DATE:  January 3, 2006

Board members present: Jim Ackerman, Ingram Austin, Drew Bratton, Gillian Cell, Bob Flower, Joanne Flower, Carol-Ann Greenslade, Lowell Kennedy, Bill Stempfle

Board member absent: Bill Sommers

Other residents present: Richard Bird, Sally Bird, Don George, Ruth Kreisman, Tom Hauck, Lee Caldwell, Bob Comey, Ruth Nicholson, Barbara Snotherly

The meeting was called to order by President Drew Bratton at 7pm in the Gathering Place, Fearrington Village, Pittsboro, NC.

Resident Input

Topics brought up by residents included the following:

1) features and cost of audio enhancement of the Gathering Place;

2) a suggestion that an audio assessment of the room be done before the installation of new speakers;

3) a suggestion was made that the Board vote in the presence of the community.

4) the question was raised as to why a letter to Bill Sommers from Newland Communities had not been made available to the community via the FHA website.

Drew stated that all suggestions would be taken under advisement by the Board and that the matter of the letter from Newland would be addressed with Bill Sommers at the next work session of the Board.

Approval of the Minutes of the Dec.6, 2005 Meeting

The following amendment was made to the minutes:

1) “A discussion and request was made by one of the residents (Ruth Kreisman) to review whether or not a hearing assistance capability could be added or included with the audio capabilities of the Gathering Place. The board indicated it would review the request.”

A motion to approve the amended minutes was made by Bob Flower and seconded by Carol-Ann Greenslade. The motion carried unanimously. The minutes were approved as amended.

New Business

1) 2006 Operating Budget: Bob Flower stated that the 2006 operating budget will be based on the provisional budget approved at the November 13, 2005 annual meeting with one modification for insurance expenses. Based on the December insurance bill, this annual budgeted expense will increase from $7600 to $8400. [Click here to see the budget.]

2) It was moved that the attached budget based on an annual fee of $92.00 per lot and $69.00 per Galloway Ridge residence which was approved as the Provisional Budget for 2006 at the November FHA Board Meeting and modified for increased insurance expense, be approved and ratified by this board as the Operating Budget for the fiscal year 2006. Motion to adopt by Carol-Ann Greenslade. Seconded by Ingram Austin.

3) It was moved by Bob Flower that the Resolutions contained in the SunTrust Bank forms designating signature authority for our accounts and safe deposit box at that Institution be adopted in their entirety and without change and that the Secretary of the FHA may certify and attest to these facts when and where necessary. Seconded by Ingram Austin.

4) It was moved by Bob Flower that the FHA Board confer authority to do all acts necessary to maintain the FHA Vanguard Federal Money Market Funds to the President, Andrew Bratton, the Vice President, James Ackerman and the Treasurer, Robert Flower. This authority to manage the said Vanguard Funds shall include but is not limited to making deposits, withdrawals, signing checks and doing any and all acts necessary for the use of these accounts in the best interests of the FHA.

Further is was moved that the signature of any one of the above officers will be sufficient on any transaction with said accounts up to the board designated limit of $5,000 beyond which will require two of the three officers. Seconded by Ingram Austin.

5) A motion was made “that authorization up to $250.00 be authorized for the purchase
of a digital tape recorder system” for use if the Board secretary is not present. Moved by Gillian Cell and seconded by Bob Flower.

6) Richard Bird gave a demonstration on the use and benefits of the FHA website. Informational handouts regarding the website were made available.

Resident opinions for improvements to the website included:

a) a suggestion that the inclusion of the FHA covenants on a non-secure page of the website may not be appropriate – this matter will be taken under advisement by the Board;

b) it was suggested that the legibility of the text on the FHA website newsletter page could be improved. Richard Bird will follow up.

7) Carol-Ann Greenslade made the motion (during her director’s report) that the bill of $325 for materials and labor for siding repairs to the S&CC Kiosk and The GP, to date, be paid from the 2006 General Expenses account. Seconded by Ingram Austin.

Each of the motions carried unanimously. All new business motions were approved.

Committee (Board Member) Reports

Vice President-Jim Ackerman

The communication committee will meet the third week of January.

Gillian Cell- Community Affairs

I want to begin by thanking Cynthia Jones who has been – and I know will continue to be – extremely helpful to me as I learn all that is involved in Community Affairs.

I have organized a meeting of the block and area captains at 7 p.m. on 26 January in the Gathering Place. It will be an opportunity for us to get to know one another, to discuss their responsibilities, and to explore their willingness to play a role in the Community Watch Program. Art De Luca, who is organizing that program, will speak.

We have some new volunteers for block and area captains, for which I am very grateful, and will need to identify others.

We are trying to revive the Road Pick Up Program which fell into abeyance because of the construction on 15-501. Some residents have already volunteered to be involved and we will be recruiting more.

Ingram Austin-Financial Officer

FHA dues collection is on going and by the end of the month close to 100% will be in. Letters of reminder are sent to overdue members. The usefulness of the debit system may be re-evaluated in the future since its cost benefits only approximately half of the membership.

Bob Flower-Treasurer

Attached is the Treasurer’s Report as of November 30, 2005 with five included tables.

Our November monthly income totaled $1,783 primarily from user fees and money market dividends. Our monthly expenses were $6,370 the majority of which were for Grounds & Facilities and the FHA office. The detail breakdown of expenses is shown in Table 3 attached to this report. The balance in our checking account as of November 30, 2005 was $14,055.88.

Our liquid assets total $175,272.75 with details by account in the attached Table 4.

Table 5 shows November Income and Expense in the Monthly Summary Report and is for posting in the kiosks and at the FHA Office bulletin board.

Carol-Ann Greenslade GROUNDS & FACILITIES

The leaning tree on Village Way is history. Chips from the tree have been delivered to Windstone/Turtle Run Park. We will need some volunteers to help spread them out later this month or next.

Damaged pieces of siding on the S&CC Kiosk and The Gathering Place have been replaced and the remaining material stored for future use. The damaged corners will be done as soon as we can find the appropriate size materials.

The Smokehouse kiosk roof drip-cap has been replaced by Fitch Creations and the kiosk is ready for painting. The cost of exterior and interior painting (not including the mail-distribution room) is estimated to be between $2,500 and $3,000. I will be getting a firm quote this month.
The Reserve Committee met on 12/15 and determined that the 1st project of the year would be to have walks installed inside the curbing around the Gathering Place. I will be writing up the specs for the job and getting bids this month.

I met with Bill Sommers, Rita Spina, Hugh Knapp and Todd Tugwell from the Army Corps. of Engineers at the Beaver Pond on 12/20. The extended period of time over which the siltation of Beaver Pond and Creek occurred has resulted in a delta-like wetland where the stream enters the pond. The end result is that a very enlarged wetland has been created. Todd Tugwell will be back on Wed., Feb. 8th at 9:30 to delineate the wetland boundary. We cannot pile the dredged material within the wetland, so if there is not sufficient area to store the material on site, the cost of the project will be increased immensely. There are also strict requirements for preventing erosion of the dredged material while it dries, before spreading it out. We probably should not accept any offers of compensation until the real costs of the entire project are known.

Christmas tree pick up will be done on Tues., 1/10, by Chatham Disposal. This is a one-time pickup, so mark your calendars and don’t miss the date. They will pick up the trees first, and then make another pass for the regular garbage pickup.

Two streetlights were reported to Progress Energy for bulb replacement. The one at the end of Wintersage was done in record time. However, as of Sunday PM, the one at Barnsley and Spindlewood remains out. If it is not replaced by week’s end, I will call them again.

Drew Bratton-Vice President

Quality of Life programs. The programs I participated in during the month of Dec. are the following. These comments are summary comments and do not represent final detailed information and follow-up activities for each program.

FHA Office. Total copies for the month of Dec were 37,486 Total income for the month was $ 390.45

Community Watch Program Five Community Watch signs will be placed through out Fearrington Village this month indicating Fearrington Village has a Community Watch Program. Current proposed locations are: Creekwood north of Village Way, between the deer warning sign and mail kiosk, (2) Village Way west of Windstone, (3) Village Way north of Lassiter, (4) Millcroft west of South Langdon, (5) Weathersfield between Caswell and West Camden.

We continue to work on the volunteer personnel replacement program for Don Reilly who has been responsible for the printing of the FHA newsletter. Don will be gone for sure in April and possibly in March. If we are not able to find a lead printing volunteer we will be forced to make a change in how the FHA newsletter is printed. We ask those residents who are interested in taking over this program to contact me.

Bill Stempfle- Covenants

One person resigned from a covenants committee and two people were added to another covenants committee.

Lowell Kennedy-Gathering Place

The Gathering Place was utilized 43 times by various groups, clubs and organizations for scheduled meetings and/or social gatherings 43 times during the month. An inventory of equipment and outfit as well as a comprehensive list of vendors and suppliers of services and supplies is ongoing. There are 49 meetings presently scheduled for January.

Final Resident Input

It was suggested that for reasons of safety, R.B. Fitch and his staff be contacted for assistance with changing some of the light bulbs in the Gathering Place.

Richard Bird and his Computer Committee were thanked for the work they do on behalf of the community.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:15pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Joanne Flower, FHA Secretary