Special meeting on dues hike

A special meeting of the Terrace at Highpointe Homeowners Association has been scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, October 16, at Faith Lutheran Church.

As discussed at the Oct. 2 general membership meeting, the special session is being called for the single purpose of voting on a quarterly dues increase, raising dues from $320 per quarter to $355, an increase of $2.79 per week per residential unit.

The increase is needed to pay for a new lawn services contract with a new vendor. Details were explained by Grounds Committee Chairman Harvey Bailey at the Oct. 2 session. At the same time, a non-binding "sense of the community" motion was proposed to ascertain sentiment about changing lawn services because of widespread discontent with the level of service we had been receiving. After thorough discussion, it was passed unanimously.

President Bill Dowd said at the time he would call a special meeting of the Association Board to review the lawn services proposal Harvey received (as well as a snow plowing contract for 2006-07 with the current vendor). If, in the Board's judgment, a dues increase would be necessary to cover the price increase, a special meeting of the membership would be called as quickly as possible to take a vote. That process, too, was unanimously approved as a "sense of the community" motion.

The Board, joined by Harvey, met on Saturday, Oct. 7, to review the proposals. It was ascertained after due diligence in reviewing the organization's finances that a dues increase would be necessary. Secretary Pat Whitman was instructed to mail out notices of the special meeting, which also is being publicized on the Terrace web site and posted at the mailbox gazebo.

We would like to have each residential unit represented at the Oct. 16 meeting. Because each unit gets only one vote, it is necessary for only one person from each unit to attend the meeting.

Thanks for your participation.