THA board shows some movement on Guadaljara bridge issue

The townhouse association board met to vote on several items earlier this month. Unfortunately, many items are still pending including the replacement of the Guadalajara Courts bridge.
The meeting was well attended. At one point during the proceedings director Robert Jordan thanked the audience for caring enough to show their civic pride by attending the meeting.
Jordan found fault in last month’s meeting minutes when a letter he read into the minutes, signed by himself and Henry Frank, was merely attached to the minutes instead of part of the body of the minutes. Office personnel promised to fix the oversight. From now on the minutes of the THA board meetings will appear on the website in draft form within seven days of the meeting. The minutes will be pending approval.
Sheila Hill, chair of the standards committee, reported no quorum at the meetings throughout this year. She requested two court representatives from each court instead of just one. The directors echoed her need for full active participation of the court representatives. Director Ida Ferree added, "when people are happy they don’t show up."
Hill reported standards has created several sub-committees including the painting and roofing committee and the cluster mailboxes committee.
Dot Ashley, chair of the nominations committee said the elections process is on track. In the future the committee will be placing announcements in more venues, adding this blog, the Advocate, the Democrat Gazette, the Sentinel Record and KVRE radio.
All the candidates from last year’s board election are still on file to fill any vacancies this year but the candidates must re-apply to run for the board this year. As Ashley put it, "they must submit new forms for the new election."
THA general manager Glenn Zarpaylic said he was very pleased with maintenance crews. There have been very few glitches this season and he has received, "all kinds of compliments." He said weed spraying and fertilization of established turf areas done by sub-contractors is going well. Weed treatment should be complete by August 15.
The Independence Day holiday brought in more temporary renters and more trash but the rental agencies were very responsive and trash was dealt with quickly. Director Frank suggested the board send thank you letters to the rental agencies for their cooperation.
Dead trees were removed and trees trimmed in Castellon and Coronado Courts.
Reserve Advisors is behind on submitting its final recommendations to the board. The company was tasked with identifying all of the THA’s assets and liabilities and to make recommendations to better manage the assets and to eliminate liabilities. The report was due in June but is expected at the end of this month.
Donna Bigg was present to discuss the chain of command for any and all changes to the THA website. It was once again agreed upon that office administrator Barbara Thurman would be the only person to submit any documents or changes to Bigg for the website. The website is looking good and will serve as a valuable tool for communication between the board and association members. The site is www.hsvtha.com.
The replacement of the Guadalajara bridge is still moving forward at a snail’s pace. A very rough estimate of the cost is $16,000 to $25,000 to split between the two homeowners and $60,000 to $80,000 to Guadalajara Court members. Relocation of the homeowners, demolition of the bridge and a temporary access road is not included in the estimate.
One of the homeowners impacted by the bridge replacement requested none of the trees surrounding the property be taken down during the work on the bridge.
Guadalajara Courts representative Dale Milford said there were also two retaining walls in the court that must be included in the measure. The retaining walls are falling down and one of them anchors a small bridge. She emphasized all of the court must be made right, equally.
The board has finally structured a calendar of events to move this item along. By this Friday, July 23, a notice will be sent to all members of Guadalajara Courts announcing a meeting date of August 21 at 9:30 a.m. with all Guadalajara Courts members. This Saturday meeting time will allow any out-of-town owners the opportunity to attend the informational meeting.
On August 28 a ballot will be mailed out to all Guadalajara Courts members to vote on replacement of the bridge. Then the matter must be brought before the THA general membership because the cost of the project exceeds $50,000.
In the meantime, the bridge continues to be a liability issue for the THA. The bridge has been deemed a safety hazzard. There are still residents in both of the townhouses. The bridge is their only ingress and egress from the units. The residents put their lives in danger every time they enter or leave their homes.
There was no vote concerning the cessation of watering in half of Coronado Courts. The broken irrigation system will not be fixed. Collected funds not used for watering will be directed to improvements in the area that is not being watered. There are 45 units that will no longer receive watering.
An alternate individual watering system is being offered for $300 or less. The cost will be to the resident. Director Ida Ferree is trying this method. She requested flyers go to the residents letting them know more about this option.
Watering services will no longer be provided for Valencia Courts.
The board considered committee appointments for Saundra Long, John Cox and Rose Helphinstine. Helphinstine will serve on the by-laws revision committee. Cox is being asked to reapply with one person on the application for the by-laws revision committee. Long has been approved for service on the by-laws revision, finance, standards and architectural review committee.
The THA board will meet next for a working board meeting on August 3 at 8:30 a.m. at the THA administrative building on Perralena Lane.