Mission Manor Homeowners Association 1571 Gastel Drive, Mission, TX 78572
April 21, 2022 Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
Oscar Alvarez MMHOA president called the meeting to order at 4:35 PM.
Board Members attending: Abelino Leal-VP, O. Alvarez-President, Pam Bond-Treasurer and Alma Garza-Member at Large. Blanca Salinas-Secretary and Mary Clary-Financial Secretary were absent. MM members attending: T. Retka-Advisor, David Solis, David King-Pool/Grounds, Michael Botelho-Architecture Committee, Al Tunseth and Belinda Leal also attended.
Agenda Points:
1.Welcome: O. Alvarez welcomed everybody and asked everybody to sign in. He thanked everyone for attending the meeting. He also welcomed all visitors.
2. Community Issues:
1612 Iowa Collection on Transfer Fees from Sierra Title Company: T. Retka received a resale certificate from Mr. Eugene Ragsdale on 2/7/22 which has been processed and returned by D. Solis to Mr. Ragsdale and Sierra Title on 3/3/22. It was explained that Sierra Title Company has not sent the property transfer fee to MMHOA. O. Alvarez and/or M. Clary needs to follow up with Sierra Title until the transfer fee is collected.
1576 South Gastel Circle- MMHOA Covenants Compliance: O. Alvarez informed that M. Botelho and he drove by this address before the meeting. He mentioned several issues (yard overgrown, house deteriorated…) that needed to be addressed by the owner of the property. He read a letter sent by a MMHOA resident. MMHOA will try to solve the problem by paying a visit to the owner of this property. A. Leal will visit the residents to explain the situation and work a plan for correction.
1601 Lakeside- Pool Complaint: O. Alvarez explained the complaint about the pool heating situation. At the same time, he explained that the complaining residents left after the pool heating issue was resolved. P. Bond suggested to send an official response to apologize for the pool situation stating that we had problems with the heater system and the pool had to be closed because the water was cold. B. Salinas will write an official letter to explain MMHOA pool heating issues and to apologize for the inconvenience.
1624 E. Gastel -Dog Issue: There was Board and Community member discussion on this matter. The dog is not living at the property based on observations from the neighbors. The son, owner of the dog, frequently visits his mother who is the occupant in this address. There are no restrictions in the MM Covenants on the size of dogs that can visit a property. O. Alvarez said that B. Salinas will write a letter to address this issue.
Mission Animal Control Dept. & Dead Pond Fish: City of Mission Animal Control Dept. did not pick up the dead fish. D. King and Leo Bloczynski cleaned the pond. It is suspected that cormorant bird may have been responsible for the kill.
Status on Rent 1716 E. Gastel: D. Solis reported that MMHO Association received all required information on this property. Renter meets the 55 and older requirements and they are renting for 6 months.
Norma Alvarez to speak on Brush Pick up: O. Alvarez spoke on behalf of his wife Norma Alvarez. He explained that by his house there was a huge pile of brush for several weeks without being picked up. This kind of situation could become a hazard problem (traffic, rodents, snakes, clogged drainage. etc.) for the MMHOA residents. A. Leal explained that unfortunately there is very little MMHO residents can do when the tree cutting companies schedules can’t accommodate the MMHOA pick-up brush schedule. P. Bond informed that brush collection is on the third full week of the month, but a call should have been placed to the city for an early pickup which would have happened. The Board will post brush pickup on the bulletin board and on the website.
Tree Trimming: P. Bond also explained that the association has $250.00 in the budget for tree trimming. D. King pointed out some trees that need to be trimmed. O. Alvarez motioned to spend this amount to trim the trees. A. Leal seconded the motion. All approved. Motion carried. P. Bond will contact the company to do the work.
3. March 17 Minutes Approval: A. Leal motioned to approve the minutes. A. Pena seconded the motion. All members approved the motion. Motion carried.
4. Treasurer’s Report: P. Bond reported $63,212.71 bank balance as of today. She also informed that Champion energy and the gas companies sent a notification to inform that there are some changes coming.
Dues Collection: As of today, 1604 Iowa has not responded to a letter sent on Feb. 26, 2022. O. Alvarez asked M. Clary, financial secretary, to call D. Davis, MMHOA Lawyer, to ask for guidance and quota to compose a “Demand Letter” stating the consequences for slow and /or nonpayment of annual dues.
5. MMHO Association Insurance Situation: MMHOA current property insurance provider is “Whitset Insurance company”. A MMHO member indicated the common area may not be correctly covered since the property insurance has not been updated for many years. The Board wants to add a lawsuit insurance to what MMHO Association currently has and to make sure all Mission Manor common area property including fences are covered. MMHOA advisor briefed the Board on his discussions and investigations during March on this matter. All files on this issue were turned over to O. Alvarez who will work on the insurance question. MMHOA member will contact “Sheppard Walton” an insurance company in McAllen to see if they can make us a visit and gives us a quote to cover property insurance and board member liability. This issue will continue to be discussed.
6. Houses for Sale:
1713 Gastel: This property has been sold. MMHOA Documents will be not sent until Edward Title Company sends all required MMHOA documents (Proof of age, ID’s). M. Clary and D. Solis will follow up. There are two more properties for sale: 1577 s. Gastel and 1610 Gastel.
7. Architecture Committee (ACC) Report: 1612 Fence Relocation: M. Botelho provided MMHOA a written report on the successful conclusion on this issue. He also created updated friendly architectural forms with a cover letter. O. Alvarez motioned to approve the usage of these new architectural forms. A. Leal seconded the motion, all in favor. Motion carried. M. Botelho and R. Starkweather asked the Board to help finding a third member for the architectural committee. They asked the Board to appoint a third architectural member who is more proficient using technical words in Spanish. M. Botelho suggested Janie Ponce who lives at 1802 N. Gastel circle. Janie Ponce has agreed to serve as the third Architecture Committee.
M. Botelho explained the board about a situation at 1614 Iowa. The owner placed an awning to create a front porch which is not permitted according to the MMHOA covenants. It is known by the Board members that this resident uses the awning and does not want to remove it. M. Botelho asked the Board to create a temporary variance to the rules/covenants document to allow the awning as long as the owner lives there. If he leaves or sells the property, then the awning must come down. O. Alvarez proposed that this issue will be included on the next Board meeting agenda.
M. Botelho informed that because he won’t be present on the next Board meeting, he wanted to inform that the residents on1611 E. Gastel will build a legal parking space and that it was approved by the architectural committee.
M. Botelho wanted to point out that the architectural committee does not have any authority regarding political signs. He informed that political signs are allow 90 days before election and 10 days after polls close. He suggested that the Board needs to post this information on bulletin board and on website.
Architectural Committee requested Board guidance regarding whether backyards in Mission Manor are to be within the oversight of the AC. It was discussed that the Board needs to have something in writing about this issue. O. Alvarez tabled this point for next meeting.
8. Occupant Form Collection: There are several missing forms. D. King agreed to vouch for 3 homeowners who refuse to fill out the form. This can be done only if homeowners have IDs on record. There are still two more forms to be completed.
9. Email Collection - M. Botelho’s Website Suggestion: The Board discussed that the MMHOA current website is not searchable on the web as required by new Texas Housing Law, section 209 with regard to website accessibility. The Board recognized that upgrading to a full domain would have a cost and decided that $125 be approved for that purpose. The Board voted to upgrade the current website from a sub-domain to a full domain. M. Botelho explained and offered to the Board a prototype (missionmanor. Yolasite.com) of what a full website could look like. He also advised that the domain missionmanor.org was available at this time. The domains missionmanor.com and missionmanor.net are not available. The Board authorized the purchase of missionmanor.org and the creation of an account on the Yola server to home the new domain. M. Botelho offered to rebuild the prototype website onto the Yola platform to make the transition easier for the webmaster. The original prototype web site will then be taken down. M. Botelho and D. Solis proposed that the wordpress website be continue as our electronic depository for past board meeting minutes and financials as is currently done and that the missionmanor.org website be linked to those documents. M. Botelho and D. Solis offered to assist the webmaster with developing and maintain the new website.
10.. New Board:
Norma’s Resignation: O. Alvarez said that the Board will fill the vacancy up until next annual meeting. M. Botelho explained that the New Texas Law requires that when a vacancy exists on the Board of Directors, a “Notice of Vacancy”, which invites interested parties to apply, must be posted on the website and on the HOA’s notice board for at least 30 days prior to consideration of individuals for appointment. It also says that all consideration of each candidate must be done in public (not executive) meeting. He suggested the way to do it is to post the vacancy on the bulletin board and on the website before the Board can appoint someone. P. Bond reminded the Board of Mr. Coronado who volunteered to be on the ballot, but he was not present, and he does not live in Mission Manor full time. O. Alvarez said he will ask B. Salinas to post the vacancy.
Bank Signatory Plan: P. Bond, M. Clary and A. Leal went to the bank to sign all forms.
Who needs Microsoft Word/Excel/PowerPoint: It was informed that no one needs the Microsoft Word/Power Point Program.
11. Next Year’s Annual Meeting:
Who are 1 year and 2-year positions from recent Board members elected?
P. Bond said she has one more year to serve. A. Leal said his position also is a one-year position. This issue will continue to be discussed.
Lois Complaint: There were several concerns L. Graham talked to T. Retka about Board procedures on April 10. T. Retka told her that he would bring these issues up to the new Board. First, she was concerned about the way the membership voted on different occasions at annual meeting. She said the membership should use the voting sticks. The Board will follow the voting process at the next annual meeting. Second, she was concerned on the disclosures of members’ names and addresses on the minutes and the possibility of legal issues. The Board had a full discussion on this issue, and it was difficult to decide how to report community issues on the minutes without referring to the address of the involved properties. The Board will utilize only property address when discussing issues. Third, she said that not everyone knows about the $200 property transfer fee, and that this should be posted on the MMHOA website and on the bulletin board. Also, she gave him a book on “Financial Procedures and forms” to pass it on to P. Bond, the treasurer.
12. Common Area Issues: No Issues
13. 2022-2023 Possible Future Improvements Projects:
Pool Electric Heater: Tabled to next meeting.
Gazebo: Tabled to next meeting.
14. Set Next Meeting: Next meeting will be on May 19 at 4:30 PM at the pool area.
15. Adjournment: O. Alvarez motioned to adjourn the meeting. P. Bond seconded the motion. Meeting was adjourned at 6:30 PM