Audubon Trace POA

Association Issues

Oct 17, 2006

September 30, 2006

Dear Homeowner,

We are writing to address several matters, which are as follows: 1) The Kerry Hidalgo letter that was handed out to some non-lake lot owners, 2) Lake Lot owner dissatisfaction over lakes, 3) The Budget and Dues, and 4) Other Issues.

1) Kerry Hidalgo Letter:
Mr. Hidalgo handed a letter to several non-lake lot owners in an effort to break away from the Subdivision Association. His issues are that the Association is out of control with restrictions and increased fines/dues, that non-lake lot owners shouldn?’t have to pay for lake improvements, and that there should be 2-associations (one for lake lot owners and one for non-lake lot owners).
In response to Mr. Hidalgo?’s letter:
?• The Board understands Mr. Hidalgo?’s concerns and frustrations; however we would like to clarify the issues he raises in his letter.
?• No homeowner or group of homeowners may break away or secede from the Association. Membership in the Association is automatic and binding.
?• Every restriction violation letter stemmed from a homeowner complaint or from notes of the previous board. For some of the violations, we received numerous written and verbal complaints from concerned homeowners. We heard very clearly that a majority of the homeowners in the neighborhood wanted the Board to address restriction violations. The Board mailed out 30 violation letters in August to address these violations and the Board has reviewed and approved remedial actions or in some cases a waiver for several of the violations. The Board reviews each violation on a case by case basis and takes action as appropriate. Approximately half of the violations have been addressed. By enforcing restrictions, the Board is performing one of its primary and most important duties.
?• The dues were increased to $100 by the previous Board and everyone was notified at the Annual meeting held in April of this year. According to the restrictions, the Board has the authority to set the dues at any amount up to $100. Prior to that meeting, each homeowner was provided with a copy of the proposed budget. That preliminary budget showed the collecting of $100 per home and included all expenses that were expected to occur from April 2006 to March 2007. However, since the current Board postponed sending out dues letters until August, a new budget has been prepared. This new budget reflects expenses from Aug 2006 to Sep 30, 2007. Items included in this latest budget are subdivision insurance (covers lakes, cul-de-sacs, and boulevard); electricity (for existing street lights and existing fountain); water; grass maintenance; general maintenance of cul-de-sacs, lakes, and boulevard; administrative supplies (stamps, envelopes, ink, paper, etc); P.O. Box; Attorney Fees; Filing/Court Costs; Reserve for capital needs (per bylaws); and Secretary of State fees. The estimated cost to run the subdivision for one year is $8767. The annual income for the subdivision is $8800 if everyone pays $100. This does not include the needs expressed by homeowners, which include an additional aerator for the lakes, flowers for cul-de-sacs, speed bumps within the subdivision, or lights for the front sign. As shown by the numbers, $100 per homeowner is needed to operate the subdivision.
?• Why should non-lake lot owners have to pay for lake improvements? The ?“Lakes?” are actually Drainage Retention Ponds, which were designed and constructed as a drainage facility for the entire subdivision. As such, the proper drainage of each and every home in the subdivision relies on the ?“Lakes?” functioning properly. Also, the Association, through the Board of Directors is required by the restrictions, to maintain the lakes in Audubon Trace. Because of this obligation to maintain the Lakes, the Board is investigating the installation of an aerator (not a fountain). The purpose of the aerator would be to agitate the water to introduce oxygen in an effort to reduce the amount of weeds, maintain the survival of the fish, and to prevent the water from becoming stagnant and a mosquito breeding ground. Please be aware that every homeowner in Audubon Trace has the authority to access the lakes via the 10 foot servitude around each lake. It may not be as apparent as it is for the lake lot owners, but we all benefit from the Drainage Retention Ponds.
?• 2-associations: This concept was suggested to the Board last year by a non-lake lot owner who happens to be on the Board this year. The issue was investigated and found not to be feasible. The association attorney also advised that this would not be an option. The Restrictions state in several sections that the Lakes are the responsibility of the entire Association (the association is comprised of every homeowner). The restrictions also state that the assessments for the association must be divided equally among every lot, which means we can?’t assess lake lot owners more than a non lake lot owner. The same goes for each cul-de-sac and boulevard. The entire association is responsible for these common areas as well, even if a homeowner does not live next to a cul-de-sac or the boulevard, their dues will go towards the maintenance of these common areas. Since the lakes are drainage features for everyone, it is in the non-lake lot owners?’ best interest to hold on to the responsibility for them to protect the drainage aspects of the lakes. Lake lot owners are very eager to raise the level of the lakes, however, in doing so; some non-lake lot homes have the potential to be flooded. As a side note, the previous Board set up a Lake-lot owners committee. This committee was formed to pursue ways to improve the lake aesthetically (without using board money). This is the only committee that has any volunteers willing to participate in enhancing the subdivision. There are no volunteers for the Beautification Committee and only one person sits on the Architectural Review Committee. The Board strongly urges homeowners to volunteer for a committee. There are always things that need to be done.

2) Lake Lot Owner Dissatisfaction with Lakes:
As mentioned above, the Lakes are designed and constructed to be Drainage Retention Ponds. Therefore, there are very few options in regards to raising the level of the lakes. The Board has consulted with a Drainage/Pond Consultant as well as with the Parish Engineer. The problem started when the ponds were designed and continued into construction and now operation. There is a delicate balance between a level that is too high, which would cause flooding of some homes and a level that is too low, which is not aesthetically pleasing. A few years ago the Parish lowered the level of the Lake to alleviate some severe drainage problems within the subdivision (these drainage problems affected both non-lake lots and lake lots). In doing so, the level of the Lake has been very low for the last few years and is unappealing. The cost to fully correct the problem is astronomical, since the Lakes are tied to the drainage of the entire subdivision. We were advised that the grades of all ditches in the subdivision would have to be adjusted to correct the problem. Also, the Association is only responsible for the maintenance of the Lakes, which does not include re-constructing the Lakes. This action would be beyond the scope and budget of the association.

The Board does recognize the need for additional aerators to circulate the water. Unfortunately, the cost has risen significantly since last year. The cost would be almost $3000 (includes aerator, installation, warranty, electrical pole, electrical hook-up, and electricity for one year). Originally the electrical portion of the aerators was going to be $250, but now DEMCO is quoting us almost $1000 to run the wires per aerator (not including cost of pole, meter pan, and electrician of almost $500). We are currently exploring cheaper alternatives and will update everyone if we find another option. The budget does have a reserve for capital improvements which must be included according to the bylaws, therefore each year there should be at least $750 left over which could be carried over until there are sufficient funds to purchase the aerator. This $750 will be available for carryover only if it is not needed to cover shortfalls in the budget due to unforeseen expenses or if dues are not collected by every homeowner (at this time 25 homeowners have not paid their dues).

If any Lake-lot owners are interested in the Lake-lot owners committee, please contact a Board Member. As a reminder, Lake Lot owners are responsible for the maintenance of the portion of the lake and the frontage adjacent to your lot. This includes pulling weeds out of the lake and controlling erosion. It has been observed that several lake lot owners are not fulfilling their obligation. Please be aware that after the Lake Clean up day, the Board will enforce this section of the restrictions. If Lake-lot owners are truly concerned about the condition of the lakes, the Board expects to have a heavy turnout on November 4, 2006 from 8am to 11am. Non-Lake Lot owners are also encouraged to participate. Let?’s break the wall between non-lake lot and lake lot owners.

3) Budget and Dues: (Budget from Aug 06 to Sept. 30, 2007 is enclosed)
The budget is based on collecting $100 from every home. However, we did not even collect from every home when the dues were $50. Therefore, this Board as well as the previous Board has an amount set aside for filing and court costs. This money is set aside so that the Board can place liens on homes for failure to pay dues or violation assessments. According to our attorney, this is a necessary part of any homeowner?’s association. The Board does not want to place any liens on any homes, so please pay your dues and fines in a timely manner. Please note that fines are very rare and have not been levied to date. According to the Bylaws, the Board must charge a late fee for dues and violation assessments if payment is not received within 10 days after the due date. Therefore, if you have not paid your dues by September 15, 2006, the Board has no choice but to charge a late fee of $15. As of September 30, 2006, 25 homeowners have not paid their dues and will be charged a late fee of $15. Although approximately 5 of these homes are in transition and we may have to collect a prorated amount once the new owners are identified.

4) Other Issues:
?• Any complaints about the Board or Association must be sent to the ATPOA post office box or email account (atpoa_board@yahoo.com). Please call or write to a Board Member directly.
?• The current Board members spend countless hours each week operating the Association and dealing with issues. Each Board member has the entire subdivision?’s best interest in mind. The Board is comprised of both lake lot owners and non-lake lot owners. We are aware that we can?’t make everyone happy, however, we have a job to do and we are doing the best we can. Our job is to enforce restrictions and to maintain the common areas of the subdivision. To date the Board has done the following: met with the parish and a consultant to discuss drainage issues around the subdivision, met with the parish and a consultant to discuss the Lakes/Drainage Pond, wrote violation letters to 30 homeowners (some serious violations, but most were very minor), reviewed and approved or responded to remedial action plans, reviewed and approved or responded to numerous homeowner improvement plan requests, responded to numerous email and written complaints and concerns, set up a mowing contract for the cul-de-sacs and boulevard, met with the parish regarding the re-paving of the roads in the neighborhood, organized two lake clean up days (no shows for the 1st one, second one coming up in Nov), developed and passed out newsletters regularly, hold board meetings twice per month, passed out reminders for dues, adopted a set of bylaws, currently investigating costs of adding speed bumps, etc.
?• We are in need of volunteers for the Beautification Committee. Please email the board if you would like to volunteer. No improvements can be made to any common areas without volunteers to do them.
?• Violation letter responses were due by September 30, 2006. If you addressed your violation, please email the Board so we can mark you off the list. If you have not addressed your violation, please submit an action plan within 10 days of receipt of this letter.
?• Any improvement to your lot must be approved by the Board. If improvements are made and are against restrictions, then the Board can require you to remove that improvement. This is why we keep reminding everyone of this requirement. The Board does not want to make anyone modify or remove their improvements. However, if the violation warrants that action, that is what the Board must do. The Board has reviewed and approved several improvement requests and the process was quick and painless.
?• The Board is aware that many non-lake lot owners feel that the Board was formed only to address Lake issues. As evidenced by the budget, which currently shows that most of the budget is for non-Lake needs. There are 32 Lake Lots, which is approximately 36% of the lots; however the total portion of the budget going towards Insurance for all common areas and electricity for the Lakes is less than 20%. Note that the Insurance is for all common areas, not only the Lakes. This insurance is required according to our bylaws and is common for most neighborhood associations who have common areas.
?• We also are aware that most neighborhood meetings have revolved around Lake issues. For any future meetings, the Board will request topics of discussion from every homeowner prior to any meeting and we will include everyone?’s topics in the meeting?’s agenda. Please be aware that the Boards internal Board meetings do not revolve around lake issues. The lake issues are only one issue of many that faces the Association.
?• We would also like to make everyone aware that there have been some thefts in the subdivision in recent weeks. We know of at least one truck that was broken into and some CDs and a CD player was stolen. We also know of an incident where a homeowners front porch decorations were stolen in broad daylight. Everyone, please keep an eye out for suspicious activity. Even though we have several cops in our neighborhood, we are still susceptible to crime.

We hope that this letter clarifies any misconceptions or any questions you may have regarding the Board and the Association. If you have any questions or concerns, please email the Board or write to the PO Box.

Sincerely,

Board of Directors,
Audubon Trace Property Owners Association