Merifield Acres Landowners’ Association, June 10, 2014 Board of Directors’ Meeting Minutes

Call to Order was at: 7:00 PM
Attendees
Board & Committee Members: Nola Adler, Rick Baldwin, Phil Beck, Butch Cheatham, Chris Crouse, Kathy Diamond, Scott Diamond, Andy Ferguson, Carolyn Ferguson, Mike Gupton, FJ Hale, David Hammer, Annie Hensley, Kevin Hensley, Scott Jeffrey, Cindy Meadows, Jim Monaco, Bill Smith, John Stinson, Dewitt Vanarsdale, Alan Weyman

Resident Guests: Joe Doherty, Mike Chandler, Sambo Lewis, Jack Swendrowski

Approval of Minutes
from the April 2014 Meeting was deferred until August so they can be finalized and posted.

Treasurer’s Report
Chair Annie Hensley reported the checking account has $89,750.42; CD $83,994.69; and investment $129,751.92.

Old Business
President’s Comments – Chris Crouse mentioned to Foote property on Merifield Drive, that he spoke with an attorney friend who recommended we get written estimates to raze the building, hire an attorney and approach the court with a new request. FJ Hale will take point on these actions.
Secretary’s Report – Nola Adler had nothing to report.

Open Forum
Mike Chandler expressed thanks for the assistance in identifying burning issues during daytime.

Kathy Diamond brought up the decrease in valuation of the lake front lots in Merifield, noting they are NOT in line with other water front communities. She approached the county officials and got no real answer for the application of the valuations, and suggested that the community let the county know we don’t want lower evaluations. She will provide information to Nola Adler to post to the website.

Joe Doherty said in his and Jim Monaco’s efforts to repair the tennis courts, it’s pretty much beyond repair. Where the cracks are, there is some kind of fiberglass mesh that continues to disintegrate when the weeds are pulled. Not sure what the future hold for the tennis courts.
Joe Doherty also mentioned there had been a meeting with a state forester last year, who’d mentioned there might be state money available for fire fighting. He offered to take point on getting more information on this, given the fires in the neighborhood and how dangerous fire is in Merifield.

Joe Doherty said he’s having some trees removed and offered to get an estimate for 4 dead beetle-infested pines in the circle at the end of his road. Chris Crouse said to give the estimate to Mike Gupton.

Committee Reports

Appearance and Beautification
Chair Butch Cheatham had nothing to report.

Architectural Committee Report
Chair Kevin Hensley reported: “Since my last report, five requests were submitted to the Committee for review and they were approved. They were for one new house, two detached garages, one addition to a garage, and one deck. No requests for approval are currently under review. No issues or complaints are currently being investigated by the Committee.”

Aviation
Chair FJ Hale reported transient traffic in the airstrip, one low pass on Sunday from a twin engine plan, and some damage to the strip from either golf carts or AWD vehicles. The ‘don’t drive on the runway’ sign was damaged where it appeared someone tried to yank it off the post.

Common Areas and Facilities
Chair Jim Monaco reported a downed tree on Briarfield last Friday that he and his neighbor Chad Hoover removed.

Deer Control
Chair Scott Diamond reported 0 kills on this year’s permit.

Roads and Maintenance
Chair Mike Gupton reported he has received one estimate for road repair/maintenance and will be seeking two more bids. One item of note is that to fix the walking path ‘right’ (ie dig down 6 inches, put down 4 inches of gravel and 2 inches of asphalt), the estimate was $44,000 for the 7/10 of a mile long sidewalk. He also got an estimate to replace a collapsed culvert on Merifield for $4500, which would be wise to do before paving occurs.
Mike Gupton, Joe Doherty and Mike Chandler will form a committee to look at the intersection problems at Merifield and LakePoint. Sambo Lewis mentioned in NY there are summertime temporary speed bumps that can be attached to the roadway. The problem is that people departing the community come down Lakepoint at excessive speeds, creating a danger to those on Merifield Drive trying to turn left. A stop sign, speed limit sign, painting on the road or other solutions need to be examined carefully.

Security
Chair David Hammer reported the only incident he had was the damaged sign at the airport, already reported by FJ Hale:  ”There was one reported incident to security since our last meeting (8 April 2014):  Runway Sign. On 8 June 2014, F. J. Hale reported that the “No Driving on Runway” sign on Meriwether Drive had been vandalized (appeared someone had attempted to pull down the sign) and that tire tracks (small tracks possibly from an ATV) leading from the orchard area had crossed the Runway. Security visited the site and confirmed the report. No additional action was taken.”

Welcoming
Chair Kathy Diamond had nothing to report, but requested she be allowed to spend money (up to $25) to welcome new neighbors, or even to say goodbye to those who passed. She also suggested an updated cover sheet for the disclosure packages, soliciting more information. Annie Hensley said she’d attach the updated cover sheet to the packages.

Communication
Directory

Acting Chair Nola Adler reported she’d uploaded a PDF of the directory listing and is looking to disable the plug-in on the website. Also, Linda Carter had told her our site was attacked by bots which filled up the user listing and brought the site down. She did some remediation but said we need someone to manage the site.

Email
Cindy Meadows reported she’d like to send emails out monthly or on whatever basis works, to keep people in Merifield in touch with one another, post items for sale, welcome newcomers, etc. She asked Nola Adler to provide her with the email addresses available.

News
Chair Nola Adler had nothing to report.

Website
There is currently no chair, but Nola Adler said she needs to follow up on a volunteer lead.

New Business
John Stinson related the issues he’s had with the ditches silting in on Lakepoint, such that the heavy rains overwhelm the ditches and wash out his driveway. Kevin Hensley & Jim Monaco scraped the ditches near his house and he thanked them for that. He made a motion, which was seconded and passed without dissent, to add the following verbiage to the maintenance contract when it comes up for renewal: “Next year’s maintenance contract shall include the statement maintenance of the shoulders, ditches and culverts”, with the caveat to keep it vague enough to allow the contractor to work with the roads committee on an ad hoc basis. Rick Baldwin suggested a condition report be created and John Stinson said he would do that.

Adjournment was at: 8:45 PM