Joan and get some details.
1. 06/17/08; Joan brought some docs regarding the bank signers and our need to become “active” with the State.  Tricia took the documents and will make some calls.

Ongoing Business:

1. Pinewood light is flickering.
1. 11/20/07; Terry is not available to address the problem.  We need to find an electrician to work on this.  The part from John Delucco has not yet arrived.  Everyone on the Board needs to shake the trees for a new electrician.
2. 12/18/07; Terry is doing some work on Joan’s place.  While he’s there she’ll talk to him.
3. 02/19/08; the one on Ledgewood seems to be fine, but the one on Pinewood (lower light by mailboxes) is still failing.  Erika will talk to Joan to find out where this got left.
4. 03/11/08; Joan reports that she hasn’t heard back from Terry yet.
5. 04/08/08; Joan has been in touch with Terry, but we can’t tell if he’s done anything yet.  Everyone will try to remember to look when the meeting is over.
6. 05/20/08; according to Cindy, Craig reports that the light on Ledgewood has been repaired.  We don’t know if anything has been done with the Pinewood light.  No one at this meeting is able to recall seeing it off in recent weeks.  Pinewood light is still an open issue and everyone will try to take note of its performance.
7. 06/17/08; it appears that this light is working fine.  We are closing this issue.

1. Amira: their basement has begun flooding again, apparently from the same crack.
1. 02/19/08; Cindy Carswell checked it out.  We need to have Gary Scott come out to look at all (probably the three on that end of the building) the units in that building to see if they have the same problem.  Gary can help us make a decision on how to move forward to achieve a final resolution to the wet basement issues.  Cindy Carswell will call him.
2. 03/11/08; Cindy met with Gary who did an inspection of the basement.  Gary wants to remove the framing, remove the old patch and do a new patch including one along the floor.  His estimate for this work is $389.50.  Flooding occurred again and a contractor friend of Cindy’s said that we needed to run a perimeter drain (like on Ledgewood Court).
1. Cindy motions to accept Gary’s proposal.  Tricia seconds the motion.  Motion carried.  Cindy will communicate with Gary, who plans to come out the week of March 18th to do the work.
3. 04/08/08; everyone is going to contact whoever they can think of to try to figure out what to do next.  The basement is leaking worse than ever now.  We will regroup on this next month and compare our findings.  We are looking for almost anything that is less costly and involved than running perimeter drains along the back of the building.
4. 05/20/08; the basement is still wet.  Cindy has a list of contractors she contacted and from whom she received some recommendations.  One recommendation is to run a perimeter drain along the front and back (like Ledgewood) and waterproof-painting the foundation’s exterior… the “perfect fix”.  Part of this repair would be to run underground drainage to the ditch.  Other contractors have the same recommendation.  The overall feeling is that the ground is so saturated with water that the hydrostatic pressure is pressing moisture into the basements.  It was further found (in Tricia’s unit) that the foundation appears to be thinner than what would typically be expected in a foundation.  Another option suggested was to cut a hole in a basement and add another sump pump in that row of units.  Another suggestion was to add a two inch slab with a “gutter” around the perimeter of the room where any water will go, leading to a sump pump in a corner.  The raised room stays dry and the perimeter can be wet…like a gutter around the room.  It is also suggested that we hire an engineer (rather than a contractor) to assess the situation before we move on any further expensive steps to get a final determination of the problem and possible fixes.  Joan had said that she would contact the town to see if they had an engineer that could help.  Erika will double check with her on that.  Fred will give the number of an engineer with whom he spoke on this subject a couple of years ago, to someone one the Board and we’ll contact this person to find out what he would charge to assess this issue.
5. 06/17/08; still wet.  Proposals have come in from excavators to estimate perimeter drains outside the building.  Cindy called the engineer that Fred recommended (Richard Dall, McFarland Johnson Engineering Co.).  He can get us on his agenda, but couldn’t even call back until August.  It would cost $5-600 just to have him come out – not counting any research.  Phone advice from Mr. Dall, recommended talking to a waterproofing contractor.  Tom Bodette’s bid for sump pump installation in Amira’s basement, piping to outside, concrete patch between floor and wall; $2,175.  We also talked to Paquette who has some other ideas, but hasn’t done a proposal. He’ll come back out to discuss his other ideas.  Cota estimated for a perimeter drain at $25,530.  A perimeter drain will always be a terribly expensive option because the decks have to all be removed, and there’s lots of digging involved.  Gary’s proposal to seal the wall and install a sump pump is $1,248.  Before we jump to the expensive options it seems wise to seek the counsel of the “waterproofing contractors” to see what they recommend.  Cindy will make some calls and see what she can find out.

1. Paint back side of multi-colored building
1. Gary’s estimate to paint is $2,612.  (The alternative bid is $9,900 for the same work). Motion to accept this bid; Cindy Carswell, Craig seconds.  Motion carried.
2. 04/08/08; schedule for this spring
3. 05/20/08; Gary’s planning to start this soon…probably next week.
4. 06/17/08; painting is done, but there is some issue with the trim color (see Guest Issues above)

1. Vinyl siding on multi-colored building end: the estimate probably needs to be updated.  Patricia reminds us that we had talked about waiting so that the end could be done with the back so that things match.
1. 02/19/08; This requires more discussion and it’s getting late.  Tabled until next month.
2. 03/11/08; Tricia is going to talk to Gary about how much siding is left over from Judy’s side and if the current bid includes this leftover siding or not.
3. 04/08/08; Tricia has selected a color and Gary will be able to get the job done this spring/summer.  The estimate is $3,150.
4. 05/20/08; Done.  Tricia mentioned that the exterior electrical box is not reinstalled.  Cindy will chat with Gary when he comes to begin the painting to find out if it was left this way intentionally.
5. 06/17/08; this exterior outlet contraption is still hanging there.  Cindy will ask Gary if he can install a proper exterior outlet and remove this antique thing.

1. Siding on the front of Judy’s unit, under the window, is warping.  (Judy has clapboard.)  She wants it fixed.
1. 11/20/07; Cindy will talk to Gary to see if a hammer and nail can solve the problem.
2. 12/18/07; Joan will ask Gary to take a look at it, while he’s there working on her place.
3. 02/19/08; Cindy will talk to Gary when she calls about some other issues.  While Gary’s here he should also schedule “Phase 2” of Judy’s bathroom closet repair.
4. 03/11/08; Gary said that when he comes to work on Mirzet’s basement he can work on this.
5. 04/08/08; scheduled
6. 05/20/08; unknown
7. 06/17/08; done.

1. Siding on the front of MaryLou's unit, under the window, may be warping.  Someone should check on this.
1. 11/20/07; Cindy will ask Gary to check it out.
2. 12/18/07; Joan will ask Gary to take a look at it, while he’s there working on her place
3. 02/19/08; Cindy will talk to Gary when she calls about some other issues.
4. 03/11/08; Gary said that when he comes to work on Mirzet’s basement he can work on this.
5. 04/08/08; scheduled
6. 05/20/08; unknown
7. 06/17/08; Gary doesn’t know what needs to be done, he can’t see a problem.  Amira will ask Mary Lou what the issue is and see if we can get it resolved.

1. Shed needs to be painted (plywood at the base) to protect against weather.
1. 04/08/08; we’ll just take care of this internally…Joan will talk to Ben, Amira will ask Mirzet.
2. 05/20/08; Mirzet will do the work.  The stain is in the shed.  In addition, the door is disjointed and needs to be repaired.  Craig fixed it, but suggested that the sliders be replaced with rollers.  The suggestion is made that we put a lock on it.
3. 06/17/08; Gary put the door back on.  There is no lock on it.  The painting is done.  Issue closed.

1. Basements to be sealed (like Fred’s and Joan’s).
1. The decision is to not do this yet as the gutter guy feels that the underground perimeter drainage tubes are blocked causing the back up of water, which results in leaks and drips.  Roto Rooter was scheduled to come with their snake-cam, but they never showed up and, since our last meeting in June, have given Cindy the run-around.  She called Dundon who is willing to come out and see what he can do.  Fred would be willing to take a look at the leaking units the next time there is a significant rain to see where the leaks are coming in.
2. 09/17/07; Dundon is willing to come out and snake the pipe.  Cindy will schedule this.
3. 10/15/07; Keith of Dundon came out and blew out any blockages (dirt, rocks, etc.) so it’s not blocked anymore.  So, if it was plugged, it isn’t any more.  In the spring we need to monitor units 14 and 12 for leaks.  If they do have leakage then we suggest that we do the paint sealant like Joan and Fred’s.  Tabled now until April 2008 (spring).
4. 04/08/08; Joan has asked, but there haven’t been any complaints.  Joan will ask one more time before we close this item.
5. 05/20/08; Erika will check with Joan via e-mail to see if she has received any other complaints.  If everything is fine we’ll close this issue.  If there’s a problem we’ll visit this again next month.
6. 06/17/08; Erika hasn’t heard back from Joan and will ask.
1. Via e-mail Joan reports that she talked with #14 Woodbridge and they have no water in their basement, but #12 Woodbridge does get some water around the pipe.  Erika asked Joan if #12 wants/needs anything to be done about the water around the pipe.  No answer yet.

1. Sidewalks
1. 09/17/07; Fred Barnes brings his complaint about the sidewalk in front of his unit, again.  He’d be willing to do a bulk of the work if the Association would provide the materials.  Fred cannot do the work as he is not an insured contractor.  Estimates are being pursued for consideration on the next budget (unless it’s so cheap that we can sneak it in this year).
2. 10/15/07; Cindy inspected sidewalks and saw that there are a few sidewalks with similar issues.  This is a budget discussion for the annual meeting.  Tabled for annual meeting.
3. 02/19/08; sidewalks are budgeted for this spring.
1. We have the estimates to do the sidewalks.  Craig motions to accept Gary’s bid for the walks.  Erika seconds.  Motion carried.
4. 04/08/08; Gary has his signed bids; he can run with this whenever he’s ready
5. 05/20/08; there are some quality issues with some of the sidewalks.  Tricia and Cindy will talk to Gary to see what we can do to remedy the situation.
6. 06/17/08; done.  Issues closed.

1. Gutters: Cindy’s building has worse gutters so we’ll start with that one.  Patching will have to hold over the other holes (in the back of Unit 4 and 14) for now.
1. 08/20/07; gutter guy is scheduled to come 08/25/07 to do Cindy’s building, patch areas on Joan’s building, and he’ll look at the rest for future repairs/replacement.
2. 10/15/07; tabled until spring
3. 02/19/08; this year we have budgeted for gutters on the backside of Fred’s building.  Cindy Dodds turns over the contact information to the new Board.  Patricia will contact the Gutter Guys and set up the work.
4. 04/08/08; as mentioned in Fred’s issues, Cindy will find out about additional downspouts.
5. 05/20/08; Gutter Guy is coming Friday.  While we have a contract to replace the gutters and two downspouts, we do not have an estimate for additional downspouts.  Tricia moves that we approved an additional $300 to cover additional downspouts.  Erika seconds.  Motion carried.  Amira will let the gutter guy know that he can come on Friday and should come with extra materials for downspouts.
6. 06/17/08; done.  Gutters installed and four downspouts are in.

1. Pinewood (back side) gutter is pulling away from the building and needs to be repaired.
1. 04/08/08; it’s a cheap fix and Gary will take care of it while he’s here working on the decks
2. 05/20/08; not sure if this is done.  We’ll add this to the list of things to review with Gary.
3. 06/17/08; done.

1. Cindy would like to have her front door replaced
1. 03/11/08; two members need to take a look at it to assess the need
2. 04/08/08; Cindy has to review the estimate with Gary (some questions to clarify)
3. 05/20/08; Cindy has a revised estimate to replace her door.  The price is the same as before and like the others who have replaced doors.  Bid is returned with signatures.
4. 06/17/08; done.

Other/New Business:

1. 06/17/08; On the parking space in front of Amira’s (where the Town had to patch the parking lot after the main break) the patch is “sinking”.  Erika will call the Town to find out if they can come and repair this.

1. 06/17/08; Tricia’s sump pump drain pipe needs a housing.  Gary said that he can do this.  Cindy will add this to the Gary-do list for estimating.

1. 06/17/08; Cindy has a report from Gary about four decks that are so badly decayed that they are unsafe to be used.  His list includes Ledgewood #s 13, 11, 9, 3.  He feels that all of them on Ledgewood plus #s 24 and 28 on Pinewood need to be reinforced (‘propped up’) in the short term.  The cost for propping up all of these units would be $559.50.  Erika motions that we approve Gary’s estimate to make these temporary repairs.  Tricia seconds the motion.  Motion carried.  Cindy will add it to Gary’s list.

1. 06/17/08; 24 Pinewood has a huge gap in the front door (no threshold).  John Delucco needs to be contacted to see if he wants the door replaced.  Craig was going to talk to John, but it isn’t clear that he has done that.  Erika will call John and see if he wants the door replaced with a standard “Woodbridge” door.  Gary’s estimate is $365 (like the other doors).  Erika motions that we accept this estimate for the door to be replaced, pending John’s approval.  Tricia seconds.  Motion carried.

1. 06/17/08; Covered Bridge Apartments (operated by Jörg and Erika Mellmann) would like to sponsor a gift that would benefit the kids of Woodbridge.  They were thinking of something for the playground, funding the garden project with Joan, or something like that, but would be interested in hearing ideas from the residents of Woodbridge as to what they feel would most benefit the kids in the community.  Anyone with ideas should direct their ideas to a member of the Board.

1. 06/17/08; Cindy wants to know if she has to pay the interest on the cat fine that she received.  She has been in touch with a lawyer and has now paid the fine.  The Board agrees that the interest must be paid.

 

NEWSLETTER: homeowners – when work is done on your unit, please let the Board know within 48 hours of the job being completed if there are any problems.  We would like to be able to pay contractors in a timely manner, but also want to make sure that the work is done according to the wishes of homeowners and the Association.  This will help us a lot.

Close meeting:

Motion to adjourn:	Erika
Second:	Amira
Motion carried.	Meeting adjourned.

NEXT BOARD MEETING: August 19, 2008 (summer break for July 15)