The Hills at Queens Gap

October 24, 2023

Dear Queens Gap POA members,

 

I’ve been meeting with some of the board officers over the summer as we did maintenance on the roads and looked at projects and budget for 2024. I’d like to get all of you up to date on the big issues with this letter.

 

The board has received a resignation letter from Ann Caver and accepted that resignation. She indicated to me that other volunteer duties at her church and increasing family commitments have filled her schedule to capacity and those take priority. Ann has been on the board since 2011 when the property owners took over the POA from Waterfront Development. She has served most of that time as both the Secretary and Treasurer of the POA along with many other volunteer duties she has performed to improve the operation of the POA. I’ve never known Ann to say no to a request for help with a POA project or questions from a member. On behalf of the board and the POA members, I thank Ann for her tireless service over the past 12 years.

 

In true Queens Gap fashion, Mike Murphy, Lot 68, has stepped up and volunteered to serve on the board for the remainder of Ann’s term which ends at our annual meeting in April 2024. Mike is a former board member and long time property owner. The board thanks Mike for his offer and approved him to serve out the term.

 

In other business of interest, last year the board raised the annual assessment 5% (maximum yearly increase allowed in the Covenants and By Laws) for 2023 and all of you paid $210 per lot owned for 2023. The board met in August 2023 and after much discussion there was a vote taken on raising the annual assessment for 2024 an additional $10 per lot. So for 2024 it will be $220 per lot owned. We will send out the usual payment reminder in December along with the proposed 2024 budget. You will see on this budget that our expenses and scope of road maintenance and repaving is increasing faster than the allowed increase in the annual assessment as directed by the Covenants and By Laws of the association. Increased traffic and 20 year old roads have forced us to be more aggressive in our repaving schedules. Price increases from our contractors have been significant. The good news is that the association is in a good financial position with our cash and CD investments of over $110,000. Our goal is not to use these emergency funds if we can maintain a budget that doesn’t exceed annual income. That is becoming very difficult to accomplish. We continue to bring in about $4000 per year in interest from the CD’s which helps the budget significantly. Please take the time to look over our budget when it comes out and if you have any questions or comments, contact me or another board member.

 

The President’s email account has been changed. This is due to an increased cost of the email we have been using for years that comes with our website hosting. The new email address is:            

QueensGap.President@gmail.com. Please use this address beginning immediately for contacting the board from now on. We will also add a link with this address on our website. We have added an email to our Treasurer, John Dady. That email is QGTreasurer@gmail.com. Please use that email for direct contact to John.

 

At the August meeting we also discussed the board members whose terms are expiring in April 2024. My second term is expiring and I will not be seeking re-election to the board. Treasurer, John Dady’s term is also expiring. John has indicated that he is willing to run for re-election to another term. John has done an excellent job as Treasurer and his talents are greatly appreciated. Several of our board members have served for multiple terms and I suspect there will be more board positions opening in the coming years. Being on the POA board is a rewarding and  interesting way of helping our little community. Having a strong and active POA board assures all of us that our property values will remain stable and increase value. We all purchased property here because we liked the look of the area and the expectations of a tranquil, well maintained and safe place to live. An active board enforcing the Covenants and being fiscally responsible is the key to keeping that dream alive. Every time a new board member has come forward, they have brought new ideas and energy to the board. When we ask for members to step forward and run for vacant board positions later this year and early next year, please consider adding your talents and volunteering a couple of hours per month as a QG POA board member.

 

If you got this far in my rather long letter, thank you for your patience. I have been known to use multiple long paragraphs when one will do. As always, please contact me or any other board member if you have ideas, comments or complaints on how we are operating.  

 

Regards,

 

Gary (Luke) Lukoski

President – QG POA