2024 Board of Directors

  • Walter Bolles, President
  • Tricia McDonnell Garrison, Vice President
  • Eileen Dills, Secretary & Treasurer
  • Mike Daniels, Arc Committee
  • Chris Becker, Landscaping Committee

2024 Accomplishments

Board Policy Improvements

We did a huge push to really formalize our HOA’s standard operating procedures across the board this year, so future boards and board members have a much easier time understanding their roles and responsibilities.

As president I read a book on HOA management, did hours of legal research, and had many, many conversations with our property management company and legal to try to come up with a solid HOA foundation for our community.

  • The board adopted a formalized Code of Conduct to govern the behavior and conduct of board members that will be re-ratified yearly. Previously, the former property management company offered a basic template Code of Conduct that was insufficient and lacked any authority.
  • The Landscaping Committee did not have an official charter governing expectations and committee scope in previous years. This has been addressed with a new Landscaping Committee Charter.
  • The Rules and Regulations were refreshed to clarify rules around architectural changes and rentals.
  • We have completely revamped our board meetings structure per legal and best practices. All board meetings now:
    • Follow a standardized format (agenda approval, homeowner forum, committee reports, public board votes, etc.).
    • Have publicly posted draft agendas and prior minutes at least a week prior to a board meeting, followed by email reminders.
    • Open with a 20 minute homeowner forum with rules and expectations for participation.
    • Scheduled board meetings for the year ahead of time on the website and the property management portal at the beginning of the year.

Legal Q&A

At the 2024 Annual Meeting we invited attorney Kenneth Love to discuss the recent rental legal opinion we received, as well as address any legal questions from members of the community.

Landscaping

This year we held a landscaping committee meeting to compile a landscaping committee report to present to the community and approve at the April board meeting. We were able to make considerable improvements to the playground, as well as increase lighting and safety at the front entrance, and remove diseased plants.

We replaced aging electrical equipment at the front entrance that failed this winter, as well as repaired the Braeloch neighborhood sign and a broken bench at the playground.

Architectural Requests

Approved 10 out of 11 submitted Arc Requests (91%).

Violations & Inspections

We’ve returned to a regular inspection cycle with the inspector driving through on a two month cycle.

We’ve had several hands-on meetings with our neighborhood inspector and property management company to standardize and most importantly improve the consistency of violations reporting by the inspector to the board.

Website Improvements

  • The Rules and Regulations were transcribed into a text-based searchable page for convenience to the community.
  • All of the various board policies and governance documents were re-organized.
  • A copy of the Rental Legal Opinion was uploaded for anyone who did not attend the 2024 Annual Meeting.
  • A new meetings page with copies of all prior agendas and minutes starting with the 2024 term.

2024 Corporate Transparency Act

  • The board was in full compliance with the 2024 Corporate Transparency Act by the legally mandated deadline for 2024.
  • For 2025 a federal court has filed an injunction on the CTA so there is no requirement at this time for us to submit filings for 2025. So as not to spend money unnecessarily we have not done so, and will submit filings if and when the injunction is lifted.

2025 Goals

  • Continue executing the 2024 Landscaping Plan and maintaining our landscaping investments made this year.
  • A holiday event like a Halloween house decoration contest.
    • Requirement: No financial rewards or costs to the HOA (i.e., Google Forms and a blog post displaying the winner).
  • Continuing to improve coordination between the HOA board and property management company.
  • Continuing to improve board organization and communication.

– Walter Bolles, President