Regular Board Meeting April 14, 2025 – Unofficial Minutes
THREE TAKEAWAYS:
- Volunteers are needed for the site wide review of all properties. Short term volunteer opportunity, Call the Business office at 303-793-0230 or email hoataskforce@gmail.com.
- Dumpster Day is set for May 10 from 8am to 9:30am or until the dumpsters are filled.
- The HOA still needs your Homeowner Contact form. It’s the law! The form can be found on the website under the Stay Connected tab “Notice to all HOA Members.”
CALL TO ORDER: President, James Keating called the meeting to order at 6:15pm. Present were Treasurer, Steve Bell; Member at Large, Robb Origer; Business Manager, Katie Kidwell; and Board candidates Eric Kemp and Stuart Siekmeier. Secretary Ginny Karlberg attended the meeting via Zoom. Landscape Manager, Nancy Bauer; Tennis Manager, Jill Ellsworth; Pool Manager Shannon Ricca and former Social Committee Chair Kelly Kane joined the meeting at 7:30pm.
FLOCK SAFETY PRESENTATION: Member at Large Robb Origer briefly outlined the purpose of adding the Flock Safety system to Homestead in the Willows. The cameras take images of cars entering the neighborhood and those images are shared with law enforcement when necessary. Robb introduced Alex Graves from Flock Safety Group who conducted a Zoom meeting to introduce all Board members to the Flock system. Alex demonstrated the camera capture, explained the images are stored with Amazon Web services in the cloud unless needed by law enforcement and deleted after 30 days. Installing this system in the neighborhood should deter theft and car break-ins throughout the neighborhood. Images of cars with warrants or that have been reported stolen are sent to law enforcement in real time. The Board committed to a two-year subscription and will re-evaluate the system in 2027.
WELCOME NEW BOARD MEMBERS: President James Keating welcomed board candidates Stuart Siekmeier and Eric Kemp. James moved to appoint both candidates to the Board since there were not enough present at the Annual Meeting to form a quorum of members. Treasurer Steve Bell seconded the motion which passed unanimously.
James gave an overview of Board Member responsibilities explaining that the Board of Directors is responsible for maintaining the assets of the Association by taking care of the neighborhood amenities, preserving property values, and keeping the neighborhood safe. James reminded the board members that each homeowner agreed to abide by the covenants set forth in the Governing Documents of the Association when they purchased their home, and the Board had a fiduciary responsibility to enforce the covenants. He reviewed the ACC and Covenant Review Taskforce committees and explained the complexities of the ACC required moving to a paid manager once the HOA lost a very dedicated volunteer chairperson. He also reviewed the appeal process available to every homeowner.
The Minutes of the March 10, 2025, Annual Meeting of Members were approved as read.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
SWIM TEAM: provided a written report. The swim team tryouts are scheduled for May 12 and 13 between 3:45pm and 5:15pm. Registration for the swim team will open on April 17 at 9pm.
SOCIAL COMMITTEE: Former Social Committee Co-Chair Kelly Kane discussed the plans for the Homestead 50th Anniversary celebration with the Board.
MANAGER REPORTS:
POOL: Front Range Recreation manager Shannon Ricca announced that Front Range Recreation (FRR) was preparing to fill the pools for the summer. They are 75% staffed with lifeguards and have begun lifeguard training but would welcome more applicants. AED’s will be installed at the South and West pools and new furniture has been purchased to partially replace that at the North Pool. While the West Pool deck was demolished in preparation for new concrete FRR had run a conduit that would allow the future purchase of an autofill controller. Autofill’s save on both maintenance and water costs by keeping the water level of the pool constant. James moved that the HOA purchase an autofill controller now at a cost of $1600. Steve seconded the motion which passed unanimously.
LANDSCAPE: Manager Nancy Bauer reported that the first round of removing dead trees and limbs was completed during the week of March 24. Handrails throughout the community were painted and Colorado Designscapes completed an extra clean up of pine needles along Arapahoe Road, Homestead Parkway and around the North Pool.The Board and Nancy then discussed the retaining wall adjacent to Dry Creek Road which is in need of repair. The HOA attorney is researching the chain of title because the City of Centennial does not want to accept responsibility for its repair. Also discussed was the failure of a pvc pipe in the greenbelt from Easter Avenue running north to Costilla Avenue. The Board agreed to have a civil engineer conduct an assessment and provide the HOA with possible solutions. The Association sprinklers are up and running and weeds are being spot sprayed weekly.
ACC: Manager Emily Maxfield submitted a written report. The Board discussed the upcoming Covenant Review Taskforce inspection of all properties. Developing a new criterion for driveways had been suggested at the Annual Meeting. After some discussion, the Board agreed the current criteria was acceptable because all driveways were reviewed by Board members to ensure the replacement was necessary.
TENNIS: Manager Jill Ellsworth reported USTA match play began April 14. Homestead has 18 USTA teams playing tennis.The windscreens will be lowered as soon as weather and wildlife allow. The divider nets will be opened in May after the threat of snowstorms is over. One of the courtside shade canopies has been bent due to someone hanging on it. Jill hopes to find a way to repair it as the canopies are expensive.
BUSINESS: Katie reported that 2 notices has been sent to 20 owners who had not yet paid their HOA dues. The 2024 Audit is in progress but not yet completed. Welding repairs to all pool fencing would commence once the pool concrete was finished. The damage by a delivery truck to a tree on Easter Avenue had been submitted to the trucking company’s insurance company and Katie updated the Board on the status of two properties in collections with the HOA attorney.
FINANCIAL REPORT: Treasurer, Steve Bell, explained the HOA finances to the new Board members. The surplus from the operating account is deposited into the reserve fund for the next years capital expenses. He also reviewed the reserve fund noting that because the Perimeter Fence project was completed the Board could focus on deferred maintenance expenses such as the pool concrete. Katie and Steve were updating the 2017 Reserve study to reflect current actual costs for replacement. Steve wants to develop a strong capital improvement program.
OLD BUSINESS: Homeowner request to keep all pools open through September. FRR had submitted an estimate of the cost for maintenance to include cleaning the pool, monitoring water and chlorine levels and cleaning the pool deck, restrooms, and trash removal. The Board discussed the costs presented, as well as charges for utilities, chemicals and lifeguards and concluded that the amount of use didn’t justify the cost. Should the ACES Swim Club rent the North Pool for daily practice in the fall the Board agreed to offer weekend swimming for residents throughout September and continue daily lap swimming until October. James moved and Eric seconded a motion to provide lifeguards for weekend swimming in that event. The motion passed unanimously.
NEW BUSINESS: Availability of North Pool for swimming at the 50th Anniversary party: The Board agreed that the pool would be opened for that event only if not already in use by ACES Swim Club.
Accessory Dwelling Units: a homeowner asked if the Board if he could turn an addition to his house into an ADU with a separate address. After much discussion about the impacts of ADU’s, short term rentals, how to interpret the Governing Documents as they apply to ADU’s and the impacts to the neighborhood in terms of additional cars, use of facilities and potential to assess dues, the Board agreed to consult the HOA attorney on the matter. All agreed this was an issue that needs thoughtful consideration and not a hurried decision.
Dumpster Day was set for May 10th.
ACES Swim Club asked to rent the North Pool July 15 – 17 for their rookie tryouts. The Board agreed to rent the pool at the pricing charged in 2024.
Board Positions: Robb Origer – President; Ginny Karlberg – Vice President; Eric Kemp – Secretary; Steve Bell – Treasurer; Stuard Siekmeier – Member at Large.
ADJOURNMENT AND CALENDARING: The meeting adjourned at 9:10pm. The next regular Board Meeting will be on Monday, May 12 at 6:30 pm at the Business Office.
BOARD ACTIONS SUBSEQUENT TO MEETING:
On April 22 the Board voted to create a $100 HOA fee for those wishing to join the swim team only, with no use of the pool or tennis courts outside of swim-team events. The motion carried with 4 votes in favor and one abstention.