Ascot Homeowners Association
Minutes of Board Meetings and Special Meeting of the Membership -- April 2005
Prepared by Secretary, Scott Rackham

BOARD MEETING -- April 5, 2005:

The Board of Directors met on Tuesday, April 5, 2005, at the home of Claudia and Mark Raffman.  All five current Board members were present -- Claudia Raffman, Dave Peirce, Anna Wood, Lars Okeson, and Scott Rackham.  Homeowner Julie Reiss attended for the first part of the session.

Architectural Review

Julie Reiss gave the Board a copy of plans for a raised walkway with stone front leading to their front door that she and Ken were planning to have installed.  After looking at the plans the Board unanimously approved the architectural design as compatible with the neighboring environment.

Continuing on the subject of architectural standards, Board members also noted that architectural review applies to the maintenance of structures on homeowner lots, as well.  Board members have received comments recently about fences that need attention.  The Board will, if it proves necessary, contact homeowners who appear to be neglecting the maintenance of structures on their property.

Membership Dues

Lars Okeson reported that annual dues payments for 2005 had been received from 65 homeowners as of April 5th.

Tennis Court

The Board discussed preparations for the Special Meeting of Association members called for Thursday, April 14th.  All of the Board members will be encouraging neighbors to attend the meeting, or to give someone their proxy, so that the Association will have the necessary quorum to vote on the proposed special assessment to fund repairs of the tennis court.  Lars recommended, based on his most recent comparison of quotations and the Association's funds on hand, that the amount of the special assessment to be voted on should be $235.

Next Meeting

The Board made plans to meet again on April 19th, at the Peirces' home, to address follow-up business after the Special Meeting scheduled for April 14th.

SPECIAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP -- April 14, 2005:

The Ascot Homeowners Association met at the Forestville Elementary School on the 14th of April, 2005, beginning at 7:30 pm.

Quorum

The Secretary called for the submission of signed proxy designation forms at the beginning of the meeting, as well as a count of homeowners present, to verify whether the quorum requirement of sixty per cent of the membership was met.  The total of proxies and members physically present as the meeting began was forty-nine, which exceeded the number, forty-two, required for quorum.  With the arrival of additional attendees as the meeting progressed, three of them being members who had initially submitted proxies but later decided to attend and vote on their own behalf, total attendance at the time of the balloting was fifty, comprised of eighteen physically present and thirty-two proxies.

Board President Claudia Raffman introduced the discussion of the proposed special assessment of $235 per homeowner household to raise funds for an overlay repair of the Association's tennis court.  Lars Okeson then presented a summary of the research he had described in his written report and recommendations as distributed to the membership in March.  He and other Board members then invited questions and comments from members present at the meeting.  Points raised during the course of the discussion included the primary responsibility of the board to see to the maintenance of the common grounds including the tennis court, the relatively low level of use of the tennis court, and questions about the likelihood that the proposed repairs would actually succeed.  One member remarked that removing the tennis court and landscaping the area, even if it cost as much as the tennis court repair, would be cheaper over the long run because it would only have to be done one time, aside from the increase to ongoing grounds maintenance. Another member noted that the Association annual dues, with or without tennis court maintenance, are hardly high enough to be a major budget constraint for anyone who can afford to buy a home in the community.  It was also noted that the tennis court generally seems to be seen as a positive community amenity, even by homeowners who do not use it themselves, and may easily contribute more to the value of homes in the neighborhood than its small annual cost per household.

Ballot

Once it appeared that all who wanted to speak had taken the opportunity to do so, voting was done by written ballot, one ballot for each member family present or represented by proxy.  Ballots were collected and tallied on the spot, and the results announced.  There were forty-two ballots in favor of the special assessment, and eight against.  Both the sixty percent quorum requirement and the two-thirds majority requirement for passing a special assessment having thus been satisfied, the Secretary declared that the measure had passed.  Those voting were over seventy-two percent of the Association membership, and eighty-four per cent of the votes were in favor of the proposed special assessment.

Addendum

Board members received three additional signed proxies after the close of the meeting.  Because they had not been received on time, these three proxies, which were two in favor of and one against the special assessment, were not voted.  Had they been received on time, the voting results would have been seventy-seven per cent of the membership participating in the voting, with eighty-three per cent of the votes being cast in favor of the special assessment.

BOARD MEETING - April 19, 2005:

Board of Directors members Claudia Raffman, Lars Okeson, and Scott Rackham met at the Raffman home on Tuesday, the 19th of April.

Tennis Court

Lars reviewed again the bids he had obtained for doing the tennis court repair work, and volunteered to get renewed or updated quotations from Bishops Tennis and from Sport Systems so that the Board would be able to choose which contractor to use by early in May.  Scott Rackham promised to distribute assessment notices to advise the community of the results of the Special Meeting, and to ask members to remit their payment for the approved $235 special assessment by the beginning of June.

Dues and Community Directory

Lars reported that payments for this year's annual dues have been received from all 69 homeowner families.  Claudia will prepare an updated community directory, based on last year's directory and the updates received with this year's dues payments.

Next Meeting

The Board agreed to meet again on the 10th of May at the Okesons' to review the renewed bids.

Respectfully submitted,
Scott Rackham
Secretary

COMMUNITY NOTES:

Contacting the Board

Homeowners are welcome to contact the Board about the tennis court or other community concerns.  Write to Ascot Homeowners Association, PO Box 934, Great Falls, Virginia 22066-0934.  Contact any Board member.  Or send email --