Southern Plantation Home Owners Association (SPHOA) Board Meeting is called to order by Patrick Kimes (Vice President) at 7:00 P.M. Patrick introduced all board members (providing names and positions), as well as Jessica Guidry, SPHOA Office Assistant, to homeowners present at the meeting. In addition, Patrick informed all present that board member Lena Williams submitted her letter of resignation earlier this same day (Tuesday, January 11, 2011). The letter of resignation was turned into the SPHOA office and is not included as an attachment to these minutes.

Board Members Present: Steve Ginn (President), Patrick Kimes (Vice-President), Matthew Byerly (Treasurer) and John Byrd (Secretary).

Board Members Absent: N/A

Homeowners Present:
Byerly, Matthew
Byrd, John
Cooper, Robert
Ginn, Nancy
Ginn, Steve
Hajjali, Glena
Kimes, Patrick
Lively, Casey

November Minutes: Due to the fact that no board meeting was held during the month of December, a review of the November minutes was conducted by the board members and homeowners. Patrick Kimes made a motion to accept the November minutes. The motion was seconded by John Byrd. Motion carried.

Financial Report: Matthew Byerly led a review of the monthly financials. He informed the board that a total of $30,500 will be carried-over from the previous year’s budget, and that invoices, pertaining to annual dues, were recently mailed-out to homeowners. In addition, he informed the board members that the SPHOA’s accounts receivables will continue to remain high, due to the non-payment of annual dues by a few homeowners. Furthermore, Matthew indicated that a total of 15 homes were at least one year behind in the payment of their annual dues. Therefore, in an effort to standardize all procedures relating to the collection of annual dues, as well as outline and disclose important dates and deadlines, Matthew drafted a proposed “SPHOA Timeline for Payment of Fees.” In addition, Matthew informed the board that this year’s operating expenses totaled $83,000.00. He also indicated that previous budgets included a listing of assets and a depreciation schedules, but that these figures had not been included in the budgets since 2008, resulting in the underestimation of annual expenses and overestimation of annual income.

A listing of SPHOA improvements, and respective costs/expenses, was created by Steve Ginn. After reviewing the list of improvement projects, and their respective, proposed expenses, all board members agreed to the needed improvements, as long as the improvement costs remain the same, or stay within a 10% increase of the proposed amount. A motion to accept the financial report, along with the inclusion of all improvements, was made by Patrick Kimes and seconded by John Byrd. The motion carried (with a vote of 4-0).

Committee Report:

Code Enforcement: Neighborhood complaints, stemming from the rental home located on Richland Court have been resolved. The rental home is presently vacant and the home is listed for sale by Century 21 Realty. In addition, a code violation was issued to one homeowner on Windfree, for openly storing firewood and baby furniture. Another code violation was issued to a homeowner, residing on the corner of Stoney Creek and Southern Plantation, for storing a kayak by the side of the residence. Finally, two code violations, pertaining to fencing repairs, were issued to homeowners located on Decatur.

Welcoming Committee: John Byrd informed the board that a final draft of the, “Thank You” letter, in addition to a mailing list containing the names of individuals and business who donated to the National Night Out event, was submitted by the Welcoming Committee to Jessica, in the SPHOA office. In addition, John informed the board that the Welcoming Committee has not formally met since the National Night Out event; however, he has recently had some discussions, with other committee members, about ways to reorganize and restructure the committee’s scope and current leadership.

Annual Garage Sale and Plant Sale: The annual garage sale is scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 19, 2011. The board discussed some of the tasks (newspaper advertisement, neighborhood signage, and the organizational duties associated with participating homeowners) involved with this event. Furthermore, the board discussed sponsoring a second annual plant sale this year. Matthew Byerly suggested that, if the board does sponsor the event, that they consider scheduling both events for the same day. He indicated that both events would attract a number of residents and community members, resulting in increased attendance. Both events will be highlighted in the upcoming SPHOA Newsletter. Individuals, who are interested in volunteering for either event, are encouraged to contact the SPHOA office.

Planning Committee: Matthew Byerly informed the board that he is awaiting the finalized 2010 financial information, before contacting members of the Planning Committee about their next meeting.

Old Business:

Credit Card: Matthew Byerly informed the board members that paperwork, pertaining to the issuance of specific credit cards to legally signing board members, was misplaced by Brazos Valley Bank. Due to the upcoming SPHOA elections, Matthew advised the bank to wait until the election results were finalized before creating and issuing credit cards to board members.

New Business:

Fall Newsletter: The board members discussed the February SPHOA newsletter, which will contain information concerning the upcoming SPHOA elections, and include nomination forms and voting ballots. The newsletter will also contain information about the upcoming annual garage sale and plant sale. Currently, copies of the newsletter are made in the SPHOA offices; Matthew Byerly suggested that the SPHOA consider contacting a local copy company to print future issues of the newsletter. The specific details contained in the upcoming newsletter will be approved during the February board meeting.

SPHOA Office Updates: Jessica Guidry provided a number of office updates to the board members. She informed the board that she is concentrating her efforts on cleaning-up vendor files, creating a Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) manual, and updating the aging files; however, she wanted the board’s opinion about which task to complete first. Board members agreed that she should complete the task of updating the aging files first. Jessica indicated that Steve Ginn recently purchased and delivered a number of office supplies, however she indicated a need for additional ink for the HP printer, and suggested that the board purchase an external hard drive to back-up all current SPHOA data.

Jessica also informed the board of a recent request, made by homeowner Jamie Castillo, about the local Girl Scout troops setting-up a temporary table for cookie sales, in front of the SPHOA office/clubhouse. The board members approved the request. Jessica informed those present of a request for board members to sign a sympathy card for the Flowers’ family. All board members agreed to sign the card. A discussion took place, regarding the placement of vending machines in the pool area. Also, Jessica reminded the board that she would be completing a, “Big-Event” work-order application for volunteers to help complete a number of improvements related to the SPHOA office and clubhouse. Steve Ginn informed the board that he recently purchased a replacement tether-ball to replace the one that was stolen.

Web Site Registration and Hosting: The current SPHOA web site is maintained by homeowner Robert Cooper; however, the web site is registered and hosted through GKG. In an effort to consolidate services, and reduce the annual web site expenses, Robert Cooper proposed that he register and host the website for an annual fee of $75.00. In addition, Robert agreed to continue to provide the SPHOA with monthly web site maintenance and updates free-of-charge. Furthermore, Robert informed the board that he purchased the sphoa.net domain name, and is willing to turn the domain name over to the SPHOA at no charge. Patrick Kimes made a motion to accept Robert’s proposal. The motion was seconded by Steve Ginn. The motion carried.

Homeowner Concerns:

Homeowner Robert Cooper suggested that the board begin to set-aside funds for the long-term replacement of the SPHOA office and clubhouse. Board members informed him that they would forward the request to the Planning Committee for further discussion and approval.

A motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:37 P.M. was made by John Byrd. The motion was seconded by Patrick Kimes. The motion carried.