The Fox Fields Association Meeting was held at the Haverford Township Community Environmental and Recreation Center at the Haverford Reserve on Tuesday evening, May 24, 2016.
Apart from the six Board Members, the meeting was attended by the owners of 19 lots within Fox Fields or about 14% of the 133 lot owner Members of the Association.
A copy of a PowerPoint presented at the meeting is attached to this report. Click here to review a PDF of the presentation.
The following matters were discussed:
a description of the Open Space which we maintain and the landscaping activities we carry out;
a comparison of our annual assessment to those of our neighboring communities, which indicated that Fox Fields dues compare favorably;
a description of how our dues are spent;
a discussion of concerns about the pond next to Misty Hollow Court and a quotation the Board sought for purposes of getting an understanding of the work and costs which would be involved in pursuing a restoration;
the main concerns discussed were whether the pond at present is a safety hazard or promotes mosquitos;
also discussed were potential permitting issues – the pond is believed to be in a wetlands area – and whether other options such as a fill-in or erecting fencing around it were subject to environmental permit requirements;
Dan Twohig, Michael Rowbotham, Keith Bradburd and Marc Belitsky agreed to serve on a pond committee which will report back to the Board with findings concerning alternatives for handling the pond – it was agreed that the Board would present the findings and possible recommendations to the membership at a special meeting to be held in approximately three months;
an election for the two of six seats on the Board for the Association was held – 52% of the membership voted by proxy or in person – Dale Larrimore was re-elected and Dan Twohig was elected to the seat vacated by Chuck Pennoni, who had decided not to seek re-election after serving on the Board since 1997 (Chuck has agreed to continue to lend support to the Board.);
A motion was made to amend the Declaration to set term limits on Board service. It was proposed that this be presented to the Membership in connection with the Special Meeting concerning the Pond. It is expected that the specifics of the proposed amendment will be fleshed out before that time. Amendments to the Declaration require approval of 90% of the membership;
The Notice of Meeting had included an agenda item concerning what has been characterized as the “fence issue,” which was described in memoranda of a lot owner and the Board circulated to the membership prior to the meeting
The Board agreed to remove the fence issue from the agenda for the meeting at the request of the lot owner’s attorney to facilitate further discussion;
It was agreed that a Board presentation regarding the “fence issue” will be made at the same meeting as the pond report, if still pertinent. At a minimum, we believe if there is a resolution, it will likely require approval of the Membership.
As an addendum to the minutes, for those of you who had asked for description of the scope and status of the fence issues, we provide the following brief summary. In 2015, the Board discovered pool fences at five lots in Fox Fields which extended varying distances into the Open Space . Since that time, three have been relocated within lot boundaries and two situations remain to be resolved. The Board is not aware of any other fences extending into the Open Space. We do not believe that the placement of fences or swimming pools in the Open Space should be a problem in the future, as both Radnor Township and Haverford Township have in place Pool and Fence Ordinances requiring setbacks from lot lines for swimming pools and certification in permit applications that any fence is within lot boundaries.
