Ryerss Hunt Homeowners Association Board of Directors
2004 Annual Meeting Minutes
P.O. Box 2121
West Chester, PA 19380
February 19, 2004 @ 7:00pm
Attendees
President
Member at Large
Approximately 90 homeowner lots represented by proxy or in person
Discussion Topics
1) Call to Order – 7:08pm.
2) Approval of Minutes –President motioned to approve the 2003 Annual Meeting minutes. Member-at-large seconded. The minutes were unanimously approved as distributed.
3) Introduction of Board Members and Visitors – President introduced herself and Member-at-large. President explained that over the summer, four Board members resigned over a two week period. She further explained that while the Board had the right to appoint the vacancies, she decided, under the advice of the Management Company and council, that it would not be “right” to do so, so she decided to hold an election. Member-at-large agreed to return to his old position expiring in 2005 to assist with the completion of “Dedication.” President went on to explain that she and Member-at-large decided to focus on dedication and the finances of the association instead of holding an election immediately. President introduced several visitors: Harry Watts – Project Manager, Brandolini & Company; Joe Roschelli – Public Works Director, West Whiteland Township; Diane Snyder -Township Supervisor, West Whiteland Township; Patty Mullen-Smith – Mid-Atlantic Management Company.
Questions:
a)Unidentified homeowner – Why did all the Board members resign? Member-at-large stated that something was said “off the record” which he could not reveal.
b)Homeowner – 824 Pineridge Road – Asked Member-at-large to expand. Member-at-large indicated that he was advised by council not to say anything further or risk opening himself to a lawsuit.
4) Explanation of Items to be Voted on
a)Election of Board Members President explained that there are currently three open positions on the Board, one position for a one-year term, and one for a two-year term and one for a three-year term. She further explained that we were not voting on specific positions (e.g. President), only for a seat on the Board. Specific positions would be voted on by the Board during its first meeting following today’s meeting.
5) Introduction of Candidates for Board of Directors. Each of the candidates stood and said something about themselves. Homeowner – 1400 Masters Court –stated he is running because he has been on the Board in the past and he know what needs to be done. He feels he can help out. Homeowner – 1504 W. Woodbank Way – stated she is a seventeen year resident of West Whiteland Township and has lived in Ryerss Hunt for one year. She indicated she works for West Whiteland Township. Homeowner said that she wants to help with dedication and perhaps can give a fresh outlook. Homeowner – 1417 E. Woodbank Way –indicated she is new to the community, but is a sixteen year resident of West Whiteland Township. She stated she was previously involved on the Board of Directors at Exton Station. Kathy said she has connections & experience. She feels she would bring a fresh face and new ideas to the Board. Homeowner at – 1401 E. Woodbank Way – Homeowner stated she is a five-year resident in Ryerss Hunt. She wants to get involved and give back to the community. Homeowner said she feels communication and participation can be improved in the development. She also feels a lot of people want to communicate, but cannot. Finally, Homeowner indicated she wanted to “reduce some of the drama.”. Homeowner – 1518 E Woodbank Way –indicated he is a five year resident in Ryerss Hunt. He went on to say that when he moved here, the front entrance was beautiful, but has since deteriorated. Homeowner also stated we need to get more people involved. Homeowner – 1411 E Woodbank Way –stated that she felt communication is an issue, but it is a two-way issue. Homeowner wants to work together as a community. She went on to say she has been involved in a number of events in Ryerss Hunt and has a background in finance. Homeowner – 1405 Masters Court –stated she is an eleven year resident at Ryerss Hunt. She said, “Ditto everything everyone else said.” She went on to commend the Board for all its hard work and stated she feels the Board needs help with Dedication. Homeowner– 1402 Granby Way –said communication was an issue and thought we can use the Internet to assist with this, but we need to keep the web site up to date. Homeowner also said whoever wins needs to realize there are other people willing to help. Finally homeowner stated he is concerned about infrastructure. Homeowner – 802 Jack Russell –stated he felt this it not a community and it too political. He stated “Ditto” to everything else that was said.
6) Dedication. Member-at-large started by giving an overview of the status of the basin. The basin at King Road & Thicket is completed, along with basins at West Woodbank Way & East Woodbank Way. The Pond is being worked on and the PECO basin is next. Member-at-large stated the Granby basin will be the last.
Questions:
a) Homeowner – 1406 W. Woodbank Way – Where the basins incorrectly built or did they deteriorate over time? Member-at-large answered that most have deteriorated, spillways have cracked and some settled as they are over ten years old. Some things were not completed and some corrections needed to be re-engineered thru West Whiteland Township and Brandolini. He stated we do have a reserve fund for general maintenance, but not for catastrophic losses. President added this was determined from an Engineering study the Board contracted which dictates the funding.
Member-at-large stated that we budgeted for maintaining the walking trail, but have decided not to spend the money until it is complete so we are not paying to maintain something which need work. Finally Member-at-large stated that he noticed the wall at Jack Russell was starting to shift and had it added to the punch list. He indicated work had been completed on it, but that the Board and Brandolini “agree to disagree” over whether it is correct. We have two engineering firms working on the problem. If it is not stable, it could be a big ticket item for Ryerss Hunt in the future. Member-at-large completed by stating that most everything else is small and construction is not going as fast as he had hoped. He said Brandolini is looking to start again in the Spring. Member-at-large has been addressing the complaints from homeowners about the time it is taking, but explained we have no legal recourse as dedication is between the Builder and the Township. Joe Roschelli described the dedication process. He explained that the plans took 3 years to approve and they describe all the construction details of the project. Before the developer starts construction, an escrow account is created to pay the contractors when work is completed. Finally, at the end, dedication takes time. The developer gets a punch list, about a half inch thick, and a lot of the work is behind the scenes. Ultimately at dedication, West Whiteland Township accepts ownership of the roads, curbs, and other public areas known as public capital improvements. The developer provides a deed & legal description of the areas and as-built plans of what was built. These plans are 177 pages for Ryerss Hunt. The Solicitor accepts the plans, an Engineer accepts and the Board of Supervisors accepts and dedication is complete. The developer then leaves 10% of the total cost of public improvements in a “maintenance bond” for 18 months. Joe indicated that Brandolini has had staff turnover which slowed things down. Harry Watts admitted they were slow. Brandolini was one of the largest builders in the county and is now a real estate improvement company, they no longer build things. Harry took over early in the Fall of last year. He stated Brandolini has spend over $1 million in past 18-24 months. He again stated “things stretched a little too long.” Connie Koenig, Harry’s successor, was dealing with the major issues and has since left the company. Harry explained that Brandolini now buys and manages shopping malls. Harry committed completion is not Spring, it is way before Spring. They are down to three pages of dedication issues, although there are few things we will still need to negotiate. Harry stated one major issue was the seven basins. Basin 1 was found to be in approved condition and 2 thru 7 needed repairs. Since Brandolini let dedication go on, the basins needed repairs. If they had moved quickly they might not have needed to repair them. Major work was needed to bring them back to where they are today. Basin 4 alone needed $40,000 in repairs. Unfortunately, Harry had to put a halt on all work as it is all external. They stopped on 12/13/03 as they could not get compaction or do asphalt work. Harry explained that they needed to achieve certain compaction ratios on the soil and it is not possible to get the ratios needed in the cold. This week was the first week they could do any work. Harry continued to explain that American Property Management had the major contract on the basins. They are starting again on 2/23/04 and the goal is to have everything done and submitted to the Township by 3/31/04. The walking trail must be extended and completion involves building a retention wall and digging up a homeowner’s lawn. Harry expects a 3/1/04 – 3/16/04 start once the frost line is above 4 inches (currently at 12 inches.) A lot of the stuff is little, patch here, sign replaced there. Most of the prints have been given to West Whiteland Township at this point. Harry needs to have dedication done and a bond in place by 5/1/04 so he can move on to his next job. Finally, Harry explained that there is going to be a major landscaping contribution for missing trees, shrubs and other landscaping in the development. Brandolini is going to write the Homeowner’s Association a check for the balance. Member-at-large pointed out that this money will be spent on landscaping, per the original plan.
Questions:
b)Homeowner – 1403 Granby Way – Lots of trees have fallen on Granby Way, will they be replaced? Joe Roschelli asked if they were existing trees, Mary responded “yes.” Member-at-large asked her to see him after the meeting.
Harry continued to explain that he just completed a $12,000 repair to the retention wall on Jack Russell per their engineering firm. The Homeowners Association’s engineering firm refuted the work and this issue needs to be cleaned up. He hopes to be able to negotiate with the Board over this item in the next 30 days. Harry said that Brandolini wants to make the residents of Ryerss Hunt happy and Harry will do what it takes to see to that.
Questions:
c)Homeowner – 1405 Full Cry Court – Would you put a guarantee on the wall? Harry indicated that was unlikely and stated he will leave that up to the Board. He explained that Earth engineering is the national engineering firm for Keystone, the makers of the wall, and they feel the wall is stable.
d)Homeowner – 1405 Full Cry Court – If they won’t guarantee it, they are not much of a firm. Harry indicated that engineering firms do not want to put their E&O insurance on the line. Earth engineering did not design the wall and they will not guarantee a wall which cost $36,000 to build. He concluded by stating that the Homeowners Association’s engineering firm only said it “might” not be fixed correctly. Joe Roschelli interjected that West Whiteland Township will be involved in that discussion. He stated that walls do move and that is not unusual. Finally, he said West Whiteland Township would have brought in the same engineers that Brandolini did.
e)Homeowner – 827 Pineridge Road – Lots of trees have fallen down along the walking path, he’s concerned about the liability. He is also concerned about the design, as several areas have washed away. If similar repairs are made again, then in 6 – 12 months from now, it will wash away. Harry indicated they were obligated to build the path per the plans and that while the plans may not be great, there was not much he could do at this point.
f)Unidentified homeowner – The dollars amount on the basins, going forward, we are not going to have a problem are we? Are we going to have to go back to the as-builts? Harry stated that as-builts were done and compared to what should have been built. A list of what needed to be done was then created. When Brandolini didn’t dedicate for 10 years, the basins were not maintained, but they will now be 100%. The will need maintenance, and that is why the Homeowner’s Association is putting aside money.
g)Homeowner – 1405 Full Cry Court – Are there going to be on-going inspections? Joe Roschelli explained that after dedication it is the Homeowners Association’s responsibility. He did say that West Whiteland Township will check them to make sure they are working properly.
h)President – 1405 Full Cry Court – Should we be having someone inspect them regularly? Joe Roschelli said, “I would have then inspected annually for the first few years and then every other year.”
i)Homeowner – 1402 Granby Way – They dumped stone on top of grass for the walking trail, this is not effective. Harry stated he was not involved in the trail to date, but will begin working on completion of the trail. He explained again it is built to the terms and conditions as to what was spec’d. Harry will have to walk the trail to inspect it.
j)Homeowner– 1405 Full Cry Court – Are there any plans to repair the stairs? The treads and risers are inconsistent. Harry stated that West Whiteland Township has required a handrail be installed. The railing was originally spec’d as chain between poles. Harry admitted the design is not great, but they are built according to the plans.