BOARD MEETING MINUTES – July 19, 2010 – 7:00 pm
Board Members Present: Janet Busse, Sherrill Moss, Marvin Hoefliner, Bob Ayers, Jim Medlin (late), Hertlein, Bekto (absent), McCavey (absent).
Home Owner’s Present – Joe Lawson, Holly and Dave Rackley, Rick and Jodi Dombrosky, Jack Richey, Bill and Bobbie Mace, Al Burnsworth, Sissy Hoeflinger, Shirlee McKinnon, Jay Robie, Susan Ayers, Fran Travis, B.Harris, S.Krizan .Schneider, Pearlman, Bourbon.
Management Company (CMA) Representative: Hollie Battle
The meeting was called to order by Marvin Hoeflinger at 7:00 pm. A quorum was established.
Secretary Reading of June BOD Minutes – Postponed until the August board meeting due to incomplete information and awaiting final posting.
NOTE: When reading the minutes provided here, please bear in mind that there have been some activities by some board members that have become personal agendas rather than matters that benefit the community generally. In particular, Ralph Hertlein, one of the main players is intent on destroying our by-laws, covenants and ACC guidelines and has declared that they have been invalid since 1996. Catherine Bekto has forgiven legitimate fines and penalties assessed and accumulated against them over a number of years for failure to comply with the rules that govern and protect Rivermont. And then we have Ed Pearlman, the organizer of a bunch of some sixty other homeowner’s continuing to threaten legal action against the rest of Rivermont unless the board knuckles under to their demands. Their demands would only harm and hurt our community. They have now caused much legal expense to be placed on the shoulders of our residents due to their selfish demands. And finally, it is time to put it to rest about Beverly Harris being voted off the board about two months ago. Beverly was voted off with good reason. She purposefully violated her Social Committee budget limitations, but of course, not without the help of Suzi. All social functions in Rivermont are limited to $500 per function. The Easter event cost the community some $1,600+, more than three times authorized costs. The graduation banners at the entrances have generally ranged somewhere between $250 - $300 each year. Beverly spent nearly $900 (overspending again) and has shown that she is not capable of functioning within budget constraints. And Beverly ran up legal costs with the attorney’s representing Rivermont by repeatedly contacting the attorney’s with petty issues in spite of the fact that she was reminded that her actions were costing this community dearly. I guess it is near impossible to shut a big mouth. Beverly was not a team player. Of the five new individual’s elected to the 2010 BOD, only two have proven themselves at being truly committed to improving Rivermont: Marvin Hoeflinger and Jim Medling. The other three, Ralph Hertlein, Bill McCavey and Catherine Bekto have proven to be a detriment to Rivermont. And then we have Ed Pearlman, a trouble maker intent on destroying the commitment that has always been a standard of Rivermont: maintaining property values. Ed and his puppetry act of groupies want to eliminate the integrity that keeps Rivermont safe from devaluation of home ownership including elimination of our most treasured amenities – the pool, tennis courts, club house and park. Remember, if we allow this to happen, one morning we will all wake up and ask ourselves, why we didn’t protect our community in 2010 when we were faced with these ill founded issues. How is it that we allowed just a few mean spirited residents to force their ignorance upon Rivermont. The fact is that the Ralph Hertlein’s, Ed Pearlman’s Catherine Bekto’s, and Bill McCavey’s chose to bring Rivermont down to their knees for their ill-conceived assestions.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
TREASURER – The finances of the association continue on track. About 89% of AHOA dues or $256,000 has been collected. This represents about 93% of the annual budget based on an overall 90% collection of real revenue. The previous budget of 2008 amounted to a 109% collection ratio and the budget of 2009 amounted to a 106% collection ratio. The budget does not reflect money received for fines, interest or unpaid dues remaining to be collected.
Expenses remain below budget on most committees. The 2008/2009 audit is near completion and will be presented to the BOD when received. Letters will be sent to those homeowner’s that are in arrears on their HOA dues demanding payment.
PARK – The focus has been on the ballots for the Conservation Easement. A tent was set up at one of the Rivermont entrances (Fairway Ridge) last weekend to allow residents to cast their ballots. About twenty-five additional ballots were cast in addition to ballots already received by mail. The tent in coming weekends will be set up at The Village, The Rivers, Colony Cove, etc.
The maintenance schedule at the park has been cancelled due to hot weather conditions and will be rescheduled later in the year. Road repairs have been completed. The entrance sign needs to be painted.
The playground equipment repairs were submitted for estimate/cost and have since been withheld due to one inappropriate response. It was discovered that one of the estimates was submitted by a resident of Rivermont which is against the provisions established and provided in the Rivermont Community By-Laws. To avoid favoritism when submitting RFP’s, this provision was placed in the by-laws to prevent and protect improper spending of homeowner HOA funds. Hiding this kind of activity is unethical. The individual of the third party company was to receive up to $2,000 in “kick backs”. This is illegal as well as dishonest.
TENNIS – A report was read by Sherrill Moss, Chairperson as follows:
The committee meets the first Sunday of each month at 7:00 pm at the Community Club House. The next meeting will be August 1st.
The summer season USTA team is in full swing. The fall season will include at least one Women’s and two mixed double ALTA teams. Recruitment continues in the formation of a Men’s ALTA team for Rivermont.
For the fifth time, the Tennis Committee has requested the Communication’s Committee to provide details on how the yet to be activated new website will accommodate court scheduling. At the same time, the committee requests the opportunity to review and provide input prior to going live with a scheduling format on the new website.
An RFP to replace the courts has been sent to (3) companies: Court Makers, Signature Tennis and Court Sport. Responses are due in August. A copy of the RFP is provided for review.
One recent Thursday evening, some teenagers gained access to the tennis courts illegally. Creating a disturbance and with the lights remaining on past 11:00 pm a resident in the area reported the incident the next morning to Johns Creek. Rather than calling the Police that same evening, the resident, Elaine Rabb, filed a complaint with Johns Creek Code Enforcement contesting the candlelight power limitations of the court lighting and fixtures. Being responsible and answering to the requirements of this action, the committee chairperson contacted two lighting companies to test the candlepower of the lighting in order to bring the intensity of the lighting into compliance and within code.
Bob Ayers has since reset the timers for lighting to be on as necessary between 8:00 am and 10:00 pm., and courts cannot be used before or after these times. The official court times of operation are 8:00 am – 10:00 pm.
First inspection suggests the lights are not in compliance according to Johns Creek. Night Vision would charge about $1,100 to adjust and provide shields. Southeastern Electrical has yet to respond to the RFP. They installed the lighting initially about 3 years ago.
It is hoped that Johns Creek will allow a time extension to correct the problem. The 2010 Tennis expenses are currently under budget. It is also the desire of this committee to replace the Tennis Courts in their entirety this fall, to include new lighting, fencing, viewing bleachers and the possibility of a third court (room providing). Preliminary estimates are about $60,000 +
CLUB HOUSE – There are a number of ongoing repairs taking place. The chimney has been repaired for leaks. There is still moisture making its way around the foundation. The bent gutter needs to be fixed (thanks to McCavey for leaning an extension ladder against the newly replaced gutter and bending it). The repair to the exterior of the club house may include use of hardi-plank as the new material. The driveway in front needs to be marked for one way access. The costs for repairs thus far have exceeded the budget by $600. Water consumption for June is over $1,200 perhaps due to the refilling of the pool after recent repairs had been completed. Hollie was asked to contact the Water Department to request a complimentary fill-up to defray some of the costs for water. There have been additional rentals of the club house although it has been limited during May and June.
SOCIAL – The cost of the Graduation Banners was requested to be an expense against the Communications Committee budget. The banners normally would cost under $300 but an overzealous expense of the former (or since removed BOD member, Beverly Harris) cost nearly $900. In the past only The Rivers and The Mounts posted the banners. This year banners were made for all six entrances (an excessive expense). Another $214 dollars for the AHOA annual meeting was suggested to be expensed against the Communication’s Committee budget. A motion was made to transfer these expenses from Social to Communication’s. The motion failed to produce a second motion and thus failed to alter the budget from which these expenses should be assessed against. There is a budget of $1,000 for the Annual Halloween Party which will be assigned to the Communication’s Committee. (Good luck Ralph).
POOL – It is currently undergoing re-evaluation of repairs and some needed maintenance. Due to cloudy water conditions, the pool was shut down Monday evening through mid-morning Tuesday morning, for chemical treatment. The pool was reopened later in the day.
LANDSCAPE/LIGHTING/MAINTENANCE – The sprinkler system at the entrances has been repaired but exceeded the budget allowance by 10%. This is all of the information provided by the chairperson for this months report. (Many residents have complained about the poor job performance for our landscape during the three month absence of the chairperson. It stands to reason that if he doesn’t keep up his own property he is even less likely to keep up the common property of the community. On the other hand, even if he was present he would not be any less incompetent).
ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL (ACC) – No report provided this month. (Little enforcement of the ACC guidelines have been prevailed during 2010).
COMMUNICATIONS – The ad revenue is behind budget expenditures. The website problems for the most part have been solved and the new launch date at T’leh`s is scheduled for August 15th. Scheduling of committee activation is under control. Forms have been fixed for archiving. All assessments and fines can be sent from the website covering records of individual homeowners. Residents can review their own accounts. Information regards the process will be sent to residents by postcard. Homeowners can log onto website and e-mail bounce to other devices on the web. It will allow reporting of violations by neighbors/residents anonymously (now there’s a novel idea by a Communications Chairperson that claims transparency. If you believe this then you will believe the rest of this person’s hot air). Ralph claims that the expenses thus far are running below budget. (No matter what the cost, this is a project creating wasteful spending for a tool that will not be supported by the community – go figure).
NEW BUSINESS – The 2010 audit is near completion and will be presented to the board upon completion. The previous audit of 2008 had significant irregularities and was never approved by the board due to many inconsistencies by the previous board financial team. Thus it was not officially authenticated and signed by the treasurer of the BOD at that time. (Funds were missing and unaccounted for in the summation of the previous board).
Christmas Decorations – Cost incurred last year was $6,500. A three year contract with Seasonal Designs would ensure a cost of $3,000 per year and overall discounted to $2,700 with the signing of a three year contract. Holiday decorations would be taken down two weeks after the holiday season. The option is also available to rent additional decorations as needed. The entrance decorations were budgeted for year 2009 and the 2010 season. The board voted and approved the contract to be written with Seasonal Designs.
There seemed to be some confusion that the Holiday Decorations were provided for in the 2010 budgeted items. However, an estimate will be provided to accommodate budget for 2011 when submitted this fall. The budget is required to be submitted to the homeowners 30 days before approved by the current board. The committees are due to submit their budgets in October, published in the community newsletter and on the website at least 30 days before final approval by the board in November 2010 for the year 2011.
HOMEOWNER COMMENTS – A question was raised as to the validity of Rivermont’s covenants. At this time in the meeting the discussion evolved into anger as to the secretive meetings being conducted by Ralph Hertlein, Ed Pearlman and others of the covenant review committee, for not keeping the homeowners informed about assertions and allegations and proposed resolutions. These individuals have not been forthcoming and have not been open and transparent with their meetings and/or documents.
A motion was made by Janet Busse, Secretary to continue with the enforcement of the current by-laws, covenants and ACC guidelines as established in 1996 unless and when any resident should take legal action against the board to contest their validity. If the committee should establish certain reasons why the board should revisit any new evidence to the contrary, then the board will otherwise be bound to follow the covenants renewal of 1996 and to function as they stand.
Ralph Hertlein called for a roll-call vote and the board cheerfully accepted his request. In favor of keeping the board functioning under the present By-Laws, Covenants and ACC Guidelines as renewed in 1996 were: Sherrill Moss (yes); Bob Ayers (yes); Jim Medlin (yes); Janet Busse (yes); Marvin Hoeflinger (yes); Ralph Hertlein (no); Catherine Bekto and Bill McCavey were not present for the vote. (The preposterous allegations by Ralph and his groupies were denied for further review and waste of board time and money).
Clearly, as shown by arguments during this meeting, Hertlein (and sidekick Pearlman) wish to strip this community of our much needed Association Covenants. Also, part of this team is attempting to destroy Rivermont as a community while questioning the validity of the restrictive covenants of our community are Catherine Bekto and Bill McCavey. They have not come up with anything better to offer Rivermont to keep this community in reasonable eye appealing maintenance or acceptable standards to avoid property devaluation.
ADJOURNMENT – The meeting was adjourned at 8:28 pm.
The next BOD meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 16th at 7:00 pm at the Rivermont Country Club.
The above documentation has been provided based on information recorded at the time of the board meeting on this date by the WebMaster of this website.
The WebMaster
