Manchester Commons Homeowners Association

Board of Directors Meeting

Meeting Minutes
April 28, 2008

I. Attendees
In attendance were Amy Muench, David Burton and Dave Ness. Mike Blessing from
Armstrong Management also attended. Greg Budnick was present to discuss progress on
the Common Area Drainage issue.

II. Approval of minutes from last meeting

The minutes from the BOD meeting of March 24, 2008 were reviewed and approved.

III. Old Business/Open Issues

a) Review Action List – The Board reviewed the open action items from pp. 104-106 in
the Meeting Packet prepared by Armstrong. Mike will update the list and remove
closed/obsolete items.
b) Capital Reserve Study – The Board discussed the 4 proposals submitted to
Armstrong to perform a Capital Reserve Study. After deliberation, the Board voted
3-0 to approve the proposal submitted by CAE. Amy signed the contract and Mike
will work with GJB to initiate the work.
c) Tree Removals at 61xx and 61xx – After reviewing the bids received by Armstrong,
the Board voted 3-0 to pursue a contract with Shenandoah Landscape Services to
remove the trees (incl. grinding/removing the stumps and reseeding) in the Common
Area adjacent to 61xx and 61xx (the tree at 61xx was damaging the homeowner’s
property; the tree at 61xx died unexpectedly). Amy signed the contract and Mike will
contact Shenandoah to initiate the work.
d) Common Area Drainage – Greg Budnick of GJB Engineering reviewed the latest
Shenandoah proposal regarding drainage renovation in the Common Area adjacent to
the soccer fields. Greg suggested several changes to the proposal in order to clarify
the relationship of the work needed with the ongoing discussions with the Fairfax
County. Greg also recommended awarding the contract with the drainage renovation
piece ($14,412) as is, and change the remaining final soil fill/seeding work as T&M
(not to exceed the proposed $5,400) managed by Greg. The Board will award the
contract as soon as possible, once the recommended changes have been made and
accepted. Greg also believes he should have a commitment letter from the Fairfax
County Park Authority by early May.
e) 2007 Financial Audit – The Board received 2005 & 2006 financial audits from
Ahlberg & Company. The 2007 audit is still underway. When David Burton
commented on the long turnaround time, Mike responded that this is not unusual
because there are a limited number of companies serving the Metro area.
 f) Parking Resolution – The Board discussed a proposed parking resolution that both
clarifies the current resolutions governing visitor parking and strengthens the ability
of the Board to take action against violators. Mike will give us the parking policy of
a similar Association for review. It is the intent of the Board to pass a new resolution
as soon as possible to remediate the rapidly diminishing availability of visitor spaces.
g) ARC Walkthrough – Amy presented a draft of a letter to be sent to
residents/homeowners announcing the 2007 Property Survey. Once Amy
incorporates the comments received from the Board, she will send out the letter.
h) Petty Cash Account – Since no current Board member is aware of the existence of a
Petty Cash fund, the Board instructed Mike to dissolve this account. As a policy, the
Board will not engage a Petty Cash account and will submit all receipts for
reimbursement.

IV. New Business

a) Excessive Garbage/Noise Complaints for 61xx/61xx – All attempts at contacting
the residents verbally have resulted in no change in behavior. Amy will draft a letter
to the homeowners detailing the tenants’ offenses and have it reviewed/sent out by
Armstrong.
b) Fairfax County Common Space Parcel Mapping – Greg noticed that the mailing
address for the Association that is listed with the Dept of Taxation is no longer valid.
Amy will forward his original email to Dave N. who will contact the County and
change the address of record to c/o Armstrong Management.
c) Insurance Renewal, policy #CAU200646-7 – The Board voted 3-0 to renew the
policy without the recommended increase in Employee Dishonesty Coverage. Amy
signed and returned the contract to Mike.
d) 64 Gallon Recycling Carts – ADS recently contacted their clients informing them of
a new option of using 64 Gallon carts for recyclables. The Board decided this would
not be practical for our townhome community and will not pursue this option.
e) MCHOA Web Presence – Dave N. has set up a web presence at
manchestercommons.blogspot.com, updateable by all board members and accessible
by anyone. The Board decided to post minutes from regular Board meetings, as long
as individual units or residents are not mentioned to protect their privacy. Dave will
email more information about this to the Board and Mike.
f) Review of Financial Statement – David commented on the 2 disbursements related
to paying taxes. Mike will research this to find out what, if any, taxes we paid.
g) Armstrong Monthly Invoice – Dave N. asked if the Board reviews the Armstrong
Management monthly invoices before they are paid. Mike believes they are paid
directly and will look into sending the itemized invoice so the Board can review the
month-to-month charges beyond the fixed monthly fee.
h) CD Rollover – Several CDs are about to mature in the coming months. Based on
Armstrong’s recommendation of keeping them in a penalty-free account, the Board
approved the following:
 Countrywide (expires 5/08/08): transfer to 12-mth Countrywide (3.77%)
The Board will wait until the next meeting to transfer the accounts that will mature in
June.

V. Items for the Next Meeting

a) Review CDs that expire in June.
b) Schedule Upkeep Committee Walkthroughs (5/31, 6/1) – who will do which day(s)?
c)

VI. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday May 27, 2008.

Minutes submitted by: Dave Ness, Secretary