Briarwood HOA meeting
October 8, 2024
1. ROLL CALL
• Board Members
o Present: Pat Daniels, Mike Karagoulis, Jim Rypkema, Lynne Page, Chrislyn Particka, Jean Zwier (in person). George Plastis (online). [Kayla Daniels logged in late.]
Absent: Kristen Leary
Quorum met.
o Guests: Sascha Eisner, Laura Friedhoff, Chanin Heise, Kathi Rypkema, Elizabeth Pahl, Mindaugas Žukauskas
2. CALL TO ORDER
• The meeting was held in person at High Caliber Karting as well as online via Microsoft Teams.
• Chrislyn made a motion to call the meeting to order.
o Seconded by Mike and Jean.
o The vote was unanimous yes (Pat, Mike, Jim, Lynne, Chrislyn, Jean, George), and the motion carried.
o The meeting was called to order at 7:13 pm (late due to technical issues)
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM THE 9/10/2024 MEETING
• Chrislyn noted that she had circulated the draft minutes prior to the meeting.
[Kayla Daniels logged into the meeting via Microsoft Teams.]
• There was discussion about changes that needed to be made to the draft version of the minutes.
• Mike made a motion to approve the minutes from the September meeting with the changes as discussed.
o Seconded by Pat.
o The vote was unanimous yes (Pat, Mike, Jim, Lynne, Chrislyn, Jean, George, Kayla) and the motion carried.
3. ANNOUNCEMENTS
• Pat stated that the conference room at High Caliber is available until 9 pm, and that we’ll need to be sure to move through the meeting agenda. Comments should be limited during discussion. First round comments should last no more than three minutes, second round comments should last no more than two minutes.
o Mike stated that George had circulated via email a version of Robert’s Rules of Order for small boards and passed around printed copies.
o Guest comments will be made during the topic at hand.
4. REPORTS
President’s Report
• No report.
Vice President’s Report
• No report.
Treasurer’s Report
• Lynne noted that she had sent the report ahead of time.
• The profit and loss statement through September had nothing notable; typical monthly expenses as well as renewal of the property and liability insurance.
• Lynne sent 113 past due dues notices, with a deadline to pay by October 15 for 2024 dues. She used information from a dues ledger/spreadsheet prepared by Pat when he was treasurer.
o Guest Laura Friedhoff stated that she had received a notice for unpaid dues in 2023 and 2024 but had documents that showed checks she had written for both years had been cashed. Laura recommended that the board conduct an audit.
Lynne stated that there were errors in the spreadsheet.
Pat added that some payments were recorded in QuickBooks but were not in the spreadsheet and that Lynne should reconcile these.
o Lynne stated that she has received payments from some homeowners and that other homeowners have responded with proof of payment. She recommended that the board suspend membership rights for undisputed unpaid dues.
• Lynne reported that the property and commercial liability insurance has been on autopay. Lynne requested a copy of the policy from the insurance agent. Upon review, she noticed that not all properties are on the policy. Lynne recommended that the policy be updated to include all properties. The policy also does not protect the board from indemnification, and the agent was not able to find a company that would provide coverage. The updated policy Lynne received from the insurance agent was circulated via email prior to the meeting.
• Lynne also recommended that gardeners sign a liability waiver as they are on HOA property.
• She and Pat have had conversations about switching banks.
• There was discussion about when to send the ballots and dues payments. Consensus was that they should be mailed on January 2.
• Pat had three comments related to the treasurer’s report.
o He stated that it was not fair to say the data Lynne received from him contained errors, as he had communicated that the data in the Google docs spreadsheet would need to be reconciled with QuickBooks.
o He stated that one board member should not make changes to the insurance policy.
o He does not think there is any need for a motion/vote to determine when dues/ballots are mailed.
• Lynne stated that the majority of the issue with outstanding dues is in 2023 vs. 2024. She does not think that it is due to the information in QuickBooks but because check deposit dates are missing.
o Pat agreed that deposit dates are missing for 2024 and that he will look at SharePoint to see if the information is there.
• There was discussion about the membership rights that are lost due to unpaid dues.
o Jean made a motion that (after being amended) membership be suspended immediately for years 2023 and prior for unpaid dues, if there is no dispute. The homeowners will lose membership rights and voting privileges. For 2024 unpaid dues, homeowners would lose their membership rights and voting privileges after the October 15 deadline if they remain unpaid.
Jim seconded the motion as amended.
The vote was unanimous yes (Pat, Mike, Jim, Lynne, Chrislyn, Jean, George, Kayla) and the motion carried.
Secretary’s Report
• No report.
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Lynne/Mike called a point of order.
• Using information from a printed spreadsheet, they noted that the Daniels’ 2023 dues were unpaid.
o Pat and Kayla both stated that they had paid their dues, either via QuickBooks or a check.
o There was a great deal of contentious discussion.
o Pat logged into QuickBooks to show that their 2023 dues had been paid.
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Welcoming Committee
• Jean noted that there are four new neighbors to welcome. There is an updated handout to give, plus some swag. She also stated that she is trying to track homes that are currently for sale. The discussion of rental homes was tabled until the next meeting.
ACCE Committee
• Kayla reported on the following:
o The metal roof at 2163 Donovan was approved.
o There was a request for a fence replacement and the homeowner had also requested a shed, but they had not sent enough information to fully consider the request.
o Jim asked how many requests were on the verge of the 30 day deadline, and Kayla said that there was one for replacement siding and another that had been received today.
• 3832 Crooked Creek – 4’ black metal fence.
o Chrislyn and Jean visited the homeowners on October 7. The homeowners had decided to make the fence smaller than what was indicated in their earlier proposal. Chrislyn showed slides that indicated the new size.
o There was discussion about informing the homeowners that they’d need to submit a new application and perhaps arrange a meeting with them and the neighbors.
There was discussion about how much influence/say that neighbors should have related to ACCE applications.
o George made a motion that read, after being amended, to deny the current application pursuant to the owner’s desire to change the length of the fence. Also to ask him to submit a new application with the short fence and for the board to share the new application and facilitate a discussion with neighbors.
Mike seconded.
Discussion
• Guest Sascha Eisner made comments, expressing his concerns with the fence request and that he understands the difficulty the board may face when it comes to considering input from neighbors.
• Guest Laura Friedhoff made comments, expressing her surprise at the tone of the meeting. She also expressed her concerns with the fence request, especially as it relates to shared community space.
• Guest Chanin Heise made comments, expressing her concerns with the fence request. She has lived along the pond for 20 years and always understood that fences were not allowed in that area.
• Guest Mindaugas Žukauskas made comments, expressing his concerns about the fence and the barking dogs. He also expressed that when considering ACCE requests, the HOA should consider will the request improve the quality of the neighborhood.
The vote was unanimous yes (Pat, Mike, Jim, Lynne, Chrislyn, Jean, George, Kayla) and the motion carried.
• Kayla opened a discussion about ACCE committee and how she feels that it is not working. She made a motion to dissolve the committee.
o Chrislyn seconded.
o There was a lot of discussion, some of it contentious. Potential amendments to the motion were raised. Guest Elizabeth Pahl volunteered to help.
o The official motion was re-stated: to dissolve the ACCE subcommittee of three and to make it a committee of the entire board.
Vote. No: George, Pat, Mike, Jim, Kayla. Yes: Jean, Lynne. Abstain: Chrislyn. The motion failed.
Maintenance Committee
• Mike requested $600 to fix the pathway lights on Sandlewood.
o Pat moved to approve the request, Chrislyn seconded.
The vote was unanimous yes (Pat, Mike, Jim, Lynne, Chrislyn, Jean, George, Kayla) and the motion carried.
5. ADJOURNMENT
• Chrislyn made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Kayla seconded.
o The vote was unanimous yes (Pat, Mike, Jim, Lynne, Chrislyn, Jean, George, Kayla) and the motion carried.
• The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:15 pm.
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