Meeting Minutes – March 2026

After dispensing the minutes of the February 18, 2026, meeting, Mia asked if there were any changes, none stated. Jeff Beck requested a motion to approve February 18, 2026, meeting minutes, Mike Starsiak made the motion to approve the secretary report as submitted, seconded by Mia Kilgore and passed.

Individual votes – Mike Starsiak Yes, Mia Kilgore Yes, Mark Czuba Yes, Ron Moore Yes and James Bochnovic Yes.

Treasurer reports for February 2026 and March 2026 were submitted by Tom Baba and read aloud by Mark Czuba who stated since he did not prepare the reports, he cannot vouch for their validity.

Here is the following summary of the deposits, expenses and fees incurred by the Association for the period of January 22, 2026 – February 19, 2026.

Our statement balance as of January 22, 2026, is $18,352.55.

Total deposits for this period are $31.23. Total bills paid for this period are $41.60.

Our balance as of February 19,2026, is $18,342.18.

Here is the following summary of the deposits, expenses and fees incurred by the Association for the period of February 20, 2026 – March 18, 2026.

Our statement balance as of February 20, 2026, is $18,342.18.

Total deposits for this period are $28.25. Total bills paid for this period are $41.60**.

Our balance as of March 18, 2026, is $16,495.69.

Jeff Beck requested a motion to approve February 19, 2026, and March 18, 2026, treasurer reports. (** (it was discovered after the March meeting that there was a math error in the total for bills paid by the outgoing treasurer which a corrected treasurer report was then resubmitted by the outgoing treasurer on March 25, 2026 and will be approved at the April 15, 2026 meeting).

A motion to approve was made by Mike Starsiak, seconded by Ron Moore and passed.

Individual votes – Mike Starsiak Yes, Mia Kilgore Yes, Mark Czuba Yes, Ron Moore Yes and James Bochnovic Yes.

Jeff stated since we have a new treasurer who was the person who made the recommendations, he believes that the recommendations are solid and will keep us on track using the various utilities that Mark Czuba has available to him and be more accurate than how it’s been handled in the past. Jeff requested a motion to approve the recommendations that were stated in the audit report. A motion to approve was made by Mike Starsiak, seconded by Ron Moore and passed.

Individual votes – Mike Starsiak Yes, Mia Kilgore Yes, Mark Czuba Yes, Ron Moore Yes and James Bochnovic Yes.

Jeff asked Mark to keep the board updated when each recommendation is completed.

Elvira Cerauli had Elaine Lecinski read her requests from the landscaping committee. 

First, last fall three (3) homeowners privately purchased mums for the front entrance in the fall. The board stated in a past meeting that in the future, a request for funds to purchase mums would need to be made in advance of their purchase. Elvira is officially asking that $200 be added to the budget for 2026 fall mums.

Second, while she complied with the board’s request for perennials at the front entrance, she strongly believes that in the winter months, the entrance looks bare and is requesting $800-$1000 be added to the budget for evergreens to be planted up front.

Lastly, it stated in the budget $1,500 is allotted for tree trimming and who is responsible for that.  Jeff stated that we most likely will not spend the funds for tree trimming this year since it was done last year, however we must budget for that regardless.

Jeff stated that we would like to have estimates submitted for the evergreens and mums before we make any decisions. The board is not going to vote on just an arbitrary number. Jeff stated that currently, he has reservations about spending extra money right now due to the unknown dollar amounts of the unbudgeted expenditures.

Mia stated one new request was submitted for a shed and it was approved.

Mike stated he reached back out to the Senator’s office and is still waiting to hear back from the Army Corp of Engineers. Mike said he would reach back out to find out an update. 

Jeff stated that we are going to give them one more meeting and if we have not heard back from them, we will reach out to one of the companies who provided estimates to move forward with cleaning up the wetlands.

Mia stated no updates and that she would reach out to the attorney to see where she was with them.

NONE

Annual minutes – In the past, the board would approve meeting minutes from the Annual meeting a year later and Jeff found that to be odd.  He stated there is nothing in the bylaws that state that’s the way it should be handled. Jeff stated he would like to request a motion that the board change the timeframe of the Annual meeting minutes are approved by reviewing and approving Annual meeting minutes at the next board meeting following the Annual meeting. A motion to approve was made by Mike Starsiak, seconded by Mark Czuba and passed.

Individual votes – Mike Starsiak Yes, Mia Kilgore Yes, Mark Czuba Yes, Ron Moore Yes and James Bochnovic Yes.

Garage Sale – Mia asked that we table this discussion until our next board meeting. Jeff stated he would like to request a motion to move this item to our next board meeting. A motion to approve was made by Mia Kilgore, seconded by Mike Starsiak and passed.

Individual votes – Mike Starsiak Yes, Mia Kilgore Yes, Mark Czuba Yes, Ron Moore Yes and James Bochnovic Yes.

HOA Dues – Jeff stated we were going to spend some time on this subject, specifically the 2026 budget.  Jeff stated that Mia sent out our 2025 budget to all the homeowners per our bylaws with a cover email giving them a view of our expenditures showing we spent $12,198 which was over what was originally documented. Our 2026 projected budget based on bills, contracts and such that we already know of is $12,988. This does not include potential income tax fines for being out of compliance, wetland or a computer for the secretary. If we add those unbudgeted expenditures to our budget, the total is $22,800.

Jeff stated at this time the unbudgeted expenses will not be considered in the overall 2026 dues calculations. Those 3 unbudgeted expenses could be more or they could be less. The board will discuss and determine how to proceed with those expenditures when they have more defined cost totals. Based on our current bank amount, in addition to the yearly dues, and our known expenditures and what we may have to pay for the unbudgeted items, our HOA reserve funds could take a substantial hit.

To determine this year’s dues based on our known expenditures, we divided $12,988 by 81 and came up with $160.00 for dues. Dues must be based on our budget and what we are going to spend. The two major funding concerns are the potential fines by the IRS and the wetlands project. There is a possibility that we may have to have a special assessment to cover these costs so that we don’t deplete our reserve funds. The board did ensure that our annual budget did not go up by more than 15% per our bylaws. Mike Starsiak stated that since he’s lived here, the dues have remained the same. Elaine Lecinski confirmed that since the inception of this subdivision, the dues have remained the same.

Mike Starsiak stated that when he was the president, he polled other subdivisions and our dues are minimal compared to all of Spring Grove. Discussion ensued about how the cost of living and expenses have increased from 20 years ago to today. When Mia sends out the dues, she will include the 2026 budget, an explanation notice of why the dues are going up as well as an additional explanation of our unbudgeted expenses which may require a special assessment.

Jeff requested a motion to increase our dues to $160. A motion to approve was made by Mark Czuba, seconded by Mike Starsiak and passed.

Individual votes – Mike Starsiak Yes, Mia Kilgore Yes, Mark Czuba Yes, Ron Moore Yes and James Bochnovic Yes.

Mia Kilgore announced that she and James Bochnovic were hosting an easter egg hunt for the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of the Preserve on April 4th. Adults are welcome to come and hang out. Jeff Beck stated this is not an event sponsored by the HOA/Preserve.

Leo Lowy shared that he thought the Preserve HOA website is awesome and wanted the web team to know.