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Coleson Cluster Association

1600-1688 Wainwright Drive
Reston, VA 20190

Founded in 1967 in the Lake Anne neighborhood of Reston
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Minutes to the Meeting ,
April 27, 2004, 7:00 pm

Host: Sam and Eileen Harahan
1. Present: Sam Harahan, President; Beth Anne James, Vice President; Michael Coyne, Director; Chuck Szczepanski, Director; Jennifer Tomlinson, Director; Willard E. Fraize, Treasurer.
2. Review of the Minutes from the April 5, 2004 Board of Directors Meeting: Deferred. The minutes were previously distributed by e-mail but not available during the meeting.
3. Review of outstanding items from March 1 Board of Directors meeting and from the April 22, 2004 Annual Meeting
  • March 1 items: cars in cluster, storage in carports
    1. Cars out of compliance with the By-Laws: Discussed Car situation, Residence 1640. Same vehicles in question as during previous meetings. Covered car in carport, not running and tags expired. Blue Toyota Tercel in the parking lot also may not be in compliance, we need to verify whether it has the plate in the back window. The blue Volkswagon truck is out of date but is driven by the homeowner.
      Written warning mailed by the postal service to the homeowner on January 12. Current action: Sam will give written notice, with a 30 day warning time period.
    2. Storage in the carports: Still ongoing issue. Sam will ask Manish if he sent letters to violators. Sam will follow up and send additional letters. 7 days notice will be given. Previous notice delivered to each residence 8 January 2004.
  • Design covenants issues: Lattice fence in front of 1676. This is a privacy screen, not in accordance with the by-laws for front yard fencing. Sam will contact the homeowner to initiate the discussion, then write a letter requesting the removal of the screen. 30-days notice will be given to remove the screen.
  • April 22 Annual meeting items:
    1. End of School Party: Cheska Peterson suggested that it would be a good idea to host a children's party in June, after the school year is over. The Board agrees this is a good idea, and will suggest to those who have children that they can take the lead and plan something, and the Cluster will contribute a certain portion for their funds from the Social Events category. The amount is to be determined. Michael will contact Sharon Queresema, Sam will talk to Cheska. The goal is to let the parents/households with the children make the arrangements.
    2. RELAC metering info. Beth Anne will take the action to check on the process to change to a meter.
    3. Suggestion was made to post an explanation of the FY2004-05 budget increase on the CCA website. Not everyone was at the Annual Meeting so it would be thoughtful to add some information to the website to explain the increase. Will did add some information about the meeting, naming the new directors, and that he has the budget information packets available for each family. He will add the text introduction included with the budget to the website for the justification.
    4. Hardi-Plank carport siding matter: This is a composite material. It comes in 4-8 ft sheeting, can be with grooves, pre-painted, etc. It is disease resistant and weathers better than normal plywood. It is an interesting suggestion for the carports, but we will investigate whether there are other options that are more effective. This is going to be a topic for the new Maintenance Committee.
    5. Status of painting : Deferred to June 7 agenda meeting.
    6. Carport leaf blowing: The current contract will charge $200 to blow out all of the carports. Normally done for Octoberfest. It will be considered for periodic cleaning.
    7. Tree arborist involvement. The current contract is with Growing Earth. The issue identified in the Annual Meeting is whether there is a conflict of interest to have the same company doing the cutting compared to maintaining. Chuck manages the company and feels they are reliable and ethical. The Board agrees that we will continue with Growing Earth for both tree maintenance and removal until such time as it appears that their advice is questionable and unjustified.
4. Signature cards for the New Board: Motion was moved, seconded and adopted, to approve the signature cards listing the BoD on the SunTrust account 000070289.
5. Dealing with some "What is the Status" items:
  1. Existing Cluster general liability insurance policy coverage and where is it kept.
    The current State Farm policy expires May 18 2004. State Farm will send the current description of the coverage. Current policy premium is $1297. It includes coverage for $508,300 for buildings, with a $250 deductible. Business liability is $1 million. Medical payments up to $10,000. The general aggregate limit is $2 million/year. (These details are for discussion purposes during the meeting. Actual amounts may differ in the insurance policy).
    Will received a quote from IHG insurance, the insurance company endorsed by the Community Associations Institute. The premium is $759, and it offers a $1,000 deductible. This policy has Directors and Officers (D&O) coverage. Will needs to review this policy more carefully to determine whether it is the same general coverage as the State Farm policy.
    What is D&O coverage: covers Board of Directors in their official capacity against claims. General liability policy doesn't include D&O coverage. Most BoD actions are covered by Property Owners Act. The question is whether one made decisions in good faith. The State Farm policy has D&O coverage.
    Both policies will be reviewed to determine if the coverages are comparable. If we can find a policy with comparable coverage by May 18, for less money, we will consider changing the policy. If we can't find a comparable policy, then we'll renew with State Farm.
    Process to approve change of policy before next meeting: Will will call State Farm and IHG to compare. We will consider increasing the State Farm deductible to $1,000 if it will reduce the rate.
  2. Issue: kids cutting through the cluster to the school. What is our liability?
  3. Existence of directors and officers liability insurance coverage: discussed above.
  4. Brief explanation/review of financial controls in place re. How money flows through Cluster hands;
    1. Signature cards for each Board Member: this means that two signatures must be on every check. Treasurer does not have signature authority.
    2. Check request: Whenever a check is issued, there must be a check request. Will prepares the check, gets two signatures. A Receipt is required unless it can be justified or adequately explained. Will keeps original invoice or copy of invoice with each check request.
    3. Will balances bank statements. Balance to penny each month.
    4. Incoming checks: Will makes copies of each check that is received before deposit. Available in case of any dispute in the future. Maintains a notebook with copies of all invoices, writes in the information when it was paid
    Sam recommends for improvement that at least one signature should be the Board President's unless he/she is not available.
6. Financial Information
  CD renewal: Current amount: 10,488.07, 9-month maturity
  Options: 1. New CD, offering a 13-month rate @ 1.49 %; various low rates with maturity up to 5 years; 2. Treasury bills: 3.9% for 5 years.
  Will recommends new CD at promotional rate for 13 months. Keeps it fluid and accessible.
  Sam suggests we need to look at the way we are managing the CDs, can we invest amounts that will mature in regular cycles. Will states that we need to plan for the future year when we will need the money for the re-roofing, etc.
  The Board moves to accept new CD for 13 months.
7. Any outstanding potential Cluster gotchas which Bill Fraize, Jennifer, Chuck or Beth may know about; and
  1. Outstanding dues: one household (1624) is behind in dues. 3rd quarter non-payment. Action to be taken: Verify payment at the end of May, if not paid by then Will is to contact Cahoon to set up payment plan.
  2. Ginns, Homeowners of 1632 are behind due to problems with the escrow account managed by the Property Management Company. Will to verify current payment, but if still behind he will send a letter to the property owners.
  3. Concern about the status of the physical records and contents of the minutes. Status of records in general: A financial audit will be made in June for accounting purposes. Secretary and President to review the status of the records, perhaps glean what isn't necessary. Need to attend to specific documents in one location.
  4. Reserve study: We have been doing a home grown study, determining maintenance and costs internally. We don't know exactly the requirements for our infrastructure and accounting/treasury requirements. We need to consider whether we need a professional evaluation. In addition, we can contact vendors to get estimates for renovations for our structures. We believe that we are planning accurately and have been establishing a healthy Reserve fund, but we need to review and prepare for adequate reserves in the future.
8. Review of our "in good standing" status with the State of Va. re. annual corporate filing, and the State Real Estate Board certificate, and any required 2003 tax returns.
  Will verifies that we are paid up and both are filed. Ready to refile for the year. Chuck S. is the contact of record for the State Commission, because they needed a household, not a PO box. The official mailings go to him.
9. Recruiting/appointing cluster members to the two new committees we just created
  Beth Anne sent a general message to the Cluster Residents. She received responses for the Landscaping committee. Depending on the purpose of the committees, the By-laws say two Board members must be on the committees.
  Action: Additional solicitations will be sent to the residents to participate in committees. Then we will initiate the committees in June.
10. Other business
  • Disclosure packet review (Sam will work with Bob Lanman to review the status of the disclosure packet. To be discussed in June)
  • Reston Assoc. sample board member position descriptions: handouts provided.
  • Post proposed agendas on the website
  • Per Chuck, a concrete provider will be here April 28 to review the work in the Cluster.
  • How is it authorized by the Board: in the budget. The question is what if it is a much higher bid than expected. The Board will review against other budget areas to decide to proceed.
  • Sam suggests we get a competitive bid if over a particular amount. Need to review this process.
  • Chuck will give a list of the vendors that are on contract for the Cluster.
Meeting Adjournment: 9:10 pm
Mailing Address: P.O Box 8382, Reston, VA 20195-2282