Jan. 13 VM Meeting
WCA President Michiel Oostenbrink announced that County Administrator Bonnie Wise was unable to attend due to illness, and he would try to reschedule.
Woodbridge VM Rick Goldstein, Harbor Links VM Nancy Sells, Dale Sells, Terry Boyd and Charles Stephens had requested that an agenda item be added to the January meeting and had submitted several questions to the WCA board regarding the budget and communication.
Goldstein addressed the budgetary questions and asked about the location of $1.5 million that had been deposited into CDs and its resultant interest. Oostenbrink stated that the board had put together answers to Goldstein’s questions and he displayed those on the projector for the VMs to see.
Oostenbrink said that the money and interest remain in the association’s reserve and operating accounts. He went into further detail about interest rates and the maturity dates of several CDARs. The fourth question asked about the WCA’s decision to pool reserve funds against the advice of legal counsel. Oostenbrink assured the VMs that there had been no such change to the reserve methodology. He shared a lengthy response from attorney Kathleen Reres about the matter as well.
The group also asked what steps were being taken to mitigate the tax liability from accrued interest. Oostenbrink explained that interest is taxable in the year it is earned, even if the CD or CDAR is rolled over at maturity. He added that they worked with a CPA to ask for best recommendations.
Finally, Goldstein said he wanted to know why the increased revenues from the CDs were not applied to lower the 2026 annual assessment and Oostenbrink said they were.
Nancy Sells then asked how quickly Inframark should respond to residents’ inquiries. Per contract, the management company should respond within 72 hours, Oostenbrink replied. He acknowledged that not all requests were being responded to within that window and the association was working with Inframark to improve response time.
Sells countered that volunteers and Harbor Links residents have said it has taken up to two weeks, if they received a response at all. She then asked whether anyone present at the meeting wanted to share any relevant incidents.
Welcome Committee Chair Stephens said he had been “blindsided” by a change that the board made at the December meeting about the distribution of welcome bags. He said he was unable to attend the meeting due to illness and had to read about the change in the WOW.
Board Member Eric Holt clarified that he had apologized to Stephens on behalf of the board at the January board meeting. Oostenbrink agreed that the board could do a better job with takeaways and action items and that they’ve had conversations with Inframark about improvements in communication.
Sells said the motion the association made to have new residents visit the WCA office to pick up their welcome bags sends a message to the Welcome Committee that they are not valuable. Holt reiterated that no one suggested abolishing the committee. Board Member Theresa Lanzar said she believed the committee needs to be reevaluated.
Ken Cellupica, alternate VM for Classic Townhomes, addressed Goldstein and Nancy Sells, asserting that he felt like there was an ulterior motive behind their questions. “We keep doing the exact same thing,” Cellupica said. “I wish we could put all of our cards on the table and just get to the point. In general, I want to get us out of the same loop.”
Lanzar stated that she feels as if her integrity as a board member is constantly being questioned.
Oostenbrink added, “We need to be inclusive and understand that everyone is genuinely trying to do the right thing. It doesn’t have to be contentious.”
Christine Hennes, VM for The Enclave, shared a positive example of Inframark having responded to a concern within 24 hours.
Pam Senk, VM for the Vineyards, then expressed her frustration both with Inframark and Oostenbrink for the way in which they handled an incorrect violation in her neighborhood.
Oostenbrink indicated that he thought Senk’s concerns had been addressed and reiterated that there would inevitably be bumps in the road during any transition. He assured Senk that he would work with her to resolve the issues.
In board updates, Oostenbrink said the referendum ballots had been mailed out and would be due Feb. 9. If less than half of a neighborhood chooses to return the proxy, their VM’s vote will count for everyone in that neighborhood.
He commended recent work by the Technology Advisory Committee and said that Coach Patrick from Pipeline will be overseeing both the pools and the lifeguards for at least the next 90 days. The lifeguard survey would be sent out later in the week, Oostenbrink added.
He said the board planned to have a special closed session on Jan. 15 to discuss staff performance and those meetings will be held quarterly.
Oostenbrink explained that none of the meetings for neighborhoods that were electing new VMs in December met quorum. In that case, all existing VMs who wished to remain in their roles would do so, he added. Those VMs who did not want to run for reelection technically retain their roles temporarily as well, he stated. Oostenbrink ran through all of the changes and Holt moved to approve them. His motion passed unanimously.
Holt, who serves as the Document Review Committee chair, said he is seeking one new member. He stressed that the committee plans to prioritize changes to the INSGs, and proposed changes must be submitted to the office by April 1.