June 10, 2003 Minutes

The June 2003 Skippack Ridge Community Association Board of Directors meeting was held at the "new" Skippack Township Building located at 4089 Heckler Road in Skippack.  Attendee's included Bob Arch, Mike Roynan, Fran Tendall, Bill Turner, Mike Washington and 35 Skippack Ridge Community members. 

Topics addressed included:

• Minutes of May 2003 meeting approved.

• The Skippack Ridge Operating Budget & Financial Report was presented by Mike Washington, Treasurer.  As discussed in several previous Board meetings and in an effort to offset actual annual expenses, the Board of Directors is recommending a proposed increase in each homeowner's annual association dues.  The current annual amount of $240 per household would rise to $350 per household.  This increase would be introduced in the January 2004 billing cycle.

• To reduce expenses in our annual operating budget, Joe Cooney offered to install a timer to shut off the lights at the entrance to our community.  It was suggested that this may be prohibitive due to Skippack Township ordinance on lighting as well as our Skippack Ridge property and liability - should Joe fry himself attempting to install the component.

• Another suggestion to reduce operational costs, introduced by Susan Jablokov and iterated by Fran Tendall, was to contact a few of the local Agricultural Colleges and schools for the purpose of hiring agricultural interns to perform landscaping and beautification projects onsite here at Skippack Ridge.

• Subsequent to the Board meeting, Quan Nguyen sent the Board an e-mail introducing the idea of a community "Beautification Day" where residents can sign up to help mulch/clean/rake/blow/plant the beds by the Gazebo and possibly other common areas that need this kind of care. Similar to our community "CleanUp Day" which was a tremendous success this past spring, this Beautification day would benefit the community while lowering overall costs. 

• The Board of Directors is researching alternative options for investing the Associations cash reserves.  Mike Washington suggested that the initial investment of our cash reserves currently provides a .5% return.  By investing in 2 separate CD's, $7500 into 1 CD for 1 year and an additional $7500 into a 2nd CD for 2 years, he estimates a 2% - 2.5% return.  These are estimates and subject to change.  ING Direct was suggested as a potential investment institution.

• An amendment to the Skippack Ridge Community Association bylaws regarding the permissibility of fence installation was introduced and passed.  

• The final tally on the FENCE INSTALLATION AMENDMENT vote was 36 YES's, 14 NO's, 1 ABSTAIN yielding a 68% YES vote in favor of allowing Fence installation.

• Several folks offered valuable, opposing views on this subject.  It should be noted that David Schnarrs, Esquire dedicated his personal time and effort to present potential ramifications on this issue.  His intent was well received by the Board of Directors.  As David pointed out several times during his case, he is not necessarily in favor - or against - fence installation.  His sole intent is to make the community-at-large aware of legal interpretations of the original bylaw and adverse affects on changing the bylaw. 

• According to one community member, the issue of fence installation was recently discussed w/ John Genovese, VP Fieldstone Associates.  According to Mr. Genovese, Fieldstone warranted the approval of fence installation from the beginning - including the installation of a fence around Fieldstone's Skippack Ridge model home.

• Discussion surrounding the community's legal understanding of the amendment vote surfaced.  At the conclusion of our extended "fence installation" discussion which included debates by multiple attorneys, legal ramifications, and a general overall understanding of the entire situation, the 5 Board members presented the 35 community members with 2 simple questions:

• 1. By show of hand, how many of you 35 people in attendance did NOT vote on the fence amendment?  (zero hands were raised ~ indicating everyone had Voted)

• 2. By show of hand, how many of you 35 people in attendance would change your original vote? (zero hands were raised ~ indicating their votes would remain as is)

• Bill Turner will contact Joe Thoma on the issue of Dead Trees in our community.  Fieldstone is liable for the replacement of these trees.  If you are a homeowner and have a dead street tree, planted by Fieldstone on your property, please contact Fieldstone's warranty department at 215.348.8473 for tree replacement.

• Barb Croke is interested in finding volunteers to help her remove the larger dead trees around the community.  She would like to place the dead trees in the woods until Fieldstone returns to replace these trees.  Please contact the Board of Directors prior to removing any Dead trees currently under warranty by Fieldstone Associates.  Failure to do so may result in voiding the warranty.

• Pam Ley presented additional information on Community safety signs.  She suggested the installation of 2 safety signs on the common grounds along the roadway.  According to Pam, Skippack Township would install the signs and cover the associated costs.  Pam will deliver a signed petition to the Skippack Ridge Board of Directors for submission to Skippack Township.  Contact Pam Ley with any questions pertaining to this issue.

• Other related safety measures included Melissa Waltrich's suggestion for the installation of rumble strips.  A second suggestion was the installation of speed bumps though the township prohibits speed bumps because of snow plowing.

• The SkippackRidge.com annual website domain name and provider fee was paid to ICDSoft.com by Bill Turner on June 11, 2003.  The annual fee was $50.  (a decrease from last year's $65 annual fee!)

• A new web page has been added to our site which includes information on our Skippack Ridge HomeOwner's Association property & Liability insurance policy.  Please visit this Insurance page to obtain relevant information.

• Janet Fries is organizing our Skippack Ridge Holiday Event.  Please visit our holiday event web page to review the details on this festive event.  Janet would like you to respond to her w/ your preferences. 

• Home Owner's Requests:  -none-

• Three 2002-2003 Skippack Ridge Board members resigned after successfully fulfilling their obligation to serve.  Their resignations become effective June 18, 2003

• RESIGNATIONS:

  • Fran Tendall - President

  • Bob Arch - Vice President

  • Bill Turner - Secretary (Bill will continue as Webmaster for SkippackRidge.com)

• Our newly elected Board members will receive official titles for the 2003-2004 Skippack Ridge Board of Directors during the July 2003 monthly meeting.

• 2003-2004 Board of Directors (Official Titles pending):

  • Bob Croke (Bob has decided to step down due to personal commitments)

  • Barb Hallman

  • John Pritchard

  • Mike Roynan

  • Mike Washington

• Interim nominations to succeed Mr. Croke include:

  • Jim Klementisz

  • Joe Cooney

• Still Outstanding: Quan Nguyen identified a missing concrete slab on Buck Hollow Rd.'s sidewalk ~ adjacent to the Geissel's home.  This will be researched by the Board and presented to Fieldstone for resolution.