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OCN > 2511 > Gleneagle Civic Association Board of Directors, Sept. 30 – Board defends use of companies for duties

Gleneagle Civic Association Board of Directors, Sept. 30 – Board defends use of companies for duties

By David Futey

On Sept. 30, the Gleneagle Civic Association (GCA) held its bi-monthly meeting at Antelope Trails Elementary School (ATES) with the latter portion of the meeting an opportunity for community member questions and comments. Board members Jimmy Owenby, GCA president, Steve Kouri, treasurer, Glenn Leimbach, board member at large, Mark Connell, board member at large, and Jeff McLemore, board member, were in attendance.

The initial discussion focused on financial updates. Kouri noted that legal fees for updating the covenants documents were not budgeted, but, “It is a great opportunity for the association to be current and have one set of documents that will be easy for everyone to read and understand.” Balanced Bookkeeping was hired in May, assuming bookkeeping responsibilities that were previously performed by Warren Management.

Since Balanced Bookkeeping began, the number of homeowners in arrears of paying their annual assessment dues has been reduced from 72 to 12. Late fees were waived due to conflicting information in the association’s declarations.

Kouri said, “We do not have a lot of assessments coming in every year to afford letting those go.” Over $40,000 was paid to Warren Management, and “they did nothing regarding collections” said Kouri. He said, “About $7,000 in aged receivables remain outstanding, and once that comes in we will be able to operate the normal budget.” Owenby provided a summary of the move from Warren Management, stating in part “there were a number of reasons for the move but the main was they were not doing their job and their responsibility in terms of collections and getting back to residents and realtors in a timely manner.”

Leimbach provided a report regarding covenants and the hiring of Centerpoint Management to provide fair and equitable covenant enforcement. Centerpoint was hired to identify covenants violations, driving the entire GCA area every two weeks. Centerpoint also monitors state legislation related to covenants and Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (CCIOA) changes. Owenby and Leimbach conducted an initial drive around with Centerpoint to set enforcement standards that reflect the Gleneagle culture. Some of the issues that have been addressed include illegally parked RVs/campers, weeds, and overgrown yards.

Leimbach said “I have been here a long time, over 33 years and I have slowly seen the quality of Gleneagle on a downhill slide.” Owenby said that “some portions of this neighborhood need a little bit more work than others” and that using Centerpoint “is more fair, more equitable than opposed to how covenant enforcement worked in the past where neighbors essentially volunteered information on their neighbors.” Owenby said the board tried using volunteers regarding covenant enforcement, but it was inconsistent and, specifically with CCIOA guidelines, difficult to perform the required timing of violation notifications and re-inspections. Owenby added that Centerpoint provides two-week consistency.

For the Architectural Review Committee (ARC), McLemore said he estimated that since November 2024 there have been 60 ARC requests, with fences and sheds being the top two requests. Of those, there have been three or four variances issued. He also reviewed a new house. An ARC committee is forming to review related documents, some that are outdated.

During the Roads, Signs, and Common Areas update, Connell said a leaning signpost on Westchester and Scottsdale was corrected. He coordinated with a homeowner at Pauma Valley and Gleneagle Drive, trimming back shrubbery to correct a visibility issue at that intersection. He will be working on a visibility issue at Westchester and Scottsdale the following week.

Leimbach talked about the open space, beginning with the path that goes down from the top of the previous 14th fairway toward Pauma Valley. Fill was brought in to raise the path. Addressing the erosion issues on the 14th has stopped the general upgrade of all the open space trails. He mentioned the high costs and issues in getting trail material delivered. Leimbach said crosswalks have been painted across Gleneagle Drive and across Pauma Valley, where open space trails cross. Five benches have been installed around the open space area.

He then mentioned the poor condition of islands, particularly the one between Stone Eagle and Huntington Beach, which is 720 feet long. The initial bid to upgrade it was $55,000, which he said was exorbitant. He expressed the islands’ importance as they are “the first thing you see after the Welcome to Gleneagle sign. It has old mulch, torn-up fabric, and different gravel colors.” The objective is to install native grass that will align it with the islands at the north end. He is investigating whether some of it can be done through volunteers, thus mitigating some of the cost.

Regarding old business and the town hall, Owenby said the town halls were educational for the board and hopefully for those who attended and participated. The GCA board held two town halls related to updating the covenants before this town hall. He acknowledged and appreciated the feedback received. The GCA attorney is reviewing the updated covenants declaration for compliance with CCIOA.

Owenby brought up the short-term lease amendment, which was originally drafted by the previous board in 2022 but not voted on by GCA members. Owenby said that voting by mail on this amendment would cost at least $2,000 for sending out and the self-addressed return envelope. He said, “there are strong emotions” regarding the topic as “some residents are very anti-B&B, and there are some residents that are very pro-B&B.”

He continued, “We are trying to make it equitable as we know there are a number of residents that rent out their houses during Air Force Academy graduation, and that is a revenue generator for some people.” Owenby further stated that “some parts of the community have non-stop B&Bs.”

The present board seeks to finish this amendment process started by the previous board, with ballots including a vote on this amendment mailed to GCA members on Oct. 16. CCIOA states the board has 60 days to collect all the votes or 67% of affirmative votes once the first vote is cast.

The board presented information and justification concerning the need to increase the annual assessment dues. The proposed dues increase is to cover three primary areas, covenant enforcement, accounting, and maintaining the open space and related areas, the highest of the three costs. The following highlights information presented by the board.

Dues summary

  • The board is 100% volunteer.
  • Covenant enforcement for 703 homes with a volunteer board is unsustainable.
  • Professional covenant enforcement is recommended for fairness and sustainability.
  • The proposed dues increases include: $30/household/year for covenant enforcement by Centerpoint. $25/household/year for accounting by Balanced Bookkeeping (this is 75% of Warren’s cost). $82/household/year for open space maintenance.

Open space and liability

  • Ninety acres of open space and islands cannot be effectively maintained by volunteers.
  • Liability issues, like wildfires, were discussed.

Insurance

  • The association maintains comprehensive and general liability for common areas, property for common areas, officers and directors, and liability insurance.
  • Insurance companies are dropping coverage on HOAs.

HOA dues comparisons

  • The GCA dues are presently $67/year. The GCA board is proposing $140/year.
  • He said, “There is truly not a direct comparable, meaning there is no 700-member organization that has a 90-acre open space.”
  • Gleneagle North HOA: $125/year not including trash for about 350 members with 5-10 acres of open space.
  • Sanctuary Pointe: $420/year with trash removal.
  • NorthGate Highlands: $630/year with trash and snow removal
  • Paradise Villas: $2,600-$3,000/year depending on patio property size that includes landscape maintenance and snow and trash removal.
  • Connell concluded, “There is no other HOA our size in the Colorado Springs area that is managed solely by volunteers.”

Upcoming meetings and elections

  • The board is attempting to schedule ATES for the annual member meeting in November.
  • There will be an election call for candidates to fill the two-year terms of board president and member-at-large beginning in December. Owenby and Leimbach are not returning.

Community comments

  • When community members asked about Balanced Bookkeeping and Centerpoint being used, Owenby said, based on the current covenants, “The board has the discretion to hire companies as it sees fit in order to run the daily business of the organization.”
  • A community member asked what happens if the ballot measure for the dues increase fails. Owenby said the community would have to decide on what budget cuts to make.
  • Owenby said collecting dues was “number one” in terms of the input they received from community members. He added that “when you have a 30% rate of attrition, that’s problematic for an organization and it’s not fair.”
  • A community member suggested “looking inward” to solicit landscapers, lawyers, and accountants within the community to volunteer roles. Owenby said this board and previous boards have tried to use volunteers. The role and challenges of volunteerism were discussed including consistency, commitment, liability, and training.
  • The viability of the open space, which is presently private property owned by the GCA, being converted to a “public” space was discussed.
  • Communication issues from the board to community members were a major topic, including emails not being received by community members, outdated contact lists, suggestions for a newsletter, and improving outreach to community members.
  • In response to a resident stating, “Why should people care what other people do?” and concerns about the dues increase, Leimbach said, “I have been here 33 years, and I know what we were doing in the past (regarding covenant enforcement) wasn’t working. You either don’t enforce covenants or they were enforced unfairly. Both options are not good options, they are bad options. We are talking about 12 bucks a month to run this entire area.” He continued that Centerpoint is efficient with addressing violations and with communications to residents, saving the association money. Later, Owenby said the 750-foot island along the southern part of Gleneagle Drive is the “front door to the community” and it and the common spaces need to be maintained. He said, “We are not a new community.”
  • A community member mentioned the expense of the benches ($650 each) when the board is asking to increase dues. Owenby responded with, “There have been a number of people who have wanted benches for years. On a personal level, you might not see it as a priority, but a lot of people walk that trail two or three times a day and all they were asking for was a place to sit.” Owenby said the board looked at eight benches to find something that would last so that the next board would not need to replace them in four or five years. Reserve money was used to buy the five benches.
  • The board discussed efforts to increase community participation in voting, aiming for a 67% turnout, and the need for volunteers to help with voting outreach and “get people to vote,” Owenby said.
  • Covenant enforcement and the process for granting variances were explained, with an emphasis on legal responsibilities and fairness. Owenby said, “There were a couple of trailers that we (the board) granted temporary variances [to] because of extenuating circumstances where they (the homeowners) needed to keep the trailers on their lot.”
  • Balanced Bookkeeping has 620 email addresses out of the 703 GCA homes. They sent out a notice by mail to community members to confirm contact information. There’s a link on the GCA website to update contact information with Balanced Bookkeeping.
  • Owenby said Bryce Meighan, the attorney assisting the covenant review, was paid a flat fee as opposed to hourly because that was more cost effective for the GCA. He said the board had to pay an additional amount given adjustments made in the declaration’s development and explained, “We try to be very responsible with this and at the same time trying to get this stuff updated.”

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For more information on the Gleneagle Civic Association, see https://www.gleneaglehoa.org.

David Futey can be reached at davidfutey@ocn.me.

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