Minutes of the Deer Creek Homeowners Association of Livonia Board of Directors

Held at Dave Wood’s house January 12, 2011

Approved 2-16-2011

 

Present:  Denny Behrendsen, Bob Moore, Dave Wood, Sylvia Leski, Bob Ellis, Connie Vokal, Walt Gerstner, and Diane Tsaprazis (8).

Minutes:  The minutes of 11-10-10 were read by Diane and approved with 3 changes.

Treasurer’s Report:  Dave presented two reports:

1.     2010 Year End Income Statement:  Income consisted of 159 homeowners paying dues of $11,900 plus $300 in donations, resulting in $200 more than budgeted.  Operating expenses totaled $9,705.61, which was $734.39 less than budgeted despite having to pay $500 to have our water meters inspected for backflow which was unknown when the budget was set.  Savings primarily came from spending $701 less than expected on the entrance maintenance.  Project expenses for the year totaled only $523.42 with the Bicentennial Park entrance refurbishment coming in $175.58 less than budgeted.  Our year end checkbook balance was $3,685.52 including $1,000 set aside for future projects. 

2.    Annual Water Usage Statement, covering 2007 through 2010:  This past year, we spent $1,182.89 for actual water as compared to the $1,380 we budgeted.  These figures do not include the $500 we spent for the backflow certification.  The chart provided the following info for each of the 9 islands:  cubic feet of water used, % change from the prior year, water cost, City on/off charges, and total % change.  Water cost $1.89/ ft³ in 2009 and $1.99/ft³ in 2010.  Additionally, the on/off charge increased from $52 per island to $57.25 per island (it was only $20 in 2007).  The lower than expected actual cost was attributed to everyone monitoring the sprinkler usage closely, especially Walt.  We agreed we should look at the Gary Lane island in the spring as they still have the highest usage.  The 2010 water bill has been paid. 

Holiday Decorations:  We thanked Connie for rebuilding the wreaths; they were installed by Connie and Bob Moore.  We purchased 4 nets of lights for the boxwoods and a red nose for one of the deer to create a Rudolph; these items were installed by the guys at the end of November.  Connie offered to store the wreaths.  Bob M. and Connie will take down the wreaths.  The deer will be taken down when the weather thaws.

Telephone Directory:  Denny gave Diane the 5 year agreement he signed with Cathedral Directories in exchange for them writing a computer program to bold the names of the dues paying homeowners. 

Landscaping:  Per Walt, Steve Griffith at Metro Grounds quoted the same price as last year for the weekly maintenance on the 8 interior islands.  Bret’s Landscaping quoted a higher price for the weekly maintenance, but a lower cost for the 8 Mile island cleanup although we are not sure if it included Preen weed control.  We agreed to keep all the maintenance with Metro Grounds.  We are still responsible for planting annuals.  Diane recommended we plant pansies at the 8 Mile island at the beginning of April; Dave will budget $50.

Budget Committee:  Dave, Walt and Bob Ellis will convene a meeting to prepare the budget and 3 year plan.  Sylvia proposed that we add professional fall cleanup to our budget.  Dave recommended that we make that decision in June or July when we know our actual costs and whether we want the dogwoods and/or pines removed.  We discussed possible budget agenda items.

Website:  Denny was able to access our Covenants on the website.  We need cover art.  Dave said Ansaf Alrabady sent him 2 letters stating he is in the process of moving us to a new host, probably Google which is free.  We are required to have a domain name and a web host.  Dave just received a $217 bill for 2011 with our current host; we have 1 month to pay.  Our domain name also expires soon.  Dave recommends Network Solutions for domain name registration.  Denny offered to call Network Solutions to re-register our domain name. 

Annual Letter:  Diane distributed a draft.  Some Board members had trouble accessing the letter attached to an email.  We agreed to hold the meeting during the middle of the second week of April at the Civic Center Library.  We reviewed the letter to be mailed to all homeowners within the next week. 

Next Meeting:  February 9, 2011 at 1 p.m. at Diane’s house.

 

Minutes prepared by Diane Tsaprazis