June 2023 Towne South Monthly Meeting Minutes
TOWNE SOUTH HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION
Open Meeting Minutes
June 20, 2023
Board Members Present: Mackenzie Hennekes, Greg Hertlein, and Hugh McWilliams.
Residents Present: Lucille Hines, Dave Carr, Don Cannon, Christine Dennison, and Nancy Katich.
Meeting was called to order at 7:03 by President Mackenzie Hennekes. She welcomed all and introduced Board members.
Agenda for tonight’s meeting:
Approval of Minutes from April 18 and May 16, 2023 – The minutes from both meetings were approved and Jackie will post on the website.
Financial Update – Jackie reported that the Board met earlier this week and has reviewed the financials, which have been posted to our website. Copies of our financials are on the tables if anyone is interested. We have $38,844 in checking which is $1000 more than we did the end of last month. Our income is exceeding our expenses at this time. We are working some of the kinks out of Venmo but overall it is working well.
Renewal Dues update – Mary Ann noted that she is pursuing all past due homeowners who have not paid their 2022 or 2023 assessment fees and she is making good progress.
Update on old Liens and Releases. There have been no liens filed or releases filed over this past month. We are getting a number of the old liens cleaned up.
Ameren/Lighting Update – Greg reported that all is well with our electric and street lighting. The one light that is out at Sherbourne and Towne South has been reported to Ameren, but staffing continued to be an issue and it might take one to two months to get it fixed. The good news is that all Ameren repairs don’t cost us a dime. All light bulbs on our poles have been replaced with LED bulbs – also at no cost to us.
Zone Captain Update -ZC have been working hard getting picnic invitations out and trying to get more ballots signed.
Proposed Amendment Update – We currently have 304 YES votes and 28 NO votes. We need to keep in mind that there are 48 rental properties and those tenants cannot vote. Only owners. Our Zone Captains continue working on this. We will have ballots at the picnic.
Liens and Releases 2023 – no liens and no releases this month
Requests for approval of improvements to property – Mackenzie reported that the Board approved one request for an improvement to a property. She reminded everyone that if you are adding something like a shed or fence or any addition to your property, the Board needs to approve this. We basically want to assure that all homeowners are acting according to St. Louis County codes and ordinances.
Landscaping
Shelton mowing – Going well – no issues.
Trees – This continues to be the biggest drain on our budget. Creeks are eroding thus no soil to hold up the trees along the banks. We are very pleased with Trees Unlimited. Ben is giving us great prices and helping us get rid of the piles of brush that Dave and Greg keep cutting out. He comes through the subdivision and if he has room in his truck from another job, he just adds our brush to his truck and doesn’t charge us.
Creeks – As we continue to state, the creek banks are eroding. It’s not that we don’t want to do anything about it. It’s just that we don’t have the funds to completely take care of the problem. MSD told Greg that it would cost about $200,000 to make our creeks safe again. Greg has been looking into grants, but nothing so far. If creek is completely clogged and preventing water flow, MSD will clean it up just enough to get the water flowing again. Otherwise, they’re done. We continue to look for volunteers who might want to help. If anyone knows of an organization that might help, please have them reach out to us.
Block Party – June 24th – 2 to 5 pm – Prince of Peace UCC
Several sponsors have stepped up to help us with expenses. We will have several nice raffle items and will sell tickets for $1 each or 6 for $5. The Mehlville Fire Department will have a truck there for kids to climb around on. Kona Ice will be there from 3:30 to 4:30 and will take only cash. We will serve hot dogs, hamburgers, bags of chips and bottled water. We will provide several tents, tables and chairs for shade, but please bring your own chairs if possible. Prince of Peace will allow us to go into their building to use the restrooms. Please spread the word – all are welcome.
Complaints – most of our complaints are about homeowners not mowing their grass and letting it get too long. Our Indentures do not give us the authority to force them to cut their grass. However, we are giving out the phone number for St. Louis County. They can cite homeowners for having grass that is over 8” in height.
Old Business
Beautification Committee – At this point the committee consists of Dave and Greg. They will get back to more trimming next week. Still looking for more volunteers. Greg left a message for someone who signed up to help, but hasn’t heard back. Nancy suggested we put together a Work Day and publicize it with signs and on our website. We definitely will look into scheduling a date early this fall. Greg noted that he is continuing to find lots of poop bags dumped around our common ground.
Nancy also noted that next time we have a mass proposal or any other communication with our homeowners, we need to be sure that the information on the document is clear as to where to return it and how to get in touch with the HOA.
Open for Floor Discussions – Lucille noted while she is canvassing her zone, she has come up with some pertinent information about several homeowners. It was suggested that she report this information to either Hugh, as Zone Captain Chair, or Mary Ann who can make these changes to our data base.
Anything else? Someone reported that if people decide to take care of the cul de sac in their neighborhood that it infringes on the rights of the association. We cannot find anything in our Indentures to this regard. Our position is that if anyone wants to maintain their cul de sac, they are perfectly welcome to do so, as long as it doesn’t become something offensive to their neighbors.
There being no further business to be brought to this Board, the meeting of the Towne South Homeowners Association was adjourned at 7:47 pm. The next meeting is set for Tuesday, July 18, 2023, 7pm at Prince of Peace UCC.
Respectfully submitted by:
Mary Ann McWilliams
Administrative Assistant