Annual Meeting Reminder

As stated in our January letter, the annual meeting will be held on Saturday, May 2nd. We want to make sure that everyone is aware that the time of the meeting has been set at 3:00 in the afternoon. We will hold the meeting at the south end of the detention basin on 300 North.

Among other business, we will present the results of the vote on the annual dues.

Please plan to attend.

January Letter

We are writing to you earlier than usual this year. We want to make sure that everyone is informed about the things that we have made progress on this year as well as some of the issues that still require attention. Some of these will be best dealt with prior to the beginning of the year.

First, you may remember the issues we have been dealing with regarding funds to operate our Association. With the failure to pass an increase in the yearly Assessment amount, and a small number of members paying the special assessment (about one third of homeowners), we currently have about $2700 in our account to start out 2015. One major expense that we need to cover is our property insurance, which is billed in January. In order to make this payment on time we especially need homeowners to pay dues promptly.

The By-Laws instruct that the deadline to pay the Annual Assessment is January 1. The Board will be making an effort to more closely follow the procedures for dealing with late payments this year. The instructions are as follows:

If any member shall fail to make payment of any installment of an annual or special assessment within thirty (30) days of the due date, such installment shall bear interest from the due date at the rate of eighteen percent (18%) per annum until paid. In addition, the Trustees may assess a late fee for such delinquent installment of up to $10.00 per month until paid, and, upon thirty (30) days prior written notice, may accelerate the due date for all remaining annual assessment installments and all accrued but unpaid interest thereon.

This year we were able to collect $2200 in past-due payments from homeowners. Special thanks to Brandon for his efforts in this area. Our total amount of overdue payments has been cut by about half. We also received payments for dues on the current year from all but seven lots. Thank you for doing your part.

Having discussed the issue of commonly owned properties with several neighbors, we have heard concerns ranging from raising our standard of maintaining the detention basin to not maintaining it at all.  After reading through our responsibilities and meeting with city officials including those from the planning department, city council, and parks and rec, it has been determined that we do currently have an obligation to maintain the detention basin.  They are continuing to work with us to determine if changes in our responsibility can be shared with the city or given completely to the city, however, this process may take some time and there is no guaranteed outcome.  We plan to continue to work with city officials to try to come up with ideas that may lessen our burden, but for now, we need to continue to uphold our obligations.

The expenses for 2014 as reported by our bookkeeper are shown below, along with the proposed budget for 2015. Please note a few things about our expenses for the year. First, our bookkeeper delayed our bill from 2013 as a courtesy to us, and billed us during 2014 because our account did not have sufficient funds at the end of the year to cover that bill. Secondly, several houses were sold this year with extra paperwork for title companies, which also increased the workload of our bookkeeper, and therefore increased the bill. We also added to the workload with collecting on several past-due accounts which the bookkeeper helped to process and update. Finally, we had a sprinkler burst this summer, so the water bill was higher than usual and we had the extra expense of that repair.

2014	2015
Water: $2202.35	Water: 1700
Lawn Maintenance: $3157.55	Lawn Maintenance: 3000
Post Office Box Renewal: $100	PO Box, Postage and Paperwork supplies: 250
Insurance 2013: $1278	Insurance: 1400
Business Renewal: $20	Business Renewal: 20
Taxes: $125	Taxes: 150
Bookkeeping: $2656.68	Bookkeeping: 2000
	Snow removal: 700
	10% Reserve Fund: 1000
Total: 9539.58	Total: 10,200

You will notice that the total amount for the budget exceeds our maximum annual income. With our dues at $100 per lot, the most our income would be, with 100% of lots sending in their payments, is $8300. The annual assessment has been set at $100 for 11 years and has not changed since our neighborhood was developed in 2003. Those who follow a budget will know that expenses tend to increase over time.

At our annual meeting in May we will discuss again our annual assessment amount. As unpalatable as it may seem, our current rate of income is proving to be insufficient to meet our needs. One way to look at it is that if standard rates of inflation are usually calculated at about 3% per year. If we adjusted our amount of $100 as set in 2003 along with inflation, our dues would be $138 for the year 2015.

We are always willing to consider bids for any of the above categories. We have sought out bids for many of them with businesses who provide those services, especially with bookkeeping, lawn care and snow removal. If members in the neighborhood feel they have a connection or someone willing to provide one of these services, please contact a Board member so that we can discuss the services we need more specifically. We will review any bids we receive and make changes that prove beneficial.

Attached you will find your invoice for your next payment. If there are any outstanding balances on your property, those will be listed along with the yearly dues for 2015. Please send in your check to our Post Office Box, hand deliver to a Board Member, or use the PayPal button found on our blog page.

Finally, please mark your calendar and reserve the afternoon of the first Saturday in May for our Annual Meeting. We will have a more specific time and place as we get closer. If you believe you are not on our email list, please contact us via hoa.foothill@gmail.com to have your contact information added.

Question: Why can't we just stop watering the detention basin or turn it into a community garden or xeriscape it?

Answer:

There have been several ideas and suggestions about how we should deal with the detention basin. It is our main expense. It is not a small piece of property, and it does take some effort to maintain. We have been researching  these suggestions to see if there are any changes that would make sense for our situation. Here is what we have learned.

The current landscape of the detention basin was approved by Provo City when the neighborhood was being developed. Any changes to the landscape of the detention basin need to be approved by the city. Provo City has very specific requirements for what needs to be included in the landscape design of a detention basin. This includes grass, trees and shrubs (see below). Grass is the main element that allows the detention basin to function, because grass is vegetation that anchors down the soil while allowing water to flow into the ground and the drains.

    One idea has been to convert the land into a community garden.  We have discussed this option with Thomas McKenna who oversees Provo City parks and open space areas. He explained that community gardens are not on the approved list of landscape designs for detention basins and a garden would not be approved because it would not allow the storm water drains to work properly.  The debris that would run off from rainfall in a garden would be problematic and counterproductive.

Another suggestion has been to xeriscape the land. Xeriscaping is a landscape style which aims to minimize water usage by covering the ground with native and drought tolerant plants. It is doubtful that such a landscape would be approved by the city, as it is not listed in their requirements for detention basins in the city code. If we were somehow able to obtain approval for a xeriscape design for the detention basin from the city, it would mean a substantial cost to completely re-work the land in that manner.

Some have asked why we need to keep watering and mowing the grass in the detention basin; perhaps we should just let it die out. The board has spoken with three city planners who all stated that if we were to stop maintaining the detention basin, we would all face penalties, both as a group and as individual lot owners. Those penalties would include fines and liens on each lot in the neighborhood.  

This is what the city code specifies for detention basins:

City Code 15.20

(d) Detention/retention basins and ponds shall be landscaped where possible. Such landscaping may include shade and ornamental trees, evergreens, shrubbery, hedges, turf and ground cover.

14.49C.140. Detention Basin - Wetlands Mitigation.

Any changes to any detention basin or wetlands mitigation areas including change of use or modifications to the common areas in or around a detention basin structure, proposed plans shall be submitted to the City for pre-approval. Approval from the City shall be required prior to the change of use or modification of such common areas. A detention basin/wetlands mitigation area related hydraulic features shall be the responsibility of the City. (Enacted 2007-26)

15.20.150. Enforcement.

(1) All landscaping shall be installed and maintained in conformance with an approved landscape plan. Any modification to an approved plan shall require approval of the Planning Commission or its designee.

(a) Bonding for all landscape improvements shall be held until required landscaping is inspected and shown to conform to the approved landscape plan.

(b) Unauthorized changes to a landscape plan shall be corrected by the person responsible for deviating therefrom. Unauthorized changes which remain uncorrected shall be a violation of this Chapter and subject to the fines and penalties established in Chapter 14.42, Provo City Code.

(2) The Community Development Department and the Urban Forester are hereby authorized to bring actions against property owners for violations of this Chapter. (Enacted 1999-61, Am 2012-20)

Question: Why can't we just get rid of our H.O.A.?

Answer: According to Utah State Law, an HOA with commonly owned property can only be dissolved with a unanimous vote. Not only would all 83 lot owners need to vote to dissolve the HOA, but any mortgage company with a lien on any lot would also need to approve such an action.

The chances of that many parties all agreeing to the same thing is next to zero.

In 2013 the HOA board conducted a vote by mail-in ballot to determine if there was a sufficient number of homeowners with a desire to deed away the common properties and dissolve the HOA. That motion was voted down by a large margin. 

Additionally, Provo City would need to approve the dissolution or our HOA. They have indicated that they will not allow our HOA to be dissolved. In the original developer’s agreement for our neighborhood, it was set forth that the city would maintain the hydraulics system within our detention basin, but the HOA would be responsible for maintaining the area in a manner consistent with the guidelines set forth by the city.

Question: Why do we have an H.O.A.?

Answer:

In a nutshell, when the neighborhood was originally being proposed by the developer, Provo City placed certain conditions for placing a neighborhood of houses on the land. One of the conditions was that there must be a detention basin. Because the detention basin would need to be maintained, a homeowners’ association needed to be formed.

The HOA would need to be responsible for maintenance of the detention basin, which collects storm water that is prevented from draining into the ground because of the structures that have been placed there. Water cannot be absorbed by the ground when the ground is covered by a road, driveway, or a house and this water needs somewhere to go to prevent flooding.

The city of Provo decided that the bulk of the cost of such development needed to be borne by the property owners in the area. The city agreed to provide the hydraulic system beneath the ground in the detention basin, which they continue to maintain, while the HOA takes care of the maintenance above the ground.

We all purchased a portion of that property when we purchased the lot(s) upon which our homes sit. In addition to the detention basin, we all have part ownership of two pathways that connect different parts of the neighborhood. Property owners always pay property taxes levied on the property, as well as insurance on the property. The HOA takes on the responsibility to see that those expenses are paid by collecting dues from the members.

Below is the Provo City ordinance describing the requirement for having the detention basin.

18.03.050 Storm Water Easements

The requirements for this Section apply to all persons required to submit a plan or project that is subject to the Provo City development review process.

(1) The Developer shall provide a Storm Drainage System Maintenance Agreement for all components of the proposed private drainage system. The agreement shall include, but not be limited to, the following: storm drain piping, storm water inlet boxes, storm drain junction boxes, detention facilities, retention facilities, flow restriction devices, water quality devices, diversion structures, and screening structures.

(2) The maintenance agreement shall adequately describe the following:

(a) The party responsible for executing the maintenance agreement, i.e. homeowners associations, property owners, etc.

(4) Storm drainage system maintenance agreements shall be provided in form and substance as required by the Public Works Director, or his designee, and shall be properly recorded in the Utah County Recorder’s Office and shall constitute a covenant running with the land and shall be binding on the landowner, executors, assigns, heirs, and any other successors of interest, including any homeowners associations, as addressed in 18.03.060(2)(a).

18.03.060 Storm Drainage System Maintenance Agreements

The requirements for this Section apply to all projects proposing private storm drainage systems that are required to submit a plan that is subject to the Provo City development review process.

(1) The Developer shall provide a Storm Drainage System Maintenance Agreement for all components of the proposed private drainage system.

(2) The maintenance agreement shall adequately describe the following:

(a) The party responsible for executing the maintenance agreement, i.e. homeowners association, property owner, etc.

(b) Extent of the maintenance activities to be performed.

Special Assessment

During our recent vote and discussion on whether to increase our HOA fees, many passionate ideas were voiced, ranging from shutting the HOA down to making the most of the land by investing in it. During this meeting it confirmed to us the need to gather feedback from you and to be better at communicating your desires to each other. We want to let you know that we are listening and that your opinions are valued.  We are confident that as we gather feedback, explore your ideas, discuss the ideas with the city for approval, and share our findings, we will do something great together.

To accomplish this we are working on a few different things. First, we have been organizing volunteers from the neighborhood who have offered to act as block captains for different areas of the neighborhood. They will be contacting the homeowners in their vicinity to gather insights on what each of you expect regarding standards for our neighborhood, vision for our land, and plans for moving forward. We hope to be able to take this feedback and synthesize it into a vision for what the common consensus is for our neighborhood. We realize it will take time to determine what we all want as a community. Thank you for your continued feedback and support.

Additionally, we have been working on putting down in writing the answers to frequently asked questions. You can expect to receive those explanations in a series of emails over the next few weeks. We will also compile them into one online location for future reference.

In the meantime, unfortunately, as we discussed with those who were able to attend our recent meetings, the balance of our available funds is running dangerously low. With the expenses that we foresee for the remainder of the year, we have limited options. In the spirit of full transparency, our balance at the beginning of this year was $585. Dues payments came in during January and February. After paying expenses for the year to this point, our checking account currently has a balance of $2599. Upcoming expenses are projected to be as follows:

Watering Detention basin: $1000

Lawn treatments for Detention basin @ $120 each for 2 more treatments: $240

Mowing Detention basin @ $60 each week with 16 weeks remaining (through October):$960

Liability and HOA Insurance: $1600

Snow removal for sidewalk along detention basin and pathway @ $78 per occurrence estimated at $500

Bookkeeping fees estimated at $800

Property taxes estimated at $200

10% reserve fund as required by law: $1000

                As you can see, that leaves us with a deficiency of funds in the amount of $3701. We understand that this is not fun news. It is certainly not fun sharing it. Unfortunately, it is our current reality.

Our By-Laws include a provision for special assessments when appropriate: Subject to the restrictions set forth in the Declaration, if any, the Board of Trustees shall determine the amount of the annual assessment and special assessments of the members (Article II, Section 9). It is the opinion of the Board that it has become necessary to put in place a special assessment of $45 per lot to cover our expenses for the remainder of 2014. We cannot ignore the true costs associated with homeownership in our neighborhood. Please send your payment of $45 by August 31. You may send it to our P.O. Box, deliver it to a board member, or use the button on the right to pay via Paypal.

This is of course only a temporary fix. We will need your input in order to find a better long term solution that is appropriate for our neighborhood. We appreciate your help as we work through these issues as neighbors. Again, we feel strongly that as we reach out to each of you via our block captains and come up with a shared vision for our land, whatever it may be, we will all be proud of what we decide together.