2018 Meeting Minutes

Brittany Oaks Annual Homeowners Meeting
April 17, 2018  – 7:00 pm

Kevin Edwards BOHA President, called the meeting to order at 7:04 pm

Introduction of Officers and Board Members – Kevin Edwards, President, Riley Davis, Vice President, Becca Martin, Secretary, Martin Hutton, Board Member, Ishmael Siryon, Board member, Larry Boeshart, Treasurer.  Website and Social Media, Mick Thompson, Dana Meachum Neighborhood Watch and Garage Sale

BOHA Financials – Larry Boeshart handed out copies of the financials, .  Larry reviewed them.  Largest expenses are landscaping and mowing.  2017 P&L  (996.13).  Bank Balance, 34,816.26.  No questions or concerns were voiced. A copy of our current financials is available upon request.

KCPD Speaker – Officer John Lazono of North Patrol Division Introduced himself as the Community Interaction Officer for our area.  He reviewed the crimes in our area in the last 2 months.  There has not been anything of significance in the area and nothing in our neighborhood. He did mention that there has been a trend of business break-ins.  Mainly after hours.   He addressed the issue of panhandlers at the exit of Barry Road and I-29, he said that most of them are professional panhandlers and we should not be giving money to them.  If the police are called they have to run a check on them and sometimes they have warrants and will be arrested or asked to leave.   He mentioned there are truly homeless people, most are mentally ill, so they do try to help them and get them to an agency that will help.

One homeowner mentioned seeing drones in the area and wondered if police use them.  They are used sometimes but are not in that capacity.  Private drones must be registered.  If a drone is spotted and you have a concern it should be reported to the non-emergency number.

He left his cards for anyone that was interested in getting involved with the Neighborhood Crime Watch.  He also mentioned that they are giving tours of the new police facility and to contact him if interested.

KCMO Council Person – Amy Justis, Aide to Councilman Dan Fowler spoke briefly about how to get in touch with the councilman at www.kcmo.gov and also to get emails and to sign up at www.kcmo.gov/subscribe.  She circulated a list to sign up for emails and left business cards.

Dan Fowler, Councilman 2nd District and Teresa Loar, Councilwoman 2nd District at-large gave city updates. Not only do they represent our district, they sit on several committees such as Housing, Airport, and others.   They said the renewed earning tax has helped the city.   Teresa helped spearhead the new KCMO animal shelter.  Which also benefited from the earnings tax.  The Renewal of the 1 cent sales tax benefits helped public improvement projects.   1/6 goes to public improvement, parks, storm drains, sidewalks etc…  One neighbor had a question about our sidewalks and what can be done about them.  Dan mentioned PIAC request can be made on the government site.  They are due by August 31st of each year.  All requests are reviewed by a committee for need.  Commercial areas (public places) get first priority.  150 Mil was dedicated, but not all in one year.  Homeowners are no longer charged for repair of sidewalks and should not repair them themselves they can be reported to 311 as well.  One homeowner asked why all our streets were not paved when they did the repave a few years ago.   Dan thought that was odd and was not sure streets in the worst shape get 1st priority.  He mentioned that there is enough money in the budget for a street to be repaved once every 37 years.  The city will come trim our trees and replace sidewalks where roots have come through.  I-29 from 64th street to the airport is the biggest development boom of the city right now.  It is the fastest growing area on KC.  In the next 20 years, we can expect 20,000 new homes.  The city will be rerouting the 64th Street exit to Prairie View to help alleviate traffic at the intersection.  The new police chief Rick Smith recognizes the need for new police and has been allotted funds to make that happen.  A question was asked about a new battery plant being built near Tiffany Springs.  The Councilman was not aware of this but would check into it.  Any community items please contact the councilman or councilwoman.  www.KCMO.gov

Neighborhood Issues – Lawn Mowing is done by Zach Gaw.  They had him mow the back entrance as the weeds were getting out of control and made it dangerous for cars.  The city mows it once a summer.  Amy Justis offered to find out who the inspector was and see if it needs to be done more often. Need to send her the address.   If we continue to have Zach do it, it will cost more.  Everyone agreed that it needs to be done.  If kept up, the expense should not be as much.

The homeowner on Nodaway near the retention pond says there is no need to mow there as they are currently mowing her property as they cannot get close to the pond any longer.  She will mow her own property.

Pond Clean up and ownership were discussed again.  No one knows for sure who responsibility it is to clean pond.  Councilman Dan offered to find out who the ponds responsibility is.

A homeowner on the cul-de-sac at 81st Court reminded Kevin that landscaping does need to be done on the walkway to the school.

Kevin is working on getting bids for the front entrance. The sprinklers all needed to be replaced due to vandalism.  The lights also needed to be replaced.  He got bids from $2,000 up to $8,000.  We want to have an entrance that looks nice year round.  Everyone agreed money spent on it would be worth it as it helps with our property values.  If needed, a special dues assessment could be done.

Yearly Dumpster was discussed.  Everyone agreed that dumpster was a great perk, however, due to illegal dumping that was going on, (we were charged extra for it) and people piling next to the dumpster when full, it was decided that we would not offer it anymore.  Some thought the location of the dumpster might be the problem as anyone can see it from Barry Road and take advantage of it.   Some ideas that were mentioned were moving the dumpster to a cul-de-sac. This would not be convenient for the homeowners living there.   Using a dumpster with a lid and padlock at night.  Kevin was going to check on that.  Any other ideas will be considered, however, we probably will not offer the dumpster any longer.  Neighbors can always contact Kansas City Solid Waste Department for no-cost bulky Item Pickup.

Garage Sale  – This year it will be  Friday and Saturday, June 8th and 9th.

Miscellaneous Issues –  A neighbor questioned the recent new letter that was sent to the homeowners defining the By-Laws.  The issue is the By-Laws are broad and the BOHA felt that they needed to be defined for clarification.  They did not change the By-Laws only tried to define them based on what they believe the original intent was.  An example, No trucks allowed.  Many homeowners have trucks.  They do not believe that the intent was to not allow any trucks but prohibit trucks over 1 ton, semi trucks, and moving trucks, (except for loading and unloading)

One neighbor asked how to better get in touch with the BOHA, as when an email is sent to the Website, they do not receive any acknowledgment that it has been received or will be answered.  Is there a way to send an acknowledgment.  Facebook was mentioned as a way to contact ask questions.  Riley mentioned NextDoor.com as well.

Drawing was done for free homeowners dues.

Meeting was adjourned 8:30 pm