A meeting was held today at the Lennar Model Home to discuss the special assessment and rise in HOA dues for homeowners in Brunswick Meadows. There were about a dozen homeowners in attendance, along with Billy Paige from the management company ACMI and Javier Martinez HOA president, who also works for Friendswood Development. Felicia Love was requested to serve as community liasion until the HOA is turned over from the developers of Brunswick Meadows to its homeowners. According to our covenant documents, that will be possible when 75% of the neighborhood is occupied. Javier projected that to be in the year 2011 at the earliest since the recession has slowed the development of the last portion of our neighborhood - currently the development is considered 55%-60% owner occupied.
My personal opinion is that the meeting was productive. Billy seemed a bit defensive at times, but then we all sounded a bit upset at times :-) Javier seemed to want our input and agreed to disseminate information via the internet instead of just in the annual newsletter. I approached Felicia following the meeting and agreed to create a blog for us to have an easy way to disseminate information and freely comment to one another in cyberspace since it seems the website is less than helpful. I hope you will all find this a helpful tool in that regard.
Here are the highlights from the meeting (this is just from my notes - others are welcome to supplement by posting comments)
The Fence Project
This is the stated basis for the special assessment of $50 which has been added to our HOA dues and will be used to repay a two-year loan that Javier made on the credit line of the builders. Unfortunately, the fences are not covered by insurance - only the playground areas are insured. There was a topographical map displayed so that Billy could show exactly which fences were to be a part of the "patch and repair" project. Essentially, any fence that has the "cap" (the extra wood running along the top of the fence) will be a part of the project. This includes all fencing facing Scott Street, Brunswick Meadows Blvd. and Sandstone Bend. The fences that face the retention pond are not included. Neither are the fences that face Furman St. at the back of the development. Fences that are between homes, delineating property lines between neighbors, are the homeowners' individual responsibility.
Any homeowner whose fence would be considered a part of the Fence Project that had already effected repairs would not be compensated nor reimbursed. Nor would they be excluded from the special assessment.
There was a competitive bidding process and bids ranged from approximately $66,000 to $200,000 - Ace Fencing was chosen as the vendor, although their original bid was $85,000 it was later reduced to $50,000.
Issues were raised about the previous fences not having enough concrete in the posts. Billy said that Ace had agreed to go an extra 6" beyond the required 18" per post.
New HOA Dues
The increase in dues (beyond the $50 special assessment) was primarily because of higher costs of landscaping, at least in part because of higher gas prices over most of the past year. Current dues are spent primarily in the areas of landscaping and collections (fees paid ACMI for that service and attempting to enforce deed restrictions) and a line-item budget was promised to be posted to an internet site sometime in the future.
Other topics covered in this meeting included the need for sidewalks along the water retention ponds, the amount of water currently in the ponds, and security issues given the rash of burglaries recently reported. Sidewalks along the pond are restricted by the Harris County Flood Control District which maintains that they would interfere with the efficiency of the ponds. The reason our retention ponds are so full is that we are the repository for water run-off from Almeda-Genoa to the Beltway and the pumps that were installed are scheduled to start working sometime this month. Security needs should be addressed to the Constable or Sheriff's office since we are not in the Houston city limits. The Houston Police Department does not serve unincorporated areas of the county. Our local MUD (municipal utility district) does have a contract with local law enforcement to patrol our neighborhood.
OK, that's what I have in my notes. Thanks!
Dr. Root
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Thank you very much for the update. Since I was not able to attend I really appreciate you having taken such detailed notes and taking the time to post them for us on here.
ReplyDeleteI am trying to determine the exact amount for the HOA fees as I got one letter stating that they were increasing from $250 to $290, but then received another stating that they will be $340. Can anyone tell me which is correct and why it is more than a $50 increase?
I can see where cement sidewalks would cause a problem but what about a natural sidewalk. State parks and city parks do not use cement for every walkway. Crushed granit or caliche are just two alternatives. Currently the contractors were using caliche as a drive into the ponds when empty. Both of these options are porious in design and will not interfere with the efficiency of the ponds but also give a mud free walkway for residents off the street.
ReplyDeleteGreat notes...in addition the fence repair should begin on 12/8/08.
ReplyDeleteJulie - what a great idea! Do you happen to know what the ballpark cost of caliche or crushed granite might be for this project?
ReplyDeleteI did want to mention that one of the folks at the meeting suggested that the parents of the children who live on the western side of the ponds call HISD and request a different bus stop for them. That way the children would not have to walk toward Scott Street, past the ponds.
There were other comments made about the ability of the bus to make turns in our neighborhood, especially with the number of vehicles parked in the streets (which is a violation of the deed restrictions, by the way) but I don't see why HISD couldn't put a bus stop somewhere on Furman.
I've tried until I was blue in the face to get HISD to create another bus stop for the children of Law Elementary in particular. I just got so frustrated because even when I took things up with the head of transportation and then called the district they still did not do anything. I eventually had to pay for a private bus service which is ridiculous given the amount of taxes we pay for HISD. I should also mention that the Highschool's Bus stops right on the cross street of my block (Hilliard) and leaves the back way (Furman) so I can not understand why it is such a hassle for them to just make one more stop closer to us so that the children won't be in harm's way just to get to the bus. Has anyone else experienced this?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information since I was unable to attend the meeting. Since our fences are not covered, does anyone have a good fencing company to use?
ReplyDeleteTasheikia
I understand that the developers are still in control of the HOA, since 75% of the neighborhood has not been occupied by the homeowners. But I think Javier should have consulted with the homeowners prior to taking out a line of credit to repair the fences. We as homeowners have had an increase of $75.00 for our 2009 dues. I think it was unfair for us to be notified of this increase within 1 to 2 months prior to having to pay the dues.
ReplyDeleteDo you know if the fence on Princeton Point cul de sac is covered. Will the HOA fix that fence? Thanks
ReplyDeleteBecause Princeton Point does not currently face Scott Street (since they haven't built Scott out that far) the answer to your question is 'No' -- sorry but they are only fixing the fences that face the major thoroughfares through the neighborhood and out of those, only the ones that are "capped".
ReplyDeleteFrom looking at the map, Princeton Point cul de sac should be included in the HOA fence repair. The cul de sac fences faces Scott Street.
ReplyDeleteI totally defer to Felicia - she is our liaison. Please disregard my answer.
ReplyDelete