Summary of Fall 2016 POA General Meeting

Good day.

My apologies for not getting this out sooner. My schedule is very hectic right now and while that is not to be used as an excuse, but rather as an explanation as to the delay in this information being posted for you to view. Please do send any questions you may have regarding items discussed in this email to board@bridgeportpoa.com. We are open to any and all thoughts and comments. We would also like to again thank each of you that were available and able to attend the meeting back  on September 18th. There was an amazing turnout and great conversation about the POA and possible changes that are upcoming. Thank you again.

We began the meeting by discussing the financial state of the POA. We are currently around an 85% payment rate for POA Dues for 2016. If you have yet to pay your dues for 2016, please contact treasurer@bridgeportpoa.com immediately to discuss options for getting your account current. Thank you to all residents who have paid their dues for the 2016 year. We greatly appreciate your prompt attention to this matter each year.

A review of the current projects that were currently ongoing in the POA was next on the agenda.

• Lights on Bridgeport Drive and the bridge
  • Approximately one month ago there was a freak thunderstorm with very frequent lighting that sent a surge through the line for our lights. Approximately 75% of them were damaged, but all of them were under warranty. Due to this incident and the fact that this is the 2nd time this has happened with those lights, we decided to make changes. Instead of having all lights on one transformer, we have added 2 more transformers and in essence created 3 zones of lights. Also, we added a surge suppression on the incoming line for the main power. This surge suppression will protect us in the event there is a surge somewhere else not directly on our line. Hopefully this will protect us more in the future and reduce an incident where all lights are out from one incident.
• Entry way Progress
  • The entryway should be 100% completed, except for the replacement of the damaged lights as described above. They are adding an extra outlet for us to potentially use for Christmas and other holiday decorations should we choose.
• Light Pole Replacement
  • We did replace 3 more light poles this past summer. We have a quote now to replace 3 more light poles with Ozark. Those three are the light pole at the NW corner of Mt. Comfort and Bridgeport Dive, the cul-de-sac at the top of the hill of Freedom Place, and on the north side of New Bridge road halfway between Bridgeport Drive and High. We will work to pay that invoice and get those installs moving along.
• Future Changes
  • According to the bylaws of the POA, the POA Board is allowed to raise dues by as much as 20% each year without having a vote by members of the POA. Therefore, here is our plan over the next 2 years.
    • The board will raise dues 20% for 2017 to $220/year.
    • The board will raise dues 20% for 2018 to $264/year.
    • Some reasons behind the raise in dues are:
      • No dues increase since 2001. Since that time the cost of maintenance and upkeep around the POA has continued to rise.
      • There are no means currently in place to build a capital improvement fund for large projects needed around the POA or for any major repairs that may come due to normal usage. Due to increase in cost of operations, the need to raise dues will allow us to build up this capital improvements fund.
      • Also, as a POA Board we are beginning the process of finding a property management company which could potentially take over the day-to-day activities of the POA. The lives of the current POA Board are becoming more and more time-consuming and me personally as POA President, I don’t want to continue in the role if I can’t give 150%. Also, we all live here as friends and neighbors. The last thing I want it to cause animosity among neighbors due to covenant enforcement or other duties required by the POA bylaws and covenants. Having a third-party manage and handle these items seems more logical and beneficial to all in the POA.
      • Finally, we have several large projects that we would like to complete in the next couple of years. Those include:
        • Replacing all remaining 27 light poles in the POA to have Ozarks Electric maintain those and eliminate that maintenance cost from the POA.
        • Upgrade the Bridgeport sign currently on High Avenue to match our new design we currently have at the Mr. Comfort & Bridgeport entrance.
        • Resurface the POA pool as it is about 2 years overdue for resurfacing.
  • POA Pool Rules Changes for 2017 and Beyond
    • No pets allowed inside the pool area.
    • No glass containers allowed inside the pool area.
    • Discussions were made on whether to make the pool non-smoking. Those were tabled for later discussion in the spring.
  • POA Covenants Enforcement
    • As many of you know, one of the hardest jobs of the POA Board is the enforcement of the POA Covenants. There are many covenant violations in the POA currently. The problem arises in how do you approach a resident about a covenant violation at the resident, when there are other visible covenant violations at the neighbors’ residence? Thus the board has been trying to find ways to make this process easier and to allow each resident to be on the same playing field. Therefore, the following proposal was made by POA resident Mr. Brad Friess.
      • The POA Board will create a list of the top 7 – 10 most commonly violated POA Covenants by the end of November, 2016.
      • Then each POA resident will be allowed to vote on their top 3 most important covenants to them.
      • The POA Board will then tally the results of this vote. The POA Board will then take the top 3 from this list and inform residents.
      • Residents will be given a specified time frame to get their residence up to code with the specific covenants. After this time, the resident can be fined for non-compliance with the POA covenants.
  • Future of the POA Board
    • When accepting the role of POA President, my thought was to do the job as long as I could do the job with 150% of my ability to try and make sure Bridgeport stayed a place people enjoyed to live. I feel as my children have become older and more involved in activities, that my ability to devote as much time to the POA duties has dwindled. I do not believe I am doing the best job I can and I can only foresee my time with my family becoming even more valuable to me. Therefore, the POA is researching the cost and potential pros/cons of hiring a company to manage the POA. These property management companies all provide services that are valuable to our POA. The cost for those services will depend upon how much we would like the property management company to do for us. There would still be the need for a POA Board, but those duties would be greatly diminished with the hiring of an outside company. Again, this is in the exploratory stages at this time, but it is something we feel we should at least investigate as a POA. Thoughts and comments are greatly welcome.

Thank you again for all of your contributions to this POA. You the residents, make this the place it is to live today. If you do have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at board@bridgeportpoa.com.

Have a very blessed day,

Your POA Board