HARFORD TOWN HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION ABINGDON, MD 21009 AN ASPEN PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COMMUNITY PO BOX 858, ELKTON, MD 21922 410 620 2598 RE: State of Community Presidents Report March 31, 2014 Neighbors, Twelve Months ago, our community was in a financial bind that caused much strife. Board members of the time quit, many members continually paid their assessments late or not at all, the bills mounted, and trash was not going to be picked up any longer. Today, there is less strife, election of new Board members has been performed with great due diligence, late pay and collections deficit totals have dropped, and the trash never stopped being picked up. These community successes can be attributed to some key actions. First, the Special Assessment that was imposed last year helped to bolster our position, giving us breathing room to sufficiently pay bills. Secondly, the recruitment of Aspen Property management and all of its purchasing/negotiating power that came with it. Lastly, the new collections system on a contingency basis drastically reduced our legal expenses. Last year at this time, our community had over 100,000 dollars in past due assessments. Today, there is less than 55,000 thousand in past dues, which lends evidence that collection efforts have provided us with a positive impact. Additionally, our trash collection bills have been reduced so dramatically that with everything combined, Special Assessment, Positive Collections, Lower Trash Bills, we were able to stick to our game plan of not raising assessments for 2014.
Furthermore, we have been able to start a Reserve fund that is designed to help offset maintenance costs of our physical assets. To date we have around 5K saved up. Not a lot, but much more than we ve had in some time. I urge everyone to remember that an annual increase will begin to take effect again in 2015. This increase is based upon the cost of living and expenses to run our community. Also, it is not out of the question that a Special Assessment could still be required if our pool cracks, or something along those lines that costs tens of thousands of dollars. FYI: financially, we are looking much stronger but we are nowhere near where we need to be. Overall, I can say with much certainty that Harford Town does not stand alone in today s economic struggles. Many other associations have endured similar hardship, but not all have been successful in overcoming their financial burdens. However, we can be confident that we will survive, improve, and maintain a higher property value in the years to come. I would like to thank all of those who supported this Board and myself. Without your confidence we could not have achieved so much. I would also like to apologize to anyone who may have been upset with our decisions, but I hope those of you have come to understand the difficulties in managing a community of this size with all of its amenities. In closing, I believe we owe a great debt of gratitude to Aspen Property Management. They were the only company that was willing to deal with our situation and as evidenced today, they are a company that performs. Without their help, we could be in a much worse financial position. Their expense has been covered and we are spending less. How much more could we ask for? Trying to do the Right Thing, John Benson President cc: Karl Mortimer Vice President Jackie Parncutt Treasurer Aspen Property Management
HARFORD TOWN HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION ABINGDON, MD 21009 AN ASPEN PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COMMUNITY PO BOX 858, ELKTON, MD 21922 410 620 2598 April 9 th, 2014 RE: Board of Directors Installment of Tanya Cook Ellis and Karl Mortimer Neighbors, The Harford Town HOA reconvention meeting was held on March 31 st, 2014 at the Abingdon Library. Final ballots and proxies were collected and a quorum was met. It was a close race between Karl and Emma and all ballots were recounted several times to ensure accuracy. Tanya came prepared with a whopping amount of proxies in her favor that defaulted her to a position by sheer numbers. Tanya Cook Ellis and Karl Mortimer were the two leading ballot earners followed by Emma Dill. Tanya will serve the Board for a 3 years term, while Karl will be serving the Board for 2 years. Next year, there will be 1 board member position available to serve for a 3 years term. A new nominating committee is under construction as names were taken at the meeting from those who would like to serve on this committee for the year 2014 2015. All election documents are available for review at Aspen Property Management, Elkton, MD. Call for an appointment. Also, anyone interested in becoming involved with the forming of committees is urged to come forward. Contact Aspen Property Management and your information will be passed on to the Board. Thank You, The Board of Directors
The Harford Town Homeowners Association held a Board of Directors meeting today at the Abingdon Library at 6:30PM. In attendance were: John Benson; Director / President Tanya Ellis Cook; Director Excused Absence: Karl Mortimer; Director / Vice President There were approximately 10 additional members in attendance. Aspen Property Management had 2 representatives in attendance. Nicole and Jason. The opening remarks made by John Benson instructed the audience that this was a Board of Directors meeting and that comments were to be held until the Board had concluded their business. Aspen property representative (Nicole Thompson) delivered the Managers Report to include: Balance sheet, Income Expense Statement, Aging Receivables Summary, and Delinquency Report. It was reported that approximately 50 thousand dollars of receivables were going to final collections. This amount is down by about 19 thousand as opposed to our beginning point. We have built up a nice reserve in accordance to state law and have a little more than 13 thousand built up thus far. There is approximatley 73,029.00 dollars in total cash assets reported at this time and a current year net loss of (12,119.78) as not all assessments have been collected for the 3rd quarter. Collections: There are approximately 34 members in collections totaling nearly 50K of unrealized income. Old Business: Election of Officers: The Board of Directors elected John Benson as President for 2014, Karl Mortimer as Vice President for 2014 no other officer positions have been filled at this time. It was brought up by the board and a member at large that we should appoint a Treasurer/Secretary and Emma Dill (member at large) is being contacted to see if she will accept the position. Nomination Committee: The nomination committee was identified and accepted by the Board. Tanya Ellis Cook / Director, will be chairing the 2015 nomination committee, and Kim Glaude, member at large, will be working with the committee. Others are being sought to participate. Dog Poop Stations and Issues: The Board is going to implement an informational document that will
make all members AWARE of the RULES regarding where a PET is allowed to URINATE or DEFECATE. This document will have a plat of the community that will designate the common areas that are acceptable for these functions. No signage will be added at this time. The first step will be to inform and educate everyone for a period of time and then begin enforcing Fines and Police action therein. The Storm Water Management ponds are going to be bid out for much needed maintenance. 5 Bids will be sought. Aspen Mgmt will present bids. Walking Path and Bridges are in need of repair/replacement. There will be 5 bids sought for this scope of work as well. Aspen Mgmt will present bids. Playground Maintenance: This was tabled until our next meeting. The Board of Directors chose an Auditing Firm to perform the 2013 Independent Audit. John Benson Signed the Contract during the meeting and Audit results should be forthcoming. New Business: The Commercial Vehicle and Recreational Vehicle language changes that have been presented and worked on for the past several months by Tanya and Karl have come to a point of Resolution. The Board voted upon and passed the resolution. Members can expect to see this work at the next scheduled Members Meeting so we can register the changes with Harford County Clerks Office. The rules will begin being enforced September 1st, 2014, and after that date vehicles not in compliance with the rules will be TOWED AT OWNERS EXPENSE. EXPANSION OF THE BOARD: We would like to increase the number of Board Members from 3 to 5. In order to do this we must achieve a 51% approval from the Members At Large. We will be working toward this goal and hopefully will be able to present the nominating committee with 3 open positions for 2015 rather than just 1. This is a work in progress. An explanation of Officers was delivered by John Benson to the Board per legal counsel of Nagel and Schaefer. The question was whether or not Officers of the HOA were able to Vote during Board Meetings. The answer is No. Officers are appointed by the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors makes all Voting Decisions using the popular vote method. Officers of the HOA can be a Board Member but it is only a requirement that the President be a Director, others do not have to be on the Board. Tanya discussed her dislike for the way the rules were written, but acknowledged them and noted the shortcomings. 2015 Budget was discussed and presented by Aspen. Few changes, an annual 15% increase should be expected to deal with C.O.B expenses and inflation. The POOL is a topic of concern as Maintenance and Repairs are eminent. Aspen has asked DRD to give us a survey of what should be done at this point to maintain and minimize future repair work. The library was closing at 8pm and we were still going at 7:52, had to shut it down. During closing a
member requested that we start talking about Sink Holes and obvious Water Drainage areas with washout problems throughout the community... See if Harford County has any responsibility in repairs, and also to begin discussions on the Water Drainage ditches through the woods as they are eroding badly and something needs to be done to slow that down. John Benson called for adjournment, Tanya Ellis Cook seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 8pm. Minutes By: John Benson HOA President