Meadowbrook Farm / Clarkson Estates Subdivision
Board of Trustees HOA Meeting Minutes
Thursday, January 25, 2024
Chesterfield City Hall
Call Meeting to Order
Present at the meeting were Carol Fine (President), Lisa Monachella (Secretary), John Thompson, and Mark Stolzenburg. Brad Barks (Treasurer) was present via conference call. This is the first meeting where the meeting started at 7pm versus 7:30pm. The Board went around and gave a brief introduction. Review of the October 2023 meeting minutes commenced with a motion to approve. The motion was passed.
Financial Report
Brad reviewed the financials. A 2023 Income Statement was provided. We still have $12,000 of past dues. This is from a few homeowners. Some of these homeowners are on payment plans. One of the items budgeted last year was tree removal. Good news was shared that the organization did not spend as much as budgeted. Within this conversation, a
homeowner expressed interest in knowledge concerning the annual assessment increase. At this point, every homeowner should have received the 2024 bill. Due to time and content to cover, a few questions were addressed. The homeowners present were reminded that all background and reasoning for the increase in annual assessment was covered in the July and October 2023 meeting minutes along with information mailed to homeowners for the 2023 election. With saving money on the 2023 budget and the increase, Brad stated the organization can now replenish the reserves along with investing in order to create income for future projects. Brad talked about the CD investment made on behalf of the organization. The CDs have been laddered, currently maturing every 3 months. As the coming due CDS are reinvested the maturities will happen every quarter going forward. One of the projects is the grounds. We have three parks, two entrance corners and 19 islands which all need maintenance. There was a final question on the Legal budget. Again, everyone was reminded this was covered in previous meetings. Due to looking at changing the indentures and organization set up, legal advice will be needed.
2024 Board Goals
- MF-CE Priorities and Activities Survey – John presented a new way to survey the residents. This will allow the Board to receive feedback from homeowners on what they would like to see happen in the neighborhood. This is done by email so a homeowner would need to be on the email distribution list.
- Incorporate as a not for profit – As stated in previous meetings, the Board will look into restructuring. This might be able to benefit the organization though the tax structure and/or insurance responsibility.
- Baxter Entrance Enhancements – The last time the entrance was overhauled was when the Baxter project was implemented. The Board is looking at updating the lighting and the landscaping.
- Reinstated TruGreen program – In order to save money for the organization, this was cut. The Board and many homeowners have noticed the increase in weeds throughout the open ground and parks. By reinstating this, the Board is home to visually improve these areas.
- Updating indentures and adding rules – The indentures are over 20-year-old, and the neighborhood currently has no rules in place. The way the indentures are structured and also having no rules, makes it hard to enforce the requests of homeowners on how the subdivision looks and how the common ground is handled.
- Form Committees – The survey mentioned above will help us get a start on this. The Board would like input from homeowners. The Board hopes this will provide homeowners a more direct option to provide input. There are many great people in the neighborhood with wonderful ideas.
- Islands – With so many islands, the Board is looking into what to do from a landscaping angle. All options including looking at removing them are being researched. These from a landscaping standpoint are expensive. Making them uniform in some manner can help with the cost of maintenance. While removal seems drastic, it can be helpful from a large vehicle standpoint.
- Continue curb appeal campaign – This received results, so the Board is going to continue to send letters to homeowners in violation of our indentures and Chesterfield ordinances.
With all of the topics above, the homeowners in attendance agreed with what was said and the
direction the Board provided.
Improved Communications with Residents
Carol talked about how the organization does not provide any communication to the renters in the neighborhood. The Board would like to provide a welcome packet to renters as we do for owners. This received a nod from all in attendance. Enhancing the website is an idea to enhance communication with owners. We have started adding e-newsletters to the site. It was suggested to add the meeting minutes as a draft so owners who do not make the
meetings do not have to wait 3 months for them to be passed at the next meeting. A homeowner asked about posting financials. The topic of security was discussed. Then a suggestion was to see about having a “homeowners only” webpage where the public would not have access so private content can be shared. The final topic was being able to provide opinions and suggestions anonymously. Currently there is no option for homeowners to communicate in this way. The Board thought about having a suggestion box at the meetings. This did not get rave reviews by owners present. But what most people thought was more of a need was a bulletin board in the parks or a park. Parasol Park was mentioned.
Common Ground
The board is continuing with the tree house cleanup. While the tree house was taken down in 2023, the materials we just piled up in the common ground. Now, the Board will continue to phase 2 of removal. The 2024 Spruce Ups will be scheduled. This was a hit last year so it will be continued. The Board will schedule all the dates for the year in order for homeowners to plan. This includes all scheduling rain delay dates. The Board wanted to talk about diseased tree removal but due to time, this topic was tabled.
Council Person Update
Mike Moore and Dan Hurt were in attendance. They talked about the process of selecting the new police chief and the appointment of Chief Cheryl Funkhouser. The 2024 Chesterfield Budget was passed. They talked about the progress of the Chesterfield development. Attendees ask about specific entities and what would happen. A homeowner also
asked about ordinances and fines for Chesterfield.
Meeting adjourned at 9:00pm