TIMBERLANE ESTATES IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION
Minutes of Monthly Meeting
August 2nd, 2017
PRESENT: Patrick LeBoeuf,Mike Babin, Diane Strauss, Fae Remedios, Gail Heine, Beverly Murphy, Elaine Johnson, James Breland, W.J. LeBlanc, Kathy Johnson, Joey Cargol,Philip Rebowe, Tina Suggs.
ABSENT: Mark Black.
With a quorum present, the meeting was called to order by President Patrick LeBoeuf.
No Councilmen were present.
Capt. Russell Lloyd remarked that Timberlane was the safest neighborhood in the entire city during the summer months. There were thefts in the neighborhood enabled by unlocked cars. Majority of the cases were solved and the perpetrators in Timberlane were not local kids.The police reports are attached. James Breland requested extra patrols now that school has begun from 7 –8 am and 3 - 5 pm.
Patrick introduced the President of Timberlane Country Club, Chip Rosen, who wished to address the Board about the state of the country club. The club is fiscally very challenged, part of a local trend, because of a decline in membership and cancellation of golf events because of unanticipated rainfall. Despite declining membership in the past few years, there have been many improvements to the Club in terms of adding a patio, moving the pro-shop, improving the greens management, etc. thanks to the generosity of several members and outside events. They are currently facing a roof renovation in keeping with the terms of their SBA loan and are in critical need. They are asking the Board and neighborhood for financial assistance and social partnership particularly in viewof the whole community benefitting from the existenceof the country club. Patrick suggested that if our Board agreed, we form a committee to meet with the executivecommittee of the country club to look over the financials and discuss the situation. W. J. LeBlanc remarked that when the club approached the Improvement Association Board with a similar situation a few years back, the Board decided to give the club money in the form of a lease for the barrier arms being on their property. It was not a formal agreement because the Board did not wish to make this financial commitment permanent. According to our by-laws we are permitted to spend our funds on Security and Beautification. Members of our neighborhood are not compelled to join the country club. Chip said that any consideration from the Improvement Association and members would be greatly appreciated.Members of the committee will be Patrick LeBoeuf, Diane Strauss, Kathy Johnson, W.J. LeBlanc, James Breland, Gail Heine and Philip Rebowe.
Patrick opened the floor to the audience for questions and concerns. Dr. Robert Strauss stated that he was removed from monitoring the gate cameras when the new Camera Committee was formed and the password was changed. There were neighbors going to his house to find out why the gates were not working.Rob wondered if the gates were not being monitored or, if they were, why the malfunction was not being reported to James Breland, chair of the Gate Committee. Rob questioned why he had lost his camera access privileges. Joey Cargol stated that the Camera and Gate Committees are very separate. When they took over the camera committee they discovered there were about 10 email addresses that could not be identified. The vendor did not have a log of any of them. The Camera Committee was formed to secure the cameras were they to be used in any legal action resulting from damage to the gates by someone going through the gates illegally. It needs to be a secure sight not open to the public. Joey asked Dr Strauss to head the camera committee but Dr Strauss could not be on the Board because his wife is on the Board. Patrick asked Dr Rob if he would like to be on the camera committee. Rob would like to be on the committee to help James. He will let Joey know. If anyone wants access to the cameras they would have to join the camera committee.
Mr Cardell Thomas asked Fae Remedios if she, as Secretary to the Board, had recorded the minutes of the most recent Nominating Committee meeting. Fae replied that she had not. Cardell pointed out that it was not in accordance with Section 9 of the By-Laws that require the Secretary to the Board to record minutes of committee meetings.
Mr Thomas questioned whether the Board had an operating procedure for the Nominating Committee for the last two appointments to the Board. Patrick responded that we did not have a written procedure when the first two vacancies in 2017 occurred, but we had one in place. Mr Thomas wanted to know if there was a deadline for applications. Patrick responded that there was a deadline of 2 weeks, after the advertisement in the neighborhood, for an applicant to respond. Patrick also stated that he had instructed the Nominating Committee for the most recent appointment to contact those who had applied 45 days ago but were not selected and see if they wished to run. Everyone was contacted. Mr Thomas said he was not contacted. He was not contacted because he withdrew his application. Mr Thomas objected to Patrick suggesting that previous unsuccessful candidates should be contacted. Patrick said he could make that assertion and there were no objections from the Board when he made that statement at the previous meeting. Mr Thomas objected to procedures being circumvented. If there are deadlines, they should be met. Patrick provided Mr Thomas with a sample questionnaire. Applications should be in writing for everyone. Since there were no minutes taken, they cannot be referred to and any discussion about the qualifications of candidates were not made known to the Board. MrThomas says the Board appears to be appointing members who should not qualify. Patrick suggested they form a Nominating Committee Procedures group and have a meeting this month and Cardell Thomas was invited to join.
Felicia Lomonaco, 628 Fairfield, complained about the backyard of the house next door to her at 624 Fairfield. It was overgrown and not maintained and there were absent owners. She and Cardell also complained about the house across the street, 629 Fairfield, with its unkept yard and parking a motorcycle behind the backdoor. Mike Babin will address the issues as he is head of Code Enforcement (S).
The minutes for June 7th, 2017 will be tabled for approval at the next meeting because they were emailed just a half hour before the meeting and no one had reviewed them. Joey made the motion, Mike seconded. All corrections/additions to be sent to Fae.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE: Chair, Mark Black was absent. James made a motion to accept the Nominating Committees recommendationto fill Larry Reinhardt’s seat.Philip seconded. Tina Suggs interjected that there was a conflict on the Board because of a lack of procedure. We need to review the procedure which we have gone back and forth over in the past 6 months. She wished to have the vote tabled.James commented that we have had the same procedure in the past 6 months. Kathy Johnson pointed to the By-Laws which state we need to appoint a person to a vacancy by the next Board meeting. Tina Suggs thought that if, contrary to procedure, the older candidates did not apply in writing by the deadline datewe should reconsider the vote. W.J.LeBlanc pointed out that By-Laws supersede Procedures. According to the By-Laws, individual Board members can nominate any individuals to serve on the Board. Mike Babin believes we have standardized a flawed procedure and it needs to be reviewed and revised. Diane says we have a standardized election procedure in place. It was never written down but it was followed.
Diane Strauss made a substitute motion that both candidates be voted on to fill Larry Reinhardt’s vacancy. Gail seconded it. With 5pro votes and 7 opposed, the motion failed. James made a motion to accept the Nominating Committee’s selection of Attorney Jon McGill to fill Larry Reinhardt’s vacancy. Seconded by Kathy. With 6 yeas, 5 nays and two abstentions, the motion passed. Jon McGill is the new member on the Board.
The Joint Resolution Task Force did not meet. The Joint Resolution committee will also discuss the financial situation with the Executive Committee of the Country Club. Diane Strauss and Ronda Sweet have had no response to their traffic concerns expressed at the previous meeting. They will talk to The City of Gretna to see what options they have.
FINANCIAL REPORT: The June 2017 and July 2017 financial reports compiled by Diane Strauss are attached. Diane has filed 8 liens in July on those who said they would pay but have not. She had emailed the Board pictures of old, dirty, moldy boxes and outdated banners and signs. Diane got permission to throw them away. No TEIA files were destroyed or thrown away. Philip Rebowe mentioned that the card reader tags are not taxable.
TAGS: Gail Heine mentioned that she sold only 2 tags last month and will fill inventory as needed.
GATES: James Breland reported that the problems with the Fairfield North and Timberlane Drive gates was that the Gretna Police were leaving them open. He has bought 8 aluminum retroreflective signs to be hung at the gates letting people know that their actions are being recorded. The signs are visible at night. He has submitted an estimate of $1360 for Nu-Arrow to perform quarterly maintenance on the gates. James said that Nu Arrow had provided an estimate of $340 a quarter for maintenance of the gates which is within his budget. If no one has an objectionNu Arrow will provide the contract to be signed. Kathy Johnson made a motion to accept that proposal and Diane Strauss seconded it. Mike wanted to know if we had prosecuted anyone for criminal damage to the gates. W.J LeBlanc responded that we did and that the restitution money being paid in installments comes to the Board first and the rest goes to the City of Gretna. W.J. to send records to Diane for her documentation since the payments have been in cash.
CAMERAS: Joey Cargol reported that 2 cameras were down. One was over 5 years old and out of warranty while the other one still had a warranty. The current vendor has lent us one, in the meantime, to replace the one out on warranty.Cameras showed signs of storm damage. One fell off a tree. Had not been maintained in a long while. Joey stated that the cameras at all the gates and barrier arms have different locations because of their sites. We may not need to buy License Plate Reader cameras for all the gates. Each camera will have to be individually assessed as to whether they need to be enhanced with infrared lens. He had looked at installing license plate readers at the barrier arms. He will have the camera readings at the next meeting. He is still obtaining bids from different vendors for license plate readers. Diane reminded Joey that we needed records of NOLA AVs liability insurance, workers compensation and W9 on file. The vendor also needs to be licensed with the State Fire Marshall and be in good standing with the Secretary of State. Rob Strauss thought a Cost Benefit Analysis should be done to see if we need to purchase License Plate Reading cameras. We need cameras to enforce prosecuting offenders for gate vandalism. We need new cameras anyway because the life expectancy on these cameras is 5 years and we are past that. Rob Strauss was invited to join the Camera Committee. Diane mentioned that she has nearly been hit head-on when only one of the barrier arms at the club was open. She requested that both barrier arms be kept open at the same time. James will handle that. The other issue is that the u-shaped handle on the bollard between the barrier arms could damage a car and needs to be attended to.
CODE ENFORCEMENT (S): Mike had nothing to report. He did say, however that he received a call from a neighbor on the north side letting him know that she had received a threatening letter and did not know who it came from. On further investigation, he found out that Gail had put it there because the lady had a taxi parked in the driveway open to public view. Mike noted that we should sign our names to any notes we put out.
CODE ENFORCEMENT (N)Joey said he received a similar call from Ms Greene. He advised her to park her taxi behind the façade. We will redo the Courtesy Notice to be more congenial to neighbors and identify ourselves on the paper when placing it on a property. Communication between code enforcement is key. Fae reported that two street lamps at the Belle Chasse entrance of Timberlane Drive were out and she had not been able to get Entergy to fix them. Diane suggested she go on the Gretna website and contact the City of Gretna and it would get done. Diane also advised that we check the street lamps on the north side and report any not working to the City with the number of the house they are in front of.
ARCHITECTURAL: Kathy Johnson approved 3 plans. 2 were for installing solar panels at 113 Meadowbrook and the other at 141 Meadowbrook. Kathy said to keep in mind that solar panels need to face a certain way to benefit the sun which might involve placing them on the front of the house. The third approval was for an inground pool at 316 Fairfield Avenue.
BEAUTIFICATION: The new fence addition on Belle Chasse and Timberlane Road has been completed but needs to be painted. The Committee does not need bids or approval from the Board to paint the fence as they are within budget unless they want to change the color. The whole fence should be painted but will be completed in the cooler months as it will work adhere better. Beverly reported that they would like to put some color in front of the brick wall/fence at Timberlane Road and Belle chasse entrance in the form of crepe myrtles and azaleas. It was suggested that they present a landscape plan to the Board for approval. They would also like to paint the brick wall but will wait for optimum weather.
WEBSITE: Patrick stated that if anyone had any material to put on the website to let him know. Joey said Jon McGill could not get through to anyone when he logged in to the Contact Us portal on the web.
WELCOMING: Joey said he had scheduled a meeting on Thursday August 3rd, 2017to organize volunteers to canvass neighborhood getting names, addresses and emails for the Timberlane directory.Fran Maher is helping. He has received quotes on printing the directories. Since people are uncomfortable knocking on doors these days, Joey will have different volunteers call people from the excel spreadsheet Diane emailed him. Those that can’t be reached will be visited and a note will be left on their door.
NEWSLETTER: Mark Black was not present.
OLD BUSINESS: Mike Babin had yet to receive signed acknowledgement letters regarding Fiduciary Responsibilities from all Board Members. Patrick said the insurance was renewed Diane asked Mike to find out from the insurance company if the Board was eligible for a discount for signing Fiduciary Responsibility letters. Mike was asked what would happen if a Board member refused to sign. He said the Board should move for removal of that person. Should the Board have to decide,they will make a motion at that time. Mike said he is working on the Conflict of Interest policy based on the IRS 990. Beverly Murphy questioned the authenticity of signing a Fiduciary Responsibility letter when other members of the Board do not follow theirs. She talked about how the neighborhood learnt through Facebook items discussed in committee meetings when even the other members of the Board were not aware of what was discussed.
Comments were made about how committee meetings were held in public places where discussions could be overheard. Beverly was disappointed with committee information being reported outside of Board meetings and Board members breaching their Fiduciary responsibilities.
NEW BUSINESS: Joey wondered if the TEIA would sponsor a Halloween block party that is held every year in the Colony, Wildwood, Fernwood cul-de-sac. James recommended that both North and South sides should be included and the whole neighborhood needs to be invited. Beverly and Joey were charged with making a recommendation to the Board for a contribution to the Halloween celebrations.
Fae talked about reinstating the Night Out Against Crime as a Timberlane event that was held at the Country Club in previous years. It was scheduled statewide to be held on Tuesday, October 2nd, 2017. Fae will coordinate event and bring her plans to the next Board meeting for discussion.