BOARD MINUTES OF THE PRESERVE HOA OF SPRING GROVE
BOARD MEETING – FEBRUARY 18TH, 2026
Board Members Present:
Jeff Beck, Mia Kilgore, Mark Czuba, Elvira Cerauli, Mike Starsiak, Ron Moore and James Bochnovic called in by phone.
Board Members Absent:
Tom Baba
Homeowners Present:
Elaine Lecinski and Mary Beth Starsiak
Jeff Beck, President, called the meeting to order at 6:29pm. After establishing a quorum, Jeff Beck asked for any additions to the agenda. There were no additions to the agenda. Jeff requested a motion to approve the agenda, The motion to approve the agenda was made by Mike Starsiak, seconded by Ron Moore and passed.
Individual votes – Mia Kilgore Yes, Mark Czuba Yes, Elvira Cerauli Yes, Mike Starsiak Yes, JamesBochnovic Yes and Ron Moore Yes.
Homeowner Issues & Correspondence
NONE
Secretary Report
After dispensing the minutes of January 21, 2026, meeting, Mia asked if there were any changes, none stated. Jeff Beck requested a motion to approve January 21, 2026, meeting minutes, Elvira Cerauli made the motion to approve the secretary report as submitted, seconded by Mike Starsiak and passed.
Individual votes – Mia Kilgore Yes, Mark Czuba Yes, Elvira Cerauli Yes, Mike Starsiak Yes, James Bochnovic Yes and Ron Moore Yes.
Treasurer Report
No treasurer report was available at this meeting due to Tom Baba’s absence. Jeff Beck acknowledged Mia Kilgore for finding a discrepancy in the math on the treasurers’ reports since November due to transposed numbers. This has since been corrected. Jeff Beck requested a motion to approve the amended treasurer reports from November 12, 2025, December 17, 2025, and January 21, 2026. A motion to approve was made by Mark Czuba, seconded by Mike Starsiak and passed.
Individual votes – Mia Kilgore Yes, Mark Czuba Yes, Elvira Cerauli Yes, Mike Starsiak Yes, James Bochnovic Yes and Ron Moore Yes.
Audit Update
Mark Czuba distributed copies of his recommendations to the board. Jeff Beck stated he would like the board to review the recommendations and at our next board meeting be prepared to discuss the moving forward recommendations. Mark stated he broke the audit down into two categories, immediate concerns and moving forward.
Under the moving forward, Mark feels that we should be reviewing the treasurer’s position, making it an all-encompassing one. Mark stated Tom Baba has done a great job and thanked him for all he has done. Mark stated that the way the treasurer reports are currently, there is no consistency from an accounting standpoint and there is no double check. The treasurer in a homeowner’s association should be similar to a treasurer in a company so whatever responsibilities a treasurer would have
in a company, they should have here as well. This means keeping a complete set of accounting books on an accounting system and making sure that everything that affects the financial wellbeing of the organization runs through the treasurer, insurance certificates, W9s, tax returns, issuing 1099s, if necessary.
Mark stated his second category, moving forward, are his suggestions on how to revamp the treasurer’s responsibilities under that position.
The next suggestion for moving forward is that we should have the treasurer’s position reviewed every other year.
Jeff asked Mark about one of his immediate concerns specifically filing tax returns for 2024 and 2025. Mark stated that we are currently not compliant with the IRS. To be compliant, we would have to file for the previous 6 years. Mark stated it would be very difficult to go back and file for 6 years because we don’t have accounting records in the format to file tax returns. There are penalties we could be facing of $2,560 per year. Mark’s recommendation is that we file tax returns for 2025 and 2025 at a minimum and keep filing tax returns in the future. Jeff asked if Mark’s recommendation is something that needs to be voted on now or can we wait until next month. Mark stated that we should do this sooner rather than later. Jeff asked who would handle this and Mark stated he would handle filing for us. Mike Starsiak stated moving forward, we should be budgeting funds to pay someone to handle our taxes. Mark stated that if he is on the board in the future, he will continue to handle our taxes. Jeff stated he would like to request a motion to have our taxes completed and filed for the years 2024 and 2025.
A motion to approve was made by Mike Starsiak and Elvira Cerauli seconded and passed.
Individual votes – Mia Kilgore Yes, Mark Czuba Yes, Elvira Cerauli Yes, Mike Starsiak Yes, James Bochnovic Yes and Ron Moore Yes. Copies of the audit and audit recommendations are available upon request.
Landscaping Committee
Elvira Cerauli the contract is corrected and will be given to H&L as well as copies to the board. There is no need for workman’s compensation because H&L only employs family members. Elvira personally contacted our insurance company, State Farm, to verify such.
Elvira asked if we had a contract yet for lawn fertilization with Tru Green and Mia stated that Tom was to contact the Lake Forest office, which he did and they told him that it would be coming in the mail to our PO Box and once it did, he would make the necessary discounted payment to them however as of today’s date, nothing had been received from them.
Architectural Committee
Mike stated no new requests have been made. We are still waiting to hear back from the Army Corp of Engineers. Mike said he would reach back out to find out an update. Jeff said that we will need to include wetland figures in the budget this year
Covenants & By-Laws Committee
Mia stated everything is with the attorney and we are waiting for her to send back her draft.
Old Business
Website – Mia stated the website was sent out to the community and she had received numerous positive comments about it. As a reminder, it’s still a work in progress.
New Business
Mia stated all election material has been sent out to all residents.
Garage Sale – Mia stated we need to start discussing the garage sale subject since we stated we would revisit it in 2026.
This topic will be added to the agenda fornext month to discuss.
Open Discussion
Mia Kilgore stated that we no longer have any HOA (Preserve) stationery or envelopes, and she did not know if anyone thought it was necessary to have it any longer. Mia stated there is a place in Lake Geneva that will print some for us at .30 a copy.
Jeff requested a motion for 25 letterheads and 25 envelopes at .30 for a total of $15.00.
A motion to approve was made by Mike Starsiak, Mark Czuba seconded and passed.
Individual votes – Mia Kilgore Yes, Mark Czuba Yes, Elvira Cerauli Yes, Mike Starsiak Yes, James Bochnovic Yes and Ron Moore Yes.
Mia asked the board to think about purchasing a computer for the secretary position. She stated it would be a great idea since we are trying to go digital. The computer would solely be for HOA purposes, and all documents would be stored there. Also, if the secretary position changes hands, the computer will be turned over to the new person. The board thought it would be a good idea and asked Mia to return with some prices for discussion.
Elaine Lecinski asked if there was an opportunity for any organization to request a grant for the work to be done on the wetlands. Mike Starsiak stated it would have to be a government grant requested through the village since we are not a governing agency, we are an HOA. Elaine said it did not have to be a government grant, it could be a conservation grant. Mike stated it would be doubtful if anyone would approve us for one since we are required to do it.
Jeff Beck thanked Ron Moore for all his time on the board and his dedication to helping make our community a better place, Ron will be missed.
After no further discussion, Jeff Beck requested a motion to adjourn the meeting. A motion to approve was made by Mike Starsiak, seconded by Mia Kilgore and passed.
Individual votes – Mia Kilgore Yes, Mark Czuba Yes, Elvira Cerauli Yes, Mike Starsiak Yes, James Bochnovic Yes and Ron Moore Yes.
Jeff Beck adjourned the meeting at 7:25pm. Audio copies of meetings available upon request.
Respectfully,
Mia Kilgore, Secretary