Oxford Place   

Doby’s Bridge Presbyterian Church is located 1 mile northwest of Oxford Place on Doby’s Bridge Road. We will open the doors at 7:00pm to allow time for property owners to meet their neighbors before the meeting.

The budget spreadsheet showing the 2006 Oxford Place income and expenditures will be presented.

The board has some loose ends to resolve before recommending the 2007 annual fee. It could be as high as $300. The priorities identified are paying the bills (electricity, insurance, legal expenses, landscaping), bringing entrance lighting to the medians, replacing our landscaper (retired), further improving the landscaping, and keeping the reserve at a minimum level to cover unexpected expenses.

All property owners (100%) are asked to attend the annual meeting and asked to participate. All property owners have the option of providing a proxy vote to the board or to a neighbor. All property owners are asked to call board members to ensure their concerns are heard. In addition, all property owners are asked to volunteer to serve on the board or a committee. Despite this encouragement, with the exception of the annual meetings in 2001 and in 2006, we have only had 30% to 40% of the neighborhood attend each meeting. Per the bylaws, a quorum is needed before holding an "official" vote. Last year, the neighborhood voted to change the quorum requirement to 40%. After exploring the bylaws of other neighborhoods, we have found it is quite common to have the quorum level set to 30%. Again we want 100% of the neighborhood to attend the meetings and vote. However, a 30% quorum will assure business can be conducted in future years. We will vote on this amendment to ARTICLE IV Meetings of Members.

Also note that the C&Rs do not cover everything that appears to be a problem. The C&Rs do not address landscaping, etc. Certain county ordinances address issues such as overgrown vegetation etc. and usually these issues can be taken up with the county.

At the annual meeting we will propose that the priorities of the landscaping committee will be to: (1) Install low-voltage lighting in the medians. (2) Select a new landscaper for 2007. (3) Continue to improve the look of the front entrances. (4) Explore better solutions to protect the curbs at the front entrances and to quickly repair these areas when damaged. (5) Repair and protect the irrigation systems. And (6) Monitor and provide feedback to our landscaper. To keep the 2007 Annual Meeting on schedule, we will not be having a long discussion about the finer details of landscaping. If you have a strong opinion about the entrance landscaping, we encourage your to join the landscaping committee. Once you are on a committee we strongly encourage you to call your fellow committee members to assure everyone is working together and all voices are heard.

We currently have seven undeveloped lots in Oxford Place. In additional to new construction on these lots the Architectural Review Committee is responsible for reviewing plans for new garages, outbuildings, pools, etc. Laura Bradford, Roger Guchone, Lenny Sernulka, and Johnny Webster have served on the Architectural Review Committee over the last several years and will likely volunteer to serve again. However, it never hurts to have some new faces on the committee.

Several homeowners continue to ask us for updates regarding the partially constructed dwelling on Cabin Creek Court.

In January 2006, the property owner’s association filed a small claims suit to encourage the homeowner to complete the exterior construction of his home. In response, the homeowner filed a counterclaim, which further delayed the process and moved the matter to a higher court. When this topic was presented at the 2006 annual meeting, those in attendance responded with an overwhelming "yes" when we asked whether we should take further action. Shortly thereafter, the board retained the services of Matt Niemiec, an attorney, for $2500 to pursue this matter. We were told by Mr. Neimiec that the best course of action was to first have the counterclaim dismissed. On January 11, 2007, another attorney, Forrest Wilkerson, who was retained by the neighborhood’s insurance company, was successful in having the counterclaim dismissed. Mr. Neimiec will see the neighborhood’s case forward within the next 30-60 days. He will be seeking help from the court with encouraging Mr. Ostendorff to meet the C&Rs and will be seeking reimbursement of the legal fees ($2500) incurred by the neighborhood.

We do not plan to discuss this matter during the regular part of the homeowners meeting. After the election of new board members and the formation of committees, those in attendance who have questions about this matter may remain.