Merifield Acres Landowners’ Association 40th
Annual Meeting Minutes – October 1, 2016

 

The meeting was called to order at 1:30PM.

Meeting Dates:  Our Board of Directors meetings are held at 7PM on the second Tuesdays of even months (currently at the Hensley’s garage).  We owe a huge thanks to Kevin and Annie Hensley for graciously sharing their home with us for our meetings, saving our Board members the travel time and inconvenience of driving into town for our meetings.

Attendees:  BoD Members: Butch Cheatham, Susan Warren, Annie Hensley, Kevin Hensley, Cindy Meadows, John Stinson, Mike Compton, Kent Galvin, FJ Hale, Emily Howie, Chris Crouse, Rick Baldwin, Scott Jeffrey, Carol Ferguson, Alan Weyman.

Guests: There were 70 guests attending this year.

Minutes Approval of Minutes from the 39th Annual Meeting was moved, seconded and approved.

Treasurer’s Report:  Chair Annie Hensley reported that the checking account with Carter’s Bank & Trust was $113,565.37 and the investment account with Merrill Edge was $150,131.29.  The report was moved to be approved, seconded and passed without dissent.

Old Business

We had several complaints during the year about speeders creating a dangerous situation at the blind intersection at Lakepoint and Merifield Drives.  Our efforts to improve the safety for our residents have resulted in us having to request the Sheriff’s Department to randomly patrol that blind intersection for speeders.  An additional warning sign was added prior to that intersection to remind drivers of the blind intersection.  We ask each resident to inform any contractors they hire that, if they choose to speed in Merifield, we have the option of banning them from entering our neighborhood.  These efforts are necessary due to a few careless speeders endangering our residents.

The trees blocking the path to the community Dock at Oak Park were cut up and removed, thanks to the Board members and residents who participated. 

 The Tennis Court has been resurfaced, the gate replaced and a new net has been added.  Thanks to the Board Members and residents who helped with the preparation.  Thanks to Kevin Hensley for managing the project and keeping the cost to a small fraction of what it would have cost for a professional resurfacing. 

 

Committee Reports


Appearance and Beautification – Chair Chip Overton was not present.  He continues to do an excellent job keeping the front entrance looking great.  He reports that litter continues to be a problem.  Thanks to all who help by picking up litter. We ask our residents to please mention our litter problem to any contractors they hire and let them know that they could be banned from Merifield if they are caught littering our neighborhood.  

Architectural Committee – Chair Kevin Hensley reported that there were 7 requests that were submitted to the Committee for review and were approved.  To summarize for the year there were:

  • No houses built
  • 3 Additions
  • 1 Attached Garage
  • 1 Detached Garage
  • 3 Sheds
  • 2 Decks
  • 1 Porch
  • 1 Pergola

No requests are currently being reviewed at this time.  No written complaints were received last year.  No other issues are currently being investigated at this time.

Aviation – Chair FJ Hale reported that the long-term plan for the airport runaway is to re-seed the slope on the runaway.  He also mentioned that two new people have volunteered to be on the committee. 

Common Areas and Facilities – Chair Alan Weyman:  He reported that there will be a wedding reception at the Barn.  The downed trees in Oak Park that were blocking the path to the community dock were removed.  Thanks to all who helped, but especially to Phil Beck for bringing his tractor and Kevin Hensley for the use of his water truck.

Deer Control – Chair Scott Diamond had nothing to report.

Roads and Maintenance – Chair Mike Gupton: Please continue to keep Mike in your prayers.  Thanks to Kent Galvin for standing in for Mike.  

Security – Chair David Hammer reported that the security cameras are working and that there were no break ins this year.

Communication:


Welcoming / Email – Chair Cindy Meadows: continues to do an excellent job keeping our residents informed with the MALA newsletter. 

Directory – Chair Susan Warren had nothing to report.

Website – Chair Susan Warren: Thanks to Hal Norman for his work improving the MALA website.


New Business


The 2017 Budget was approved by the membership vote.

Elected and Approved Board Members – Annie Hensley, Mike Compton, Cindy Meadows, Rusty Bishop, Bud Divens and Carolyn Ferguson were elected to the Board of Directors.  Kim Fuller had previously stepped in to fill a Board vacancy resulting from a resignation, and was appointed by the Board.   

Land Swap Proposal -  At the August Board meeting, Sambo Lewis presented a proposal to swap Lewis land near the front entrance with MALA common area land adjacent to the airstrip.  There was a discussion regarding the proposal and it was decided to form the Lewis Land Swap Committee to review the proposal and make their recommendation to the Board.  In order to obtain an unbiased, objective opinion regarding the proposal, Chris Crouse, the only Board member who is also a realtor, was appointed Chair. The committee consisted of three Board members who own property adjacent to the airstrip, two of whom are pilots, and two additional members.  After their meetings, the Committee’s recommendation to the Board was to send a request to Mr. Lewis for more detail and to list conditions required before the Board could make a decision on the proposal.  Before the Board could respond to Mr. Lewis, he withdrew his proposal.  However, due to the time and effort put into reviewing the proposal by the Board members, the Board voted to provide Mr. Lewis their initial response, which was presented to him at the annual meeting.  It was noted that everything is negotiable, except safety at the airstrip.

Adjournment was at 3:15 PM.

President’s Comments

 We thank each of the MALA board members, committee members and residents who volunteer your time to help keep Merifield a great place to live.  Many of you work full time, and you still find the time to volunteer.   In the upcoming months we have some recurring challenges for which we will need our residents’ help to address:

 Trees that endanger our roads:  We need our residents to help us identify trees that endanger our roads.  Storms and disease have presented us with a lot of problems with trees.  We greatly appreciate our residents who volunteer to help remove trees and limbs off our roads and common areas.  One professional tree removal can cost several times more than one resident’s dues for the entire year, so we need volunteers to help with tree debris.  Kent Galvin works full time, so please call him if you are able to help (366-788-3720). 

Road Maintenance:

The expenses for tree removals have a direct effect on our budget for road maintenance.  We ask that you contribute to our annual roads budget, and be patient as we try to keep our roads in good order within our tight budget.

Speeding:  Recent complaints about speeders are addressed in the Old Business.

We need to work together to reduce speeding in Merifield.

Litterers:   Another challenge is how to deter litterers who detract from the beauty of Merifield.  As mentioned in the August 9 Minutes, we ask each resident to inform any contractors they hire that, if they choose to litter our roads, we have the option of banning them from entering our neighborhood.  We take littering seriously.

Bias:

The Board is biased.  It is biased in favor of MALA in it’s decisions.  Everyone is biased about something, political discussions being a good example. The Board’s responsibility is to put aside any personal biases to provide an objective, fair response to our residents’ needs while staying within our budgetary restrictions.  We strive to maintain a safe and enjoyable community with as little disruption to our residents as possible.

Volunteers:

Occasionally, the Board has positions that become open and we try to fill those positions as quickly as we can.  We need volunteers who are ready to step up to serve when that happens.  Please give your contact information to any Board member if you are interested in serving on the Board or on a committee.

Recommended Contractors:

We have received complaints about some contractors working in Merifield.  We recommend that our residents talk to their neighbors before hiring a contractor. A list of recommended contractors obtained from attendees at the annual meeting is listed below:

Auto Services: Glasscock, Clarksville Tire

Appliance Service:  Loftis, John Clark

Carpenters:  Mike Chase, Mike Denton, Danny Houchins, Kenny Blackwell, John Fowler

Dock Service: Buggs Island Dock Service

Electricians, Watkins, David Puryear, Strum Electric

Home Builders:  Steve Boelte, Simmons & Assoc., Steve Storm, Todd Palila, Chad Hoover Construction

Marine Services: Clarksville Marina,  Southside Marine

Plumbing: Watkins

Septic: Mathews Sanitation

Tree Service: Donald Wall’s Tree Service, Lawn Sharks, Charles Anderson Law Care

Well and Pump Service: Hensley Well Drilling

Yard Maintenance: Charles Anderson Lawn Care, Jerry Epp, Ron Hancock

 

If you have a contractor you wish to add to the list, please email me with their contact info.

We wish each of our residents Happy Holidays and a safe and enjoyable 2017!

Regards,

Butch Cheatham, MALA President

919-618-1917 (C), email: malaissues@gmail.com