Many of you will read below, yet again no quorum of committee members present and half never turned up? However only thought it fair you should read this for yourselves as most owners do not receive even when fully paid up, of forced to pay I should say! ---------------- CHELSEY VILLAGE OWNERS ASSOCIATION MINUTES The Annual General Meeting of Members of the above named Association was held on Monday 7th October 2013 at 11.00am At Pia Bella Hotel, Girne. Present: Sandra Laine (Chair) SL Susan Thomson Donoghue (Vice Chair) ST Norman Griffiths (Committee member) NG Adrian Smith AS Furkat Suvhanov (Cheelsey Management) FS Total attendance: 33 Apologies: Val Howells, Arthur Agnew, Yvonne Watson, Barry Dickens, Anthony Jervis, Bill Pallister, Jaye Powell, Lorraine Marshall 1. CHAIRS ADDRESS SL welcomed members to Chelsey Village Owners Association AGM and a special welcome to new members. She welcomed Adrian Smith who was later joined by Furkat Suvanhov. SL stated that this had been another turbulent year and bad publicity in the local media and on the internet would, no doubt, halt purchases by English speaking buyers. Currently there are approximately 30% Russian owners, 70% British. There have been sales enquiries from Turkish Cypriot families but they are currently unable to get mortgages to purchase properties without Kocans. Whilst on the subject of Kocans SL said Furkat had confirmed that applications have been made to the Kaymakamlik District Office/Land Registry and they should be available within three months and showed the documents to the audience and said Application numbers are available if anyone would like to check these public documents for themselves. Security: The security guards have been effective and professional. There are plans in the future for a barrier that will operate with a chip so that people who pay their maintenance can get in and out easily. SL went on to say that Adrian thought security was also a deterrent for goats which had damaged Chelsey Village plants in the past. Mini-Bus The mini-bus will operate from May until September. Furkat had made every effort to obtain insurance for passengers but none is available from any of the companies. Adrian had previously explained that it is common practice for taxis, and public buses not to carry insurance for passengers. He said this is in line with many other countries and recommended that people should check their individual travel insurance and confirm the personal liability cover provided. -1- Accounts SL pointed out that there is no legal requirement for Cheelsey Management to let us see the annual accounts, as it is a Private Limited Company but as the money paid for maintenance comes from the members, it makes sense to publish them. The last ones were a few years ago when Ivan was a director and she said Furkat is still working on the accounts for 2012 but will provide us with copies when available. Roads Yigor own the roads. Furkat tells us that the Belediyesi no longer give permission for new sites to own roads or for any more gated communities because they want ownership of roads and can then levy charges. When Yigor finish the site the roads are part of the development, to which all owners have shares, as set out in Sales Contract page 1. SL gave a big “thank you” to the CVOA committee for their continued support and hard work and announced that Arthur Agnew is standing down as Vice Chair, due to family and work commitments, but will continue to support CVOA. Susan Thomson will take on the role of Vice Chair which will leave a vacant position on the committee and invited any member who felt able to take on this often thankless task to contact her and that anyone with accountancy skills would be especially welcome! SL stated that she did not intend standing for re-election as Chair at the next AGM and said it would be wonderful if 2014 was the year when all owners set aside differences and resolved to work together for the benefit of Chelsey Village and aim to restore its reputation as one of the finest developments of its kind in Northern Cyprus. SL said she would ask questions submitted by absent members that might be relevant to everyone and requested questions to be put to the Chair, stating the name of the member. 2. Minutes of meeting on 4.10.12 There being no questions the Chair signed these previously circulated Minutes as a true record. 3. Matters arising (not otherwise taken as a separate item) There were none. 3. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Val Howells asked for a detailed update on the latest Kocan situation A. FS explained the third pool and road will be completed after one month. It will then take three months for final approval to be granted followed by a further month to issue the Kocans for all properties at Chelsey Village. However the times stated are all subject to the speed at which the relevant local authorities act. Arthur Agnew asked several questions: Q1. When will the building works in front of block L20 be complete including landscaping? A. FS stated that this is a first priority after the road and the pool are finished. Q2. What are the long term plans for security of the site? Will the guards remain and are they carrying out any tours of the site? -2- A. FS said the guards are not carrying out tours of the site. The gate has to be manned at all times and there is only one guard at a time. They cover a 24 hour period. Q3. When will Cheelsey Management leave the site and hand over the management of maintenance to the owners? A. FS said once owners hold 60% of the Kocans they can choose their own maintenance company. Yigor will have one vote for each unsold property. Q4. What are the proposed dates for parcelisation of the site? When will kocans be issued? Actual dates if possible? A. Outlined in response to first member’s question. Q5. What are Yigor’s plans to undo the recent bad press created by Logan & Co? A. FS says no action will be taken. Q6. What are the projected future property sales for the next two years? A. FS Impossible to forecast, response not given, but 6 properties had been sold in the last 2 years. Q7. When visiting recently Arthur Agnew noticed many concrete blocks lying on the pavements normally to allow access to the water supply for plants etc. This is a huge danger and only a matter of time before someone has a really bad accident. What is being done to prevent this? Access to the water supply should not cause a danger to passing public? The hoses trail across walk-ways adding to the risk! A. FS stated signs could be put around the water access points. NG suggested a frame which would seal off the area and prevent children coming to harm. Q8. Can anything be done to prevent owners adding satellite dishes to the front of properties? More and more of these are appearing, instead of fitting on the inside of railings they are now appearing on the outside perimeter railing resembling a UK council estate. A. FS indicated that little could be done to stop owners doing this. AS said some owners of first floor properties were unhappy with large numbers of satellite dishes being erected on their roof or roof terraces. George Donoghue agrees that satellite dishes are unsightly. Q. Steve Oram asked how many unsold properties remained and how many more are to be built. A. FS said 63 were unsold, but he would have to check records to give a full answer and would do so. NG said he always understood 300–320 apartments were to be built, therefore 60-80, have not yet been built. Q. Ronnie Sinclair would like another survey done regarding the mini-bus. He feels that people who pay their maintenance are paying for this service but only a few people benefit. He said previously people were not informed that the cost of the mini-bus came out of the maintenance fund. He says each owner pays £200 a year for the bus. NG agreed that the poll conducted by FS earlier this year was misleading as it failed to say it was being paid for from maintenance AS said some owners don’t use the swimming pools but still pay their maintenance fees. Dot Feszczak agreed with Ronnie Sinclair and in addition said she believed that unruly behaviour of children is the responsibility of the parents. A. FS said there were no plans to carry out another survey but agreed that this could be done after the accounts were complete so that accurate calculations could be quoted. -3- Q. NG asked how many people signed the new maintenance agreement which was badly written and was there any point in having one? Is there any point having a maintenance agreement if not everyone has signed it? There are too many different agreements and the last one contains too many inaccuracies so nobody is likely to sign it. Surely we just need owners to pay their maintenance and let it be on their conscience if they do not pay SL said it should have been signed at the same time as Sales Contract and hoped new purchasers would sign. A. FS said about 10 people had signed. Several members suggested that individuals using the bus should pay, either with vouchers, or season tickets. FS did not think this was practical and did not know how the figure of £200 was arrived at. The mini-bus is still running but will stop in the near future. It is planned to resume the service in June 2014. Jenny Crowley said she would like to use it when she is in CV in October. FS stated it is not practical to run the minibus for one passenger and it depends on demand. It runs when most people are in CV. FS agreed to look into mini-bus situation further and carry out another survey next year after the accounts had been published. Ronnie Sinclair raised the question which he had asked at the previous two AGMS, ie about failure to use waterproof adhesive and/or grouting and many properties have white staining on the stucco as a result and the grouting is disappearing in places around the pool. FS said that these problems were being dealt with as part of the snagging work. SL raised the question first asked at the last AGM in 2012 about the ugly steps resting on the pavement which spoil the entrance to CV. They could easily be replaced by steps going into the area outside the security lodge which ST agreed was an eyesore and would not take long, or cost much to finish. FS said priority was to complete road and 3rd swimming pool. What is the ACTUAL cost of running the mini-bus? FS said he would get back to us when the accounts were complete. Q. Joe Watanabe asked about a fig tree growing near his property and feared it would undermine his foundations. A. AS said it would be removed when the garden at his block was next worked upon. Joe also commented on potential health problems following the disconnection of sewerage pipes of non-payers. Q NG What other legal action has CM considered taking against non-payers? A. FS said further action would be taken if necessary. CVOA said they would agree to any legal action taken by the maintenance company to get non-payers to settle their accounts. Anti-social behaviour, among Russian youngsters was discussed by various members. It was agreed children get bored at Chelsey Village and everyone should try and find suitable things for them to do, particularly in the evenings when most noise and disturbances occurred. Yvonne Troy suggested the room above the restaurant be made into a chill out area as she had suffered a lot of stress due to the anti social behaviour. There was excess noise from children and teenagers until late at night up to 1am sometimes, particularly at the playground. SL said a lot of effort had gone into trying to persuade Yigor to move the playground or erect rattan fencing but Yigor had refused outright. -4- Dot Feszczak said there was a similar problem at the 2nd pool. FS has spoken with parents previously. Mary Day (aka King) asked about a rebate for people who paid as she seemed to think there would be a surplus. Lesley Webb said this was impossible as all the monies had already spent. Mary Day also asked if it was necessary for the security guards to record the time owners left and entered the village as some owners saw it as an invasion of their privacy. FS and SL stated this was how the security company operated and was sensible and not unreasonable. Mary Day said owners had driven into the chain at the main gate as it could not easily be seen and asked if ribbons could be attached to it? (Ribbons have now been attached to the chain). Dot Feszczak asked whether there could be any guarantees that the maintenance fee would not increase again? AS stated the maintenance fee had not been increased since 2010 and was very competitive in comparison to other sites which were charging £65 and £75 a month. FS added that electricity costs had increased by almost double over the period. Mary Day complained that there had been various prices for maintenance. NG explained that maintenance commenced in June 2008 and that several owners had enjoyed two years without any payment, having chosen to live on the building site. SL explained the reasoning behind the increase from £40 to £50 which, with discounts available to people who paid in advance, meant their payment was the same. Non-payers would, in effect, be paying the full amount which would reflect interest which should be charged to their debt. Murat decided to cancel this discount. CVOA fought to get discounts reinstated that this was done (albeit half that previously enjoyed). FS said there was approximately £125,000 outstanding in maintenance fees. Approximately 90 owners were fully paid and a further 15-20 had just a small deficit. Approximately 90 were not paying and 10-15 had never paid. FS said he will come back with more accurate figures once the accounts were completed. He also said that Yigor rent out properties to their employees and maintenance was paid on these properties and that they also rent out on behalf of investment owners and maintenance for these was deducted from the rent paid to the owners. Mary Day said owners had to be given Kocans when available. SL explained that it is similar to selling a property which you can do WITHOUT Kocan but only if the developer is satisfied there is no debt on the property. Therefore, if owners have not paid maintenance this, together with interest, can be charged prior to receiving Kocan for the property. FS and AS agreed. Rick Riley asked about the tennis/sports court. FS said this will be completed after the priority work has been finished. Kevin McGrath asked about solar power and cover for 3rd pool? SL said CVOA had suggested this several syears ago but was too expensive and had not been costed into the development. She said this is the sort of thing that could be purchased by the sinking fund interest in the future IF everyone contributed £150.00 (which is refundable upon sale of property). Steve Oram said he thought both “sides” should get on with each other and make CV a good place to live in, echoing SL’s opening speech, and received applause from the majority of audience. -5- AOB ST gave a short talk about the benefit to a large site of owning a defibrillator, in view of the time emergency services would take to reach CV in an emergency. She had been to a demonstration and it is simple to use. NG said he had been trained to use them and agreed they are easy to use but we need one that is in English. Sue Woodall said her tennis club had purchased one. SL proposed that ST should form a sub-committee of members and research prices, logistics and fundraising. This was seconded by Lesley Webb. Meeting closed at 12.30 pm. -6-
Posted on: Sat, 19 Oct 2013 22:34:40 +0000
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