From the President of the Board

Hello everyone,

I hope this letter finds you and your families in good health. The annual meeting of the membership was conducted on July 8^th, 2019 and I was admittedly disappointed in the attendance. In order to have a quorum our governing documents require 10% of the membership be present at the annual meeting. We currently have 293 homes and therefore needed 30 voting members in order to move forward. Fortunately, we had 32 members present or represented by proxies. The membership appreciates everyone who either came to the meeting or sent a proxy. I realize life happens and not everyone can make it to all of the meetings. I would challenge each of you to attend one meeting this year or watch and comment on the videos we post to Youtube. The association needs you and your skills. Our goal this year is to gain more interaction so the board can continue to make the best decisions possible when it comes to managing our resources.

July 8^th was also the last day Sydney McIntyre officially served on the board. Syd and his wife sold their home recently and have moved out of Almond Glen. Syd graciously agreed to serve on the board through the end of his term. He has also offered to mentor the new Treasurer. This is an enormous benefit to the community. Syd served as the head of the finance committee in 2013 and then served on the board as the treasurer from 2014-2019. Syd has given us excellent guidance over the years and was pleased to bring his final motion to the board of directors: To move $67,000 from the operating budget to the reserves. This brought the associations savings up to our 2019 goal of approximately $398,000! This is a huge point of pride for all of us who have served over the years. Our community started with a meager balance of less than $50,000 in reserves in 2013. Each board has worked hard to keep costs down so we could meet our yearly reserve goals. I have no doubt the 2019-2020 board will work to achieve the same success.

Speaking of board and officer positions. Each year our governing documents require the community meet and elect new board members. Six people were nominated to run for the board this year: Virginia Pough, Katie Young, Eric Barnes, Roger Bell, Anthony Benarroch and Robert Smith. The 32 votes were cast and then tallied by Ashley Rammacher of AMG while several members observed the count. In the end, the community elected Virginia Pough, Katie Young, Eric Barnes, Anthony Benarroch and Robert Smith to serve on the 2019-2020 Board of Directors.

Immediately after the annual meeting, the new board met to discuss the officer elections. Katie Young and I offered to serve as President for the 2019-2020 session. The remaining board members voted and elected me to serve as the President. After some discussion, it was decided Katie would run for the position of Vice President, a role Virginia has served in since joining the board in 2014. Virginia offered to not run for the VP position this year and instead allow Katie to run uncontested and therefore pass the torch to her. It is our hope (as a board), Katie will absorb as much as she can this year by serving as the VP. She will work more closely with vendors and AMG as the VP, while still having the opportunity to observe rather than being thrown into the role of President without an opportunity to learn more about the day-to-day demands on the role. Katie also offered to serve as the board secretary, taking on a dual officer position in her first year. For me, this is a huge win. I have the assistance and counsel of Virginia Pough. She has served by my side for 5 years and I could not imagine losing her insight. I am please she is willing to serve for another year. I will also have new insight and guidance from a fresh face to the board of directors. Someone who is not necessarily attached to the same social circles as the rest of the board. Someone who has the potential to challenge the “veterans” to see things from a different perspective. Virginia will concentrate on helping me with the Pool Committee and will head up the effort to rebuild the Townhome Committee.

Eric Barnes has returned to serve another year. Eric is starting his 3^rd year on the board and has passed the role of secretary on to Katie. Eric did a fantastic job preparing the meeting minutes and ensuring I have them so I could post them to the website last year. This year, Eric has volunteered to serve as the Treasurer. He will be working with Syd McIntyre to ensure he has a grasp on how the community funds are handled. Rounding out the board is Anthony Benarroch. Anthony brings a unique perspective to the board. His wife, Ellie, served the community for two years. She decided to step down this year and Anthony wanted to pick up where she left off. Anthony will work with the landscapers to continue to improve the overall landscaping issues throughout the community.

As I look back on the 6 years I have served on the board, I am proud of the hard work each board has put in on various projects. It’s easy to look at current issues in the community and forget the efforts of the board members who have served this community since July of 2013. The early days of the community board required us to meet weekly to discuss projects. As the first president of the board I was in need of constant guidance to ensure I was taking care of things the way the board wanted. We had meetings that droned on 4-6 hours. We joked for years about the “2 day board meeting” (we met from 8pm-1am). We have worked through some very difficult issues and I have been lucky to be a part of all of it.

Of course we have much to do still. Even if we had everything running the way we want, there will always be new issues, bigger projects, and forward movement. We also know we will not always make everyone happy. There is one thing I can say for sure, the majority of the community has been pleased with the majority of the efforts of all of the boards. I am proof of that. The community has now elected me to the board 7 times. I feel strongly that is because of the joint efforts of every member of every board that this community has elected. I appreciate the continued support and I recognize the trust you put in us.

Moving forward we have several overall goals for the remainder of 2019:

• Continue to resolve the landscaping issues and improve the overall curb appeal of the community
• Repair the sprinkler system
• Continue to build the reserves
• Work with townhome owners to continue the needed maintenance
• Find new ways to engage the community and grow the volunteer base

I am excited to be a part of this year’s board of directors. I am humbled to be given another opportunity to serve my community for another year. I am grateful for the chance to work with new volunteers who will lead us with their fresh insight and I am honored to be allowed to serve as the president of your association for my 7^th year.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to the board if you need anything. We are YOUR board members and we serve YOUR community.

Sincerely,

Robert Smith
President – Board of Directors
Almond Glen Owners Association, Inc
almondglenhoa@gmail.com