Board Meeting Minutes from 12 September 2022

(in person at Sandra Wilt’s House)

Board Member Attendees: Sandra Wilt, Mike Pastor, Dexter Blois (by phone), Heather Peery, Monica Lepp, Jeanne Yazinski, Tara Pauley, Matt Gillis (arrived 6:27).

Resident Attendees: Don & Sheila Kress.

  1. This meeting was called to order by Sandra Wilt, President, at 6:57 PM.  This meeting was audio recorded by Mike to aid minutes preparation.
  2. The July 5th Meeting Minutes of the H.O.A. Board were approved via email and not discussed in this meeting. 
  1. Treasurer’s Report
    1. Dexter distributed the treasurer’s reports via e-mail on September 1, 2022 of income & expenses through August 31, 2022.
    2. Checking Account Balance is $22,269.
    3. Savings Account Balance is $43,529.
    4. Chronologically through 8/31 we are 82% of the way through of the year.
    5. So far 86.6% of the budgeted expenses have been spent. 
    6. Dexter estimates we will end the year $6,500 over budget due to major expenses for irrigation repairs and the pond fountain replacement that were both necessary as indicated at the last Board Meeting.
    7. He further stated that we will be about $1,100 short of the projected revenue.  We will likely not need to transfer money from Savings since we did not transfer excess funds out of Checking the end of last year.
    8. A dues increase is likely for 2023 to handle a major increase in the insurance premium and vendor service rate increases expected due to rising inflation, but will need to be determined.
    9. Jeanne made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report, Monica seconded it, and a vote of the board members unanimously approved it.
  1. Community Oversight Committee – Heather Peery

    ARB (Architectural Review Board) Requests Received & Approved:

1535 Hawkesbury – fence addition
1200 Thornbury – Fence extension, hedge removal
1629 Charlemagne Ct – tree removal
1531 Hawkesbury – Tree removal
1618 Malcolm Point – roof

Current Violations:

1551 Victoria – Request made for sidewalk/driveway cleaning, General landscape clean-up.  2nd request on that violation.  Returning vines on the side of the home was a previous violation and they have mostly been removed.

1631 Charlemagne – Unpainted mailbox – resolved after receipt of certified letter.

Sorkos to start landscape treatment and will conduct irrigation inspections on Sept 13.  They’ve been the vendor that treats the pond, and now will also provide all three services.  A “single service provider” should greatly improve ongoing service and coordination.  Their rates are actually less than past providers.

We do have an irrigation leak up front near the brick wall that needs to be repaired.  The irrigation system is currently off until repairs are made.  All the rain insures we won’t have an issue.

Hedge cleanup was also discussed.  There are lots of thick weeds and vines growing from the hedge into resident yards.  Jason’s contract includes maintaining and keeping this under control.

We discussed removing the snake plants (aka: mother-in-law tongue) and installing pollinator plants around the crepe myrtle tree on the East side of the pond close to Rose’s house.  Volunteers will be sought to remove the old plants and the cost to purchase new plants of $140 was moved by Dexter and seconded by Sandra.  It was approved unanimously.

Jeanne raised a concern that the front entry lights stay on all day long.  These are controlled by a light sensor on the Horsley’s side of the wall under a tree.  This will be evaluated and considered next year.

OLD BUSINESS

  1. Revised Tuscany Directory
    Don Kress and Sandra will work together to update and print a revised neighborhood directory so it can get distributed by the end of the year.
  1. County Grant (Add Aerator to Pond)
  1. The grant application was submitted on June 12 and accepted.  Bids were received from three vendors and Dexter requested today to confirm if their quotes were still valid.  The bids were $8,000 and $11,000.      
  1. The grant application deadline is October 13 and the committee will decide which applications to approve to present to the commissioners on November 10th.
     
  2. The Orange County Board of Commissioners are scheduled to vote on the Neighborhood Improvement Grants on December 1st

NEW BUSINESS

  1. Community Yard Sale
    Sandra indicated she has received multiple requests from residents to hold a community yard sale.  October 22 from 8 A.M. to 1 P.M. was discussed and decided.
  2. Annual Dues
    Discussed along with the treasurer’s report and will be reviewed in detail at the next board meeting.
  3. Woman’s Club
    Discussion was held about resurrecting the Tuscany Women’s Club get togethers. Nothing finalized, yet.

Next Board Meeting is scheduled on Monday, October 3rd (subsequently it was postponed to October 10th due to Hurricane Ian) at 7:00 PM. at Sandra Wilt’s house at 1630 Victoria Way.

Adjournment – Jeanne moved we adjourn and Tara seconded it.  Sandra adjourned the meeting at 7:32 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Pastor, Secretary

The mission of the Tuscany Homeowners Association is: To institute and enforce rules, regulations and legal restrictions designed to ensure that the Tuscany neighborhood is a safe, attractive and desirable community where property values and resident satisfaction are maximized.