Meadowbrook Farm / Clarkson Estates Subdivision
Board of Trustees HOA Annual Meeting Minutes
Thursday, October 26, 2023
Chesterfield City Hall
Call Meeting to Order
Present at the meeting were Carol Fine (President), Lisa Monachella (Secretary), John Thompson and Mark Stolzenburg. Absent was Linda Walp (Treasurer). The Board went around and gave a brief introduction. Carol introduced Linda and thanked her for her service as her term expired at this meeting. We reviewed and approved the July meeting minutes. There was a request to make a correction to the April meeting minutes. It was noticed after the July meeting where the April minutes were approved that there was a misprint of a street name. A situation
was documented as being on Country Ridge when it should have been documented as Country Field. This correction was passed.
Trustee Election
This year there were three open positions with three homeowners on the ballot. There was discussion on why we need a vote at the meeting even though there was the exact number of positions open. In the event where, previous trustee leaves before their terms are up, voting comes into play to determine which homeowner running fills which uncompleted terms. The three owners running this year were Lisa Monachella, Brad Barks and Mark Stolzenburg. Each homeowner did give an introduction with background on why they elected to run.
2024 Budget
With Linda being absent, John stepped in to review and explain the details Linda presented back in July. Since the July meeting it was noticed there needed to be some corrections made to the spreadsheet Linda provided. Total income should have been $104,150 and total expense should have been $101,431.13. Therefore, this would change the Net Income. There was a discussion about our Reserve Fund and the reason why it is necessary, touching on our fiduciary responsibility. Generally, it is recommended per various sources, to keep one year’s worth of income in the reserve fund. This makes it easier for associations to know what this number should be as the years pass and inflation occurs. Unfortunately, in past years the association has dipped into our reserve funds for various reasons. We need to bring this back up to not only the current year’s income but the new yearly income after the assessment is raised.
Next, John started touching on all the expenses that have caused the increase in the budget. This sparked conversation and questions from the homeowners in attendance. Conversation started with dead deer. While some homeowners have elected to pay for the removal of dead deer on common ground when it is immediately behind their house, this is an association responsibility. There have been a few cases the association has had to take care of. Council persons Mike Moore and Dan Hurt who were in attendance, reminded the audience if the deer passing appears to have been caused by hunting, we can call Chesterfield. Chesterfield will handle the removal if death is caused by hunting. Tree removal is a continuing topic of discussion. John made it clear we have had owner requests that have been declined. Some homeowners had the impression the board was saying yes to all the tree removal requests 2 received by homeowners. It was noted that trees were brought to past boards’ attention, and nothing was done. Some of these trees did fall and cause damage to personal property. The Board now was responsible for the personal property damage. Luckily, damage was caused to fences and nothing more serious. The Board talked about how wooded areas do require maintenance and the Board wants to start being proactive with this maintenance. This will reduce the number of tree fall issues and make the view for the residents looking at the wood areas more enjoyable. Many homeowners had questions about trees in the easement. For these trees, Chesterfield handles requests and concerns from homeowners. If any of these trees happen to be Sweet Gums, Chesterfield will remove them. Tree roots in this location can also cause sidewalk issues. Please let Chesterfield know if you have any sidewalk issues in the front of your home. The Board talked about the Legal increase. The Board is looking into updating the indentures as the current version has had its 20th anniversary. The Board also wants to research how the association is set up legally and if it is set up in a way that mitigates the risk for individual homeowners. Both of these items would require the work of a lawyer. Hence the increase of the legal line item in the budget. The Board welcomed ideas for ideas on updating the indentures. Besides the tree expenses, there was discussion about general grounds expenses and the cost involved even with the Common Ground Cleanup days. For example, the subdivision has 19 islands to maintain. Homeowners stated they would have been able to participate more in the cleanup days if only notification could go out sooner on when they would be scheduled. The budget discussion closed out on social events. The events that have taken place in 2023 were a big hit. The subdivision would like to see more and have them
yearly. To do the social events right, money needs to be spent. For 2023, the events were paid for by personal funds from homeowners organizing the events and any donations that could be made by the attendees. Going forward, the Board would like to be able to contribute to these events so this will be a new line item for 2024.
After this discussion, voting took place. There were 16 homeowners in attendance with four absentee proxies. There were only two who voted no to pass the budget. Therefore the 2024 budget passed. This means the 2024 assessment was increased to $280 annually per household.
New Business
The only new business from the last meeting was to provide an update on the Halloween Social.
This was an exciting event. Everyone appreciated the time and effort placed by homeowners to
create and organize the event.
Board Accomplishments
Due to time, this was touched on very briefly. We covered home/property improvement
applications received and how homeowners are improving the neighborhood, the success of the
email distribution list, the Spring cleanup days, the curb appeal campaign, the National Night
Out and where we are with assessment collections
Councilmember forum
Mike Moore talked about the park updates and encouraged everyone to use the various parks in
Chesterfield. Dan Hurt gave an update on the Gateway project in the Valley and where Dillard’s
stands with the mall update.
Meeting adjourned at 8:56pm. Minutes submitted by Lisa Monachella