A Board of Directors Meeting was held on Monday, March 25th, 2024 at 06:30 PM in the former Cellars Restaurant at the Church Point Manor. All Board of Directors meetings are open to HOA members of record.
Please note that although the address for the Church Point Manor is 4001 Church Point Road, the entrance to the Cellars is actually around the corner on Meeting House Road.
Agenda
- Call to Order Board of Directors Meeting / Establish Quorum
- Homeowners Forum
- Approval of Minutes February, 2024
- Financial Report (December, 2023)
- Committee Reports & Charters
- Social Committee (activities & dates)
- Landscaping Committee (minnow restocking; BrightView Reports)
- AREC
- Communications Committee
- Managers Report (no verbal reporting necessary as report follows agenda)
- Unfinished Business
- Liability for Bridge
- New Business
- Resignation – Don Degner
- Review and revise AREC procedure
- 4104 Thoroughgood – Tree removal
- Executive Session: As needed – Review Delinquency & CCR History Report. Additionally, review of other items of confidential nature as needed.
- Adjournment
- Better Clarification on Treasurer’s Report
Documents
Minutes
Called to order at 6:32 pm. A quorum was confirmed.
Board members present:
- Gary Lauck, President
- Michael Gen, Vice President
- Amit Badiye, Secretary
- Jack Timms, vice Treasurer
- Jill Albright – Select Representative
Homeowners’ Forum
Issues raised by one of the homeowners regarding unutilized mulch at a neighboring property on Church Point Rd and several other violations in the neighborhood that they have observed and how the Board has responded so far. Homeowner brought board’s attention Christmas lights which are still remaining at the main entrance of the community and questioned similar issues regarding a few homes which still have Christmas lights.
Homeowner raised questions about bylaws related to installing basketball hoop in the front yard or tennis courts or soccer goals in the yard. Information was shared how to report issues via churchpoint.com and how to request approval of these additions by filling the AREC forms for board’s review.
Dr. Gen responded with the incredible amount of work the board has done so far including budgeting and keeping the processes transparent. He stated that board has been doing its due diligence and sending appropriate notices to violators wherever necessary. These notices cannot be discussed in public forum. Homeowner was referred to the Churchpointonline.com website for additional information including bylaws. Homeowners were requested to sign up for information from the “Opt in/Opt out” option available on the churchpointonline.com website for receiving notifications regarding the neighborhood. All AREC requests shall be sent to the board for approval as regulated by CP Bylaws and Virginia state laws.
Secretary’s Report
Motion for approval of the February 26, 2024, minutes. Motion made by Gary Lauck, 2nd by Jack Timms motion approved unanimously.
Don Degner submitted his resignation for personal reasons but offered to take a 30-day sabbatical with intent to return to the board if able. The Board thanked him for his services to date and agreed to delay any administrative actions for 30 days. Jill will take responsibility for the Treasurer’s report in the meantime.
Financial report (December 2023)
Financial statements through December 2023 have been audited. Total cash count of 151,111.99 $ accounted for. January and February financials will be available soon. Goal is to have reports available every 15th working day.
A motion for adopting the Treasurer’s report was made by Mike Gen, seconded by Jack Timms. Motion was approved unanimously.
Committee Reports
Social – various activities and dates are being scheduled and the calendar will be updated on website when approved. The Social committee has their own account for managing expenses related to these events. Dr. Gen requested clarification regarding other social media links like Facebook and Next door on the website. Johan explained the usefulness and utility of those websites.
Landscaping committee – Update on minnow stocking were requested by Gary Lauck. Scope of volunteers for landscaping committee was explained. Committee with also oversee the work done by BrightView. Home owners are encouraged to send their concerns via the form available on HOA website. Some Church point residences are dumping their leaves/debris in the common areas – this will be reported to CP BoD. Homeowners need to inform their contractors to stop doing that. No members from landscaping committee were available. Suggestion was made to restart the garden club for further beautification of the neighborhood.
ARC committee – Board is still looking for volunteers on this important committee. Board is currently reviewing the requests. A few homeowners are willing to help – their names will be finalized soon. Interested homeowners are encouraged to reach out to the Board.Board is planning to revamp the rule and committee and bring it up to date.
Communications committee – Johan Goossens provided an in-depth review from the committee:
Opt-in, Opt-out Communication System
- Sent initial email on 27 February
- Used 2023 newsletter distribution list (from the Select Group?)
- 150 email addresses, no names, 16 were invalid
- Added 45 email addresses that I knew from previous HOA work
- Posted same story on the private Facebook group
- Had 130 members at the time
- Now it has 142 members
- Overall statistics:
- 195 emails sent
- 179 with valid destinations
- Only 102 recipients opened their email (57%)
- Issue with spam filters
- Pattern of a divided neighborhood
- 80 people signed up for the new communication system
- After letter from the board:
- 31 more people signed up
- 111 are now registered
- There as multiple signups per household
- 104 households have now signed up (28%)
- Yesterday, new comms system was used to announce board meeting
- 104 emails were sent out (7 people signed up since then)
- Emails were addressed by first and last name (to defeat spam filters)
- 102 people opened email so far (98%)
Website Updates
- Improved workflow for Landscaping Committee – When people fil out the form their info is only seen by the committee. They can also upload pictures. People can actually see the progress of the work done by BrightView or landscaping committee.
- He will add a link to report general issues. These will directly go to the board.
- Suggestion was made to add guidance for homeowners to navigate the website by Mike so that they can use appropriate forms for reporting and know the process for reporting and follow up action.
- Added pages:
- How to report issues to the City of Virginia Beach (vs Board issues) E.g.- street lights, sidewalks, pot holes graffiti and such eleven categories are now included.
- How to pay your assessments info added and he has a few questions:
- The November letter talks about receiving an invitation email to join Select’s new portal system, Enumerate Engage. Homeowners never received it. Question – is it important that all homeowners sign up or only those that want to use the portal for payment?
- If everybody needs to sign up for Enumerate Engage, how do we get the welcome email or is there a simple instruction? Right now, I’m telling homeowners to reach out to Select.
- If you pay by mail, there is not supposed to be a change. This is what we did for the first quarter, but we haven’t yet received a coupon for the second quarter. Is that still coming?
- If you pay through Enumerate Engage, homeowners have to pay a processing fee (very disappointing). If you pay through First Citizens, is that free or is there also a fee for the homeowner?
- The November letter talks about “Lockbox”, but last week’s update doesn’t mention that at all. Is “Lockbox” no longer an option or is it a name for one of the four payment options?
- Now working on set of forms for contractor recommendations – homeowners can submit reviews and recommendations and will serve as a resource for the community.
- Spring Newsletter– Johan will begin writing the newsletter. Following items needed.
- Need introduction from President
- Have input form Landscaping Committee
- Have input from Communications Committee
- Need 2024 social calendar
- Article looking for volunteers
- Article on website forms and reporting to City
- Article on how to pay your dues
- Moving babysitter listing to private Facebook group
- Moving contractor recommendation and ratings to website
- Do we want to offer advertising opportunities – this was encouraged as additional revenue resource
- Jill volunteered to add a column to guide homeowners about what to expect with inspections
Managers’ Report
Manager report was discussed. Ms. Albright invited questions from the board and homeowners.
Unfinished Business
Select is reviewing the liability for the bridge with the HOA lawyers and will direct them when to reach out to the insurance agency. All the groundwork done by Don was sent to the law firm.
Jill has reached out for update on minnows stocking of pond next to the Tap House.
Landscaping arborist – noted 25 trees are in bad shape and will need to be taken cared of and will need several years to be taken cared of. This has not been done for years and now will have to be addressed as funds become available as it has a liability aspect as well as aesthetic.
New Business
4104 Thoroughgood Drive owner would like for two trees to be removed from common area that abuts their property. Licensed and insured tree agency should be used by the owner. Board intends to take a look at the issue. That common area towards Thoroughgood was overgrown in the past and HOA has spent thousands of dollars to clean it. There is a tremendous overgrowth and some bad trees which will need to be taken care of in the future. Homeowner who cuts the trees is liable for the current and future damage.
BrightView needs to be reach out to clear the trees/ bushes at both community entrances to improve visibility. As they did not trim the trees at the entrance.
Continuation of Homeowners’ Forum
Issues were raised concerning a needed stop light/traffic light at the main entrance due to uptick in accidents in that intersection. A request for a traffic report to be generated by city was made and can take over six months. Homeowners have noticed increased traffic over last 2-3 years. Amit shared the story about the current crosswalk added at the main intersection which was done because of request sent by his 10 and 14 yr. old kids to the city commissioner.
Homeowners shared concerns about drag racing and bikes creating noise on the First Court Rd. Homeowners have growing concerns about skateboarders and motorcycles frequenting that area.
Issues noted were Don Degner resignation and plan to review and revise AREC procedures.
Discussion about Solar panels ensued. Requests must be submitted through AREC for meeting neighborhood architectural requirements.
Question raised about noise ordinance. No lawn work/ Noise (loud music) from 6pm Saturday to Monday 8 am – Jill will verify the exact timings. It is already noted in the HOA bylaws. Homeowner requested to keep noise ordinance limited to yard work rather than pool or backyard parties after hours. This can be discussed with the homeowners.
Another home owner complained about a block party / cul-de-sac party done by the neighbors which extended beyond 6 pm. There were 30 people standing in the middle of the road with beer pong tables and food trucks. This caused lot of disturbance to their young child. It hampered ability to drive in an out the neighborhood. None of the homeowners in the cul-de-sac allegedly attended the party. Discussion ensued whether HOA can intervene on actions done on city property. Homeowners were advised to report these issues to city/police meanwhile.
Motion to adjourn the meeting to executive session by Michael Gen, seconded by Gary Lauck with unanimous approval at 7:43 pm.
Adjourned from executive session at 8:20pm
Motion to approve AREC request made by Mike Gen seconded by Jack Timms and unanimously approved.
Meeting adjourned at 8:26 pm.