PineIslandRidge.org - 2015 August Meeting Minutes

2015 August Meeting Minutes

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PINE ISLAND RIDGE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION

MONTHLY BOARD MEETING

AUGUST 17, 2015

ATTENDEES: Board Members – Dave Kwiatkowski, Ron Hahn, Ivone Palus, Sharon Moore, Cindy Ferrini,  Bob Smith, John Brock, Yolla Blair, and Judy Elliott. Proxies were provided from Elizabeth Sengupta and Steve Hodges. Mr. Hodges’ proxy was discounted due to the sale of his home in the community.  Homeowners in attendance were Karen Danko, Cornelius Kostelyk, James and Deanna Friend, Tim and Ann Vezey, Laura Hatford, and Paula & David Wills.  Town Guests present were Mike Troxell and Jeff Huet.  Mr. Peter Bylen, Property Manager for 1st American Management Company was also present.

Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Vice President Palus.

TOWN GUESTS:

Updates provided by Mr. Troxell :

  • Presented information from the uniform crime report from the SPD from July 1-31, which is broken down by areas within Schererville, and town wide statistics. Pine Island homes are low crime, with 2 assaults and 1 theft vs. town wide 7 assaults and 47 thefts.
    • Homeowner Deanna Fried requested Mr. Troxell speak to Chief Dowling regarding cars going thru stopsigns at the corner of Pine Island and Porter Place.
    • Board Member Elliott asked Mr. Troxel to speak to Chief Dowling regarding non-response to calls at Twin Lakes in regards to loitering and persons not living in the community trespassing.
  • 3 new police officers were hired. A list is being compiled for new potential officer hires.
  • E911 system should be ready mid-September.
  • Parks – Burr and 70th – access trail with right of ways.
  • U-Haul/U-Locks is taken over the old Klawinski Building
  • Assisted Living project before the planning commission
  • BP gas station is now re-opened (however, no gas at the current time).
  • Addressing safety concerns at 91st and Burr.
  • New businesses being constructed at 30 and 41 (Burger house, Jimmy Johns).
  • Remodeled Strack and Van Tils has opened.
  • Whole Foods scheduled to open September 23, 2015
  • Economic Development Team has allocated $20,000 for 3 years to bring in economic development to the area.

Updates provided by Mr. Huet:

  • 4 projects are out for bid. Bids have been asked to be returned by August 21. These projects are to fix rear yard drainage issues at the following addresses : 8720 Mathews; Burr St. and 87th Court; 8430 Porter Place;  and 90th & 91st.
    • Homeowners affected who were in attendance discussed with Mr. Huet that these problems have become quality of life issues, with floods, etc.
  • Preparing roads this year for overlays next year.
  • Mosquito abatement on-going. No need to go down courts, as insecticide is carried by prevailing winds.
  • Homeowners discussed with Mr. Huet the acceptable method of lowering curbs. Huet stated the Town would assist them in their efforts.

Vice President Palus thanked Mr. Troxell and Mr. Huett for sharing their updates, and invited both to stay if they so desired.  Both visitors declined and left for the evening.

Mr. Peter Bylen of 1st American Management Company, Inc. made a presentation to the Board as requested for residential property management.  They manage various properties within the Lake County, Valparaiso, and New Buffalo areas. They perform as a 3rd party performing functions which would still need direction and approval from a Board (minimum of 3 per State Statutes).  Functions peformed are bill payment, dues collection, bids/proposals for projects, insurance analysis, regulatory compliance, and maintenance. Charges would be $4.00/home per month (roughly $50/year per home).  Empty home charges would need to be assumed by the HOA. The management company would also perform compliance drives through the neighborhood twice per month and would assess compliance to our covenants and bylaws. Compliance would be reported to the Board.

Management company would provide reports and support for the annual meeting.

Having a secretary to take monthly minutes for board meetings would be an extra charge – not quoted at this time.

PIRCA would need to agree to an initial 2 year contract, thereafter, it would be renewed on an annual basis.  Rates could increase, based on CPI, which over the last few years has averaged <2%.  Increase would be capped at 1-3%, which would be negotiable.

They manage by Teams, with one person being the lead manager for the area.

Currently, they manage the Aberdeen subdivision in Valpo, Doubletree, and Briar Cove to name a few.

Action Item for Peter is to provide Vice President Palus with a quote to provide a secretary to take monthly board meeting minutes.

Mr. Bylen was thanked for making his presentation by Vice President Palus, and left for the evening.

 

MINUTES FROM THE JULY 20, 2015 BOARD MEETING

  • It was noted that under the section noted Treasurer’s Report, there was an error in reporting “a home” in the subdivision is up for tax sale. This should read “a common area parcel”.  Judy Elliott made a motion to accept the minutes with the correction, and was seconded by Cindy Ferrini.  Motion passed unanimously.

TREASURER’S REPORT FOR JULY 20, 2015

  • One house is in a foreclosure sale. We should be able to collect back dues owed to us.
  • Bob Smith made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report and

Ron Hahn seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.

COMMITTEES

Commons Area/Landscape

  • Access has 4 more trees to remove.
  • Sharon Moore has attempted to contact Access for a proposal to continue work on tree removal next year.
    • Action Item: Sharon to continue to pursue Access for proposal for next year.
  • Follow up is needed to see if low areas complete in south commons for fill and reseeding and if additional pea gravel was added to the south common playground.
    • Action Item: Bob Smith to follow up with Seasons for completion.
  • The broken glass from the auto accident that occurred at Twin Lakes has been cleaned up.
  • Grass and weed clean up at 8497 W. 89th has been completed.

Ponds

  • Pond weed control does not look effective at this time. It was stated that Seasons had sprayed, and Dave will check with Seasons.
    • Action Item: Dave Kwiatkowski to follow up with Aquatic Weed Control for a bid for future weed control around the pond areas.
  • 8700 Durbin Lane – Cherry Creek Landscaping has not done any work as was approved to correct drainage issues due to inclement weather and soil conditions.
    • Action Item: Dave Kwiatkowski/Bob Smith to follow up with Cherry Creek.

Playground

  • No new business.

ARC

  • Danko/Wills fence maintenance space issue was discussed. It was agreed by the board that this is a neighbor issue and cannot be resolved by the board.  The Wills have received a permit from the Town of Schererville to put up new vinyl fencing. Karen Danko stated she had spoken to Mr. Troxell before this meeting about the situation.

 

Compliance (Homeowner’s issues/Problems)

  • 4896 W. 89th Place – Persistent issue with overgrown bushes, garbage cans left in front of the home, van with commercial advertising. Steve Hodges has sent a letter to the homeowner.  Town of Schererville Code Officer Sam DeCero has sent a letter.  Officer DeCero has also recently given the homeowners a citation on their door.
    • Action Item: Ivone Palus to follow up with our lawyer to see what else can be done to enforce compliance by the homeowners.
  • 5077 W. 85th Lane – there will be a home auction on September 1, 2015.
  • Action Item: Sharon Moore will contact NIPSCO to report an underground gas smell in front of 5077 W. 85th Lane that was reported.

 

New Homeowners Update

  • 4 new homeowners to be welcomed by Ivone Palus.

 

PIRCA Newsletter

  • Newsletter with proxy for the annual homeowners’ meeting (October 12) has been sent out and received.

 

PIRCA Website

  • Newsletter information will be posted on the website.
    • Action Item: Ivone Palus to provide Dave Kwiatkowski with word version of the newsletter and proxy to be posted.
  • The website is currently updated to Steve’s most recent contact list.

 

Special Events

2015 Annual Homeowners’ Meeting

  • Hyles Anderson College has confirmed the date of October 12, 2015. Rental fee for the same room as last year remains at $100.00.
  • Will need list of all current homeowners to facilitate sign in at the meeting.
    • Action Item: John Brock to provide list by September meeting.
  • A reminder for board members to provide Steve Hodges with lists of projects/pictures for the annual meeting power point presentation by the September board meeting. Steve will be back in town to make the power point presentation at the annual meeting.
  • Sharon Moore has contacted and invited the appropriate town officials to the meeting.

OLD BUSINESS

  • We have had presentations made by two property management companies. A third presentation is scheduled for the September board meeting.
  • A suggestion was made that a review of the by-laws will need to be made with the lawyer to allow the change to a management company (if necessary) if no new board member volunteers come forward.

NEW BUSINESS

  • Action Item – Vice President Palus will contact the lawyer to confirm how long records need to be kept, as there are storage containers of records. How long necessary?
  • Action Item – John Brock to arrange for audit review of financials. Ivone Palus to provide contact information from Swartz-Retson who performed the last review.

NEXT BOARD MEETING

  • September 21, 2015 – 7:00pm at Rosati’s.

ADJOURN

  • Judy Elliott made a motion to adjourn, and Bob Smith seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 8:35pm.