Annual Meeting Report!

So the annual meeting was held this past Wednesday night. Things went well Rita Barrett from Kuester hosted the meeting, there is a new landscaper starting January 1st they promise to take a little more care when working near siding, fences, pine needles and lave rocks. They also will be trimming branches on the river birches that are within 12 feet of the ground whenever needed.

The HOA attorney spoke about the current situation, basically BnA would not proceed with the purchase of the lots without declarant retaining control of the HOA. The Advisory Board reviewed plans for the new houses and had several issues of concern about how they would fit into the neighborhood, BnA was not taking any suggestions for changes and is proceeding the way they want, ignoring all feedback from the community.

There was some concern raised about the quality of the houses BnA is building, several homeowners feel the quality is well below that of the homes Mercedes built. It also appears although the new homes are still two stories with a garage based on the square footage they are quite smaller than the existing phase 2 homes.

Phase 2 residents are concerned about their lack of parking spaces and would like to use parking spaces in phase 1, or even have a parking area installed next to the pool at home owners expense, opposition was quick on these ideas, it was stated phase 1 does not want to be a parking lot for phase 2, and that phase 2 homeowners have two spaces with the extended driveways and have a 3rd space by utilizing their garages.

Phase 2 residents also would like a club house built somewhere, something they were promised by Mercedes when purchasing their homes.

Volunteers were asked to sign up to serve on a new board which is expected to be selected by the declarant in January, the declarant wants to have control in relation to selling the existing lots to BnA and completing the development, but does not want to be involved in the day to day operations of the HOA and intends to appoint a board and change the covenants to give them the authority to make those day by day decisions.

This is good and welcome news. It is estimated BnA will take just less than 2 years to complete the remaining lots as soon as the declarant sells the last lot to BnA than full control will transfer to the HOA board.

Also it was noted that BnA has their own contract with the declarant that requires them to complete the paving of the roads in Phase 2.

HOA Special Meeting Results

So the proposed changes did pass, to give the declarant now listed as Harpers Mill Community Developers, LLC which has been listed since the last change in 2007 although still ultimately the Buescher Family in Florida and their creditors full control until all lots are 100% complete.

BnA Homes is the builder but control of the HOA will stay with the developer. Several at the meeting did voice concern about BnA's involvement considering their track record this is understandable, once it became clear their was a lot of opposition to BnA, Rita Barrett from Kuester and Sandy Brink the President of our Advisory Board made claims that the BnA Homes that is going to build here is not the same BnA Homes associated with the Pasquinelli Family, or Portrait Homes in anyway, it was stated by them that the Pasquinelli Family is associated with BnA Management Company and not BnA Homes, someone has been seriously mis-informed.

Go to: http://www.bnahomes.com the official BnA Homes website scroll to the bottom of the page you will see it states copyright 2013 BnA Management, LLC so we know BnA Homes and BnA management are one in the same.

Also go to http://www.chicagorealestateforum.com/2011/04/13/well-known-chicago-home-builder-packs-it-up/  and read the last paragraph about the Portrait Homes Bankruptcy and you will clearly see that BnA has been around and is run by the Pasquinelli Family and the now defunct Portrait Homes.

It was also asked at the meeting by one homeowner about who would pay for the completion of the needed development, like paving the roads and finishing common areas in phase 2. There has been to date no money set aside by the developer and no claim of responsibility by them either, many homeowners are afraid those costs will be passed to them in the way of dues or even a special assessment, the costs of which could be over $500,000. The attorney for the developer seemed to say it was the county who would decide if paving the roads etc is required to be done by the developer or not. It appeared that Kuester seemed to think since the roads are private the county would have no say. Kuester is going to inquire and report to the homeowners at the annual meeting what they find out. One of our readers has also reached out to the county and we will update you when he receives a response.

This blog was mentioned at the meeting one homeowner stated they felt some of the information posted here was not accurate, the blog is here to inform homeowners and is written by homeowners, and has a stated goal to inform all homeowners so we can all be informed and be united to help make this neighborhood successful.

If you question any content or have concerns you can always leave a comment below any posting or you can privately email us at harpersmillblogger@gmail.com we accept all submissions, suggestions, tips etc.