Newsletter December 2010
Deercreek Owners Association
Volume XIV     Issue 12

In This Issue
Annual Meeting
Town Hall Meeting
DCCOA
Yard of the month.
Women's Alliance
Finance Committee Report
As of October 31, 2010

Revenues

$660,882

Expenses*     
$647,501

Balance             
$13,311

Reserve Fund 
$304,159

Past Due Rec    
$106,660

Over 90 days    
$72,259
 
* Includes year end adjustment of
$17,274

EVENTS

DCCOA 

December 8, Wednesday
6 PM - Access Control


 


December 9, Thursday
7 PM -Architectural Review Board


 


December 16, Thursday
6:15 PM - Covenant Enforcement


7PM - Financial Meeting


 

7PM - Board of Directors


 


January 6, Thursday
7 PM - DCCOA Annual Meeting


 


January 12, Wednesday
7 PM - Communications Committee Town Hall Meeting on Electronic Sign




EDGEWATER

November 16
Thursday

7 PM-HOA Board



COMMUNITY

December 13, Monday
10 AM, Literary Circle Cookie Exchange and , "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society," Mary Ann Shaffer



December 16, Thursday
10 AM-Garden Club Member Annual Holiday Brunch






December:
Gifts of the season
that keep on giving

read more...

Join Our Mailing List
Rules and Regulations Updated

Rules and Regulations of the Deercreek community have been  updated in 2010. The updated version can be found on the Deercreek web site www.deercreekcc.com. Click on "DCCOA Documents" and Rules and Regulation for the revised version.
 
Also refer to newly adopted ARB Regulations and the new Verbal Abuse/Harassment Policy.


Annual Meeting


NEW DATE!

The date for the DCCOA Annual Meeting has changed from December 7, 2010 to January 6, 2011. 


Town Hall Meeting

A "Town Hall" meeting to discuss a new electronic sign board will be held at the Club on January 12 at 7:00 pm. 


The Communications Committee requests input from the community for this upcoming project to update our current sign board and improve communication to residents.

Highlights from the October Board Meeting of the DCCOA


The DCCOA Board of Directors assembled on October 28. A quorum was established with the presence of Danny Becton, Joseph Cernigliaro, Carol D'Onofrio, Doug Klippel, Ron Peace, Pete Gentry and Jim Kagiliery.  Absent were George Partin and Aaron West.  Representing MAY Management:  Bernard Vargas Vila.


Recognize Guests:

Jan Butensky spoke of damage to his vehicle on September 24, from someone throwing eggs at it, causing $3,400 in damages.  (It was noted that acid from eggs can take the paint off of a car or home after sitting more than 15 minutes.) On that same night, a speed bump sign was pushed over on Blakeford Mill Road and one of the three Deer Statues was stolen. Approximately two weeks later, vehicles damaged the golf course by driving on three of the fairways, which is a felony.  Mr. Butensky has offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of person or persons involved in the damage to his property.

 

There also was a discussion about Vendor Yard Signs being removed by security personnel on resident property without informing the resident that yard signs are not allowed. This will be discussed with Allegiance Security.

 

Property Manager Report:

The Property Manager recommended and the board unanimously approved sending five properties to the Covenants Enforcement Committee for the November 18 hearings.

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Finance Committee focused on providing a 2011 Budget at their monthly meeting.  Items called out for discussion included the following:

  • Notable Differences from last year include a 1) Decrease in Comcast Revenue Sharing income from $37,000 to $33,000, 2) Increase in Bad Debt from a monthly average of $65,000 to approximately $85,000 due to the increasing number of delinquent residents in paying assessments and foreclosures, 3) Communications Costs have Decreased due to E-Newsletters, 4) JEA Electrical costs have been reduced by approximately $200 month due to this year's Sales Tax Exemption Application, 5) Common Property budget reductions for Landscaping recommended by committee. Also, 6) Research by Danny Becton found that the Gatehouse Phone/Internet expense could be lowered with a savings of over $3,600 over three years with a switch from AT&T to Comcast, in addition to savings from our revenue sharing agreement. This recommendation has been sent to Access Control for their recommendation.
  • Each line item on the suggested budged was reviewed and discussed, as well as Projected Revenue, Bad Debt analysis, Contract and Operating Expenses in addition to Reserves.  Over the years, money has been borrowed from the reserve account for operations with approximately $23,000 still due based on high aged payables and a Bad Debt expense account that has not kept pace with aged payables. Becton, recommended that current and future Board members be encouraged to reduce borrowing from the reserve account so the account can earn its interest plus to be vigilant of the Bad Debt account as the trend is still increasing whereby the average is looking to be $95,000.
  • It was noted that the Communication committee is discussing that the sign board at the entry needs to be replaced or repaired. The sign was not included in the reserve account and cannot be replaced or repaired from those funds. A new digital electrical sign is being considered that could cost up to $12,000. The Bolles School has a similar monument sign, which can be reviewed for comparison. It was also recommended that $500 be added to the supply account for Communications 2011 Budget.
  • As a matter of a mandatory audit every 3 Years, $625 should be set aside for an updated Reserve Fund Study. The study is used in determining the Reserve Fund health and funding criteria's. It was suggested for 2010 that any budget surplus be moved to the Reserve account. A recommendation was made for the company conducting the study, Dreux Isaac, to present to the Board next year.
  • A motion was made and unanimously approved to use Ironstone Bank instead of EverBank for the money market account offering 1.25% guaranteed interest rate for HOAs for the first 180 days.

Access Control reported:

  • There is too long of a wait at the guard house for visitors and vendors. If a guest is not on the list, the guards should only make one call to contact the resident.
  • In reviewing the citation history, there have been between 45 - 55 citations issued from January to March and now they are down to 10 -12 per month with no reasoning unless there is a difference in the enforcement procedures.
  • A quote was reviewed from Comcast as to providing phone and internet service at the Gatehouse. There bid was approximately $143 per month as opposed to $250 for AT&T. It includes a 12 meg. download and also a free TV connection.  Upon request, AT&T sent a proposal for approximately $180 (40% discount on the current bill.)

Covenant Enforcement

Reported that three owners appeared at the hearing, two of which the committee let stand the fines. 

 

Common Property Committee

Reported that the Garden Club will be taking over putting up the Christmas decorations at the front entrance. This is a savings of $1,000 from the Common property budget for 2010 and beyond.  The pre-approvals have already been submitted and they have also lowered their budget expenses from $10,000 to $5,000 for landscape improvements.

 

Communications Committee

Noted that there will be approximately 20 changes for the 2011 directory, which would be included as an insert in the directory. In lieu of a one page addendum, The Board decided to reprint the directory with funds as budgeted for 2011. 

Also, the newsletter for next month is long. It was suggested that it could be formatted with a navigation bar on the left side to help the reader jump to that particular section. 

 

Legal / Club 

It was reported that one property was sold and past due monies received. Barry Kaufmann mentioned that the bar code should not be taken away from a tenant where the resident is in arrears. He said the rules state owner, not the tenant.  It has been suggested that the Bi-Laws be modified to correct this oversight.

      

OLD BUSINESS

Road Paving Project - Year Three

-      The chip seal was initiated and is going very well. Areas that were in poor shape received this extra application. The micro surfacing is to start next week and the contractor will be meeting to confirm his schedule on the order of the project. This information will be provide immediately to Communications to be sent out in an Email Blast for residents and for Sign Board notification.

-      The costs associated with the paving project has been decreasing each month as Danny Becton, resident project leader, continues to find cost savings. It is anticipated that this year's project costs will be approximately $30,000 under budget. 1) Negotiated price cut of Chip Seal, 2) Reduced usage of Crack Seal, 3) Elimination of mailings via the use of Email, etc. 

-      Access Control has been looking into painting arrows going out of the community, as there is only the left arrow - no right turn or straight arrow notification. It is suggested to have the left lane include a straight ahead arrow and the right lane be a right turn only arrow.  The contact with the State asked to have a letter sent indicating what the association would like to have done with the arrows. They also said to place signs approximately 100 - 200 feet back to advise drivers of the change in the traffic pattern.  Access Control needs to approve this request.

 

AT&T U-Verse

An owner had concerns and asked if the Board could keep AT&T from installing their new equipment for services in our community.

-      It was discussed that DCCOA has a Non-Compete Revenue Sharing Agreement with Comcast that dates back 11 years. Over those years, Comcast has paid our association hundreds of thousands of dollars from "% of Sales" each year for all services of Comcast sold to residents within the community. The last two years as an example, Comcast has paid DCCOA approximately $37,000 (2009) and $33,000 (2010) in revenue. This is equivalent to approximately $50 - $60 per resident, per year in reduced Association Fees. As far as the non-complete, satellite dishes do not violate this agreement.

-      The Board has meet with AT&T officials regarding their request to provide U-Verse services to Deercreek. During that discussion, AT&T stated that NOT ALL DEERCREEK RESIDENTS WOULD RECEIVE THIS SERVICE, if they were allowed entry into our community, today. This was due to the lack of the current AT&T equipment being unable to provide service to all of Deercreek based on limitations of distance. AT&T stated that they had no intentions at this time nor in the foreseeable future to add to this equipment to service all of Deercreek. Areas not able to be serviced include but not limited to: South of Chester Lake Road and South of the Clubhouse. Service basically to the upfront residents only. They have equipment up at the Gatehouse and at Orchard Hills road only. Also, AT&T expressed NO INTEREST at this time in participating in a revenue sharing agreement with the association whereby the association might try to re-negotiate with both utilities for each to co-exist.

-      The Deercreek Owners Association's rights are based on the Board's responsibility and management of the Right-Of-Ways within the Deercreek Community. Providers need access to these Right-Of-Ways to install and manage their various equipment needs in providing services to all residents. AT&T needs access to these DCCOA's Right-Of-Ways to install the necessary fiber optics to make the U-Verse products available. It is by restricting AT&T's access to these Right-Of-Ways that the Board has not allowed AT&T to violate the non-compete agreement with Comcast. The Association is in NO WAY RESTRICTING AT&T's ACCESS TO YOUR RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY. AT&T has access to your personal property upon your permission.

 

NEW BUSINESS

2010 Board Elections  There have been three nominations received to participate on the board of directors.

-      The Annual meeting has been rescheduled to January 6, 2011 due to a scheduling conflict with the Club. 

-      The Board will meet in December on Thursday the 16th at 7pm.

-      The Communications Committee is going to hold a "Town Hall" meeting to discuss and get community input on the proposed New "Digital Electronic" Sign replacement. This meeting will be held on January 12; 7pm at the Club. All residents are encouraged to come and provide feedback on this new sign idea.

Yard of the month

10081 Persimmon Hill Court - Marianna Smith

This bright colorful flowering shrub is called Butterfly Cassia. It is in full bloom throughout the fall season. Marianna Smith planted this along her driveway in addition to Coleus, Knockout Roses, Pansies, Impatiens, Daisies, Sagos, Loriope, Plumbago, Firecracker plant and Crotons.




Women's Alliance

Fashion Models
The Fashion Show held at the Club on November 11 was a huge success and it looked like everyone was having a great time checking out the new fashions, chatting with friends and encouraging our Deercreek models. We had a whole room of beautiful raffle prizes, along with the centerpieces and gift certificates to give away. By the end of the evening, over $2000 had been raised to support our charities for the next year...


>>> Read more


Kevin Gilpin, Director of the "National Crime Stop Program."
Home & Garden Club News

The November meeting was held at 7:30 PM, so husbands could attend to hear Kevin Gilpin, Director of the "National Crime Stop Program."  Kevin runs Crime Prevention Seminars throughout the country and informed us about the many ways our identity is stolen even without our credit cards ever leaving our possession.   It was a most informative program which concluded after many questions were asked.


>>> Read more



Home and Garden Club

Luminary Kits are still available
$5.00 for a kit  (ten bags and candles)

Call Sandy Montgomery 519-1931