Finance & Legal minutes: 2019-07-10

Minutes:

Minutes of 7-10-19 F&L Meeting

Present: Becky H., Debbi, Amy
Absent: Sharon, Becky G.

1. Minutes update
Amy has edited and Becky H. has proofread the backlog of minutes. Two
older sets of minutes still need final polishing and to be sent out when
Amy has time to get gack to it. Becky H. recommended labeling them as old,
so as not to confuse any readers.

2. Introducing lease template at 7-15-19 meeting
This is an info/disc item, not a proposal. We discussed the procedural
overview that Becky H. wrote to accompany the draft lease when she sends it
out to the community. We had no changes. Becky H. will send this and the
lease to the 7/15/19 community meeting facilitators for advance review
before sending to the community.

3. Basement Egress proposal - tabled until Becky G. returns
Notes from recent minutes:
* We should ping the relevant committees to make sure they’re thinking
about their roles in this project
o Grounds will need to move the project forward if proposal passes. Becky
G. is on Grounds; we’ll ask her to carry this forward.
o Buildings should be brought in later about drainage, etc.
* Do we have realistic cost estimates now?
* Put in the proposal that there needs to be a written record of who will
pay for what, so Becky G. will know whom to bill. F&L will not coordinate
or negotiate this record; we just need it.
* Momentum is important. Find out if there’s a chance of taking over an
alternative meeting. We’re looking at September 4 (Megan is alternative
leader - Amy will contact her). There should be decent attendance by then.
* We could draft the proposal and send it out for comment sooner. Could do
a Google doc. Bring this back to next F&L meeting.

4. Bookkeeping updates
a. Arrears
A household has accumulated arrears over $2,000. F&L is required by a
community agreement to inform the community when this happens and to
indicate what steps will be taken to collect the debt. There have been
several communications with the household. In their most recent
communication, the household said they would let us know by Friday 7/12/19
how much money they expect to receive soon from a federal tax return
submitted in late June. F&L believes that it needs to comply with the
community agreement now that the $2,000 threshold has been crossed, rather
than continuing to wait for information and possible payment. The household
needs to get below $2,000 by Monday 7/15/19 at noon (this would require a
payment of $157), or give F&L a letter to read at the community meeting on
their behalf, or come before community to speak for themselves. If the
household does not want to take any of these steps, F&L will ask if the
community would like us to follow the letter of our policy, or take a
different path. F&L is not an empowered committee and needs community
direction.

Here is the specific language of our community agreement:


Amend the Late Payment of Association Dues Policy 2015-03-16
4.''If the unpaid balance of Association dues accumulates to $2,000 or more:

a) GOCA will pursue all legal avenues against the debtor(s) to collect
unpaid association dues, which may include going to court (e.g. garnishing
wages, bank accounts, or tax returns). Any legal and/or court fees will be
assigned to the debtor(s) in arrears. If the debt continues to grow, we may
have to take additional legal action.

b) the debtor(s) lose their right to be part of the decision-making for any
GOCA financial or legal proposals. They may participate in the discussion
only.

c) the community will be notified that legal action is going to be taken.
This notice will include the name(s) of the people involved, the dollar
amount owed and the type of action(s) we are pursuing. F&L will update the
community as needed.

Debbi will present. 20 minutes still seems fine.

Another household is also behind; they haven’t reached the $1000 lien
threshold yet. They paid $500, and said they’d come up with a payment plan
within a week.

A third household is a month behind and they are in discussion with Becky
G., our bookkeeper.

5. Progress on Priority items
a. Master Deed & Bylaws - in part because of the basement egress
cycle, we’ve slipped behind again and now budget season is coming. Next
step is to do another general overview meeting for the benefit of the new
neighbors who have come on board in recent months, then schedule a full,
multi-hour meeting to dig into the details. Debbi will think about other
possible scenarios for getting this done.

b. Reserve Study - As Treasurer, Amy signed an agreement with
Paul Conahan to begin work on the reserve study. Does this work need to be
completed by the time the 2020 budget is completed? We will check with Mary
King about this.
c. Basement egress issue – in progress
d. Truck Proposal – Grounds is having a conversation about
whether we should continue to have a truck. Hold off on this until they
get further along in this discussion. We briefly talked about how the
finances would work from an F&L perspective, then set this aside.
e. Calendar of routine tasks – underway
f. Landlord leases – in progress
g. Unit modifications/Documenting build-outs (Master Deed, insurance,
Buildings/ARC process) – the
MD part has already been discussed in a plenary conversation.

6. Ongoing items
a. CH Com re: CH Leases and proof of insurance - Awaiting Syndallas’s
proof of insurance. Amy will remind CH Com.
b. Canoes by pond & path into wetlands - Grounds has locked the
canoes and sent out a “refreshing
policy moment” email about their safe storage.
d. Letter from attorney re: Polly & Drew’s roof - tabled until
Becky G. returns

7. Matters arising

8. Next meeting: Tuesday, July 23, 7 pm

Cooler doc:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_dmnNJmHmrwwFIfnscnRbPK-_8_kmahfFsOTn_fEvTY/edit
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