BALLYMEADE

NEW - Board Meeting - Minutes - Decemeber 2020

Zoom Teleconference

Meeting Minutes –    

Part 1 on December 2, 2020,

Part 2 on December 8, 2020

UPDATES

Mike Petrucci -

Architectural Review Committee (ARC) – 

• Two ARC requests submitted recently.  ?–ª Request types: (1) window; (1) deck
• Neighborhood bush removed without board approval: 

Homeowner on W. Boxborough sought approval for removal of 3 large 20 year old bushes well away from the home on community owned property.  The homeowner proceeded to have a landscaper remove the bushes  after the Board said no to the request and additional correspondence.    A letter of rebuke explaining problems this can bring forth to be prepared and sent to homeowner.  This incident was mentioned in the following newsletter advising all homeowners not to touch plantings on community property.

Phil LaScala -

Ballymeade Security Camera   – 

• Camera remains in normal working condition; cameras are checked on a weekly basis normally
• One request by New Castle County police for 12 hours of footage between Sept. 15-16.      Request fulfilled with 36gb of footage from all 3 cameras

 Newsletter

• The next community newsletter will be mailed to homeowners in December as a holiday edition; discussions around what content is appropriate and should be included; final draft reviewed by board

 Sidewalk Maintenance

• Maintenance was performed on sections of the neighborhood sidewalks.   Any sidewalk section pushed-up by the neighborhood street tree roots were shaved-down to help avoid numerous tripping hazards this posed.   Maintenance completed by general contractor along Shrewsbury, Longmeadow and Ballymeade Drives and inspected

Ron White (PENCO) -

Settlements and collections

Ron provideed an update of the collections and settlements report

Discussions held about concerns raised by neighbors regarding particular rental properties.  Actions the board may take to address these concerns letters were mailed to both homeowners

Cindy DeYoe -

Financial Report:

• Status of BMC financials and statements
• Summary will be provided to the board for current fiscal year
• Discussion regarding what financial statements will be shared to homeowners on a regular and ongoing basis as well as review of the requests

Peter Haggerty

Solar Panels 

Meeting with Sean Matthews and Paul Baumbach will be scheduled for the Spring (delayed by Covid19) to get clarification on new state laws allowing solar panels.  No current requests for solar panels

Entrance traffic light

Trip mechanism still is not working correctly outside of business hours.   Pete provided a link that can be used to complain to DELDOT about this….he has already complained several time and if more people complain…

New Castle County Stormwater inspections

• 2020 inspections not yet complete; waiting for county to re-inspect
• Work order delay by Forever Green due to staffing issues; J. Catherman to be contacted
• The county subsequently approved our 2020 maintenance.

Landscaping

• Requests for tree removal remain an expensive and frequent maintenance around the now mature community is needed.   Two current requests for removing dying trees within common areas will cost more than $3500.   To help lower costs, felled trees are not being hauled away but moved back into the woods to decay naturally
• Completed and Paid Work Orders
• Replace entrance sign screws
• Trim dead branches from entrance island tree; Davey to monitor for disease
• Repair and seeding of tire tracks made by teenagers in mini-van on comm property
• Elevate 3 white birch trees and remove large storm fallen tree from grassy area
• Install 2 forsythia, replacing dead pine from car accident
•  Spotted Lantern fly damage was minimal this past season thankfully; damage monitored (no charge) and one treatment was applied
• Slow-down signs to be reposted again.  It is better impact to put them in place, remove and but them out again.  Otherwise people just get used to them and don’t see them (per Deldot)

Board Member

• Current board members continue to inquire with potentially interested homeowners about joining the board