2018 Annual Meeting Minutes

The Annual Meeting of the West Park Community Association was called to order at 7:00 p.m. on 8 November 2018 by president Jim Emery.

Attendees: Jim Emery, Jeff Peters, Cindy Sanzotta, Pandu Balaram, Dan Clark, Mike Yang, Ken Burns, Lauren Crum, and 9 others.

READING OF THE MINUTES

Secretary Cindy Sanzotta read the minutes of the WPCA annual meeting of 26 October 2017. A question was asked to clarify the purpose of the pipe stem escrow accounts. President Jim Emery explained that WPCA pipe stem driveways are not maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation like our streets, so are the responsibility of pipe stem owners; therefore the escrow funds are required to support repairs. A motion was made to approve the minutes as read with the correction of one spelling of Jim Emery's name, seconded, and passed unanimously.

TREASURER'S REPORT

Treasurer Lauren Crum reported the status of WPCA financials for 2018 and presented the proposed 2019 budget (attached).

All assessments were collected for 2018 to include a few late fees. Major expenses have been minimal this year - asphalt path work and playground repairs were done last year - and so far tree maintenance has been under budget. There were no legal fee expenses this year. Insurance costs are the same.

The 2018 Financial Report and Proposed 2019 Budget reflect an improved breakout of the Savings Accounts to better display Total WPCA Assets.

The projected deficit for 2019 continues to be driven by common area and tree maintenance and the need for flexibility for handling high tree maintenance costs without having to have a meeting of the Association members. The Treasurer reviewed the Common Area Maintenance - Tree/Other line item to explain the increase in costs over the past years. Even though we reflect a net income from 2018 actual costs, our Reserve Study states that our set aside should be $1,650 a year to properly cover projected future common area maintenance expenses, which would require an increase in assessments of $29.93. However the Board can only recommend up to a total of 10%, or an increase of assessments to $77 a year beginning in 2019.

An additional line item expense in the proposed budget for 2019 is the addition of a Pay Pal option for payment of assessments through the Association's website. The expense for this was calculated assuming all members used Pay Pal at a fee of 2.2% of their assessments plus $0.30 per transaction equaling approximately $150. A discussion followed concerning the pros and cons of offering Pay Pal as an option for paying assessments and whether it was fair to assume the costs that would result from everyone using Pay Pal. A motion was made to accept the addition of Pay Pal to the web site: 5 voted for and 7 against. The motion failed. Pay Pal will not be added to the Association website. Other than Pay Pal, there were no other changes in the Budget for 2019.

Next was a discussion of whether to raise the assessment to $75 or $77, as proposed. A motion was offered increase in the assessment to $77 for 2019. 12 voted for; 3 against. The motion passed. The assessments for 2019 will be $77.

Two items were noted for correction in the budget: The Website and Email Hosting cost and Administrative Expenses. This is simply assigning a website-related expense to the Website and Email Hosting expense line instead of to the Administrate Expenses line. This change does not change the total of 2018 expenses.

A motion was made to accept the treasurer's report including the 2019 budget with three corrections (correction of Administrative Expenses and Website and Email Hosting lines and removal of Pay Pal Transactions expense line). The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

President Jim Emery announced opened the floor for any volunteers for any of the board positions. Dan Clark volunteered for the position of Treasurer. No one else volunteered. The proposed slate of officers for 2019 are:

  • President: Jim Emery
  • Vice President: Mike Yang
  • Secretary: Cindy Sanzotta
  • Treasurer: Dan Clark
  • Member At-Large: Jeff Peters

A motion was made to accept this slate of officers, seconded, and passed unanimously.

Ken Burns, Mike Cleary, and Pandu Balaram were appointed to serve an additional one-year term on the Architectural Control Committee for the next year.

Jim Emery will continue serving as the Webmaster for the Association's website.

OLD BUSINESS

Parking Concerns. One of the members updated the meeting on his exploration of the parking situation on Sideburn Road after last year's meeting. He described his experience with the Country Club View Association and Supervisor John Cook's office, the Braddock District Supervisor of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors (BOS). The BOS changed the District 17 residential permit parking area affecting Sideburn Road and the initial portion of Stallworth Court to the District 40 residential parking permit area to further restrict parking by George Mason University (GMU) students. Parking complaints are key to obtaining more reaction from the BOS. GMU parking at University Mall was also discussed. President Jim Emery explained that Headly Court can request restricted permit parking status, but someone must volunteer to go door-to-door on Headly Court and collect at least 60% of the resident's signatures plus a $10 fee. If anyone wants to do this, talk to Jim.

Formal Complaint Policy. President Jim Emery reminded the members of the formal complaint policy and process that was established in 2012. He presented a summary of the process that is detailed in the Complaint Policy on the Association's website. You can send a formal complaint by email, but you must attach the specified form and follow the rules on how to lodge a formal complaint. You cannot complain about your neighbors, what they do or don't do; you can only complain if the Board is not doing its job.

NEW BUSINESS

Parking and Speeding. A member discussed her concerns about the increase in young families in the neighborhood and the current parking situation, to include speeding in the neighborhood. President Emery noted that members should call the police when there is illegal parking or speeding.

Census Scam. A member also detailed an experience she had with a false census taker. Again, the police should be called in such situations.

Streetlight Maintenance. A member noted that if you see a streetlight out, you should note the pole number in order to properly report it to Dominion Power.

Chili Cook-Off. President Emery recognized Mike Yang for organizing and running the Chili Cook-off. It was a great success.

Lauren Crum. President Emery recognized Lauren Crum for all her work as the Treasurer and wished her well in her new home.


At 8:02 p.m., a motion to adjourn was made, seconded, and passed unanimously.

Respectfully submitted,
Cindy Sanzotta
WPCA Secretary


Note: These minutes were edited in accordance with the WPCA Privacy Policy and were posted 14 November 2018. The full text of the official copy of the minutes may be reviewed or obtained by request by any WPCA member by contacting the WPCA president, president@kpwwpca.org.