Skyline Ridge Property Owners' Association
2007 Annual Meeting Minutes
January 28, 2007
The meeting was called to order at approximately 1:30 PM after all had a nice time meeting and greeting neighbors over various snacks and coffee.
The outgoing board recognized the fine work done by both members who were leaving the board, but particular thanks were given to Cynthia Leslie, who functioned as both web mistress and board secretary.
A review of the financial picture of the association showed that with the new annual fees, we should be able to keep dues at current levels. One item of note is our road costs are now based upon a monthly payment schedule, and this should both save us money, and even out our cash flow. However, we are operating on a very lean budget, and should have less than $1,800 of cushion to run the organization. If we have no major road or other issues, this should be sufficient.
It was also noted that the initial property owner’s dues were woefully insufficient and this marketing oriented low fee structure is, in part, responsible for the raise in dues. The vast majority of expenses come from road maintenance.
However, recommendations were made to raise income and reduce costs.
Raising income can come from a number of sources. They include, raising dues, which we do not want to do, special assessments, and other fees. At this time, the board does not want to raise dues and unless a special project or disaster befalls us, we do not want to do any special assessments. One property owner suggested that we have a building fee. That is, when one builds at Skyline Ridge, there should be a fee (amount to be determined) and those funds go into the treasury to defray road maintenance costs and/or other costs. The board will discuss this and if it is approved by the board, then it will have to be an amendment to our restrictive covenants and it will have to be passed by the property owners as an amendment as stipulated in the covenants and then filed with the state of Massachusetts.
It was also recommended that we look at our insurances and see if we can reduce our costs there. This will be done by the board.
The history and current status of mail boxes for Skyline Ridge was discussed. The discussion can be summarized as follows: The post office will not install a mail box cluster for us. If we want it done, it will have to be done and paid for by Skyline Ridge funding. The outgoing board of Directors declined to do this as we thought there were insufficient funds to accomplish this. One property owner stated that they would be supportive of a special assessment to cover the cost of mailboxes. The board will consider this suggestion, but it seems that with only a few homes built this should be tabled for future consideration.
The board is also looking into making Skyline Ridge into a gated community to restrict access to non-owners. Cost and how this can be accomplished will be studied by the board.
Elections were held for two board positions and were unanimous in the election results:
- Jack Barbero was nominated and elected to a 3-year term
- Sal Santos was nominated for and elected to a 2-year term
Barbara Winters has graciously volunteered to be the new web mistress.
Wilbur from Wilbur’s Landscaping volunteered to put up the new street sign that was stolen last year. Wilbur now offers driveway snow plowing as well as other services. He has been chosen as the road maintenance contractor under the new monthly payment schedule.
There was a motion to adjourn by Frank Rizza which was seconded by Marty Winters and the meeting was adjourned.