1/7/2021

Meeting Minutes

Ben Whipple called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m.

In attendance:  Ben Whipple, Benny Nixon, Matt Huff, Jimmy Newland, Jeff Miller, and Phillip Blume.

Approval of minutes: Benny motioned, Phillip seconded, minutes were unanimously approved.

Discussion on Action Items

• Continued Discussion on Suggestions on Spending Budget Surplus
  • Fund Trash/Recycling for Everyone
    • Phillip had solicited bids from 4 different companies and got responses from Curbside, Waste Pro, and AAA. Based on cost, this would quickly eat up the surplus over time.  However, the potential savings were so substantial it could be worth building into the dues even if it meant a slight increase.  The board worried about the difficulty of gaining full compliance due to some homeowners not wanting to switch their service.  After much discussion, it was decided that the easier path forward may be to negotiate some (even if not maximum) savings if a certain percentage of the community agreed to go with a specific carrier – but leaving it voluntary.
  • Sprucing up/standardizing mailboxes
    • Benny got a quote from a high school youth that paints mailboxes. It was $40 per mailbox, not including new numbering – perhaps $50 or so in total.  Given that some homeowners prefer attachments on top with the street number and some prefer it on the box in stick-on numbers, the board was reluctant to create policy mandating it one way – so this idea is being tabled for now.
  • Facelift for the front entrance
    • General discussion on how to improve the visual appeal of the front entrance. One neighbor suggestion had been to refresh the signs – they are dated, type is faded and Morningside is two words rather than one word.  More research is needed on what the exact improvement would be and the associated cost.  Matt suggested incorporating planting seasonal, blooming flowers in a bed at the front entrance.  That will be looked at when reviewing the common property landscape quote.

• Dumpster for Spring Cleaning
  • Phillip said that the trash services would bring one for free if we went 100% with them. If not, Matt indicated that the cost for a weekend rental is very reasonable.
• Funding Fireworks for July 4^th and New Year’s Eve
  • After much discussion, the consensus on the board was that we should stay away from this for liability reasons

• New Committees
  • Decorating
    • April Ward, Vanessa Gravely, Lindsey Thomas, Wendy Newland
  • Social
    • Abbie Miller, Danah Bufford, April Pilcher, Cherry King

• Budget Discussions
  • The board talked at length about the 2021 HOA budget. No final decisions were made as budget approval would be slated for the next meeting.
  • The generally accepted concepts were the following:
    • Allocations need to be included for the social committee (which includes the community care component) and the decorating committee
    • Until additional landscaping and detention pond maintenance costs are known, they can be paid out of the budget reserve
    • In general, items that are not high dollar and do not recur annually can just be paid for out of the reserve – no need to budget every single non-recurring expenditure
    • There needs to be a line item for tax/legal

The next meeting will be January 28^th at 7 p.m.  The focus will be approving the budget and planning the door-to-door campaign to announce there will be no 2021 dues, disseminate the budget, and collect email addresses.

Benny motioned, Matt seconded, and unanimous approval to adjourn the meeting at 8:50 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Jimmy Newland