The Board sent out the Annual Association News Letter, along with the Association Dues form and questionnaire, the first week of July. Numerous decisions were to be made for the Annual Association and Board Meeting based on the response to the questionnaire.
The Results
Some lot owners did not fill out the form and some did not return the form with their payment. Along with that, 43 lots have not paid the Association Due and of course that means no questionnaire responses. At this time we are unlikely to receive any significant return of forms that would change the results we already have.
As of August 21st
44 accounts were paid
36 forms were returned
22 responded (equals a 25% response out of 87 lot owners)
Statistically we have something to work with. If half or more
supported an item it is likely over half the Association will also
support that item.
Rules or modifications you would like to discuss further
1. Board can cut the grass on any property that is in violation of county code 13 approved
2. Board can trim the grass on any property that is violation of county code 12 approved
3. Board can clean up the fall season debris on any property after December 1st 11 approved
4. Board can pressure wash any structure showing mold and mildew
13 approved
5. Covenants can be amended by a 50% plus one majority.
9 approved
6. An announcement sign posted at the front entrance for 2 weeks to visit the community website is considered legal notice of association business 9 approved
7. Increase the Violation Incident Fine 12 approved
8. Driveways cannot be widened nor can an additional driveway be installed. 14 approved
Who should be responsible for reporting violations
1. Each individual lot owner should be responsible for reporting violations 16 approved
2. The Board and ACC should be responsible for reporting violations 10 approved
3. An outside neutral party should report violations to the full extent of the law and covenants 7 approved
Reservations for the Annual Association and Annual Board Meeting
22 lot owners would like to attend for a total of 33 people
Going Forward
That leaves us with:
1. Board can cut the grass on any property that is in violation of county code
2. Board can trim the grass on any property that is violation of county code
4. Board can pressure wash any structure showing mold and mildew
7. Increase the Violation Incident Fine
8. Driveways cannot be widened nor can an additional driveway be installed.
The problem is such amendments will require the approval of 66 or more lot owners to pass. The Board set the bar for attendance at 50 or more lot owners to discuss these amendments further and possible changes to them. Such a response from the members would have inspired us to take on this additional burden. The next step would have been creating a committee, having the suggested changes or additions legally codified, and approved once more by that committee. With that approval, the final step would have been the process of collecting votes on the amended covenants. Due to the poor response to the questionnaire and that only 22 lot owners will try to attend the Annual Association Meeting, the Board will not pursue these amendments any further at this time.
While it seems the members of this Association may not care, our observation during April and May going door to door for amending covenants points to members being very busy and this Association is a very low priority in their lives. When directly confronted, nearly all members were more than agreeable and approved the amended covenants. Using that reference point, I do think these amendments could pass but that will require a concerted effort of visiting with homeowners to discuss, educate and get feedback on what is likely to pass and what will not. The Board remains open to forming a committee to do that provided there are enough homeowners inspired to volunteer. The best time and place to show the Board and fellow members that this is possible will be at the upcoming Annual Association and Board Meeting. The date will be announced soon on this website and an invitation mailed 30 days or more in advance to all lot owners. If you want change, then please discuss these items with your neighbors and see if you can rally more members to attend the meeting!
Who is Responsible for Reporting Violations for Enforcement?
The Board was pleased that this burning question received the greatest response. Most lot owners circled one but some chose 2 and some chose all three in their response. 16 lot owners (potentially 72% of all lot owners) agreed that:
Each individual lot owner should be responsible for reporting violations.
The other two choices were under 50%. With that result, this Board has determined it will stick to the plan of lot owners being responsible for reporting violations.
Thank you for your time,
Richard F Fisher
President
Presidents Message, May 26, 2010
On May 24, 2010, the Board recorded the last vote for the proposal to amend covenants recording 72 votes in total.
Final Tally
70 YES
2 NO
The amended covenants have passed and will be recorded in The Minutes of the Corporation and the Clerk Superior Court of Gwinnett County. A complete version will be posted to the community website for your records over the next 30-60 days.
On one hand this was a public relations victory for the Board and the community. Due to the perceived lack of action by the past Board over the last 1-2 years, many homeowners were unsure of the standing of the Association or the Board. Three weeks after sending out the voter cards only 32 were returned (a total of 36 cards were received by May 24th). The Board had no choice but to walk the neighborhood and manually collect the rest of the votes. While this was time consuming, many of the homeowners needed clarity from a Board Director and this personal attention to make their decision. For others it was a clear sign that the Board cared and this Board was active. For the Board it was an opportunity to hear the everyday concerns of homeowners about the community.
On the other hand, passing these covenants is no real victory for the community since nothing was changed beyond legally updating them. The rules and regulations of these covenants served one primary purpose in 1987; to protect the builder from the individual actions of homeowners that could negatively impact curb appeal and market value over the short span of 5 years. The covenants were designed under the premise that lot owners were buying a new home in a new subdivision and would voluntarily practice pride of ownership. The builder's covenants did not address the natural problems that would come as the landscaping and structures of each lot age and decay requiring maintenance, repair and replacement along with the financial burden that carries. The builder's covenants did not address the change in culture that would come as new homes were eventually sold as used homes attracting a different type of lot owner along with investors seeking a good buy on potential rental property. The builder’s covenants did not address lot owner apathy and lack of participation in their Homeowners Association making any proposal for beneficial change extremely difficult if not impossible to pass with only 87 potential votes.
As a whole, the curb appeal of our community has slowly degraded over the past 15 years. Yet this is the sole purpose of your Association; to keep property values and curb appeal high! The rules and regulations of our covenants do not have any language dealing with the issues of an aging and mature community. Today, a well maintained lot has another worn out and/or poorly maintained lot nearby, acting as an eyesore to potentially reduce value or discourage interested buyers.
The real challenge that stands before this 23 year old community is finding the will power to introduce and pass some additional rules and regulations that will enhance the curb appeal and market value of each lot with the least amount of financial burden!
This is a prime time for the community to seriously consider changing the covenants! About four years ago all of us received an education on what modern covenants look like. While many of us thought they granted far too much power to the Board, almost half of the community voted yes, making a clear statement that they seek change. At this time we now have an attorney willing to write custom covenants which is what made the amended covenants we just voted on possible. We have a new Board of Directors with new energy to deal with this topic. Due to circumstances this Board has received an in depth education on our covenants and what needs to be addressed to allow beneficial change. Looking at the big picture, we are in a great position to discuss how we can enhance the curb appeal and market value of this community.
This will be the main topic for the annual Association Meeting. Details will be included in the Association Due mailing for June.
Looking forward to your participation,
Richard Fisher
President
Presidents Message, March 25, 2010
Hello Neighbor!
The following is the first chance I have had to make a formal statement to the Association. Please bear with me as I cover the Board meeting in January.
On January 13, 2010, there was a meeting of the Collins Village Homeowners Association (CVHA) at Collins Hill Highschool. All homeowners were mailed a notification of this meeting in early December. Only 20 homeowners showed up to participate (with other family members in attendance).
Mark Pago, current president, and Rich Lindee, current ACC (Architectural Control Committee) member and current Secretary, gave us the option to either elect a new Board and ACC or they would legally dissolve the CVHA and the covenants. There was plenty of discussion concerning the perception of past performance of the current board and ACC along with the Board’s perception of the lack of participation by the community. Based on my recollection of 18 years here, I suspect both sides had a valid point depending on the topic being discussed.
The new covenants as proposed by the Board over a year ago were discussed. The Board felt during their administration that the original covenants lacked clear definitions of community behavior and property maintenance responsibilities along with lacking any teeth to enforce the standards that do exist. While the new covenants did address these concerns, all the sections granted additional powers to the Board allowing it to change the definitions and responsibilities at will. The Board reaffirmed this was not a power grab and the new covenants are nothing more than current boiler plate language provided by lawyers and commonly used by homeowner associations.
Mark Pago stated that the burden upon the Board could be eliminated by hiring a management company but the dues would easily double to $250 per year. Many of us considered this proposal. Taking such action still requires a CVHA Board making decisions, acting as liaison between the community and the management company. Mark also pointed out that he was left to tend with this burden alone and splitting it up amongst a full Board would ease the load. Either way, the Board made it clear that they were resigning their position or dissolving the CVHA.
According to the Board and other homeowners at the meeting, Board members of the past and present have been harassed by members of the community to take action upon another member of the community. This harassment comes in the form of repetitive phone calls (some late at night or even 3AM), verbal discussion and emails, based upon an expectation by the homeowner that the Board is entirely responsible for policing the behavior of a neighbor or the maintenance of a neighbors property and they expect action to be taken as soon as possible on their behalf. Clearly, it is uninspiring to volunteer when potentially putting ones privacy and daily well being at risk.
After this lengthy discussion, Rich Lindee reinforced the purpose of the meeting and requested the 20 homeowners make a motion to dissolve the CVHA or one or more of us step forward and begin the process of creating a new Board and ACC. Needless to say the prior discussions were not inspiring to take that step; on the other hand, preventing the loss of the Association was. I volunteered to be the temporary President for 15 minutes and asked for nine of my fellow neighbors to please step forward. I asked if any of the four other Board volunteers would put their name forward for President and it became clear that none were interested so I accepted the position. My thanks to all who stepped forward to participate. I would like to especially recognize Lee Ann Sipe for having the courage to volunteer twice for the Board considering her privacy and well being was negatively impacted as President in the past (she declined the position of President due to that).
The Board volunteers were:
Richard Fisher, President
Lee Ann Sipes, Vice President
Brenda Neal, Treasurer
Marsha Goodwin, Secretary
Chad Seefeldt, Board Director
The ACC volunteers were:
Beate Fisher, ACC Communicator
Mel Hughs
Rhonda Schulte Rosser
Joe Bienias
Dave Morehead
As President I thought my first step is to find out what my job is so I read our covenants in their entirety. I discovered that we can only have three Board members. After more discussion and reflection, the two additional Board Directors were notified of the situation and I requested they stand by as volunteers to assist the Board. Lee Ann Sipe accepted her nomination as Secretary and Vice President.
On January 19th, the new Board met with Mark Pago to discuss his administration and turn over the Board and treasury records.
On February 8th the Declaration of New Directors and Officers was signed.
Richard Fisher, President
Brenda Neal, Treasurer
Lee Ann Sipe, Secretary and Vice President
On February 16th the new ACC Members along with the CVHA President and Secretary met with Rich Lindee to discuss the ACC and turn over the ACC records.
On March 25th the website was updated to reflect the new Board and ACC Members. The website was altered and modified along with a new page, Rules & Regs, to provide clarity to each homeowner in this community. My thanks to Mark Pago, who knowing absolutely nothing about web sites, managed to put one up doing a decent job on top of it!
With that, I am pleased to tell you this community does have an active Board and ACC to support the rules and regulations of the Association. I will be posting another update in the next 30-60 days.
