WPA MONTHLY MEETING MINUTES
May 18, 2021
Call to Order – Robert McMahan
Attendance – Robert McMahan, Adam Anderson, Stan Earnhart, Peggy Phillips, Tom Macedo, Bob Garrison, Jonathan Rutstein, Ken Gaspari, Gary Dreher
Absent– Quorum – Yes
Approval – Motion to approve April 20, 2021 Minutes made by Stan Earnhart. Motion seconded by Jonathan Rutstein. All in favor. Motion Carried.
Officer Reports
Presidents Report – Robert McMahan reports, Welcome to the meeting. Things are finally starting to get back to normal. We have received thank you letters from the Walton family and from the church.
Vice Presidents Report – No Report
Secretary’s Report-Stan Earnhart reports, Stan asks if the Manor House was sufficient for the Annual Meeting last year. After discussion it was decided to have the meeting back at the church. Stan Earnhart makes a motion to reserve the church for the Annual meeting. Bob Garrison seconds this motion. All in favor. Motion carried.
Treasurer’s Report– Peggy Phillips reports, As of April 30, 2021, our Operating Account with South State had a balance of $241,534.10. The Debit Card account with South Atlantic had a balance of $2,234.53. This account was debited $59.99 for Bullguard Security and $199.99 for Intuit Quickbooks for updating our system. The ARC Refundable Deposit Account with South Atlantic had a balance of $28,814.34. The Reserve Account balances were: South Atlantic
$173,098.47, Edward Jones $272,820.31, and TD Bank $133,409.83 for a total in Reserves of $579,328.61. The South Atlantic account reflects payments to Live Oak Excavation in the amounts of $2,000 for Wraggs Ferry ditch cleanout and $500 for grate installation on Wedgefield Road pipe. Not reflected is ditch cleanouts on Francis Parker, John Waites and Wedgefield Road for $5,793. These have been paid from South Atlantic and results in a current balance of $167,305.47.
Committee Reports
ARC– Tom Macedo reports, We have 12 new homes under construction right now, along with 4 projects waiting to be approved. There are 6 projects the arc fees have been paid but no plans have been received yet. There are various applications for tree removals, sheds, fences and other outside work.
Bob Garrison makes a comment that we should raise the security deposit for the ARC projects.
Legal- Bob Garrison reports, The lawsuit that has been dragging on has been dismissed.
Finance– Peggy Phillips reports, We have 10 properties delinquent for 2021 only. Of these two are deceased and three live out of state. Additionally, there are five multi-year delinquencies of which one has been foreclosed and 22 properties on our two undeveloped streets that are owned by a New York corporation. All multi-year delinquencies have liens filed.
Demand letters will be sent in June stating our policy: “Any delinquent assessment will have alien placed after 6 months.” A 30-day notice of action will be sent prior to filing.
Peggy Phillips makes a motion to add Joe Myers to the Finance Committee. Motion seconded by Jonathan Rutstein. All in favor. Motion Carried.
Peggy plans to ask the Finance Committee with the Board invited to meet in the next few weeks to review the Reserve Accounts.
Communications– Jonathan Rutstein reports, July 4th there will be a golf cart parade.
Community Liaison– Adam Anderson reports, We have had the following letters: A letter from a prospective buyer with questions about the golf course and LLC. Jonathan is answering him. A request to review the drainage contract for the work that was done on Wedgefield road and Possum Trot. The contract was sent to him. A request for the WPA to build a road on Goulet Court. The covenants were explained to the lot owner. A request from a new home buyer for HOA documents. Michelle took care of this. Questions about contractors working on a home on Sunday. Michelle answered this. A letter for the legal committee from a resident concerned about the WPA paying for drainage work and the possible conflict of interest that created and a second question about the QPA board’s official position on the development at the end of Wedgefield road. This was answered by the legal committee. A complaint from a resident about tree growth blocking the view of the intersection of Jericho court and Wraggs Ferry. This was forwarded to the Grounds committee. A complaint that the new drainage project over by Possum trot is dumping debris into the canals. This was forwarded to the drainage committee. A question from a resident on Robert Conway about pond maintenance and a request to remove leaves from the rear of her property. A question from a new property owner about how much the HOA fee is and when it is due. Michelle handled this. A request from a resident to install speed bumps on Wraggs Ferry near Daniel Morall. This was forwarded to the roads committee. As question from a resident about ARC requirements for replacing a driveway. Michelle sent the resident the proper forms. 3 separate letters updating contact information and 1 request o not have their personal information in the directory. A report of a pothole on Wragg Ferry. The roads committee is handling it. A resident suggesting, we support the Spectrum package.
Welcome Committee– Robert McMahan reports, We have delivered 3 welcome packages and one we are trying to deliver buy no one has been home.
Drainage- Stan Earnhart reports, Stan Earnhart makes a motion to approve Drainage project #5 to repair the erosion around the catch basin and sink hole on William Screven Rd by J&M Site Work for $1,200. Motion seconded by Jonathan Rutstein. All in favor. Motion carried.
Stan Earnhart makes a motion to approve Drainage project #6 to repair erosion at the catch basin and sink hole at Robert Conway and Wraggs Ferry and clean out catch basin by J&M Site Work for $1,500. Motion seconded by Jonathan Rutstein. All in favor. Motion carried.
Stan Earnhart makes a motion to approve Drainage project #7 to install grates over three pipes that feed into the catch basins at Gov Johnston and Wedgefield rd. to J&M Site Work for $2,000. 8 in favor. Bob Garrison opposed. Motion Carried.
Water Amenities– Ken Gaspari reports, Ken has done some painting on the building at the boat landing. We have a lot of damage on the roof and will be looking to replace it next year.
Condo Liaison– Jonathan Rutstein reports, There was a pot hole reported on Wraggs Ferry. The roads committee is handling this.
Roads– Gary Dreher reports, The roads have been relatively quiet with few reports of issues. We just received a report about a pot hole on Wraggs Ferry and will be patching it in the next few days.
We have received a request for an additional speed humps for Wraggs Ferry. The resident says there was a lot of speeding near the back end of the condos.
Gary Dreher makes a motion to approve up to $1500 to purchase 3 more speed humps. Motion seconded by Stan Earnhart. Motion was tabled until the finance committee can look at the budget, possibly to be included into next year’s budget.
Grounds– Gary Dreher reports, We are continuing to work on the entrance area planting and have a final quote from the contractor to proceed with the work. The cost will be $4,295 and should be completed by the next WPA meeting. We are also working on repairing and in some instances upgrading the sprinkler system to better serve the current needs for watering.
Compliance– Bob Garrison reports, Last month was asked to write a letter about a drainage problem concerning work that was previously done has caused some issues. I have sent a letter asking him to contact the office to come to a resolution to this problem.
Website Committee- Jonathan Rutstein reports,
Old Business-
New Business– Bob McMahan says we need to look at repairing the Wedgefield sign at 701. We will be starting a committee to look into this.
Public Comments– Mike Downes asked what the stop sign is for at the triangle. Bob Garrison says that the stop sign was put there because of a blind spot.
Bill Cross asks about the Spectrum deal. He wants to know if it is being forced on the people of Wedgefield. Bob Garrison says it is not. It still has to go through our attorney after we receive a contract. It still has a few more hoops to jump through before it can be approved. Right now, the contract is for $50 a month with a total of $600 a year. Our attorney says a lot of other HOA’s has deals like this, but they don’t have the same covenants and guidelines as we do.
Nancy Johnston asks if the Board will put the next council meeting on the sign.
Nancy Johnston says the Board is suppose to look after us. My bill keeps going up. The Board needs to take this Spectrum contract seriously.
Jackie Walton says that his understanding for the sign is that it is to handle WPA business. To him it looks like the WPA is backing the fight against the proposed development. He would like to know who is in charge of the sign and what goes on it. The sign should only be for WPA business. Bob McMahan says there was such a concern to the residents that the Board spoke about putting this up before we did. Bob Garrison says we should not have put to please attend. Nancy Johnston asks why the Board did not reach out to the community. Bob Garrison says we are not a political organization.
Jim Price appears this committee should do what this community wants done. You said we didn’t have money in the budget for a safety issue. He says we have over half a million dollars in the bank and can’t pay for a safety issue. Bob McMahan lets him know the state controls what we can do with the money. He also says the sign belongs to the community.
Joe Meyers says we put fliers in mailboxes and got 292 petitions back. If they build this development and we have an evacuation, how will we get out of here. We so not need multi family housing at the end of Wedgefield Rd. They don’t care about us.
Marion Cuttino says the board represents your voice, but their job is to abide by the guidelines of the bylaws and covenants. If you don’t like the bylaws you have to change them.
Mike Wheeler says the ditches on Wraggs Ferry if covered in silt and sand right in front of the pumping station. The ditch needs to be cleaned out and the culvert is full. We need speed humps at both ends of Wraggs Ferry rd. He also says that all golf cart drivers need to have driver’s license to drive and be insured. Bob Garrison says we have procedures to have them registered and insured but most people do not. We have put this in the Wragg and it is something that is very difficult to enforce. He also says as he is walking his dogs at night he is hearing coyotes.
Joe Myers says he takes a shortcut from Possum Trot to Wedgefield and the ditch was bigger, wider and deeper. He says we are in violation of not having a permit.
Marion Cuttino says we need to look for a double play with internet and streaming when considering this spectrum contract.
Mike Downes says we should look into putting in an electronic gate. He was informed that would have to be voted on by the community and go in the Annual package.
Ed Wozniak asked if anyone has given any thought into caring for Larry’s Pond. Gary lets him know we have cleaned out the aerator. He just had surgery and will be getting to the pond cleanup in the next few weeks. We have put grass eating carp into the pond to try to help clean it out.
Golf Course Update-
Next Monthly Board Meeting– June 15, 2021
Adjourn – Robert McMahan