Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

The WPCA Board of Directors held a special meeting on 14 October 2020 at President Jim Emery's home, beginning at 7:32 p.m.

Attendees: Jim Emery, Michael Yang, Dan Clark, Siyoung Lee, and one additional association member.

President Jim Emery expressed appreciation to Cindy Sanzotta for her support to the Association as secretary.

Reading of the Minutes of the Last Meeting

President Jim Emery read the minutes of the 26 February 2020 WPCA Board of Directors meeting.

The minutes recorded the following:

"Cindy made a motion: An amendment of the WPCA By-Laws will be presented at the annual meeting to amend the election of officers process to allow for voting for an uncontested slate by acclamation. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously."

President Jim Emery disputed whether this motion and vote took place. The motion would have needed the name of someone to draft the By-Laws changes.

The minutes were subsequently approved with the disputed text removed by a vote of 3 out of 4 (with one director abstaining who did not attend the February meeting).

Treasurer's Report

Treasurer Dan Clark presented the financial report and proposed 2021 budget. He recommended increasing the annual assessment to $92.00 (a 9.52% increase) to continue the effort over the last several years to store up funds for periodic maintenance needs described in the Association's Reserve Study.

Dan added a line in the budget for income that may be received for paper disclosure packets. With an adjustment for common area tree work, he estimates an asset balance of $5,688 at the end of this year excluding pipe stem escrow amounts.

Dan discussed the new requirements of the Virginia Property Owners Association Act concerning the display of reserves for capital components. The end of year financial statement will need to be in compliance with these requirements.

Dan discussed the offer of a member to assist him again in 2021 with producing the invoices for the assessments. This would avoid the need to procure QuickBooks software for the treasurer. Dan has concluded that he really doesn't need to produce formal invoices anyway, avoiding the need for QuickBooks.

The directors unanimously agreed to have Dan's proposed budget presented at the upcoming members meeting.

Old Business

Technology Use Policy. President Jim Emery reminded the directors of the discussion from the February 2020 meeting about the opportunity to replace the Official Use Email Policy with a Technology Use Policy in light of recent changes to the Virginia Property Owners Association Act. The matter will be reviewed with the members at the annual meeting.

New Business

Annual Meeting. The normal meeting location at Oak View Elementary School is currently unavailable. The Board considered possible alternatives to the school including meeting in the common area. Agreement was reached to schedule an outdoor meeting for 1 November 2020 in the Stallworth Court cul-de-sac. The rain date will be 7 November 2020. President Jim Emery will send out the notice of the meeting by email or letter, as appropriate, prior to 17 October 2020. The notice will include the financial statement from the treasurer.

The agenda for the meeting will include:

  • Review and approval of the minutes of the last meeting
  • Presentation and approval of the financial report and proposed 2021 budget
  • Election of officers (a new president and secretary, at a minimum)
  • Appointment of a new Webmaster for Association's website
  • Appointment of members to the Architectural Control Committee
  • Discussion on updating the Association's governing documents
  • Any other matters raised by the members

Disclosure Packet Fee. Under the revised Virginia Property Owners Association Act, prospective buyers of homes may elect to receive paper disclosure packets rather than receiving disclosure packet information via the Association's website. The current disclosure packet consists of 80 pages. After some discussion, agreement was reached unanimously to charge $25 for each paper disclosure packet.

Revision of the Association's Governing Documents. Recent changes in the Virginia Property Owner's Association Act and Fairfax County zoning rules have implications for the existing Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions and By-Laws.

The Association's very restrictive covenants on home businesses and signs (both that the Board elects not to enforce) were discussed. These areas appear to be sufficiently regulated by Fairfax County.

The Association's By-Laws could be updated to take advantage of new technology options and other provisions of the Virginia Property Owner's Association Act. In addition, the By-Laws should be modified to include the option to hold an open election for an uncontested slate of directors at our annual meeting (the typical practice) rather than by secret ballot.

The directors unanimously agreed that the advisability of updating the Association's governing documents be addressed at the upcoming annual members meeting and to seek member volunteers to participate in drafting the changes.

President Jim Emery made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Jim Emery
WPCA President

Note: These minutes were edited in accordance with the WPCA Privacy Policy and were posted 15 October 2020. 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.