Minutes of FHA Board Meeting July 10, 2007

Those in attendance were: Jim Ackerman, Gillian Cell, Lowell Kennedy, Walter Jernigan, Carol-Ann Greenslade, Mary Lou Einloth, Leonard Kreisman, John Hammond, Harriet McGraw, Barbara Thompson, and Gary Simpson.

The following residents also attended: Joyce Kennedy, Nan Swagerty, Don George, Bill Kern, Barry Reece, Barbara Harris, Barb Alotis, Wes McGraw, Elizabeth Lovelace, Bill Sommers and Jean Hjelle.

The meeting was called to order by President Ackerman at 7:00 PM. He introduced the new members of the Board and pointed out that Harriet McGraw was taking Bill Stempfle’s place and would be responsible for covenant activities. Barbara Thompson will be responsible for Community affairs. John Hammond has taken Jim Bond’s place and will be the liaison for Governmental concerns. Jim also indicated that there were some additional items that had been added to the agenda.

The minutes of the May 3rd. meeting were approved.

Walter then delivered the Treasurer’s report and indicated that the 2007 Budget was on target. He pointed out that only $653.00 inn dues were still outstanding and that CAS was following up on those delinquencies. Barring no unforeseen expenditures FHA should close the year with a surplus of about $9000. The specifics of the Treasurer’s report will be posted with a copy of these minutes .Walter then reported on the Reserve study. A committee consisting of Jim Ackerman, Walter and Carol-Ann reviewed a proposal by Raymond Engineering, Inc. The proposal was to provide the Board with a 7 year Plan which would detail projected expenditures for those areas for which the FHA is responsible. Among those to be examined are the mail kiosks, playground, Gathering Place, the grounds, walking paths as well as the Beaver Pond. It will also provide information as to the size of the Reserve fund that the FHA should develop. The report is due in mid-July and the expenditure of $3500 for such a report was approved. A resident was assured that the survey would include necessary maintenance of the Beaver Pond.

Bill Sommers then raised the issue of responsibility for storm drainage and John Hammond was designated as the Board person to look into this matter.

Walter concluded his report by indicating that the annual audit is being undertaken and he has furnished the CPA firm with copies of the various contracts that the FHA has entered into. In addition, he mentioned that the auditing firm had asked about a Reserve study, last year, but none had been done. Now it will be possible to furnish them with an affirmative response to that request as well as a completed copy of the Reserve study when it is finished.

Carol-Ann then reported that she has authorized an expenditure of about $500 to once again clear the trap at Beaver Pond and Robert Flynn will, once again, remove the sediment. She also reported that DOT may pay a third of the expense of the forebay itself. Some $300 may be forthcoming from the State. The property at 280 Claymoor is an issue since the grounds are over grown. A letter has been sent to the owner and arrangements have been made to have the property cleaned up at a cost of $75.00 which will be billed to them. They are also delinquent in their dues and CAS is on top of that situation. Carol-Ann also reported that Elaine Alexander who had been maintaining the appearance of the Smokehouse and Swim and Croquet kiosks, could no longer perform that responsibility but fortunately two residents in attendance, Barb Alotis and Barbara Harris volunteered to take on that task.

Jim then raised the issue of RB’s offer to create a path from South Langdon to the new kiosk. After some discussion it was decided that a response to RB would await Carol-Ann’s contact with Robert Flynn to determine the exact path that such a walking path would take. Jim expressed some concern that there was a need for FHA to respond fairly quickly to RB’s offer.

Lowell then reported on the kitchen renovation of the Gathering Place. The additional storage space construction is on hold. Bridge and other table storage will be accomplished by using table caddies so that tables can be stored in minimal space and the caddies can be wheeled out and tables set up whenever necessary. Additional expenditures in the kitchen area will await the results of the Reserve study.

Harriet McGraw reported that since she is new to the position she is still involved in acquainting herself with the issues and should have more to report at the next meeting. Bill Sommers then raised some questions regarding covenants and Jim informed those present as to what the FHA had done. He described the video which had been prepared by Ed Bedford and Bob Flower which detailed covenant enforcement and the various steps that were required to deal with other covenant infractions. Jim also pointed out that FHA’s jurisdiction involved Phases I-IV, The Woods and Bush Creek. The other areas have mechanisms for covenant enforcement which are already in place. It is the FHA’s plan to establish a Covenant Committee made up of representatives from Phases I-IV, Bush Creek and The Woods who will work with Harriet to make sure that there is equity in terms of applying the rules and their enforcement. Jim also pointed out that Ingram Austin, a former Board member is working on rules and regulations which will make clear to all residents, and how members of the covenant committee are selected, what their term of office is as well as their responsibilities. It is hoped to have such material available by the time of the annual meeting in November. The need for consistency was underscored by Bill Sommers who read a letter that he had distributed to Board members.

Gillian then reported on the work of the Strategic Planning Committee. Its members are Bob Cherniak, Evy Barrow, Mary Lou Einloth, Mike Cotter and herself. The Committee has been examining the implications of growth of the Village, and the changing demography with more younger residents and children, as well as the FHA governance structure. A questionnaire is being prepared which will be distributed to residents in the fall. This will be done both electronically, for those with e-mail and by distribution of paper copies for those who do not have computer access. It is hoped that the information provided will serve as a guide to future planning.

Gillian then indicated that the suggestion for ads in the Newsletter had been rejected by the Communications Committee. Besides putting an additional burden on those producing the Newsletter and requiring the identification of a volunteer willing to sell advertising, the group felt that there was a redundancy since there were a number of other free advertising publications distributed in the Village. The other report concerned the decision reached on the basis of the ad hoc copier Committee. Outsourcing the Newsletter was carefully examined and it was decided that it would not be economical. This led to a decision to rent a more efficient and less expensive copier once the lease expires in January. It is expected that the new copier capabilities will save FHA some money and also provide for greater efficiency in the production of the Newsletter.

Mary Lou then reported that she hopes to have an Emergency Preparedness Plan to submit to the Board by August and there may be some considerable expense associated with that plan. She also reported that Chatham County is installing a reverse telephone call system which will allow the county to notify residents of any impending emergencies through the use of a recorded message to their personal phone. CERT ran a Disaster Day as a way of preparing for an emergency and participation was good. Speed monitors are in place and while some impact on speeding has been noticed there is still work to be done. The Community Watch program needs to be revived and Mary Lou is working on that as well as working with Block and Area Captains so that they are better acquainted with their responsibilities. In case of an Emergency in the Village the Fearrington Cares Office has been designated as the Emergency Command Center.

John reported that the increase in Chatham County property taxes went for the new Judicial Center, a new Elementary School in Siler City and for improvements in the Fire system. The bond issue for the new high school is now also covering some improvements to the Northwood School since the capacity of the new high school has been scaled back some. Briar Chapel has provided land for a middle school, a charter school and a fire station. Additional information on Newland indicates that there will be no grocery store in the Malls and probably nothing will develop in those strip malls until there is significant residential development which is not expected before 2008. In addition, with the recently passed moratorium there will be an opportunity to consider what restrictions might be placed on developments in those areas.

John then discussed the issues involved with the Barber Fitch property as well as that of the McLean property. Reference was also made to the desire to have access through Langdon for the McLean property since it is landlocked and John pointed out that that property would support the construction of several hundred houses. Carol-Ann also raised the concern about whether or not the existing road structure could support the heavy vehicle use that would be involved in such an effort. Gillian also raised concern about the fact that there are many walkers along Millcroft and with no walking paths and the increased traffic necessitated by the construction that will take place on the Barber-Fitch property a dangerous situation will be created. This will even be so without the possible addition of construction on the McLean parcel. After some additional discussion the Board voted to have John draft a letter for Jim’s signature addressed to the Planning Board stating FHA’s objection to allowing McLean to have access through the Village. The motion was made by John and seconded by Gillian. The motion was approved unanimously.

Barbara Thompson reported that the Newcomer’s Fair is being planned for October. She also reported that the Adopt a Highway program is alive and well because of the efforts of Ray and Beverly Andrews who gather a crew every other month and clean up the area between Mt. Gilead and Jack Bennett roads.

Gary reported that new art work is now up and the volunteer corps continues to function well. In addition, a new group of 3 or 4 volunteers will be introduced to the operation this week. He also reported that the old files have been gone through and that the new electronic filing system is now being introduced. The data base is also being updated and in general things are going well.

Jim then asked Barry Reece to bring the meeting up-to-date on the trash recycling activities. He reported that 3 vendors were invited to make presentations. These were: Waste Industries, Waste Management and Chatham Disposal. In summary the 2 new vendors would pick up once a week and residents could put all recyclables, newspaper, various glass and plastic items, as well as waste paper and magazines into one container and garbage in another container. The major issue that the Village faces is to provide one of these vendors with sufficient customers to make it both feasible and to make the cost per resident reasonable. After some discussion it was suggested that perhaps Ann Deupree and the Green committee might take on the task of drumming up support for such an effort. Carol-Ann agreed to follow up on that suggestion.

Jim then called for resident input. Marilyn Band suggested that there needed to be more publicity about FHA meetings. She suggested notices in the Newsletter, notes on the Bulletin Board as well as an indication at the end of the posted minutes as to when the next meeting would be. Jim noted that at the annual meeting, to be held on November 11, the Barn was booked for a Jazz concert but that the meeting would be held at the end of the Jazz concert and that refreshments would be available before the annual meeting.

The next meeting of the Board will be on September 4th at 7 PM at the Gathering Place.

There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 9:15 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Leonard T. Kreisman, Secretary

A resolution was approved so that the FHA Board would go on record as opposing access to the Village for any McLean construction activity.