Thoughts on HOA Meeting

As we welcome faux spring into our neighborhood, I lament that my motorcycle stayed parked during this time. It was also time to sit down for the quarterly HOA meeting. A collection of volunteers who take the time to meet and discuss building the community.

The main thrust of the evening was the budget. The takeaway being that revenue would cover expenditures by more than $1,000. Mike Gyumolcs, the Treasurer, studiously went over last year's expenses. Expenses that were so low, it almost felt like a parody that a group of people sat around to observe a tightly controlled budget that wouldn't amount to petty cash in other organizations.

There was an hole in the spending: maintenance. Bids for lawn care were budget busting.However Mark Mischel, the President, is volunteering to mow the park rather than accept the bids.

With this in mind, I was the sole vote for an increase in dues from $60/year to $63. I voted for an increase because I couldn't justify any person taking that much responsibility without some ability of the purse for maintenance and upkeep. A well kept park is not just good for my kids, it is the part of the criterion in which a neighborhood is judged. 

Without a lawn service on retainer, the group agreed to step in. If Mark was unable to handle maintenance of the park, one of us would step in and cover. And so the HOA continues to operate within budget.

The rest of the hour included concerns around the Facebook group. A group that prompted my reentry to the site to attend. Politics is a topic nobody feels comfortable talking about, especially on a small town community Facebook group. The group discussed the implementation of moderator to enforce code of conduct. No code of conduct exists that I know of as I deleted my Facebook account for a second time.

Finally, we talked about upcoming dates. The annual meeting is scheduled for May 1st. The day choice was interesting, when living in Seattle, Mayday was considered a protest day and I wonder if that energy will show up for the meeting. The proposed date for the first volunteer day is May 4th. Does that also mean that there will be a Star Wars overtones? LOL. We shall see. 

There's a calendar with dates that I will keep up-to-date. But that's for another post.

P.S. If you want to be able to post on this medium, I intend to make sure as many voices can participate as possible.