Oakmont Community Sales association
Board Meeting Minutes
February 13, 2025
The meeting was called to order at 5:09 pm by President Eric Franklin.
Present: Board members Eric Franklin, Ronnie Smith, Janet Weaver, Brian Forgey and Dale Moore. Polly Rannels and Donnie Sherwood were also present. Eight members of the HOA were in attendance.
Absent: None
Amend/Approve Agenda: The agenda for the meeting was presented for review.
Motion: Ronnie Smith moved and Dale Moore seconded to approve the agenda as submitted. All Board members voted in favor of the motion. Motion carried and the agenda was approved.
Amend/Approve Meeting Minutes: The minutes of the January 9, 2024 meeting were presented for review, Dale Moore moved to waive reading of the minutes and approve the minutes as presented, Brian Forgey seconded the motion. All board members voted in favor of the motion. Motion carried and the minutes were approved.
President’s Report
Eric read a prepared statement to the board and the board members. At the end of the letter, Eric Franklin resigned his position as the President of the HOA. Janet made a motion to add the letter to the minutes, Brian Forget seconded the motion, motion passed.
Treasurer’s Report:
Janet Weaver gave the Treasure’s report as follows: As of 1/31/2025, the checking account balance was $8,773.82; the Heim Young account balance was $277,619.59, the high yield Money Market was $250,000.00 and no closings. See the OCSA Treasure’s Report herein attached and incorporated by reference to these minutes.
Administrative Report:
No sales in the last month.
Old Business:
- Follow up on give back lots – a policy has been approved by the board and letters have been sent out to the three owners who were interested in pursuing the give back.
- Polly has had four lots that have been returned. There were a total of 11 requests to return lots. The returned lots can be sold again. The sellers will pay the fee for a quick claim deed. Polly will follow up with the seven remaining lots.
- There have been a total of 11 lots that are interested in being returned to Oakmont for resale, four have been completed and successfully returned. The ball is in the court for the remainer of the property owners to complete the transfer back to Oakmont.
- The four properties have been completed and are now Oakmont property. Seven have had no response.
- We are having trouble with getting one of the lots back because of bookkeeping with the county. Polly and Eric will work with the attorney for resolution.
- If we get the lots back the seller will have to pay half the costs and we will pay the other half of the costs.
- No change in status
- There was one lot that was offered back to the HOA from Louise Lotus on Spring drive. Janet made a motion to accept the lot, Dale seconded, all members voted in favor.
- Follow-up on offer from Guy Thomas of $3500.00 for Block 36 Lot 20 OPV – Dale & Janet
- Dale went and looked at the property. Ronnie made a motion that we turn down the offer and not make a counter offer, Brian seconded the motion, all board members were in favor, motion passed.
- Interest bearing accounts
- Eric has looked at trying to get our accounts moved out of a zero interest account into an account that earns some interest. If we move the money to savings account, there would be a .25% interest. The other option is to purchase a CD that would earn over 4.30% interest. Discussion was held on options. Janet motioned that we move $95,000 into a CD with an additional $95,000 in three months, Brian seconded the motion. All board members were in favor, motion passed. Eric will start the process to get the money moved.
- Offer from Richard Beckett for $200.00 for Block 55 Lot 30 OPV
- Dale went and looked at the lot. Ronnie made a motion to reject the offer, Janet seconded. All members were in favor, motion passed.
- Offer from Josh and Janet Weaver for $5000 each Block 6 Lots 222 & 272 – 275 OPV
- Ronnie and Brian will get together and go look at the lots before next month’s meeting.
- Brian looked at the lots and stated that he thought it was a fair offer. Brian made a motion to accept the offer, Dale seconded the offer. All members voted in favor – Janet Weaver abstained, motion passed.
New Business:
- Offer from Richard Beckett for $500 for Block 55 Lot 30 Ozarks Paradise Village
- After discussion board Dale made a motion to reject this offer, Brian seconded the motion, all board members were in favor, motion passed.
Adjournment:
Motion: Janet moved and Brian seconded to adjourn at 5:37 pm. All board members were in favor and the motion carried.
The next regular meeting is scheduled for March 13, 2025,
Respectfully submitted by Dale Moore, Secretary and approved on March 13, 2025.
February 13, 2025
To: Members of Oakmont Community Homeowners Association
Oakmont Community Board of Directors
This is to advise you of the frustration that this Board is experiencing while trying to oversee the operations of this HOA. There are no qualifications or certifications required to serve on this Board of Directors. The only requirement is to be willing to serve the Community and to do so to the best of our ability, which I feel that each of us has done. It is our desire for this Association to survive for decades to come, but we are constantly being urged to do it someone else’s way, instead of them sitting down and having a meaningful conversation.
To put it another way, I feel that roadblocks are constantly being placed in front of us to impede our progress to fix something that doesn’t want to be fixed. Employees have approached former Board members to try to subterfuge our intentions. One of these HOA members has repeatedly taken me and the present Board members to task for failing to treat our employees with kid gloves. We are working with grown adults who ought to know better, but are not performing up to their salary levels. Of course, we could have taken the position to replace them with properly trained individuals; however, the present Board has chosen to try to work with and help educate our staff in a manner that will allow them to perform in a responsible manner. They have knowledge that we don’t wish to lose, but if changes are not made, this Association is going to go broke.
This organization has operated at a deficit for years, due to being run without any regard for how money is being spent and whether it is the best use of the Association’s assets. I know that there are individuals who will argue with that statement, but the numbers don’t lie. Bank balances have been included in income statements and consequently used as revenue projections. This flies in the face of all proper accounting standards and practices. Previous Boards have allowed this to go on without explanation. We have operated for months without proper expense reports because the staff is not able to produce them. We are taking steps to correct this situation and have greatly slashed our budget for 2025 in an attempt to contain spending.
We have found that our funds, which are held at two different banks, have been earning practically nothing in interest for years. We took steps to correct this after the first of the year and have already earned $440 in interest in the first month. Extrapolating that out over the last 10 years, at minimum, results in lost revenue of approximately $50000. In all fairness, when questioned about this, we were told that it had been brought to previous Board’s attention and seemed to fall on deaf ears.
We are also aware of a member who made an offer to purchase a piece of property in the past for $50000. The Board thought that offer might be low and asked for an appraisal of the property to determine what its true value might be. The value came back at around $18000. This previous Board actually turned down the higher offer, apparently thinking that it might be unethical to sell at the offered price. Again, thousands of dollars were lost.
This disregard for proper financial controls has caused us to have to take a very hands-on approach, reviewing every expense to make sure that it is appropriate. We have discovered checks that were written for several years for services that we were no longer being provided by outside vendors. Yet no previous Board members or the staff at that time ever questioned the validity of those expenses. Thousands of dollars have flowed out of this organization needlessly.
We continue to make corrections to our member/lot/invoice database to refine it. This has been a huge project, spanning several years now. Many thanks are due to Junior Crafton for efforts made by him in this area. With Mr. Crafton’s help, corrections continue to be made to ensure that we are putting out correct assessment billing. His term to provide help with this database ends mid-year and we will be responsible for maintaining this in the future.
It has become necessary to analyze all buying decisions. Sometimes our staff exercises great judgement, but sometimes they don’t. We are trying to help them analyze these decisions and find cheaper prices on the same items. This involves taking advantage of internet purchasing and free delivery to cut our expenses. Again, this is a work in progress and involves not just doing it the way we’ve always done it.
We have discovered vehicles that have not been properly maintained and when they did break down, they were taken to expensive shops to be repaired at a high dollar cost. Preventative maintenance has been neglected, causing damage from the salt that has been spread on our roads. We have been using “extremely expensive” motor oil because it was believed to be better, but in fact, it has produced a motor just as gummed up as the old Pennzoil motor oil that drew so much attention years ago.
We have been operating vehicles without proper licensing. Some of these require expensive CDL licenses. We are taking steps to get rid of these vehicles and purchase appropriate vehicles that we can operate legally. We have also been transporting fuel in a tank in the back of a truck that has only been held in place by a strap. We have taken steps to get this bolted down.
Recently, we have learned that we are renting a propane tank. This is an expense that needs to be eliminated. It requires us to buy from only one supplier without being able to shop for the cheapest price on propane.
The present Board has taken steps to control maintenance expenses by setting up an account at AutoZone that yields about a 40% reduction from list cost for the parts that are needed to maintain our fleet of equipment. In addition, we have cut expenses, due to the fact that AutoZone will deliver the parts to us at zero cost, eliminating wasteful trips to town. We have hired a mechanic to work part-time to allow us to fix and maintain our equipment at an in-house cost, instead of a market cost. Is it a perfect fix? No, it is a work in progress, but it is progress!
We have found that routine maintenance is severely lacking around the rec center. We have been calling outside contractors in to do work that should be performed by our employees. We have leaking gutters that were not leaking because of the recent hail storm. This is causing run back on to the soffits and the siding. We won’t know the extent of any potential damage until these are removed and replaced as a result of the hail storm.
Speaking of the hail storm, we have taken a lot of time educating ourselves on the proper method and materials to be used to fix this damage. Just to be clear, we do not have any leaks and in no way is the integrity of the HOA’s buildings being compromised by the Board’s decision to do its due diligence. I also want to bring it to the HOA’s attention that the roof over the pool building was not installed correctly and when that roof is replaced, it should be done correctly with a barrier between the metal surfaces.
The office staff is paid for their lunch period (one-half hour). This seems to be fitting, since they frequently take phone calls and interact with members coming into the Rec Center. They have even been observed taking the phone into the bathroom, so that they can answer when necessary.
However, the maintenance staff also gets paid for their lunch periods for some reason. This becomes much more than a half hour as they stop about a half an hour early to travel back to the maintenance area, frequently taking the HOA vehicle to go get their lunch and then consequently taking another half hour to travel back to their work site. Many times this is 2 employees traveling together. The lost hours of productive time are huge. This practice should be stopped immediately. It is common practice for crews to take their lunch to the field with them and eat it at the job site. This will result in a decrease in expenses and additional work being accomplished.
Another area of expense that needs to be eliminated is the use of an HOA vehicle being used as a personal vehicle by the maintenance supervisor. This practice might be appropriate in the event of an impending snow or ice storm, but is certainly not necessary on an everyday basis. I don’t know how these 2 practices (paid lunch & personal use of HOA vehicle) got started, but they are being abused and should be stopped immediately.
On occasions where employees are called in to work due to bad weather or any other unscheduled situation, they should be reimbursed for their round-trip mileage from their home to their work location, using the current IRS mileage rate in effect on the date that said trip was necessary. The same reimbursement should also be applied if the employee uses their personal vehicle to conduct official Oakmont business. It should be properly documented according to IRS standards and approved by their supervisor.
While I’m at it, as has been pointed out by an HOA member to me, I allowed a motor to be swapped on a personal vehicle of mine during off duty hours. This was done as a convenience to the mechanic who was instructed to do this as quickly as possible and to keep it out of the way. I would like to point out that this was not done without previous precedent. It is my understanding that the maintenance supervisor, who is not even a member of Oakmont, has used the facility for personal use on other occasions. I’m also aware of HOA equipment being used for personal reasons.
We observed that overtime for non-salaried employees was being calculated incorrectly. It should be paid at the rate of 1½ times the employee’s normal rate of pay. Holidays, vacation days, sick leave, and other paid time off (PTO) are not considered hours worked for overtime purposes. However, if a non-salaried employee works on a holiday and their total hours for the week exceed 40 hours, then every hour over 40 hours worked does count towards overtime. Obviously, this would not apply in the event that an employee takes their holiday on a different day of the week.
In addition to the previously mentioned cost saving items, these are things that I feel that the Board should address soon.
There has been a misuse of “comp time”. This should not be used except when called to work outside of their regular shift during emergencies, such as when needed to plow roads due to snow. Any other consideration for “comp time” must be approved by the Oakmont Board of Directors. Any “comp time” that is granted should be used promptly, and not saved to compliment a holiday or vacation.
We have also discovered that phone cards are being purchased and distributed to maintenance employees. This policy of providing a phone card each month should be terminated. This policy is based on antiquated thinking from years ago. The amount of business cell phone usage is negligible in today’s modern communication in comparison to personal use. Personal cell phone plans are readily available for as little as $10-$15 a month. This will save Oakmont approximately $1800 per year.
We have also discovered that we continue to sell soda for 50¢ a can. This soda is costing us approximately 75¢ a can and that doesn’t include the cost of going to get it, not just the vehicle operating cost, but also the cost of the employee going to pick it up.
There is not a drug policy at Oakmont. Use of drugs should not be tolerated in the workplace. It is unsafe for the employee and others around them. This policy should be implemented immediately. Employees should be aware that random drug tests may be administered and will lead to dismissal if an employee refuses to take the test when asked, or subsequently fails the test. In case of an injury, a drug test should be administered.
Consideration should be given to changing the bonus which has been paid in the past, near the end of the year. This is just my suggestion and the numbers used below should be carefully reviewed by the Board before approving it. The old bonus should be replaced with a new performance bonus. This potential bonus would be paid for helping Oakmont to not exceed our budgeted expenses for the year. This potential bonus should probably be around $1000, prorated to employees employed at the end of the year. This proration will be calculated based on the number of weeks employed by Oakmont and the average hours worked at Oakmont during the year, assuming a maximum of 40 hours per week. Vacations/Holidays would count as time worked. Therefore, if we don’t spend more than our annual expense budget, a full time employee could expect a $1000 bonus. For every full 1% that we exceed our budgeted expenses, $200 will be subtracted from the bonus calculation for each employee. No bonus will be paid if we spend 5% more than our budgeted expenses. For every full 1% that we come in under our expense budget, an extra $100 will be added to the bonus calculation for each employee. This bonus should apply to all employees and to the entire expense budget and is not a departmental bonus. It is important that all employees analyze any expense before incurring it to determine that is 1) necessary and 2) the best use of Oakmont’s funds.
- Employees should be diligent about turning off lights in unused areas.
- The same attention must be exercised regarding heating our unused spaces in the rec center with thermostats reduced to 65° during unused periods.
- The maintenance work center heat should not be kept higher than 60°. If the doors are going to be open for more than 5 minutes, go turn off the heat. It is your bonus that you might be saving. Think about it.
I’m sorry to have bored you with all of these details of cost overruns and measures that we have taken to try to ensure the future viability of this HOA for generations to come. That has been the focus of this Board since we started serving together.
That being said, I am frustrated, tired and I have too many jobs that are not getting done at my house while I am up here trying to fix things. Therefore, I am submitting my resignation from the Board of Directors effective immediately. Thank you for allowing me to try to make a difference.
Eric Franklin