Meeting Minutes 11/29/18

Town Point Home Owners Association TPHOA Meeting Minutes

Meeting was called to order on Thursday, November 29^th, 2018 at 6:30pm.  Meeting was held at Trinity United Methodist Church in Chesapeake City.  Quorum was met, 15 property owners in attendance. 

Introductions to include address and how long lived in Tower Point Community:

1. Kevin Quinlan, 45 Tower Point, 13 years
2. Lisa Doricchi, 32 Tower Point
3. David Cohn, 8 Tower Point, 1973
4. Joan Miller, 15 Tower, 15 years
5. Liz Hutchinson, 104 Tower Point, just moved in
6. Kevin Sheffield, 44 Tower Point, 18 years
7. Kris and Rich Thompson, 33 Tower Point, 12 years
8. Kathy Young, 23 Tower, 3 years
9. Lynne Caldwell, 76 Tower Point, 26 years
10. Rich Elmy, 51 Tower Point, 6 years
11. Carol Weiser, 6 Tower, 25 years
12. Bil Karnuk, 230 Gour, 1985
13. Mrs. Peel, 7 Tower, 1965
14. Anne Wilson, 67 Tower Point, 1989
15. Joanna Murray, 83 Tower Point 

Discussed trash disposal options; goal to preserve the road and decrease costs; decrease trash traffic (currently 6 trucks) overweight trucks do more damage (Propane trucks weigh approx. 24,000; UPS trucks weight approximately 18,500 loaded; trash trucks can weigh 50,000-80,000), prevent excessive wear and tear; 35 home owners, $18,400 most recent road repairs (2007 road, 2009 consent judgement) some homeowners do not want another assessment; spot repairs and road rejuvenation have been done in the past.  Safety concerns, more liability possibly, decrease the noise, decrease the number of cans on the road throughout the week.

1. Single trash hauler for Tower Point community was voted YES with a minimum of 60% of the votes, at least 21 homeowners were needed to pass this vote, voting finalized 12/6/18.  Board to meet and vote, decision to be based on quotes and votes.
2. Those present at the meeting wanted individual billing between the homeowner and the trash company (not one bill paid by the HOA, so homeowners would need to pay the HOA for their trash)
3. If you do not use a trash service, you do not need to get one.  But if you do use trash service you will need to transfer your trash service to the company decided upon.  Reviewed with the HOA lawyer; we would assess, the same as trash service amount, to Property Owners who refuse to utilize the same company, as we own the road, all 35 property owners combined.  We need to enact these changes to keep costs down for the entire membership. 
4. Will request an inflation cap, longer contract and will plan to send out for bid every 3 years
5. Options: 

      Waste Industries:  regular rate $72/quarter (only discounted if One bill paid by the HOA), Wed p/u, recycling every other week, larger trucks

      Trash Tech:  discounted rate $75/quarter (based on 32 homes participating); regular rate $83/quarter, Thurs p/u, recycling every other week, smaller trucks w/ smaller wheels, complaints about not having reliable service

      Junk Be Gone:  discounted rate $63/quarter, Mon p/u, recycling every week, need to buy your own trash cans with wheels (could potentially buy in bulk from Junk be Gone but probably would need 25 property owners at $69 per owner for 2 used cans; Home Depot about $89 per can) owner died, his wife took over

Reviewed current HOA and CAF balance

1. Was $19,481.92
2. $8,500 in for dues
3. $18,400 road
4. $1,290 insurance
5. $625 legal fees
6. $770 mosquito spraying
7. $95 snow removal so far (this was discounted from $120)
8. CURRENT $12,320.46
9. Increase of Dues to $280 (12% increase)
10. New dues due date May 31^st 
11. Goal to start a reserve fund, possibly 36% or higher
12. Plan new budget
13. Plan to start using QuickBooks
14. Question from a homeowner to have a separate account for just the road- not currently
15. Question from homeowner if there is a savings account to earn interest- not currently

Reviewed Proposed By-law changes

1. We reviewed that Current Maryland legislative law supersedes the by-laws; voting by legislative update now 60%
2. Will clarify “non-members” and “members” and start using “property owner"
3. Every homeowner that is current with payments is entitled to vote
4. 2009 judgement clarified, and everyone was deemed proper owner
5. As of 2009, 35 homeowner
6. Plan is for everyone to email their comments, ideas or changes regarding the by-laws by February 28^th.  The HOA Board will meet to revise the by-laws with your ideas and changes in mind and email out a final draft version for a review and approval.
7. Discussed to add in verbiage to State all 35 property owners at beginning of bylaws and to add in wording that no matter what changes made to by-laws that TPHOA and CAF will run by the current Legislation regarding voting and percentages of membership
8. Request from homeowner to have architecture review changed from 60 days to 2 weeks

Reviewed Updated Beach Guidelines

1. 2 small changes, Final version to be emailed to everyone, posted on blog and posted at the beach
2. Quiet hours for the beach 10pm- 8am
3. No trash cans to be kept at the beach, will be carry in and carry out
4. Shed, to be locked?, needs further discussion
5. Fire ring, big T-Pee, need a fire ring for fires on the beach in July and August, needs further discussion
6. Kayak rack an issue
7. All kayaks are to be removed by Thanksgiving, NOT for winter storage
8. Same people using
9. Should not be used for storage, only weekend use
10. Needs further discussion

Reviewed Upcoming Important Dates

1. Annual meeting:  Friday, April 26^th, 2019
2. Follow-up meeting:  Friday, May 17^th, 2019
3. Community Garage sale:  Saturday, May 11^th, 2019
4. Community Beach Cleanup: Saturday, May 18^th, 2019
5. Annual Dues due date:  Friday, May 31^st, 2019
6. 4^th of July parade and picnic:  Saturday, July 6^th, 2019

New business:

Bill Preske offered during the June meeting he would help with the community tree trimming along the road and entrance to the community but needed additional volunteers.   Dan, Lynne, the Peels and Bill Karnuk have volunteered so far.  Others are needed.  Will talk to Bill Preske to get some dates and send out an email with further information.