Minutes of FHA Meeting January 10, 2008

Meeting was called to order by Gillian Cell at 7:03 PM.  Those in attendance were: Gillian Cell, Mary Lou Einloth, Walter Jernigan, Barbara Thompson, Lowell Kennedy, John Hammond, Peter Thomas and Leonard Kreisman.  Absent were Carol-Ann Greenslade and Harriet McGraw.

In addition, the following residents attended the meeting: Lee Ravenel, Margaret George, Marilyn Band, Caroline Talbot, Ken Talbot, Carol Kurtz, Richard Bird, Joan Dunn, Ruth Kreisman, Gary Carson, James Ackerman, Ken Heisig, and Crissie Beh.

Gillian acknowledged the excellent leadership of former FHA president Jim Ackerman, introduced Peter Thomas as the new Director of Health, Safety and Security and indicated that at these open meetings there would be plenty of time for questions from residents.

On a motion by the Secretary seconded by Mary Lou Einloth the minutes of the Annual Meeting held on November 11, 2007 were approved.

Walter Jernigan indicated that we were on budget for the year ending in December of 2007.  He expected that there would be a small surplus after all remaining bills were paid. He indicated that there were three extraordinary expenses in the 2007 year.  These were: 1) expenses for a Reserve Study which would give the Board some indication of expenses that might be incurred outside of the ordinary Operating Budget 2) the renovation of the Gathering Place kitchen, and 3) the replacement of the air conditioning unit for the Gathering Place. Walter asked for questions but there were none.

Mary Lou Einloth indicated that she was responsible for the FHA office and Hospitality suite as well as the various ways in which the FHA communicates with residents. This includes the Directory, Newsletter as well as the FHA website.  She urged residents to make sure that their entry in the Directory was correct; a hard copy of that information is available, for checking, in the FHA office.  Checking this information is important since the deadline for Directory copy is 15 January. She also pointed out that  over the next several months a front page article will appear in each edition of the Newsletter describing how each of the FHA Directors serve the residents.

Another important item is the survey of residents to begin on January 15th.  Mary Lou asked Richard Bird to explain the process.  He indicated that residents who had e-mail addresses would be notified on Tuesday the 15th about the survey, which they could then complete on line.  Every person having an e mail address will be asked to complete the survey and for those residents who do not have e-mail, paper copies of the survey would be available at the FHA office.  Surveys are to be completed by the 5th of February with results to be made available to the Board by the end of February.  Results will be reported at the March Open Board meeting as well as in the March Newsletter.

Gillian then underscored the importance of the survey since the demographics of the Village are changing and it was important to have input from as many residents as possible so that the Board could be aware of their concerns.  Gillian also underscored the need for residents to check Directory entries since the Board hopes to deliver the new Directory by mid-February, which will be a number of weeks earlier than in the past.

Lowell reported on the progress of the Gathering Place kitchen renovation. Phase one involved a countertop and new cabinets and that was completed in November. A new range was delivered in December and the electrical work and plumbing to accommodate the new tankless hot water heater, dishwasher and disposal were completed. A ceiling fan has also been installed.  Additional cabinets are scheduled for delivery in a couple of weeks and all other installations as well as a new floor should be completed by mid-February.  This will complete the kitchen renovation.

Barbara reported that there is now a full complement of Block and Area captains.  The Adopt-a-Highway program will now operate on a monthly basis and new “grabbers” have been obtained to avoid much of the bending that is associated with the trash pickup along 15-501.  The Newcomers packet is being revised and Block captains will be used to distribute the Directory during the second half of February.

Peter reported on the four areas for which he is responsible. The Emergency Preparedness Committee, chaired by Don Niedringhaus is preparing a comprehensive emergency plan to be used in case of any serious emergency impacting the Village. Some 60 residents have completed CERT training and Tom Hauck is now responsible for that committee.

The Community Watch operation is being revisited and revised and at present Art DeLuca is involved with that effort. The Road Safety Committee will be looking at its mission statement with the prospect of some broader goals and enlarging its membership.

A resident raised the issue about a Senior Safe Driving course and Peter indicated such courses have been given in the past and that Fearrington Cares will be sponsoring another such effort this spring.

John reported on a number of issues dealing with developments that are taking place in the county. The Lee More Oil property which is located at the Orange-Chatham county line has been involved in litigation.  Business development is subject to 20 acres not 37 acres and all wastewater generated on the business 20 acres has to be disposed of on that property. Such was the ruling by Judge Titus. The Jessie Fearrington property, where the house has been removed, will be subject to the same wastewater limitation if the Judge’s ruling stands. The Williams corner property at Lystra and 15-501 has a conditional use permit set to expire and nothing has been done on that property. The Westfall development surrounds the high school on Jack Bennett Road.  There is an erosion problem with that property and that developer has been sited for silt runoff.  Another wastewater issue involves this property and its proposal to dispose of some wastewater on the high school grounds.

Given the problems that appear exist development is proceeding slowly on these various sites.  A Chatham County Highway Corridor Ordinance is also being prepared which will zone all major corridors in the county with the hope that this will provide a mechanism for planned commercial growth. Hearings on this will educate the public about the ordinance.

Resident input involved a variety of items.  Ruth Kreisman commented on the slippery floor in the Gathering Place and Lowell indicated that he would look into the matter. Ruth also mentioned that a number of individuals were involved in knitting a cozy for a Humvee, which will be exhibited as a way of calling attention to the needs of soldiers who had been wounded in Iraq.

Ken Heisig called the Board’s attention to the sorry state of the audio equipment and it was suggested that a thorough review should be made of the system and its ability to provide necessary computer connections for the clubs and speakers who use the Gathering Place.  Gillian indicated that the item would be placed on the Board’s agenda.

 A motion to adjourn was made by Lowell and the meeting was adjourned at 8:20PM.

Respectfully submitted,


 

Leonard T. Kreisman, Secretary

THE NEXT OPEN MEETING OF THE BOARD WILL BE HELD ON MARCH 4TH AT 7 PM IN THE GATHERING PLACE.