Indian Hills

Minutes of IHRA Annual Meeting of 2005

Minutes of IHRA Annual Meeting of 2005

Minutes of the IHRA Annual Meeting
Held October 25, 2005 at Northwest church of the Nazarene

Meeting called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Vice President Ed Geraghty, with 35 people attending. President Tim Murnane and Pool Chairperson Michelle DeVol were absent due to illness.

First time attendees were introduced: Rick & Julie Burkhart, 5972 Rocky Rill; Richard & Mary Carr, 5926 Sedgwick Rd.; Pete & Helen Phillips, 6001 Tulip Hill; Cory & Kristin Zerkle, 954 Spring Grove; and Jon & Karen Goodburn, 1089 Sedgwick Ct.

John Hoffman moved to skip the reading of the minutes of last year’s annual meeting. There was a second and the motion passed, with one “no” vote.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Secretary/Treasurer Bob Jacobsen reviewed the Balance Sheet and the Income & Expense Report for the fiscal year ended 9/30/05. He reported that as of that date, the Association had a total of $33,550.90 cash on hand -- $5714.38 in the Assoc. checking acct., $22,140.43 in the Assoc. Capital Improvements savings acct., $4431.98 in the Pool checking acct., and $1264.11 in the Tennis checking acct. For the year’s operations, the Income & Expense report showed total income of $50,025.89, total expenses of $46,620.60, for an operating net income of $3405.29. After applying the non-cash expense of $3748.71 in depreciation, the Association had a net loss of $343.42.

Betty Menear asked about the $5000 expense showing as “Maint. & Repair – IHRA”. Bob said that the Exec. Board agreed to give this amount to the pool to cover preseason start-up and maintenance expenses. The pool ended the previous fiscal year with very little cash on hand and did not have enough to cover its preseason costs. Bob said that annual winterization and annual painting of the pool are necessities. He said the $5000 was shown as an expense to the Association and as misc. income to the Pool.

Brad Mitchell moved to accept the Treasurer’s report. There was a second and the report was approved.

POOL REPORT: With Michelle DeVol absent, Bob J. gave the Pool report. Betty Menear asked if the Pool should not be required to pay back the $5000. She said that the pool is supposed to be self-sustaining, and when the Annual Fee was adopted in 1990, people were told that their annual fees would never be used to subsidize the pool. Bob replied that the pool committee has always had that goal and has always tried very hard to be self-sustaining. He added that what really governs us in this area is our code of regulations, not what may have been said or understood 15 years ago, and that there is nothing in our code that requires the pool to be self-sufficient, and nothing that prohibits annual fees from being applied to pool maintenance, repair, operation, etc.

He went on to report that the pool showed income of $32,167.68, and expenses of $28,227.38. He said there were 56 pool memberships this year, down from 61 last year, but membership income was up slightly due to a fee increase. Day Care income was down as a result of a decision to have just one day care client three days a week, instead of the past practice of two or three day care groups at the pool five days a week. The guards did a great job of watching the gate and helped achieve a $1500 increase in guest fees vs. last year. The big difference on the expense side was the reduction in payroll costs, from $21,255 last year to $14,800 this year, accomplished by eliminating a “pool manager” position. Pool operation were unaffected by this cut.

Karen Wilhelm suggested a neighborhood survey to determine what residents want from the pool or why they don’t join might help us discover ways to increase memberships.

Former pool chair Mary Ison said she believes it’s just part of a cycle where many neighborhood kids tend to lose interest in the pool as they grow older, and that perhaps right now there aren’t as many families with younger kids as there have been at other times.

Karen W. wondered if a “special rate” might lure back some of those former members.

Brad Mitchell asked how many members were non-residents. Bob said there were 11.

Betty Menear said there used to be water aerobics. Jack Conner said it was last offered two years ago, and only 3 people signed up for it.

Ed Geraghty stated that the Board believes the pool is a strong asset for the neighborhood, and is firmly committed to its continued operation. He said there are many variables that can impact the operation of the pool, and there are many people who work hard to make sure the pool is available to us.

John Wilhelm thanked Bob and Michelle DeVol for their efforts.

Motion, second, and pool report was accepted.

TENNIS REPORT: Tennis Chair John Hoffman reported that the tennis bank account had an ending balance of $1264. Income for the year was $336, expenses were $297, for net income of $39. He said there 14 household memberships, down one from last year, and he’d welcome any ideas for increasing memberships. He said the courts were resurfaced this year and are in great condition. The last resurfacing was in 1993, so this should help preserve the courts for years to come. Report accepted.

ENTRANCES REPORT: Betsy Smalldon reported that she is getting estimates on certain repairs and maintenance on the brick and mortar of the walls, as well as polishing the lettering on two of the walls. In addition to these estimates, Bill Moler of Litchfield Ct. will take a look at the walls and offer his opinion. Mr. Moler is retired from a brick manufacturing company. Betsy said the new light fixtures are a big improvement and the bulbs last much longer than with the previous fixtures. Betsy also said she is stepping aside as Entrances Chair, and the new chairperson will be Belinda Bardall of 960 Spring Grove Ln. Belinda is a “master gardener” and has some ideas to continue improving the appearance of our entrances. Betsy will still be a part of the committee. Report accepted.

BLOCKWATCH REPORT: Gini Peloquin reported that it was a relatively uneventful year. In June, a young neighborhood boy was approached by a stranger in a car, and an older boy intervened and helped out. She asked everyone to try to pay some attention to their immediate areas, watch out for your neighbors property, and always report all incidents to both the police and to her. Betsy Smalldon asked Gini if she was aware of a recent burglary at a Rocky Rill home, where silver and jewelry were stolen. Gini said she had heard nothing.

Julie Burkhart asked how she could get a directory. Jack Conner said he’d get one to her.

Bob commented that the directory update card in the latest Smoke Signals newsletter asks residents to provide their email addresses, which would be used for sharing Blockwatch information and other neighborhood info.

OLD BUSINESS: Bill Hamm said he requested at last year’s meeting that the Board look into the possibility of snow-plowing during the winter months. Bill said he provided names of two different services to Tim Murnane last year, and said neither was contacted. He said that plowing the neighborhood could be done for about $300, and he was dissatisfied with Board’s inaction. Bob said he was certain that Tim had contacted a plowing service last year and we were going to call him on an as needed basis. Bob said he was also certain that Tim did call this person after the big Christmas snowfall, but that snowfall had quickly solidified into ice and plowing became impossible.

Rosemarie Lisko said we really should look into plowing again because Columbus has budget constraints and may never get to a small neighborhood like ours.

Jon Goodburn questioned the ability to plow the entire neighborhood for $300. He said the cost would be much more.

Betty Menear said that years ago, residents made voluntary contributions to a snow plowing fund.

George Rittel said that when he was president in the ‘80s, he had the job of managing that money and deciding when to call the plows in. George said it is very hard to administer this to everyone’s satisfaction, with many, many details that made for a tough decision. He said we must look at the cost and we have not budgeted for this particular expense.

Bob Jacobsen said our funds are intended to be used for those things which we own as an Association, and we don’t own the streets, the city does.

Ed Geraghty said the Board would look into the issue again and would get estimates from 2 or 3 suppliers. The Board will summarize the pros and cons and all costs involved, and share this information with the residents as soon as possible.

Sue Romig had a letter from long-time resident Mary Kontos of 5830 Rocky Rill. It will be added to the continuing Smoke Signals series of recollections from long-time residents.

John Wilhelm asked if there was any update on the OSU Airport’s planned runway extension. Bob said OSU had agreed to do a more extensive noise/environmental impact study. The airport & College of Engineering will again present the Master Plan update to the OSU Board of Trustees in early 2006, but will continue to collect data for the noise study for the next 2-3 years, so nothing will change in the short term.

NEW BUSINESS:

Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2005-2006. The proposed 05/06 budget estimated $50,200 income, $49,250 expenses, for a net budget surplus of $950. Belinda Bardall said she was surprised by the $1000 budget for Entrances. She said the estimates forthcoming for wall work will certainly be more than that, and what was she supposed to do? Bob replied that the wall job could be done as a capital improvement and therefore not a budget or income/expense item. Or, depending on the cost of the job, the Board could simply agree to purposely go over budget. Betsy said prior budgets always allowed $2000 for Entrances. Bob said it was probably lowered due to the current FY’s entrance expense of just $423. He said it was just a proposed budget and could be modified. Brad Mitchell moved to modify the proposed budget by eliminating the budget surplus and giving the Entrance Committee an additional $950, for a total budget of $1950. There was a second and the budget modification was approved.

Election of Officers. Ed asked Nominating Committee Chairman Bob Jacobsen to introduce the slate of candidates for 05/06 officers. He announced the following: Ed Geraghty, President; Tim Matyac, Vice President; Ron Dwyer, Secretary; Jim Stevenson, Asst. Secretary; and Bob Jacobsen, Treasurer. There being no nominations from the floor, Brad Mitchell moved to approve the slate by acclamation. There was a second, and the slate was approved with one “no” vote.

Brad said a resident at 5784 Linworth Rd. appeared to be operating an auto detailing business from his home, and was displaying a sign in his yard advertising his service. Brad said the sign violated our deed restrictions. Rosemarie Lisko said the business itself may be a violation of both our restrictions and city zoning code. Bob said the Board was aware of it and was preparing a letter to send to the resident.

A resident of Olentangy River Rd., not a member of the IHRA, showed up unannounced and wanted to address us about a new residential development that will be adjacent to her home. As she was not a member and was uninvited, she was not allowed to speak.

Ed offered his thanks to outgoing Board members: Sue Romig, 2 years as Asst. Secy.; Betsy Smalldon, 3 years as Entrance Chair; and Tim Murnane, 4 years as President, total of 8 years on the Board. He asked for a round of applause for Sue, Betsy & Tim.

With no other items of business, the meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.


Submitted by Bob Jacobsen, Secretary/Treasurer and Sue Romig, Assistant Secretary
10/27/05