CHAPMAN FARM

Homeowners’ Association

Crofton, Maryland

 

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CHAPMAN FARM HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION MET AT THE CHAPMAN FARM CLUBHOUSE ON JANUARY 25, 2005.

 

CALL TO ORDER:

The meeting was called to order at 7:08pm with the following members present:

  • Brian Slack                       President
  • Tim Johnson                     Vice-President
  • Mike Goyette                    Board Member at Large
  • Mark Collins                      Treasurer
  • Scott Davis                       Managing Agent- ProCom

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The minutes from the monthly meeting held on November 30, 2004 were approved as written.  Tim Johnson moved to approve the minutes as written and Mark Collins seconded the motion.  The motion carried.   

HOMEOWNWER COMMENTS

  • Resident asked about snow removal.  She wanted to know what to do to have a certain street plowed, other than Price or Chapman Rd.  Brian told her that she would need to contact the County and request that they plow the street. 
  • Resident asked what the amount for snow removal, in the budget, is used for.  Brian said that it is used for clearing the common areas such as the sidewalks and parking lot of the clubhouse, the front walks and one block in, on each entrance.  
  • Resident asked what the landscaping contract says about snow removal.  The contract states that they will come out and clear when it gets to be 2 or 3 inches, but they would have to have authorization before they would come out.  They start with streets and then they clear the sidewalks.
  • Resident asked if the board gave approval to have inspections done.  Brian explained that they gave residents 60 days to volunteer to serve on the covenants committee, and there were no volunteers, so they hired ProCom to do the inspections.  Resident then, asked if the inspections would include fining residents who do not shovel the snow from the sidewalks in front of their homes.  Tim explained that ProCom was hired for just a one time only, spring inspection, but if it is reported that a resident is not clearing the snow from his sidewalks, then the board would direct ProCom to send a fine letter. The other recourse would be for the resident to contact the County and report it.  It was then suggested that a reminder be put in the newsletter, regarding a homeowner’s responsibility for shoveling the walkways that are connected to their property.  
  • Resident commended the board on some of their accomplishments this year, such as the front entrance signs, the speed humps and the website. Brian acknowledged Mike Consalvi for the new entrance signs, Tim Johnson for the speed control, and Jeff Lindhurst for the website. 

 

 

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

·         Brian thought that this would be the last meeting, so he had nothing prepared, but he did commend the current Board for their hard work on the items that were accomplished in the past year.  The items can be viewed in prior meeting minutes that will be posted to the website.

 

 

 

·         Brian mentioned some of the items on the horizon for the next year’s board such as the renovation of the interior of the clubhouse, replacement of the fence in phases, continue traffic safety and improvements, an engineering study to look at our treasury reserves, and playground

             equipment replacement.

·         Brian asked again for volunteers for the committees and that any help

             would be greatly appreciated.

·         Brian thanked Mike Goyette for his service on the Board.  He served for one year and he is stepping down. 

TREASURER’S REPORT

The General Trial Balance for the Association was reviewed and it is in accordance with the Budget for the fiscal year.

  • Cash on hand in checking for the month (as of December 31, 2004) is $88,437.
  • The cash on hand in savings is $245,313
  • The total income for the month is $2,011.
  • The total expenses were $11,987.
  • Leaving a total loss of $9,976.
  • The revenue for the year to date is $7,421
  • Mark reported that the community currently has 5 T-bills operating.
  • Mark said that any overage would be placed in operating budget to help fund the “top five” items on the list such as the fence replacement or the lighting. 
  • Assessments will be bi-annually instead of the current quarterly payments.  It helps cut down on the cost of processing assessments.  Assessments will be due in the spring and the fall.
  • There will be an increase of $10.00 per household, to cover the cost of ProCom administering the spring inspections. 

SOCIAL COMMITTEE REPORT

.

·         Resident commented that the holiday party on December 11th was very successful and there were 67 residents that attended.  It was catered by the Italian Market and the food was excellent. 

  • Brian said that they would like to have the social events posted to the website and that some of the events will be scheduled again because they were a huge success, such as the Cinco de Mayo party.  He said that he has also asked that the Social Committee to submit their budgets and proposals no later than 30 days prior to the events so that ample notice can be given to residents. 
  • Brian commended Linda and Mary for the great job that they have done. 

 

ACC

  • Brian explained that the ACC committee had to be disbanded due to resignations of the committee members and philosophical differences with the Board. 
  • Brian asked for volunteers to review the ACC requests.  If anyone is interested they can contact Tim Johnson, who is currently the acting ACC, thru the community website.  
  • 3 ACC requests were submitted to the board for their review.  (Executive Session)
  • A fourth ACC request was submitted for siding, but Tim has already approved. 

 

TRAFFIC COMMITTEE

Tim Johnson gave the report.

·         There was a traffic committee meeting on November 4, 2004, at 7:00pm.   Only 1 committee member was present.  Tim was not comfortable with going forward with proposals without at least 3 to 4 members present. 

·         Speed humps have been installed.

 

 

 

TRAFFIC COMMITTEE (Cont.)

 

·         A traffic circle is going to be installed at Carver and Chapman.   The County has submitted it to their vendor and we are just waiting for them to install it.    It will be a temporary circle and the community will have to evaluate whether it is effective or not, in that area. 

·         The County will also come back out and measure the effectiveness of the speed humps that were put in.  They will determine if it has increased traffic to the other side of the community.   They will also check the speed on both sides of the community.    

·         Once these things have happened then the committee would like to have Price and Pearl re-measured for volume and speed to see if they qualify for retention devices.  

·         Thru discussions with Nestor Flores, the County will make Pearl, where it meets Price and goes into Twigs, into a 4-way stop.  There was an accident there about a month ago. 

·         The committee will be making other determinations regarding placement of 4-way stops and submitting their suggestions to the County.  .

·         The traffic committee has been walking the sidewalks to identify the areas that are raised up and need to be repaired by the County. 

·         Resident offered the service of his company to paint the cross walks at no charge.  He owns a pavement maintenance company.  Tim discussed this with the County and they rejected the offer.   

·         The committee is also working on some proposed areas for crosswalks.  This would provide designated crossing areas for children that are going to bus stops. 

·         The sidewalks have been walked and the trip areas have been identified and given to the County for repair.  The County said that they would be repaired by November 2004 and they still have not been repaired.  Tim has contacted Janet Owens office and provided the list to Bea Poulin, who is our community activist, and asked her to step in on the community’s behalf.  He indicated that we are not happy with the County’s lack of response.

·         The next traffic committee meeting will tentatively be held in late February.

·         The community employs two police officers to patrol the community.  One of them patrols the playground and clubhouse area and the other one is employed to watch for speeding in the early mornings and late evenings.  He approached the board about purchasing a radar gun for him at the cost of $1800 and he would work off the cost of the gun.  He has been very effective and he has written quite a few tickets.  He has reduced the miles over the speed limit from eleven to seven miles over, for issuing tickets and Tim told him to pay particular attention to vehicles that are running stop signs. 

GROUNDS REPORT

·         Brian asked that residents notify ProCom if they notice that CS Lawn is not doing their job. 

·         Resident reported that, before Christmas, a 50 ft rotting Oak fell and he removed a portion that had fallen on the fence at the top of the wall in the common area, but that the rest of it needed to be removed.  He called Scott at ProCom and Scott reacted promptly, in getting the rest of the tree removed and the fence repaired.   

GCC REPORT

Tim Johnson gave the report.

·         Election of the Board for the GCC.  The Secretary and the Treasurer were running unopposed and re-elected.  The election for the office of the President was between Steve Conyers of the Crofton Athletic Council and Tory Jacobson the incumbent.   There was one big difference between the candidates: Tory Jacobson has gone on record as being in favor of the M.O.U. that was signed by the GCC and the Halle Corporation for the rubble landfill, and Steve Conyers is totally against it. Tory needed 14 votes to remain in office and he received 14 votes.  The election for the office of the Vice-President was between David Craigs of Davidsonville and incumbent, Phil Randone, from the Crofton Athletic Council.  David Craigs was re-elected as Vice President. 

·         Discussed the proposal from the Halle Corporation

·         Bea Poulin was in attendance and she indicated that Janet Owens is opposed to the proposal of the landfill and she would not discuss it with Tory Jacobson.  

GCC REPORT (Cont.)

·         Recently, the County Board of Education was looking at the possibility of re-districting for the school systems and this would have placed all of the Crofton children into one high school. Apparently, the GCC informed the Board of Education that they were against re-districting and the re-districting has been put off for another year.  

·         If a voting member of the council would like to put a motion forward for discussion of the M.O.U.  again, and another member seconds the motion, they will discuss it again.  Chapman Farm representatives at the meeting were reluctant to put the motion forward at the time. 

MANAGEMENT REPORT

Scott Davis of ProCom gave the management report.

1.       Transfer of Ownership to date

a.        04/14/04 Tschudy to Margaret Smith-$491,500.

b.        11/01/04 Fratus’ to Deborah Varga –no sales price given.

c.        12/15/04 Winternitz’ to TuCuu and Bich Nguyen- no sales price given.

d.        12/16/04 Mulvcahy’ to Mark and Jennifer Samuels-no sales price given.

                                   e.    12/29/04 Johnson’ to Lane ford and Voranooj Jaijarat-no sales price given.

2.      Proposals/Projects  

a.       Bartlett Tree Experts have provided proposals for recommended tree trimming in the upcoming months.  The cherry trees by the playground have already been done.

b.       The drainage problem behind Strong’s Ct. is still being evaluated.  A proposal from Jams in provided, while Tim Johnson and CS Lawn will plan on meeting within the next few months.  Tabled until spring.   

c.        Jill Bater has provided an informal estimate of some of the work involved in renovating the interior of the clubhouse. I have a second person interested, and am in the process of setting up a second person interested, and am in the process of setting up a meeting date.  I plan on obtaining one more bid as well.  At some point, the Board will have to meet with the tree contractors to discuss exactly what they want done, color schemes, etc. so we get uniform bids. 

d.        

       3.      Correspondence

a.        ProCom has provided copies of all incoming and outgoing homeowner

Correspondence that was received and sent between the delivery date of October’s Board Package and November 24, 2004.

b.        Any violation letters sent to homeowners that have correction deadlines

       (i.e. 30 days, 48 hours) have been scheduled for re-inspection on those                                                           

                                          specific dates.

c.        ProCom has included Mike Goyette’s official resignation letter. 

4.   General Matters

                                  a.    CS Lawn recommended adding a dog station by the playground, as most of the

                                         trash in the can sees to be of this nature.  They would empty the cans for an

                                         additional charge.  

b.       ProCom has included the Community Crime Watch/ AA Co. Police forum

Notice that was sent via the Chapman Farm E-Mail list.

c.       ProCom has included the commercial Vehicle Guidelines approved by the 

                                        Board of Directors.  (Still waiting on final signed copy)

d.       ProCom has included the original proposal from Ambrose and Son for the

Spreading of wood chips at the tot-lot.  The next page shows the invoice, which is $300 higher than their bid.  I have already called and left a message to dispute this extra materials charge, being that we chose this company based on price.  I will notify Board when I hear back from them. 

e.       ProCom recommends changing the collection action threshold to hirer value,  

      due to the now semi-annual payments.  Currently, the threshold is $ 130.                                 

3.       Executive Session-(See Executive Session)

 Presented by:  Scot M. Davis, CMCA, Managing Agent, Chapman Farm HOA

 

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

·         Resident suggested the use of Berber carpet in the clubhouse, instead of standard carpet.  He is knowledgeable on the subject of harmful chemicals in carpeting.  

·         Drainage problem in Strongs Court.  Tim contacted CS Lawn and has not gotten a response.  He asked Scott to contact them again and to tell them to give him a call.  Tim has had the County out to look at the problem, but they could only give some suggestions, like the French drain to direct the water to their storm drains.  Currently looking at a few proposals and waiting for a response from CS Lawn before they can go forward on a decision. 

·         Tim asked that when residents submit issues via email, that they provide a name so that the board can address the issues directly.  Anonymous concerns or complaints can not be addressed.  

·         The Commercial Vehicle Guidelines were approved by the Board.  Tim motioned to approve the re-written Commercial Vehicle Guidelines and Brian Slack seconded the motion.  The motion carried.  Scott will send out the re-written guidelines and they will also be posted on the website.

 

NEW BUSINESS

·         Mike Consalvi expressed his desire to serve on the Board.  Mike Goyette moved to appoint Mike Consalvi to the Board of Directors and Mark Collins seconded it.   The motion carried.

 

 

ADJOURNMENT

Being no further business to come before the board, the meeting was adjourned at 8:00pm and the board went immediately into the Executive Session.  The Executive Session ended at 8:40pm and the open meeting was re-called open, and then all adjourned. 

 

Submitted by: Hayley N. Hancock                     Approved by: ___________________ 

                       Recording Secretary