Meeting Notice — December 6, 2021
Meeting Summary
NORTH SHORES BOARD OF GOVERNORS
Meeting of Board of Directors
December 6, 2021
A regular meeting of the Board was held on Monday, December 6, 2021. Notice of the meeting was posted in advance on the North Shores website. Attending the meeting by video conference were: President Steven Hollman, Secretary Debbie Director, Treasurer Helen Hoart, Assistant Secretary Evan Thalenberg and board member Bruce Wilson. Community Executive, Jeff Sellman, also attended. As the first order of business the meeting was called to order.
Regarding the second item on the agenda, a discussion of the Board’s construction fee and rental fee proposals in light of the community conversation regarding the proposals conducted on December 4, 2021, a motion was duly made and seconded to conduct the discussion in executive session in light of the threat of litigation made in correspondence from certain community members. The motion was approved by all, and the Board accordingly met in executive session. The executive session ended.
The next item on the Agenda was the review and ratification of votes taken by email since August 30, 2021. A complete list of votes was included in the meeting Agenda and reviewed by the directors. President Hollman asked the Board if there were any questions or comments. There were no questions, and upon motion duly made and seconded to ratify the votes taken by email, the motion was approved by all.
Review and ratification of votes taken by email:
- Beach Equipment and Boat Slip Rental Rates – Approved
- Construction Application 56 Ocean Drive (Minor) – approved
- Rip Rap Proposal – Approved
- Meeting Minutes August 2021 – Approved
- Meeting Minutes October 2021 – Approved
- Construction Application (Minor) 17 and 19 Holly Road – Approved
- Construction Application (Minor) 23 Cedar Road – Approved
- Tree Removal Proposal – Approved
- Meeting Minutes June 2021 – Approved
- Construction Existing Application (pool plans) 7 Farview – Approved
- Meeting Minutes May 13th and May 19th – Approved
- Community Event Labor Day Weekend Pizza Truck – Approved
- Construction Application 7 Ocean Drive (extension) – approved
Construction and Rental fee proposals were the next item on the Agenda. Following a detailed discussion to better align direct and indirect costs to the community, the Board agreed to delay implementing both proposals in their current form.
President Hollman outlined proposed fee increases for major and minor construction applications. The Board unanimously adopted the proposal to increase the construction application fee to $2500.00 to commence on February 1, 2022, for major construction projects, to capture a portion of the hard costs of the ARC review process currently being funded by the annual assessment as well as costs for staff time and stormwater management and infrastructure remediation. The proposal provided for damage deposits to remain at the current level of $2500.00 with more intensive monitoring for damages associated with construction. The proposal provided for construction application fee of $1,000.00 for minor construction projects to commence on February 1, 2022.
In adopting this proposal to increase construction fees, the Board made particular note of the statement in the letter dated November 30, 2021, from opponents of the Board’s fee proposals distributed in October that the signers of that letter and the October 15 letter “made clear that they agree with the Board that owners should reimburse North Shores for the actual, out-of-pocket costs incurred by the community in connection with construction.” With regard to including so-called “soft cost” recovery associated with plan review, drainage, common property remediation, and security in the construction fee, the revised proposal including soft costs will be presented to the community prior to the Annual Meeting in May 2022 and will be placed before the community for a vote at the Annual Meeting. Efforts will be made to track these costs in greater detail.
The question of rental fees was the next item of discussion. A motion to withdraw the Board’s current rental fee proposal was duly made in light of community input from the December 4th community forum. The motion was seconded, and the Board agreed unanimously to withdraw the proposal and to continue to utilize the annual assessment to cover the costs to the community associated with seasonal rentals. The Board engaged in a discussion of alternatives to recover direct costs associated with the administration of rental activity. The discussion concluded with the proposal of an amenity fee for rentals guests, per head by week, to avoid imposing fees on, or requiring rental income information from homeowners. As an alternative, to better manage costs currently being covered by the annual assessment, upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board unanimously approved a proposal for an amenity fee to be paid directly by renters on a per head by week basis for the summer of 2023. The exact fee is to be determined at a later date. Information from the 2022 rental season will be used to develop metrics to assess the comprehensive rental costs, both direct and indirect, currently incurred by the community. A revised proposal for the recovery of soft costs associated with the administration of rentals will be presented to the community prior to the Annual Meeting and will be placed before the community for a vote at the Annual Meeting. Members of the community requested at the December 4th 2021 community forum that rental fees collected by NSBG, Inc. be used to enforce the group rental and other rental related covenants. President Hollman requested that NSBG, Inc. join the Community Associations Institute, which is a helpful information resource on certain best practices relevant to the December 4 community forum.
Treasurer Helen Hoart presented the proposed Budget for 2022, which showed a projected deficit of approximately $190,000. Previously the details of the proposed budget had been circulated to all Board members. Helen outlined three scenarios, reflecting three different possibilities for increases in assessments to address the projected deficit. The Board engaged in a discussion evaluating each of the assessment increase scenarios. The Board tentatively agreed to increase the annual assessment by $400, which was in the middle range of the three scenarios considered. Approval of the budget reflecting this increase was deferred until early 2022.
In other business, Secretary Director reported that she and Community Executive, Jeff Sellman, had met earlier in the day with IT consultant Tom Bason, to discuss upgrades to modernize the North Shores website. Tom Bason will develop an RFP to replace the inventory system and rewrite outdated software, primarily with applications available from WordPress, and to improve website login security.
The meeting was adjourned.