From the Chairman, Bill Hamlet:
Landfall Council of Associations January 25, 2022, Board of Directors Meeting Summary
A regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Landfall COA was held on Tuesday, January 25, 2022. A complete quorum of the Board was in attendance in-person. The COA financials for the period ending November 30, 2021, were reviewed and approved; these financials continue to be very positive. Landfall COA revenue received year-to-date through November 30th totaled $6,759,238. This included Assessments and Architectural Review Committee fees. The capital and unrestricted improvement funds equity ended November 30, 2021, at $1,957,253 and is currently projected to end the year at $2,094,175. Operating equity ended the period at $400,447 which was $350,177 better than budget plan. Total COA expenses through November 30th were $6,791,650 with the Capital Improvement Contribution being $1,895,777 of this total. Landfall Association Services (LAS) and Landfall Owners Services (LOS) programs’ consolidated net income year-to-date through November 30th was $3,694,691, with LOS services’ revenue $336,406 over budget. Contributions to the holiday gratuity fund totaled $69,000 for 2021 and exceeded last year’s contributions by $13,000.
Based on previous Board discussion, the Finance Committee’s recommendation for the remaining 2021 net income allocation was approved. $54,000 of this net income will be allocated to COA Operations to cover the budgeted increases for employee benefits. The Finance Committee recommended the remaining net income be allocated to the unrestricted Capital Improvement Fund. The Landfall COA Auditor, Earney and Company, supports the Finance Committee’s recommendation. The 2021 end of year financials are anticipated by mid-February 2022. The final amount of the net income will be confirmed following approval of the final 2021 audit.
It continues to be a goal of the Board to add meaningful improvements to our COA employee benefit package, considering the difficult market. Therefore, the Board approved increasing the current paid holiday benefit by four hours per year. As a result, the Christmas Eve holiday will now be a full day, paid holiday, and effective in 2022 for Landfall COA employees. This will provide an improved competitive advantage to current and future employees providing 10 paid holidays for staff rather than the previous 9½ days.
The Landfall COA is planning their annual Safety Day, scheduled for February 11. Safety Day is conducted to update staff recognition of current safety policies, job equivalent PPE of the various positions, as well as reinforce overall commitment to safety in the workplace. This year, diversity and inclusion will be included along with customer service training. If COVID conditions warrant, Safety Day will be postponed.
Landfall COA staff continues to be in contact with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) related to the upcoming construction of the Drysdale Drive Extension project. They are currently working to coordinate a meeting in late February or early March with NCDOT to include several Drysdale Drive business owners, as well as the City of Wilmington (COW).
As a follow-up to the Covenants and Security (C&S) Committee recommendation that the Drysdale gate entrance be reconstructed in 2023, an estimate was received from Turner Asphalt. Turner estimated that the complete proposed construction of Drysdale Drive from the entrance gate to connect to the proposed NCDOT construction project would cost approximately $500,000. This would include two full entrance lanes through the Drysdale Gate then merging to one and two full exit lanes to the library, while maintaining a narrowed center median. Further consideration may be given for the project to be done in two phases, with phase one adding the resident lane to our entrance and phase two coinciding with NCDOT construction adding the additional lanes outside of our entrance.
The finalized KCI engineered sidewalk survey proposal contract has been sent to Landfall COA legal for review per Board decision at the December 7 Board meeting.
As of January 21, the District 3 and District 5 Landfall COA Board of Directors election ballots were emailed via a secure third-party electronic email platform, to owners with email addresses on file with the COA. Voting through Election Buddy is conducted via secure email. Owners without email addresses on file with the COA were mailed their ballots via USPS first class mail. Owners within these districts have 45 days to cast their votes, with the elections closing on March 7 at 11:59pm. This process for the elections will definitely result in an overall cost savings, and appears to be well received by our residents. Our objective is for each owner in those districts to get involved and cast a ballot, so vote today!
Reserve Advisors will perform our 2022 Reserve Study review and update. Reserve Advisors is a company that prepares reserve study reports and unbiased guidance for communities throughout the country. The Reserve Study identifies and assigns current market values to all of our property and capital assets. From this it sets the remaining useful lives of those assets and the projected maintenance or replacement costs by year. This process affirms how much money we need in capital reserves to meet these projected expenditures. These reports assist us with the community’s long-term capital planning needs. Reserve Advisors’ representatives will meet with COA staff soon to review the COA’s current Capital Improvement Fund plan. Following this meeting, they will complete the data collection and provide us with an updated reserve study analysis.
The Annual Informational Meeting has been scheduled for 6:00PM on March 22, 2022 at the Country Club of Landfall. An emailed invitation, along with a reminder, will be forwarded to all owners closer to the meeting date. We hope to see you there!
At the December 7 meeting, the Board approved a recommendation from the Buildings & Grounds Committee to establish a dog park and community garden in 2022, pending additional information being received related to potential COA liability, insurance required, and ongoing administration and maintenance needs for the two areas. The Board has requested that the Committee complete recommendations for signage and rules, in addition to guidelines for use, management, and maintenance of each of the facilities. Once received, this information will require final review and approval by COA’s legal advisor and insurance carrier. More information about both of these exciting new shared common area projects will be provided as available.
