Highlights of the June Meeting of the Deercreek Board of Directors

Submitted by Len Fritz

A quorum of the DCCOA Board of Directors (BOD) convened June 28th for its regularly scheduled meeting. The BOD was called to order and two motions were immediately heard and unanimously passed; one for this meeting's agenda, the other for the minutes from the May 24th meeting.  

The BOD heard from several guests at this meeting.  The guest addressed four different issues: Edgewater issues, fountain maintenance by Innovative Fountains, care of grounds in common property and Deercreek Country Club, and thefts and break-ins.  

 
Regarding Edgewater the president of the Edgewater homeowners association addressed the BOD stating there has been a positive response to their request for proposal for property management and MAY Management was among the respondents. Edgewater also received three proposals from other management companies with competitive prices that could save the association money.  Additionally, he stated that the homeowners with dead trees along the entrance way have been sent letters, but have not responded. Finally, the president wanted to make sure that the BOD knew about the city's plan to require new large trashcans for all homeowners.  

The owner of Innovative Fountains was asked by the BOD to attend and discuss the recent issues we are having with pump maintenance.  He discussed the normal procedure to detect a problem with the pump and indicated he had not followed the procedure when he examined the fountain pump. The management company had an electrician evaluate the situation and he found that the circuit breaker was bad. He indicated he had made an honest mistake in not finding the bad circuit breaker the first time and apologized for the error. Innovative then performed the repair at no charge. A discussion took place regarding the warranties on the pumps and motors. It was asked to find out what the warranty is on the current pumps.

A contingent from the Heather Lake Court owners addressed the protracted issue of the poor condition of the area bordering Ashford Crossing; that area is owned by both DCCOA common property and Deercreek Country Club. A group of homeowners from Heather Lake Court and Ashford Crossing discussed their concerns about the club not maintaining the berm landscaping that is supposed to screen the view of the club's ground maintenance area. The BOD suggested the homeowners start a petition and present it to ClubCorp and indicate that the signers were willing to cancel memberships if the area was not cleaned up.  The BOD also recommended that the homeowners contact the President of the club Board of Governors, with their. One homeowner suggested that the Association hire Connors Landscaping to take care of the berm and send the bill to ClubCorp. The BOD pointed out that the DCCOA cannot spend association money on private property.  A letter will be drafted to ClubCorp regarding the landscaping.  Another issue is teenagers using the basketball court late into the night.  The Common Property Committee will look at putting the lights on a timer and the Access Control committee will look at increasing patrols in the area and coordinating with JSO.  

Finally, one owner came specifically to address the vandalizing of his truck with a razor blade or knife and was concerned that if perpetrators are ever confronted, someone may get injured. JSO was not called. The BOD referenced the article in the last issue of Deercreek Living addressing the use of JSO, our security service, and the Duval country curfew for teenagers. The purpose was to illustrate that our security force does not have the authority to arrest and is limited in their ability to confront potential felony. The recommendation was once again that JSO should always be called as well as our security.   

The Property Manager's Report covered the recommendation that 18 homes be sent to the July Covenant Enforcement Committee.  A motion was made, seconded, and unanimously passed to send all 18 homes to Covenant Enforcement Committee.  A few owners requested the property manager (PM) show them where the brown spots are in their yard.  He met with the owners. At the moment, the PM is only taking pictures of yard debris and trash cans that are out early for pick up. When practicable the PM will begin taking photos of the brown patches. The storm drains were inspected to make sure there was no debris clogging them. The stop signs have been replaced. The approved playground work should be done within the next 2 weeks. Common area sidewalk repairs are complete and the dumpster has been moved until work on individual homes is complete. The PM gave the BOD a performance evaluation form to rate his performance so far.

Committee reports started with Finance. The Association received $13,300 from Chevy Chase Bank to settle an account.  A motion for the BOD to direct MAY Management to close the HOA's operating account with Wells Fargo Bank, and to open an operating account with Prosperity Bank (which is where our deposit account is currently held) with no service charges was made. The motion was seconded and passed. Additionally, a motion for the BOD to approve a Finance Committee Charter was made.  The motion was seconded, and the motion was adopted.

Access Control, Covenant Enforcement, and the Architectural Review Board (ARB) each had a light month. Access Control motioned to approve the cost of handheld barcodes at $40 each.  The motion was seconded and passed. The ARB had no report.  The Covenant Enforcement report was on the review of citations issued by the security guard that was recently dismissed. This review will determine if the citations were erroneous.   

Communications and Common Property had a light month as well.  Common Property had no report and reminded all there would be no meeting in July.  Communications reported the articles for the News Letter and Deercreek Living have fallen off.  The property manager agreed to write an article on brown spots in lawns.  

New Business discussion was about the 2012 Road Project.  The Finance Committee met with All Pro Asphalt and found that they could potentially offer significant savings over the work that North Florida Emulsions has done for the Association. The Board would like to obtain three bids for this year's work and insure that the companies are talking about the same scope of work.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:21.


NOTE:  A separate Board Of Directors meeting was held on July 10 to review a legal matter requiring a response prior to a regularly scheduled board meeting. The matter was reviewed, a motion was made and approved at that time.

Brown Spots in the Lawn

Danny Becton reports...  

• State Redistricting impact on Deercreek  
• JTA Southside Vision Study begins  
• Deercreek's upcoming election for School Board