Save the Date -- November 8

The HOA will have its annual meeting November 8. This is the meeting at which the HOA board approves the 2012 budget and when elections for the board happen.

This is the one meeting a year you should attend. For the new board election to take place, we need 30% of eligible owners to show up to reach a quorum. "Eligible" owners are ones in good standing, who are not more than 90 days behind on their HOA dues.

Soon, you will get a notice of the annual meeting in the mail. It will include a copy of the proposed budget and a proxy form. Please keep an eye out for it. If you can't make it to the annual meeting, you can still help us reach a quorum for the meeting by filling out and returning your proxy form. You can either mail it back to the address indicated, or give it to one of the current board members, who will deliver it to the meeting for you.

Last night, the board agreed on the preliminary 2012 budget. Under it, HOA fees for next year would stay flat at $213 per month. This marks at least five consecutive years without an increase in fees, while the board continues to fund reserve accounts for major maintenance and repairs (like replacing roofs) so that when they happen we won't have to hammer owners with special assessments to pay for them.

Despite the continuing foreclosure crisis, the HOA remains financially healthy and able to maintain the community and even to make selective improvements to things like the landscaping.

You can have a greater voice in the direction St. Charles Place takes. All five board seats are up for election and at least two seats are open. Board member Beth Burns sold her unit August 31 and resigned. And president David Hey plans to step down.

Even if you like the way things are going, you should consider running for a seat. And, obviously, if you are dissatisfied, the way to change the board's direction is to change the board. Judging by attendance at meetings, people seem satisfied. But the more people who participate — either by serving on the board or on one of its various committees — the stronger the community will be and the better it will be for all of us who live here.