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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Fearrington Homeowners Association

APRIL 2004  MINUTES

DATE: April 6, 2004

PRESENT: Ann Bigelow, Richard Bird, Stephen Bodner, Frank Chut, Jerry Gaudet, Cynthia Jones, Al Lebeau, Janet Lorant, Steve Ruziecki, Lisa Stewart

ABSENT: None

GUESTS: Barry Reece, Henry Castner, Bob DeVido, Bill and Nancy Kern, Bob and Nancy Oram, Don George, Florence Shapiro

APPROVED: June 1, 2004

President Gaudet called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. and called for resident input.

Resident Input

Henry Castner informed the board of a proposal for walking paths and distributed a map illustrating proposed routes. While there are no final plans, he asked the board to consider the information. President Gaudet requested that Henry distribute the information to RB Fitch.

Barry Reece reported two trends in Fearrington recycling: 1) with more residents the Village is generating more waste for recycling, and 2) there is less participation. Participation is also spotty throughout areas in Fearrington due to different service agreements. He asked the board to consider discussion with service groups to increase participation.

Approval of Minutes

The minutes were approved with one correction: in the County Liaison report for March, Bob Atwater was listed in District 1 and Margaret Pollard from District 2; the minutes will reflect the reverse.

Treasurer’s Report (Appendix A)

Frank Chut reported that expenses for the month of February were high as predicted. This is due to a double payment made to our new landscape vendor for the first two months of the year and to the cost of printing the directory. Frank also reported that for the first time FHA filed a North Carolina state tax return. In January FHA received a tax deficiency notice from the NC Department of Revenue that income earned on monies is taxable. Thus, FHA filed a tax return to NC for 2003 and a late return for the years 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2003. He also filed a petition to forgive late interest payments and penalties. Although the matter is not yet resolved, he does not expect the final amount payable to exceed $2000. Due to the statue of limitations, we do not need to file for years preceding 1999.

Nancy Kern asked for the amount of dollars FHA has in reserve. Frank reported that the group has over $30,000 in the Vanguard Reserve Account and over $40,000 in bank CDs.

After a motion to accept the treasurer’s report, the motion was carried.

Issues Requiring Immediate Action

None

Old Business

None

New Business

None

Committee Reports

Community affairs – Cynthia Jones reminded the board that the Easter egg hunt will take place on April 11th at 1:30 p.m. Children nine and over will be asked to arrive early to hide the eggs for the younger children to find.

Cynthia is reviewing the newcomers’ packet and adding the covenants to it. She will send a copy to all block captains and provide packages in the FHA office.

Covenant Issues – Anne Bigelow reported that she held a meeting of Fearrington covenant groups to work on variances toward the goal of consensus on interpretations and standardization of resulting actions. She foresees a future need to obtain legal counsel on issues where covenants are vague. The covenants in the FHA directory are a summary of the general principles covered by most area covenants and are intended as a reference for residents. A procedural document has been created and distributed to the covenant service groups. She has asked for service group review and comments on the document. With that input, the FHA board will be asked to vote on the procedural guidelines at the next board meeting.

County Liaison (Appendix B) – Al Lebeau reported that the Cary Town Council approved the annexation of the 509 unit Forest Oaks development which straddles the Cary and Chatham County line and annexes 130 acres of Chatham County.

Al reminded the board that April 19th is the date for the Commissioners to vote on the Compact Community Ordinance.

FHA office – Steve Ruziecki, board representative to the Long Range Planning Committee, reported that the Long Range Planning Committee is studying the pros and cons of incorporation, of annexation, and/or making neither change in the future. The committee will provide the board and community with the results of their study.

The board discussed the use of the copying machine in the FHA office and reiterated that the use of the machine is for Fearrington residents and groups for nonprofit purposes only. Frank stated that he is studying the cost of maintaining the Gathering Place to determine whether the rentals pay for building upkeep.

Financial Officer – Richard Bird reported that there are still five outstanding FHA dues for this year. He has notified the identified residents.

Gathering Place – Lisa Stewart reviewed the poor condition of the bathrooms in the Gathering Place and provided a cost estimate of $1500 per bathroom for renovations and repairs. She moved that the board authorize the expenditure of $1500 per each of the two bathrooms for repairs; the motion was carried.

Lisa reported that the replacement ceiling tiles have been delivered and will be installed beginning Friday the 9th of April. The floors in the large and small conference rooms will be refurbished after the ceiling tiles are complete. The HVA systems have been serviced and the audio/video system is being reviewed.

Grounds and facilities – Steve Bodner reported that notices are going out to remind residents and their guests to refrain from parking large vehicles on Gathering Place property. He also confirmed that both the spring and fall cleanup announcements will be made earlier than this past spring and guarantees that residents in all service areas will be able to participate.

Steve reviewed his study of a proposal to pave the Smokehouse mail kiosk parking area and to repave the deteriorating paving at the Gathering Place mail kiosk. He noted that it would cost $500 to $1000 per year to add new gravel as it sinks into the wet clay during rainy seasons, and that the total cost of paving over its lifetime would be less than maintaining the gravel. The paving would upgrade the Smokehouse kiosk to the same surface quality as already exists at the other FHA mail kiosks in the village. After discussion from the floor and among the board it was decided to take no action at this board meeting, but to engage a grounds engineer to review the drainage issues in the locations. Nancy Kern requested that Steve survey the users of the kiosk areas to see if paving of the area is a preference and stated that paving expenses are large for an area not used by all the residents. Steve responded that an informal survey was already performed last year by his predecessor with the vote strongly in favor of paving, and in the past work has been done on areas affecting a small number of residents.

Additional Resident Input

Florence Shapiro asked if the board had any information on a completion date to the entrance of the Village. The president responded that according to a recent conversation with RB Fitch, there was no known date.

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m. The next meeting will be on May 4th, and the town meeting will occur on May 20th.

Respectfully Submitted

Janet Lorant, Secretary