HOMESTEAD IN THE WILLOWS HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION
Regular Board Meeting February 5, 2024 – Unofficial Minutes
CALL TO ORDER: President, James Keating called the meeting to order at 5:20 p.m. Present were Vice President, Chris Evans; Secretary, Ginny Karlberg; Treasurer, Kelly McCormick; Member, Michael Garnsey; ACC Manager, Emily Maxfield; Tennis Manager, Jill Ellsworth; Business Manager, Katie Kidwell and homeowner Steve Bell. Homeowner Don Filarowicz attended a portion of the meeting and Social Committee co-chair Olivia Phillips and Swim Team parent rep Kristen Kraus reported via conference call due to technical issues with Zoom.
MINUTES: The minutes of the January 15th regular meeting were approved as read.
RATIFICATION OF BOARD ACTIONS: There were no Board Actions to ratify.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
SWIM TEAM: Parent Rep Kristen Kraus reported that the 2024 season coaches had been hired and are now soliciting applications for H2O coaches. Swim Team will host their annual information session in early April. Kristen asked the Board if the HOA would consider extending Swim Team’s use of the North Pool to 12:30 or 1:00 pm so that practices could start later. Currently the 11/12 year old practices have to begin at 7:00 am in order for all age groups to get a practice time completed and given changes in their sleep cycles the early practice is hard on that age group. During discussion the Board noted that it annually fields complaints from residents who can’t use the North Pool until noon because of the Swim Team practices and that while open the North Pool also accommodates Swim Team coaches giving lessons using one lane of the pool. The Board agreed that Swim Team could have any age group start practice at 7:00 am but that it could not further restrict resident access to the North Pool by extending the Swim Team practice time.
SOCIAL COMMITTEE: Social Committee co-chair Olivia Phillips reported that the Holiday Carriage Rides were a big success and have been booked in advance for 2024. The Egg Hunt is planned for March 23 with a rain date on March 30 and the committee is working on obtaining Food Trucks for the summer. The Social Committee is also drafting a policy statement for the committee that outlines the HOA guidelines so that policy remains consistent as chairpersons rotate off the committee. They also are looking into pricing for a permanent sign holder to advertise community events using trex posts to match the new fence.
MANAGER REPORTS:
POOL: Front Range Recreation submitted a written report. They are ready to order new furniture for the South Pool. The Board asked that FRR provide photos of the furniture and material samples and will ask the ACC to approve the selection.
LANDSCAPE: Manager Nancy Bauer submitted a written report. The dumpster enclosures have been cleaned and the doors are propped open to encourage no dumping while there are no receptacles. Multiple above ground cables exposed during the fence construction were buried along Quebec Street between Costilla Avenue and Easter Avenue. Tree work is scheduled to begin in April.
TENNIS: Manager Jill Ellsworth reported the annual USTA tennis captains’ meeting was held on February 1. Homestead is over capacity for USTA league teams and Jill had to move one team to South Suburban for the 18 and over season. Each season a team will be picked at random to play from South Suburban until capacity changes. The HOA will cover the cost of playing in the South Suburban league and James moved and Chris seconded a motion to charge all USTA league participants $20 to cover the cost of outsourcing a team, the increased use of the courts that USTA players enjoy and to help afford the amenities they request such as year round trash service. The motion passed unanimously. Residents who have requested tennis information have been emailed using the contact information received. Those who responded and asked to be on a USTA Team have been placed. The West Courts will be resurfaced and repairs will be made to the chain link fencing on all courts. Jill requested funds to replace the bounce back on the South Courts and the Board approved the purchase of a Fiberglass backboard fence to replace it. Advantage You will return for instruction in 2024. They plan to host an information meeting on February 12. at Koebel Library.
ACC: Emily reported that she is still working to get the ACC process on the PayHOA platform so that owners could submit applications online but needs some technical help. The Board and Emily continued to discuss charging for applications. Some committee members expressed reservations about doing so. The Board believes that the time spent evaluating applications, communicating with homeowners, making further adjustments to plans can often take up to 8 or 10 hours. Major remodels often require a consult with an outside architect and going forward larger renovations will only continue to become more common. The Board had checked other associations who do charge for applications and also charge for pool and tennis court use. The Board asked Emily to bring their position to the ACC for feedback. James moved and Chris seconded a motion to refer account XXX to the HOA attorney for legal action if they fail to meet the final deadline for their covenant violation. The motion passed unanimously.
BUSINESS: Katie reported that assessment letters for the Perimeter Fence Special Assessment had been mailed and more than 60 homeowners have made full or partial payments already. James moved and Chris seconded a motion to grant a dues payment plan to account 665. The motion passed unanimously. Account 562 has failed to make the payments agreed to for their 2023 payment plan and James moved that the account be referred to the HOA attorney for collection. Chris seconded the motion which passed unanimously. Katie presented the renewal package for the HOA insurance policies. James moved and Chris seconded a motion to accept the renewal. The motion passed unanimously. The Board reviewed the proposed Social Media policy and made a change that Katie will submit to the attorney. The Colorado Homeowners Bill of Rights Task Force was formed to examine issues concerning homeowner rights. Chris Evans volunteered to attend the next meeting and report to the Board. Chris will also speak to the contractor who won the bid to build an ADA ramp at the North Pool so that can be completed prior to summer. A homeowner called to suggest the HOA not spend money on snow removal along sections of Costilla Avenue where the sidewalk remains shaded and snow quickly becomes ice. The Board discussed the snow removal thus far and agreed they will take that suggestion under advisement noting that they continue to evaluate Snowology and providing snow removal. The Board agreed to a request to use the South Pool lawn for a graduation party on Saturday, May 25.
HOMEOWNER COMMENTS: Homeowner Don Filarowicz appeared in person to thank the Board for the 8’ height on the new Perimeter Fence. As an owner who backs to Dry Creek, he has noticed that the height along with the way the fence is constructed has reduced road noise by 80%. Mr. Filarowicz also asked if the Board could do anything about the lampposts of the streetlights throughout Homestead. The black coating has worn off exposing the gray fiberglass and the City of Centennial won’t pay to replace the streetlights. They say Xcel is responsible for their maintenance. The Board will consult with the Landscape Manager to see if she has a contact with Xcel who can be approached for maintenance. Mr. Filarowicz also asked that the landscape budget include shrubs along the cut-through from Homestead Parkway to South Newport Street.
FENCE REPORT: The Perimeter Fence construction is complete, ahead of schedule, except for one section on Homestead Parkway which requires special posts. Treasurer Kelly McCormick continues to carefully manage reserve funds and has not yet needed to draw upon the line of credit. Landscape Manager Nancy Bauer and Board Fence Liaison James Keating will complete a walk-through of the fence noting where repairs need to be made. It was noted a homeowner removed a section of the new fence to allow for their landscaper to access the property from the street. This is against the Residential Improvement Guidelines and HOA policy. Homeowners are not permitted to remove the Perimeter Fence for landscape projects because private landscapers often fail to reinstall it properly. In this case, removing the fence will void the Split Rail warranty. The Board instructed Katie to send the owners a letter requiring them to pay Split Rail Fence Company to reinstall the fence instead of the landscaper who removed it.
FINANCIAL REPORT: Kelly summarized the changes to HOA bookkeeping, transition to Quickbooks online and bill.com allowing the treasurer to view the financial status of the HOA in real time and negating the need for Board members to sign paper checks at the office. The business of the HOA has grown to such an extent that outsourcing the accounting and putting the processes online will provide a better audit trail and free up the office to answer homeowner inquiries. Kelly presented the financials to the Board and walked them through the budget, proposed 2024 reserve fund deposit and reserve expenditures.
NEW BUSINESS: Kelly moved and James seconded a motion to appoint Steve Bell to the Board of Directors immediately. Steve will take over as Treasurer in April after Kelly leaves the Board of Directors and will be copied in on her emails now to get up to speed quickly. The motion passed unanimously.
- ADJOURNMENT AND CALENDARING: The meeting adjourned at 8:00pm. The next regular Board Meeting will be on Monday, April 8 at 6:30 pm. at the Business Office.