ROPOA Board Update, 8 June 2020
June 8, 2020
Dear River
Oaks Property Owners' Association Member:
The Board of
the River Oaks Property Owners' Association had planned to call for the
Annual Meeting on April 7, 2020. Before
communication regarding that meeting could be sent out, the coronavirus pandemic
hit. As the events unfolded, guidelines
were imposed that prohibited meetings of the scope of the POA annual meeting,
and our attorney has advised the Board to adhere to those guidelines. However,
the Board has continued to plan and discuss how best to address the business of
the POA. Unexpected—even
unprecedented—circumstances have called for unusual responses. Therefore, seeing
no clear timeline for calling for the Annual Meeting, the Board has decided to
communicate with the POA membership via this blog. The following is an update on the planned
agenda and explanations for the three amendments to the bylaws that the Board
will advance for membership vote:
The agenda
for the meeting, as prescribed in the POA By-Laws (Article 4.7) will be as
follows:
·
Roll
Call/Attendance to verify that a quorum is present
·
Proof
of Notice of the meeting having been distributed
·
Reading
of the minutes of the previous meeting
·
Reports
of the Officers
·
Reports
of Committees
·
Election
of Director
o
The
Board is suspending the election of a new Board member to replace Long, who is
serving a one-year term, until the Annual Meeting of 2021 since Long has only
served a portion of a year in the office.
The new Board member would be elected for a three-year term, as per the
By-Laws, as will all subsequent Board members.
·
Unfinished
Business
·
New
Business
o
Voting
on proposed amendments to the By-Laws
§
Amendment
to Change the Date of the Annual Meeting:
The Board
is proposing the following as amended language for the by-laws Article 4.3.
Annual Meetings: “The annual meeting may be held on any date during the first
three months of the calendar year, but must be held prior to April 1 of each
year. The Board shall determine the
specific date of the annual meeting, taking into consideration the likelihood
of member attendance and the readiness of records and reports necessary for the
annual meeting. Each member shall be
provided with proper notice of the annual meeting as set forth in Section 4.5
of the By-Laws.”
·
The
date currently authorized, “the first Tuesday in January,” is not viable since
it falls during the typical holiday travel window for many families and since
having a completed annual financial report by that date is nearly impossible.
·
The
new language would allow for flexibility and a more reasonable timeline for
preparing reports.
·
As
per the By-Laws, this amendment must be approved by two thirds (66.7%) of the
members eligible to vote, in person or by proxy, at the annual meeting.
§
Amendment
to Adjust the Annual Assessment: The Board is proposing to adjust the annual
assessment fee of $12.00 set for 2019 to $48.00 for 2020 to provide the
services needed and desired for the POA’s operation today.
·
As
noted in the Covenants documents for each phase of ROAPOA (Article VIII,
Covenant C), the Board must seek approval of the membership for an increase
over 5% to the assessment set for the previous year.
·
The
Board set the 2019 assessment at $12.00 because that was the maximum amount
allowed under the covenants in 1989 for the first assessment collected. Since none had been collected prior to 2019,
the Board had no other option.
·
The
Board understood that, with the assessment set at $12.00, funding was less than
what would be required to provide the services needed and desired for the POA’s
operation today.
·
The
increase to $48.00 is based on the following details:
o
The
anticipated budget of $15,200.00 to provide desired services;
§ Proposed 2020 Budget (based on actual expenditures and projections based on those expenditures)
· Assessments $15,523 (70% of $48 X 461 lots)
· Expenses
§ Proposed 2020 Budget (based on actual expenditures and projections based on those expenditures)
· Assessments $15,523 (70% of $48 X 461 lots)
· Expenses
o
Water $500
o Entergy $500
o Insurance $3,000
o Mailings $2,500
o Lawn Service $2,700
o Entry Maintenance $1,000
o Legal and Accounting $4,000
o Contingency $1,000]
o TOTAL BUDGET $15,200
o Entergy $500
o Insurance $3,000
o Mailings $2,500
o Lawn Service $2,700
o Entry Maintenance $1,000
o Legal and Accounting $4,000
o Contingency $1,000]
o TOTAL BUDGET $15,200
o
The
necessity of having approximately $5,900.00 loaned and donated to fund the POA
to date, as reported in the Treasurer’s report for 2019;
o
The
expectation—based on the 2019 experience--of collecting approximately 70% of
the assessments;
o
The
fact that the Board does not anticipate the need for another “catch up”
increase like this in the future. The
scope of this adjustment is tied to the difference between costs in 1988 and
2020.
·
As
per the By-Laws, this adjustment of the annual assessment to $48.00 must be
approved by two thirds (66.7%) of the members eligible to vote, in person or by
proxy, at the annual meeting.
§
Amendment
to Require the Use of Email Addresses for Official Communication from the Board
to the Members of the POA: The Board is proposing that the wording of
the first sentence of Section 4.5 of the By-Laws be amended as follows: “The
Secretary shall mail notice of annual and special meetings to each member via
the most current email address on the records of the Association. Each member is required to submit his email
address to the Association in order to expedite communication. The member may request postal mail be used,
provided there is no email address available, and the member supplies a current
postal address.”
·
By
changing the official mode of communication between the Board and the
membership from postal service to email, the cost of the required mailing
(approximately $2,500.00 for printing, postage, and delivery as reported in the
Treasurer’s report for 2019) can be greatly reduced.
·
Email
also provides a faster method of communication that would expedite questions
and responses to and from the Board.
·
As
per the By-Laws, this amendment must be approved by two thirds (66.7%) of the
members eligible to vote, in person or by proxy, at the annual meeting.
Adjournment
IMPORTANT
NOTICE: It is extremely important that each member of
the POA vote, either in person at the meeting as described above or by proxy on
the form provided with this letter, in order to achieve a quorum, thereby
allowing an official meeting. Failure to
vote at the meeting or by proxy will necessitate, as per the By-Laws, that the
meeting be adjourned without a quorum and will create additional expense and
loss of timeliness in dealing with the business at hand. We urge all members to commit to either
attending the meeting or voting by proxy by immediately returning the form
provided. Proxy forms will be accepted
by mail up to and including the date of the Annual Meeting or received at the
Annual Meeting itself.
IMPORTANT
REQUESTS:
·
First,
after reading the above information, if you have any questions, feel free to
address them to the POA Board via the email address posted below (riveroakspoa.searcy@gmail.com).
·
Second, since the budget for 2020 was based on an
adjusted assessment of $48 per lot per year, there is currently a significant
shortfall. Therefore, the Board is
requesting that, after reading the information presented above, members will consider
submitting $48 as their 2020 assessment, rather than the currently approved
rate of $12, in order to help meet the budget.
Respectfully
yours,
The River
Oaks Addition Property Owners Association Board
Jimmie
England Scott Finley Larry Long
Web site:
RiverOaksSearcy.blogspot.com
