I attended the May 21 board meeting. I've also gone back and listened to the tape. I have transcribed portions of the meeting, and will denote transcription with quotation marks and will underline those portions. I will relate what I heard, saw, and transcribed to the best of my ability. In all cases, if you didn't attend the meeting, you should listen to the tape yourself. Comments will be in red.
McMillin begins his report regarding some stats related to the lawn mowing of privately owned lots by the grounds' vendor. The lots have been classified as grassy or grassy and wooded. There are 29 lot owners interested in receiving the service. 22 are confirmed. They've paid.
There are a few other incidentals and the he moves to the grounds maintenance contract. There were some changes made in the contract this time. Language was added to clarify storm clean up, spoil site maintenance was added, a clause giving the WPA the ability to renegotiate at the end of the first of a two year contract if numbers change dramatically regarding the lot mowing. He explains the bid process. Three bids were sought. Two bidders responded. They were Great Lawns and Carolina ?????. Discussion arises about the Carolina vendor who they claim attempted to secure information on Great Lawns last bid, prior to the submission date. President Walton says what they did could be a federal offense. The two bids lay unopened on the table and there is more discussion about whether to open the Carolina bid. They determine they will open both. At some point in the discussions McMillin states that Great Lawns has not had an increase in almost 5 years. The Carolina bid is $48,000 per year. McMillin reads through pricing in various areas of the Great Lawn bid. It appears there is sub pricing for lot mowing, spoil site, grounds, and some items about pine straw and other supplies such as fertilizer. Listen to the tape yourself, but it sounds like Great Lawns total figure is $35,253 per year. McMillin seems surprised by the sub pricing for the spoil site. The following in quotes and underlined is the transcription to the best of my ability. Listen to the tape yourself. The discussion is long, complicated, and could leave you wondering when some decisions were made by this "let is slide for now board". Some of the sliding is because in this case the grounds may have turned to ice and you may be taking the fall while they attempt to keep their feet warm.
Garrison, "Spoil site, how's he getting there? Does his $3,000 cover how he gets there, or does somebody else gotta to do that?" McMillin, "We have furnished him transportation through Jamie and John" McMillin,"Should discuss with him and say....." Garrison, "Here's what I would suggest at this point. I don't think anybody but you has seen the actual parameter of the contract that was proposed.." McMillin, "Jacky has." Garrison, "I think we need a chance to look at this and have some discussion about some of the optional stuff that he's got in there." McMillin, "If we don't accept something tonight and do something with the contract we will have to wait until the next monthly meeting which means we will get no....in because there not in the contract unless we extend.." DeMarchi, "Are we going to make a motion because I got a lot of questions in discussion?" Someone on the board asks, "why not make a motion?" McMillin, "I'm hesitant because some of these numbers confuse me. I kind of got blind sided by a couple of them. This bid isn't that much higher than we've been paying. They said the only raise was common area maintenance by 5%. Reasonable, they haven't had a raise in 4 almost 5 years, but the only one that bothers me a little bit is the $3,000 for the CDF and a little tweaking around these lot mowing - that sort of thing. Other than that I think it is acceptable. I think it is reasonable and what does the board think about me re-negotiating before we put the ink to it?" President Walton, "Why don't you just get with him and do their change in the number, we just extend - what 30 days?" McMillin, "Well, since this is the only one we have, can we tentatively approve it, pending clarification for adjustments? DeMarchi, "No....extend. I'm going to ask my questions since you won't make a motion. You say we have 28 or 29 lots that we're going to mow this coming year. OK, at a price of what $85 bucks for grass lots?" Cline, "No" DeMarchi, "What's our recovery on....? $85.00 on?' McMillin, "$85.00 on wooded lots and $100.00 on grass lots..." DeMarchi, "WE'RE GOING TO DO GRASS LOTS SIX TIMES OR ARE WE DOING ALL SIX TIMES? WHAT IS THE NUMBER?" McMillin, "Four for wooded, six for grass. What gets confusing is some we do both, We have 2 or 3 that have both wooded and grass." DeMarchi, "My problem is..." McMillin cuts him off and says, "YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BREAK EVEN, AL, IF THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE GETTING AT." DeMarchi, "I DON'T WANT TO TAKE A $2,200 FOR IT EITHER, OK!" McMillin, "Well it was your idea to change the program." DeMarchi, "WE TOOK A BATH ON IT LAST YEAR. OK! YOU'RE SAYING IT'S $4,200 FOR THESE LOT MOWING." McMillin, "$4198.58" DeMarchi, "We're going to recover approximately $2,000 of that in lot mowing fees. Approximately...right Kathy, is that what we calculated? So we're going to lose $2,200 for the privilege of mowing your lots. The other thing is...."McMillin cuts him off and says, "You want to charge everybody $50 every time he comes, or do you...." DeMarchi cuts him off and says, "I'm just asking the question Larry. OK, as far as the spoil site OK, that should be done as a separate item, OK, that would come under RESERVES." McMillin, "Disagreed over and over and the board has discussed it and we agreed it would stay under grounds. You're the only one who has objection to that and we discussed it." DeMarchi, "HAVE YOU DISCUSSED IT IN A BOARD MEETING?" McMillin, "YES WE DID! " DeMarchi , "I don't recall - ever." McMillin, "It was brought up at a board meeting and we talked about it, yes!" DeMarchi, "Because that's a maintenance item. A yearly maintenance item, that is going to occur over and over again." McMillin, "It is a common area. It is owned by Wedgefield Association just like the circle down here." DeMarchi, "OK, OK" McMillin, "It's a piece of property commonly know by..."DeMarchi, "Then pine straw and the labor to put the pine straw. I know that we've always budgeted pine straw individually, OK" McMillin, "Yes" DeMarchi, "And now they're including it in their bid?" McMillin, "Yes" DeMarchi, "If we're going to cover common ground I just don't agree with taking the bath on the mowing." Garrison, "Nor do I." McMillin, "Then let's eliminate it. Let's not do it any more. Nobody will lose anything." DeMarchi, "You go 28 or 29 people signed up for which 7 have not paid. I thought we agreed that we would not do any lawn mowing if they didn't pay." McMillin says something that can't be heard but ends with "yes"." DeMarchi, "And we're doing them?" McMillin, "Are some of them partially paid or not paid at all?" Kathy, "Not paid at all." McMillin, All right then you can attempt to contact each one of them. All right then they can be dropped so then we can change the number of mowings back down to 22." DeMarchi, "I think you just need to get all this clarified Larry." Garrison, "I would suggest this - this probably....with the contract the way the contract stipulates that they add to cover spoil site and....the contact the bid on" McMillin "Yes" Garrison, "I think we would probably be better off if we split that up. For my money people can make their own arrangement for their lot. I think that's where we ought to be. The only thing these guys will be getting involved in is when we have to bring them in to cut something that somebody didn't take care of and it needs to be done and we bill them for it. It's hard to collect the money..To be offering this service at a loss is inane." DeMarchi, "Well the other thing is $33.00 a lot for mowing that's equivalent to about an hour and 20 minutes of his guys time at his $25 rate. I think that is what his rate is. I can't imagine any grass lot taking an hour and 20 minutes. Maybe he needs to recalculate his $33.33 for mowing." McBride, "That might be his rate per person but...he also has his equipment and everything else." DeMarchi, "Well, that's his wrap around rate John. $25.00/hr. He's not paying a guy $25.00 an hour." Cline, "That's still fairly inexpensive - $33.00. " Garrison, "That's not huge but why aren't we collecting it? I don't say we got to make a lot of money out of it but..." McMillin, "I thought the whole idea was as an incentive here to encourage people to maintain their lots in a better condition than just leaving them alone and letting them vegetate." Garrison, "I got that. What's your incentive? Why do you bother to cut your grass, or me, or anybody else?" DeMarchi, "If you haven't signed up for a lot mowing program, OK, then have a lot that's over grown.." McMillin, "If you want to split hairs and read it word for word then we need to send them a letter to insist that they get it done, or we'll do it for them. HOW'S THAT? WE CAN DO IT. YOU WANT TO DO IT?" DeMarchi, "I'm just bringing up a point." Garrison, "We do that." McMillin, "WE GOT 156 OF THEM. YOU WANT TO DO THAT TO ALL OF THEM?" DeMarchi, "No, I'm just saying that those that are...You can't do it in the Enclave, OK, because the place is a disaster." McMillin, "They're vacant lots. They're privately owned." DeMarchi, "Yup" (Sorry, I couldn't contain myself. DeMarchi lives there and has owned lots there, and built homes for others there. Sometimes it could appear that this is his kingdom and no one touches it, and he decides what conditions are, what needs to be done, complains about what he views as the mistakes of other boards, and he'll decide who will pay, and it's legal for you to pay because he says so.) McMillin, "They're part of the 166." DeMarchi, "OK" McMillin,"See if you do it for some, not the rest, what do you do?" It sounds like the next speaker is John Walton, if so, he says, "Spoil site $3,000? That's what he bid?" McMillin, "Yes, for twice yearly. I think it's a little high because the original clearing was the most labor intensive. Now that that's been done it's a simple matter to go out there and I don't think it's going to take their entire crew. It might be 2-3 man crew one day. One day to do this thing." Someone says, "I don't think they can do it in one day." Garrison, "I'm going to make a motion that we extend Great Lawns current contract an additional sixty days so we have some time to let Larry work out some of these kinks with this contract and see if...can't come to agreeable solution to the terms to get him set up. I don't think there is any body on the board that is in favor of voting tonight...Other bid done with that. We can argue about this the next seventeen hours......and still" McMillin, "The thing is if you extend it another 60 days...that means the contract is going to renew next time in what August. We always did it before the growing season. We did it in April." Garrison, "What is the difference? That season is covered if it renews in August. I don't see what......" Cline, "Plus this will be a two year right?" DeMarchi, "One year renegotiable." Garrison, "I assume they are guaranteeing that price for two years." McMillin, "It's a two year contract with a renegotiating clause in it specifically to deal with lot maintenance." Cline seconds Garrison's motion. It passes but one member votes no. McMillin, "Would someone prepare a list of all your objections, so I an take them to Great Lawns and negotiate?"
COMMENTS:
This whole discussion is a mess. First, it appears Great Lawns bid as the contract requested. They bid over $10,000 less than the only other bidder. They haven't had a raise in almost 5 years. Now that the board is fighting they decide to pick apart the vendor's pricing rather than stop and come to a vote on their issues. They have all these issues because they let decisions slide when they hit the board table, apparently cut deals to let things pass, behind the scenes, so they get what they want for their pet project. There appeared to be several issues that are caused by their lack of action in the moment.
*McMillin has refused to bill lot owners what it actually costs to maintain the lots. That has come up more than once over a long period of time. Each time, he gets firm and the board moves on. They have knowingly taken our assessment funds to supplement some lot owners. Why? From what we've seen a grass lot owner receives services six times for $100. Wouldn't you like to have your lawn mowed for $16.66? For certain, as a member I don't want you to get yours mowed for $16.66 and have to pay $16.66 out of my assessment every time your lot is mowed, to make up for the actual cost, because McMillin wants it that way and your board wouldn't stop it. This has been going on for some time. The other insight you get to their operation is when McMillin says they'll pull lot mowing, lot owners will have to take care of their own, if not we'll mow and charge. DeMarchi says not in the Enclave it is just a mess. Aren't all lot owners equally responsible? Not according to DeMarchi. Why didn't your board step up as individual board members a long time ago when this inequity came up, take a vote and tell McMillin he wasn't operating equitably? Why did your board allow a McMillin more "land" -spoil site, when he wasn't handling lot mowing effectively? Is DeMarchi only upset because he doesn't like what it is doing to his accounting department and his books? Why didn't the board finish this lingering issue, at the table?
*The issue of the spoil site maintenance landing under McMillin's power and contract is clearly that of the board's own making. It made no sense to pull it from Water Amenities. DeMarchi can't recall the board ever having discussed it. Well they didn't really discuss it, unless it was behind closed doors, but McMillin did present it at a meeting, your board voted his way, and the information regarding it is in the very minutes that DeMarchi presented to the board for approval when he was secretary. They did approve the minutes. The following was taken from the approved Jan. 2013 minutes: " GROUNDS: Larry McMillin reported that recent discussion has been about the maintenance of the spoil site for future use. Larry reported that it is becoming quickly overgrown. WPA must maintain "common property". This property must be determined which category it falls under, Grounds or Water Amenities. An inspection must be done to determine the scope of maintenance needed. Larry stated he hopes the upcoming Reserve Study will help address all or most of these issues. Much more discussion will be needed. Larry stated a little money spent now will avoid major expense later." The minutes don't reflect any discussion. From the Feb. 2013 minutes, "Grounds: Larry stated that after a Water Amenities meeting that the maintenance of the spoil site should be the task of grounds and not water amenities. Larry stated that he made arrangements with GLOG to tour the spoil site and submits a bid for clearing. Larry stated he received recommendations from Steve Strickland of Earthworks for maintenance of the spoil site. It will be attached to these minutes. A motion was made by Larry and 2nd by John Walton to have Great Lawns of Georgetown to do the maintenance of the spoil site in the amount, not to exceed, $2,100 to cover the GLOG cost of $2,100 to cover the GLOG cost of $1,975 and material. Motion passed with 8 ayes and 1 nay by Jason Barrier." You can see by the minutes that nine board members voted so DeMarchi was included and voted. I recall attending this meeting and McMillin would not get bids from any other vendor. Additionally when you look at the January minutes McMillin says "recent discussion", where, when, and who? It wasn't at the board table until he brought it up. Your board sat by, didn't really discuss it this time either. During the May meeting you'll note he goes to common ground again, like he's in charge of all common ground. Well, is the landing next? That is common ground. How about what the drainage committee handles? Is that common ground? Your board sat by, confused committee responsibilities, didn't insist that he get bids, and just let it happen like the lawn mowing until now. Now DeMarchi is questioning because he is concerned about his reserves. They are his reserves because he decided what the amounts were, and they let him start pulling money into them monthly, you check, but I believe without a vote. So a move that was said to be a paper move to accommodate either taxes or audits, whatever excuse he gave, turns into our funds moving where he wants them to. I believe they'll be the basis for the reserve study. Water Amenities Chair, John Walton seconds one of the above noted motions. Surprise, surprise, I'm told he is related to McMillin - cousin, maybe. Remember this was all happening in January and February when Water Amenities wanted to replace the old dock at the landing. All this could just look like vote exchanges.
In the end, McMillin takes no responsibility. He argues and fusses, questions the figures of a great vendor, and wants to limit the money to them so he can have them and you, fund private lot mowing. Additionally, there aren't any lot mowing slots left from last years contract. Here is a quote from the October 2012 minutes, "Larry McMillin reported GLOG has gone over their contracted lot mowing. Great Lawns has offered to forgive the $1,050 being it was their oversight. They had exceeded without notifying WPA first. Great Lawns will increase their mowing amount with their new bid in March 2013. Al DeMarchi questioned where the extra lot mowing would be charged to. Larry responded that this was an acceptable year as far as mowing. This should not be charged to the owner. Larry stated that this is the only break they have on their assessments. As the contract renewal nears it will be further discussed." With the decision the board made in May the vacant lots might not be mowed until August. The one next to me has the WPA service and it is over grown. Why does the board allow this to happen and for McMillin to decide. Since it appears they have knowingly allowed him to do this. What part of our governing documents allow McMillin or anyone else decide that you and I pay for private lot mowing?
Wait until we get to the Drainage and Water Amenities Reports. More things just keep sliding at our expense.
