Board Seeks Replacement Member; Dialogue on Revised CC&Rs Continues

Board Member Tim Kelly opened the July board meeting by announcing that Casey Porter has resigned as Board President. No reason was given. Kelly said that the board will discuss a replacement board member next month, but in the meantime he suggested that anyone interested in filling the position should email a half page of information explaining why he or she would like to be on the board to tkellyrpv@aol.com.

Mike Cooper said that patching of cracks in the roads will continue and when completed, all roads will be slurried. 

This is a high fire season in our high fire area and board members indicated that lot owners are responsible for clearing weeds on their lots. Ditto for home owners.

Tim Kelly indicated that damage to the Narcissa gate would be repaired Tuesday or Wednesday.

The major portion of the meeting was given over to the latest revision of the CC&Rs. Board Attorney Kelly Richardson was on hand to answer questions. He explained that revision of the PBCA CC&Rs was particularly difficult because he was working from multiple sets of very old documents; additiionally, we have a unique situation here because many homes in the community are moving from their original (and legal) location. He said this situation is unique; he is not aware of any other homeowner association in the country with the same issues. 

He also said that in the work he has done so far, he is trying to look ahead to the future and anticipate problems and write a document that will make it unnecessary for residents to go to court to solve problems.

Asked why there was no mention of requirements for board members in the CC&Rs, ( an issue that was raised after Casey Porter moved out of the area but wanted to remain on the board), Richardson said that that subject is covered in the revised By-Laws, which he hopes the board will deal with soon. 

Specific sections of the revised CC&Rs that came up for discussion were:

Section 2.06 which Richardson described as an easement on all lots which would be recorded legally. He agreed to remove sections (i) and (ii) under Section 2.06.

Section 2.10: If the six owners of annexable lots agree to annexation, this section will be removed.

Questions were raised regarding Section 3.04 (b) (suspension of voting rights), but Richardson did not indicate he would make a change.

Objections were raised regarding Section 6.02, (number of legal occupants of a home), but Richardson said this is standard language for such documents. 

Section 6.04 will be changed to make all livestock exempt.

Section 6.14 will be reworded from "View Protection" to "Height Limitation."

If you do not have, or are unable to find, your current copy of the CC&Rs, to which this refers, email tkellyrpv@aol.com and ask for a duplicate copy.

Richardson will revise the current CC&Rs in line with comments received at the meeting and residents should receive a copy of that revision by email prior to the next board meeting September 6. Richardson hopes to set a voting date for approval of the final version soon. 

All the above information is fact.  Now comes the opinion.

1. It is my personal feeling that it would be nice if people who want to serve on the board could demonstrate some special skill that might be useful to the entire community.

2. It is hard for me to understand why so few people are interested in the revision of our CC&Rs. This is rather like a chance to vote on a revision of the Constitution of the United States. These are the rules that govern  our community and will govern it well after our children and their children inherit our homes and sell them, or we move away. These are major, long term changes to the rules that govern our community and it looks as if fewer than 35 people care. I know everyone is busy, but PLEASE, be concerned neighbors. I hate to see us be like the city of Bell. (If you didn't read that blog topic, it's here.)

Read the CC&Rs. Check the revisions. Talk to your neighbors. Come to the meetings where this is being discussed. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Last: I ran across this column by an attorney, regarding conflicts between Homeowners Associations and Green building laws. Has anyone thought about incorporating any Green Building regulations into any of our official documents? This attorney's column involves CC&Rs. We are also talking about changes to our Architectural Standards. But no one in Portuguese Bend has mentioned the word "Green" anywhere. Just a thought.