Huntingdon HOA Meeting Minutes
Date and time: 8/12/18, 3:01 p.m.
Board Members Present:
Randall Wilburn
Adam Hedman
Cosmo Denger
Jesse Smyers
Consultant Present:
Steven Head - McClelland Consulting Engineers, Inc. Geotechnical Engineer
Property Owners Present:
Omitted from Online Version
New Business: Special meeting called to discuss the state of the pool and surrounding area and potential of a special assessment.
Randy Wilburn supplied handouts from McClelland Consulting Engineers, Inc. The handout included a geotechnical investigation and report completed in the fall of 2018.
Randy: pool is 35 years old, pool has been operating with little major maintenance to fix the systemic issues. The project will be expensive, there is very little in reserve each year after expenses are paid. The board previously discussed the current state of the pool, and hired a consultant to survey the area. The deck can’t be rebuilt until the foundation is fixed. Numerous cracks in the pool are an issue.
Steven Head - McClelland, Geotechnical Engineer. Met board members in July, took photos, analyzed area. Overall pool integrity is there and there is no danger from the pool sliding down the hill. Property uphill is pushing the pool and property downhill is pulling the pool which is causing all of the cracks and other issues. A topographic survey, boundary survey, geotechnical survey completed as a first step. South perimeter hill makes the project difficult due to lack of heavy machinery access. Retaining wall is under pressure due to poor drainage. Appropriate drainage is lacking largely due to the building codes at the time about 30 years ago. Retaining walls built now according to new codes would allow for more drainage. The wall is putting pressure on the pool as well. Repairing tile, pool walls, etc is pointless without fixing wall and drainage first.
Old foundation for deck has settled several inches, and the recent fix performed a few years ago was not done correctly and the supports have settled several inches. The deck is also attached to the pool wall, which is pulling on the pool and causing cracks. The new deck should be a separate structure. Completely rebuilding a pool like this is not likely. Steven noted that there are lots of foundation areas in the neighborhood in general so this is not uncommon.
Randy: Eventually the city won’t let us open the pool if it continues to deteriorate. Several options can be explored and the purpose of the meeting was to inform the residents and get feedback on how to proceed.
Finances were discussed, but the treasurer was not able to make the meeting. Total dues per year are approximately $54,000. Over half of those dues go to operating the pool. Some dues from 2018 were used to perform the survey. Very rough costs to repair everything in the report are estimated at 200-400k. Actual numbers have not been projected because the board wanted input first.
At this point there were several questions from the residents. Can the plan be spread over multiple phases? Possible to do a loan or close it down until enough money is saved? There was also discussion on how a special assessment would be voted on and implemented. Special assessment takes ⅔ votes, from the meeting or from the whole neighborhood?
Questions about the health department inspection arose. The deck was a big issue last year and minor repairs were applied to get the pool open. The board is concerned if majors repairs on the deck are not make this year, then the pool may not pass inspection again.
Valuation has been done in the past about what it would cost to shut the pool down for ever. The previous cost estimate obtained was higher than replacing the pool, considering it would have to be demolished, hauled away and filled in. Would need to be re-evaluated but there was no voiced interest in this option.
Question about opening the pool up to other neighborhoods to generate revenue? Not without annexing properties.
The final accepted proposal was to perform the repairs in phases over the next 3-5 years in between pool seasons. Three phases outlined would be decking and deck foundation, top retaining wall and drainage, and then redo the pool and fix cracks, skimmers, and coping (pool edging). As all of these are major expenses, the phases might be further split up to control costs.
The board will pursue 2-3 deck plans and estimates
Option 1: replace deck as is with proper foundation and not attached to the pool
Option 2: expand the deck size in addition to option 1
Option 3: Third option that may arise after speaking with contractors for estimates
Once the bids are obtained, the board will notify the residents of the available options and request feedback. At this time, a vote on a special assessment was not necessary. Once the bids are in for phase 1, the option will be explored if additional funds are needed.
Meeting adjourned: 4:18 p.m.
Minutes prepared by: Cosmo Denger
Appendix: Full McClelland Report
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1WY0uq3LT24idZDfNmAEcilgS5LyIvMWx
