September 2022 Towne South Monthly Meeting Minutes

Towne South Homeowners Association Monthly Meeting - September 20, 2022

Meeting begins at 7:00 pm at Prince of Peace & Zoom

This meeting was held only as an open meeting. There was no executive session at the September 20th, 2022 meeting due to TSHA having only one remaining board member.

In attendance were: Jackie Tebbe (Trustee), Greg Hertlein, Cheryl Linneman, Karen Anderson, Dave Carr, Hugh & Mary Ann McWilliams, Lucille Hines, Beth & Jon Strautz, Cathy Hall, Ryan Storie, and Mackenzie Hennekes. Via Zoom Anna Lang, Salena Bejdic.

Discussion with lot owners in attendance regarding the open Board of Governors positions.

Jackie Tebbe quotes Indentures:

There shall be five (5) members of the Board of Governors whose terms shall be two (2) years, of which no more than three (3) member’s terms will expire each year.”

Jackie Tebbe reports meeting with Attorney Lester Stuckmeyer in early August regarding various Towne South Homeowners Association matters. Attorney Lester Stuckmeyer advised that any effort taken by the sole Trustee of any Homeowners Association to make the Board whole again, and in turn allow for smooth running of the HOA body would be acceptable by the Court. The issue of not running the HOA at capacity is a problem, and a Court would see in favor of any effort made to fill vacant Board of Governor positions, regardless of how the Indentures read.

Since the mailing of the last letter and flyer to lot owners in August 2022 informing the subdivision of the open positions, and since displaying the request for people to volunteer for the open positions on townesouth.com, Towne South Facebook Page, and Towne South Next Door page, Jackie Tebbe has been approached by FOUR people volunteering.

Jackie Tebbe reports there are two options on moving forward with filling vacant Board of Governor positions.

1. The neighborhood could have a “special meeting” (Article II, pg 4). This would require mailing all lot owners in the neighborhood - providing 10 day notice for the special meeting (Article II, pg 4), which would obviously require lots of time to prepare a mailing, and cost of postage for the TSHA. At that meeting we would vote for Board Members, in which the person or persons receiving the majority of votes or ballots cast shall be deemed elected (Article II, pg 5).

   
   or
   
   

2. Seeing as FOUR people have stepped forward to volunteer for Towne South Board of Governor positions, and we have FOUR openings, we simply deem them elected. We allow them to become Interim Board of Governors, giving them all the estate rights, interest, privileges, and powers by the Indenture granted to his/her or their predecessor. (Article II, pg 5).

   With the caveat that if anyone in the subdivision thinks it is important that we revisit this in February at the Annual Meeting, that would be open for discussion.

Question posed at meeting to all in attendance: Does it make sense to move forward with a special meeting, having to advise the entire subdivision of our “special meeting” in October, taking time and Towne South HOA money and resources to inform all residents that there will be a meeting to vote for the four individuals that are going to all fall into the positions because in a vote, persons receiving the majority of votes or ballots cast shall be deemed elected? Regardless on if any of the four volunteers gets 1 vote or 20 votes, all four are going to have the “majority”, since there are no others running against them at this time.

A discussion was held with those in attendance on how to proceed.

Jackie Tebbe introduced each of the four volunteers who were present at the meeting, and a little bio was offered, which is below as well:

• Mackenzie Hennekes: Mackenzie has  been a resident on Brockwood Drive for almost 9 years. She lives with her husband Michael and their three children Johnathan (10), Ryland (7), and Christian (7). They feel very connected to the Towne South Community. They love spending time with neighbors, going on walks in the subdivision, and participating in activities such as block parties. She has decided to run for a position on the HOA board because she and her husband  plan to live in their home indefinitely. She feels that our subdivision needs to have input from  residents and that open communication is vital in order for problems to be addressed quickly and so that changes residents want/need can be addressed. 

• Ryan Storie: Ryan and his wife Heidi have lived in Towne South subdivision for 7 years.  They have 3 children that attend Lindbergh Schools and plan to stay in the subdivision for many years. He is interested in joining the Towne South HOA board because he would like to help bring some fresh ideas to our wonderful neighborhood. He is also interested in getting to know his fellow residents and hearing their thoughts and concerns.

• Hugh McWilliams: Hugh and his wife, Mary Ann have lived in Towne South for 21 years. He is a retired engineer having spent 29 years with Western Electric/AT&T Network Systems/Lucent Technologies. Then spent another 10 years as a part-time adjunct professor at Jefferson College teaching various math and science courses. He has the time to give back to his community and would like to serve on the Towne South Homeowners Association Board.

• Greg Hertlein: Greg has lived in Towne South all 52 years of his life. He went to Trautwein School, Washington Middle then to Mehlville High school. He have seen many changes in his years here some good some bad. He would like to see a more sense of community in our neighborhood and get to know our neighbors better - more than just a wave here and there. Let's help one another.

  In addition to the above four volunteers to fill the Towne South Board of Governors, we have one resident who has graciously offered her time to our community as Administrative Assistant, in a totally unpaid volunteer position.

• Mary Ann McWilliams: Mary Ann and her husband have lived in Towne South for 21 years. Her background is in fundraising, event planning and administrative work. From 2001 to 2012 she served as the Executive Director of the Crestwood-Sunset Hills Area Chamber of Commerce. From 2012 to present, she has served the same Chamber in a part-time capacity. In 2020 the Crestwood-Sunset Hills Chamber became the Southwest Area Chamber of Commerce and doubled in size. She bumped up her responsibilities at that time to help with the major transition. For the past year she has been able to step back again and serve as their Financial Administrator. She enjoys planning events, fundraising, being around people and in administrative-type responsibilities. She is offering her complimentary administrative services to the Towne South Homeowners Association.

Those present at the September 2022 meeting all agreed to move forward with allowing the four volunteers to become interim Board of Governors, as it seemed the end result would be the same after a vote in October. This allows the Towne South Board of Governors to have all 5 positions filled, along with Administrative Assistant immediately. Matters that are being held for board discussion can be addressed, and the neighborhood can continue to prosper.

The second topic of discussion was interpretation of the Indentures. Jackie Tebbe reported in her meeting with Attorney Lester Stuckmeyer that the attorney discussed that some of these indentures are left open for interpretation. She urged the community to consider how we interpret the Indentures to allow for being open-minded and welcoming to the Towne South Community as much as possible.

The third topic of discussion was that Jackie Tebbe is still unable to get access to all prior Towne South Homeowners Association documents. A previous board member has still not relinquished the remaining documents to the current board. There was a request in the August meeting to provide some prior financials to the lot owners, for which the current board can not do at this time.

Jackie Tebbe has offered to provide the financial reporting she does have access to upon request. Also, the profit and loss statements for 2022 are available online, on our Indentures & Financials page.

A discussion continued regarding financials and how to obtain the prior Towne South property.

The meeting was then opened up for public discussion.

One resident brought up the topic of HOA fees for Towne South and how the Assessment for the neighborhood is low for the area. A discussion proceeded about a long term plan to change the Indentures and increase Assessments. Different ideas were offered on fair assessments. This then brought on a follow-up conversation about the work to move forward with Indenture modification and Amendment. Then the conversation about the Indenture Amendment resulted in a follow-up conversation about creating committees and perhaps loosely and casually dividing the neighborhood into zones for the sole purpose of having a “captain” of each zone and allowing for easier flow of communication throughout the neighborhood.

Another resident brought up the issue of our budget and our highest line item, the tree trimming and grass cutting of common ground. A discussion ensued about Shelton Landscaping contract, common ground, insurance payments for common ground and how to potentially off load some common ground.

A question was asked about how much money the TSHA currently has in the money market. A response that that TSHA has about $25,000 in total left to get us to the end of the year. There are already appx. $4,000 of expenditure invoices that need to be paid for the month of August, resulting in appx. $21,000 projected to be left come September.

A conversation was had about outreach in the community. We would utilize our residents and their skills and training. We need to see if there are landscapers, attorneys, real estate agents, insurance brokers, etc. that could lend their services to the neighborhood.

A discussion followed about insurance policies for the TSHA. It was determined that time will be taken to get a copy of our policies and reach out to brokers to provide alternate options to consider.

A question was asked about what the Indentures say about the number of board members and presumption that our large subdivision might benefit in more members. A discussion ensued about committees, electronic communications for the neighborhood, using Survey Money for gauging the community, how the subdivision might be able to utilize zone captains to our benefit.

A discussion was held about the Assessments, when the are sent out, when payment is due, the amount of unpaid assessments, and Liens.

A question was posed regarding how many people visit our website. Jackie Tebbe said she can apply a counter widget.

Also consider an option on social media and website where one can sign up for e-mail communication from the board.

A map of Towne South Subdivision can be accessed online on our History of the subdivision page, along with identification of all of the common ground areas.

A conversation occurred about common ground and cul-de-sacs in the neighborhood. Cul-de-sacs are maintained by, or supposed to be maintained by St. Louis County, however, if the residents within a cul-de-sac want to beautify the cul-de-sac, the cost and maintenance is on them.

The attendees then discussed the piles of twigs stacked up in certain areas of the neighborhood.

Ideas were shared about a neighborhood fundraiser, and how community involvement and outreach is important, and how we want to be of assistant to our neighbors rather than calling on the board to issue violations. The Board does not need to act as the County or Big Brother.

The Interim Executive Board will set a time convenient for all to meet and discuss board issues prior to next month meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 7:47 p.m.

Next Towne South Homeowners Association Meeting will be held at Prince of Peace Church Hall and via zoom on October 18, 2022 at 7:00 p.m.