Livingston Trace Subdivision

Please take the time to familiarize yourself with this year’s budget.  If you have any concerns or questions, I’d like to hear them.

2012_budget

Many of us agree that speeding is a huge problem in our subdivision.  During our last council meeting, I proposed that we approach the Livingston Parish council about adding stop signs and lowering the speed limit.  The feeling was mutual among all board members, and Jason Simcoe ran with it.  Jason approached Buddy Mincey, our current councilman about the issue.

The two of them toured our neighborhood, and Buddy agreed to help.  He is going to draft an ordinance to add three way stop signs at Iberia and Concordia and to lower the speed limit to 20 MPH.  It should appear on the agenda for the October 27th meeting.  He does not expect any resistance and it is a completely reasonable request.  If implemented, it should take around 30 days for us to see the changes implemented.

Overhead view at Google Maps

If anyone has any comments or concerns, feel free to post them in response to this post.

Also, Mr. Mincey has offered his parish cell phone number if anyone would like to speak to him.

Parish Cell: 225-573-8015

Thanks Jason, for making this happen so quickly.

Thanks to Randall for getting this…

LIVTRACE – Inside & Out Landscape SIGNED contract Sept 1, 2010

I’ve been given a copy of the Livingston Trace HOA 2011 budget.

LIVTRACE 2011 Annual Budget (Resident Version) (PDF)

You can compare this one with last year’s:  Updated 2010 Budget.

On December 19th, I posted about the new board members being elected.  Has anyone noticed any improvements being made since then?  Nothing against the new guys; I’d just like to hear what plans they’ve got for the neighborhood.

Apparently, there were enough households present at the meeting to hold a vote.  The RealManage site lists a few new board members:

If any of you would like to chime in and post your plans regarding the neighborhood, I’m sure all the readers would appreciate it.

Can someone provide a brief summary of what happened at the meeting tonight?

Since this meeting was on a Monday (school night) and my kids have homework, I was unable to attend.

It looks like what was stated at the Townhall Meeting is incorrect.  Eric Whitten has posted that the HOA may be able to levy fines against homeowners for violations of the subdivision restrictions.  I’ve read the text and it seems like he is correct.

Here is the wording in the bylaws that allows for this:

7.1. NOTICE AND HEARING. Before taking any of the below described actions, the association must give written notice and an opportunity for a hearing according to the requirements of this Article and the notice and hearing requirements of applicable law. The following actions by or with the approval of the Board, the Association, or the Architectural Reviewer, require notice and hearing as provided by this Article:

a. Suspension of use of a common area.
b. Imposition of a fine for violation of any provision of the Community Documents, other than fines, Interest, or collection fees charged for delinquent accounts.
c. Charging an Owner or a Lot for property damage.
d. Filing suit against an Owner other than a suit related to the collection of assessments or foreclosure of the Association’s assessment lien.

7.2. HEARING

7.2.1. Request for Hearing. To request a hearing, an Owner must submit a written request within 30 days after receiving the Association’s written notice. Within ten days after receiving the Owner’s request for a hearing, and at least ten days before the hearing date, the Association will give the Owner notice of the date, time, and place of the hearing. If the Association or the Owner requests a postponement of the hearing, the hearing will be postponed for up to ten days. Additional postponements may be granted by agreement of the parties.

7.2.2. Hearing. The hearing may be held in an executive session of the Board. At the hearing, the Board will consider the facts and circumstances  surrounding the violation. The owner may attend the hearing in person, or may be represented by another person or written communication.

7.3. IMPOSITION OF FINE. Within 30 days after levying the fine or authorizing the abatement, the Board must give the Owner notice of the levied fine or abatement action. If the fine or action is announced at the hearing at which the Owner is actually present, the notice requirement will be satisfied. Otherwise, the notice must be in writing.

7.3.1. Amount. The Board may set fine amounts on a case by case basis, provided the fine is reasonable in light of the nature, frequency, and effects of the violation. The Board may establish schedule of fines fur certain types of violations. The amount and cumulative total of a fine must be reasonable in comparison to the violation. If the Board allows fines to accumulate, it may establish a maximum amount for a particular fine, at which point the total fine will be capped.

7.3.2. Type of Fine. If the violation is ongoing or continuous, the fine may be levied on a periodic basis (such as daily, weekly, or monthly). If the violation is not ongoing, but is instead sporadic or periodic , the fine may be levied on a per occurrence basis.

7.3.3. Other Fine-Related. The Association is not entitled to collect a fine from an Owner to whom it has not given notice and an opportunity to be heard. The Association may not charge interest on unpaid fines. The Association may not foreclose its assessment lien on a debt consisting solely of fincs. The Board may adopt a collection policy that applies Owners’ payments to unpaid fines before retiring other types of assessments.

7.4. REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES AND LEGAL FEES, In addition to any other rights set forth in the Community Documents for violation of a provision of the Community Documents, the Board may levy and collcct individual assessments for reimiJursement of reasonable fees and expenses, including
without limitation legal fees, incurred by the Association to enforce the Community Documents, including the collection of delinquent assessments.

Please forgive any poor formatting or spelling in that text.  I had to run character recognition on the original document because it was scanned as an image.

Attending Directors

• Andre Sylvester – President
• Monica Minton – Vice President
• Eric Whitten – Secretary/Treasurer

Agenda

• Landscaper
• Management Company
• Mo-Dad Smell
• Welcoming and Social Committe
• Open Questions

Issues Addressed

• Landscaper
  • Andre tells us that the association has obtained some bids from a few landscaping companies.  One is as low as $22,000 and includes maintaining more areas than our current contract.
  • Homeowners still express concern over the high cost, but the HOA feels that the cost will not be able to be much lower than what the new bids are.
• Management Company
  • The HOA feels positive that RealManage is providing us good value for our money.
  • Quotes were obtained that were higher than what we’re currently paying, so no plans are in place to move to a different company.
  • Monica spoke with the HOA in South Point subdivision, who has taken management responsibilities on themselves.  She feels that while we could do it, we would have to have a decent sized group of very dedicated people to handle it properly.  (Monica, correct me if I’m wrong here.  That’s the impression that I got from you.)
• Mo-Dad Smell
  • Mo-Dad has asked that we report alarm lights immediately.
  • Mo-Dad has also asked that we only dispose of appropriate things in the sewer system.  Grease, baby wipes, rags, and other non-degradable items are preventing the system from functioning normally.
• Subdivision Information
  • People seem to feel that we’re definitely making progress on collecting unpaid homeowner dues.  There has been a significant drop in the total amount owed since the last townhall meeting.
  • No resolution on the fountain lights was reached.  Homeowners, myself included, are insistent that the lights definitely exist(ed).
• October Meeting
  • We will be adding two new board members.
  • The HOA would like to clarify the wording on the length of terms for directors.
• Other Topics
  • It was suggested that the HOA should suggest to homeowners that they can pay their dues to RealManage monthly or any other interval, if they desire.
  • Most, if not all, of the homeowners in attendance were very concerned about the possibility of a special assessment.  The general consensus is that this is not fair to the responsible homeowners who have paid their dues on time.
  • Once again, Andre reminds us to report any criminal activity to the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Please post comments on anything that I have (probably) forgotten.  I forgot my notepad, so I’m working from memory on this one.

I found this on the RealManage site.  I’m assuming it’s accurate this time, but who knows?

Updated Budget (PDF)