BRIGHTWOOD I, II, III
PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION
MINUTES OF ANNUAL MEETING
JUNE 20, 2020
Directors present: Charles Caine (Vice President, via Zoom), Lynne Marshall, Lee Ryan (Treasurer), Joann Ryan (Secretary)
Also present: Mike and Lindsey Young, Elaine Arnold, Heath Kamp, Nesha Nicholson, Dr. Michael and Chandra Biggerstaff.
At 10:10 a.m., Treasurer Lee Ryan welcomed everyone to the 17th annual meeting of the Brightwood POA, which was held at the home of the Ryans at 300 Brightwood Trail South. As the first order of business, the minutes of the June 15, 2019 annual meeting were approved by acclamation.
Ballots were then counted, and Secretary Joann Ryan announced that a quorum was present with 19 properties voted out of the 34 properties in Brightwood, and that Lynne Marshall, Mike Young and Joann Ryan had been unanimously elected to serve two-year terms on the board. Lynne Marshall then read the Brightwood Vision Statement, and Mike Young read the Brightwood Mission Statement.
Financial Report (Lee Ryan)
Lynne Marshall thanked Lee for managing the budget in an extremely cautious and conservative way, thereby keeping Brightwood stable in the face of the last two years of unusually intense rainfall and flooding.
Lee also reported that there are now 10 homes in Brightwood. In addition to the 34 privately-owned properties in Brightwood, Brightwood owns about 40 acres of common property, on which we pay no taxes because it is green space. There are also some areas within the boundaries of Brightwood that are not Brightwood-owned.
Road Maintenance
Both Heath Kamp and Mike Young are interested in buying tractors in the future; Dr. Biggerstaff stated that he might be able to get one of his father’s old tractors if there were a place to store it. Heath Kamp and Elaine Arnold stated that it would be easy enough to build a shed. The question is where to put it; this must be considered in our future planning. Heath already has a piece of equipment that can grade flat areas, and Lynne thought it would be good if it could be used to do some light work for Brightwood. If any or all of this equipment could be used to do some of the Brightwood road work, it would free up part of the budget for future projects, such as building a greenhouse.
Mowing (Lynne Marshall)
In the past, our mowing contractor has come twice a year. This year she will come three times for the same amount of money; this will keep the vegetation from getting out of hand. The most thorough mowing will be the mid-summer mowing in July, which will involve some weed-whacking by hand. At some point we should also consider doing some work on the Serenity Garden area. Another big issue is roadside tree clearing; this work is needed on a regular basis to keep the roadside saplings under control. Lynne asked everyone to remove any big rocks that they see in the middle or sides of the road, as they tend to interfere with the mowing.
Amenities (Heath Kamp)
Heath presented his ideas for a) removing some rock from the creek near Holly Falls to build a path of flat rocks around the garden pond and b) putting a picnic table in the area of the waterfall. We would need to make sure that removing rock from the creek would not re-route the creek in any way; Powder Horn has signs that prohibit the removal of rock from Laurel Creek. Nesha Nicholson said that her brother would be available for consultation on creek management.
Garden (Lynne Marshall)
Lynne congratulated Mike and Lindsey Young for all of the great work that they have done at the community garden and for their generosity in offering everyone in the community a share in the harvest. The Youngs and Heath Kamp will coordinate the use of the garden by all owners who are interested in gardening there.
Brightwood Gate Project (Lynne Marshall)
The Brightwood Gate project had been temporarily halted until the road damage at the Wes Randall Road entrance could be repaired. Road contractor Dennis Winkler has now replaced the old (lower) culvert at Wes Randall Road. He found another old culvert there, and both culverts are now open. Perhaps we can afford to install a bigger (upper) culvert next year near the Browns’ driveway, but for the time being Winkler has created a ditch there that will make any flood water run down the side of the road instead of across the road, as it had been doing.
“Brainstorming for Brightwood’s Future”
Everyone participated in a brainstorming session to determine the priorities for the coming year. It was agreed that the top priorities for now are as follows:
1) Organize a Brightwood work day to clean out the culverts.
2) Possibly build a shed to house any tractor that would be made available to do light Brightwood road work. (This would save money on road repairs in the long run. It would be good to have a piece of equipment that could clean out the ditches and culverts. Heath’s plan is to buy a small subcompact Kubota tractor with a front-end loader and a backhoe.)
3) Create/improve a Holly Falls picnic area. (Heath said he would be happy to work on this.)
4) Pond inlet project and trail around pond. (Heath and Mike would like to work on this. The idea is to improve the inflow of water into the pond; this project was dropped at the end of last year for lack of funds. As for the trail around the pond, Heath suggested putting down some sturdy felt with flat rocks on top of it.)
Additional suggestions were:
- Grade Serenity Garden and possibly create an orchard or a park there. (The area will need a lot of grading. If we are thinking about planting an orchard there, we will first have to check on the quality of the soil.)
- Build a screened pavilion at the pond for picnicking.
- Replace the big culvert at the bottom of Holly Falls Trail past the parking area. (This will be a major expense at some point. It was thought last year that it could cost $5,000.)
It was agreed by everyone that bringing true broadband Internet to our area should be our #1 priority, but there is not much that we can do about it. However, Curtis Johnson of Powder Horn, who has been working on this problem for many years, is currently working with Wilkes Communications, an Internet service provider in Wilkesboro, on a new approach.
At 12:25 a.m., the General Meeting adjourned to a brief Directors’ Meeting, with Vice President Charles Caine still connected by Zoom and phone. It was unanimously decided that the current officers should retain their positions, with the exception that former President Chuck Bargerstock is no longer a resident, having recently sold his home. Mike Young was unanimously approved as the new President. The other officers continue to be: Charles Caine (Vice President), Lee Ryan (Treasurer), and Joann Ryan (Secretary). The next meeting of the new board was tentatively scheduled for July 19.