Woodlake Estates

WEHA Annual Meeting (unofficial) minutes from 1/15/05

NOTE: These minutes will be adopted at the next annual meeting.

WEHA Board Meeting Minutes – 15 January 2005

The WEHA Board met at the Club House at 14:00 prior to the annual meeting. Attending were the following: Jeff Torgerson, President; Wendy Caperton, Vice-President; Clara Jeffery, Treasurer; MariLyn Beaney, Secretary; Donna Shaw, Neighborhood Watch Chairperson.

The Board Members discussed the following items and agreed to place them on the agenda for the WEHA annual meeting to follow:
a) Replacement of Club House (wooden) doors with steel doors,
b) Proposal and dates to conduct a neighborhood-wide garage sale; the last two weeks in April were suggested;
c) Reminder to place National Neighborhood Night Out on calendars: first Tuesday in August (2 August 2005).


WOODLAKE ESTATES HOMEOWNERS’ ASSOCIATION
ANNUAL MEETING: 15 January 2005

President Jeff Torgerson called the meeting to order at 15:00 and welcomed the thirty-four members who attended; three proxies were tendered. Reminding members that good communication is key to the resolving of issues, he encouraged them to call him or any board member to express concerns; he promised members concerted effort toward resolutions. He thanked members for email addresses; thanked Applebees, Hollywood Videos, and others for their donations of door prizes; and offered the following reminders about WEHA covenants and about Norman/City ordinances:
a. home improvements visible to the neighborhood need approval by WEHA Board;
b. parking on the street invites problems like broken mail-box structures;
c. no vehicles longer than twenty feet should be parked in driveways;
d. vehicles parked on the street more than twenty-four hours are subject to ticketing;
e. vehicles should not be parked across sidewalks.
He cautioned that parking vehicles on lawns detracts from our attractive surroundings and deters potential home buyers. He further encouraged members to be courteous—for example, to clean up after their dogs, to try to minimize their dogs’ barking, etc.

Printed agendas, minutes, and treasurer’s reports were distributed as members arrived.
MariLyn Beaney, Secretary, presented highlights from the Minutes of January 2004; these were adopted unanimously.


2
Clara Jeffery, Treasurer, presented the Treasurer’s Report, which she and Amy Pincelli had prepared (attached). She thanked Pincelli for taking over for Norman Tretheway. She noted that the budget was based on $19,800 (supported by $200 dues for each property). After actual expenses of $16,560 were satisfied, a $3,240 surplus remained. At this point, on behalf of the WEHA Board, Jeffery moved replacement of the Club House’s front doors (which have been damaged) by steel doors. She presented the research she had done at Lowe’s (cost of doors = $500; installation = $400). Questions followed clarifying that the steel doors would be plain, not wood stained, and included concerns about the bathroom doors, which Jeffery proposed to change from hollow wood to solid wood. She pointed out that door frames dictate the types of replacement doors. Action: the following committee was formed to study the problems and proposal and to report back to the board: Clara Jeffery, Chairperson; Jennifer Banacos, Wendy Caperton, and Amy Hawkins.

Then, Jeffery explained that we have $8,500 in a sinking fund for major repairs. Money is added annually to this fund; this year’s contribution was $1,050. After sharing exper-iences from a former neighborhood (Nichols Hills in OKC), Rick Smith asked whether this money was being invested and whether there were any investment professionals in the association. Mark Woody was identified as a professional whose expertise should be sought. Jeffery completed the Treasurer’s Report by contrasting over-budgeted amounts for Landscaping, Club House Maintenance, and Administrative expenses and under- budgeted amounts for Swimming Pool Maintenance. After Debbie Carlson, Chair of the Pool Maintenance Committee made the following observations, the Treasurer’s Report was unanimously adopted:
We have many more little ones (under eight years old) who are using the pool but are swallowing water. To help protect them, she recommends that “swim diapers” be required for non-potty-trained children and that a plastic side pool be purchased for them. Each pool user should help scoop grass out of the pool when needed and wipe down the bathrooms. Questions were posed regarding the condition of pool furniture. These led to Carlson’s offer to inventory the existing furniture and bring recommendations and to her encouraging “awareness” from pool users. She asked, for example, that they take down umbrellas when winds blow up so that the umbrellas won’t break.

President Torgerson thanked both Jeffery and Carlson for their dedication and hard work. He also thanked Jennifer Banacos for her outstanding work on preparing the new directory. Assisted by Donna Shaw and others, Torgerson conducted a Door-Prize Giveaway—a very popular “first” for the annual meeting! All merchants and “angels” who donated prizes and refreshments were acknowledged and thanked. After this short break, the meeting continued with discussions of the following opportunities and issues:
3
Landscaping and upkeep of common areas:
More free trees will be available this spring. Attention will be given to the trees on Porter.
Torgerson asked Amber Berroth once again to coordinate our Spring Clean-Up with the city’s dates and to form a committee to help Travis Caperton with the planting of our entry-way gardens. Members agreed that the entry signs need repainting. Torgerson agreed to consult Lynn Black about repainting these signs.

A discussion of the condition of the walkway along the creek and the mowing contract ensued. All members were encouraged to help keep trash picked up from the creek areas, and Rick Smith volunteered to aid Torgerson and Caperton in reviewing / renegotiating the mowing contract with Ray Shaw. Smith also expressed concern that those using the drainage area from Weymouth Way to the pond, which is on the south side of Smith’s property, be aware that it can be very slippery and slimy—especially when wet and when mown grass that has been blown into the street has washed into it. Reminder: Please bag and dispose of your own grass after mowing or put it back on your own lawn. Smith expressed concerns for the pond, too, and the need to open up a water passageway to allow air and fresh water into the pond. Smith also noted the poor condition of the public streets in our neighborhood. Torgerson will follow up on this item with the city.

The condition of the fountain by the Club House was then discussed. One proposal was to fill it in with dirt; others include investing money for a new pump, or converting it to a community garden. Torgerson stated that converting the fountain to more parking area was not an option. Several strong opinions were expressed; one was that it is a unique marker for our community and needs to be preserved. In support of that, Rick Smith volunteered to “take on” this project: to search information on the right pump with an extended warranty and a proper filter system. He solicits calls from association members with plumbing knowledge who would help him with this project.

We look forward to participating in the “Yard-of-the-Month” program again in June, July, and August and will try to get Master Gardner Certificates awarded. This is poten- tially good PR, especially if we can get some publicity in The Norman Transcript.

Calendar Items:
Dues ($200) are payable now through March 31. Late fees will be assessed beginning April 1. Make checks payable to Woodlake Estates Homeowners’ Association and send to Clara Jeffery (2528 Weymouth Way) or put your envelope in the clearly marked basket on her front porch (checks only—no cash).


4
April Spring Clean Up / Community Garage Sales (each participant pays $10 fee; WEHA pays for newspaper advertising; individual garage sales are held on same weekends; if interested or to volunteer to help coordinate this event, contact Donna Shaw)

Late Spring Pot-Luck: Date to be announced

August National Neighborhood Night Out: August 2 (first Tues. in August)

October Children’s Costume Party

Announcements:
A webmaster is needed for the existing WEHA website.
A Block Captain is needed for Weymouth Court. Information on requirements for this position is available from Donna Shaw.
Volunteers for Clean Up Day (call Amber Berroth), for the Landscaping Committee (call Travis Caperton), and for the Social Committee (call Donna Shaw) are needed!

Election of Officers:
The offices of President and Secretary had been vacated last January as those elected could not complete their terms of office. Jeff Torgerson was elected President; and MariLyn Beaney, Secretary, for the remaining one year for those positions. Thus, these two offices were opened to the membership for nomination of candidates.

Rick Smith nominated Jeff Torgerson for President. Jim Burleson seconded.
Clara Jeffrey nominated MariLyn Beaney for Secretary; Rick Smith seconded.
Unopposed but willing to serve, both candidates were elected by acclamation.

President Torgerson thanked the members of the Board of WEHA and all Chairpersons and members of committees for their cooperative efforts and hard work during the past year and acknowledged ALL who volunteered special services when needed!

ALL who were present agreed that Woodlake Estates is a GREAT Community and pledged to make 2005 the BEST YEAR yet!

Meeting was adjourned at 16:35.