Bridger
Creek Subdivision Community Association
Annual Membership Meeting
Minutes of Meeting – May 1, 2017
The meeting was called to order at 7:05 P.M. at the Comfort
Inn.
The Board President, Sharyn Anhalt, welcomed members to the
membership meeting, reminding members that this is a membership meeting, not a
board meeting.
Officially
Nominate and Appoint Chairperson (Moderator)
Paul Gianas was nominated as Chairperson
and was approved by the membership. Paul
provided an overview of the meeting procedures.
Karin Jennings was nominated as
recording secretary for this meeting and she was approved by the membership.
Confirm
Attendance and Quorum
Sharyn confirmed that a Quorum was achieved
and present for the meeting.
Guest Presentation: Kyle Mehrens, City
of Bozeman Stormwater Coordinator
Kyle provided an
overview of the City’s stormwater program and his review of the Bridger Creek
Subdivision Community Association’s stormwater resources and structures. The
Stormwater Division is relatively new for the City, ~one year old. The drivers
for the Stormwater Division are flood control, water quality and state/federal
environmental regulations.
Stormwater basins are
engineered systems designed to retain or detain stormwater for flood control
and/or treatment. There are currently 430 systems throughout the City. BCSCA
has 1.6% of these systems (7 stormwater basins and 13 stormwater ditches).
Stormwater basin
maintenance (post construction) has been lacking throughout the City. The City
Commission has established that maintenance of these systems is the
responsibility of homeowner’s association (HOA owned and maintained).
Maintenance is required to ensure the systems are properly functioning and the
City is currently working on educating HOAs of this responsibility.
An
inventory of the BCSCA stormwater systems show a lack of preventative
maintenance (a City-wide problem), overgrown and decayed/ing vegetation, loss
of basin (pond) volume, broken structures/pipes, and excessive foundation drain
inputs. An issue specific to BCSCA is the need to coordinate with the developer
(Golf Course Partners) as the structures on HOA properties are integrated with
structures on the golf course (not part of the HOA). All of our systems drain
into the East Gallatin River.
Maintenance
can be very costly because City-wide it has been deferred due to lack of
knowledge that it needed to be done. For example, Harvest Creek has 12 ponds
and their worst pond cost ~$10k to remove 3 feet of sediment in order to regain
its original capacity. Recommends developing a stormwater basin maintenance
strategy based on risk mitigation (consequence + likelihood = risk). The risk
is potential of localized flooding and infrastructure damage without
maintenance. Think about what assets need maintenance every 1 year, 5 years or
10 years and plan accordingly. Strongly recommends obtaining professional help
from an engineer.
Questions/Discussion:
·
How much maintenance can be done by volunteers?
A: some of the minor work; burning vegetation not advised.
·
Subdivision responsibility? A: Yes. Commission
has ruled that. The City is responsible for maintenance of structures within
the public right of way, such as basins, sewers, etc on city streets.
Commission also established a stormwater credit that is applied to water/sewer
bill for residents of subdivisions (outside City core area) to balance the maintenance
expenses.
·
If the MS4 Program is 15 years old why are we
just now hearing about this? A: The state established the MS4 program governing
all Montana cities >40k population. The City started addressing this
requirement about 6 years ago and just established the Stormwater Division
about a year ago.
·
The City is talking about taking over the
maintenance of all parks. If stormwater systems are within those parks would
their maintenance become the responsibility of the City? A: can’t answer that
as it is still under discussion. Recommends Craig Wollard.
Karin Jennings reported for Dave
Andreassi, Committee Chair. The following were approved over the past year:
- Replaced
front door and built new deck (3109 Augusta Dr)
- Built
flagstone patio (2514 Putter Ct)
- New home
(1007 Boylan Rd)
- New home
(1024 Boylan Rd)
- Repaint
exterior (3105 Augusta Dr)
- Replace
deck railing with steel (1055 Boylan Rd)
Sharyn provided a reminder that any
exterior changes for your home need to go through Design Review (e.g., roofing,
paint/stain color, construction/addition/demolition, significant landscaping).
If you are only replacing like for like (repainting same color, reroofing with
same roof type) review is not needed.
Management Company
Discussion
Sharyn explained that the Board is looking
into hiring a management company for the Association. BCSCA is one of the largest
HOAs in the city that continues to be run by volunteers instead of a management
company. Our Covenants allow Board to hire a manager without requiring a vote
of the membership. Our minimum annual dues are currently $75 per year. Hiring a
management company will likely increase our dues, but the amount of increase
will depend on the company retained and what the Board expects them to handle.
This is still under discussion but the Board wanted to inform the membership of
its rationale for looking into it and seeks feedback.
The
downside to hiring a management company would be the potential increase in
association dues. However there are many positive aspects, including making it
easier for volunteers to step into Board positions. A management company could conduct
the day to day operations, manage subcontractors (obtain bids and oversee
work), manage communications (mailing, web site, emails, central person to
call), handle insurance and state filings for the association, manage records
for consistency (meeting minutes and decisions/history), and board training
(what are your responsibilities?). They are required to carry insurance and be
licensed. The Association would still be governed by a Board of Directors, but
the Board would be able to simply meet and make decisions – the leg-work for most
aspects of the Association could be done by the management company. The
management company would work at the direction of the Board, but could also
advise the Board on best practices.
Questions/Discussion:
·
How much would annual cost be? A: unknown as this
is still under discussion by the Board and it depends on the company and what
they are asked to do.
·
Comment provided that Village Greens (18 units)
hired a management company a few years ago and it was money well spent. Their
association (within the larger BCSCA Association) runs very smoothly now and it
has “made all the difference”.
·
Would a management company build trails in our
subdivision? A: any improvements requires a vote of the membership, but if a
project were presented by the Board and approved by the membership, a
management company would likely hire contractors and oversee such a project.
·
Sharyn reminded that the Board can hire a
manager without a vote of the membership (per our Covenants). The membership
approved a minimum annual assessment of$75 per year in 2002. Unless or until
the minimum assessment is raised, the board would need to gain approval from
the membership for an increased assessment each year to cover maintenance,
including management fees. But, even if the membership votes down an increased
assessment, the board can impose a Special Assessment to cover increased
maintenance costs.
·
Was enough feedback received from those present
at this meeting? A: yes, seems generally favorable with this transition.
Treasurer’s
Report for 2016-2017 Fiscal Year and Presentation of Budget for July 2017
through June 2018, with Member Vote for Approval
The proposed budget was presented to the
membership, and the floor opened for questions.
Questions/Discussion:
·
The Board has typically tried to retain at least
one year of dues reserved for cash flow and unexpected expenses. Repairs and
Maintenance is proposed to be $20k in this years’ budget, primarily for
stormwater system maintenance, or at least initiating such maintenance.
·
For non-paying members, does the Board file
liens? A: yes. We are generally successful with having dues paid via the Title
Companies during sale of a home/unit. There are only a few with dues
outstanding for > 3 years.
·
Does the State of Montana require an amount to
be held in reserve? A: no – many other states do but Montana does not.
Vote on the budget was held by written
ballot.
Nomination
and Election for two Board of Director positions, serving two years to May 2019
The Board is composed of five directors,
one Director is appointed by Golf Course Partners, four are elected by the
membership. Each term is two years and there are currently two openings.
New
Business
Kate McDowell reminded residents of the stop sign at the corner of Boylan
and Birdie.
Dan Semsch raised the issue of parking on both sides of Birdie and that
accessing that street is especially difficult in the winter with snow banks.
Sharyn commented that the Board recently requested no parking signs to be
installed at the entrance of Augusta Drive for emergency vehicle access. It was
mentioned that the City has installed similar signs at the intersection of
Birdie and Bridger Drive.
Karin Jennings, Recording Secretary for
Membership Meeting
Final
vote tallies from written ballots, counted after the close of the meeting:
Present in person or by proxy = 149 (109
needed for a quorum)
Dian
Bottcher 107
Tom
Wilson 94
Tim
Russell 27
Kathleen
Vanuka 26
(One person who voted No wrote a note
that they didn't think we should spend any reserves, and should instead collect
more this year to pay for maintenance.)
