In Attendance: Mike Pincus, Jay Harter, Margaret Callahan, Bob Gottschall, Janet Burgess
Not attending: Bill Shipley
Architectural Committee representatives (Dom Aleardi and Jeanette Schmid joined at 9:20am)
Meeting called to order by Mike Pincus at 9:02 am.
September 22, 2022 meeting minutes were approved. Bill Shipley to distribute. Margaret to post on web site.
Financial: Jay Harter reported the results of the Finance Committee meeting.
The Finance Committee worked hard to control the budget increase for 2023. It was originally coming in at 7-8% increase, but they got it to 4%. Inflation is up around 8.4% today. We reviewed items that are increasing such as:
- Water costs keep rising by 7-8%
- Trash removal increased.
- Insurance went up a large amount. This is negotiated on the Master’s Association level.
- We increased what we are putting in our Reserve fund (increased by approx. $10K). We had reduced it last year and didn’t want to do that again.
- Our contributions to the Master Association increased.
- Pest control will be done in 2023 (gets done every other year).
- Landscaping Committee reduced their budget (more info under Landscaping Committee).
- Maintenance – we seem to have a lot of little things that piled up. Need to try to do more ourselves. Need help from residents.
The Finance Committee is wary that no funds are budgeted in 2023 for pipe issues, even though we spent $20K this year for surprise pipe issues. The first report back from Pipe Data View shows 3 issues “hole in pipe”. Two are moderate severity. One is light severity. But, if something turns into a major issue with our pipes, we may have to resort to an assessment to pay for it. Mike Pincus will take the pipe photos to Ed McFalls to see if he knows the exact location of the small holes found in the pipes. The Master’s Association is doing some repairs to pipes, and one of them is in Franklin. We wonder if that MA pipe fix is one of our issues pointed out. We had provided to them a marked-up map of FV. Dom marked the drainage lines.
Quarterly Due increase. The Finance Committee recommended an increase of 4% which will be $1800 per quarter starting in 2023. The motion was approved by the 4 council members who were present at the meeting.
In addition, Council approved pulling $23K from reserves to pay for landscaping rejuvenation. If we had not pulled from Reserves, it would have added an additional $75 month increase to our Quarterly Dues increase.
Mike thanked the Finance Committee for their work. Franklin has been, and remains, on the low end of Quarterly fee amounts, compared to other villages. Council is aware of the desire of residents to keep those quarterly fees constant, but we want to avoid the very large assessments we are seeing other villages must implement. And/or we want to avoid borrowing money. The November 10th Financial Meeting is open to all residents, at 7pm.
We as an individual village can’t negotiate some of our contracts. Some of our fixed contracts are done with 10+ villages (e.g., trash, landscaping, etc.). We are not immune to the rising costs.
Bob asked about the postage line item in the budget. Janet explained that some items for an HOA, as required by law, must be sent by USPS.
COMMITTEE NEWS
Architectural – Dom and Jeanette provided Council an update on questions and/or issues with #533, #535, #543, #564, #600. There will be follow up with each – either conversations, emails, or letters from CSK.
Although the Architectural Committees does regular walk arounds, residents need to make sure their decks are safe. If a deck looks unstable the Architectural Committee will notify the resident. Decks should be inspected by a qualified contractor and the resident should get a certification from the contractor proving that it has been inspected. Decks that are leaning, slanting, or unstable should never be ignored.
Residents are reminded that ANY AND ALL work done outside of their house needs an Architectural Request form to be filled out and submitted to the committee.
Windows – the Architectural Committee has looked at 6 different brands of windows and found the Paradigm window to be most like our current windows and acceptable for use. Again, any change of this type, needs an Architectural Request form and recommendation from the Committee.
Front doors – Architectural Committee is looking at doors. If they determine painting is needed for door or jamb, the village will cover the cost (currently about 8 doors need painting). The storm door is the responsibility of the homeowner. Most look to be in good condition.
Landscaping
Michelle Cohen did a detailed house-by-house budget and managed to reduce the landscaping costs by $7-8K for 2023.
Bob asked for more information about the requirement to pull pachysandra from foundations and shrub/tree bases.
Residents are reminded that ANY AND ALL work done outside of their house needs a Landscaping Request form to be filled out and submitted to the committee.
Welcome
No new residents to welcome since the last meeting. We just had 1 resale so far in 2022.
Pool
Margaret said that the pool is covered, and furniture stored for the winter. Bill will test the water monthly. Margaret will drain excess water (after heavy rain/snow) throughout the winter. This is done to protect the tile at the top of the pool. Our weekly volunteers did a great job this year.
Margaret to contact Rich at Guiliani Pools for 2023 pool contract.
Documents
Mike suggested reviewing/revising the Architectural Request form to make it easier and clearer for residents to understand, and easier for the Committee to explain. If a resident receives multiple notices about the same infraction, the HOA will retain a contractor to fix the issue and bill the homeowner.
Communications
Bill Shipley was not at the meeting to report.
Council would like Bill to send an email to be sent out with reminders for the Fall/Winter season.
- Turn off your outside water. (If you have a shut off valve inside, turn that off and let the outside spigot drain).
- Disconnect outside hoses and put them in storage for the winter.
- If outside lights (outside of garage, or streetlights) need a new bulb, contact Kevin Callahan.
- For those residents that own a deck (particularly an older deck). For your safety, you should consider having a qualified contractor inspect your deck to ensure it is stable. Decks that are leaning, slanting, or unstable should never be ignored. Decks are the homeowner’s responsibility.
Masters Association Meeting minutes are sent out from the Technology Committee via email. They can also be found on the website https://hersheysmill.org/the-mill/master-association/
Maintenance
Our general maintenance costs are high – and Council welcomes residents that are comfortable doing maintenance tasks (small paint jobs, mailbox lettering, etc.) to join the Maintenance Committee so we can control those costs a bit.
However, we reviewed all items that fell under ‘maintenance’ in the budget so far this year. Many of them (particularly roof leak patching) was not something we could do ourselves.
Lights
Kevin Callahan is the contact for light bulbs (outside of garage and streetlights). Send him an email or call if you see a bulb needs replacing. 4 replaced since the last meeting.
Old Business
None
New Business
Pipe Data View Results – Due to the surprise leaks we had in our pipes this year ($20K) we hired Pipe Data to run camera through all our piping so we can get an idea how much, or how little, of a problem we should anticipate. The photos and videos were sent to CSK. Janet reviewed all the photos and found three with an issue – two were a moderate issue. One was a slight issue. Mike to take those photos to Ed McFalls to see if he can tell us the exact location. It seems like good news so far – there were only three holes, but we need to dig in and understand the information better.
Proposed Amendment for Insurance – Due to the large increase in HOA insurance ($35K in 2022 to $45K in 2023), Assured Partners our insurance broker recommends the Master Association, and the individual villages amend our Declaration of Covenants document to remove a set dollar amount for the deductible (currently $7500). We need the flexibility of being able to raise the deductible residents pay before the HOA insurance kicks in. This must be done prior to September 2023 (when HOA village insurance gets negotiated again). This Amendment will need 67% approval by residents. It can be done through email if we get 67% affirmative vote. The last time this was done, was in 2009 when the deductible went from $2500 to $7500. CSK will work on this Amendment in January of 2023. The document will need to be recorded at the courthouse.
Pest Control
Every other year, we have termite inspections paid for by the HOA. Moyer Pest Control will do the termite inspections in 2023 for 86 homes at a cost of $4300. They will block 4 Saturdays (March 25, April 8, April 22, May 6) to perform the inspections. They will do the outside of all houses and hang a notice on the resident’s door indicating it was done.
If a resident wants the interior inspected, they will have that option (at no additional cost).
Information Items/Correspondence
Crack in asphalt near #555. Delaware Valley Paving contacted Oct 12th.
Email was sent to residents conveying Council’s support of all members of our committees.
Finance Meeting open to all Residents to be held November 10th.
Next Council meeting will be held in January 2023 (date TBD).
Meeting adjourned at 10:50 am.
Respectfully submitted by Margaret Callahan
Link to Franklin Village website https://hersheysmill.org/villages/a-m-villages/franklin/