St. Charles Community Association, Inc.
Annual Meeting Minutes
January 29, 2017
Meeting Called to Order:
The annual meeting was called to order at 4:10 PM, January 29, 2017 at the Station Room in Fellowship Bible Church. Tom Dematti, the 2016 President, led the meeting.
The following 2016 board members were present: Wayne Allen, Tom Davis, Tom Dematti, James DeWinter, John Dugan, Therese Green, Mary Jane Horn, Judy Houser, Felicia Johnson and Janet Logan.
Other participants in the SCCA Annual Meeting who were present included:
Suzanne Sage, Executive Director and Sarah Adams, Treasurer
Jo Paulus, crime watch coordinator for SCCA
Officer Crace of the LRPD
Brad Walker, attorney for the St. Charles Community Association
Lance Hines, Ward 5 City Director
Lighting Improvement District Commissioners, Mike McClellan, Brenda CarlLee and Patrick Mathieu
Approximately 60 residents were in attendance at the meeting.
Tom Dematti gave opening comments and the 2016 St. Charles Board of Directors, as well as Treasurer and Executive Director introduced themselves.
Tom explained the structure of the meeting noted that the completion and distribution of the ACC guidelines was a significant accomplishment in 2016 as well as the focus on clean up and improvements at the park and the pond. He mentioned that looking to the future, significant projects could include common area landscape updates, a renovation of the pool house and resurfacing of the walking trails.
St. Charles Crime Watch – Resident Jo Paulus
St. Charles Crime Watch leader, Jo Paulus, encouraged residents to sign up for the email list if they had not already done so. She uses this to notify residents of current crime situations in and around St. Charles as well as news from other neighborhoods. She also strongly encouraged the residents to report all incidents to the police. Jo advised residents to pay attention to what is going on around them and to get to know their neighbors.
Officer Crace communicated that nosy neighbors are good and encouraged anyone who saw anything they were concerned about to call 911. He also provided his phone number: 501-515-4643 to all residents. He explained that the police force is about 60 officers short, due to difficulty in hiring.
Key comments made by Officer Crace include:
· Call 911 with any concerns.
· Watch out for your neighbors and let them know when you will be out of town.
· Do not leave belongings, packages, etc. in vehicles.
· Lock the door between your garage and your home.
· Keep your garage door closed.
· Use the LRPD Vacation Service when you are out of town. Call 371-4829 (non-emergency police number) to set this up.
· Attend the quarterly police meetings for valuable information. Next one will be the 3rd Thursday in April at 6:30 p.m.
· Install security cameras as deterrents (real or fake).
· Take advantage of the free LRPD Home Security Check. Officers visit residential properties and make recommendations for improvements that can be made to increase the security of the property. Contact the non-emergency number or email Officer Michelle Hill at to make an appointment.
Suzanne noted that there is a handout with helpful community numbers available for residents and it includes LRPD and Crime Watch contact information.
Executive Director Report:
Suzanne Sage presented the Executive Director Report. She commented that the Association worked hard to keep expenses closely monitored while still accomplishing improvements in the community. Some of the highlights and improvements to St. Charles community in 2016 included:
General – ACC Guidelines for community were developed and distributed, over $5,000 in prior year assessments/fees were collected, $0 vandalism expense incurred in 2016 and legal counsel was retained to assist in collection of past dues and management of ACC issues.
Crime Watch – Crime Watch Group continued to grow, collaboration with other Little Rock neighborhoods continued, neighborhood representatives regularly attend quarterly police meetings.
Community Collaboration - a relationship with City Council Board member Lance Hines was continued; the Association was awarded a $1,000 Love Your Block Grant from the City – 10th year; ongoing engagement with City entities to resolve issues in the community; collaboration with neighboring communities on common issues.
Pool Facilities – phase 2 LED lights installed in pool, new umbrellas, new eye wash station, powerwashing of pool facility, painting of bathrooms and exteriors, drained and powerwash pool, updates to toy and pool pump, new anchors for pool ladders, a/c unit for guard room, various facility repairs, uniform tank tops for lifeguard staff, increased monitoring of gate, initiation of Advanced Youth Swim test and neighborhood swim team.
Parks/Tennis & Basketball/Entrances – extensive pond clean up, tree planting at tennis courts, St. Charles playground surface replenishment and tilling, improvement and extension to retaining wall at St. Charles Playground, management of pea gravel at the park, painting of gates at St. Charles Park, installation of new light at St. Charles gazebo, cleaning and painting of St. Charles Gazebo, repairs to St. Thomas Gazebo, cleaning and painting of St. Thomas Gazebo, new swing seats at St. Thomas Park, collaboration with Eagle Scout to build and install picnic table at St. Thomas Park and continued use of security guards to deter vandalism in the common areas. Holiday entrance decorations were updated and also expanded to Loyola entrance sign, sprinkler updates occurred throughout the year and initial consultations took place with landscape designers and electricians for future common area improvements.
Community/Social Activities - Easter Egg Hunt, KidsFest & Family Potluck, Flip Flops & Fun Swim Party, Halloween Hayride Party, neighborhood garage sale and community clean up day were held for residents. Yard of the month program was initiated to highlight well-maintained yards in St. Charles.
Resident Communications – email and newsletter communications informed residents of news in the community, as well as St. Charles participation in nextdoor.com and engagement with Facebook and Twitter.
2016 Financial Report/2017 Budget:
Sarah Adams presented the 2016 financial report/2017 budget. It was explained that the financials presented are consolidated reports, but that the details are available for any resident who is interested. Sarah noted that there are three main sources of income for St. Charles Community Association: association dues, pool-related income and other income such as late fees and interest. Total income for 2016 was $273,205 and expenses were $214,897. After all expenses and capital improvement projects, $58,307 in funds were remaining. These funds will help build up the reserves for future large scope capital improvement projects. The 2017 budget has projected income of $263,994 and projected expenses of $263,994 (including $29,074 of capital improvement projects).
Election of 2017 Board of Directors:
Ballots for the election of the 2017 Board of Directors were distributed. Up to ten positions are available. Ten board members (Allen, Davis, Dematti, DeWinter, Dugan, Green, Horn, Houser, Johnson and Logan were on the ballot).
In addition, one new resident: Jeff Woodward was included on the ballot. It was noted that Jeff ran last year, but was unable to attend the Annual Meeting and was not elected. Additional interested residents were solicited to add their names to the ballot. No additional nominees were added.
The following residents were elected to the 2017 St. Charles Association Board of Directors:
Wayne Allen
Tom Davis
Tom Dematti
John Dugan
Therese Green
Mary Jane Horn
Judy Houser
Felicia Johnson
Janet Logan
Jeff Woodward
Resident James DeWinter will be considered an alternate and should a board member resign during the year, James will be invited to fill that position on the board.
Yard of the Month
Residents Mickey and Gayle Stephens of 13610 St. Charles Blvd. won the drawing for the Home Depot gift card. The Board noted that all Yard of the Month residents were greatly appreciated for the effort they put into maintaining their properties.
Resident Comments
Resident Judith Dugan of 901 St. Michael Place asked for an explanation on how the Association collects past dues, how successful is the process and does the Association have to pay for legal fees? Attorney Brad Walker responded to her questions. He noted that it is important for the Association to balance risk and that the best approach is to place liens on properties in accordance with the Association Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions. This will ensure that during a voluntary sale or transfer of the property, that the assessments owed will be paid. Sometimes this process is long, but with the liens in place, it is effective. The association cannot waive the obligation to pay assessments. Other tactics used to collect past due assessments include group lawsuits and individual lawsuits. Once the Association gets a judgement, then steps can be taken to garnish wages to collect the past due amounts. He also explained that in general, now there are fewer foreclosures. This is the only way that the Association does not get paid. Overall, he noted that steps are in place to minimize the SCCA collection expense, while taking strides to collect outstanding balances. Brad Walker also commented that based on the 720 properties in St. Charles, that those with outstanding balances, especially balances greater than a year or two, represent a small percentage of property owners.
Resident Mickey Stephens of 13610 St. Charles Blvd. inquired about sidewalk repairs. Ward 5 City Council Representative Lance Hines advised him to contact 311 to get this added to the list of bond repair requests. Sidewalk repairs are done based on funding.
General resident comments and inquiries included inquiries about ACC, non-residents fishing on the pond, nearby developments, status of expansion of Rock Creek Trail. Lance Hines responded with encouragement to residents to rely on 3-1-1 for requests. Options available are the smartphone app, online and phone. He provided some updates on nearby developments: sidewalks being added along Markham near La Madeleine, Kanis Road widening, Rahling Road developments which are lower density MFDU, 30 – 40 acres of SFDU and quiet office/commercial developments. He noted that Lowes will be located on South Bowman. He communicated that the police force is down about 60 officers and that there is a focus on recruiting to fill these positions. This shortage has affected the hours of the new police substation in west Little Rock. He also shared that residents can continue to submit requests for consideration for funding of the bond for city improvements. Residents should go to littlerock.org and click on LRCent. He noted that we are in the second 3-year cycle of these improvements.
Lighting Improvement District Update
At the conclusion of the St. Charles Community Association Meeting, Lighting Improvement District Commissioner Mike McClellan provided a summary report from the St. Charles Lighting Improvement District. In addition, Mike mentioned that the Lighting Improvement District is seeking additional commissioners and asked for interested residents to let him or Suzanne know. He noted that the application process was straightforward and not complicated.
He shared the mission of the St. Charles Lighting Improvement District and reviewed a brief history of the LID.
In 2016, the St. Charles LID:
· Produced its annual transparency report
· Engaged former resident, Jason Stoyanov, to manage the finances of the LID.
· Worked with Alan King on collections of past due taxes.
· Spent more on maintenance this year, however overall expenses were down.
· Continued to contract with Emergency Plumbing (since 2005) as the maintenance contractor on the gas lights. Most common repairs are glass planes, mantels and damage from vehicles hitting the poles. He shared that some poles have not been replaced (if they have been hit multiple times). The initial number of lights was 210. There are now 207 poles.
He explained that in 2017, the LID is striving to develop RFP/RFQ for consulting services to explore options for retrofitting the lights. New technology is constantly being developed. The solar light test is still in place. It is currently being repaired due to a broken footing, but other than that, it has been maintenance free since installation in 2008. Although maintenance has been low on the solar test, light output is also low.
Residents can report light problems to Brenda CarlLee at the LID message line: 501- 786-1543 or by email at . It is important to include the number listed at the base of each light pole when calling.
The meeting adjourned at 6:15 PM.
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