Board Meeting Minutes — July 16, 2026

Summary

Annual member meeting followed immediately by a regular Board meeting, held July 16, 2026. Present: Mark Hanley (MKH), Ed Bryson (EB), Mike Coker (MC), Mike Halko (MH); Neel Sharma absent. The annual election again failed to reach quorum — the fourth consecutive year (2022, 2024, 2025, 2026) — and the Board voted to continue in the same positions. In executive session, the Board then voted to remove Neel Sharma from the Board, and formally passed the previously-pending nomination attendance requirement (2 board meetings attended in the 12 months prior to running). The Treasurer authorized cashing a $50,000 CD amid a tight cash position, and the Board pushed back on the scope of a new landscaping add-on proposal. The landscaping company’s merger (Fisher Burton / Alan Horticulture) was confirmed directly by the Board for the first time. Two homeowner disputes were discussed in executive session; identifying details have been redacted per wiki privacy policy.

Key Provisions

• Annual election: No quorum reached; Board rolled over for another year (4th consecutive failed election)
• Board removal: Executive session vote (MC motion, MH second) removed Neel Sharma from the Board — first Board-initiated director removal on record
• Nomination attendance requirement passed (pending legal confirmation): EB motion (MH second) adopted the rule that board candidates must have attended at least 2 meetings in the 12 months prior to election — but Marjorie (API) still needs to confirm the change is legally valid, whether it requires an R&R update, and whether homeowner notification is required
• Treasurer’s report: Treasurer noted the HOA is short on some items, with a budget review scheduled for October. Separately, the Board approved moving $50,000 from the Operating Account into a new CD (MH motion, MC second). Reserve study recommends $11,100/year contribution vs. current $7,799 — EB flagged that the reserve study may have incorrectly included Menards-road retaining walls, which are not the HOA’s responsibility; Marjorie (API) to have Reserve Advisors re-check their figures
• Landscape merger confirmed: Board confirmed the landscaping company changed its name due to a merger (Fisher Burton → Alan Horticulture), with no change to the existing contract
• Landscape add-on scope pushback: Board directed that the new Alan Horticulture Turf Care proposal (grub control, aeration, etc.) should be trimmed to match only what’s been contracted before — weed control and fertilization — rather than the full proposed scope
• Violation enforcement gap flagged: MC noted that the July 14, 2026 citation sweep should have included fines, not just warnings
• Rain barrel citation resolved: EB confirmed post-meeting that the cited item is a rain barrel, not a trash can — the citation is to be removed
• Collections policy discussion: tied to the new Illinois legal requirement; Marjorie (API) to follow up with the HOA’s lawyer for clarifications on policy terms
• Next regular meeting moved: October meeting moved from 10/15 to 10/1
• Atlantic Drive project: City of West Chicago will use federal funding to add a sidewalk and handicap crossing
• Forest preserve path: EB to contact the park district about an overgrown walking path in the forest preserve

Topics Covered

board-of-directors, board-elections-and-terms, meeting-procedures, violations-and-fines, vendor-contracts, reserve-study-findings, community-areas

Notable Details

• Homeowner dispute: a resident’s item was cited as a trash-can-storage violation; homeowner said it is a rain barrel under a tree, not a trash can. EB confirmed post-meeting it is a rain barrel — the citation is to be removed. [Address redacted per Hard Rule 11.]
• MC suggested sending a citation to a property with numerous animals (“puppy mill” per informal note) and letting them respond. [Property not otherwise identified per Hard Rule 11.]
• Rt. 59 fence damage: initially thought to be caused by a landscaper. EB’s post-meeting review found auto parts left at the scene, indicating a car was responsible instead (incident believed to be around July 4). Police were contacted but had no report on file for that timeframe; police suggested the HOA file a report. Not yet resolved.
• Neel Sharma’s removal (see Key Provisions) was cited as due to non-participation — he had been absent from most meetings and rarely responded to board email threads.
• Resurfaced streets received positive homeowner feedback.
• No social committee representative currently; Hawthorne’s social event tentatively discussed for September 17, 2026 — Jason Barrett (homeowner) to look into it.
• Homeowner forum question about whether the Board needs a 5th member given Sharma’s removal — EB suggested interested homeowners attend a meeting and ask to be appointed.
• Question raised about the Route 59 traffic light — only contingent on the truck stop (QuikTrip) being approved; whether the new mayor has been asked is unconfirmed.
• Source is a formally typed secretary note (abbreviated, first-initial format), consistent with the wiki’s other minutes of this style.
• Correction (2026-07-20): This page was originally ingested from an informal shorthand notes file (retained at raw/meeting-minutes/2026-07-16.md for reference). The user subsequently supplied a fuller, corrected minutes document (Prestonfield Mins 16July2026.docx), which now supersedes the informal notes as the authoritative source (see updated source-file above). Corrections made: the $50,000 CD transaction was a move of cash into a new CD, not a cashing-out of an existing CD (the informal notes’ framing was reversed); the nomination attendance rule passed by vote but is pending legal/API confirmation; the rain barrel citation was confirmed and is being removed; the Rt. 59 fence damage was later attributed to a car, not a landscaper; and Neel Sharma’s removal reason (non-participation) was recorded. Executive session start time also differs (7:59pm in the informal notes vs. 8:10pm in the corrected minutes).