Merifield Acres Landowners’ Association, June 11, 2013 Board of Directors’ Meeting Agenda

 

Call to Order

was at 7:00 PM.

People present

Bod Members:  Nola Adler, Rick Baldwin, Butch Cheatham, Chris Crouse, Clint Dalton, Dave Hammer, Carolyn Ferguson, Mike Gupton, FJ Hale, Annie Hensley, Kevin Hensley, Jim Monaco, Bill Smith, John Stinson, Dewitt VanArsdale

Guests:  Jerry Dougherty, Joe Dougherty, Andy Ferguson, Darlene Hammer

Approval of Minutes

from the April 9, 2013 Meeting (posted on www.MerifieldAcres.org) was unanimous.

Treasurer’s Report

Chair Annie Hensley reported the checking account has $96,397.02; Investment account $108,066.99; and the DC $38,840.00.  The spending to date has been under budget.

Old Business

President’s Comments:  President Crouse thanks the complaint committee for their work on the complaint from Ben Jackson and said Mr. Jackson had already filed another, mult-part complaint the committee is working on.  Discussion ensued on the new complaint and the complaint process itself.

Secretary’s Report:  Secretary Adler said at the last board meeting a request had been made to have the Bylaws presented, and she brought copies for everyone.  Discussion about the Bylaws resulted in the decision to have everyone review them, and any change brought to the next meeting so the ‘final’ version could be brought to the annual meeting for official adoption.

Open Forum

Joe Dougherty said he’d rented Oak Park for a celebration, and was not happy with the wiring inside the barn which he’d powered with a portable generator.  He’d offered to rewire the barn properly, but when he asked the President, who in turn talked to our insurance company, the President said he couldn’t let him do so as Joe lacked a VA electrician’s license.  Mr. Dougherty urged the board to consider fixing the electrical before something bad happened.

 

Carolyn Ferguson said she is making progress on the sign to put near the entrance for the annual meeting and asked when it would be.  October 5 was chosen as the date.

Committee Reports

Appearance and Beautification

Chair Butch Cheatham reported he’d received complaints about the weeds in the tennis courts and had sprayed them.  He also said he’d received numerous complaints about the ditches in the community and their inability to handle all the recent rainfall.  Discussion about the state of the ditches followed.  It is not in the maintenance contract but maintenance needs to be done.  Mike Gupton said he’d follow up on hiring someone.

Architectural Committee Report

Chair Kevin Hensley reported:  “No requests for Architectural approval were submitted for review since the last report.  No Requests for Approval are currently being reviewed.  No issues are currently being investigated.  Summary: Nothing to report.”

Aviation

Chair FJ Hale reported the airstrip has been cut nicely and the drainage after the recent rains is good.  There is a lot of transient aircraft using the strip.  He was approached by a new aviation group in Virginia and has paid $30 to join them for a year.

Common Areas and Facilities

Chair Jim Monaco reported there is a lot of debris left around the neighborhood after recent storms, mentioning Hidden Wood Court, Elm and the orchard near the airstrip.  He thanked all the folks who came out after the storm to help clear the roadways, and said that Mecklenburg Electric Coop will be removing a leaning tree on Elm.  He and Kevin Hensley made plans to pool resources and remove some of the debris.  The gate at Oak Park needs some repairs and Kevin Hensley volunteered to fix it along with an oak tree that needs to be removed in the park.

Deer Control

Chair Scott Diamond was not present and did not provide a report.

Roads and Maintenance

Chair Mike Gupton reported that our maintenance contractor Mike Hite had ‘borrowed’ the fire truck from the Clarksville Volunteer Fire Department to blast out debris from a clogged culvert near the area on Merifield where all the trees had been harvested.  MALA gave the CVFD $100 donation.  Discussions with Sambo Lewis regarding road repair from the tree harvesting off Merifield have been left with Mike passing along the $1300 estimate for the damage to Hazelnut and the damage to Merifield undetermined at this time, as far as an estimate goes.  Chris Crouse mentioned Sambo had called him to offer $1000 for the Hazelnut repair.

Security

Chair David Hammer had nothing to report, but Chris Crouse mentioned that there had been a dog bite reported to him.  The bitee did not wish to pursue any action at this time, but a board member said that the county’s dog control unit is very good about investigating vicious dog attacks and no one should be tolerating dogs biting passersby.

Welcoming

Chair Carolyn Ferguson had nothing to report.

 

Communication

Directory

Chair Carolyn Ferguson requested assistance from Nola Adler to get into the website and make updates.

Email

Chair Linda Carter has resigned and we will need a new email person.

News

Chair Nola Adler had nothing to report and again asked for folks to call and let her know what should be posted.  We can use the forum to exchange ideas and goods as well as news.

Website

Chair Linda Carter has resigned and Nola Adler said she’d do what she could to keep the website going.

 

New Business

The community dock annual maintenance came due in May and the bill was paid.  Buggs Island Dock service is doing a full year of dock monitoring for $300, half their going rate.

 

Jim Monaco brought up that some new folks in the neighborhood have been hoodwinked by less-than-illustrious contractors, paying for services that never materialized.  People are cautioned that there is a big ‘No Solicitation’ sign at the front entrance, and to carefully vet contractors for any work.  Withholding payment until services are rendered seems a fairly safe way to accomplish this.

Adjournment

was at 8:50 PM.