Board Updates

HOA Board Update 1/06/2020

Author: Jonathan Barrow, Board President

Winter is the time of the year for clearing brush and trees!

Common Area 2 - Open Walking Trail

• Modifying the trail leg that is nearest to homeowners property line.
  • We are moving the path closer to the the property line to allow for a more refined mowing plan.
  • Last year, if you owned one of the properties that butted up to this area, and you looked out into your backyard, you would see where your property line ended (or where you decided to stop mowing), then you would see the field start (which we were only clearing a couple of times per season, high grass), then you would see a mowed trail. The trail you couldn't access unless you mowed your own path to it.
  • This year, when you look out your backyard, you will see your yard end, then you will see mowed HOA common area up to where the gravel walking trail passes through the area. This will give the impression that the yards are bigger, give a cleaner look to the area, and make the pathways more accessible to all of the homeowners along this strip.

Common Area 5 - Wooded Walking Trail

• The brush clearing we started last year has continued this year. We are continuing to clear low brush and low tree limbs to give the area more of a park feel vs. forest feel.

Common Area 6 - 1 Acre Green space behind Redwood Ln/Cherry Ln/Aspen Dr

• There are three thorn trees in this open area that are causing issues with mowing (tires) and are a hazard to homeowners and pets (large thorns through shoes, paws). These trees are scheduled to be removed once the ground is frozen and the area is accessible by truck (without tearing up someones yard doing so).

A few video updates regarding the work mentioned above, be sure to change to HD quality during playback:

HOA Board Update 11/07/2019

Author: Jonathan Barrow, Board President

Annual Members Meeting Minutes

Annual HOA Board Meeting

Meeting Minutes – 11.07.19

Meeting was called to order by Jonathan Barrow at 7:01 pm.

Board Introductions:

• Jonathan Barrow – President
• Duane Sander – Vice President (not present)
• Nikki Cox – Treasurer
• Dena Waddell – Secretary

Open Positions:

• Duane Sander voted in as Vice President (officially) for a 2-year term.
• Dena Waddell voted in as Secretary (officially) for a 2-year term.
  • We are supposed to stagger these votes (per the Bylaws) so the other two positions will be voted on at next year’s meeting and alternate in this same fashion going forward.

Status of the HOA

• Dissolved in early 2019; reinstated

Partnership with HAKC

• Introduction of Doug Luther
• What they do and how the benefit if the partnership works
• They work with 71 other HOA’s in the Kansas City area
• Their expertise in the back and front office

Common Area Projects (current and perceived):

• Common Area 1 - Front Entrance
• Common Area 2 - Open Walking Trail
• Common Area 3 - Playground
• Common Area 4 - Sand Volleyball Court
• Common Area 5 - Wooded Walking Trail
• Common Area 6 - 1 Acre Greenspace
• Common Area 7 - Parking

Common Area 1 (Front Entrance):

• Mowing
• Cleanup in the Fall and Spring
  • This would include tree trimming and clearing
• Our plan is to take out much of what is there (overgrown or plants that have lived out their life)
• We have cleaned up the median, added lights and added sign for information

Common Area 2 (Open Walking Trail – f/k/a Golf Course):

• Annual mowing and bailing
• Planned project “open” walking trail
  • Mulch or gravel on the trail
• We continue to brainstorm on what works best for expense and use of the area
  • The cost to mow the whole area is just not in the budge at this time
  • Open to suggestions

Common Area 3 (Playground):

• Mulching and mowing on an annual basis
• No special projects at this time
• Possible Shade area
  • It’s in good condition and have not done much with it

Common Area 4 (Sand Volleyball Court):

• Sand maintenance
  • 18 tons of sand was added this year
• New net and posts added
• The court was widened, and area was moved away from creek
• Nothing planned for this area
  • Will keep an eye on how the rain affects the sand

Common Area 5 (Wooded Walking Trail):

• Wooded Walking Trail
  • It has been very neglected
  • Have put in quite a bit of work
    • Trying to make it more park-like
  • Annually we need tree trimming
    • Cleared most (if not all) tree hazards
  • Work done on the entrance
  • Work done on the bridges over the creek
  • Have developed a maintenance program
  • Adding more gravel
  • Continued bridge work

Common Area 6 (One-Acre Greenspace):

• Annual mowing, trimming and spring/fall cleanup
• Projected to complete a fall cleanup
  • Remove thorn trees

Common Area 7 (Parking Lot):

• Annual mowing
• Gravel replacement at some point
• No special projects at this time

Other Activities:

• New website
  • Uploaded all the information (bi-laws, information on board members, etc.)
• Fall Festival
  • If budget allows, could be an annual event
  • Possibly a Spring event

Richard Dodson (Dodson Construction):

• Discussed the projections for the unused land and possible new entrance

Financials:

• Our annual budget is based around dues revenue, not savings and we look to be very close to breaking even on our budget for this year (with now and Dec remaining) but may have to dip slightly into savings to cover annual costs for 2019, but not by much.
• Dues will be increasing in 2020 to $100 per lot, per year. This will allow for more room in our budget for common area maintenance work and not have us dipping into savings to cover regular annual costs.
• Our savings account balance when the 2019 board took office in late February, 2019 has increased.
  • Mostly due to improving past due account collections.
• Our savings account we view as a “special projects” or “on occasion” fund for items we need but don’t need annually (volleyball revamp, bridges replaced, trail work, gravel, etic).
  • We are keeping our annual costs in line with our annual revenue to be good stewards of our savings.
• As of November 5, 2019, we had 29 lots with past due balances spanning one or multiple years totaling almost $10,000 in owed funds.
  • This is down from 45 lots and $15,000 total past due back on June 1, 2019

Meeting adjourned 8:20 pm

HOA Board Update 06/10/2019

Author: Jonathan Barrow, Board President

Dues Invoicing

• Current and outstanding dues balances are due on 6/15/2019.
• Please have your checks in the mail (or paid online, link here) before this date to avoid any late payment penalties.

Common Area 1 - Front Entrance

• No updates at this time.

Common Area 2 - 6 Acre Open Walking Trail

• As of 2019 we've re-purposed the HOA property at the intersection of 132nd and North Woodland (1000 NE 132nd Street) for use as an Open Walking/Nature Trail (reference image at the bottom of this post).
• This solution was discussed between board members and was the agreed upon solution by the board for the 2019 season.
• We made a decision to re-purpose the area in a way that was financially sustainable but would still allow homeowners continued (albeit different) use of the property throughout the season.
• We will be mowing a double-wide walking loop on a weekly basis (as weather allows) that utilizes as much of the open space as possible. This is about 0.5 miles worth of walking trail if you walked the entire loop.
• 2-3 times during the season we will cut all of the taller prairie grass down and bail it for hay. The bailing will be provided to the HOA for free in exchange for the hay collected. The first "knock-down" is planned for 6/12/2019 (weather permitting), with the collection of the hay taking place a few days later after the grass has had time to dry.
• We reached out to KCMO regarding our plans for the area to make sure we are in compliance with city regulations. We have received their approval to stick to this plan as long as we do clear the taller grass 2-3 times per season as planned.
• Our entire HOA budget of $14,775 per year is based off of our annual dues income, not reserve funds.
• It’s unsustainable to base a budget off of reserve funds as we can’t support that level of spending long term. Once we blow through our savings, then what?
• The entire section of property is about 6 acres of land.
• This would run us about $500 per mow if we mowed the entire area.
• If we mowed it every week, that would cost the HOA $12,500 per year ($500 x 25) almost all of our budget.
• If we mowed it every 2 weeks, that would cost the HOA $6,500 per year ($500 x 13) just under half of our budget. The board felt this option was not a great option. We all know how our yards look if we only mowed them every 2 weeks so the entire area would only be usable for about the first week after each complete mowing, and we would still be spending almost half of our annual budget to mow just this one area.
• We have 7 different common areas to maintain within our current annual budget.
  • Common Area 1 - Front Entrance
  • Common Area 2 - Open Walking Trail
  • Common Area 3 - Playground
  • Common Area 4 - Sand Volleyball Court
  • Common Area 5 - Wooded Walking Trail
  • Common Area 6 - 1 Acre Green space behind Redwood Ln/Cherry Ln/Aspen Dr
  • Common Area 7 - Gravel Parking Area
• With our current maintenance plan, we’re spending an estimated $5,250 per year in mowing alone. This does not include any other forms of maintenance such as string trimming, clearing fallen/dangerous trees, mulching, repairs, and other various grounds keeping tasks that we still need to perform. This also does not include all of the other expenses associated with running an HOA (insurance, attorneys, invoicing, collections, financial reporting, CPA's, etc).
• At some point in time, once the other sections of our subdivision are developed and we have more homes paying dues, we will have a larger budget and will be able to revisit this plan. But as of this time, it's the existing 198 lot budget we have to work with (reference image at the bottom of this post).
• Remember, only about half of the subdivision property is developed right now, so the existing 198 lots are carrying the load/budget for a subdivision that was planned for about double the size it is now.
• Based on the existing 198 lots, we estimate that we would need to double our current annual dues (from $75 per year to $150 per year) in order to have enough revenue in our annual budget to mow this entire area on a weekly basis while still maintaining the other 6 common areas.
• Raising our dues past $100 annually requires a passing vote by the HOA members in order to do so, the board can't do this on their own.
• Doubling our dues is not something the board is interested in pursuing at this time, we're doing our best to live within our current budget.

Common Area 3 - Playground

• No updates at this time.

Common Area 4 - Sand Volleyball Court

• We're working with Code Red Services to get this area rehabilitated, currently working on a quote for the following:
  • Sand area widened, so it isn't so close to the creek.
  • Berm added to redirect rainfall away from the court which will help prevent sand from being washed away into the creek.
  • Posts moved, so the net isn't so close to the creek.
  • Net replaced.
  • Existing sand raked.
  • Additional Sand Added.
• This will take a bit of time to get completed and we still need to approve the spending and final plan within the board.

Common Area 5 - Wooded Walking Trail

• The mulching/chipping of the brush created from our Spring Cleanup sessions started today, 6/10/2019.
• Mulch will be shot back into the woods (to help keep the growth down) as well as onto the existing trail paths.
• We're working on plans to replace the three primary bridges located on the trail so they aren't so dangerous and are more accessible to residents of all ages and fitness levels.

Common Area 6 - 1 Acre Green space behind Redwood Ln/Cherry Ln/Aspen Dr

• No updates at this time.

Common Area 7 - Gravel Parking Area

• No updates at this time.

HOA Board Update 05/17/2019

Author: Jonathan Barrow, Board President

Dues Invoicing

• Invoices for 2019 dues have been mailed out and have started to arrive in homeowners mailboxes.
• The invoicing was delayed for 2019 for a few reasons...
  • The board was in dissolved status for a while due to paperwork not being filed with the state on time. (Resolved)
  • The HOA was without a board for the first few months of 2019 and the previous board did not bill for 2019 prior to resigning.
  • It took the current board some time to dig through historic records and gather the most accurate data we could prior to billing.
  • The delay should be a one time thing now that we're improving our back-office capabilities with our HA-KC partnership.
• 2019 dues, and any previously owed outstanding balances are due on 6/15/2019
  • Please pay your current and past dues before this date to prevent any late payment penalties
• As of the 2019 dues billing...
  • 126 homes were current on their previous dues payments.
  • 68 homes had an outstanding balance from previous years that hadn't been paid.
  • $13,593.73 is the total amount of uncollected dues from these 68 homes.
    • A year worth of dues for the entire subdivision is $14,625.00 at the current $75 per year rate.
    • So we have almost a years worth of dues out there that are in past due status.
  • 42 homes had an outstanding balance of less than $100.
  • 10 homes had an outstanding balance between $101 and $200.
  • 7 homes had an outstanding balance between $201 and $500.
  • 3 homes had an outstanding balance between $1000 and $2000
  • 1 home had an outstanding balance between $2000 and $3000.
• We're no longer going to allow large outstanding balances to just linger on for years and years and years...
  • It isn't fair to the other homeowners.
  • It isn't what you agreed to (and are bound to adhere to) when you purchased a home within the subdivision.
  • Penalties are assessed if dues aren't paid on time.
  • Penalties will add up as time passes, so simply ignoring the invoice isn't helping you.
  • If you have an outstanding balance and feel it's incorrect, please reach out to the board so we can have a discussion.
    • Contact Us Form
  • Beyond penalties, civil lawsuits, judgments against the home, and eventual forced foreclosures are where these things lead regretfully.

Common Area 1 - Front Entrance

• We performed a "spring cleanup" on the area, clearing out the landscaping, adding mulch, trimming trees, and more.
• We replaced all the rock on the median and cleaned it up a bit trimming back the low hanging branches.
• We added a front entrance notification sign that we are using for community news as needed.
• We added lights to the front entrance sign and the notification sign so they are both visible at night.
• This fall it's been suggested that much of the landscaping be ripped and replaced to give a cleaner, more well thought out look to the entrance.

Common Area 2 - 6 Acre Open Walking Trail

• The area that was previously a golf course has been converted into a looped public walking and/or dog trail.
• You can enter the open walking trail from the front of the subdivision or the park.
• It's right at a 0.5 mile walk if you do the entire loop.
• Dogs are welcome, but please pick up after them so others aren't walking in your dogs you know what...
• The area outside of the mowed trail will be allowed to have a more natural, prairie look.
  • With the type of grass growing there, it should only get around knee height (or so) before it stops.
  • At that point, while it may not grow taller, it will start to get get fuller.
  • We have partnered with a local cattle company that will clear the area 2-3 times per season for free.
  • But in doing so, they will keep the hay that is produced during those clearings to use as feed for their cattle.

Common Area 3 - Playground

• No updates at this time

Common Area 4 - Sand Volleyball Court

• We're still working on improving this area.
• We need a new net.
• The sand needs maintenance removing rocks and debris mixed into it over the years.
• We need a way to keep the sand in place so it stops flowing into the creek when it rains.

Common Area 5 - Wooded Walking Trail

• Large amounts of dead and dangerous trees were removed this spring.
• Large amounts of overgrown areas were cleared out so that you enjoy more of the woods outside of the trail.
• Much of the brush remains, which we will be mulching soon (hopefully next week) and using for the trails but the rainfall has had us behind schedule on that.
• Going forward we're looking at options for regular maintenance to help keep this area in check and not allow it to get overgrown again.
• Additional pathways were added allowing for more options when walking the trail (we haven't mulched them yet though).
• Still looking at ideas for the old playground area (the concrete loop in the woods).
  • Possibly a butterfly garden or something pretty to look at yet affordable to maintain.
• We are by no means done with this area, we have years of neglect to work through which will take some time to complete.
• The long term goal is to have all of our common areas maintained to a level that any of them are usable at any time.

Common Area 6 - 1 Acre Green space behind Redwood Ln/Cherry Ln/Aspen Dr

• We will be mowing this area on a weekly or bi-weekly basis throughout the season, weather permitting.
• Since there is no public or HOA access to this area, the mowers are using homeowners property to access this area.
• Currently that access is being provided via 906 Aspen Drive for the 2019 season.
• We have some locust trees with large, dagger like thorns that we need to remove at some point (fall possibly).

HOA Board Update 03/25/2019

Author: Jonathan Barrow, Board President

I took a tour of the common areas over the last few days and these are my observations (with videos!):

Golf course

• Greens are no longer greens.
• Mowing of the grass is more like a field, not the quality of a golf course or even a park.
• Mowing all that area is very expensive to keep all of it park quality.
• I think the area needs re-purposing.
• Talking with mowers about just mowing in a walking trail that creatively loops around all of the existing "golf course" land.
• Would allow us to save homeowners money.
• Would create a walk-able path with grass maintained to a level you could easily walk on.
• Dead trees near 132nd are falling apart, need removed, lots of litter.

Playground Area

• Pretty good shape overall.
• Mulch amounts on playground seem okay.
• Equipment is in excellent condition, duck may be loose at the base.
• 2 x benches, solid and in excellent condition.
• Some of the walls look as if they are going to need maintenance soon.
• Erosion is pushing them in a way that some spots could collapse in the future allowing mulch to escape.
• Walls aren't very "pro" looking.
• 1 x picnic table under the tree, excellent condition.

Sand Volleyball

• Danger Will Robinson.
• Net is useless, all tore up.
• Sand is bad, rocks and sticks and misc items in the sand.
• May be wise to abandon based on location.
• Too close to stream.
• Erosion takes sand from court right into stream.
• Knock your ball down there? Good luck with that...
• There are no boundaries to the court, so sand can go where it wants.
• 1 x picnic tables, location questionable, excellent condition.

Front Area

• Needs a "spring cleanup"
• Bushes cleaned up and trimmed.
• Leaves and tree branches cleaned out from bushes, covering all the mulch.
• Mulch may need added in some areas, looks good overall.
• Median Strip needs some love.
• The earth should have been lowered a bit before mulch/rock was added.
• Mulch is thin but still there is so much earth here it spills over, covering the entire curb of the median.
• Needs to be lowered/leveled a bit.
• Lights. We have lights?
• Not sure if they need to have the bulbs replaced, hardware looks somewhat recent.
• Not sure if we actually have lit electricity.
• Found a box, need to test it.
• Found sprinkler box, locked and you need a key I don't have.
• Sprinkler heads found, not sure if they work, if lines were allowed to freeze, etc.

Sign

• Looks to be in pretty good condition.
• Doesn't need to be painted right now.
• Sign has one light pointing at it.

Walking Trail / Forest

• Massive clean-out needed.
• Lots of dead trees scattered throughout that need removed.
• Massive brush hog work needed to clear out small saplings and misc brush.
• Massive dead trees blocking the paths.
• Massive amounts of of previous cleanup stored on the land in various piles.
• Homeowners using the area to store their trimmings and debris.
• Lots of thorn trees that should be removed.
• 2 x picnic tables need removed or replaced, very bad condition.
• 2 x concrete pads that the picnic tables are on are in great condition.
• The big concrete "circle" needs re-purposed in some way.
• Misc non-nature items dumped in the area that need cleaned up (tires, safety cones from 132nd, screen doors, etc, etc).
• Needs a big picture plan put in place to do something with this area.
• Lots of underutilized space.
• Camping?
• I see nothing but potential with this area.
• It could be gorgeous with some time and attention.

HOA Board Update 03/21/2019

Author: Jonathan Barrow, Board President

This is the latest from the board. Be mindful when reading below, we're just now starting to dig into all of this. So please, don't let something you read scare you. Some of these items need much more time put into them before they're ready for prime time but I wanted to at least get this out there so everyone knows what we're thinking.

Please free free to reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

Item 1: HOA Status

• As of 3/31/2019 we're now back in good standing with the state.
• Our registered agent is now our CPA, Horizon CPA Services, PC
• In the future, notices will be sent to our CPA instead of directly to a board member which should help keep us out of "Administratively Dissolved" status.
• You can see our current status by checking this link.
• The current board is now on our paperwork with the state.
  • Jonathan Barrow - President
  • Duane Sander - Vice President
  • Dena Waddell - Secretary
  • Nikki Farris Cox - Treasurer

Item 2: Community Standards

• The following is taken directly from the CC&R's: "Except as specifically provided herein, each Owner at the Owner’s sole expense shall keep the exterior of the Owner’s building structure, including but not limited to doors, walls, windows, roofs, patios, fences and other improvements, in good maintenance and repair."
• The problem is "good maintenance and repair" can be subjective depending on who you ask, so it needs defined, documented, and published.
• It's our job as the HOA Board to enforce our CC&R's and the standards of the community but that's hard to do with the current wording.
• We're working within the board, with other HOA experts, and with our attorney to better define our specific community standards.
• Once defined, they will be shared with all of the homeowners to make sure everyone is aware of them.
• We understand life happens, we don't want to be heartless but we owe it to the entire community to enforce our standards.
• We're focusing on things that have impact on your home values, things that can hurt the "curb appeal" of you or your neighbors home.
  • Some things that have been brought up...
    • Not allowing what look to be "abandoned" or "scrap" vehicles perpetually sitting on private property within the subdivision.
    • Construction items such as glass window panes, stacks of plywood or other various building materials perpetually sitting on private property within the subdivision.
    • Features of a home (that your neighbors or potential home buyers can see) that isn't in good working condition. For example, plastic window coverings that are left perpetually installed. This shows there is something wrong with the windows that hasn't been addressed and since it's something your neighbors can see, and can effect their home value, it needs addressed. This is something that doesn't seem to show "good maintenance and repair" of that home, it shows there is something wrong with the windows.
    • Non-Permanent Basketball hoops that that you can't really tell if they are there for use, or there for the trash due to where/how they are kept (laying in yards, laying on the sides of the house, etc).
    • Other items as they are brought up, these are just some of the big items that have been mentioned to us numerous times in conversations.

Item 3: Community Standards Enforcement Process

• We are working to better define the process around enforcing our community standards.
• Once we define the standards, we will need a uniform way of enforcing them.
• While we're none of us are fans of fees, they are the only real tool the HOA has at its disposal for rules enforcement.
• Step 1
  • Any homeowner will be able to report a community standards concern via the website.
• Step 2
  • The HOA board will review the report to make sure it's valid.
• Step 3
  • If deemed valid, a letter will be mailed to the property owner letting them know of the violation
  • No fee will be assessed.
  • The homeowner will have a set number of days to respond to the board, with plans to address the concern.
• Step 4
  • If the homeowner doesn't respond in the allowed time, or doesn't want to resolve the issue...
  • The details of the violation will be passed to the HOA's attorney.
  • The attorney will send another letter to the homeowner.
  • A fee will be assessed, it costs us money to use an attorney.
  • The homeowner will have a set number of days to respond to the attorney, with plans to address the concern.
• Step 5
  • If the homeowner still doesn't respond, or doesn't want to resolve the issue...
  • The attorney will send one final letter to the homeowner.
  • A larger fee will be assessed, again it costs us money to use an attorney.
  • The homeowner will have a set number of days to respond to the attorney, with plans to address the concern.
• Step 6
  • If the homeowner still doesn't respond, or doesn't want to resolve the issue...
  • The attorney will begin to file paperwork moving the dispute to court.
  • An even larger fee will be assessed, you know why by now.
• Step 7
  • The homeowner gets to go to court to discuss why they haven't resolved the issue that they are responsible for as a homeowner within this subdivision.

Item 4: Common Areas

• Going into spring we're going to be looking at the front entrance, seeing what needs to be done landscaping wise to make the entrance look "nice."
  • May be as simple as replacing some bushes, putting down some mulch, cleaning up a bit.
• We're going to be working on bids to keep the front entrance tidy throughout the summer.
• We're looking long and hard at our common land.
  • As a subdivision, we have a really unique feature when it comes to the amount of common area we have.
  • We have been the jack of all trades, masters of nothing up until this point.
    • We don't have a large budget, so keeping up a golf course, a playground, a sand volleyball court, and a wooded trail is just too much for our budget.
    • We end up having all of those "amenities" but none of them I would consider well taken care of.
  • We have been pulling assessor maps, topo maps, working with KC parks, Smithville Parks, and some local Landscape Architects to help us figure out what we can do with the unique amount of area we have.
  • Right now, that seems to be some form of long running/walking trail that goes around the entire common area in some form or fashion.
    • The trails would be a unique feature of this neighborhood and could help further development here.
    • A trail (done well) could be one of the cheapest methods we have to utilize the most common area.
    • Thoughts are to include all of the current common areas. The golf course area, the playground area, the sand volleyball court, the existing wooded trail.
    • Thoughts are to clear out much of the wooded area, keeping the pretty trees but removing ground clutter and adding in a clear path that isn't considered "scary" by the time mid-summer rolls around.
    • Doing some initial mapping, we have enough common area to make about a 1.5 mile looped walking/running/biking/whatever trail that loops around the entire golf course, into and back out of the woods.
  • As we continue to talk to experts in this area and see what makes sense, we will get an idea of costs and share it with everyone.

Item 5: HOA Back-office

• We're looking at companies to help us manage the back-office duties of the HOA.
• We would like to leverage a company that can help us run the HOA in a professional manner.
  • They would manage our books
  • They would handle sending out statements.
  • They would handle accepting payments and allowing homeowners to manage their accounts.
  • They would handle responses to title companies.
    • Our HOA has had a really poor reputation in the community when it comes to this.
  • They would handle the monthly statements of accounts.
  • They would make sure our bills are paid on time.
  • The would prepare professional budgets and reports we can share with the homeowners.
  • The HOA board would still be the "boots on the ground" dealing directly with vendors for quotes, making sure work is getting done, and thinking about ways to improve the community instead of burning all of their volunteer time handling generic paperwork that's common within any HOA.
• The great part about this is that once set up, the board members can change but the back-office stays the same.
• Right now when a new board steps in, it feels like they are starting from scratch which makes the job that much harder. This would resolve that and make the HOA an organization that it is much easier to be a board member of.

Item 6: Annual Dues

• Our dues are really, really low for our community.
• At $75 per year, I've heard from multiple organizations that they don't see how we can do much of anything with that kind of budget.
• We don't have an official budget yet but once we have one, we may have to reevaluate our fees.
• Paying for insurance, upkeep, repairs, CPA's, attorney's, etc can put a huge dent in the $14,000 budget we have right now with our low $75 annual dues. Those costs have continued to rise but our dues have stayed the same. Something has to give at some point.
• We're aren't guaranteeing these will go up, but the likelihood of them increasing as we actually start to really "maintain" the subdivision is pretty high.

That's all for now!

Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions, concerns, or general feedback.

board@forestoakshoa.org

HOA Board Update 02/21/2019

Author: Jonathan Barrow, Board President

There has been a tremendous amount of work put into the new website over the last few days.

It's still a work in progress, but as we learn, so will you.

So far we have the following in place:

1. CC&R's are fully online and searchable, no more hard to read PDF to try and decipher.

2. Bylaws are fully online and searchable.

3. HOA Board members are documented, we also built a historical file showing every board member since the HOA was founded which is accessible to everyone via the website.

4. Common areas have been documented. We have created our own map showing the current common areas owned by the HOA as well as areas owned by the developer for use in future plats. There are lots of options we have here as a community!

5. Lot data has been pulled from the Clay County Assessor. We now have a listing of every lot, lot number, associated plat, and current homeowner on every lot. You can see what properties are owned by individuals/families, which lots are owned by rental companies, which lots are owned by the developer, and which lots are owned by other builders.

6. Dues data has been added. You can get an idea just how much $ we have in the budget each year for HOA services using the website. See what our options are in regards to changing dues to pay for community improvements, and see what our current dues look like.

7. Voting rights are explained, more details to come as to when we actually would need to use them.

8. FAQ's were moved over from the old website but not updated (yet).

9. All scanned documents from the previous website were archived in a Document Archive section of the new site.

10. The entire website is searchable. Want to search for "dues" across the CC&R's and Bylaws and Board comments at the same time? Just use the search box! (Thanks Google!)

On each page we tried to add some "comments from the Board" to help explain some of the technical jargon. We then reference both the CC&R's and the Bylaws, highlighting what each of those binding documents say about any given topic.

Please, take some time and browse the new site. It will work on mobile, but looks best on a desktop computer.

We want the new website to be a highly informative source for anyone and everyone interested in the specifics of our comunity.

More to come...

www.forestoakshoa.org

HOA Board Update 02/11/2019

Author: Jonathan Barrow, Board President

On 2/11/2019 I accepted the position as the HOA board President.

Were currently working on gaining access to the “keys to the castle” and transitioning responsibilities to the new board.

We are working on revamping the main website. We need to update the content, purge stale information, and create forms that can be submitted electronically for requests making that process much easier. There are many things we can improve on in the electronic front that can make the “hassle” of being on the board and managing board responsibilities much easier (not just for us, but for future boards).

We are working on migrating our accounting data over to a more professional platform. Right now it’s a “shared laptop with Quickbooks” which isn’t the most reliable setup (and a bit scary to hear as an IT guy).

I’d like to hear from you, the homeowners!

What questions do you have for the current HOA Board that you would like answered or clarified this upcoming year? Anything specific you think we could improve on as a community? What should we be doing as a community that we aren’t already (and is within our control)? Anything else you can think of? Shout it out, but please keep the comments respectful and constructive.

We may not be able to instantly respond (without a bit of research) but if you have a question, more than likely someone else has had (or still has) the same question.

HOA Board Update 02/11/2019

Author: Jonathan Barrow, Board President

All board positions have been filled.

Jonathan Barrow - President

Duane Sander - Vice President

Treasurer - Nikki Farris Cox

Secretary - Dena Waddell

We have also created an special appointment.

Community Standards Lead - Jacob Dupin

HOA Board Update 02/07/2019

Author: Dena Waddell, Board Secretary

So last night, I had this dream that I convinced Tom Brady (yes, that Tom Brady) to join our HOA board! No lie! That melatonin makes me have some crazy nightmares.

In all seriousness, the former HOA president officially handed over the documents and “reins” to Duane Sander. As I mentioned in a post 3 months ago, Duane stepped up to volunteer as VP and I as the Secretary. With the help of Deborah Muessig, we’re working hard to get the financials in order. Deborah was our Treasuer way back when, but is not part of the Board; she’s guiding me on what needs to be done.

Because there is just Duane and myself, we cannot fully function as an HOA. We can still do the administrative items (invoices, etc), but with only two, we cannot make any HOA decisions (such as spending, improvements, paint colors, etc.).

I’m asking again if anyone would like to volunteer for either the President or Treasurer position. Duane and I are extremely committed to cleaning up the HOA and bring life back into the Board to better serve our community and neighbors. We have some fun and administrative ideas in mind and hope that we can have a couple others who want to join us!

If you’re interested, PM me or Duane Sander. Please don’t make me offer the position to Tom!