CCHOA Board Meeting Minutes – March 5 2024
Attendees: Clarence Brantley, John Ellwood, Larry Heck, Ralph Crittenden, Andrea Serra, Jim Clincher, Hossein Salimnia, Scott Whitford (via teleconference), Chris Ruppel, Molly Balbach (Molly arrived 15 minutes before the meeting ended and was present for voting)
Not Present: Bill Woolsey
The meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm.
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Maintenance Update:
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Sinacori landscaping’s maintenance proposal was reviewed. Scott noted that their performance was lacking and encouraged Chris to entertain competitive bids from other companies. Chris agreed and will come to the next meeting with alternatives from 2 other landscapers.
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Proscape yard’s proposal was reviewed. They increased their rates 4% YoY and are looking for a response by March 15, with first fertilization set to start on April 1. Given the timing the Board elected to continue with them for the 24 season and in the fall Chris will look into alternatives to see if we are still receiving optimal rate and service.
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Tree upkeep. With the recent storms, there are several areas (2 on Lakeview, one on Cross Creek, and one at the Sheldon entrance) where trees have fallen and we need to have them cleaned up to ensure the grass-ways are clear for yard work. John will look into this to find a suitable service.
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Sprinklers will continue to be managed by our current vendor H2O.
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Financial Update:
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Larry Heck reviewed the 2023 actuals and the board agreed the report was ready for posting to the website.
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Varying priorities for the 2024 budget were discussed, including:
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Drain maintenance – Scott will assume this responsibility going forward.
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Pond maintenance – John asked Molly to assume this responsibility going forward.
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Tree pruning and servicing – John asked Jim to assume this responsibility for the subdivision going forward.
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Lighting – Larry has secured agreement for a light near his home and Scott was informed at the end of the annual meeting that the homeowners at the end of McGreggor as well, so that puts us 4 total.
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Board Replacements:
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For zone 6, Clarence is stepping down and Golsa Yaghoobi is in that zone and was unanimously approved to fill in the vacant seat.
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For zone 5, where John served, Scott will solicit the 11 homes and see if there is any interest. Absent any volunteers, we will consider representation from outside the zone.
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John Ellwood nominated Bill Woolsey to follow him as President and Jim Clincher seconded the nomination. Scott Whitford indicated he was also interested in serving as President. A vote was held and Bill Woolsey received 8 votes and Scott Whitford received 2. Bill Woolsey is President effective immediately.
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Joe D. attended to say that the increase process was done improperly because he didn’t receive anything in the mail. There was no new angle to his comments and the Board assured him that we were confident in the proceedings and were fine to proceed.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 pm.
Minutes Submitted: March 5, 2024
Minutes Approved: March 7, 2024
CCHOA Board Meeting Minutes – Feb 1 2024
Meeting Location: Rochester Hills Public Library, 500 Olde Town Rd., Rochester, Michigan
Board Members Present:John Ellwood, Chris Ruppel, Clarence Brantley, Jim Clincher, William Woolsey, Molly Balbach, Hossein Salimnia, Terence Jones, Andrea Serra, Larry Heck, Ralph Crittenden, and Scott Whitford (via video conference)
Board Members Absent:None
Purpose of Meeting and Agenda:
Meeting is being called to have all homeowners vote on a Proposal to Increase the Annual Assessment to $350.00
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm.
The Deed Restrictions requires that Notice of the special meeting of the homeowners be mailed to all members entitled to vote at least ten (10) days prior to the date of the meeting. At any special meeting of the homeowners, one quarter of the members entitled to vote shall constitute a quorum and shall be empowered to transact business. For the dues voting process to proceed, a quarter of our 121 homeowners (31) had to be present or represented by proxy. With 51 residents accounted for, the quorum was satisfied, and the meeting proceeded.
There was a request from a resident to recap the December Annual Meeting where the financials and Board priorities were explained. The Board obliged and spent the first 10 minutes reviewing the material from the last meeting:
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Three members of the Board are retiring - Clarence Brantley (zone 6), John Elwood (zone 5), and Terry Jones (zone 8). A BIG THANK YOU to all of them for decades of service to our community! If you are interested in participating in the Board, please respond to this post with your address and zone.
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Hearing from the homeowners, the Board’s 2024 priorities, which are detailed in the file, are:
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Safety - chiefly lighting dark areas of the sub and speed humps.
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Beautification - the upkeep of our shared grounds and potentially new street signs
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Infrastructure Modernization - as the sub exceeds 30 years old, the plumbing, sprinkler, and electrical systems need some updating, as do the communications and financial processes.
3. Finances overall are inadequate for our current expenses and proposed improvements. Accordingly, the Board is proposing a $100 increase to the annual assessments.
To see the presentation that was shared, visit our website: Events & News | Cross Creek HOA (cross-creek.org)
The next 25 minutes was spent reviewing the process undertaken by the Board to notify homeowners of the meeting. As required by the Deed Restrictions, written Notice of the Special Meeting was sent via USPS mail at least ten (10) days prior to the date of the meeting. One homeowner indicated that written notice was not received and called into question the legality of the proceedings. By a show of hands, all other homeowners present indicated they had received written notification via USPS. After reviewing the Deed Restrictions in real time and demonstrating that sufficient notice had been given, each member of the Board stated unequivocally, they were confident in proceeding.
With that, the remaining 20 minutes were spent on conducting the vote. A “YES”, “NO” or “NOT PRESENT” was recorded for each homeowners’ address, zone by zone. If a proxy was utilized, that was also collected and recorded. The Deed Restrictions require a minimum of 2/3 (66.7%) of the votes in favor for a motion to pass. At the end of the process, the homeowners approved the $100 increase of our annual assessments to $350 by 90% (46 in favor, 5 against).
Therefore, for the 2024 year, homeowners will be required to remit the new rate. Questions should be directed to your local zone representative. Note, the new representative for Zone 8 is Larry Heck, who will serve the Board as Treasurer and replaces Terry Jones. Scott was requested to publish an updated Zone Map on the website.
If you are not receiving electronic communications from the Board, please send an email to CCCRcommittee@gmail.com to opt in.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.
Minutes Submitted: February 7, 2024
Minutes Approved: February 10, 2024