From the Chairman, Bill Hamlet:
Landfall Council of Associations May 24, 2022, Board of Directors Meeting Summary
A regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Landfall COA was held on Tuesday, May 24, 2022. All Board members were in attendance. The COA first quarter financials for the period ending March 31, 2022, were reviewed and approved. The March net income of $15,000 was $126,000 less than March 2021. However, work orders for services provided in March were not included in the March income and would have increased the Landfall Owners Services (LOS) income by $125,000. This additional income will be reflected in April. The Capital and Unrestricted Improvement Funds equity ended March 31, 2022, at $2,836,000 and is projected to end the year at $2,930,000. Landfall Association Services (LAS) ended the first quarter with a year-to-date net income of $61,000 while Landfall Owners Services (LOS) ended the first quarter with a net loss of $111,000. This loss included increased expenses due to inflation and bulk pre-orders of materials that will be off set by income later in the year.
At the request of the Board, the Covenants & Security (C&S) Committee, reviewed analysis provided by Landfall Security related to the overnight authorized guest traffic entering Landfall through our security gates. This was requested in considering the implementation of a policy to check photo identification of authorized guests entering Landfall during specific hours. Based on the information provided, the C&S Committee recommended implementing a policy requiring photo identification for authorized guest lane entry between the hours of 12:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. The COA Board approved the recommendation as presented by the Committee. The Landfall Rules and Regulations policy amendment and the procedure for authorized guest entry will be prepared by staff and communicated to all owners via mass email. If no email is available the notice will be sent via USPS mail.
The Board again reviewed the Cape Fear Garden Club’s request for the Landfall community to be host to the 2023 Azalea Festival Garden Tour to be held on April 14, 15, and 16, 2023. Since their initial review in March of 2023, club representatives have assured the Board of their plan to obtain trolley buses to shuttle all non-Landfall resident spectators to the proposed garden sites. Dundee Drive, Balmoral Place and Radian Road are the specific areas within Landfall that will be most impacted by the tour and endure the largest volume of spectator traffic. The Board received positive feedback overall from the residents owning property along the streets to be included on the tour. The Board approved Landfall’s participation, subject to the use of trolleys, and felt that this will be a positive public relations event for the community as a whole.
The Landfall resident dog park survey that was conducted to gauge the pulse of the community about adding a dog park concluded on April 19th. The Board of Directors reviewed and thoroughly discussed all pertinent information and issues related to project funding, location and size, as well as the results of the survey taken by the community. The decision was made not to move forward with establishing a dog park facility at this time. Please know that the Board is in a tough position of juggling the required expenditures, maintaining our existing infrastructure, remaining cognizant of the known and unknown future financial demands, as well as the desires of our individual owners; all of which they work diligently to manage for the good of the entire community. The executive summary of the survey results are available on the Resident Portal of the Landfall website and can be viewed by clicking here.
The Board approved the Nominating Committee’s recommendation to add Mr. Peter Criddle to the Finance Committee. We would like to thank him for his willingness to donate his time to his neighbors and community.
After working through all of the fine print and legalese, we anticipate receipt of the final KCI engineered sidewalk survey contract in the next couple of weeks. We are excited to move forward with the production of these survey blueprints in order for the Board to consider next steps.
As a follow-up to the various meetings that Landfall COA Board and Management has attended with the Wilmington Division of the United States Postal Service, Mrs. Powell reported that Mr. Derek Mahaffey, Wilmington USPS Postmaster, has recently ordered 16 additional new postal box lockers to be installed at the Arboretum Postal Station. There is no guarantee, as Mr. Mahaffey stated that this order will be subject to USPS budget availability and supervisor approval. However, he is making efforts on our behalf and we are hopeful for progress.
As I mentioned to you in March, the Capital Reserve Study update was in process through a third party vendor, Reserve Advisors. Reserve Advisors has now completed the 2022 Reserve Study update analysis for the Landfall community. The Reserve Study is designed to identify and assign current market values to all of our property and capital assets, and to establish a reserve plan to fund the repair and replacement of such assets. The current cost increases and inflation as it relates to our Capital Improvement Plan will be very important to the Board during the 2023 budget preparation process, and the updated plan will be finalized as a part of the 2023 budget approval.
The fireworks visible from the Nicklaus Club driving range will be held on July 3rd. On July 4th the kids’ games will be held at the Drysdale Recreation Site, as well as the vehicle parade along Sun Runner Place, Arboretum Drive, and Pembroke Jones Drive. We are excited to host these festivities again this year.
A meeting with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), the City of Wilmington (COW), and the Drysdale Drive business owners was held on April 14th to obtain additional information about the upcoming construction projects impacting Drysdale Drive, Eastwood Road, and Military Cutoff Road. It was confirmed that the Drysdale Extension/Drysdale Drive Project has a let date of June 21, 2022. Construction is expected to begin in August 2022 for the Drysdale Extension and in September 2023 for Drysdale Drive. The Eastwood/Military Cutoff Flyover Project has a let date of September 2025 with construction expected to begin in November 2025. We will continue to keep the community informed of any changes in the construction timelines.
Research has been completed by staff on the amount of impact fees associated with construction that are being charged by comparable communities. As a result, the Board determined that Landfall’s fees are in line and comparable to other community’s fees.
