December 10, 2020
Good evening, Homeowners,
The Board of Directors has been busy keeping our HOA up and running in the face of some difficult situations. Cliff Manning is the Vice President, Chris Lancaster is the Treasurer, Robert Carr is a non-officer member of the Board, and I, Daphne Hofschulte, am the President – serving with a lot of help from the whole Board!
We held monthly meetings throughout the year with emails between meetings to stay on top of the many things going on in the complex. While only Board members take official action, home owner comments and questions are very helpful. Thank you to everyone who called in.
We welcome our new owners, and share the frustration of owners who are still trying to sell their units only to be thwarted by new Institutional Lender policies. The City of North Pole lien for about $19,000 against the HOA for street assessments has become a roadblock to financing. This problem is being solved by one of the owners paying off the lien which will clear everyone’s title. The HOA will transfer payment on the lien from the City to a formal 5-year annual reimbursement agreement with this owner. Terms are similar to those we had with the City and the proposed budget covers the payment. We believe this change will be of benefit to all of us.
An insurance snarl over what is covered by the HOA policy and what is covered by an owner policy required an amendment to the Declaration. This turned out to be a lengthy, complicated and expensive legal process exceeding our budget for legal costs, but the problem has been solved. In February we will be changing to Hale & Associates, a locally owned agency. The policy is likely to still be with Liberty Mutual and we are estimating the new premium amount, but we look forward to receiving good service from Hale.
A complex-wide infestation of voles caused significant damage to some of our units and threatened several others. Hiring a professional exterminator was an unforeseen, unbugeted expense and was paid for out of available funds in the checkbook. We now ask any owner who finds voles on their premises to take speedy individual action to get rid of them so they don’t spread again.
The summer grounds looked good and our early winter snow accumulation has been taken care of promptly. Unfortunately the best lawn maintenance bid the Board received was in excess of the budgeted amount, and snow removal has already exceeded its 2020 budgeted amount, so we’re looking to increase the “grounds maintenance” line item in the new budget.
Our current budget included a building maintenance line item to address long-deferred maintenance projects. Balcony and asphalt projects were still postponed, but replacing broken siding and trim, repairing loose siding, replacing missing soffits and trim, and roof repair where there were loose shingles have all been addressed and are scheduled to be finished on budget by the end of the year.
The Eagles Nest Declarant, White Eagle, is in the process of constructing the final 4-plex for the complex. We anticipate those 4 units coming on line some time in the spring of 2021. Please check the website www.eaglesnesthoaonline.net. It contains your legal documents including amended Declaration and ByLaws in “searchable format,” meeting agendas and minutes, budgets and financial reports, and announcements and notices for upcoming items of interest. You can always contact the BOD through email: eaglesnesthoa.np@gmail.com.
Respectfully,
Daphne Hofschulte, President
Eagle’s Nest HOA