Starlight Mesa Homeowners Association

Board Meeting

Minutes

6-24-15, 7:30

SP House

Present – Greg Goeckner (GG), Sylvia Paz (SP), Alex Benderskii (AB), Derrick Pan (DP)

Not present – John Andraos (JA)

Renovation requests:

Vote on fence move proposals.  GG noted that he had sent an e-mail to the community summarizing the state of discussions on the various fence move proposals.  The community response to that note had been all positive and he had heard nothing from the families that wanted to move their fences.  He thought it was appropriate for the community to have a fence policy, which he would draft for discussion and approval by the Board in the fall and then to be discussed with the community at the annual meeting in November.  SP and DP agreed that a policy statement should be adopted.  The Board then voted to deny the pending requests to move fences by the Gerbracht, Kim, Chang and Hsu families (AB abstaining).

Boulanger exterior renovation request.  GG reviewed the proposal by the Boulangers to replace exterior doors and windows and to rebuild the deck on the rear of their house.  The Board unanimously approved the proposed renovations.

Artificial grass installation requests.  GG noted that Jim Mulligan had not followed up on his earlier request to install artificial grass in his front yard.  SP commented that the proposals for this work had been too expensive and JM had decided not to proceed.  SP will ask Glenn Cunningham to post articles about the subject on the community website

JPL/NASA boundary survey:

GG reported that he and other residents whose properties border JPL had received notices that JPL plans to survey the property line in this area.  GG had spoken to the NASA employee in charge of the survey.  NASA will undertake the survey and then decide whether to take any other actions.

Neighborhood watch:

GG reported that Nikki Mojarradi had raised the issue of organizing a neighborhood watch in the Mesa.  He noted that prior Board members had indicated that earlier efforts to launch such a neighborhood watch had been short-lived.  DP advised that the prior effort followed a series of burglaries from cars in the neighborhood.  AB noted that the recent burglaries in the area had taken place during the day.  GG had noticed more sheriff’s patrols in the area recently.  He will survey the neighborhood and see if enough people volunteer for this effort.

Maintenance Report:

SP advised that Jose Toribio had completed the brush clearance work; SP and AB will do a walk-through of the area the next day.  SP asked about the community water bill following the new planting around the pool area.  DP will investigate. 

AB noted the recent burglaries and suggested that we re-key the pool and tennis court enclosures.  DP said this had not been done in at least the last 7 years.  AB suspected that people from outside the area are getting keys from friends, including people who no longer live here.

Pool rules:

GG raised recent complaints about people staying at the pool after closing time.  SP said this was not the same problem as in the past, when there was drug dealing going on at the pool.  AB said he didn’t think the noise from people at the pool late at night was a significant problem. DP had gone to the pool several times to remind these people about closing time and they had all been polite.  Most were high school or college age and claimed they lived in the neighborhood.  GG suggested a more prominent sign about closing time at the pool.  SP will talk to the Stiticks about the issue.  AB suggested putting the pool lights on a timer and rewiring the circuit to prevent people from turning the lights on after closing.  DP will keep going by to remind people the pool is closed.

Pool project:

DP had reached out to Glenn Cunningham about serving on a pool project subcommittee; Glenn had agreed to serve and had suggested other names.  DP is looking for 3 or 4 people for this group.  The Board discussed potential candidates to ensure a broad representation of community members.

Treasurer’s Report

DP reported that at the end of May the HOA bank account had $34k, with $13k in outstanding checks for a net balance of $21k.  There were no big expenditures coming up except the final payment for the brush clearance work of $6k.  The reserve account has $54k.  Finally, the delinquencies in dues had been cleared, except the one family that had not paid for several years and is subject to a foreclosure action.

SP asked about restarting the gazebo project.  For $5k, Prescott Construction Company could do a simple rebuild of the gazebo, using the existing posts, with a flat roof and wood trellis.  She did not think this would require a building permit.  AB suggested the Costco Tuscan Pergola for $5k.  It uses a plastic composite and is available online only.  SP will get another bid for a better quality rebuild for discussion at the next Board meeting.

Planning for annual picnic

GG suggested that the Board pick a date for the picnic now.  The Board approved August 29.  GG will circulate that date to the community and see if there are any significant conflicts.

Planning for annual meeting

The Board approved November 15 as the date for the annual community meeting.  GG will also notify the community of this date.

Next meeting

            Tuesday, July 21

            7:30 p.m.

            SP house