HOA Annual Meeting – Tuesday, November 12th
Save the date! November 12th, 2024
TrailMark Residents, the annual TrailMark HOA Meeting and Budget Ratification Meeting will be held to discuss the budgets for 2025 on Tuesday, November 12th. The meeting begins at 6:00 pm at Falcon Bluffs Middle School, 8449 S Garrison Street in Littleton. If you want to know where your fees are being spent and managed, please attend the meeting.
Call for Proxies
To have a quorum (required for the HOA meeting) necessary for ratification we need representation by proxy of a minimum of 82 households! You will receive, in the mail, notice of this meeting with a proxy form and ballot which may be turned in at the annual meeting. If you cannot attend the meeting, please return your proxy and ballot by mail.
Every year the HOA struggles to get enough proxies back to meet the quorum requirements set forth in the Governing Documents. If a quorum is not reached, the meeting must be rescheduled and costs the HOA a lot of money as all of the items must be mailed again and additional meetings must be called. Please send back your proxy when you receive it in the mail. Be sure to indicate who you are assigning your proxy to. Do not leave the proxy blank. You may still complete the proxy for quorum only. This means that nobody gets to vote on your behalf, but that your proxy counts towards the quorum requirement for the meeting. If you would like to ensure someone votes on your behalf, you can either assign your vote to a Board member or to someone else in the community. Don’t leave it blank! If you think your neighbor already sent it, they probably didn’t! So please, if you are not going to attend the meeting, send your proxy back. Thank you!
Call for Candidates
The Annual Meeting also means that Board elections are coming up. Please contact the Property Manager at Westwind Management Group (https://www.trailmark.org/management-company.html) if you are interested in running for a position on the Board of Directors. The deadline for bios to be included in the mailed packets was September 10th. People can still submit their interest for inclusion on the ballot but it will not include a bio. More information about Board duties is included in the newsletter and on the website, and will be included with the items mailed to you and posted on the TrailMark website prior to the meeting.
Election Season
As election season is upon us, it is time to remind TrailMark homeowners and residents of TrailMark’s signage rules: TrailMark Homeowners Association cannot prohibit the placement of political signs on property which is owned by a resident of the HOA or in the window of a unit. A political sign is defined as a sign that carries a message intended to influence the outcome of an election, including supporting or opposing the election of a candidate, the recall of a public official, or the passage of a ballot issue.
Any political sign shall not be on display earlier than 45 days before an election and shall be removed no later than 7 days after an election. The political sign may be no larger than thirty-six by forty-eight inches in size. Each home or unit may only have one (1) sign per political office or ballot issue that is contested in an upcoming election.
Please adhere to these rules to avoid a covenant violation.
Reference: CCIOA (C.R.S 38-33.3106.5(1)(C)) – (Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act)
Common Questions about running for the Board of Directors for the TrailMark Homeowners Association
Q: What are my duties on the Board?
A: The Board is responsible for maintaining and honoring the Declarations, Bylaws, and Design Review Guidelines of the community. The Board reviews/approves all contracts for work done in the common area. The Board receives emails from residents who voice concerns, complaints and/or ideas. The Board is responsible for holding homeowners accountable to the standards set in the covenants. The Board is responsible for the financial state of the Association in which they set dues, approve all invoices, and maintain a balanced budget. The Board is ultimately responsible for the trash contract, social events, maintenance and upkeep of Association property, and all things administrative (insurance, reserve study, etc.). Each Board member is assigned a committee for which they are the liaison between the Board and that committee. In this capacity, the Board member attends committee meetings and advises the Board on on-going committee activities. The Board currently meets every other month, in the odd number months, on the evening of the 2nd Tuesday.
Q: What are the qualifications for being on the Board?
A: As outlined in the Association Bylaws: “A Director may be any natural person and need not be an Owner of a Lot within the Community Area; provided, however, that upon the expiration of the Declarant’s Control Period, at least a majority of the Directors shall be Owners…” It is important to keep in mind that the qualifications to be a Director and the qualifications to vote vary. To cast a vote for Association issues, the Lot for which the vote is being cast must be in good standing, that is, no outstanding fines or dues are allowed, in order to vote.
Q: How much time does it take to be on the Board?
A: Typically, Board members spend about 1-10 hours each week dealing with HOA items: emails; phone calls; visits from neighbors; reviewing and overseeing contracts; performing site visits; attending various meetings with agencies such as City of Littleton, JEFFCO, SSPR and/or fielding and responding to issues presented by these entities; provides guidance to our committees; etc. During the week when there is a Board meeting, the time spent on HOA issues is approximately 15-20 hours to facilitate meeting preparation and meeting attendance.
Q: How long is my term on the Board? And are there term limits?
A: Terms are 2-years in length. This is to ensure not all five Board members change at once, to allow consistency in governance. There are no term limits for how many times a person can sit on the Board.