January 2023 Towne South Monthly Meeting Minutes
January 17, 2023
Board Members Present: Mackenzie Hennekes, Ryan Storie, Jackie Tebbe, Greg Hertlein and Hugh McWilliams, plus Administrative Assistant Mary Ann McWilliams
Visitors: Karen Anderson, Lucille Hines, Gail Meyers, Nancy Katich, Evelyn Bevans. Plus on Zoom: Katie Davis, Aaron & Anna Lang
Agenda for tonight:
1. Financial Update – Jackie passed around a handout showing a graph of how our expenses have changed over time. One example she noted was lawncare. In 2018 is was $18,765 and in 2022 it was $20,135. Tree trimming was $9,200 in 2018 and in 2022 it came in less at $6,565. However, we know that tree trimming is going to go up based on the number of trees we are identifying that need our attention. Insurance is another expense that has increased significantly. Jackie will have expanded visuals of the year’s financial at the Annual Meeting. She pointed out that our Balance Sheet and P&L Statements are available on our website.
a. Renewal Dues – Dues invoices went out on January 3 and we are seeing a lot of checks already. This year is the first time we have offered electronic payment of dues and people are using our Venmo and PayPal accounts. Jackie would be happy to help anyone through this process if needed.
2. Ameren/Lighting
a. Current Status of Repairs – Greg reported that the repairs on the line at Towne South and Mattis have been completed. We’re waiting for the final inspection. It failed inspection last week because the electric panel was not up to code. The good news is that all these repairs have been at no cost to us. And the lights have all been updated to LED.
b. Additional Lighting – we can get more street lights but have to pay for the cable and conduit to the pole. It’s $5/ft for cable and we don’t know how much the conduit would cost. If the pole already has electric then the price per month is about $9 but if it doesn’t and we have to run the electric then the cost is about $21/month. We probably do need more lighting in some areas. If we decide to move forward with this, we think it would be best turned over to a special committee to investigate. Further, to add a light we would have to have 100% approval of all surrounding neighbors. If one person disagrees, it’s over. These lights would be 300 watt bulbs so not super bright, but better than nothing.
3. Zone Captains – 15 zones
a. At last count we still need 8 more zone captains. Hugh reported that he got a no from the one person he was pursuing, but he has a few others in mind to approach. Question was asked as to how we know what zones still need captains. Jackie has all this information loaded on our website under Neighborhood and History. It was also suggested that the search for more Zone Captains be put on NextDoor and FaceBook. She has packets of business cards ready to hand out and has established the email addresses. Katie Davis signed up to do Zone 9.
b. Zone Captains Information Booklet – Jackie is turning over the information passed along from Greg to Mary Ann who will be putting notes together and come up with a handbook. Should be ready for the Annual Meeting. As we talked about specific committees being established, our Zone Captains could help get the word out about the various committees.
4. Proposed Amendment Update – As the dues are coming in, we can report that only about half of the returns have included their ballot, which amounts to about 125. We have our work cut out for us in getting the ballots returned. Question was asked if an attorney prepared this proposed amendment. Yes, our attorney did create this amendment. Most felt that the legalese language was confusing and needs to be put in plain English for the Annual Meeting.
5. Landscaping
a. Bids for Service – logistics – Greg reported that he as acquired access to a golf cart and will be taking several interested company representatives around next week, weather permitting. Of the 50 acres of common ground, we can estimate that 36 acres needs to be mowed.
b. Trees – Mackenzie asked if anyone has become aware of any trees that are a hazard and need to be dealt with. Nothing at this time.
c. Creeks – Mackenzie is in the process of reaching out to MSD regarding Project Clear. She restated that yes, we own the land, but MSD owns the water that flows in the creeks. As most know, MSD is not the easiest to communicate with. She doesn’t expect anything to come from her phone calls. Again, this could be something a committee takes on. There are many homeowners whose property backs up to a creek and we’re sure they will be interested in what MSD has to say. Any landscaping bids we get will not include clearing out the growth along the creek beds. Perhaps this committee will seek volunteers to walk a section of the creek areas clearing it up. It was also suggested that this might be a great project for a Boy Scout troop. It was noted that Cardinal Springs subdivision behind Assumption Church did something like this several years ago and it helped make a difference. We’ll look into this and come back with more information as it’s available.
6. Annual Meeting – February 18, 2023 at 2:00 pm – Prince of Peace UCC
a. Thanks to Greg all the reminder signs of our Annual Meeting are out at strategic locations in our subdivision. Jackie will post this on NextDoor and FaceBook. A Zoom link will be sent out as well.
b. Guest Speaker Update – We are pretty sure we have confirmed our community police officer to speak. Mary Ann has made several calls to someone from the Sierra Club, but to date has not heard anything. Ryan indicated that due to a conflict the Boy Scouts will not be available either. Greg has someone he will reach out to.
c. Topics for Agenda – Mackenzie requested that if anyone has something to put on the agenda for the Annual Meeting to please get it to her by the end of January. The agenda will be put on our website prior to the meeting. There is much we need to do, but a lot of it requires us to be able to make changes to the Indentures. That will be our top priority. Our intention is to show homeowners that this is the revenue and these are our expenses. There is only so much we can do to cut expenses. We won’t stop until we get the amendment passed. We realize there is some misunderstanding on the amendment and it’s our job to clear that up. We’re required now to get 2/3 of the entire 715 homeowners to agree to change anything. That’s 479 homeowners. Too many people don’t care! But the rest of us do! And we’re dedicated to making this happen.
7. Old Business
a. Update of trash service – Aaron Lang is still looking into this.
b. Common ground sell off – the Executive Board discussed this briefly at our last meeting and have determined that the cost of doing anything like this at this time is prohibitive. We need to take on one thing at a time. If anyone knows a realtor that specializes in this kind of project, we’d be happy to listen to them.
c. Laredo software – liens & releases – Jackie has subscribed to this software program and is working on identifying all liens and releases. She is finding liens that go back anywhere from 2 to 15 years ago. This project will take time and patience but we’re working on it. Mary Ann reported that this software program turned out to be more complex than anticipated and she thanked Jackie for jumping into it and pulling out so much information. We will be putting all the pieces together and have a much better handle on liens and releases moving forward. Most people don’t know that there even is a lien on their property until they go to sell or refinance it. There will be a process put in place of notifying these people when we find an open lien. And in the future we won’t just slap a lien on a homeowner without first trying to talk to them. As Mary Ann has stated before, we will be putting together a Policy and Procedures Manual that will detail processes for many things – liens and releases being one of them. At the Annual Meeting, she will be asking if anyone is interested in working on this committee. It was asked if homeowners are receiving a certified letter notifying them that a lien has been placed on their property. Yes they have, however, Mary Ann shared that not all certified mail is handled properly by the mail carriers. She received a certified letter that was just left in her mailbox and that she never signed for. Katie shared that much of the process surrounding certified mailings went out the window during Covid and has not returned.
d. 2023 Mailing – Jackie reported that Venmo and PayPal are working well. Of the 715 envelopes that went out, we’ve already received approximately 150 checks.
Open Floor Discussions –
One visitor asked if someone could explain “easement” to her. This question was asked in reference to a fence line. Jackie explained how it is the public right of way. Streets can be easements. Your copy of your plat should show the easements surrounding your property. She also suggested that she could either reference her survey or get one done if she didn’t have one done when she moved in.
Greg noted that there are three pipe lines running under our subdivision and that the oil companies have easements around those. It has increased to 50 feet on either side of the pipeline. One of the pipelines is shut down, but the other two are operating. He is getting the map of the exact locations of these pipelines so we can add this to our permanent records.
Mackenzie asked if there was any further business to be brought to this meeting. There being none, the meeting was adjourned at 7:57 pm. The next meeting will be the annual meeting on February 18th.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Ann McWilliams
Administrative Assistant