WPA MONTHLY MEETING MINUTES
August 18, 2020
Call to Order – Bob McMahan
Attendance – Bob McMahan, Adam Anderson, Peggy Phillips, Larry McMillin, Tom Macedo, Jonathan Rutstein, Gary Dreher
Absent– Butch Williams
Quorum – Yes
Approval – Motion to approve July 21, 2020 Minutes made by Adam Anderson. Motion seconded by Jonathan Rutstein. All in favor. Motion Carried.
Officer Reports
Presidents Report – Robert McMahan reports, Thanks to everyone who came out tonight. In June we approved our Nominating Chairperson Jean Hulse Hayman. Robert McMahan makes a motion to approve Neena McMahan, Marion Cuttino, and Chris Carrol to the Nominating Committee. Motion seconded by Jonathan Rutstein. All in favor. Motion carried.
Vice Presidents Report – No Report
Secretary’s Report– Larry McMillin reports, This year’s annual meeting and election present new challenges due to the virus regulations. Unless something changes, the Presbyterian Church is not allowing even their congregation to use their activities room. Even so, with social spacing, the facility is not large enough to accommodate the normal number of WPA attendees. A suggestion has been made to hold the meeting outside here at the office, but November weather is very unpredictable. A decision how to proceed needs to be made soon, to allow preparations to proceed. Another scenario would be to hold the election totally by mail-in proxies and delay the meeting until things improve. No matter what we do, we will be violating parts of the requirements for the annual meeting. If the meeting portion is delayed, and not held during the election process, there is no way to seek nominations from the floor or address concerns and suggestions from the members. Larry McMillin makes a motion to approve up to $2,200 from the budget to cover all expenses associated with the annual meeting and election. Motion seconded by Jonathan Rutstein. All in Favor. Motion carried.
Larry has been setting up the Election Committee regardless of how the meeting is handled. A couple of members from previous years are unable to participate and some new members are willing to take their places. Larry McMillin makes a motion to approve the following members to the Election Committee: Mary Sasso, John Sasso, Carolyn McBride, Neena McMahan, Kathleen Hayes, Inge Ebert, Connie Downs, Pam Gross and Nancy Johnston. Larry also tentatively nominates Bob and Barbara Nichols, who have served on the Election Committee for many years. Motion seconded by Jonathan Rutstein. All in favor. Motion Carried.
Larry makes a motion to approve Mary Sasso as Inspector of Election. Motion seconded by Jonathan Rutstein. All in favor. Motion Carried.
Treasurer’s Report– Peggy Phillips reports, On July 31, 2020, our Operating Account had a balance of $154,816.66. The South Atlantic Debit account had a balance of $2,500. The ARC Escrow account with South Atlantic had a balance of $12,333.50 Per approval of the Board at the July, 2020, meeting, $50,000 was moved from Operating with South State and deposited in the South Atlantic Reserve Account. This resulted in a balance with South State of $137,529.88.
The Reserve Account balance were: South Atlantic $137,529.88, Edward Jones $272,537.20, TD Bank $58,294.75 for a total Reserve of $468,361.83
Committee Reports
ARC– Tom Macedo reports, We have the following ARC projects for this month:
Ongoing house building on Francis Parker, A couple of shed with one application pending, Solar Panels, fence replacement, lot clearing, and repainting of a house.
If you are planning to do work in the outer areas of your home and do not know if you need a permit. Please check with Michelle at the office first.
Legal– Adam Anderson reports, The board attorney wants $1500 per case to file complaints in magistrates court so we have decided to do this ourselves. We have identified two cases to try. We have the proper forms and will get those filed this month.
There are a number of lots in the canal area that have small patches of land that we would like to give to the adjacent lot owners. There are some expenses involved in this such as surveys and legal expenses. The board attorney estimates between $700 and $1000 per parcel. We are going to send letters to these owners to see if we can get them to pay some of these expenses in exchange for the property and will be sending letters to them soon.
There are no By-law change requests to go into the Annual Meeting packages this year.
Finance– Peggy Phillips reports, Per policy, liens have been filed on properties delinquent for 2020 and copies were mailed to the owners. These liens will be released as we receive payment. Currently there are seven properties delinquent for 2020, and we will continue to pursue collection efforts.
Prior to our Board Meeting in September, the Finance Committee and Board should meet to review the budget for 2021. I would like to set a date and time for this meeting. The Board is being given documentation to assist in the preparation of the budget. Per policy, the budget approved in September will be included in the Annual Election Package mailed to all property owners.
Communications– No report.
Community Liaison– Adam Anderson reports, We have had the following letters this month. A complaint about a lanai on Wedgefield road that is in poor condition.
A complaint about a lot on Wedgefield road that no one mows and a complaint that the golf course has trees that clog their gutters and keep their roof from lasting as long as it should.
A complaint about poison ivy in the condo area. They were referred to their regime and the Condo Liaison Committee was made aware of the issue to see if there was any assistance that could be provided.
A complaint about ruts where someone drove off the road on Francis Parker.
A complaint about flooding of a lot on Joanna Gillard lane. It was referred to the Drainage Committee.
A question about obtaining a boat ramp card and an ARC deposit. This was answered by Michelle.
Welcome Committee-
Drainage–Gary Dreher reports, A bunch of projects were mentioned to be worked on, but motion was tabled.
Water Amenities-
Condo Liaison– Jonathan Rutstein reports, He went to the Annual meeting and they have a lot of the same issues we do. They discussed overflow parking, dead cars, underage drivers on golf carts and the stop sign at Wedgefield Village and Wragg’s Ferry being too small.
Larry McMillin said he put a new sign up until Sign shark comes out to replace the sign. They have never come out. Bob McMahan said the sign that is up is a standard sized sign.
Roads– Gary Dreher reports, He will be putting together a roads committee. They are going to be discussing putting humps in at golf cart crossings. Gary Dreher made a motion to add Adam Anderson, Tom Macedo, Jonathan Rutstein, Ken Gaspari and Stan Earnhart to the Roads Committee. Motion seconded by Larry McMillin. All in favor. Motion carried.
Grounds-Larry McMillin reports, On Friday, August 14th, a truck and trailer delivering pallets of sod damaged a brick wall along the entrance and destroyed a tire on its trailer. The contractor was contacted but never came to see the damages. Drew Swinney called and said they will send a brick layer out and take care of the repairs.
As discussed at last month’s meeting, the office, parking lot, and other areas were power washed. The gutters were also cleaned at no extra cost. The cost of the cleaning was $400. The faded shutters around the building were taken down and it was decided to install new shutters on the front of the building only. The cost of the new shutters was $97.34.
Compliance– Bob McMahan reports, that compliance met and are going to put out an informational letter in next Wragg to identify the most common things we have seen that we feel take away from the beauty of the Plantation, such as unkempt lots, and homes and junk outdoors.
Website Committee– No Report
Old Business– No Report
New Business–
Public Comments– Bob Garrison praises Peggy Phillips for the work she is doing as treasurer, only having 7 delinquent accounts.
Connie Downs said that speed bumps are needed on Francis Parker. People fly by with the kids out riding bikes and walking.
Carl Gettmann said that this year has been very difficult. The Annual Meeting is in dire straits. The Board should be doing something. Larry McMillin is a Board member who has been on this Board since 2009. He has done a fantastic job for the community. The Board should look into something special for him before he leaves.
Larry McMillin said he has done what he has because he is proud to live here. It was easier to do things than ask someone else. Its always been about the community.
Mike Downs said that the Member who was appointed should not have been since his resume was late coming into the office.
Connie Downs commented that when Adam gets letters from the community, he does not disclose the names, because they would not write to the Board to get the issues resolved.
Carolyn McBride asked if the church gym was larger couldn’t we use that. Larry let her know that at the moment they are not letting anyone in.
Golf Course Update– The subcommittee of the LLC met with Harry to start negotiations on purchasing the golf course.
Next Monthly Board Meeting– September 15, 2020
Adjourn – Robert McMahan