The Secret Woods February 16, 2004 board meeting was called to order  by Board President Sallie Wnuk at 6:35 pm  in the conference room of the YMCA on Belfort Road. 

The following board members attended: Bill Bortzfield, Horst Pophal,Tom Bozak, Byron DeLong, Harold  Humphries,  and Sallie Wnuk.  Residents Mary and John Loving, Kristin Bassett and Mrs. Choi also attended.

Sallie opened the meeting by asking Bill to read the minutes from the January 12 meeting. The minutes were approved as read. 

Sallie then asked Tom for the treasurer's report.  As of February 12, 2004 the neighborhood had a balance of $26,076.94.

The treasurer's report was accepted as delivered.  Sallie then turned to old business.  

Sallie reported that she and Bill visited the two families who had not paid their annual dues. One family has now paid in full. 

A payment plan has been arranged for the second family, and the first payment has been received.

Attention then turned to the audit of the neighborhood's financial records.  Harold reported the audit that homeowners voted for at the annual meeting in September has been completed.  Accountant Scott Lutheran performed the audit.  He found everything to be in order although he did make some recommendations in regards to record keeping.  One of the recommendations  was to break down the utility bills on a spreadsheet to make them easier to keep track of.

Harold said because he was a former auditor he felt having an audit was a good practice and that the board could now report to the neighborhood that the books are in good order.

The total cost of the audit was $1,500.  Harold made a motion that the balance due, $900 be paid.  Bill seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.  Harold also promised to pursue obtaining an electronic copy of the audit so that it could be posted on the Secret Woods Web site.

Byron then updated the board on negotiations for pool house cleaning services with Jan-Pro Of Northeast Florida.  He said that Jan-Pro's only concern with the original bid was exceeding paper usage.  Once it was determined that paper usage wouldn't be a problem the contract was signed.  Jan-Pro is already begun its cleaning services at the neighborhood pool.

Sallie said Jan-Pro has been doing a good job.

Sallie said she had gotten two bids to renovate the tennis courts.  Two out of three of the bids were very close.  The bids include pressure washing the courts, patching all cracks in the surface, then laying fresh asphalt.  A new windscreen would also be included.

Sallie recommended the neighborhood go with Premier Tennis Courts.  The cost would be $5,800.  The company told Sallie they would guarantee the work  for 18 months.  However cracks would not be included.   All the bidders  told Sallie said that over time new cracks would likely develop.  

Premier Tennis Courts also provided Sallie with a list of references that include Eagle Harbor, San Jose Country Club and several others..

Sallie reported the project would take approximately a week to complete.  Bill made a motion the board approve Sallie's first choice, which was Premier.  Tom asked for a clarification on how tree roots would be handled.  Tom also suggested we consider whether we want to move the basketball court into the tennis court area. In the end it was decided that Sallie would first call to see if Premier would  include the cost of removing some roots to the contract and check to see what it could cost to turn the tennis courts into a  multipurpose area (basketball, shuffleboard).

Sallie also agreed to investigate whether the fence to the courts can be reinforced to make sure no one from outside the neighborhood can lift it to crawl under.

Tom noted that the sign at the back entrance was down this morning.  Harold agreed to check it.

Sallie said also looked into getting new letterhead stationary from Associated Printing.  The quote was $165.95 for 500 letters and envelopes, which would include the neighborhood's logo.  Harold made a motion to order the stationary.  Horst seconded the motion. the motion was  passed unanimously.

Sallie then opened the floor for new business.  Mrs. Choi expressed concern that the front pond is getting bigger and that her front yard is getting smaller as the pond expands.  She would like the board to put more dirt in her property. 

Sallie agreed to talk with JEA to see what the utility had to say about the drainage.  The board also agree to check the by-laws to see what responsibility, if any, the neighborhood had in the matter.

Sallie also said her next project would be to getting bids to have  the pool cool decking refinished. 

Sallie then pointed out that Harold is moving and asked the board how to handle filling the pending board vacancy.  Byron and Horst suggested posting the vacancy at the neighborhood bulletin board, which Bill agreed to do. 

The next meeting was scheduled for Monday, March 8, 2004. The meeting was adjourned at 7:50 p.m.

Submitted by Board Member Bill Bortzfield on 2/18/04.