Harpeth Trace Services Association

Meeting Minutes 01-30-07

Jan 31, 2007

The Board Meeting at LePeep restaurant was called to order at 7:15 a.m. by President Steve Roche who introduced the new Board members: David Arens, Bob Brooks, and Suzanna Spring. Other members present were: Mary Ann Dorris, Stephen Helmey, Sanford Payton, and Linda Shoun. Joanne Katcher, president of Treetops, attended the meeting and Rick Eatherly represented Ghertner & Co.

The first order of business was the election of officers and director assignments. Steve Roche was reelected president by acclamation. Stephen Helmey was elected vice-president, and Sanford Payton was reelected secretary-treasurer, both by acclamation. Director assignments are as follows:

Accounting ?– Suzanna Spring
Budget ?– Ken Darby
Drainage ?– Bob Brooks
Irrigation ?– Mary Ann Dorris
Landscape ?– Sanford Payton
Lighting and Signage ?– Stephen Helmey
Streets and Curbs ?– Linda Shoun
Legal Matters ?– David Arens

In addition to his Drainage duties, Bob Brooks volunteered to organize our two semi-annual cleanup days.

Bob Brooks made a motion that we divide our General Reserve Account into two separate ac-counts and indicate how much of our reserves are being set aside for paving, and how much for general reserves. The motion passed. As of De-cember 31, 2006, we had $61,000 in our paving account, and $51,721 in our general account. During 2007, $8,500 will be added to our paving account and $1,000 to our general account each month.

David Arens made a motion that the secretary investigate interest rates available for our reserve funds. The information should be reported to the Board via e-mail within a week so we might improve the interest income from our savings. The motion carried.

Stephen Helmey reported that he had instructed Anchor Electric to send all invoices for the work being done on our street lights to Ralph Parsons, our electrical consultant, who will verify that the work has been completed properly before sending the invoice to Stephen. Stephen will check the invoice before sending it to Ghertner for payment. He also recommended that an astronomical time switch be installed to control the lights in the circuit at the top of the hill. This type of time switch is specified for the new circuit at the bottom of the hill. It is designed to control lighting based on sunrise and sunset hours. The current controller must be reset frequently to keep it in synchronization with the sun. Stephen will have the contractor submit a price to acquire and install the equipment and upon Board approval, he will proceed.

Sanford Payton reported that landscape invoices should be submitted to him for approval before Ghertner pays them. It appears that an extra in-voice may have been paid in December because Ghertner does not determine whether or not the work has been done before paying invoices. This change was approved by the Board.

The recurring issue of Ghertner?’s repeated failure to send minutes and other mailings to Knolls and Treetops was vigorously discussed.
All homeowners in Harpeth Trace subdivision are full and equal members of Harpeth Trace Services Association as stated in our charter. The homeowners in Knolls and Treetops pay the same maintenance fees to HTSA as everyone else and contribute equally to Ghertner?’s fees. Therefore, they should receive the same services from Ghertner as all other HTSA members.
Ghertner maintains that since they do not manage the Knolls and Treetops associations, they are not responsible for maintaining a data-base of current owners there. Ghertner requires the managers of these two associations to provide labels for all their residents prior to each mailing. If Ghertner does not treat all members of HTSA equally, they are in violation of their contract.

Steve Roche directed Rick Eatherly to discuss this matter with Ghertner management and to develop a plan that allows Ghertner to maintain a current database of all HTSA members so all members get every mailing without fail. Roche also asked Joanne Katcher and Mary Ann Dorris, representatives of Knolls and Treetops, to discuss the situation with their management companies and develop a plan that allows Ghertner to be notified when any property within their associations changes hands.

A discussion was held relative to HTSA?’s li-ability when homeowners participate in clean-up days or other volunteer activities on common property. On March 7, 2006, Steve Kravitz, our Ghertner representative at that time, explained that our association is exposed to significant liability because we do not carry Workers?’ Compensation insurance. He explained that while we require all contractors we hire to have and maintain Workers?’ Compensation insurance, we do not recheck monthly to make sure their policy is still in effect. If this insurance is allowed to lapse, and a worker is hurt, we could be sued. In addition, we have neighborhood volunteers doing cleanup projects and similar tasks. We could be sued if any of these people are hurt. In these situations our liability insurance carrier could refuse to pay, claiming the accident should be covered by Workers?’ Compensation. As a result, the president directed Ghertner to get a firm bid on Workers?’ Compensation insurance and report to the Board. At this morning?’s meeting Steve Roche directed Rick Eatherly to supply that bid to the Board.

Sanford Payton expressed disappointment with the mailings that Ghertner sent to the membership relating to this year?’s Annual Membership Meeting. He pointed out that the mailings con-tained; (1) year-old minutes, (2) incorrect ballots with no mention of voting rules, (3) incorrect agenda and, (4) legalese that required two pages to cover the proxy.
A motion was made and passed that nothing should be mailed by Ghertner until a majority of the Board had approved of the wording, and that all correspondence relative to these mailings should be between our Ghertner representative and HTSA?’s secretary.

The graffiti painted on the abutments of our entrance bridge was discussed. A report has been made to police and arrangements have been made to have the graffiti over-painted in a color similar to concrete. However, the work cannot be done until general daytime temperatures are 50 degrees or higher. Linda Shoun will follow up on this project and see that it is completed as soon as possible.

With no further business, the meeting was ad-journed at 8:20 by President Steve Roche.

The Board asks you to remember that overnight parking on the streets of our subdivision is against the rules, and could be disastrous if a fire truck or other emergency vehicle is blocked by your vehicle. Since the rule is against you, your liability could be high.

Pick up after your dogs, especially when you are on the walking path, and let?’s try to keep those dogs quiet during the night.

Our website is www.harpethtrace.org. We have a lot of information there.

The next regular Board meeting will be at Le Peep restaurant Tuesday, April 24, 2007 at 7:00 a.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Sanford Payton
Secretary