DATE:  February 7, 2006

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

Board member absent: Bill Stempfle

Residents in attendance: Evy Barrow, Don George.

The meeting was called to order by President Drew Bratton at 7pm in the Gathering Place, Fearrington Village, Pittsboro, NC. Jim Bond was introduced as the new Board member replacing Bill Sommers.

Approval of the Minutes

A motion to approve the minutes of the January 3, 2006 meeting was made by Jim Ackerman and seconded by Gillian Cell. The motion carried unanimously and the minutes were approved as submitted.

Treasurer’s Report- Bob Flower

Attached is the Treasurer’s Report as of December 31, 2005 with five included tables.

Our December monthly income totaled $1,509. The main sources of revenue were User Fees and our Money Market dividends. Our monthly expenses were $12,425 more than half of which was for our annual insurance premium which this year totaled $7,852. The other major expense areas were the Gathering Place and Grounds & Facilities. The detail breakdown of expenses is shown in Table 3 attached to this report. The balance in our checking account as of December 31, 2005 was $7,685.92.

Our liquid assets total $166,627.44 with details by account in the attached Table 4.

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

Committee (Board Member) Reports

Lowell Kennedy - Director, Gathering Place

In January 2006 the Gathering Place had 53 scheduled meetings or events. There are presently 52 scheduled meetings or events scheduled for February. Replacement valences for the large and small room and lobby windows are in the process of fabrication and will be installed when received. A plan for shelving and file cabinets to make the storage room a more viable space for the FHA office has been presented to the FHA for approval.

Gillian Cell – Director, Community Affairs

Planning for the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the FHA continues; a date of Place Saturday, 6 May has now been chosen.

More than 40 people attended the meeting of Area and Block Captains at the Gathering Place on 27 January. There was discussion of the various problems they encounter, including knowing who the newcomers are and when they move in, and of the need for all residents to have a basket or some other receptacle in a sheltered position on their porches where newsletters and other communications can be left. Art De Luca made a presentation on the community watch program and a substantial number of the attendees expressed interest in becoming involved. The problem of getting information on most new arrivals to Fearrington has been solved by RB Fitch’s generous offer to supply me with monthly information which will be shared with the Area and Block Captains.

A small group of volunteers has met to discuss the resumption of the Adopt A Road program, and Beverly and Raymond Andrews have generously offered to serve as organizers of the project. The first order of business will be to recruit many more volunteers.

Jim Bond – Intergovernmental Affairs Liaison

Jim is meeting with Bill Sommers and other residents involved with intergovernmental affairs to insure a smooth transition of this Board position.

Carol-Ann Greenslade – Director, Grounds and Facilities

Carol-Ann reported on the status of proposals/contract for the Gathering Place sidewalk, painting of the smokehouse kiosk, spring clean-up week of March 6, Windstone Park wood chips, possible change in parking format for the GP parking lot. As a result of a meeting with Todd Tugwell (Corps of Engineers) she reported that remedial work on Beaver Creek Pond could be very costly and counter-productive. It was concluded that because of the impact on residents bordering the pond area and because of the importance of the pond to the general community, this situation will be an on-going concern and project for the Board. All alternatives will be considered and the expertise of Bill Sommers will be sought.

Jim Ackerman – Vice-President

The name of the directory will be changed to the “Resident Handbook and Directory” at the suggestion
of the Communications Committtee.

The Newcomers’ Fair will be held April 7th.

Ingram Austin – Financial Officer

As of today’s date, there are unpaid dues on 20 lots. Of these, 11 members have contacted me and I expect payment from them within the next 7 to 10 days.

With regard to the other nine, I have received no communication. They have not responded to the initial invoice of 12/1/05 or to a notice of unpaid dues that I mailed during the week of January 17-20.

It was proposed that action be undertaken as proscribed under the Declaration and as described in the Bylaws but the president of the Board decided that such a consideration could best be done in a working session of the Board. The next working session of the Board is on February 13.

The Board president indicated that after the work session a full report will be given to Fearrington Village residents at the next public Board meeting on March 7, 2006.

Old Business

a) Minutes of the monthly Board meeting will be presented in summarized format, meeting the standards of Roberts Rules.

b) Regarding hearing-assist capability in the Gathering Place, the GP has $18,000 worth of user-friendly audio equipment in place. New speakers are being added and a new computer has been purchased. The new speakers and microphones will be evaluated for sound quality and the need for hearing-assistance will then be assessed.

c) The letter from Newland to Bill Sommers has been made public on the FHA website, as requested.

d) Lowell Kennedy will be responsible for changing of light bulbs in the Gathering Place.

New Business

a) In the working board session Jan 30th it was indicated 2,100 directories would be printed for the 2006 Directory. The increased number of directories over the previous year as well as 25th Silver Anniversary logo decorations has caused the final amount to be increased over the budgeted line item. The Directory will now be called Resident Handbook & Directory.

The cost for printing will amount to $7,808.86. This is an increase of $1,008.86 over the budgeted line item of $6,800.00

A motion was made by Jim Ackerman and seconded by Carol-Ann Greenslade that authorization be given to spend $7,808.86 for the printing of the 2006 Resident Handbook and Directory. The motion carried unanimously.

b) Printing of the newsletter will be a carried out in the future by a team of (7) volunteers directed by a coordinator. Don Reilly will not be responsible for printing the newsletter as of March/April. The team system will be evaluated in the coming months.

c) Five signs have been installed throughout the Village as part of the Neighborhood Watch program. R.B. Fitch donated the labor for installation of the signs. 90 people have expressed interest in becoming actively involved in Neighborhood Watch and they will meet in March. The goal is to have 7-10 households per each Neighborhood Watch captain.

d) A 25th Anniversary Commemorative Newsletter is planned for printing in May or June. An exhibit for the 25th Anniversary is planned for (approximately) May and material is being accumulated for this exhibit.

e) Representatives of the Road Safety Committee made a presentation to the Board at the January 30th work session. The RSC reviewed the activities of the past year and asked for Board support in requesting placement of law enforcement officers to begin ticketing “speeders” and other traffic violators on village roadways. The majority of the Board agreed that there should be no Board intervention in this law enforcement activity. A letter was sent to the RSC informing them of this decision, thanking them for their excellent work and encouraging them to continue their awareness and education efforts which are having a positive impact.

Resident Input

a) It was suggested, since some residents expressed objection to the Neighborhood Watch signs via the FHA bulletin board, that the Board contact those residents. Such contact would provide the opportunity to explain the benefits of the Neighborhood Watch program. The Board will take this suggestion under advisement and Jim Ackerman will follow up.

b) A request was made to publicize how individual Board members voted regarding the previously noted request of the Road Safety Committee. This request will be considered by the Board and will be addressed at the March 7th Board meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:55pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Joanne Flower, FHA Secretary